The Manere of Good Lyvyng: A Middle English Translation of Pseudo-Bernard's Liber de modo bene vivendi ad sororem (Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts) (Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts, 30) [Multilingual ed.] 9782503545660, 2503545661

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The Manere of Good Lyvyng

MEDIEVAL WOMEN: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS Editorial Board under the auspices of the School of Historical Studies, Monash University General Editor Constant J. Mews, Monash University Editorial Board Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, University of Pittsburgh Juliette Dor, Université de Liège Jeffrey Hamburger, Harvard University Anneke Mulder-Bakker, Rijksuniversitet, Groningen Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London Gabriela Signori, Universität Konstanz Claire Waters, University of Virginia Nicholas Watson, Harvard University

Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of the book.

Volume 30

The Manere of Good Lyvyng A Middle English Translation of Pseudo-Bernard’s Liber de modo bene vivendi ad sororem Edited by

Anne E. Mouron

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 1091-1153 author. The manere of good lyvyng : a Middle English translation of pseudo-Bernard's Liber de modo bene vivendi ad sororem. -- (Medieval women : texts and contexts ; 30) 1. Spiritual direction--Catholic Church--Early works to 1800. 2. Monastic and religious life of women--Rules--Early works to 1800. 3. Nuns--Conduct of life--Early works to 1800. I. Title II. Series III. Mouron, Anne editor. 248.8'943-dc23 ISBN-13: 9782503545660

© 2014, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. D/2014/0095/44 ISBN: 978-2-503-54566-0 Printed on acid-free paper

To † Dorcha, for her unflinching company throughout many long hours of work

Contents

Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Transcription: A devoute tretes of holy Saynt Bernard, drawne oute of Latyn into English, callid The Manere of Good Lyvyng 41 Commentary 183 Appendix I. The Three Other Texts in MS Laud misc. 517

461

Appendix II. Paynell’s Translation

469

Appendix III. Batt’s Translation

477

Appendix IV. Tyrwhitt’s Translation

487

Index of Biblical Quotations

493

Glossary 501 Glossary of Proper Names

555

Bibliography 559

Acknowledgements

M

y debt in the preparation of this volume goes to many people, scholars, family, and friends. More particularly, my thanks are due to the Bodleian Library; I am especially indebted to the staff of Duke Humphrey and Special Collections, the Lower Reading Room, and the Upper Reading Room, for their constant assistance in all the years it took to write this volume. I would also like to thank the Bodleian Library for allowing me to publish their manuscript. A number of scholars must also be cited here, notably Jocelyn WoganBrowne and James Hogg, who supported the project from its beginning and had first accepted this edition for Analecta Cartusiana but most generously allowed me to publish it with Brepols. A huge debt of gratitude is also owed to Nicholas Watson, Claire Waters, and Constant Mews for all their assistance and many helpful comments in the making of this edition. Finally, my thanks go to everyone at Brepols who made this edition possible, first Anna Wallace and later many others, including Juleen Eichinger.

The Manere of Good Lyvyng, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Laud Misc. 517, fol. 2v. Fifteenth century. Reproduced with permission of The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

Introduction

1. The Liber The Manere of Good Lyvyng, the text presented in this edition for the first time, is a Middle English translation of a late twelfth-century (or early thirteenthcentury) treatise, the Liber de modo bene vivendi ad sororem. The Middle English text survives uniquely in Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, a fifteenth-century manuscript copied at Sheen Charterhouse by the scribe William Darker. The Manere, as discussed below, is a close but not slavish translation of the Liber, a text regularly attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux during the Middle Ages and beyond.1 It was long believed that the abbot of Clairvaux wrote this text for his sister, Humbelina, who experienced a spiritual conversion around 1122 and entered the monastery of Jully towards 1124.2 It is not surprising, therefore, that all surviving manuscripts but one address the text to a female audience.3 The work’s attribution to St Bernard and its usefulness as an aid for the spiritual life goes far to explain the fair number of copies made during the Middle Ages.4 Although Edmond Mikkers says of the Liber that it was ‘très répandu 1  There is no modern edition other than the text edited by Mabillon in 1690 (see Janauschek, Xenia Bernardina iv: Bibliographia Bernardina, no. 1306, pp. 272–75), reprinted by Migne in 1859 in Patrologiae cursus completus: series latina 184, 1199–1306 (Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber de modo bene vivendi; hereafter PL 184). 2  She later became prioress and died there on 21 August 1141. See Thompson, ‘The Problem of the Cistercian Nuns’, pp. 229–30; see also De la Croix Bouton, ‘Saint Bernard et les Moniales’, pp. 228–30. 3  Madrid, Bibl. nac. de España, MS 871 is the exception and addresses a male audience throughout, beginning: ‘Karissimus mihi in Christo frater’, fol. 2v. See Lopes de Toro and others, Inventario General de Manuscritos de la Biblioteca Nacional, ii, MS 871, pp. 480–81. 4  For a short appraisal of the contents of the Liber, see below, pp. 3–4.

Introduction

2

au moyen âge’,5 only nine surviving manuscripts of the whole Latin text have been identified so far (one manuscript from the thirteenth century, two from the fourteenth century, five from the fifteenth century, and one from the early sixteenth century), but it is quite likely that many more would come to light should the text be given a modern edition.6 Further copies which have not survived may be surmised from medieval catalogues. Clairvaux, for instance, had at least one copy of the text, and so did Syon Abbey, and perhaps also the Priory of St Peter, Thurgarton.7 When one considers evidence from manuscripts and early printed editions, it appears that the Liber enjoyed a surge of interest in the fiftenth and sixteenth centuries. Before 1550, Leopold Janauschek cites thirteen printed editions in Latin, ten in Italian, two in Spanish, three in French, and one in English.8 Two of the surviving manuscripts, including the earliest (1267), come from Spain. It is well known that the Liber was a favourite of St Birgitta of Sweden and that she owned a manuscript.9 Since the latter contains a title in Spanish,10 it has been suggested that she obtained her copy of the text either during her pilgrim5 

Mikkers, ‘Robert de Molesmes’, cols 736–816. Note that this article is actually an assessment of Cistercian authors and spirituality. 6  These nine manuscripts are: Madrid, Bibl. nac. de España, MS 308 (15th century) and Madrid, Bibl. nac. de España, MS 871 (1267); Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 (1300–50) and Uppsala, UUB, MS C 253 (1400–50); Padova, BUP, MS 990 (1433) and Padova, BUP, MS 2146 (15th century); Pavia, BUP, Aldini, MS 394 (15th century); BAV, MS Barberini latini 362 (14th century); and Berlin, Staatsbibl., MS theol. lat. qu. 378 (1504). Extracts of the Liber also survive independently: Verona, Bibl. Capit., MS 113, fols 94–95; see also next footnote. 7  See Vernet, La Bibliothèque de l’abbaye de Clairvaux, pp. 589, 707, 717. For another Clairvaux manuscript of part of the Liber, see Troyes, BM, MS 1913, fols  111r–141r, in Catalogue général des manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques, ed. by Ravaisson and others, no. 1913, pp. 789–90. For Syon, see Bateson, Catalogue of the Library of Syon Monastery, M114, p. 115; and Gillespie, Syon Abbey, SS1, no. 847, p. 256. For Thurgarton, see Webber and Watson, The Libraries of the Augustinian Canons, A36, 9c, p. 417. 8  See Janauschek, Xenia Bernardina iv: Bibliographia Bernardina, Latin editions: no. 116, pp. 34–35; no. 136, p. 39; nos 156–58, p. 44; no. 200, p. 56; no. 248, p. 67; no. 281, pp. 72–73; nos 307–08, pp. 78–79; no. 342, p. 88; no. 382, p. 99; no. 406, p. 108; Italian editions: no. 171, pp. 47–48; no. 185, p. 53; no. 203, pp. 56–57; no. 280, p. 72; no. 306, p. 78; no. 352, p. 92; no. 407, p. 108; no. 455, p. 119; no. 458, p. 120; no. 483, p. 125; Spanish editions: no. 392, p. 103; no. 459, p. 120; French editions: no. 238, p. 65; no. 410, p. 109; no. 431, p. 114; English edition: no. 499 , p. 129. For later editions and translations, see Janauschek. 9  See below, p. 13. 10  The inscription is given as a title to the Prologue: ‘Aquest libro ordeno sant bernart apregarias de una su hermana a honor de Ihesu christo’, Madrid, Bibl. nac. de España, MS 871, fol. 3r.

Introduction

3

age to Spain in 1341 or later as a gift from her Spanish confessor, Alphonso of Jaén.11 It is quite likely, therefore, that Birgitta of Sweden played an important role in diffusing a work previously only known in Spain.

2. Contents of the Liber The Liber is a religious treatise of seventy-three chapters which mostly deal with vices and virtues (Faith, Mercy, Envy, Pride, and so on) and with matters necessary to achieve perfection in the contemplative life such as ‘Examples of the Holy Fathers’, ‘Psalms and Hymns’, ‘Dreams’, and many others.12 It is part of a long tradition of male advice to female religious, which goes back to, among others, Ambrose, Augustine, Caesarius, and Jerome.13 Unlike the Ancrene Wisse, to which the Liber can be compared in many ways and with which it may be almost contemporaneous, the Liber is not a rule, since it is made clear that the recipient already is obedient to a rule.14 Instead, the text describes itself as providing religious exhortations for its audience.15 The Liber may be seen as a didactic work and one which reminds the reader of a collection of sermons. A regular feature of the text is to begin most chapters with a biblical quotation and to end them with the voice of the preacher.16 It is not surprising, therefore, that early printed editions of the work usually refer to each chapter as a ‘sermo’.17 11 

See Morris, ‘Birgittines and Beguines in Medieval Sweden’, p. 162, note 10. See also McGuire, ‘A Benedictine-Cistercian Source?’, pp. 81–82. McGuire also envisages the possibility that she may have received it from ‘Spanish clerics while she was living in Rome’ (p. 82). 12  See, respectively, Chapter 16, ‘De exemplis sanctorum’; Chapter 52, ‘De psalmis et hymnis’; and Chapter 68, ‘De somniis’. 13  Ambrose, De virginibus ad Marcellinam sororem suam, PL 16, 187A–232C; Augustine, Règle, ed. by Verheijen, i, 49–66, 105–07, 140–42; Caesarius of Arles, Regula ad virgines, PL 67, 1103C–20D; Jerome wrote several letters to a number of women, the best known of which is Jerome, Epistola xxii, Ad Eustochium. See Jerome, Select Letters, trans. by Wright, Letter xxii, pp. 52–158. 14  The addressee is told to ‘perfecte praeceptis Regulae adhae[rere]’, PL 184, 1297D, my emphasis. 15  The text begins thus: ‘Charissima mihi in Christo soror, diu est quod rogasti ut verba sanctæ admonitionis scriberem tibi’, PL 184, 1199A. 16  Chapter 1, for example, begins: ‘Dominus dicit in Evangelio: Omnia possibilia sunt credenti (Marc. ix, 22)’, PL 184, 1200A, and ends with the following exhortation: ‘Non admisceas vitium virtutibus, non adjungas malum bonis. Soror amabilis, Deum te incolumem custodiat. Amen’, PL 184, 1200C. 17  See Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1491); Bernard of Clairvaux,

4

Introduction

However, the Liber offers ‘almost exclusively a spirituality of the interior life’,18 and it may also be described as a contemplative text, in that it leads the reader towards meditation and contemplation in a non-prescriptive way, often in simply alluding to the mystical unio between God and the soul and, thus, implicitly encouraging contemplation. In other words, the significant number of quotations from the Song of Songs in the text creates a mystical atmosphere which incites the reader to make her own meditations. Indeed, during the course of the Middle Ages, Gregory the Great and others understood the Song of Songs primarily as a ‘contemplative book, through which one gain[ed] access to a personal encounter with God himself ’.19 Quotations from the Song of Songs, therefore, ‘urge […] upon the soul the love of the heavenly and the divine under the figure of the bride and the bridegroom, teaching us that we must attain fellowship with God by the paths of loving affection and love’.20 Bernard of Clairvaux’s emphasis on the Bridegroom as Christ and on the Bride as the soul in his interpretation of the Sermons on the Song of Songs means that in many subsequent devotional texts the Song of Songs was regarded as the biblical book expressing the union between the soul and Christ. This is certainly true of the Liber, where if the addressee is ‘sponsa Christi’, Christ is referred to as ‘sponsus tuus’ (whether or not these addresses are part of a quotation from the Song of Songs).21

3. Authorship Although The Manere of Good Lyvyng describes itself as ‘a devoute tretes of holy Saynt Bernard, drawne oute of Latyn into English’,22 the attribution to St Bernard has long been rejected. In the seventeenth century, Charles de Visch appears to attribute the Liber to another Cistercian, Thomas of Froidmont.23 Later in the Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1494); Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1507); and Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermoni deuotissimi (1508). 18  Watson, ‘The Methods and Objectives of Thirteenth-Century Anchoritic Devotion’, p. 136. 19  Astell, The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages, pp. 39–40. 20  Origen, Prologue to ‘The Commentary on the Song of Songs’, trans. by Greer, p. 232. ‘Incutit animae sub specie sponsae ac sponsi, caritatis et amoris viis perveniendum docens ad consortium Dei’. Origen, Commentaire sur le Cantique des cantiques, trans. by Brésard, Crouzel, and Borret, p. 132. 21  For example, ‘o sponsa Christi, necesse est […]’, PL 184, 1202C, ‘spes tua sit in Jesu Christo sponso tuo’, PL 184, 1201B. 22  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 1r. 23  ‘Scripsit insuper Thomas, Tractatus de contemptu mundi, ad memoratam sororem suam

Introduction

5

same century, Jean Mabillon included the Liber among St Bernard’s ‘Opera supposititia et aliena’, but without the attribution to Thomas.24 More recently some scholars have again proposed Thomas of Froidmont as the author of the Liber.25 However, Edmond Mikkers and Paul Gerhard Schmidt, who have both written on Thomas of Froidmont, have convincingly rejected the attribution.26 To date, as it is the case with many texts from the Middle Ages once thought to be the work of a well-known medieval author, the Liber remains anonymous. Whatever his identity, though, it is clear that the Liber’s author belonged to a religious order and was a ‘highly trained cleric’.27 The absence of any acknowledged reference to the Rule of St Benedict in the Liber,28 as well as the substantial influence of Hugh of St Victor and some direct quotations from the Rule of St Augustine (acknowledged or not), suggest that he might have been a follower of the latter Rule.29 As for the Liber’s date, internal and external evidence intimates that it was written between 1160 and 1260.30 Although the text contains qui M.S. asservatur etiam in Claravalle, teste Barnaba de Montalbo’, De Visch, Bibliotheca scriptorum sacri ordinis Cisterciensis, p. 248. Barnaba de Montalbo may have seen a manuscript of the text in Clairvaux, but it is not clear whether the text in question was the Liber and, if so, whether he believed that Thomas was the author. Note that in Henriquez, Phoenix Reviviscens, P. F. C. Henriquez discusses Thomas of Froidmont (whom he mistakenly refers to as ‘Thomas de Fonte Frigido’) but does not list the Liber among his works. 24  For Mabillon’s 1690 edition of St  Bernard’s Opera omnia, see Janauschek, Xenia Bernardina iv: Bibliographia Bernardina, no. 1306, pp. 272–75. He includes the Liber among the ‘Opera supposititia et aliena’, p. 274. For Mabillon’s later editions, see Janauschek, no. 1455, p. 301 and no. 1498, p. 308. 25  See Cavallera, ‘Bernard (Apocryphes attribués à Saint Bernard)’, col. 1500; Bloomfield and others, Incipits of Latin Works, no. 1759, p. 161, no. 1762, p. 162; Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50; Sharpe, A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 1703, pp. 641–42. 26  See Mikkers, ‘Een onuitgegeven brief van Thomas van Beverley’, pp. 245–63; Schmidt, ‘“Peregrinatio periculosa”: Thomas von Froidmont über die Jerusalemfahrten seiner Schwester Margareta’, pp. 462–63. 27  This is Dobson’s description of the Ancrene Wisse’s author. Dobson, The Origins of ‘Ancrene Wisse’, p. 6. 28  A number of scholars have dismissed any Benedictine authorship for the Liber. See McGuire, ‘A Benedictine-Cistercian Source?’, p. 84. However, McGuire (pp. 87–88; 91–93) points out in the Liber a number of echoes from the Rule of St Benedict which can be explained by the fact that the addressee was most probably a nun in a Benedictine community. 29  For specific examples, see Commentary. 30  St  Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons on the Song of Songs, which had an influence on the Liber, were written between 1135 and 1153. See Leclercq, ‘Les Étapes de la rédaction’,

Introduction

6

no datable historical references, it may be possible to refine this broad span to the end of the twelfth century or first quarter of the thirteenth century. The absence from the Liber of any of the usual catechetical lists (Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Virtues, and so on) points to a date before the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.31 Brian Patrick McGuire states: ‘to my mind the work belongs to the kind of advice for religious women that became popular in the twelfth century’.32

4. Title: The Manere of Good Lyvyng The Manere of Good Lyvyng is the title chosen by the translator for the unique Middle English translation of the Liber, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517. Indeed the vernacular text begins: A devoute tretes of holy Saynt Bernard, drawne oute of Latyn into English, callid The Manere of Good Lyvyng, which he sent unto his own suster, wherin is conteyned the summe of every vertue necessary unto Cristis religion and holy conversacion.33

However other unrelated vernacular texts (in manuscript or early printed form), bear similar titles. There is, for example, the anonymous poem ‘A Lernyng to Good Leuynge’34 and Richard Rolle’s ‘Form of Living’.35 Later, printed texts can also be found with similar titles: ‘A Short Rule of Good Life, Written by S. Bernard Abbot’, for example, which is in fact a translation of the Formula honestae vitae.36 pp. 213–44. One of the manuscripts of the Liber, Madrid, Bibl. nac. de España, MS 871, is dated 1267. See Lopes de Toro and others, Inventario General de Manuscritos de la Biblioteca Nacional, ii, MS 871, pp. 480–81. 31  It is well known that the Fourth Lateran Council put new emphasis on confession and penance. This resulted in a plethora of devotional works in Latin and the vernacular which listed and examined the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Sacraments, the Seven Works of Mercy, the Ten Commandments, and other such series. See Tanner, Decrees of Ecumenical Councils, I, article 21, p. 245. There are no such lists in the Liber, nor is there much emphasis on confession and penance. 32  McGuire, ‘A Benedictine-Cistercian Source?’, p. 86. 33  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 1r. 34  See Twenty-Six Political and Other Poems, ed. by Kail, pp. 96–101. 35  Richard Rolle, ‘The Form of Living’, in Rolle, Prose and Verse, ed. by Ogilvie-Thomson, pp. 3–25. There are also similar titles in other vernaculars, as, for instance, Jean Gerson’s ‘Miroir de bonne vie’. See Gerson, L’Œuvre française, ed. by Glorieux, no. 318, pp. 280–85. 36  See Pseudo-St Bernard, ‘A Short Rule of Good Life’, ed. by Rogers, pp. 402–20. Bell, ‘A Bibliography of English Translations of Works by and Attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux’, p. 97, notes that this is a ‘longer text than the abbreviated version in PL 184, 1167–72’. The

Introduction

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Unsurprisingly, the phrase ‘manere of lyvynge’ is used in devotional texts quite extensively to refer to the religious life,37 and texts which examine the ‘manere of lyvyng’ also often highlight ‘good lyvyng’. Since the concept of ‘good lyvyng’ is a prerequisite for the religious life, it is only to be expected that it should also frequently be encountered in devotional works. Walter Hilton alludes to ‘gode lyvynge’ at the very begining of Book i of the Scale of Perfection, for example. 38 A number of other writers adopt the phrase as well, for instance, Julian of Norwich and Nicholas Love.39 The plethora of texts using the phrases ‘manere of lyvyng’ and/or ‘good lyvyng’ shows that the Manere answers preoccupations which must have been shared by many religious communities of its time.

5. Manuscript Descriptions of Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 can be found in Coxe, Bodleian Library Quarto Catalogues, ii: Laudian Manuscripts and OgilvieThomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, Handlist xvi.40 It is a parchment quarto manuscript of 184 folios. Henry Coxe gives a rough date of ‘sec. XV’, and Ogilvie-Thomson specifies ‘written c. 1500’.41 Malcom Parkes identifies the Latin version was wrongly attributed to St Bernard. In the Dictionnaire de spiritualité, ed. by Viller and others, Cavallera states that the Formula honestae vitae may be the work of Bernard Silvestris but with the proviso ‘attribution contestée’. See Cavallera, ‘Bernard (Apocryphes attribués à Saint Bernard)’, cols 1499–1502. 37  See The Rewle of Sustris Menouresses Enclosid, ed. by Chambers and Seton, p. 82, fol. 49v, lines 10–13; Hilton, The Scale of Perfection, ed. by Bestul, p. 54, line 565; Kempe, Book, ed. by Windeatt, pp. 45, 47, etc.; The Myrour of Recluses, ed. by Harley, p. 4; and Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, ed. by Sargent, p. 19. 38  Hilton, The Scale of Perfection, ed. by Bestul, p. 31, lines 2–6. The phrase later occurs on p. 52, line 493. 39  See Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, chap. 35, p. 36, lines 5–6, and chap. 41, p. 43, line 32; Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, ed. by Sargent, p. 10, line 1, p. 11, line 34. Chapter 10 of Þe Twelue Frutes of þe Holy Gost is entitled: ‘The tenthe frute of þe tre of gostly liveris is Maner of good living’. See The Tree and XII. Frutes of the Holy Goost, ed. by Vaissier, pp. 124–31. See also The Doctrine of the Hert, ed. by Whitehead, Renevey, and Mouron, p. 3, line 26. 40  Respectively, Coxe, Bodleian Library Quarto Catalogues, ii: Laudian Manuscripts, p. 374; Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, pp. 50–51. 41  Respectively, Coxe, Bodleian Library Quarto Catalogues, ii: Laudian Manuscripts, p. 374; Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50.

