After receiving his B.A. in German and English linguistics and literature, Jonas Hermann turned to the middle ages and studied medieval German literature, codicology, and paleography at the Universities of Freiburg and Oxford. His main research interests are manuscript studies and religious literature. As a manuscript enthusiast, he is interested in the materiality and dissemination of medieval literature and has cataloged manuscripts located in the University Library Freiburg and the Bodleian Library. As for his literary pursuits, he has mainly worked on mystical literature about and produced by nuns and semi-monastic women. His master’s thesis is concerned with the vita of Gertrude of Ortenberg, a noble widow turned Franciscan tertiary, who lived in the urban setting of late-medieval Strasbourg. Moreover, he has worked extensively on the mostly unedited mystical writings by and about Christine Ebner, a Dominican nun, visionary, and author active in the Bavarian monastery of Engelthal. With regard to his dissertation, he his working on a critical edition and comprehensive study of the 14th century Book of Spiritual Poverty (Buch von geistlicher Armut), whose author turns out to be one of the earliest traceable recipients of Meister Eckhart, albeit a highly critical one. In his spare time, he dabbles in journalism for 42 Magazine.

Publications

“Freiburg i. Br., Universitätsbibliothek, Hs. 1500,3.” 2015. http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/sammlung7/werk/pdf/hs1500-3.pdf.

“Bodleian Library, MS. Don. e. 250.” Oxford German Studies 46, no. 2 (2017): 146-153.

“Das gelbe Buch. Eine frühneuzeitliche Handschrift als Zeuge der Konfessionalisierung und der Gegenreformation in Schlesien.” Handschriften als Quellen der Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft. Aktuelle Fragestellungen, Methoden, Probleme, edited by Anette Kremer and Vincenz Schwab, University of Bamberg Press, 2018, pp. 201–220.

“Die Mystik in der Nussschale. Rezeption und Einordnung des ‚Buchs von geistlicher Armut‘ in der Bibliothek der Erfurter Kartause.” Mystik unterwegs, edited by Gilbert Fournier et al., Peeters, 2021.

“Ein zeit der gnaden. Time and Temporality in the Christine Ebner Corpus.” Medieval Temporalities: The Experience of Time in Medieval Europe, edited by Almut Suerbaum and Annie Sutherland, Boydell & Brewer, 2021.