Guibert of Gembloux’ De destructione monasterii Gemblacensis. Literary legacy and issues of authorship against the backdrop of the ‘decline’ of traditional monasticism

The Benedictine Guibert of Gembloux is mostly known as the last secretary of the renowned Renish visionary Hildegard of Bingen. However, he also left behind a rich literary legacy that sheds light on the world of a traditional monk during the central Middle Ages. One of his works is De destructione monasterii Gemblacensis, preserved in MS 5535-37 of the Manuscripts Department at the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels. The text sheds light on Guibert’s concept of authorship, in particular of a collection of fourteen letter treatises that follow De destructione in the manuscript. By employing topoi and biblical exempla, Guibert justified his literary ambitions, placing himself within the traditional learnt discourse on authorship. In addition, De destructione offers insight into the debate on the state of traditional coenobitism during a period in which it was encountering increasing competition from other monastic groups. Guibert employed the discourse of decline of traditional monasticism partly as a literary strategy in order to justify his actions.Le bénédictin Guibert de Gembloux est principalement connu comme dernier secrétaire de la célèbre prophétesse de la Rhénanie, Hildegarde de Bingen. Il a cependant laissé lui-même un riche héritage littéraire éclairant l’univers d’un moine traditionnel pendant le Moyen Âge central. L’un de ses ouvrages est De destructione monasterii Gemblacensis, conservé à la Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Cabinet des Manuscrits, sous le no 5535-37. Ce texte élucide la conception qu’avait Guibert de son rôle d’auteur, en particulier d’une collection de quatorze traités épistolaires (qui suivent De destructione dans le manuscrit). Guibert justifiait ses propres ambitions littéraires à l’aide de différents topoi et d’exemples bibliques, s’inscrivant ainsi dans le discours savant et traditionnel sur le statut de l’auteur. Qui plus est, De destructione donne des renseignements sur l’état du monachisme traditionnel, qui à l’époque faisait face à une concurrence croissante d’autres groupes monastiques. Guibert se servait du discours de la crise du cénobitisme, en partie comme stratégie littéraire légitimant ses actions.De benedictijn Guibertus van Gembloers staat vooral bekend als de laatste secretaris van de befaamde Rijnlandse profetes Hildegard van Bingen. Hij liet echter ook een rijke literaire erfenis na die de leefwereld van een traditionele monnik tijdens de centrale middeleeuwen belicht. Een van zijn werken is De destructione monasterii Gemblacensis, bewaard in hs. 5535-37 in het Handschriftenkabinet van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België. Deze tekst geeft inzicht in Guibertus’ visie op auteurschap, in het bijzonder van een collectie van veertien traktaatbrieven die in het handschrift volgen op De destructione. Aan de hand van verschillende topoi en Bijbelse voorbeelden verantwoordde Guibertus zijn eigen literaire ambities en plaatste hij zichzelf binnen het traditionele geleerde discours rond auteurschap. Daarenboven biedt De destructione een bouwsteen in het onderzoek naar de staat van het traditionele kloosterleven in een tijd waarin het zich geconfronteerd zag met toenemende concurrentie van andere monastieke groepen. Guibertus maakte gebruik van het discours van verval van het traditionele cenobitisme, deels als een literaire strategie waarmee hij zijn daden wou verantwoorden.Moens Sara. Guibert of Gembloux’s De destructione monasterii Gemblacensis. Literary legacy and issues of authorship against the backdrop of the “decline” of traditional monasticism. In: Bulletin de la Commission royale d'histoire. Académie royale de Belgique. Tome 182, 2016. pp. 275-301

Collaborative authorship in the twelfth century: a stylometric study of Hildegard of Bingen and Guibert of Gembloux

Abstract – Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) is one of the most influential female authors of the Middle Ages. From the point of view of computational stylistics, the oeuvre attributed to Hildegard is fascinating. Hildegard dictated her texts to secretaries in Latin, a language of which she did not master all grammatical subtleties. She therefore allowed her scribes to correct her spelling and grammar. Especially Hildegard’s last collaborator, Guibert of Gembloux, seems to have considerably reworked her works during his secretaryship. Whereas her other scribes were only allowed to make superficial linguistic changes, Hildegard would have permitted Guibert to render her language stylistically more elegant. In this article, we focus on two shorter texts: the Visio ad Guibertum missa and Visio de sancto Martino, both of which Hildegard allegedly authored during Guibert’s secretaryship. We analyse a corpus containing the letter collections of Hildegard, Guibert and Bernard of Clairvaux using a number of common stylometric techniques. We discuss our results in the light of the Synergy Hypothesis, suggesting that texts resulting from collaboration can display a style markedly different from that of the collaborating authors. Finally, we demonstrate that Guibert must have reworked the disputed visionary texts allegedly authored by Hildegard to such an extent that style-oriented computational procedures attribute the texts to Guibert

Detection of human neurotropic JCPyV DNA sequence in pediatric anaplastic xanthoastrocytoma