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8

script as ‘fere-textura’ and the scribe as William Darker.42 As it is known that William Darker entered the Carthusian Order after 1471 and that he died in 1513, it would seem that he copied Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 roughly between 1480 and 1513. Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 contains four texts: 1. The Manere of Good Lyvyng, fols 1r–175r43 2. The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes, fols 175v–181r44 3. Seynt Albert the Byschop Seyth Thes Words, fols 181r–182r45 4. Of Pacyens to Be Had in Sekenes, fols 182r–184r46 Whoever devised the contents of the manuscript, it is clear that these four works were intentionally put together. The three short texts at the end of the manuscript share and complement a number of topics examined in The Manere of Good Lyvyng. ‘Seynt Albert the Byschop Seyth Thes Words’, in a more practical and perhaps less sophisticated manner, discusses the receiving of the Eucharist which is the subject of Chapter 28 in the Manere.47 ‘Of Pacyens to Be Had in Sekenes’ rehearses material found in Chapter 43 of the Manere,48 and both texts quote ii Corinthians 12. 10 and Revelation 3. 19.49 42 

Parkes, English Cursive Book Hands, p. 8. Jolliffe, A Check-List of Middle English Prose Writings of Spiritual Guidance, H. 23, p. 101, O. 36, p. 143; Lagorio and Sargent, ‘English Mystical Writings’, no. 82, pp. 3128–31, 3467–68). See also Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50. 44  See Jolliffe, A Check-List of Middle English Prose Writings of Spiritual Guidance, G. 19, p. 89; Raymo, ‘Works of Religious and Philosophical Instruction’, pp. 2255–2378, 2467–2582 (no. 77, pp. 2296–97, 2521–22). See also Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 51. For a transcription of this text, see Appendix I, pp. 461–65. 45  For an edition of this text, see Doyle, ‘A Text Attributed to Ruusbroec’, pp. 153–71 (pp. 169–71). For a transcription of this text, see Appendix I, p. 466. 46  Jolliffe, A Check-List of Middle English Prose Writings of Spiritual Guidance, J. 4, p. 117; Raymo, ‘Works of Religious and Philosophical Instruction’, no. 73, pp. 2295, 2521; OgilvieThomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 51. For a transcription of this text, see Appendix i, pp. 467–68. 47  ‘The xxviii exhortacion tretyth of þe receyvyng of the sacrament’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 87r–90r. 48  ‘The xliii exhortacion shewith […] þat seknes of þe bodye ys profetable to the servantis of God pacyently suffred’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 106v–109v. 49  For Revelation 3. 19, see Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 106v and 183r; for ii Corinthians 12. 10, see Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 107v and 182r. 43 

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However, it is ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ which both in contents and tone is closest to The Manere of Good Lyvyng. ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ not only refers to ‘Seynt Bernarde’50 but also is inspired by a genuine work of the Abbot of Clairvaux, ‘De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae’.51 Humility, pride, the correction of others, the brevity of this life, the avoidance of laughter, suffering in illness — all these subjects and more can be found in ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ and The Manere of Good Lyvyng. ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ also embraces the same exhortary tone: verbs used in the imperative mood, addresses to the reader, and at times a discreet first person intervention.52 Since ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ survives in a number of other manuscripts,53 it may be hazardous to claim that the latter was translated from Latin by the same translator as The Manere of Good Lyvyng.54 But the similarity in tone and content between the two texts, not to mention that ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ alludes to a ‘sustere’ and later to ‘oþere sustern dedis’ may suggest some rewriting of the ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ by the same translator.55 The manuscript is written throughout in brown ink. There are no illustrations or decorations of any sort, except for the initial letter of every chapter, which is a two-line-high capital in blue ink, usually inscribed within a red, geometrically decorated square. The argument at the head of each chapter is also rubricated, as are the few Latin quotations which occur in the text.56 Paragraph

50 

Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 176v. Bernard of Clairvaux, ‘De gradibus’, ed. by Leclercq and others, pp. 1–59. 52  For example: ‘And therfor, sustere, look not abacke’, ‘Wherfor I counsell you to be of lytell speche’, respectively, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 176v, 177r, my emphasis. 53  See Raymo, ‘Works of Religious and Philosophical Instruction’, no. 77, pp. 2521–22. 54  St Gregory is usually referred to as ‘Saynt Gregory’ in the Manere (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 29v, 50r, etc.), but as ‘Seynt Gregor’ in ‘The Twelve Degrees of Mekenes’ (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 175v), and the latter mentions on one occasion: ‘the desyres of hys flesch’ (fol. 181r, my emphasis) whereas The Manere of Good Lyvyng mostly (but not always) avoids the word. 55  Respectively, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 176v, 177r. Note that other versions of the text differ on this point. Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Rawl. C 894 (fol. 65v) and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Lat. th. e. 26 (fol. 139v) both read ‘broþer’ in the first instance, and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 220 (fol. 101v) has ‘brother or sister’. In the second instance, whereas Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 reads ‘oþere sustern dedis’, all three manuscripts have instead ‘oþer mennys doyngs’ (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Rawl. C 894, fol. 65v; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Lat. th. e. 26, fol. 140r; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 220, fol. 101v). 56  For the Latin quotations in the text, see fols 124r–v, 156r–v. 51 

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signs are indicated by two forward slashes in the same brown ink in which the text is written. Some passages have also been marked for attention in the margins by trefoils or hands, again in the same brown ink.57 It seems that the scribe went over his copy, as there is evidence of corrections: correct words are found in margins, and words have been erased and written over, usually by the same hand but at times perhaps in another hand.58 The first named owner of Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 is James Ussher (1581–1656), archbishop of Armagh, politician, and scholar.59 James Ussher was a serious scholar, the author of several books, and ‘happiest surrounded by manuscripts in a library’.60 He had a ‘rare gift for discovering and printing crucial primary sources’, and his works were ‘based upon extensive and often original manuscript research’.61 This scholarly interest may explain his ownership of Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, in spite of his known anti-Catholic stance.62 By 1633 the manuscript had passed into the possession of Archbishop William Laud (1573–1645).63 The politics of the times meant that Ussher met Laud,64 and this may explain how Laud obtained the manuscript. In 1630 Laud become chancellor of the University of Oxford and in 1635 gave more than one thousand manuscripts to the Bodleian Library, including Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517.65

57 

For trefoils in the margin, see fols 5v, 6r, 6v, etc. For pointing hands, see fols 8v, 10r, 12r, etc. 58  For words written in the margins, see fols 15v, 32v, 47r, etc. For superscript words added to the text, see fols 2v, 9v, 55v, etc. For marks of erasure and corrected text, see fols 9r, 19v, 112r. For words crossed out in red ink, see fols 33v, 58v. On fol. 64v one word has been marked for correction with three expuncted dots and crossed out in red ink. On fol. 95v one word has been crossed out in red, and the corrected word inserted in superscript. On fol. 147r one word has been marked for correction with expuncted dots, but no correction has been added. 59  See Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50; Coxe, Bodleian Library Quarto Catalogues, ii: Laudian Manuscripts, p. 374. 60  Ford, ‘Ussher, James (1581–1656)’, pp. 6–14. For Ussher’s own works, see Ford, sections 1631–39, 1640–49, 1647–55, pp. 10–13. 61  Ford, ‘Ussher, James (1581–1656)’, section 1594–1618, pp. 6–8. 62  Ford, ‘Ussher, James (1581–1656)’, section, 1619–24, pp. 8–9. 63  See Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50. 64  Ford, ‘Ussher, James (1581–1656)’, section 1625–35, pp. 9–10. 65  For details on Laud, see Milton, ‘Laud, William (1573–1645)’, pp. 655–70.

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6. The Manere of Good Lyvyng: Scribe and Recipients Although to identify the scribe of a given medieval manuscript is often impossible, it is known that Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 was copied by a monk of Sheen Charterhouse, William Darker.66 There is not much information about him, but Brendan Biggs has shown that he ‘studied at Oxford and was an usher at Eton from 1469 to 1471’.67 He later entered the Charterhouse of Sheen, where he died in 1513.68 So far ten manuscripts (including Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517) have been ascribed to his hand.69 Whether the translator, and William Darker, actually believed that St Bernard was the author of The Manere of Good Lyvyng is impossible to say, but in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there were strong reasons to ascribe a text in the vernacular to an untouchable auctoritas. Richard Whytford, the sixteenth-century Birgittine monk and writer, sets out the dangers of anonymity at the beginning of one of his own works: I founde nowe but very late a worke ioyned and bounde with my pore labours & vnder the contentes of the same volume/and one of my workes that was named in the same contentes lefte out, in sted whereof was put this other worke þat was not myne. […] In the other worke hathe no name of any auctour and all such workes in thys tyme be euer to be suspected. For so the heretykes do vse to sende forthe theyr poyson, amonge the people couered with suger […] Be þou ware therfore of all suche fatherles bokes, that nother haue the name of the auctour, nor of the translatour. Knowe what you rede, and what you suffre your chyldren to lerne. Specially […] medle not with the workes of nameles & vnknowne auctours I haue shewed you why.70

It is interesting to note that other translations spuriously attributed to the Abbot of Clairvaux were at times also thought to have been addressed to a relative of St Bernard.71 66 

See Parkes, English Cursive Book Hands, p. 8, plate ii. See Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, pp. 94–95. 67  Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, p. 93. 68  Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, p. 93. 69  See Parkes, English Cursive Book Hands, p. 8, plate ii; see also Doyle, ‘A Text Attributed to Ruusbroec’, pp. 160–61; Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, pp. 93–96, and note 42, p. 109; and ‘The Rewyll of Seynt Sauioure’ and Other Middle English Brigittine Legislative Texts, ed. by Hogg, ii, pp. iii–iv, note 5. 70  Whytford, Dyuers Holy Instrucyons and Teachynges, pp. A iv (not paginated)–A iir (paginated). 71  This is the case of the short text, usually entitled The Golden Epistle in English and Varia et brevia documenta pie seu religiose vivendi or Notabile documentum in Latin. See College, ‘English

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In his seminal thesis, ‘A Survey of the Origins and Circulation of Theological Writings in English in the 14th, 15th and early 16th Centuries’, Anthony Ian Doyle writes of Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 that it was ‘made […] for the nuns of Syon abbey […] (xv ex.)’.72 S. J. Ogilvie-Thomson also says of the manuscript that it was written ‘probably for the nuns of Syon Abbey’.73 There is no definite proof that this is the case, but all the evidence points in this direction. It is well known that William Darker copied at least one other manuscript for Elisabeth Gibbs, abbess of Syon Abbey,74 and a section of another manuscript for an unnamed Syon sister.75 William Darker, moreover, was not the only Carthusian of Sheen to write for the Birgittines of Syon. The Speculum devotorum, for example, was also written by a Carthusian of Sheen for a nun of Syon.76 The close friendship between Joanna Sewell, a nun of Syon, and the Sheen Carthusian James Grenehalgh, who annotated manuscripts for her, is also well documented.77 Furthermore, Versions of “The Golden Epistle”’, p. 122. On the same page College cites the beginning of one Middle English translation in London, British Library, MS Additional 37790 (‘Amherst’ MS): ‘This pistill made saynt Barnerde vnto his cosynn, the whiche is calde a goldynn pystill, for the grete abundannce of gostely fruyte that is contynede’ (fol. 95v, my emphasis). 72  Doyle, ‘Theological Writings in English’, i, p. 178. 73  Ogilvie-Thomson, The Index of Middle English Prose, p. 50. 74  Glasgow, GUL, MS Hunter T. 6. 18, a Middle English version of the Imitatio Christi. See Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, p. 93; see also Bell, What Nuns Read, A19, p. 186. 75  London, Lambeth Pal., MS 546, fols  57–77 v. See Bell, What Nuns Read, A 29, pp. 191–92. There is yet another manuscript copied by Darker for Syon, Cambridge, CUL, MS Ff.6.33, which belonged either to the brethren’s or to the sisters’ library and which contains a number of items of material similar to The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Rewyll of Seynt Sauioure (fols 38v–67r), The Rewle of Seynt Austyn (fols 88r–98v), and A Ladder of Foure Ronges by the which Men Mow Wele Clyme to Heuen (fols 115r–38r). The latter is a translation of Guigo II, Scala claustralium. See Bell, What Nuns Read, B3, pp. 201–02. 76  See The ‘Speculum devotorum’ of an Anonymous Carthusian of Sheen, ed. by Hogg. For another text translated by a Carthusian of Sheen for a Syon sister, see Selman, ‘Spirituality and Sex-Change’, pp. 63–79 (p. 63). In this context, it is interesting to note that in his 1537 edition of A dayly exercyse and experyence of dethe, Richarde Whytford also mentions Elisabeth Gibbs: ‘This lytle tretie, or draght of deth, dyd I wryte more than .xx. yeres ago | at the request of the reuerende Mother Dame Elizabeth Gybs | whome Iesu pardon | then Abbes of Syon. And by the oft callyng vpon | and remembraunce of certeyne of hyr deuout systers’, cited in Whytford, The Pype or Tonne of the Lyfe of Perfection, ed. by Hogg, i, part 2, p. 192. 77  Bartlett, ‘“A Reasonable Affection”: Gender and Spiritual Friendship’, pp. 131–45. See also Bartlett, Male Authors, Female Readers, pp. 86–89; Sargent, James Grenehalgh as Textual Critic, vol. i, pp. 85–92.

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Michael Sargent observed several decades ago that manuscripts of spiritual instruction were sent from Sheen to Syon.78 The Liber was certainly not unknown at Syon, for, as mentioned above, the Syon library possessed a copy of it.79 That Syon may have commissioned a translation of the Liber should not be surprising, for Syon was interested in translations of works by St Bernard, which at times were translated in domo: Richard Whytford, for example, translated St Bernard’s De praecepto et dispensatione for the Syon sisters in 1532.80 But the relationship between the Liber and the Birgittines goes further, for it seems that the Liber was also one of St Birgitta’s best loved works: one Latin manuscript now in Sweden bears the following inscription: Hunc librum qui intitulatur doctrina Bernardi ad sororem, portauit beata mater nostra sancta Birgitta continuo in sinu suo ideo inter reliquias suas asseruandus est.81

Since St Birgitta entertained a ‘special relationship’ with the Cistercian Order and believed that St Bernard wrote the Liber,82 and since the text focuses on women but jointly includes guidance for men throughout the work, it is only to be expected that the latter would be a favourite of hers, especially as her Order consisted of double monasteries.83 In addition to this, the possible Augustinian 78 

Sargent, ‘The Transmission by the English Carthusians of Some Late Medieval Spiritual Writings’, p. 228. 79  See Bateson, Catalogue of the Library of Syon Monastery, M114, p. 115; Gillespie, Syon Abbey, SS1, no. 847, p. 256. 80  See Bell, ‘“In Their Mother Tongue”’. For an edition of Whytford’s translation, see, Whytford, The Pype or Tonne of the Lyfe of Perfection, ed. by Hogg, iii, Text part 2, pp. 225–313. 81  See Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 in Andersson-Schmidt and Hedlung, Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Uppsala, iii, pp. 150–51. As noted above, there is yet another Latin manuscript of the Liber in Sweden, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 253. See AnderssonSchmidt and Hedlung, iii, pp. 171–72. Note that the Liber was also translated into Swedish. See Janauschek, Xenia Bernardina iv: Bibliographia Bernardina, no. 2423, p. 445: ‘Our blessed Mother St Birgitta continuously carried this book which is entitled the Doctrine of Bernard to His Sister in her lap [i.e., with her] and for this reason it must be kept among her relics’. 82  Note that for part of her married life, Birgitta lived near Alvastra, ‘the first Cistercian abbey in Scandinavia, founded in 1143’. France, ‘From Bernard to Bridget’, p. 484. A number of Cistercian monks also played an important role in her life. Peter of Alvastra, Birgitta’s confessor for thirty years, was himself a Cistercian. See Ellis, ‘Further Thoughts on the Spirituality of Syon Abbey’, p. 222. For a longer exposition of the influence of the Cistercians on the Birgittine Order, see France, ‘From Bernard to Bridget’, pp. 489–94. 83  The Birgittines had double monasteries with brethren and nuns lodged in separate build-

14

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authorship of the Liber itself would also make it of special interest to the monastery of Syon, since the Birgittine Rule, The Rewyll of Seynt Sauioure, is a reading of the Rule of St Augustine.84 All the evidence, therefore, points to the nuns of Syon Abbey as the recipients of The Manere of Good Lyvyng.

7. The Use of Images85 In many late medieval devotional texts, the reader is taught to meditate on the life of Mary or on Christ’s Passion by visually re-enacting these events in his imagination. In The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, for example, Nicholas Love explicitly states that his reader is to hear and see what he reads, ‘as þei þou herdest hem with þi bodily eres, or sey þaim with þin eyen’.86 Such advice Margery Kempe followed to the letter. Although Nicholas Love does not appear to specifiy who his audience is, he does mention that the text he translates ‘Bonauentre wrot […] to A religiouse woman in latyne’.87 It has also been said about the Ancrene Wisse, another work written for women and one which provides its readers with many images from daily life, ‘in the end, a man writing for women, and responding to his tradition’s construction of them, […] emphasize[s] the concrete, personal and contemporary, rather than the abstract and historical’.88 Since the Liber is yet another text written by a man to woman, ings. As discussed below, the almost systematic translation of gender-neutral expressions in the Liber, such as ‘nemo’ into ‘man or woman’ in The Manere of Good Lyvyng is also appropriate to a house of this Order. In this respect, it is interesting to note that Antonie Batt’s 1633 English translation addressed to a Benedictine nun does not imitate The Manere of Good Lyvyng. To take but one example, the Latin ‘nemo potest venire ad aeternam beatitudinem nisi per fidem’ (Liber, PL 184, 1200A) is translated by Batt as ‘no man can attaine to eternal blisse, but by faith’, my emphasis. A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 5. 84  See above, p. 5. For a brief assessment of the Rule of St Augustine and the Rule of St Saviour, see D’Evelyn, ‘Instructions for Religious’, nos 5–7, pp. 464–70, 656–57; for an edition of The Rewyll of Seynt Sauioure, see ‘The Rewyll of Seynt Sauioure’ and Other Middle English Brigittine Legislative Texts, ed. by Hogg. For a longer analysis of St Birgitta’s interest in the Liber, see McGuire, ‘A Benedictine-Cistercian Source?’, pp. 97–101. 85  Although this chapter examines the use of images in The Manere of Good Lyvyng, the same conclusions hold true of the Latin Liber. 86  Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, ed. by Sargent, p. 13, lines 2–3. 87  Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, ed. by Sargent, p. 10, lines 10–11. 88  Robertson, Early English Devotional Prose and the Female Audience, p. 57. Another text whose translation into Middle English is especially aimed at nuns and also delights in images taken from daily life is the Doctrine of the Hert.

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and The Manere of Good Lyvyng is most probably aimed at the Syon sisters, one might expect that the Manere would present its reader with an identical wealth of similes and metaphors inspired by daily life, in order to assist her to read ‘as þei þou sey[est] þaim with þin eyen’. On the contrary, however, The Manere of Good Lyvyng never encourages its reader to use his or her inner sight in such a way. Indeed biographical references to the Virgin Mary and Christ are rather rare in the Manere.89 The single allusion to Christ’s Passion in the text is strikingly restrained in its physical details of the sufferings endured by the dying Christ: Wel beloved sustere, lerne ye the sufferaunce of Cryste. Remembre Cryste and ye shal not be hevy of your injuryes for he, sufferyng for us, lefte us an exaumple. He, beeng bette with roddys, scourged, mocked and scorned, nayled and crowned with thorne, condempned to deth of the crosse, evere hylde his peace.90

Unlike Aelred’s De institutione inclusarum, which he wrote for his sister, and unlike Julian of Norwich’s A Revelation of Love, the Manere here gives no striking visual description of the Passion, there is no blood, nor are there any tormentors or witnesses.91 The reader is simply encouraged to imitate Christ’s behaviour in the face of adversity, not to empathize with him. When one examines the whole of the The Manere of Good Lyvyng, moreover, one cannot fail to recognize that, in contrast to the Ancrene Wisse, it usually avoids images of everyday life. In its discussion of silence, for example, the Ancrene Wisse tells the anchoress not to imitate the ‘cakele Eue’: Ȝe, mine leoue sustren, folhið ure Leafdi, ant nawt te cakele Eue. For-þi ancre, hwet-se ha beo, hu muchel se ha eauer cunne, halde hire stille. Nabbe ha nawt henne cunde. Þe hen, hwen ha haueð ileid, ne con bute cakelin. Ah hwet biȝet ha þrof ? Kimeð þe kaue ananriht ant reaueð hire hire eairen ant fret of þet schulde forð bringe cwkice briddes. Al riht alswa þe caue deouel bereð awei from cakelinde ancres ant forswolheð al þe god þet ha istreonet habbeð.92 89 

There are only two references to Mary in the entire text, and in only one of them is she presented as an example. See Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 113r (Liber, PL 184, 1267D). In the other occurrence, Mary is simply referred to as Joseph’s spouse, see Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 165r (Liber, PL 184, 1300C–D). 90  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 105r (Liber, PL 184, 1263A). 91  For comparison, see Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum, ed. by Hoste and Talbot, p. 670, lines 1148–64; and Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, especially chapters 7, 12, 16–17, pp. 7–9, 14–15, 18–20. 92  See Ancrene Wisse, ed. by Millett, p. 27, lines 289–96. ‘You, my beloved sisters, follow

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The farmyard imagery is unmistakable. The Manere also discusses silence, but in quite a different mode: The prophete Isaye sayth: ‘the bewty of all vertue ys sylence and a suerte for everemore’. David also, the prophete, in his prayer desired of God, sayeng: ‘putte, good Lorde, a custodye to my mouth and a dore of circumstance to my lyppes’ […] A clateryng virgyn ys a foole, a wyse virgyn wyll have few wordys.93

The reference to wise and foolish virgins reoccurs a number of times in the text in relation to the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.94 If the Manere does not use everyday images, it quotes instead Isaiah and David. In other words, it introduces scriptural authorities. Thus its reader is encouraged to use his or her mind, not his imagination or his interior sight. It does not follow from this preference for the intellectual rather than the visual that The Manere of Good Lyvyng contains no images, as the excerpt below demonstrates: My loved suster, her the voyce of your spouse, Jhesu Cryste, spekyng to you: ‘aryse, my love, and come to me, my love, for nowe ys wynter and rayn goon. Flowres have apperyd on the grownde, tyme of graffyng ys com, the voyce of þe turtyll ys hard in our grownde’ (Cant. 2. 10–12). That ys to seye, the voyce of thapostyls and prechours ys hard in þe Chyrch. The turtyl, þat ys a verey chaste byrd which ys wonte to bylde and abyde in hygh mounteyns and trees, signifyeth thapostyls and oþere doctours, which may seye with Scriptur: ‘our conversacion ys in heven’ (Phil. 3. 20).95

It is impossible not to be sensitive to the lushness and vernal rebirth of these lines from the Song of Songs,96 which bring relief from the sombre representation of the present life given earlier in the chapter, ‘full of mysery and wrecour Lady, and not the cackling Eve — because an anchoress, whatever she is, however much she knows, should keep quiet. She does not have the nature of a hen. The hen, when she has laid, can only cackle —and what happens on account of it? The crow comes right away and steals her eggs from her, and eats what should bring forth living birds. In just the same way the devil-crow carries off and swallows all the good which cackling anchoresses have given birth to’, Ancrene Wisse, trans. by Savage and Watson, p. 73. 93  For the whole passage, see Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 92r–93r (Liber, PL 184, 1254C–55B). 94  See below, note 101. 95  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fols 33v–34r (Liber, PL 184, 1218A–B). 96  They might also remind the reader of many a medieval romance, or even the very first words of the Canterbury Tales.

