Williram of Ebersberg

Who was Williram of Ebersberg?

Williram of Ebersberg was a German scholar of Christian scripture from near Worms. He is best known for having translated and paraphrased the Song of Songs.

Williram studied under Lanfranc and also at the University of Paris. He served as scholastic of the chathedral chapter of Bamberg, before retiring to a monastery in Fulda. Soon after, Henry III summoned him to the famous Benedictine abbey of Ebersberg, which he ruled with great success for thirty-seven years till his death.

In the preface to his translation, Williram laments that, in Germany, grammar and dialectics are more popular than Biblical studies, praises Lanfranc devoting himself to the deeper study of the Bible and drawing many German scholars to France. The pages of his work are divided into three columns: The first contains a Latin paraphrase in Leonine hexameters; the second, the Vulgate text; and the third, a German exposition in prose. Williram describes the text as an allegory of the relationship between Christ and his church.

About 1100, a Middle Dutch adaptation of Williram's commentary was produced, the oldest surviving text in Middle Dutch.