The " Alemannic Vitaspatrum "

The late antique "Vitaspatrum" (4th/5th century) is a compilation that preserves the life descriptions (lives), teachings, and sayings ("Verba seniorum") of the first Oriental hermits and monks, and it is considered one of the central texts of the monastic movement. In the first half of the 14th century, it was widely received in connection with German mysticism (especially by Heinrich Seuse) due to the spirituality conveyed within it. It is likely in this context that the two oldest, thematically complementary German prose translations emerged in South Alemannic: 1) the lives, which include not only the lives of the most important desert fathers (such as Anthony, Paul, etc.) but also the "Historia monachorum" by Rufinus of Aquileia, and 2) the exempla with 365 teachings, sayings, and similar content. Both works were early transmitted together.