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chidnes’.97 However, there could be danger lurking in these lines, as January in Chaucer’s ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ shows only too well in his interpretation of precisely these verses from the Song of Songs, which he quotes as a prelude to marital sex: […] Januarie hath caught so greet a wil, Thurgh eggyng of his wyf, hym for to pleye In his gardyn, and no wight but they tweye, That in a morwe unto his May seith he: “Rys up, my wyf, my love, my lady free! The turtles voys is herd, my dowve sweete; The wynter is goon with alle his reynes weete. Come forth now, with thyne eyen columbyn! How fairer been thy brestes than is wyn! The gardyn is enclosed al aboute; Com forth, my white spouse!98

In The Manere of Good Lyvyng, the peril is averted by the way the author controls the reader’s interpretation of the scriptural quotation. The mention of ‘your spouse, Jhesu Cryste’ rather than Salomon, the presumed author of the Song of Songs, already precludes any literal, hence all too sensual, reading of the text.99 The gloss added by the author, moreover, prevents the reader from pondering the physical and natural images evoked by the biblical verses. And finally, the Manere emphasizes the reader’s ultimate goal with a quotation from the New Testament: ‘our conversacion ys in heven’. Thus, espousing St Augustine’s comment on the Song of Songs that he learns with ‘more pleasure’ with the assistance of images,100 The Manere of Good Lyvyng fully recognizes the necessity of including images in the text, but its images usually derive from the Scriptures.101 In other words, just as the Manere 97 

Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 33r (Liber, PL 184, 1217D). 98  Chaucer, The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Benson, ‘The Merchant’s Tale’, p. 165, lines 2134–44. 99  E. Ann Matter points out: there is ‘no “non-allegorical” Latin tradition of Song of Songs Commentary’. Matter, The Voice of my Beloved: The Song of Songs, p. 4. 100  See Augustine, De doctrina christiana, ed. by Martin, ii, pp. 35–36; and Augustine, On Christian Teaching, trans. by Green, ii, p. 33. 101  Not all images found in the Manere come from the Song of Songs. See, for instance, all the references throughout the text to the Wise and Foolish Virgins, which are taken from the Gospel according to Matthew. See Matthew 25. 1–12. Note also that occasionally images are taken from the field of physical labour. See, for example, the references to ‘a yong tendre tree’,

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advises its reader that ‘religyous persons […] ouȝte nevere to wander abrode outewarde, but to abyde contynually in the secrete religyon in the syȝt of God’,102 so it urges her not to let her inner sight freely wander back to the present world and to its secular images. Instead it redirects the reader’s sight to God through the medium of scriptural quotations. It is interesting to note that this restricted use of images in The Manere of Good Lyvyng, is not altogether dissimilar to the position held by the Cistercian William of St Thierry: William’s complete rejection of the image extends even to mental imagery, recognizing only a rudimentary level of spiritual development in which the soul that is not advanced is allowed to imagine the Passion of Christ. If one wishes to advance, one avoids all conceptions of the divine which invoke physical localization or even quality and quantity.103

The absence of images of the Passion, of Mary, or of daily life in The Manere of Good Lyvyng perhaps intimates that this work was not aimed at ‘beginners in the spiritual life’.104 It is all the more likely, therefore, that the Manere was copied for Syon Abbey for, as has long been recognized, Birgittine brethren and nuns were certainly not ‘lewde men & women […] of symple vndirstondyng’105 but were, on the contrary, highly educated. Bell indeed points out that ‘a number of nuns at the house […] seem to have had little difficulty in reading and appreciating Latin theology’.106

Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 2v (Liber, PL 184, 1200A); ‘cordenars’, fol. 12r (Liber, PL 184, 1205D); ‘tyle-stone’, fol. 82r (Liber, PL 184, 1247D). 102  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 158v (Liber, PL 184, 1296D–97A). 103  Rudolph, The ‘Things of Greater Importance’, p. 117. 104  Shepherd, quoted in Watson, ‘The Methods and Objectives of Thirteenth-Century Anchoritic Devotion’, p. 146. This statement is about the Ancrene Wisse. 105  Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, ed. by Sargent, p. 10, lines 6–7. 106  Bell, What Nuns Read, pp. 61–62.

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8. The Manere of Good Lyvyng: A Translation107 The Manere of Good Lyvyng is the first of four translations of the Liber into English.108 Although no request for a translation of the Liber into Middle English has survived, it is quite possible that a translation was specifically requested.109 The translator has remained anonymous, but given the work’s strong association with Sheen and Syon he may well have been a Carthusian of Sheen, since a number of Latin texts are known to have been translated by members of the Carthusian Order.110 This is the case, for instance, for the Mirror of the Life of Christ, translated by Nicholas Love of Mountgrace, or the Mirror of Simple Souls, rendered into English by another (anonymous) Carthusian.111 Unlike many other translators of the period, though, the translator offers no vernacular preface of his own in The Manere of Good Lyvyng.112 His modus operandi therefore has to be guessed at by a close comparison of the Liber and The Manere of Good Lyvyng, but since no manuscript of the Liber seems to have survived in England, this comparison can only remain tentative.113 The Manere of Good Lyvyng is a primary translation: in other words, unlike Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, which adapts rather than translates Boccaccio’s text, The Manere of Good Lyvyng follows the Liber.114 However, primary trans107  For a detailed analysis of the translator’s work, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, 300–22. 108  For an account of the later translations, see below, p. 26–37. 109  Such a request survives, for example, in Mechtild of Hackeborn, ‘The Booke of Gostlye Grace’, ed. by Halligan. See Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 220, fol. 13r. 110  As Halligan has observed, ‘brethren at Sheen were translators, scribes and donors at nearby Syon’. See Mechtild of Hackeborn, ‘The Booke of Gostlye Grace’, ed. by Halligan, pp. 52–53. 111  See Mechtild of Hackeborn, ‘The Booke of Gostlye Grace’, ed. by Halligan, p. 53, note 42. 112  For translations with a preface, see Wogan-Browne and others, The Idea of the Vernacular. See also The Doctrine of the Hert with its completely new Middle English prologue (The Doctrine of the Hert, ed. by Whitehead, Renevey, and Mouron, pp. 3–4); and The Orcherd of Syon with its ‘Translator’s Prologue’ (The Orcherd of Syon, ed. by Hodgson and Liegey, pp. 1–2, 16–17). 113  In the absence of a modern edition of the Liber, any conclusion on the Latin text has to be regarded with caution. Initial investigations suggest that the text remained stable. If this should be confirmed, it could be seen as the result of the Liber’s attribution to St Bernard. It may be precisely the lack of such ‘auctoritas’ which explains the ‘en mouvance’ status of De doctrina cordis and of the Ancrene Wisse. 114  Rita Copeland has identified two kinds of translations in the Middle Ages: ‘primary’ translations, which usually ‘announce themselves as translations by calling attention to their

20

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lations vary considerably in the degree of accuracy they adopt towards the original text. The Manere of Good Lyvyng is a faithful (but not literal) translation, in that there are no major additions or cuts to the original Latin.115 The only substantial additions in the vernacular text, although perhaps not additions strictly speaking, are the arguments (or extended titles) introduced at the beginning of each chapter. On the whole, the translator’s intention is very much the text’s ‘translatio’ from one medium into another, ensuring that the work’s initial message is wholly transferred into the vernacular. However, the translator has introduced some changes into his text which for the greater part are wholly in keeping with other contemporary religious translations.116 When one examines in more detail theses changes, one recognizes that a number of these are simply due to the two different linguistic media, Latin and English. For example, Latin verbal adjectives are often replaced by verbs: ‘ut semper habeant hostem cui resistant pro excutienda inertia’ becomes ‘that they may have contynually an enemye to resiste and kepe them from slouggyschnes’; 117 or substantivized participles are expanded into relative clauses: ‘quia sperantes in Domino misericordia circumdabit’ is translated as ‘whos mercie shall preserve all them þat truste faythfully in hym’.118 dependence upon — and service to — the original text’; and ‘secondary’ translations, which ‘stress […] the inventional power of the translator’. See Copeland, Rhetoric, Hermeneutics, and Translation, pp. 93–94. 115  An example of a primary translation that drastically reduces the Latin original is The Doctrine of the Hert. See Mouron, ‘The Doctrine of the Hert’, pp. 85–108. 116  When one compares The Manere of Good Lyvyng with the Myroure of Oure Ladye, with Aelred’s De institutione inclusarum, or with De vita religiosorum (a unique Middle English translation of the Expositio in Regulam Beati Augustini, attributed to Hugh of St Victor; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 255, of which I am preparing an edition), it seems that by the end of the fifteenth century, most translators ‘folowe the sentence’ rather than ‘the wordes’: The Myroure of Oure Ladye, ed. by Blunt, p. 7. 117  Respectively, PL 184, 1209C–D; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 18v, my emphasis. 118  Respectively, PL  184, 1201B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol.  4 v, my emphasis. Latin words sometimes have no real equivalent in English, and so alternative expressions are necessary: ‘fraudem Deo facimus’, PL 184, 1209D; ‘we doo disseyve God’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 19r, my emphasis. Latin impersonal verbs are often translated by personal verbs: ‘nolo etiam te lateat’, PL 184, 1202A; ‘I wold ye shuld knowe’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 6r; in all these examples, my emphasis. The order of words may be altered in order to avoid awkwardness: ‘male vivendo non polluas fidem’, PL 184, 1200C; ‘defyle not, therfor, feyth in evel lyvyng’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol.  3v.

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Other changes are common practice in translations of the period. Some are lexical,119 others grammatical, as when passive clauses are translated by active ones.120 John Trevisa, in his Epistle to Thomas, Lord Berkeley, had mentioned specifically: ‘in somme place Y mot chaunge the rewe and ordre of wordes, and sett the actif for the passif, and ayenward’. 121 The presence in The Manere of Good Lyvyng of these characteristics which are commonly encountered in other translations of the period shows that the translator was aware of the practices used by translators of the times. These common characteristics also include changes made to translations which cater for a new, that is, a vernacular, audience. When Latin texts not especially aimed at a female audience are rendered into the vernarcular, one such practice is to specifically include female readers in the Middle English version. Ellis points out that ‘when writing for women, translators occasionally gloss the grammatical and pronominal relations of the original to show readers that they are included’.122 The phrase typically used in these vernacular translations is ‘manne or womman’.123 Although the Latin Liber is already addressed And many other changes can simply be explained by the difference in language, be they grammatical, semantic, or stylistic variants. 119  ‘Monasterium’, for instance, is usually translated by ‘religion’, ‘Deus’ by ‘Almyghty God’. For ‘Monasterium/Religion’, see Liber, PL 184, 1212B, and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 23v; Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 882B; De vita religiosorum, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 255, fol. 2v. The provenance for this manuscript is the Dominican Nuns Priory of Dartford in Kent. See Bell, What Nuns Read, pp. 131–32. For ‘Deus/Almyghty God’, see Liber, PL 184, 1202C, and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 6v; and Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 884A and De vita religiosorum, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 255, fol. 4r. 120  One such example is ‘Ergo ille est perfectus, qui mente et corpore a saeculo est elongatus’ (PL 184, 1211B), which is rendered as ‘Therefor, he is perfitte þat both yn bodye and soule hath geve up the worlde’, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 22r, my emphasis. 121  Quoted in Wogan-Browne and others, The Idea of the Vernacular, pp. 134–35. Other grammatical changes include the following: two nouns, of which the second is in genitive in Latin, are coordinated instead by ‘and’ in the vernacular: ‘pax unitatis’ (PL 184, 1229A) becomes ‘pees and unyte’ (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 51v); ‘quam concordiae unitatem’ (Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 898A) as ‘the unyte and concorde’ (De vita religiosorum, Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Bodley 255, fol. 16v). For more examples, see Ellis, ‘The Choices of the Translator’, p. 33. 122  In Ellis, ‘The Choices of the Translator’, pp. 27–28, Roger Ellis gives several examples such as the Orologium or the Speculum devotorum. See also Carruthers, ‘In Pursuit of Holiness Outside the Cloister’, p. 221. 123  See Ellis, ‘The Choices of the Translator’, p. 28.

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to a ‘charissima[e] mihi in Christo soror’, nevertheless it retains at times grammatically masculine terms.124 However, one of the immediately visible changes brought into The Manere of Good Lyvyng, and which it shares with the Middle English translation of the Expositio in Regulam Beati Augustini, attributed to Hugh of St Victor, De vita religiosorum, is the frequent translation of grammatically masculine but gender-neutral expressions in the Latin (‘nemo’, etc.) as ‘no man or woman’ and ‘man and woman’ into Middle English.125 The majority of the changes introduced by medieval translators usually aim at making the vernacular more explicit, since a given standard of education and knowledge may not always be taken for granted with a vernacular (not Latin) readership. Indeed, as Jacques de Vitry said: When we speak in the Latin idiom in a community or gathering of wise men, we can then say many things because it is unnecessary to descend to details. To laymen, however, it is necessary to demonstrate everything almost visibly and sensibly, so that the preacher’s word may be open and clear ‘as a signet of an emerald in a work of gold’ (Eccl. 32. 7).126

Although Jacques de Vitry makes his point specifically about lay people, the same principle applies to vernacular religious audiences, although perhaps not to the same extent. One such change often encountered in contemporary translations is the addition of glosses. For example, both the The Manere of Good Lyvyng and De vita religiosorum quote Ephesians 4. 26, and both texts add a gloss to their translation of the Latin verse.127 Similarly, translations of the period tend to favour common and daily expressions over Latinate words.128 For instance, ‘terror gehennae’ becomes simply ‘the feer of hell’129 or ‘contaminat plurima’ is translated as ‘doeth oftentymes muche hurte’.130 124  Note that using the masculine in this way to refer to both men and women was the norm at the time. In addition, the fact that many of these statements are unacknowledged quotations may also explain why masculine pronouns are retained in the Latin and the Middle English. 125  For details, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 304–05. 126  Paris, BN MS n.a.l. 1537 fol. 1ra–rb, quoted in Constable, ‘The Language of Preaching’, p. 142. Constable does not cite the Latin original. 127  See Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, p. 306. 128  See Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, p. 310. 129  Respectively, PL 184, 1201B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 4v. 130  Respectively, PL 184, 1200C; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 3v. For more

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But there are other areas where the The Manere of Good Lyvyng departs from the common norm of the times and follows a more individual path. One such idiosyncrasy, as the following example shows, is a tendency in the vernacular text to avoid translating ‘sanctus’ by ‘holy’, when it does not qualify saints: Cedrus itaque atque cypressus arbores sunt imputribilis naturae, et signant sanctos Dei. The cedar tre and þe spruse tre be of nature incorruptible, and they betoken the devoute servantis of God.131

Another feature specific to the Manere is the translator’s avoidance of the word ‘flesh’ as well as of any expression which could lead to an unchaste interpretation. For example: ‘Nihil prodest habere carnem virgineam’ is rendered as ‘Hit profetyth nothyng to have a chaste body’.132 Since the Liber was already addressed to a religious sister, and since there is only one translation into Middle English, it would be hazardous to claim that this prudishness in the vernacular version is due to the female audience.133 However, it could be seen as the translator embracing further the text’s anxieties concerning everyday images by minimizing carnality.134 In The Manere of Good Lyvyng, the translator does not leave out material, but at times omits or combines phrases, clauses, and whole sentences that repeat material already presented. In these instances, he does not modify the examples, see the Commentary. For other ways in which The Manere of Good Lyvyng espouses translation practices of the time, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 307, 310–11. 131  Respectively, PL 184, 1237B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 64v, my emphasis. For more examples, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 308–09. 132  Respectively, PL 184, 1239A; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 67v, my emphasis. For more examples, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 309–10. 133  Note that other translations of the period owned by nuns do not share this characteristic with The Manere of Good Lyvyng. See Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, p. 309. 134  It is interesting to note that in the Speculum vitae, ‘flesh’ seems to have an overtone of lechery, since the latter is described as ‘an outrageus luf / In flesshely lykyng’ and a ‘flesshely dede of fole delyte’; it causes one ‘to synne flesshely thurgh sight’ and ‘stirs þe flesshe’, my emphasis. See Speculum vitae, ed. by Hanna, ii, 303–04, lines 9119–20; p. 305, line 9152; p. 307, line 9211; p. 307, line 9240, my emphasis.

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contents of the text, but only its form, and by reducing the number of repetitions present in the Latin, the Manere makes the text more striking and more effective.135 The translator’s attention to matters of style is also evident in his treatment of paronomasia for which he shows considerable skill and evinces great artistic sensitivity. To give but one example, he does not attempt to reproduce the paronomasia of the following sentence into English: ‘Omnes reprehendunt detractorem, omnes vituperant detrahentem, omnes dehonestant illum qui detrahit’,136 but succinctly and forcibly translates it as: ‘Every good person reproveth a detractour or a backbiter and dispyseth hym’.137 ‘Geminatio’ (i.e., the ‘predominance of stylistically redundant wordpairs’)138 is common in ‘many translations of the period’.139 It is not surprising, therefore, that it features prominently in The Manere of Good Lyvyng, where it is often used in order to render the vernacular text clearer or more explicit.140 Nevertheless, the translator further uses ‘geminatio’ repeatedly within a given passage in order to draw attention to the point the text is making. In Chapter 11, ‘De tristitia’, for example, the word ‘tristitia’ is sometimes simply translated as ‘hevynes’, but it is also sometimes rendered by ‘sorow and hevynes’ and by ‘hevynes and pensyfnes’.141 The use of doublets here stylistically breaks the monotony of too many repetitions of the same word (i.e.. ‘hevynes’) and by so doing highlights the didactic message of the passage. The translator’s ability in rendering Latin paronomasia and in using ‘geminatio’ to the best effect demonstrates his deep linguistic understanding of Latin and English, but it is at work elsewhere in the Middle English text. When he renders ‘salus […] promittitur’ by ‘perpetuall helth ys promysed’, for example, 135 

For specific examples, see Speculum vitae, ed. by Hanna, ii, 311–13. PL 184, 1256C, my emphasis. 137  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 94v. For a more detailed analysis of paronomasia and ‘geminatio’ in the Manere, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 313–15. 138  Worth-Stylianou, Practising Translation in Renaissance France, p. 18. 139  Worth-Stylianou, Practising Translation in Renaissance France, p. 18. 140  For specific examples, see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 314–15. See also Commentary. 141  PL 184, 1220A–B and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 37r; PL 184, 1220B and Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 37r. Later, in the same sentence, the translator emphasizes the contrast between ‘tristitia’ and ‘gaudium’ by introducing two doublets: ‘eris tristis’ is translated as ‘þou shalt […] be hevy or pensyfe’ and ‘gaudium’ by ‘gladnes and joye’ (PL 184, 1220B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 37r). 136 

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he aptly renders both meaning of the Latin word ‘salus’, ‘health’, and ‘salvation’, by his addition of the adjective ‘perpetuall’.142 He also frequently evinces great poetic flair, as is shown in both examples below: Ars vero divini timoris multos habet sectatores trepidos, languidos, et pigritiae inertia congelatos. the werke of the fere of God hath many folowers þat be slak, faynt, sory, and conjeyled with the colde ignorance of slouth.143

The contrast between the three short adjectives, ‘slak, faynt, sory’, and the long phrase, ‘and conjeyled with the colde ignorance of slouth’, literally slows down the text into inertia which is further heightened by the alliteration (‘conjeyled’/‘colde’). In the following excerpt the Latin repeats ‘optimus’ three times, which the translator does not render by its literal meaning ‘best’ but instead prefers ‘gay’, ‘fresch’, and ‘gaye’ again. ‘Quomodo obscuratum est aurum, mutatus est color ejus optimus? (Thren. IV. 1)’ […] Color optimus auri significat habitum sanctitatis, qui per bona opera prius erat pretiosus atque optimus. ‘how ys it þat pure gold ys made blak, and hys gay colour chaunged?’ […] The fresch colour of the golde signifyeth the holy habite, which by good werkys was very precious and gaye.144

His choice of adjectives apparently switches the attention from quality (‘the best’) to the visual aspect of the gold (‘blak’, ‘gay’, and ‘fresch’), which not only makes the whole passage more vivid but also, in so doing, brilliantly underlines the quality of the gold by the use of adjectives which through association (‘gay’ with happiness, ‘fresch’ with something newly made, bright and pure) emphasizes the positive aspect, the goodness of the ‘holy habite’ and of the ‘good werkys’.145 142 

See, respectively, PL 184, 1238B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 66r, my emphasis. 143  See, respectively, PL 184, 1209D–1210A; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 19r, my emphasis. 144  Respectively, PL 184, 1296C; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 158r, my emphasis. Compare with the King James version, ‘How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!’ 145  Here the translator does use more visual terms, but the images he evokes are used to refer to the religious life, i.e., the nun’s habit.

