the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...

offered Dionysius to the Gelehrtenrepublik, publishing his work for classicists and
humanists as part of yet another an eclectic publishing program.
Dionysius Printers: Dionysius in the Gelehrtenrepublik
While the use that Clichtove and Cochlaeus make of Dionysius in their anti-
Lutheran polemic might suggest that Dionysius was claimed for the Catholic side, as
should be clear by now, other Dionysius readers came from a Protestant milieu: Weigel,
for one, was a Lutheran minister, Lefèvre d’Étaples found himself at odds with the
Theology faculty in Paris on charges of Lutheranism, and Crollius was a Lutheran who
turned Calvinist (outwardly at least). Moreover, the ultimate evidence contradicting the
notion that Dionysius was not read at all beyond the Middle Ages is that there were in
fact 127 complete or partial printed editions between 1480 and 1700, and the history of
these printers and publishers of Dionysius in the sixteenth century suggest a similarly
broad cross-confessional readership. 530 What follows is a survey of the lives, works and
contexts of some of Dionysius’ printers, some of whom were Catholic, others Protestant,
some religious activists and others seemingly indifferent to the religious conflicts of their
time. This survey will necessarily be brief, given the large number of editions of
Dionysius (more than a hundred in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries alone). 531
530 Dionysius, Dionysiaca, XXII ff.
531 Much more work could be done in this area, building on the incredible philological undertaking of
Philippe Chevallier, the Dionysiaca. The primary task of the Dionysiaca is a critical edition of eight Latin
translations, plus two Greek editions, rather than a detailed discussion of the manuscript and printed
versions that are the basis for his edition. However, he does provide a helpful list of every printed
Dionysius edition up to the 20 th century, which could serve as the basis for future historical work.
Dionysius the Areopagite, Dionysiaca: recueil donnant l'ensemble des traductions latines des ouvrages
attribués au Denys de l'Areopage, and Ed. Philippe Chevallier, 2 vols. (Paris, Bruges: Desclée, de Brouwer
& Cie, 1937).
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