Due to its peculiar histopathological findings, pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA), a rare cerebral tumor of young adults with a slow growth and a good prognosis, resembles to the lytic phase of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by JC polyomavirus (JCPyV). Therefore, the presence of JCPyV DNA was examined in an 11-year-old child with xanthoastrocytoma, WHO grade 3, by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and nested PCR (nPCR) using primers amplifying sequences encoding the N- and C-terminal region of large T antigen (LTAg), the non-coding control region (NCCR), and viral protein 1 (VP1) DNA. The expression of transcripts from LTAg and VP1 genes was also evaluated. In addition, viral microRNAs’ (miRNAs) expression was investigated. Cellular p53 was also searched at both DNA and RNA level. qPCR revealed the presence of JCPyV DNA with a mean value of 6.0× 104 gEq/mL. nPCR gave a positive result for the 5ʹ region of the LTAg gene and the NCCR, whereas 3ʹ end LTAg and VP1 DNA sequences were not amplifiable. Only LTAg transcripts of 5ʹ end were found whereas VP1 gene transcript was undetectable. Although in most cases, either Mad-1 or Mad-4 NCCRs have been identified in association with JCPyV-positive human brain neoplasms, the archetype NCCR structure was observed in the patient’s sample. Neither viral miRNA miR-J1-5p nor p53 DNA and RNA were detected. Although the expression of LTAg supports the possible role of JCPyV in PXA, further studies are warranted to better understand whether the genesis of xanthoastrocytoma could depend on the transformation capacity of LTAg by Rb sequestration

Detection of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV) DNA and Transcripts in Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC)

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is the etiological agent of the majority of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC): a rare skin tumor. To improve our understanding of the role of MCPyV in MCCs, the detection and analysis of MCPyV DNA and transcripts were performed on primary tumors and regional lymph nodes from two MCC patients: one metastatic and one non-metastatic. MCPyV-DNA was searched by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), followed by the amplification of a Large T Antigen (LTAg), Viral Protein 1 (VP1) and Non-Coding Control Region (NCCR). LTAg and VP1 transcripts were investigated by reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Viral integration was also studied, and full-length LTAg sequencing was performed. qPCR revealed that the primary tumor of both patients and the lymph node of one patient was positive for the small t-antigen, with an average value of 7.0 × 102 copies/µg. The same samples harbored LTAg, NCCR and VP1 DNA. Sequencing results showed truncated LTAg with the conserved retinoblastoma (Rb) protein binding motif and VP1 and NCCR sequences identical to the MCC350 strain. RT-PCR detected LTAg but not VP1 transcripts. The MCPyV genome was integrated into the primary tumor of both patients. The results confirmed the connection between MCPyV and MCC, assuming integration, LTAg truncation and Rb sequestration as key players in MCPyV-mediated oncogenesis

Detection Analysis and Study of Genomic Region Variability of JCPyV, BKPyV, MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and QPyV in the Urine and Plasma of HIV-1-Infected Patients

Since it was clearly established that HIV/AIDS predisposes to the infection, persistence or reactivation of latent viruses, the prevalence of human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) among HIV-1-infected patients and a possible correlation between HPyVs and HIV sero-status were investigated. PCR was performed to detect and quantify JCPyV, BKPyV, MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and QPyV DNA in the urine and plasma samples of 103 HIV-1-infected patients. Subsequently, NCCR, VP1 and MCPyV LT sequences were examined. In addition, for MCPyV, the expression of transcripts for the LT gene was investigated. JCPyV, BKPyV and MCPyV’s presence was reported, whereas HPyV6, HPyV7 and QPyV were not detected in any sample. Co-infection patterns of JCPyV, BKPyV and MCPyV were found. Archetype-like NCCRs were observed with some point mutations in plasma samples positive for JCPyV and BKPyV. The VP1 region was found to be highly conserved among these subjects. LT did not show mutations causing stop codons, and LT transcripts were expressed in MCPyV positive samples. A significant correlation between HPyVs’ detection and a low level of CD4+ was reported. In conclusion, HPyV6, HPyV7 and QPyV seem to not have a clinical relevance in HIV-1 patients, whereas further studies are warranted to define the clinical importance of JCPyV, BKPyV and MCPyV DNA detection in these subjects

Twelfth-century epistolary language of friendship reconsidered: the case of Guibert of Gembloux

Historians regard the twelfth century as the golden age of friendship. Nevertheless, the correct interpretation of this culture of friendship and its literary manifestations is under debate. Researchers into the amicitia debate increasingly rely on the "network approach", which is centered on the use of the language of friendship. In the present article, this quantitative approach is applied to a late twelfth-century collection of letters by a Benedictine monk, Guibert of Gembloux, and is complemented by a close reading of four case studies. Guibert's correspondence attests to a spiritual interpretation of friendship that can function as an identifying discourse within a horizontal network among a monastic elite