Rabanus Maurus

Rabanus Maurus (c. 780–856), abbot of Fulda and archbishop of Mainz and a pupil of Alcuin, was called “the Teacher of Germany.” His encyclopedic biblical commentaries gather and arrange the comments of the Fathers, feeding the exegetical tradition that culminates in works like the Catena Aurea.

"The Teacher of Germany," Rabanus compiled vast commentaries that arrange the comments of the earlier Fathers book by book, an organising labour that preserved patristic exegesis and anticipated the great medieval chains of comment such as the Glossa Ordinaria and the Catena Aurea. His encyclopedic On the Nature of Things likewise transmitted ancient learning to the medieval schools.