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The translator’s careful renderings of paronomasia, his practice of ‘geminatio’, and his poetic skill are all of necessity localized interventions, but his influence on The Manere of Good Lyvyng also extends over larger sections of the text, if not over the whole work. It is noteworthy, for example, that he often reminds his reader of the purpose of the text by emphasizing its Middle English title. Thus ‘omnis quippe justus’ becomes ‘for every good lyver’, or ‘emenda te ipsam’ is translated ‘amende your lyvyng’.146 He also creates his own pattern of words and concepts echoing throughout the text. He regularly introduces the concept of grace, when the latter is absent from the Latin Liber: ‘nisi a Deo’ becomes ‘withoute the grace of God’, for example.147 This addition may not be entirely unexpected here, in Chapter 3, ‘De gratia Dei’, but it later occurs far beyond its confines. In the next chapter, ‘De timore Dei’, ‘spiritum adoptionis filiorum’ is translated as ‘þe spirit of adopcion in grace’; and in Chapter 10, ‘De compunctione’, the reference to Christ as ‘Dei Filium’ becomes ‘the son of God abydyng by grace in them’.148 In all the examples cited in this section, the translator certainly provides his reader with ‘best sentence and moost solaas’.149 When one examines The Manere of Good Lyvyng in detail, one cannot but be struck by the thoroughness and quality of the rewriting. Whoever he was, the translator must have been a considerable writer in his own right.

9. Later Versions in English In addition to The Manere of Good Lyvyng, there are three later translations of the Liber into Modern English. First, Thomas Paynell’s 16th-century version, A compendius and a moche fruytefull treatyse of well liuynge, contaynyng the hole summe and effect of al vertue, was written for Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary.150 146 

Respectively, PL 184, 1201B; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 4v; and PL 184, 1201C; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 4v, my emphasis. For further examples, see Commentary. 147  Respectively, PL 184, 1201D; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 5v, my emphasis. 148  Respectively, PL 184, 1205A; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 10v; and PL 184, 1218A; Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 33v, my emphasis. For further examples, see Commentary. 149  Chaucer, The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Benson, ‘General Prologue’, p. 36, line 798. 150  A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell. See also Short-Title Catalogue, ed. by Pollard and Redgrave, i, 80, no. 1908.

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Thomas Paynell (1528–1567) was an Austin friar who seems to have fared rather well, as he became chaplain to Henry VIII and continued to enjoy royal favour with Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, and he dedicated books to all of them.151 His translation of the Liber differs from The Manere of Good Lyvyng in that he adapts the text to a secular and royal audience: the Princess Mary. Paynell’s input into his translation of the Liber for the Princess can be measured in two related ways: secularization and recognition of the addressee’s royal status. This becomes immediately evident when considering the table of contents, for fifteen chapters have been expunged from the 1545 translation. All chapters strictly concerned with the religious life, that is to say, chapters on novices, conversion, singing, fulfilling one’s vows, ‘discretio’, and not wandering outside the monastery have been excised.152 Similarly, chapters on possessions, fleeing secular women, fleeing men, fleeing young men, fleeing evil company, receiving letters or gifts, disregarding beauty, avoiding laughter, and the final intercession on behalf of the author have also all been omitted, as their advice is obviously not quite suitable (or even practical) for a royal princess.153 Secularization and concessions to Princess Mary’s social rank also invade the text in smaller and less visible ways. For example, when the Liber says ‘amor Jesu Christi sponsi mei, semper erit inter mammillas meas, hoc est, in corde meo’,154 Paynell translates ‘the loue of christ Jesu shalbe euermore in my hart’,155 thus omitting the perhaps too religious ‘me[um] spons[um]’. He similarly leaves out the phrase ‘inter mammillas meas’, which would at best be quite awkward if referring to the Princess. In contrast, The Manere of Good Lyvyng says: ‘the love of my spouse Jhesu Cryste shal be allweye betwen my brestis’.156 Paynell may also leave out words or phrases which he perhaps regarded as too sensitive for a princess: 151 

His literary output is mostly one of translations, of which the majority are of a religious or educational character. See Pollard, ‘Paynell, Thomas’, pp. 572–74. See also Eatough, ‘Paynell, Thomas (d. 1564?)’, pp. 225–27. 152  That is, chapters 6, 7, 52, 62, 63, and 66. 153  That is, chapters 48, 57–61, 64–65, and 73. Paynell does not discuss such omissions; he only refers to them implicitly: ‘After I had gathered and translated certayne chapters of this fruytful and vertuous boke’, A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell, Dedicatory letter, my emphasis. For a complete transcription, see Appendix ii. 154  PL 184, 1221C. 155  A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell, fol. 45v. 156  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 39v. Paynell does not systematically suppress the reference to Jesus as the addressee’s spouse but often omits it.

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Liber: Superiori gradui aequalem te non exhibeas.157 Paynell: [omitted] MS Laud misc. 517: be ye not equall to your betters.158

A princess obviously has no betters. Similarly, Paynell finds it prudent to avoid allusions to the regal power of God. The verb ‘regnare’, for example, is often replaced by another verb: Liber: Pro amore Christi luge, pro amore Christi plange, donec eum merearis videre in dextera Patris sui regnantem. Amen.159 Paynell: loke ye wepe and wayle to come to his loue, and vntyll ye maye se hym syt vpon the ryght hande of his father.160 MS Laud misc. 517: For his love, be hevy and sorowfull unto þe tyme ye may se hym reyghnyng on the ryght hande of the Fadyr of heven. Amen.161 Liber: si pro Christo fueris obediens tuis praelatis, cum Christo regnabis in coelis.162 Paynell: if, for the loue of god, ye be obedyente and buxum to youre superyours, ye shall obtayne the kyndome of heuen.163 MS Laud misc. 517: yf ye for Crystis love be obedient to your prelatis, ye shall with Cryst reigne in heven.164

If The Manere of Good Lyvyng is adapted to a vernacular audience, Paynell’s translation is adapted further to a secular and royal one. The second translation into Modern English is Antony Batt’s 1633 rendering addressed to ‘Dame Francis Gawen, of the holie Order of S. Benet, and first Abbesse of the cloister of our Ladie of comfort in Cambray’, whose brother Batt may have known.165 Our Lady of Comfort was founded in 1623 for English 157 

PL 184, 1235A. Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 61r. 159  PL 184, 1222C–D, my emphasis. 160  A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell, fol. 47v, my emphasis. 161  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 40v, my emphasis. 162  PL 184, 1235A, my emphasis. 163  A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell, fol. 73r, my emphasis. 164  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 60v, my emphasis. 165  See Short-Title Catalogue, ed. by Pollard and Redgrave, i, 81, no. 1923. For the refer158 

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Benedictine nuns in exile, and the foundation is well known for the presence among them of Gertrude More (great-great-granddaughter of Sir Thomas More) and of Augustine Baker, their spiritual father from 1624 to 1633. Our Lady of Comfort and its daughter house in Paris, Our Lady of Good Hope, are also responsible for the two surviving complete manuscripts of Julian of Norwich.166 This is not surprising, since Augustine Baker’s interest in medieval spirituality is often commented upon.167 Information on Antony Batt is scarce: he seems to have made his profession ‘as a monk of the recently founded English Benedictine priory of St Laurence’s at Dieuleward in Lorraine’ in 1615 or 1616 and died in 1651.168 It is not known whether Batt and Baker knew each other, but among Baker’s reading lists, Jan Rhodes notes: ‘“A Booke of Saint Bernard, written hande” […] among the “treatises of my making” in Osborn MS, p. 254’, which could be a copy of the Liber.169 Rogers also mentions that: ‘an unpublished translation by Batt survives in a manuscript at Ampleforth (MS. 86) transcribed by Augustine Baker’s own hand in 1632’.170 Batt is said to have been ‘a great promoter and practiser of regular discipline, [and] a famous translator of many pious books into English’.171 Although lay readers are not excluded, with Batt’s version of the Liber the text reverts to a religious audience.172 Batt’s translation of the Liber is remarkable for the faithfulness with which he renders the Latin text. Unsurprisingly, then, no chapter ence to Dame Gawen’s brother, see Appendix iii, p. 478. By 1633 Dame Francis Gawen was no longer abbess. She resigned in 1629 and was replaced by Catherine Gascoigne. See Hall, ‘Dame Gertrude More (1606–1633)’, pp. 261–79 (269–70). 166  See Julian of Norwich, Writings, ed. by Watson and Jenkins, pp. 12–17. For the Cambrai School, see Spearritt, ‘The Survival of Mediaeval Spirituality’, pp. 19–41. 167  See Hall, ‘Dame Gertrude More (1606–1633)’, pp. 263, 272–76. See also Rhodes, ‘Dom Augustine Baker’s Reading Lists’, pp. 157–73. 168  See Rogers, ‘Antony Batt: A Forgotten Benedictine Translator’, pp. 180. 169  See Rhodes, ‘Dom Augustine Baker’s Reading Lists’, p. 167. 170  See Rogers, ‘Antony Batt: A Forgotten Benedictine Translator’, p. 193. 171  Cooper, ‘Batt, Anthony (d. 1651)’, p. 1335. See also Bellenger, ‘Batt, Anthony (d. 1651)’, p. 370. 172  The title page unambiguously states that the Rule of Good Life is ‘especiallie for Virgins, and other Religious woemen; and may profitably be read likewise by all others, that aspire to Christian perfection’. A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, title page. In the dedicatory letter, Batt refers to his translation as ‘this holie Treatise, this heauenly pearle, this perfect Institution of a virginal life’, p. a2v. See Appendix iii for a transcription.

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is omitted from his rendering, but his faithfulness to the Liber goes much further. Compared to The Manere of Good Lyvyng, there are only few omissions, and there is generally no rewriting or combining of sentences. Consider the following passage: Liber: His duplex est poena et damnatio: gemina his percussio est: quia et hic habent judicia tormentorum, et illic supplementum poenarum.173 MS Laud misc. 517: And so, to all suche ys dowble payne and dampnacion, for they have here a begynnyng of their tormentis, and in tyme to come they receyve the residue of theyr contynuall paynes.174

Here the Manere omits ‘gemina his percussio est’, for the repetition is not felt necessary, but Batt retains the phrase: Batt: To these is due a two fold paine and damnation; to these doth appertaine a double percussion: because they haue both heere the sentence of torments, and there the supplie of punishments.175

In the Liber the passage continues thus: Manus igitur Dei te ad poenam tradidit, indignatio Dei te affligi jussit. Ipse iratus jussit te mala omnia experiri.176

Since the whole chapter focuses on the humble acceptance of sickness as beneficial to the soul and not so much on deserving punishment for the sins one has committed, The Manere of Good Lyvyng appropriately does not translate these two sentences.177 But again, Batt’s rendering faithfully translates these lines:

173 

PL 184, 1265C. Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 109r–v. Incidentally, note that MS Laud misc. 571 here differs from PL 184. Whereas PL 184 has ‘judicia’, MS Laud misc. 517 translates ‘begynnyng’, which agrees with the reading ‘initium’ in Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 76v. It would appear that PL 184 does not have the correct reading. 175  A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 287. 176  PL 184, 1265C. 177  It may also be that the Middle English translator felt that such harsh words would be unsuitable for his vernacular audience. Sister Candon has observed something similar in the Middle English translation of De doctrina cordis, which was addressed specifically to a female audience. She notes the omission in the vernacular version of ‘many passages which for want of a better word I shall call virile’. ‘The Doctrine of the Hert’, ed. by Candon, p. lxi. 174 

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The hand of God therefore hath deliuered you to be punished; the indignation of God hath commanded that you be afflicted, he hath ordained in His anger that you haue a tast of all aduersities whatsoeuer.178

It would appear, therefore, that Batt is more concerned about translating the Liber faithfully than accommodating the text to his seventeenth-century audience.179 Such faithfulness at times leads Batt to un-Englishness in his choice of words, what Richard Whytford would describe as ‘not after the commune Englysshe of this countree’,180 i.e., an abundance of Latinate vocabulary. His translating ‘percussio’ by ‘percussion’ in the above quotation is a case in point, but there are many others: Liber: Jesus Christus sponsus tuus non te contristabit.181 Batt: Iesus Christ will not contristat you.182 MS Laud misc. 517: [omitted]. Liber: Melius est tibi in claustro sedere, quam plateas civitatis circuire.183 Batt: It is better for you to remaine in your monasterie, then to circuit the streetes of the citie.184 MS Laud misc. 517: Hit ys bettere for you to sytte in your cloystere than to goo aboute the stretys of the cyte or town.185

Indeed, one nineteenth-century editor of another of Batt’s translations, John Fisher’s Treatise of Prayer, goes so far as to say of Batt’s style: ‘the text has no intrinsic merit, being somewhat involved in its manner, and, like many productions of its time, much affected for the worse by imitation of the Latin’.186 178 

A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 287. In his translation of John Fisher’s A Treatise of Prayer, Batt again reiterates this concern: ‘My care hath onely been to render him faythfullie […] as the gravitie of the argument requires, not giuing him any other ornament then that of truth’. Fisher, A Treatise of Prayer, ed. by Cody, p. xii. 180  Whytford, The Rule of Saynt Augustyne, A iir. 181  PL 184, 1306D, my emphasis. 182  A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 482 (mistakenly paginated 483), my emphasis. 183  PL 184, 1297B, my emphasis. 184  A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 438, my emphasis. 185  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 159v, my emphasis. 186  Fisher, A Treatise of Prayer, ed. by Cody, pp. vii–viii. 179 

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Such statement is perhaps unnecessarily harsh, for Batt’s preference for Latinate expressions is part of a re-evaluation of the text’s register. Batt may not care for words which are too common. He seems to favour a formal vocabulary which underlines the seriousness and solemnity of the subject. This becomes apparent in the following instances: Liber: et scientiam Scripturarum semper in ventre memoriae congregat.187 Batt: and [she] continually gathereth together the knowledge of the holy scriptures within the receptacle of her remembrance.188 MS Laud misc. 517: and when she gadreth togydere in hyr memorye the knoulege and doctryne of Scriptur.189 Liber: quando plus laetantur in conviviis et locutionibus divitum, quam in paupertate et abstinentia religiosorum fratrum.190 Batt: sithence they take greater delectacion in the banquets and discourses of rich men, than in the pouertie and abstinence of their religious brethren.191 MS Laud misc. 517: when they be more glad at the festys of ryche men than in poverte and abstynence of religyous brethren.192 Liber: Melius est quiescere intra parietes monasterii, quam apparere in conspectu populi.193 Batt: It is better to repose at home in your cell, then to appeare in the sight of the people.194 MS Laud misc. 517: Hyt ys better to abyde withyn the wallys of the monasterye than to be in þe siȝte of peple.195

187 

PL 184, 1297D, my emphasis. A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 440, my emphasis. 189  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 160r, my emphasis. 190  PL 184, 1297A, my emphasis. 191  A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 437, my emphasis. 192  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 159r–v, my emphasis. 193  PL 184, 1297C, my emphasis. 194  A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt, p. 438, my emphasis. 195  Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, fol. 159v, my emphasis. 188 

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Ironically, such choice of Latinate words often makes Batt’s text sound much more dated and ancient than the Middle English text.196 The last translation of the Liber into Modern English, How to Live Well, is the work of the Reverend Cecil Robert Tyrwhitt. He dedicated it to the ‘superior of the community of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Oxford’, and it was published in 1886 ‘at the convent’.197 After receiving his BA from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1872, and his MA in 1875, he seems to have moved to Staffordshire, where he held several positions.198 Tyrwhitt’s is the first English translation of the Liber to point out that St Bernard is probably not its author.199 Surprisingly, perhaps, for a modern translator, Tyrwhitt also omits a number of chapters from his rendering. These are: ‘De fornicatione’, ‘De ebrietate’, ‘De fuga mulierum saecularium’, ‘De cavendo virorum consortio’, ‘De fugienda societate juvenum’, and ‘De vitando pravorum consorti’.200 The reason given is simply that some parts of the text are ‘not suitable to the present state of society’.201 At first sight, however, Tyrwhitt’s translation appears faithful and exhibits a degree of accuracy one has come to expect in a modern translation, for at times he includes in his rendition the Latin word(s) he translates:

196  These expressions reminds one of Mercy’s similarly high-style language in Mankind, which shows that had the medieval translator so desired, he might well have imitated such a style in The Manere of Good Lyvyng. 197  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt. For an assessment of the gap between Batt’s 1633 translation and Tyrwhitt’s, see Bell, ‘“In Their Mother Tongue”’. 198  In 1876 he was made chaplain of St Chad’s College in Denston in Staffordshire. See Foster, Alumni Oxonienses, iv, 1456. In 1878 he was a fellow of the College of St Mary and St  John of Lichfield. Crockford’s Clerical Directory, p.  1213. He is also listed as an incumbent or curate for St James and St Barholomew Church in Waterfall, Diocese of Lichfield (Stafffordshire), for the years 1888–1908, in A Church Near You: St James and St Bartholomew, Waterfall (Staffordshire) [accessed 29/01/2011]. 199  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt indeed says on the title page that the work is ‘attributed to S. Bernard’. 200  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, chapters 23, 25, 57–60. Note that all these chapters (except for ‘De fornicatione’ and ‘De ebrietate’) are already omitted by Paynell. 201  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 96. He provides a similar note for the exclusion of the later chapters at the end of chapter 56, p. 196.

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Liber: Iterum admoneo te atque rogo, honestissima virgo, ut corrigas vitam tuam cum omni studio.202 Tyrwhitt: Again I admonish and entreat you, dear Sister, that you set in order (corrigas) your manner of life with all zeal.203 Liber: ut nulla pars vitae nostrae otiosa relinquatur.204 Tyrwhitt: so that no part of our existence should be left without an aim (otiosa)205 Liber: Servi Dei qui parentum suorum utilitatem procurant, a Dei amore se separant.206 Tyrwhitt: The servants of God who consult (overmuch) the interests of their parents qui parentum suorum procurant separate themselves off from the love of God.207

But this first impression is deceitful, for Tyrwhitt also regularly leaves out considerable amount of material. One such massive omission occurs in Chapter 20, ‘De perseverantia’. Tyrwhitt ends the chapter with the following sentence: Tyrwhitt: Therefore dear sister it is necessary that in your desire for eternal happiness, you daily besiege the Ears of God.208 Liber: Igitur, soror venerabilis, necesse est ut per desiderium aeternae beatitudinis pulsemus quotidie aures Dei omnipotentis.209

The Latin text, however, continues for two whole columns, but Tyrwhitt does not mention that he has shortened the chapter.210 Not every substantial chapter in the Liber is curtailed to such dramatic extent. Nevertheless, by regularly leaving out considerable parts of the text in this way, Tyrwhitt alters the nature of the treatise.211 202 

PL 184, 1206B–C, my emphasis. Note that here as elsewhere, Tyrwhitt translates the address ‘honestissima virgo’ as ‘dear sister’. 203  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 17. 204  PL 184, 1207A, my emphasis. 205  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 19. 206  PL 184, 1211C, my emphasis. 207  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 31. 208  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 90. 209  PL 184, 1236C. 210  See PL 184, 1236C–38B. The passage in Latin is too long to be quoted here. 211  This makes it all the more obvious that shorter chapters are more likely to be left

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This change in the very nature of the work may be illustrated by Chapter 24, ‘De abstinentia’, which has also been substantially reduced. In this case, the overlooked material consists not in a single massive omission but in frequent omissions throughout the chapter. An account of the text’s first paragraph will suffice to show Tyrwhitt’ s method.212 The chapter begins in Tyrwhitt’s rendering: This is a perfect fast, when with the external fasts the heart prayeth. Prayer penetrates heaven more easily when united with fasting. By fasting and prayer the soul is united to the Angels, and raised to God. Fasts are strong arms against the temptations of the devil. By fasting and prayer devils are overcome.213

So far Tyrwhitt has adequately translated the Liber, but the text in the Latin continues: Soror in Christo dilecta, vis scire per quid magis luxuria restringitur? — Frater mi, volo, atque ut illud mihi ostendas rogo. — Audi ergo, amabilis soror in Christo. Per jejunium fornicatio superatur, per jejunium luxuria restringitur: remota saturitate non dominatur luxuria. Abstinentia carnem superat, abstinentia carnem refrenat, abstinentia frangit motum libidinis, abstinentia dissolvit virtutem fornicationis. Per famem et sitim luxuria destruitur, fames et sitis luxuriam vincunt. Mens multitudine ciborum lassata perdit vigorem orationis. Qualis est caro quae non percipit diu cibum, talis est anima quae assidue pascitur verbo Dei,214

which Tyrwhitt succintly summarizes as: ‘By fasting the flesh is overcome and luxury is restrained’. His text then goes on like so: But as S. Jerome says, ‘Fasting should be moderated, [lest they weaken too much the stomach] since moderate and temperateness in food is useful for body and mind. [A fat belly does not produce discriminating judgement. It is far better every day to take a little food than rarely to eat enough. Moderate food and a belly quickly hungry is preuntouched. Note that this analysis does not consider very short passages omitted by Tyrwhitt. These are too numerous to be noted here and are not really significant for our purpose. 212  This paragraph is numbered ’70’ in How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt and in PL 184. 213  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 96. For the Latin text, see PL 184, 1243B. 214  PL 184, 1243B–C. ‘Beloved sister in Christ, do you want to know how lechery is best controlled? Yes, my brother, I do, and I beg you to show me. Listen, then, amiable sister in Christ. Fornication is overcome by fasting, lechery is controlled by fasting: lechery has no dominion over you when you are free from satiety. Abstinence overcomes the flesh, abstinence restrains the flesh, abstinence smashes lust’s passion, abstinence breaks up fornication’s strength. By hunger and thirst lechery is destroyed, hunger and thirst vanquish lechery. The mind cloyed with an abondance of food loses the vigour of prayer. As is the flesch which does not take in food for a long while, such is the soule which is continually fed by the word of God.’

