The Revelation and its Seals: Rupert of Deutz, Joachim of Fiore, and the Apocalypse Within History

Latin theologians traditionally took a paraenetic and allegorical approach to the Apocalypse, under the influence of Tyconius (d. 390 A.D.) and Augustine (d. 430 A.D.). Yet, in the 12th century, something changed in the way the Apocalypse was read; the paraenetic and allegorical approach came to be complemented or even replaced by an approach treating the Apocalypse as being about the actual history of the world – past and future. Scholars by and large agree that Joachim of Fiore was one of those who brought about this change. But how? In this essay, I will investigate this question and show that Joachim’s apocalyptic exegesis is part of a cultural shift that was ongoing at the time Joachim was active: Rupert of Deutz (d. 1129 A.D.), for instance, had already proposed to read the Apocalypse as a historical account of the Church. There is, however, something that singles out Joachim as distinctively innovative in his approach, I argue, namely his hermeneutical method based on the concordia, that is, the correspondence between the two Testaments. We can best understand this by investigating how Joachim handles the seven seals and their relative 'openings', considered as historical periods which Jewish and Christian people lived, are living and are about to live through. I will use the issue of how to interpret the seven seals as a lens through which to study comparatively Rupert of Deutz and Joachim, and I will argue that the latter has the most novel and even radical approach to the Apocalypse. I will also show that a study of Joachim’s stance on the seven seals across his works is a useful tool for a more general reappraisal of his thought