Berthold of Moosburg

Berthold of Moosburg (died after 1361 ) was a Dominican monk from the Teutonic Province. Not much is known about Berthold of Moosburg's youth. He was a member of the German Dominican order. The first recorded date on record for Berthold of Moosburg is 1316, when he was studying at Oxford University in England. In 1318, Berthold writes a 'marginal' commentary on De iride, a written work of Dietrich of Freiburg (sometimes called Theodoric of Freiburg). His active years spanned from 1316 to 1361, and these are the only years for which he can be traced in the historical record. Berthold, as a part of the Dominican order, was a theologian and neo-Platonist of the 14th century, teaching in Regensburg in 1327. In 1335, Berthold was called to head the Dominican order in Cologne, Germany, succeeding Eckhart. While in Cologne, Germany, he would have read the work of his processors. This would have included written work from 'Albert the Great, Meister Eckhart, and Ulrich of Strasburg,' among others. Expositio would become the only commentary written on Proclus's works to have come the medieval age. It is believed that during this time he would have discovered works that influenced him in his writings such as Thomas of York's Sapientiale, Macrobius' Comentarii in Somnium Scipionis, and most notably Proclus' Elementationem Theologicam, which Berthold cited ten times just in his glosses on Macrobius.

Berthold proceeds to break apart the verse and analyse it piece by piece, going over any potential differences in grammar that could cause a change in meanings. Curiously, during his academic sermon, Berthold cites Hermes Trismegistus twice in his analysis, a pre-Platonic writer which he sourced from Albertus Magnus.

Berthold's Expositio has notably have been influential on Nicholas of Cusa's works, and has been cited among a list of authoritative Neoplatonic authors in Cusa's Apologia doctae ignorantiae. The only other two direct citations of Berthold's Expositio coming from the 14th and 15th centuries come from an anonymous author from 14th-century Regensburg and another Dominican theologian, Franz Retz.

Nicholas of Cusa lists the author of Expositio as Johannes von Mossbach. ' Many names have been attributed to Berthold of Moosburg. Some of these different names are Berchtold, Berealdus, Bartholomeus, and Johannes von Mossbach. These names span a range of historical sources. One example of the different name(s) attributed to Berthold of Moosburg in the historical timeline appears more than fifty years later when Nicholas of Cusa gives credit to Moosburg for his written work Expositio, stating its 'importance.'

Works Expositio super elementationem theologicam Procli 184-211. De animabus, edited by Loris Sturlese, Rome, Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1974. Bertoldo di Moosburg, Tabula contentorum in Expositione super Elementationem theologicam Procli, edited by A. Beccarisi, Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore, 2000. Expositio super Elementationem theologicam Procli, in Corpus philosophorum Teutonicorum medii aevi, vol. 6, edited by Loris Sturlese: 6/1: Prologus. Propositiones 1-13, Meiner, Hamburg 1984. 6/2: Propositiones 14-34, Meiner, Hamburg 1986. 6/3: Propositiones 35-65, Meiner, Hamburg 2001. 6/4: Propositiones 66-107, Meiner, Hamburg 2003. 6/6: Propositiones 136–159, Meiner, Hamburg 2007 6/7: Propositiones 160-183, Meiner, Hamburg 2003