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ferred to a three-day fast.] He fasts well who declines from all sins. Abstinence from vices is better than abstinence from food. [It is not deemed abstinence where fullness of belly follows close after’. And blessed Isidore says: ‘He who prepares for himself dainties to fill up his gluttony in the evening meditates the whole day on dishes of food. An empty belly makes one watchfull in prayer. For he that is full falls into the heaviest sleep: whence we cannot well watch when our belly is full of food.’]215

All passages within square parentheses have been dropped by Tyrwhitt. The omission of the pseudo-dialogue between the brother and the sister earlier, and of the quotation from Isidore, as well as the general truncation of material, all alter unmissably the contents, style, and very nature of this chapter of the text. The result is no longer a text the reader is asked to ruminate and to meditate on but, rather, a text he or she is to read without much pausing and reflecting on its contents. More serious, though, are omissions which completely alter the understanding of the work. Chapter 22, De continentia, is also heavily reduced throughout in Tyrwhitt’s translation. In the latter part of the chapter, one reads: [honour those blameless women who devote their widowhood to serve God]: since those whom God has deigned to choose, you should in no wise despise. {Tyrwhitt omits twenty lines} Dear sister in Christ, [if therefore widows come to you], nourish them in good habits, cherish them in the bosom of intimate contemplation […]216

The bracketed passages here are Tyrwhitt’s additions in an attempt to smooth out transitions for material he has left out. But the Latin text does not say that the reader should ‘nourish [widows] in good habits, cherish them in the bosom of intimate contemplation […]’. In the twenty lines omitted by Tyrwhitt, the discussion about the right attitude to adopt towards widows ends, and the text then moves to an entirely different topic: the reader should not see herself

215 

In the Liber the whole passage reads: ‘Hieronymus sic ait: “Jejunia moderata debent esset, ne nimis debilitent stomachum, quia modicus et temperatus cibus corpori et animae est utilis. Pinguis venter non gignit subtilem sensum. Multo melius est quotidie par[v]um sumere, quam raro satis comedere. Parcus cibus, et venter cito esuriens triduanis praefertur jejuniis. Ille bene jejunat, qui ab omnibus vitiis declinat. Melior est abstinentia vitiorum quam ciborum. Non est reputata abstinentia, ubi fuerit ventris satietas subsecuta.” Et beatus Isidorus: “Tota die epulas in cogitatione ruminat, qui ad explendam gulam vespere sibi delicias praeparat. Venter vacuus in oratione vigilare facit. Nam qui repletus est, infert somnum gravissimum: unde non bene vigilare possumus, quando venter noster cibis est repletus”’, PL 184, 1243C–D. 216  How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt, p. 95.

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as barren because she is childless. On the contrary, if she loves and fears her spouse, Jesus Christ, she has seven sons, i.e., seven virtues: non dicas, Ecce ego lignum aridum […] quia si Christum sponsum tuum diligis, et times sicut debes, septem filios habes. Primus filius est verecundia; secundus patientia; tertius, sobrietas […] hos filios quos Jesu Christo sponso tuo genuisti, debes nutrire, fovere, lactare […] et castigare.217

At this point the Latin continues: ‘Nutri eos bonis moribus, fove eos in sinu intimae contemplationis’,218 which corresponds to Tyrwhitt’s ‘nourish them in good habits, cherish them in the bosom of intimate contemplation’. It is clear that in the Latin text, it is not the widows who must thus be nourished but the reader’s children or inner virtues. In view of these extended omissions and the effect they have on the text, one may wonder whether Tyrwhitt’s translation should perhaps rather be seen as an adaptation of the Liber de modo bene vivendi.

10. Language Brendan Biggs noted that William Darker was a ‘scribe whose practice was to “translate” into his own language’.219 The analysis of another Darker manuscript in the Linguistic Atlas, Cambridge, CUL, MS Ff.6.33, and Biggs’ own observations on manuscripts Darker copied, define his dialect as south-east Middlesex.220 The following observations on the language of the manuscript are only presented here in order to help readers unfamiliar with Middle English. For a more detailed analysis of Middle English, the reader is referred to Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English.221 It is usually acknowledged that, as Middle English is turning into Modern English, it is less stable in the late fifteenth than in previous centuries. 217 

For the whole passage see PL 184, 1240B–C, ‘do not say, I am a dry tree […] for if you love Christ, your spouse, and fear him as you should, you have seven sons. The first is shame; the second patience, the third temperance […] these sons, whom you have borne to Jesus Christ, your spouse, you must nourish, foster, give suck to […] and chastise’. 218  PL 184, 1240C, ‘Nourish them with good manners, foster them in the bosom of intimate contemplation.’ 219  Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, p. 94. For a linguistic profile of Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517, see Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, pp. 93–96. 220  See Biggs, ‘The Language of the Scribes’, pp. 93–96. 221  Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English.

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Letters The older letters ‘ȝ’ and ‘þ’ are encountered alongside their modern equivalents (‘gh’ and ‘th’) without much consistency. Verbs and Pronouns The second-person singular pronoun ‘þou’ is still found, but the text also uses ‘ye’ and related forms for singular use, as is the case in present-day English. In the indicative, the verb may or may not take the second-person singular ending in -ist/-est/-st(e (e.g., ‘knewist’, ‘hyghyest’, and ‘goost’); in the third-person plural, it may end in ‘-th’, ‘-en’ (e.g., ‘sytteth’, ‘bryngen’) or not. The imperative occasionally ends in ‘-th’ (i.e., ‘every feythfull creature thynkith to be your broþere or suster’, fol. 41v, my emphasis), but the regular form is identical with the infinitive.222 Note that the subjunctive is used more often in Middle English than it is in Modern English.223 Nouns The genitive is usually marked by the ‘-s/-es/-is/-ys’ ending, but some genitives are expressed without ending (i.e., ‘heven gate ys to be asked in prayeng’, fol. 62v, my emphasis).224 Adjectives and Adverbs One characteristic of the translator’s language is to use adjectival forms as adverbs much more than is common in Modern English (i.e., ‘ye cam not to religion to be seen gloryous arayed’, fol. 53v, my emphasis). Double Negatives Perhaps the most challenging characteristic of Middle English for the modern reader is the use of double (or triple) negation (i.e., ‘lete not your mouth speke no gyle’, fol. 52v, my emphasis). Unlike Modern English, such usage never results in a positive statement but in stronger negative statements.225 222 

For the forms of the imperative, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 32. For the use of the subjunctive, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 49–51. 224  See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. 225  See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 52–53. 223 

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11. This Edition Latin Texts Latin texts are usually cited from the Corpus Christianorum series latina volumes. If one particular text has not been edited by the series, then the Patrologia latina is referred to instead. This is notably the case with the Liber de modo bene vivendi. Translations from Latin in the text of the Introduction are kept to a minimum: if a quotation is part of the argument of the text, it is usually (but not systematically) translated in the footnotes; but, if Latin excerpts are quoted as evidence of sources to the Liber, translations are not provided. Latin extracts cited in the footnotes are not translated, nor are Latin quotations in the Commentary. Footnotes and Quotations In the body of the edited text itself, footnotes refer either to peculiarities of the manuscript — marginal notes and manuscript readings which have been emended — or to biblical quotations. The latter have been identified using the Liber and the text of the Vulgate as reference, but note that the Middle English version may not reflect a literal translation. Footnotes preceded by ‘Cf ’ indicate that the Latin text of the Liber was too different from the Vulgate to consider it a direct quotation but that there are enough similarities between the two versions to refer to the Vulgate as a source. It is probable that the author/scribe may have followed (an)other version(s) of the Bible. Footnotes introduced by ‘see’ do not refer to quotations as such but to biblical events, people, and so on, which are mentioned in the text. Dinah’s unhappy fate in Chapter 23, for example, is referred in the footnotes like so: ‘See Gen. 34’. In case of multiple biblical references for the same quotation, only one has been mentioned in the footnotes at the bottom of the page. The reader will find the other references in the Liber (PL 184). Biblical and patristic quotations are often so interlaced with the text that it is difficult to see where they end and where the text of the Liber begins. Great efforts have been made to identify them, but it is more than likely that some, if not many, have been overlooked. Rules of Transcription Modern punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphs have been added. Speech marks have been used mostly for quotations (biblical and patristic) acknowledged as such by the text. Unacknowledged quotations are noted in the

40

Introduction

Commentary. In order to enhance the conversational nature of the text, stagelike directions have been added within square brackets to mark the interlocutors’ dialogue. Note that although these are absent from The Manere of Good Lyvyng, they are often already present in the Patrologia latina and in Batt’s translation. Word division and transcription of ‘u/v’ and i/j’ usually follow modern usage. All abbreviations have been silently expanded according to the most common spelling, when unabbreviated forms are given elsewhere in the text. For instance, ‘-cŏn’ has been expanded to ‘-cion’, as this is the spelling given in the text, when not abbreviated. Emendations have been kept to a minimum and are indicated by square brackets, i.e., [...]. They have been introduced on the strength of the Latin text in PL 184 and Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 and of Batt’s translation. Letters, words, or clauses have been omitted or added when there is an obvious mistake. Common Middle English usage, as described in A Book of Middle English, has been respected. For instance, the lack of a pronoun has not been supplied, since it is correct Middle English, but the Commentary provides the necessary explanations. In case of a repeated unusual feature, this has been seen as a scribal habit rather than a mistake and has been left standing. For example, the scribe on several occasions writes ‘sayng’ (in addition to the more common ‘sayeng’, or ‘seyeng’). The Glossary takes full account of this diversity. Unless emendations are required, scribal corrections have been silently incorporated in the text, whether words have been added in the margins or in superscript or have been crossed out. Folios are indicated in the text in parentheses, i.e., (). When the new folio begins in the middle of a word, it is indicated after the word in question. There are only a few Latin sentences in The Manere of Good Lyvyng. Since the Liber in PL 184 and readings in the Vulgate usually follow classical Latin usage, medieval Latin spellings have not been retained in The Manere of Good Lyvyng either.

(1r) A devoute tretes of holy Saynt Bernard, drawne oute of Latyn into English, callid The Manere of Good Lyvyng, which he sent unto his own suster, wherin is conteyned the summe of every vertue necessary unto cristis religion and holy conversacion

The Prolog My wel beloved suster in Criste, ye have long desired þat I wold wryte som tretes of holy doctryne unto yowe. But bycause Scripture seith: ‘it is a pryde for a man to covett to teche his better’, I considered myself unworthy to take the werke upon me. Therfor I differde for a ceson to fulfill your desyre. But sithen agayn ye have often desyred the same, I have callid unto my remembraunce the sayeng of Cryste: ‘whosomevere compell the to goo oon myle, goo þou two myle with hym, and geve to all suche þat doo aske of the’.1 Thus on every syde constrayned and thorogh (1v) charite compellyd, I have by the helpe of your devoute prayers, as Y myght not as I ouȝte, gadred togethyr som small lessons of religious conversacion oute of the writyngs of my forfathirs, which in this litell boke I sende unto youe accordyng to your peticion. Nowe therfor, lovyng suster, take this boke and leye it every houre bifore you, therin looke ye as in a glasse. For the doctryne and cummaundmentis of God be as a glasse in whom every feythfull creature doth loke and knoweth his own deformyte þat cummyth by syn, withoute which, as Scripture sayeth, 1 

Matt. 5. 41–42.

42 Transcription

no man ys. In this glasse also he seeth how to amende þe unclennes of evyll thoughtis and how to araye his soule ordynately toward God. For when they geve theyr studie hoole to þe doctryne and commaundmentis of God, withoute dought they doo know what ys in them þat doeth please or displease their celestiall spouse. Therfor, reverent suster, rede (2r) overe this boke, and rede it thorogh agayn and agayn, and ye shall know in it howe ye shall love God and your neyghbour, howe ye shall dispyse all yerthly and transitorye thyngis, how ye shall covett everelastyng and hevenly thyngis, how for Crystis sake ye shall suffer paciently thadversitie of þis worlde and dispyse þe prosperite and the flateryng of the same, how ye shall geve thankys to God in your sekenes and be not prowde in your helth, howe in your prosperite ye shal not be hygh-mynded, ne in adversite broken with ire. My loved suster in Cryste, lette your prudent wysdom goo thorogh this boke diligently and moorn contynually, I praye yowe, for my trespases that I þe which am unworthy to obteyn pardon, yit by your devoute prayers I maye gete forgefenes of my synnes. Allmyȝty God kepe you and defende you from all evyll, and bryng you and all þat serve God with you to everlastyng lyfe. Amen.

(2v) The fyrst exhortacion ys how faith ought to be hadd and kepte, and how withoute goode werkys and conversacion it avayleth not to beleve Oure Lorde sayeth in þe Gospell þat ‘all thyngis is possible to all such as bileveth’.2 No man or woman maye com to þe everelastyng blisse withoute fayth. He is blessid þat beleveth ryght, and in ryght belevyng doth lyve wele, and in wele lyvyng dothe kepe his ryght fayth. Seynt Paule sayeth: ‘wythoute feyth no man or woman maye please God’,3 whiche is not hadd by compulsion but perswadid by examples and reson. For of suche as it ys violentlye hadd, they can in no wyse persevere stedefast theryn: example of a yong tendre tree whos top, yf it be violently oppressid and bowed down, at þe laste aftir it ys lett goo, it wyll turne agayne to þat hit was before. ‘Feyth withoute good werkis ys a dedd feyth’,4 and in vayne doeth man or woman (3r) boste themself oonly of feyth, yf they be not aperelled with good werkys. He þat takyth the cros of penaunce upon hym muste be dedd to þe 2 

Mark 9. 22. Heb. 11. 6. 4  Jas. 2. 26. 3 

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world. To bere the cros of penaunce is noþere but to mortifie hymself, and they þat doo not be as ypocrytis. He þat is not dowtfull in his herte but feythfully beleveth, whatsomevere he askyth resonably, it shal be graunted unto hym; and ‘he þat beleveth ryght in the son of God ys swer of everelastyng lyfe’.5 He þat doo not beleve shall nevere se the joyes of heven, ‘but the ire of God remayneth upon hym’.6 Seynt James seith: ‘as a bodye withoute soule is dedd, so fayth withoute good werkys is a dedd feith’.7 Dere suster, feyth ys grete, but withoute charite it avayleth not. Therfor kepe in you ryght beleve, kepe pure fayth, kepe incorrupte fayth. Be perseveraunte and stedefaste in right beleve withoute corrupcion. Speke no thyng undiscretely of Cryste. Thynke (3v) noon evel o[f ]8 God, and in thynkyng noon evyll ye shal not lyghtly offende his love. Be juste and riȝtwous in faith. Have holy conversacion in your beleve. Denye ye not God in your dedis whom ye call unto in faith. Evyll myxte with good doeth oftentymes muche hurte. Oon evel vice lesyth many good dedys. Ye shal not offende in your dedis, þat ar perfight in faith. Defyle not therfor feyth in evel lyvyng. Corrupte not perfite bileve with evyll maners. Mengyll not vice with vertue. Joyne noon evyll to good. Lovyng suster, God preserve you in helth of bodye and soule. Amen.

The second exhortacion: how no persone shuld dispeyre but hope on the mercie of God, and how we ought to have feer with hope and to lyve wele Oure Lorde seith in þe Gospell: ‘dispayre ye not, but have ye þe hope of God in yow’.9 ‘This hope þat is seen or knowen ys noo hope. What is it for a man to hope (4r) of þat þe which he doeth se? If we hope of that we se not, lett us paciently wayte aftir it’.10 Salomon seith: ‘hope of ryghtwous persons shal be a gladnes to them, and þe hope of synners shall peryssh’.11 Wherfor, my dere sustyr, truste you in our Lord kepyng his cummaundmentis, and he wyll promote you, so þat ye shall receyve the kyngdom of heven by heritage. Fle syn and hope

5 

John 3. 36. John 3. 36. 7  Jas. 2. 26. 8  MS reads ‘on’. 9  Mark 11. 22. 10  Rom. 8. 24–25. 11  Prov. 10. 28. 6 

44 Transcription

in our Lord God which shall exalte you in the tyme of his visitacion, as in the tyme of deth or at þe fynall jugement. They þat stynte not to doo evyll and to leve syn in vayne loke after þe mercie of God, the which they myȝte truste in, yf they wolde leve their syn and myslyvyng. Seynt Isidor seith: ‘les that thurghe hope þat God hath promised unto us we boldly doo trespase, we ouȝte to be ferefull’. Nor yit bycause he thurgh justice doeth straytely ponysche syn, we ought not to (4v) dispayre of his mercye but lette us advoyde both perellis, as to forsake syn and thurgh þe goodnes of God hope of his mercye. For every good lyver ys susteyned by thes two: hope and drede. Oon whyle hope steryth hym to comforte, and anoþere whyle the feer of hell causeth hym to drede. He þat dispeyreth of forgevenes of his syn doeth hurt hymself more by desperacion þan by the syn þat he hath done. Therfor, my loved suster, lette your hope and truste be stedefaste in your spouse Jhesu Cryste ‘whos mercie shall preserve all them þat truste faythfully in hym’.12 ‘Hope suerly in God with exercise of vertue, and ye shall inhabitte heven wher ye shall be fedde with the deyntes of the same’.13 Reverent suster, leye asyde all unriȝtwosnes and truste in þe mercye of God. Putte from you ynyquite and hope in everelastyng welth. Amende your lyvyng and truste in the pyte of God. Doo from youe (5r) all frowardnes and hope of pardon. Correcte your own lyfe and hope of the everelastyng lyfe, to þe which he vouchesafe to bryng youe, þat hath chose youe to be his servante befor þe world. Amen.

The thyrd exhortacion is howe we have no vertue of ourself nor can doo no good dede withoute the grace of God The apostell Paule saith: ‘wheras was abundaunce of syn, by our savyour Crist ys now muche more abundaunce of grace; and wheras syn did reigne to þe dampnacion of man, nowe doeth grace thurgh þe mercye of God reigne for þe salvacion of man’.14 ‘For þe reward of syn ys deth, and for good lyvyng by þe grace of God ys everelastyng lyfe’.15 ‘To every man aftyr the discrecion of Cryste ys geven

12 

Ps. 31. 10. Ps. 36. 3. 14  Rom. 5. 20–21. 15  Rom. 6. 23. 13 

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a speciall grace’.16 My dere suster, as Isider seyth: ‘it ys a gyfte of God þat man doeth profytte’. Wherfor a congruence it ys þat we lawd God and not ourself for our good (5v) dedys. Furthermor, we cannot amende ourself aftir þat we have offendid withoute the grace of God. For as the prophete Jeremye sayeth: ‘man hath no power of hymself to lyve and gyde hym wele’,17 of þe which muste folowe þat he hath no goodnes of hymself but by the grace of God. Sythen þat every man and woman have receyved oon special grace, lette hym be contente with þat God hath geven hym and goo no further les he lese þat he hath receyved. In þe division of the gyftis of grace dyverse persons receyve dyverse vertues, for all the gyftys of vertue be not geven to oon man, but for the prove of mekenes oon hath oon vertue or grace and anoþere persone hath another. In figure of this the prophete Ezechiel sawe iiii bestis bete yche oþer wyngis togyther,18 wherby ys signified þat dyvers persons havyng dyverse gyftis of grace shuld oon lerne and take (6r) example of anoþere lovyngly togythere. Good virgyn, I wold ye shuld knowe we can doo no good thyng withoute þe grace of God preventyng us, beeng, and perseveryng with us. He preventyth us in good wyll; and in convertyng us from syn, he is with us þat we maye begyn wele; and he persevereth contynually with us þat we maye ende wele and perfyghtly. Thus of God we have fyrst a good wylle, a good begynnyng, and a good endyng of all oure good werkys. All vertue is geven us of God, vice and syn cummyth of ourself. Charite, chastite, and goodnes be geven of God; pryde, avaryce, and covettyse cummyth of us. Withoute God we can doo no good thyng; by his grace we may doo many good thyngis. Withoute þe grace of God, we be slowe, wery and dull in doyeng good; by the grace of God, we be wel wyllyng, diligent and devoute in good doyng. Withoute þe grace of God we be (6v) redye anon to syn; by his grace we be delyvered fro syn. Withoute God we have more love than we ouȝt to erthly and transitorye thyngis; by his grace we dispyse all worldly vanytes and desyre hevenly þingis. For þe traspas of Adam we were caste oute of paradise; by þe grace of God we truste to com to paradise. By þe offence of Adam we descendid down to hell; by þe grace of God we truste to ascende to heven. Also in þat we be of grete auctoryte, rycche, and circumspecte or wyse, we be not but by the grace of God.

