Joachim of Fiore’s Symbolical Depictions of the Trinity and the Interpretation according to the Principle of Similitude

Abstract

The aim of my article is to analyze the way in which the doctrine of the Trinity is interpreted in the preserved manuscripts of Joachim of Fiore, taking into consideration the images that represent in a symbolical manner the intra-Trinitarian relations and the text accompanying them, focusing mainly on the version of the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden (ms. lat. A. 121). I also followed the arguments that addressed the possible critique made by the Abbot to the definition of the Trinity in the way that Peter the Lombard expressed it in his Sentences, reminding in the same time the other two controversial opinions of Arius and Sabellius as they are to be found in Joachim’s writings. The allegorical depictions of the Trinity trace for Joachim of Fiore marks of the Trinity according to the principle of similitude through which he also understood to observe nature.

Keywords: Joachim of Fiore, Trinity, unity, ms. lat. A. 121, similitude, perfidia, Peter the Lombard