About Conrad of Hirsau
Lived 1070 – 1150 (aged 79–80). Conrad of Hirsau was a poet, biographer, musician, literary critic, catholic priest and writer.
Conrad of Hirsau or Hirschau (; ) was a German Benedictine monk and writer at the Hirsau Abbey. He is known for his literary work Dialogus super auctores, an accessus ad auctores written about 1130. Conrad identified himself as a "modern" in literary terms. His Dialogus is "the only theoretical discussion of the technique of the accessus [ad auctores] that has come down to us from medieval times". His own selection of authors consists of Aesop (actually the versifier Phaedrus), Avianus, Boethius, Cato, Cicero, Donatus, Homer, Juvenal, Lucan, Ovid, Persius, Prosper, Prudentius, Sallust, Sedulius, Statius, Virgil and Theodulus.
Conrad has also been suggested as the author of the ascetical works, the Speculum virginum, De fructibus carnis et spiritus, Dialogus de mundi contemptu vel amore, and Allocutio ad Deum.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Conrad of Hirsau's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Conrad of Hirsau?
German monk and writer
When was Conrad of Hirsau born?
Conrad of Hirsau was born in 1070.
When did Conrad of Hirsau die?
Conrad of Hirsau died in 1150.
What was Conrad of Hirsau's occupation?
Conrad of Hirsau was a poet, biographer, musician, literary critic, catholic priest and writer.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Conrad of Hirsau. https://biography.guide/conrad-of-hirsau/
MLA: "Conrad of Hirsau." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/conrad-of-hirsau/.
Chicago: "Conrad of Hirsau." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/conrad-of-hirsau/.
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