16 

Eph. 4. 7. Jer. 10. 23. 18  See Ezek. 3. 13. 17 

46 Transcription

Furthermor, I wold ye shuld know, reverent suster, þat all þe goodnes we have in this world, it is by the goodnes of God; all yll happyngs unto us ys for our syn. Almyȝty God thurgh his mercye and grace geveth us gyftis of vertue, but by the meanyse of our syn muche evyl fortunyth to us. By the grace of God prosperite ys geven to us, but for (7r) our unthryftynes we have adversite. By the grace of God all þat is necessary is geven us, and for our vice we have contrarye. Therfor, spouse of Cryste, necessarye it ys for us to call alweye to our remembraunce þe benefitis of God with thankys. For as it is writen in Canticis,19 they þat be myndful of the goodnes and mercye of God doo love hym hertlye. They also doo love hym perfittly þat do not referre to theyr own merite þeir good dedis and holynes, but all to God and his grace. Good suster, remembre ye contynually that whatsomevere goodnes ys withyn yow, it is by þe grace of God. Here what þe apostyll Paule saieth of hymself: ‘that’, seith he, ‘þat I am, it is by the grace of God’.20 So be yow, lovyng suster, by þe grace of God, whatsomevere ye be. In that ye have forsake þe worlde and lefte your fader and moder and wold becom þe handemayde of God and purpose to serve God in religion, (7v) all thes goodnes came to yow by þe grace of God. Ye be a virgyn, prudent and wyse, not of yourself, but by grace. [A question] Peraventer ye wold aske me: broþere, what ys it þat is radd in Scriptur: ‘no man or woman ys holy, good and ryȝtwous, but oonly God?’21 [The answer] My loved suster, as it is writen, so yt ys. Sothly oonly God ys good, holy and riȝtwous, for he is very goodnes hymself. Other persons be good, not by themself, but by God and his grace and þerefor God ys oonly good, bycause he is of hymself good, the which shewith the spouse of þe Chyrch, Cryste, seyeng in Canticis: ‘I am the floure of þe felde and þe lyly of þe valeyes’,22 as ho seyth: I am þe holynes, goodnes, and veray justice of all them þat with mekenes truste in me;23 and as þe felde ys arayed with fresche flowres, so all þe worlde ys renewed with þe fayth and knowlege of Cryst. Also he sayth: ‘I am the flour of þe felde (8r) and lylye of the valeyes’,24 as ho sayth: I geve grete grace to thoos persons which putt noo confidens in their owne meritis but in me, as þe gyver of all vertue and grace. 19 

Liber here quotes Song 1. 3; PL 184, 1203D. i Cor. 15. 10. 21  Cf. Mark 10. 18. 22  Song. 2. 1. 23  Liber here quotes John 15. 5; PL 184, 1203B. 24  Song 2. 1. 20 

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Honorable suster, therfor I counceyle yow þat ye referre nothyng to your own deservyng. Presume nothyng of yourself. Putt nothyng in your vertue, ne truste not in your own strength. Have no truste in your audacite or boldnes, but ascribe all thing to þe gyfte of God and his grace. In all your dedys geve laude and praysyng to God. In all your werkis, dedys, conversacion, geve ye thankis to God. And lett allweye your confidence and truste be in Cryst, the whiche made yowe of nouȝt. Amen.

The fourth exhortacion ys of þe drede of God and how we ouȝt to have it, and howe ther be fowre maner of feerys Wel beloved suster, here ye what I saye and counceyle, take good hede (8v) to my spekyng. ‘Drede God above al þyng and kepe everemore his commaundmentis’,25 ‘whose eyes be overe them all þat drede hym and truste in his mercye’.26 Of this drede spekith Salomon sayng: ‘drede God and doo noon evyl’.27 ‘He that dredyth God dispiseth no man, nor ys negligent in no good thyng’.28 Anoþere wyse man seyth: ‘the drede of God is the glorye of all vertue, a gladnes in this present lyfe, and þe crown of contynuall joye in þe lyfe to come. Hit doeth delyte the hert of man, indwyng it for everemore with joye and gladnes,’29 ‘and he þat lackyth it may not be justifyed for a trew servante of God.’30 ‘The drede of God is þe cause of wysedom and holy conversacion’.31 ‘Be not unfeythfull in the drede or feer of God, nor com not to hym with a dowble harte’.32 ‘Ye þat drede God truste paciently in his mercye, and forsake hym not by impacience lest þat ye fall in parell of dampnacion. Ye þat drede God beleve in hym (9r) which acordyng to his promys will comfourt youe and shew mercye unto yowe in tyme of nede. For they þat drede hym and bileve in hym shal not lese their rewarde’.33 ‘Ye þat drede God bileve his sayengs, they þat love God wyl 25 

Eccles. 12. 13. Ps. 32. 18. 27  Prov. 3. 7. 28  Eccles. 7. 19. 29  Ecclus. 1. 11–12. 30  Ecclus. 1. 28. 31  Ecclus. 1. 34. 32  Ecclus. 1. 36. 33  Ecclus. 2. 7–9. 26 

48 Transcription

observe his counceyls and doctryne. They þat drede God serche for þo þingis þat are plesaunt to hym, they þat love God perfitely fulfyll his commaundmentis. They that drede God wyll be clene in soule and perfytte in his siȝte. They þat drede God in kepyng his commaundmentis wyll have paciens in adversitee tyl it lyke hym to se mercifully unto them’,34 ‘the which seeth all suche þat drede hym and knoweth what be their werkys’.35 ‘Hit is wysdom to drede God’,36 ‘for noon evyl fortuneth to them þat dredeth hym, but raþer he wyll delyvere them in their temptacion from all evyl’.37 ‘The good wyll of them þat dredyth Allmyȝty God is required, which shal be alowed before hym’.38 ‘The (9v) drede of God ys as a paradyse wher man dyde wantt nooþinge necessary to hym’.39 In lyke wyse, who dredyth God lovyngly schal have all his desyre. ‘Blessid is þat man or woman þat hath the drede of God geven unto them’,40 ‘which ys þe begynnyng of his love’.41 O my loved suster, þere ys nothyng þat kepith us so harmeles from syn as the feer of hell and þe love of God. He feeryth God þat doeth noon evyll nor lettyth no good thyng scape hym þat ouȝt to be don. This feer ys þe well of wysdom. He þat feryth God shal not dye amysse. Venerable suster, good it ys for us to drede God, for his drede puttyth awey syn. Hit alwey amendyth us and preserveth fro syn, hit causeth us to be ware and diligent. Wheras ys not the feer of God, ther ys þe perdicion of the soule, dissolucion of lyfe, abundaunce of syn. Wherfor, good suster, let evere drede and hope (10r) of God be in your hart and lete þem persevere with yow. So hope in þe mercye of God þat ye maye feer his justice. But yit, my loved suster in Cryst, I wold ye shuld know þat þere be four manere of feerys: a worldly feer, a constrayned feer, a begynnyng feer, and a chaste feer. A worldly feer, as Cassiodour seyth, ys when we feer to suffer þe perell of þe bodye or to lese worldly goodis which causeth us to offend. This feer ys evell and nouȝt, and forbode of our savyour in þe Gospell, sayeng: ‘feer ye not them þat have power to sleye þe bodye oonly’.42 34 

Ecclus. 2. 18–21. Ecclus. 15. 20. 36  Ecclus. 21. 13. 37  Ecclus. 33. 1. 38  Ecclus. 34. 14. 39  Ecclus. 40. 28. 40  Ecclus. 25. 15. 41  Cf. Ecclus. 1. 16. 42  Matt. 10. 28. 35 

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The second feer, þat is a constrayned feer or a bounde feer, ys aftyr Seynt Austen when man or woman for feer of hell forsakyth syn, and all the good dedis þat he doith ys not for the love of God but for the feer of hell. He feryth as a bound servante or a prentyse which doith a good turn not for feer of losyng of þat (10v) good thyng þat he loveth not, but for drede of sufferyng evyll þat he fereth to doo. Such a persone doith not feer to lose þe halsyngs of þe moste bewtyous spouse, Cryst, but he fereth les he shall be sent into þe paynes of hell. ‘We have not’, as Seynt Paule the apostle seyth in sentence, ‘receyved agayn the spirite of servitute in feer but þe spirit of adopcion in grace’.43 As hoo sayeth: we ar not constrayned to serve God for feer of peyn in Cristis lawe geven by the Holy Goste (as þe children of Israel wer by the Olde Lawe gyven by the same Holy Goste), but by love in þat he hath chosen us by his grace to be the children of God by adopcion. Thys feer constrayned sumwhat ys good and profitable, thouȝe it be insufficient and inperfite, for by it þe custom of juste lyvyng sumwhat groweth. When a man or woman begynneth to beleve the daye of jugement then they begyn to (11r) feer. But he þat yit doeth drede her contynually hath no perfite truste in the daye of jugement. Ther ys not as yit perfite charite in hym þat ys in this feer, for and ther were perfite charite in hym, he shuld not feer. Perfytte charite causeth in man or woman perfitte justice, and we shuld have nothyng of the which we shuld feer, but raþer have þat thyng þat shuld cause us to desyre forgevenes of oure synnes and to com to heven. What ys perfytte charite, but perfitte lyfe? He þat hath perfitte charite in hym doeth lyve perfittely. He þat lyveth perfittely hath not wherfor he shuld be dampned, but wherfor he shuld be crowned in heven. He þat hath perfitte charite in hym doeth not feer to be ponysshed in hell, but hopyth to joye in heven with Almyȝty God. Therfor seyth the psalmiste: ‘all they þat love the and thy name shal be gloryous in the’.44 ‘Then feer ys not in charite, but raþere perfitte charite puttyth (11v) it aweye’.45 Feer cummyth fyrst into þe hart of man or woman and makyth redye a place for charite. Aftyr this constrayned feer foloweth the third feer, called a begynnyng feer, which ys when a man or woman begynneth to doo good for the love of God, which afore he didd for feer of hell. Of this spekith David þe prophet: ‘the

43 

Rom. 8. 15. Ps. 5. 12. 45  i John 4. 18. 44 

50 Transcription

begynnyng’, sayth he, ‘of wysdom ys the drede of God’.46 This feer ys also when a man or woman begynneth to love God whom afore he did feer, and so þe constrayned feer ys putte oute from his hart. Aftyr þis foloweth the fowrth feer, called a chaste feer, by the which we feer les our spouse Cryst withdraweth hym and goeth from us, les we offende and trespace agaynst hym, and les we lose hym. This feer cummyth and groweth of love, of þe which ys radd in þe psalmodye: ‘the perfitte drede of God abydeth for everemore’.47 Into the hart of man or woman fyrst cummyth (12r) thys feer and ther maketh redye a place for charite, and when charite begynneth to inhabite the hart of man or woman, feer þat ordeyned his place is put oute. And as charite groweth in the hart of man or woman, so doeth feer decrese. And how muche more ys charite in man or woman, so muche lesse ys þe drede. Why? For charite puttyth oute fere. Here, my loved suster, a convenient simylitude. We se often þat by the brystell the cordenars threde ys drawen yn, so þat when enythyng ys to be sewed, fyrst entryth the brystel and after þe threde. So feer first entryth in the mynde of man and aftyr hym charite. But after charite ys entred, he sendyth oute feer. This feer ys perfitte, for it gendreth in man or woman perfeccion and causeth perfytte charite, which is perfytte lyfe. This feer ys called chaste, for it receyveth no love above the love of God, but loveth (12v) hym above all thyng, and preferrythe nothyng afore his love. This is also callyd a childis feer, for he þat hath this drede or feer doo not feer God as a servante doith his cruel master, but as þe childe his swete and lovyng fader. But how seyeth David the prophete: ‘this perfite feer abydeth for everemore’,48 sithen Saynt John sayth: ‘perfitte charite puttyth oute feer?’49 This is assoyled by the sayeng above that he þat hath þis chaste feer perfittly doeth not feer God for the paynes of hell or the ponyschyng of the fyre of hell, but he fereth hym with a reverence and love, the which shal laste perpetuall. For he þat feryth God for þe paynes of hell hath not chaste feer in hym, but a constrayned feer, the which hath no perfytte charite. If he loved God perfitely, he shuld have perfite justice in hym and drede God not for payne but with reverence and love. (13r) Wherfor feer of payne is not in charite, for perfite charite puttyth hym oute where þat he is. Otherwyse dredith þe servante his master, and the chylde 46 

Ps. 110. 10. Ps. 18. 10. 48  Ps. 18. 10. 49  i John 4. 18. 47 

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his fader. The servante feryth his master with dispayr and hate, the chylde his fader with reverence and love. Now therfor, reverent suster, I counceyle yow þat ye drede God with love and reverence. I wyl not þat ye lye alweye kepte down undir þe yoke of feer, but þat ye ryse up by love toward God your Fader þat created you as his doughter. I counceyle yow also þat ye love God with chastite and preferr nothing before his love, but þat ye for his love dispyse all worldly substauns. Also, good suster, I counceyl yow and praye yow both to correcte your own lyfe with al diligence, so þat your communicacion be religious, your goyeng honest, your sight humble and meke, your speche well sette and spoken, your mynde full of love, your handis full of good werkis, and (13v) all with the helpe of God withoute whom ye can doo no good thyng. My wel beloved suster in Cryste, yf ye here me as your broþere and drede God with love in all your herte, ye shall have many good gyftis not oonly in this lyfe but also in the lyfe to come. Amen.

The fyfte exhortacion ys of charite and howe it ouȝt to be hadde perfitely Scripture sayth, in the voice of every charitable person, of Cryst: ‘the kyng hath brouȝte me into his wyne cellar and hath ordred in me charite’.50 By the wyne cellar ys undirstand the mylitaunt Chirch of Cryste wheryn is þe wyne of holy prechyng; into þe which cellar every Cristen soule is brouȝte yn, and ther ys charite ordred in hym, for all thyngis be not alyke to be loved but differently. We ouȝte to love som thyngis more þan som [oþere].51 It ys no perfitte knoulege to know what we ouȝt to doo, and not to know the order howe we (14r) shuld doo. And yf we doo not love þo thyngis which we ouȝt to love, or els we love thoo thyngis which we ouȝt not to love, we have not ordynate charite. Or yf we love more that þat we ouȝt to love lesse, or oon thyng lesse þat we ouȝt to love more, we kepe not ordynate charite. Wherfor this ys ordinate charite: that we love God afore all thyng and above all thyng. We ouȝt to love God with a perfite undirstandyng, a perfite soule, a perfite wyll, a perfite mynde, and with a perfite memorye, so þat we doo referre all our knoulege and all our thouȝtis and all our good lyfe unto hym of whom we have all goodnes. Wherfor, wel beloved suster, it is verye necessarye unto us

50  51 

Song 2. 4. Word missing in MS.

52 Transcription

þat in all thyng and above all thyng we love God þat ys moste hygh goodnes. And þe more þat any person doeth love God, þe more ys he blissed. Salamon sayeth þat ‘love ys as strong as deth’.52 Wele may he saye þat the (14v) love of God ys as strong as deth, for as deth doeth violently divyde the soule from the bodye, so doeth the love of God vyolently dyvyde man or woman from þe love of the worlde and þe bodye. Also the love of God ys as strong as deth, for when we be mortifyed from syn and vice by his love, that þat deth doeth in the sensible partys of þe bodye, the same doeth the love of God in þe covetousnes of þe world. Charyte ys a love by þe which God ys loved for his goodnes and our neyȝbour for God. Of this love spekyth our savyour in þe Gospell, sayeng: ‘thou shalt love God principallye’,53 ‘and thy neyȝbour as thyself.’54 As who sayth: we shuld love our neyȝbour to that and for þat thyng þat we love ourself, as þat he may be good and come to everelastyng lyfe. Of þis love spekyth Salomon in Canticis in the voyce of Cryst unto every feythfull soule, seyeng: ‘verey good be thy brestys, myn own spouse, and þe (15r) swete smell of thy oyntementis passith the savour of all spycis’.55 What may more convenient be undirstand by the two brestys than þe love of God and the neyȝbour, by the which every good persone doeth norysche perfitely hymself when he ys gluyd unto God by perfite charite and departyth unto his neyȝbour with that he maye or ys of power? By þe oyntementis ys undirstande þe vertues þat doo grow oute of charite. We muste love our neyȝbour in all goodnes, for he þat loveth hys neyȝbour in evyll or for evyll, he doeth not love, but rather hateth hym. Seynt John sayth: ‘he þat loveth not his broþere whom he seeth and knoweth, how may he love God whom he seeth not and knoweth not?’56 As who sayeth: hit cannot be. Lete us than love yche oþer, for charite ys God, ‘and he þat loveth his broþer or neybour ys the chylde of God and seeth God’.57 He þat lovyth his broþer whom he doethe se with his bodelye eyes, (15v) he doeth know and se with the eyes of his mynde God, which ys verey charite, abyde within hym. And he þat doeth not love his broþere whom he seeth with his bodely eyes knoweth not nor seeth God in hym with the eyes of his mynde or hart, which ys verey charite. 52 

Song 8. 6. Matt. 22. 37 54  Matt. 22. 39. 55  Song 4. 10. 56  i John 4. 20. 57  i John 4. 7. 53 

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We ouȝt also to love our kynnys-folke, yf they be vertuous and doo serve God. And we ouȝt to love more strange persons þat be joyned unto us by the bonde of charite oonly than our kynnes-folke þat loveth not God nor serve hym. And why? For more vertue ys þe joynyng of hartis in the charite of Cryst þan of bodyes by kynred oonly. We be bound to love all feythfull peple, but we cannot profytte them all. Principallye, we be bounde to profitte thos persons þat be confedered or joyned to us by vowe or lotte—after our habilyte in tyme and place convenient—but we muste wysche with a lyke charyte to everybodye the lyfe everelastyng. We muste love every person with such affeccion of charyte þat they may be the servantis of God and be saved, but we be not bownde (16r) to shewe dedys of mercye equally to every person, but to som more, to some lesse. My loved suster, yf þat we wold kepe trewe and perfitte charyte, we may by the helpe of God com to heven. Furthermor, we muste love our enemyes for God, as he hymself sayth in the Gospell: ‘love your enemyes, doo [good]58 for them þat hate yow, and praye for such þat pursew and doo yow hurt þat ye may be the chyldren of your Fader in heven’.59 Necessary therfor, venerable suster, ys charyte to us withoute þe which no man maye please God. He loveth not God þat hatyth man, nor he loveth God þat dispiseth his commaundmentis. Charyte ys the rote of all vertue. Whatsumevere we doo withoute charyte, hit doeth not avayle us. All our labour ys in vayne yf we have not charyte, þe which ys God. Wheras ys not the charyte of God, ther doeth reyne bodely concupiscens. Then (16v) a man or woman ys perfitte, when he is full of charyte. Allthough a persone doeth beleve well, yit withoute þe love of charite, he cannot come to heven. The vertue of charite ys so grete þat wher it lackyth, oþere vertues be hadde in vayne; and if it be hadde, all thyng ys wele hadde. He þat loveth not God doeth not love hymself. Now therfor, good suster, I counceyle yow þat ye maye be conjoyned by love unto your invisible spouse Jhesu Cryst, and þat ye may bren in his desyr. Ye shall covett nothyng þat is in þis worlde. Thynke the length of this present lyfe a payne. Hye yow to goo oute of thys world. Take no consolacion of þis present lyfe, but with all hart and mynde desyre to come to Cryste whom ye love. Lette also þe helth of your bodye be vyle unto yow for the love of Cryste, and thrust it thorogh with þe (17r) spere of love, þat ye maye seye: I am wounded with charyte. 58  59 

Word missing in MS. Matt. 5. 44–45.

54 Transcription

My loved suster, here the sayeng of your spouse Jhesu Cryst. He sayeth in þe Gospell: ‘he þat loveth me shal be loved of my Fader, and I shall love hym and shew manyfestly myself [unto him]’.60 Love ye then hym in this lyfe þat he may vouchesafe to love yow with his Fadyr in everelastyng lyfe. Amen.

The vith exhortacion ys howe novicis þat be newe come to religion ouȝt to be perseveraunt, and howe they ouȝte to be informed There is a reward promysed to good begynners, but it is geven to suche as persevere in goodnes, acordyng to þe seyeng of Scriptur: ‘he þat persevereth wele unto þe ende shal be saved’.61 Then our conversion plesith God when we bryng to the ende the good þat we begyn. Scriptur sayeth: ‘woo be to them þat have not brouȝt their good werkis to a good ende’.62 Ther be som persons þat be converted to God (17v) onely by devocion of mynde. Some þere be þat be constrayned or compellyd to be converted to God, which wold not of devocion be converted. Of thes spekyth the psalmyst, sayeng: ‘constrayne suche by strayte ponyschment that doeth not draw to the wilfully’.63 Every person that ys converted to God lette hym begyn at wepyng and mornyng for his trespas, and so goo furth to þe desyre of hevenly thyngis. Dere suster, we muste firste with teres wasche our synnes þat we have done, and then we shall se with a clene soule þat whiche we desyre and seke. For when þe blaknes of syn by wepyng ys washed aweye, the bryȝtnes of our soule may be the better considered and known. Hit ys necessarie to every persone newe converted to God þat after feer he doo ryse up to God by love as a chyld, les he alwey lye under feer as a bounde servante. Suche as be novicis wold be comforted with (18r) fayr wordis, les yf they be sharply at þe begynnyng delte with, all they be discomforted and so returne agayne to their olde synfull lyfe. He þat doeth not informe and chastice a novyc[e]64 with softnes and swetnes, lete hym knowe þat he doeth raþere more vexe hym and hurte hym þan amende hym or doo hym good. Fyrste lete a novys be charitably correctyd and chastised of his evyl dedis, and then aftir of [his]65 thoughtys. 60 

John 14. 21. Two words missing in MS. Matt. 10. 22. 62  Ecclus. 2. 16. 63  Ps. 31. 9. 64  MS reads ‘novyc’. 65  Word missing in MS. 61 

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Every persone newly converted to God or com to religion hath sumwhat myxte of his olde lyfe, and therfor no syngler vertue ouȝte to be seen of a novys tyl þat þe olde conversacion be utturly destroyed. Then doeth a persone more know hymself to be grevyd with the burdon of syn when he cummyth to þe service of God, as þe children of Israel wer oppressid with a more grevous labour of the Egipcyons when by Moyses the knowlege of God was shewed unto them than they wer before.66 For syn in a persone (18v) before his conversion hath pees, but when they are expellyd and putte oute then they doo more grevous ryse agaynste man or woman. Many after theyr conversion suffer evyll mocyons of foule luste, which yit they suffer not to theyr dampnacion but to theyr profitte that they may have contynually an enemye to resiste and kepe them from slouggyschnes, so þat in no wyse they doo consent. A slouthfull conversion bryngyth many into their olde errours and resolvyth to sensualyte and the lyfe of þe bodye. He þat is slouthfull in religion doeth thynke ydyl wordis, vayn thouȝtis, and evyll to be noon offence, but when he ys wakened from þe slugguschnes of his mynde then tho vyces, which he thouȝt but tryfyllys, he gretly dredyth and feryth as horrible synnes. Gyle and slowth be to be fered in every worke (19r) of God. We doo disseyve God when we prayse not hym but ourself of our good dedys. We be slouthfull when we fayntely and not wylfully doo þe werke of God. Every sciens and crafte of this world hath noble lovers and verey prompte and redye to execute them. Why? Bycause he hath here present the reward of his werke, but þe crafte and the werke of the fere of God hath many folowers þat be slak, faynt, sory, and conjeyled with the colde ignorance of slouth. And this ys bycause þat the rewarde of theyr labour ys not or shal not in thys lyfe but in þe lyfe to come be geven unto them. They þat be novees shuld not be putte furth to outeward maters, for yf they medyll with worldlye maters at þe begynnyng, they shall soon be overecom and wyther aweye as yong plantis newly sette and not suerly rootyd. Howbeit chaunge of place for the soule helth (19v) doeth avayle oftetymes to novyces, yit it ys ofte sene þat when place ys chaunged, the affeccion of mynde doeth chaunge withall. Hit is convenient for a persone to shyfte from þat place wher he thynketh impossyble to avoyde dedely syn. Good suster, here what I seye. Many be converted to God and com to religion not in soule but in bodye, which I cannot withoute soor wepyng tell or saye. They have the habyte of religion, but a religious mynde and entent þei have not. And yit many have a good religious wyll and purpos. Many ther be 66 

See Exod. 5.

56 Transcription

þat com to religion not oonly for the welth of þe soule but also for necessite of the bodye, which doeth not worship God but acordyng to thapostle, seyeng: ‘their bely ys ther god’,67 whom they worship and care fore. Their entent ys not to serve God dulye, but þat they may eet wele and drynke wele, and be wele clothed, and have all thyng in this worlde at theyr own wyll; and bycause þei (20r) love erthly thyngis, they lose the celestiall joye, for as our savyour seyth in þe Gospell: ‘they have receyved theyr reward in this world’.68 Wherfor, my loved suster, we muste be ware les we doo love transitory and erthly thyngis more than we ouȝte. Therfor counceileth the psalmyst, sayeng: ‘if ye have abundaunce of worldly ryches, applye not your hert unto them’.69 For erthly substauns ouȝt to be with us in use but hevenly thyngis in desyre. We ouȝt to bestowe well erthly riches and desire allwey celestyall, for it ys a mervelous and a grete swetnes that Almyȝty God doeth hyde from his trew lovers here in this world, wittnesyng Holy Scriptur, sayeng: ‘noon eye can se, nor eer can here, nor hert can thynke tho joyes that God hath ordeyned for his lovers’.70 The prophet David sayth: ‘I schal be satisfyed, good Lord, when thy glorye shall appere vysibly’,71 which, my wel beloved suster in Cryst, thorogh his mercy be your (20v) felicite. Amen.

The vii exhortacion shewith what it ys to com to religion, and of the disposi­cion of such þat entre religion, and how they may shew charite to theyr naturall frendes Oure Lord sayeth in the Gospell: ‘he þat wyll come aftyr me lete hym fyrste forsake hymself, and take the crosse of penauns upon hym and folow me’.72 But what ys it to denye hymself, but to renowns his own plesur? As he þat was prowde lete hym be meke. He þat was angrye lete hym be mylde and tame. He þat was lecherous lete hym be chaste. He þat was drounken lete hym be sobre, and he þat was covetous lete hym be liberall. For and if a person doeth forsake all þat he hath and not his evyll maners and condicions, he is not Crystis disci-

67 

Phil. 3. 19. Matt. 6. 5. 69  Ps. 61. 11. 70  i Cor. 2. 9. 71  Ps. 16. 15. 72  Matt. 16. 24. 68 

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ple. He þat forsaketh his possession[s]73 doeth forsake his own, but he þat forsaketh his lewde condicions doeth forsake hymself. Tho thyngis þat the lovers of þe world (21r) doo love, servantes of God doth refuse as thynges contrarye to their soule helth. The servantes of God rejoyse more in adversite of þe world than they doo delyte in his prosperite. My dere suster, tho thyngis þat be in this worlde be so contrary to þe servantis of God þat they, knowyng them agaynste them, with a grete desyre covett to com to the celestyall kyngdom. A grete grace doeth shyne bryȝt befor God, which ys dispysed of þe world, for this oon thyng ys necessary: þat that the world doeth hate ys loved of God. Devoute persons ‘be as pylgrymes and straungers in this world’,74 and therfor Seynt Petre thapostle was blamyd of Cryst, bycause he wold have had a tabernacle made in the mownte.75 For in thys worlde ys no tabernacle for perfytte persons, for whom ys ordeynd a perpetuall dwellyng-place in heven. Reverent suster, all temperall thyngis lyke wethyrd herbys be dryed up and (21v) abyde not, and therfor the servantis of God, seeng no stabilyte in them, woll dispyse them and sette nouȝt by them for hevenly thyngis þat nevere shall fayle. Men and wemen of perfeccion which perfitely dispyse the world, þei be so dedde toward þe world þat they delyte onely to lyve to God and for God; and þe more they withdrawe them fro the conversacion of the world, the more they se with the eyes of theyr mynde the presence of God and the resorte of þe cumpany of angels. Allthough God doeth defende and preserve among þe worldly peple the lyfe of his electe persons, yit verey seldom it ys sene þat a man or woman put among þe plesur of þe world ys clene withoute syn. He shall not be alwey suer of hymself þat is contynually nyȝe parell or jobardye. Loved suster, good it ys for a person to be bodely remevyd from þe world, but mych mor bettere it ys þat he be in wyll exiled or banysched from (22r) the worlde. Therfor he is perfitte þat both yn bodye and soule hath geve up the worlde. Holy Job sayeth: ‘the wylde asse dispiseth þe cite’,76 and so the servante of God loveth not þe cumpanye of þe worldly peple. They þat perfitely dispyse the world doo covette adversite of our lyfe and dispyse the prosperite, and when þis lyfe of them ys hadde in contempte, the hevenly lyfe ys fownd in them.

73 

MS reads ‘possession’. Heb. 11. 13. 75  See Matt. 17. 76  A combination of Job 39. 5 and Job 39. 7. 74 

58 Transcription

His hert and mynde ys ferr from God, to whom þis wrecchid lyfe ys dulcete and swete. Such a persone knoweth not what he may covette of hevenly thyngis, or what he may dispyse of erthly thyngis. Scriptur sayth: ‘the more a man doth know, the more sorow he hath’,77 for þe more þat a person þat is desyrous may knowe of hevenly thyngis, þe more he ouȝte to be sory of erthly and transitory thyngis with the which he ys wrappyd in. The servantis of God þat procure þe profitte of theyr own frendis doo (22v) separate themself from þe love of God. A spirituall persone, therfor, ouȝte so to profytte his frendys, as fadre and modre, þat in laboryng to shew them naturall kyndenes he drawe not backe from his spiritual labour or purpose. My loved suster in Cryst, here what holy Isider sayth: ‘ther be many religious persons of chanons, monkys, and religiouse wemen þat for þe love of theyr frendis be wrapped in worldly besynes and outeward stryves and maters, and for the temporall welth of theyr frendis they lese their own soules’. Yit ther is an ordinate discrecion, þat what ys mercifully shewde or geven [to straungers]78 shall not be denyed to our frendys. Hit ys convenient þat we geve to oure frendys of þat þat we geve meenly to straungers. In þat we helpe our frendis, it ys naturall; and þat we helpe straungers, it ys of almes and pyte. Good suster, we ouȝte (23r) not to hate our frendes but their impedymentis and lettys which causeth us to goo oute of þe ryght waye. By the bestis of the Philistens which brouȝt the arke of God to the land of Israel, may be wele undirstande in fygure such as have forsake the world for the love of God. For as they returnyd home the yong calves and putte their dames to drawe the charytte eeslye þat they had leyde the arke of God and his testament upon,79 so the yoke of Cryst, verey lyȝte and swete, ys putte upon þe nekkys of his servantis. And as the bestis for the love of theyr calves did crye and yit turnyd noþere on the ryȝte syde ner on the leffte syde but wente furth in the ryȝte hye waye to a place callyd Bethsames—which was even in the entryng of the land of Israel— so ought þe servantis of God to contynue in their hye waye, and for the love of their frendis noþere to turne toward the ryght or lefte syde from (23v) theyr good werkys and purpose, but in the hyȝe and strayte waye to contynue tyl they com to Bethsames, þat is to saye, to the entryng in of the kyngdom of heven. And as the bestis morned for theyr children, so it is convenient for þe servantis of God to crye for their frendys; þat is to seye, to praye for them þat they may 77 

Eccles. 1. 18. Two words missing in MS. 79  See i Sam. 6. 78 

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fare wele, and may be delyvered from all evyll, and in goodnes and vertue may be stedfaste. My loved suster in Cryst, as I have shewed yow above, we ouȝt not to have our fadre and modre in hate, but to love them. Yit Seynt Austen sayth: ‘if þat in the wey of God they be contrarye to us, we be not bounde to them, noþer to socour or helpe them lyvyng, nor yit to berrey them dedd’. Dere suster, ye have gon with Abraham oute of your countre, from your kynnes-folke, and from your fadyrs hows, and ar com into þe land and countre þat God hath shewed unto youe,80 as to religion. I beseche yow, (24r) therfor, þat theryn ye persevere in good lyvyng. Reste in the bosom of Cryst, þat is to saye, in blessid quiettnes, þat after your deth ye may have the everelastyng reste and quiettnes. Ye, my loved suster in Cryste, be gon oute of Sodoma with Loth,81 þat is to seye, oute of þe worldly lyfe. Therfor I counceyle yow þat ye look not backe with Lottys wyfe les þat, God forbede, ye be made the example to every person of unthryftynes. But I praye yow that with Loth ye save yourself in the mounte, þat is in religion, and geve to oþere an example of vertue. Good suster and virgyn, ye ar departyd with Josue oute of Egipte,82 þat is to saye, oute of þe wrecchid world, and with hym ye tarye in deserte,83 þat ys your monasterie, wheryn God doeth send yow manna, þat is the brede or food of holy prechyng and doctryne. Therfor, my wel beloved suster in Cryste, I counseyl yow to persevere in religion as ye have begon, and (24v) with wacchyng, prayeng, syngyng, myȝtly resistyng the devell theryn, and at þe laste your enemyes overecaste and all þe plesure of þe world overecome, with þe same Josue ye may come to the lande of beheste, þat is to sey, the beatitude of heven, and þat their ye maye deserve to se the face of God. Amen.

The viii exhortacion ys how religiouse persons shuld dispyse utterly the world and his rycches Wel beloved suster, here our Lord Jhesu Cryst, what he sayeth in the Gospell: ‘every persone þat forsakyth his hows, or fader, or modyr, or brother, or suster, or chyldren, or londys for my name, he shall receyve a hundreth tymes more 80 

See Gen. 12. See Gen. 19. 82  See Exod. 13–14. 83  See Exod. 16. 81 

60 Transcription

and shal by possession have heven’.84 Wherfor verey good it ys for us to leve all erthly thyngis for the name of God, that we may of hym receyve celestyall. Whosomevere wyll be a frende or a lovere of thys world shal be, sayth Scriptur, the enemy of God.85 Therfor, (25r) my loved suster in Criste, lete us not love þe worlde, les we have God an enemye unto us. ‘He þat thynkyth’, sayth Scriptur, ‘hymself dayly to dye doeth lyghtly dispyse all thyng’. If we call to remembraunce our deth and have in mynde the daye of our deth, we shall gladly sette nouȝt by all þing þat is in þe world. [A remark] Peraventur ye wold saye unto me: o my good broþere, I wold gladly for the name of God forsake all þat is in þe world if I had enythyng, but bycause I have nother golde nor sylvere noþere ryches of þe world, I cannot tell what I shall leve for the name of God. [The brother’s comment] O spouse of Cryst, verey muche doo ye leve if þat ye forsake your wyll to have. Muche ye leve yf ye sette asyde the desyre to have; muche ye forsake yf ye leve carnal appetyte; muche ye leve yf ye dispyse the pleasur of þe world for God; and muche ye (25v) forsake yf ye renowns erthly desyres and worldly covetousnes. God loveth more þe soules of men and wemen þan worldly ryches. He loveth more a clene mynde and vertuouse than erthly substaunce. Reverent suster, the kyngdom of heven ys as much worth as ye have. God requireth not of yow þat he hath not gyven yow. Therfor geve ye þat to hym that he hath gyven yow, þat is a soule devoute, chaste, clene, shamfast, religious, tymerous, and appereld with good maners. Thus, good suster, þe kyngdom of God ys as muche worth as yourself. Geve yourself to Cryste and bye hys kyngdom of hym. Be ye not troubled of the price. Thenke ye hit not harde, nor lete it be grevous unto yow, for Jhesu Cryste, kyng of all heven, gave hymself þat he myȝte delyvere yow from the (26r) power of the devyll and make yow þe chylde of his Fader. Therfor geve gladly yourself to hym which hath redemyd yow mercifully from þe power of þe enmye. Geve hool yourself to hym, for he to save yow gave hool hymselfe. My loved suster in Cryste, dispyse ye erthly goodis for hevenly ryches. Worldly goodys bryngen a man to jopardye of bodye and soule. Many for goodis have be in grete parell and have perysched, and to many they be unhappye, and to many they have caused deth. They have nevere quyetnes of mynde þat besy themself with worldly maters, but ar evere in trouble and angwyssh of mynde. Reverent spouse of Cryst, yf þerefor ye wold be quyett, covett not 84  85 

Matt. 19. 29. Jas. 4. 4.

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of thes thyngis þat be in þe world. Ye shall have evere quyetnes of mynde yf ye withdrawe yourself from þe besynes of þe (26v) world, for goodes be nevere goten withoute syn, nor no persone medelyth with them withoute trespace. Hyt is verey seldom þat suche as have grete goodes may have quyetnes. Worldly besynes pluckyth a man from þe love, delectacion, and mynde of God. Noo person can boþe have the glorye of God and þe pompe of þe world, nor both love perfitely God and þe worlde. Hit ys hard to serve both hevenly besynes and worldly maters. Good virgyn, here what I saye: although a person in þe pompe of þe world be gloryous with purpur and gold apparelled, clothed with precious vestures and semyth well arayed, although he be adourned with precious stones schynyng bryȝt, with a precious habyte, goo crowned with a crown, although he have many servantis aboute hym, wacched with men (27r) of armys, havyng a grete cumpanye of men waytyng upon hym, and with many defended and kepte save, yit he is alwey in payn, in angwysche, in mornyng and parell. He lyeth in a softe bede, but yit he ys troubled; in a golden bede, yit he ys sekely; in a bede hangyd with sylke, yit he ys frayle; in a fetherbede or a bed of down, yit he ys mortall. My loved suster in Cryste, thes thyngis I shew unto yow þat ye may know how vayne ys þe glorye of this world. The felicite and pompe of þis world ys but lytell and of short contynuance. Temporall power ys frayle and not abydyng. Therfor, reverent suster, dispyse þe worldly goodes þat ye may opteyne hevenly ryches. Dispyse ye transitory goodis þat ye may have everelastyng ryches. Geve from yow small thyngis þat ye may gette of God grete rewardis. Flye (27v) here in erth the felawship of worldly pepyle þat ye may have in heven þe felawship of angels, to þe which he vouchsave to bryng yow þat redemyd yow with his precious blood. Amen.

The ixth exhortacion sheweth how religiouse habite shuld not be precious nor curyous nor superfluous, and how the habite and good lyfe shuld agre togyther Owre Lord Jhesu Cryste sayeth in þe Gospell: ‘suche as be clothed in easy and softe clothes be in kyngys howsis’.86 Clothes be called softe bycause they make the mynde softe and lyght. The kyngys courte deliteth in softe and fyne clothyng, the courte of Cryste delyteth in hard and cowrse clothyng. Suche ouȝte to be þe vestures of the servantis of God, wheryn can be notyd nothyng 86 

Matt. 11. 8.

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of newelte, nothyng of vanyte, nothyng of superfluite, nothyng that perteyneth to pryde and vaynglorye. Saynt (28r) Jerome sayeth: ‘a softe vestur makyth not a clerke ornate but a clene soule’. Therfor, my loved suster, lete us aray ourself with spirituall ornamentis, as charite, humylite, mekenes, obediens and paciens. Thes be þe vestures with þe which we maye please Jhesu Cryste, þe celestyall spouse. Cryste, our invisible spouse, lokyth not aftyr bewtewosnes withoutefurth, but accordyng to Scriptur withyn,87 as in the soule. Therfor, my loved suster in Cryste, lete your ryche rayment be good maners, lete your clenlynes be a good lyfe. I wold it myȝte be sayde of yow þat is radd in Canticis: ‘my love ye be all bewtewous and no spotte ys in yowe. Come ye fro Libany, ye shal be crowned’.88 Truly blessid ys þat man or woman þat doeth serve Jhesu Cryste, celestyall spouse, withoute spotte of syn, as ye shal be and ye so serve God. Studye therfor to please Cryste not with preciouse garmentis but with good condicions, not with bewtwesnes (28v) of bodye but in bewte of mynde and soule. Studye to please hym not in face but in hert. Lete your clothes and shoes not be preciouse nor to muche vile, but clothe yow wyth a meen and competent habyte. Seynt Austen sayd of hymself: ‘I knowlege þat I am ashamed of a precyous vestur’. ‘Hit besemeth not this profession, hit besemyth not our doctrine, hit besemyth not this carkes, hit besemyth not myn age’. Good suster, lete clene gere be aboute yow, not for comlynes but for necessite of the bodye, les þat when ye ar arayed with preciouse ornamentis, ye fall in þe fylth of þe soule. For the more þe bodye ys appareled and arayed outeward for vaynglorye, so much more ys the soule withyn defyled. Therfor, loved suster in Cryste, shewe your profession both in habyte and in goyeng. Lete ther be symplenes in your goyng, puryte in movyng, gravyte in gesture with honestee. (29r) Lete no dishonour, no jolyte, no wantonnes, no folyschnes or pryde, no wyldenes aper in your goyng. The gestur of the bodye is þe syne of þe mynde, and the inward intent ys shewed by the goyng of the bodye. Lete therfor, dere suster, your goyng have no simylitude of dissolucion, nor let it not offende the syght of other. Shew not yourself an evyl spectacle, ne geve noon occasion to oþere to bakbyte yow. Loved suster, clense your conscience from all malys that graciously it may be sayde to you of Jhesu Cryste, your celestyall spouse, þat is radd in Scriptur: ‘thou

87  88 

Liber here quotes Ps. 44. 14; PL 184, 1214D. Song 4. 7–8.

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art verey fayr, my love, þu art verey bewteous, thy eyes be as þe eyes of culvers’.89 That ys to sey, ye be feyr for the perfeccion of bodye and clennes of thouȝte. Ye ar betewes, havyng a clene and innocent intent of harte and mynde, for all þat ye doo, it ys not for favour of peple, but to please God. Ye have the eyes of the culver (29v) when ye be clere from all malice, symulacion and faynengs. My moste loved suster in Cryste, therfor I shew yow all this, þat ye may be more gladde withyn in þe soule of holy vertues than withoute in þe bodye of gloryous vestures. Saynt Gregory seyth: ‘no man lokyth after precious clothyng but for vaynglorye, þat he may be praysed by them and be seen more honorable þan oþer’. And therfor no man lyghtly wyll doo upon such manere of clothyng but wher he may be seen of oþere, and so oonly for vaynglory and pryde he seketh ryche arayment. Reverent virgyn, it ys an evident tokyn that we love þe world when we love precious ornamentis. He þat loveth not þe world loketh for no ryall garmentis. When a man or a woman joyeth of þe bewte of þe bodye, his mynde ys distracte from the love of hys Creatour. How muche more we delyte in erthlye (30r) and transitory thyngis, so much lesse we desyre celestyall. Verely a religious woman hath a grete spotte in hyr yf she love precious clothyng. The mayden of Cryst þat perfitlye hath lefft þe world doeth look after vyle clothyng, and she þat desireth fresche clothyng hath not perfitely dispised þe world. A blak vestur signifyeth humylyte of mynde, a vyle or cours vestur betokenyth þe contempte of þe world. The blak colour of þe vayle signifyeth the clennes and puryte of þe soule. Also a blak vayle ys a token of chastite and holynes. Now therfor, reverent sustere, I counceyle you þat the habyte whiche ye shew in syght ye fulfyll in dede. I praye you þat ye apparell the habyte of your Order with good maners. The habyte ys holy, lete so be your mynde and intent; and as þe ornamentis be holy, so lete your dedys be. Hyde not oon thyng ynward and shew anoþere thyng (30v) outeward. Be ye not oon in secretenes and anoþere in opyn sight. Loke, as ye be in countenance and vysour, so be ye in your werkis and dedys. Amen.

89 

Song 1. 14.

64 Transcription

The xth exhortacion ys of þe vertue and profytte of compunccion or contricion, and how many wayes a person ouȝte to be compuncte or sorye The compunccion of þe hart ys mekenes of mynde þat cummyth of the remembrance of syn and of feer of the laste jugement. That compunccyon ys perfytte which putteth awey all delectacion of þe bodye and with all the labour of mynde fixeth th’ entent in contemplacion of God. We rede þat þere be two manere of compunccyons: oon ys when the soule of every servante of God ys troubled for þe love of God, as when he callyth to his memorye the syn and trespace þat he hath done ayenst God and hys commaundmentis; anoþere is when a man or woman ys hevy for the prolongyng of everelastyng lyfe. Fowr weyes ys every (31r) good man and woman compuncte: by memorye of synnes, by thynkyng of peynes to come, by consideracion of this present lyfe, and by desyre of heven þat he maye soon come thyder. Every synner knoweth hym then to be vysitte of God when he ys compuncte unto teres or wepyng. For Seynte Petyr then dyd wepe, sayeth þe Gospell, when Cryst lokyd upon hym.90 And the psalmyst sayth: ‘God lokyd, and þe erth was moved and tremeled’.91 Then doeth the erthe tremyll when a synner ys moved to teerys. I exhorte you þerfor, my dere suster, þat in prayer ye call to remembraunce with teerys your synnes. For he þat hath not compunccion or contricion of hert hath not a clene and pure prayer. My loved sustere in Cryste, here þe exaumples of holy saynctis, which by compunccion and teerys obteyned of God forgevenes of theyr synnes. Anna, þe moder of Samuel, by compunccion and teerys deserved to have a chyld, and moreovere she obteyned of God (31v) þe gyfte of prophecie.92 David by compunccion and wepyng obteyned forgevenes of his murther and advoutre. Thys be hard by þe prophete Nathan: ‘thou shalt not dye, for Almyȝty God hath forgeven the thy syn’.93 Olde Thobye by compunccion of teres deserved to have helth of hys blyndenes and cumforte of his poverte. Thus sayd þe angel Raphael unto hym: ‘joye be alwey to þe’,94 ‘be strong in hert, hit shal not be long but

90 

Liber here quotes Luke 22. 61–62; PL 184, 1216C. Ps. 17. 8. 92  i Sam. 1. 93  ii Sam. 12. 13. 94  Tob. 5. 11. 91 

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þou shal be helyd of God’.95 Also Marye Mawdelen by compunccion of teerys deserved to here of our savyour Jhesu Cryste: ‘thy synnes be forgeven the’.96 Reverent suster, for thys cause I bryng yn exaumples of sayntis to you, þat teerys by compunccion may be swete to yow. A good compunccion ys a desyrfull tresour and an ineffable gladnes in þe mynde of a juste person. That man or woman þat hath in theyr prayer compunccion doeth profite (32r) his own welth. A myghty man ys not lesse to be praysed in wepyng than in batell. Bycause therfor we have aftyr our baptyme defyled our lyfe, lete us baptyse our own conscience in teerys and wepyng. Wheras teerys be, ther ys kyndeled a spiritual fyre which doeth lyght þe secretis of the mynde and hart. The teerys of penytentis be countyd afore God for a baptyme. My loved suster in Cryste, yf ye have compunccion acceptable to God, ye shal be blissed. The compunccion of þe hart ys the helth and þe lyght of þe soule, for then the soule ys lyȝtned when it ys compuncte to teerys and wepyng. Compunccyon with teerys obteyneth remission of synnes, for then synnes be forgeve when they be called to remembraunce with wepyng teerys. Compunccyon bryngeth to a persone the Holy Goste, for when the Holy Goste ys presente in the harte, anone a man or a woman (32v) doeth wayle theyr synnes. [A question] Ye wold peraventur aske me: what be the causes of our sorow or mornyng þat we shuld wepe for in this mortall lyfe? [The answer] My loved suster, we doo wepe for our synnes, for the wrechidnes of this world, for the compassion of our neyghbour, and for þe love and desyre of hevenly reward. For syn wepte kyng David when he sayd: ‘I schall wasch every nyȝt my conscience in wepyng for my syn, and with teerys I shall weete my sensualyte þat it may bryng furth þe good frute of vertue’.97 The same person wepte for the mysery of this world when he sayde: ‘woo ys me þat my habitacion here ys prolongyd. I have duellyd long amongst wycked cumpany’.98 Our Lord thurgh compassion wepte upon Lazar,99 also upon þe cite of Jerusalem, sayng: ‘and if þu knewist as much as I, þou woldest wepe as I doo’.100 Also Seynt Paule tawȝt ‘to be jocunde with suche (33r) as be goodly merye, and to wepe with them þat wepen’101 by 95 

Tob. 5. 13. Luke 7. 48. 97  Ps. 6. 7. 98  Ps. 119. 5–6. 99  See John 11. 35. 100  Luke 19. 42. 101  Rom. 12. 15. 96 

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compassion and sayde: ‘who ys seke, and I be not seke with hym?’ 102 For the love of þe celestyall rewarde wepte þe juste persons þat þe psalmyste spekyth of, sayeng: ‘over the floddys of Babylon we sate and wept when we thouȝt on the, Syon’.103 The flodes of Babylon be the goodys of þe world, which every good and juste servante of God doeth passe overe and sytteth above them by lyftyng up his mynde to heven, and mornyth þat he ys taryed from the joyes of þe celestyall Syon wher he shuld se þe gloryous vision of God. Thys present lyef ys a deth, for it ys full of mysery and wrecchidnes, and it ys not in a cuntree but in a weye, nor it is in a hows but in exile. We be not in þis world as in our cyte but in a pylgrimage, as Scriptur sayeth: ‘we have here no cite to abyde yn, but we loke after oon to com’.104 Loved suster, I exhorte you that (33v) fyrste ye mourne for your own synnes, then for þe wrecchydnes of this world and compassion of your neyghbour, and fynally for þe love of God and hevenly rewarde. Good sustyr and virgyn, with all devocion praye God that he may geve you true compunccion of mynde and contricion of harte. Compunccion causeth a man or woman to have Cryste the son of God abydyng by grace in them, his own sayeng to wyttnes: ‘I and my Fader shall com and abyde with hym þat loveth me’.105 Wheras be abundance of teerys, þeir doeth no grevous thouȝt come nye, and if eny tyme they drawe to them, they doo not fyxe theyr rootis in them. Teerys geven evere to us a grete truste before God. My loved suster, her the voyce of your spouse Jhesu Cryste spekyng to you: ‘aryse, my love, and come to me, my love, for nowe ys wynter and rayn goon. Flowres have (34r) apperyd on the grownde, tyme of graffyng ys com, the voyce of þe turtyll ys hard in our grownde’.106 That ys to seye, the voyce of thapostyls and prechyours ys hard in þe Chyrch. The turtyl, þat ys a verey chaste byrd which ys wonte to bylde and abyde in hygh mounteyns and trees, signifyeth thapostyls and oþere doctours, which may seye with Scriptur: ‘our conversacion ys in heven’.107 She hath also a whynyng for hyr syngyng, and it betokenyth the mournyng of devoute prechyours þat stere þe peple to wayle and wepe for their synnes, sayeng with thapostle: ‘be ye sorye and wepe’.108 102 

ii Cor. 11. 29. Ps. 136. 1. 104  Heb. 13. 14 105  John 14. 23. 106  Song 2. 10–12. 107  Phil. 3. 20. 108  Jas. 4. 9. 103 

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Wherfor, good virgyn, take exaumple of þe turtyll, and wepe for þe love of your spouse Jhesu Cryste tyl þat ye may se hym reynyng in his kyngdom. Hit ys better to wepe with the love of Jhesu Cryste than with the drede of hell.109 Hit ys þe propurte of þe turtyl þat yf be eny meanes she lese hyr mate, she seketh no more for anoþere. (34v) O ye, spouse of Cryste, be ye lyk to þe turtyll, and excepte Jhesu Cryste your spouse, þe which ys ascendid to heven, loke after noon oþere lover. Scriptur sayeth also in þe voyce of Cryste to his loved spouse: ‘verey feyr be thy chekys as of þe turtyl’.110 In þe chekys ys wonte to be shamfastnes seen. Reverent sustere, ye have the chekys of þe turtyl, yf for shamfastnes of your spouse Jhesu Cryste ye doo noþyng agaynste hys wyll. Ye have þe chekys of þe turtyl, yf with love and reverence of Cryste ye sette asyde tho thyngis þat shuld displese hym. Ye have þe chekys of the turtyl, yf ye love no noþere lover but Cryste. Therfor, dere sustere, wassh your synnes indefynently with teerys. Daily wasche your negligences by compunccion and wepyng. Contynually clense þe transgressions of your Order with teerys. By teerys and compunccion gete you remission of your synnes and everlastyng joye. That ye have lewdlye doon and (35r) unlefully, purge it with wepyng. Good virgyn, yf ye doo not wepe for your synnes in þis world, when shall ye saye with holy and penitent kyng David to God: ‘þou haste, good Lorde, put my teerys before thy syght?’111 And in anoþere place he sayth: ‘my teerys and wepyng was to me nyght and daye both mete and drynke.’112 I counseyle you then, spouse of Cryste, þat in thys mortall lyfe ye mourne and wayle your synnes, so þat ye may deserve comfort and consolacion in heven, as the Gospell sayth: ‘blessid be thoo þat mourne, for they shal be comforted’.113 Amen.

The xith exhortacion sheweth howe hevynes and pensyfnes doeth hurt and howe it ouȝte to be advoyded Oure Lorde sayth in þe Gospell: ‘suerly I saye to you þat ye shall wayle and wepe, but worldly peple shal be glad; and ye shal be hevye and sorowfull, but 109 

Liber here quotes Song 1. 9; PL 184, 1218B. Song 1. 9. 111  Ps. 55. 9. 112  Ps. 41. 4. 113  Matt. 5. 5. 110 

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your hevynes shal be turnyd into joye and gladnes’.114 (35v) Also Salomon sayth: ‘a joyfull hart causeth a mery countenance, but in hevynes of þe mynde ys overethrowen the spyryte’.115 ‘A mery hart causeth a floryschyng age, an hevy spyrite causeth a man or woman to wythyr and pyne aweye’.116 ‘A shrewd hart shall cause hevynes, and a wyse man or woman doeth resyste it’.117 ‘By hevynes commyth soon deth’,118 and a glad hart causeth good helth. Also holy Athanasius sayeth: ‘an hevy man or woman ys allwey malicious and troubleth þe Holy Goste geven to hym of God’, which prohibiteth the apostle, sayeng: ‘greve ye not þe Holy Gost which inhabiteth in you, in whom ye be marked for the chyldren of redempcion’.119 Se therfor, dere suster, þat ye vexe not the Holy Goste dwellyng in yow les peraventour he forsake you. Doo from yow dowtfulnes and folysch boldnes, for they both greve (36r) the Holy Goste. Put from you hevynes, for it ys þe suster of dowtfulnes and folysche-hardye. Suerely a worldly hevynes ys the worste of all evyll spyritis and hurtyth and undoeth the servantis of God. The Holy Goste suffereth no bodely hevynes. Therfor, loved sustere, have ye evere spirituall gladnes, which is accept before God. All gostely solace ys alwey good, and thynkyth nothyng but good, and dispyseth vayn hevynes. If spiritual gladnes wer not good, þe prophete wolde nevere a-seyd: ‘ye, juste peple, be ye mery and joye in God’.120 And agayn he sayth: ‘every juste person shal be glad in God and shal trust in hym, and all þat be ryȝtwous in hert shal be lawdyd and praysed’.121 [A question] Peraventur ye wold aske me: o my wel beloved broþere, yf þat hevynes be evyll and hurteth þe servantis of God, what ys it þat Salomon seyth: ‘the hart of wyse men ys wheras ys hevynes, and the hart of foolys ys (36v) wheras ys gladnes?’122 [The answer] Reverent sustere, þe sayeng of Salomon123 ys undurstond of spiritual hevynes and worldly gladnes, as hoo sayth: they be 114 

John 16. 20. Prov. 15. 13. 116  Prov. 17. 22. Liber then quotes Ecclus. 18. 15, Ecclus. 25. 17, Ecclus. 30. 23; PL 184, 1219A–B. 117  Ecclus. 36. 22. 118  Ecclus. 38. 19. 119  Eph. 4. 30. 120  Ps. 31. 11. 121  Ps. 63. 11. 122  Eccles. 7. 5. 123  Liber here quotes again Eccles. 7. 5; PL 184, 1219D. 115 

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wyse þat have spiritual hevynes, and foolys þat have worldly gladnes. Thoo þat be hevy for þe love of God be wyse, and thoo þat be hevy for þe world be unwyse. Our Lord sayth in þe Gospell: ‘be ye glad and jocunde. Why? Bycause your names be writen in heven’.124 And thapostle sayth: ‘be ye sumwhat hevye, and evere beeng glad’.125 Then spiritual hevynes ys good, but þe hevynes þat cummyth of covetyse and temperall goodis ys evyll. Of þe spiritual hevynes sayth Scriptur: ‘blessyd be they þat be sory and hevy, for they schall be comfortyd’.126 Of þe worldly hevynes spekyth Salomon, sayeng: ‘many hath hevynes caused to dye, and ther ys no profyte in hyt’.127 Also of spiritual gladnes sayth Scriptur: ‘lete the hart of them þat seken God be jocunde’,128 (37r) and of worldly gladnes it ys writen: ‘woo be to yow þat nowe doo lawgh and be mery, for ye shal wepe and wayle’.129 Dere suster, here also what Seynt Paule sayth: ‘sorow and hevynes, which ys acordyng to þe wyll of God, causeth penaunce þat shal bryng us to everlastyng welth, but þe hevynes toward þe world causeth syn and dampnacion’.130 The prayer of a man or woman þat ys alwey hevy hath no vertue nor may not ascend to God. Therfor, my loved suster, leve and put from you this lewd hevynes. Geve not yourself to muche hevynes and pensyfnes, and persevere not theryn. Thys evyl hevynes ys oon of the vii dedly synnes and þerfor it ouȝt to be avoyded from every servante of God. Seynt Isidor sayth: ‘if þou lyve well and religiously, þou shalt nevere be hevy or pensyfe. A good lyfe hath evere more gladnes and joye.’ Wherfor, good suster, doo awey from you hevynes, for as (37v) the mothe etyth þe cloth and a worme gnaweth þe wode, so doeth hevynes hurt the hart. Clense then your hart from all carnall and worldly hevynes, and your prayer shal be acceptable to God. Reverent suster, in thynkyng of your synnes wayle, and for þe love of your spouse Jhesu Cryst be glad. In remembryng of your trespasys don in tyme paste wepe, and for þe hop of the celestyall goodnes be jocunde. For your defauȝtis and negligences be ye sory, and of þe promyse of heven be ye joyfull. For your offencys be ye hevy, and for the joye of the everelastyng reward be mery in God, 124 

Luke 10. 20. ii Cor. 6. 10. Liber then quotes Phil. 4. 4; PL 184, 1220A. 126  Matt. 5. 5. 127  Ecclus. 30. 25. 128  Ps. 104. 3. 129  Luke 6. 25. 130  ii Cor. 7. 10. 125 

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to þe which he vouchesave to bryng yow, to whom in your virginite ye have ordeynd a gladde dwellyng-place. Amen.

The xiith exhortacion ys how God ouȝt to be loved abofe all thyng and nothyng to be preferryd before hys love (38r) Oure Lorde Jhesu Cryste sayth in þe Evangely: ‘he þat loveth me wyll kepe my doctryne and prechyng, and my Fadere shall love hym, and we shall com to hym and abyde with hym’.131 And Seynt John the apostle sayth: ‘we love God bycause he fyrst hath loved us’.132 He þat loveth God wyll pray effectually for hys synnes and kepe hymself from them. Dere suster, love ye God, and call to hym in your helth. For love ys lyfe and hate ys deth. God wyl not be loved oonly in wordys, but with a pure hart and good werkys. He loveth not God þat dispiseth his commaundmentis. The mynde of man or woman þat loveth God ys not in the erth or in þe worlde but in heven, for evere he desireth hevenly thyngys. I counceyle you, dere suster, þat ye love God above all thyngis, for he hath electe yow afore þe begynnyng of þe world. We ouȝte to love God more than our fader and moder. (38v) Why? For God made both us and our frendis by his vertue and power, as Scriptur sayth: ‘he made us and not we ourself ’.133 Cryste hath done more for us than our own frendes, therfor we ought to love hym above them. Hit ys a folyschnes to love enythyng mor þan God. He þat loveth more a creature than his Creatour doeth offende, and he þat preferryth the love of a creature before þe love of hys Creatour doeth erre. I praye you, good virgyn, seye of Cryst with love and devocion þat is in Scriptur wryten: ‘my love ys lovyng to me and I to hym, the which ys fedde among whyȝt lylyes tyl þe daye doo apere and all derkenes be gon’.134 Spouse of Cryste, I praye you speke more playner and saye: my love is cowpled to me by the bonde of charyte and love, and I am conjoyned and coupled to hym with a lyke charyte and love,135 the which delyteth and ys gladde among the whyȝt and odoriferous vertues (39r) of sayntis and among the cumpany of pure virgyns,136

131 

John 14. 23. i John 4. 19. 133  Ps. 99. 3. 134  Song 2. 16–17. 135  Liber here repeats part of Song 2. 16; PL 184, 1221B. 136  Liber here repeats Song 2. 17; PL 184, 1221B. 132 

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tyl þat the darke clowdys of thys present lyfe be gon and the bryȝtnes of everelastyng blysse doeth apere. Dere suster, it ys hygh ryȝtwosnes to love God hertly and to cleve with all our wyll to hym, which ys most hyest goodnes, whom to love ys a grete blissidnes. He that loveth God ys good, and if he be good, he ys blissyd; and the more a man or a woman loveth God, the more blissyd he shall be. Love and dileccion ys a specyall and a propur vertue of sayntis. My moste loved suster in Cryste, I have sayd this bycause þat no worldly love shuld dyvyd yow from the love of Cryste. Spouse of Cryst, I pray the þat sumwhat þu wylt tell me of the love of thy celestyall spouse. ‘My love’, sayth she, ‘lovyng to me, abydeth betwene my brestis’.137 Yit, lovyng spouse, speke more playner þat we may undirstand what thou sayest!138 The place of the hart ys betwen (39v) the brestys: ‘my love abydeth betwen my brestys’,139 þat is to saye, the memorye, dileccion, and the love of my spouse Jhesu Cryste shal be allweye betwen my brestis, þat is in my hart. And wheþere I be in prosperite or in adversite I wyll contynually call to my remembraunce all the goodnes that he hath geven to me, for he hath loved me, he deyed for me and ascended to heven. And þat I shuld come to hym, dayly he callyth me, sayeng: ‘Com from Lybany, my spouse. Com from Lybany’, that ys from the worlde. ‘Come, þou shalt be crowned’.140 The grace of the Holy Goste geven by Jhesu Cryste unto me abyde in me in thys present lyfe, and the knowlege of Holy Scriptur be inprynted in my mynde þat I may know hym and perfitely love hym,141 and may cause me to come to everelastyng blysse. Dere suster, desyre ye the maydens and servantis of Cryst that be with you and seye unto them:142 O my (40r) good susters, which love Cryste above all thyng and preferre nothyng afore his love, helpe ye me with your devoute prayers, and shew me by your good and religious conversacion and examples how I may fynde my loved spouse Cryste, for I am hevy, sorowfull and syke for the love of hym. Thys love ys dulcett, thys hevynes ys swete. Thys seknes ys vertuous, this dileccion ys chaste. This conjunccyon ys withoute corrupcion

137 

Song 1. 12. Liber here repeats Song 1. 12; PL 184, 1221C. 139  Song 1. 12. 140  Song 4. 8. Liber here quotes Song 2. 6; PL 184, 1221D. 141  Liber here quotes Song 2. 6; PL 184, 1221D. 142  Liber here quotes Song 2. 5; PL 184, 1221D. 138 

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and invyolate, this clyppyng ys clene and untowchyd. O good susters,143 help me with exaumples of good conversacion, for thus am I syke for þe love of my spouse Jhesu Cryste. Good vyrgyn, trewly then ar ye hevy and syke for þe love of Jhesu Cryste yf þat for his love ye sett nouȝt by all thys worlde, yf ye love hym above all thyng, yf þat ye love more hevenly thyngis than erthly, if ye be strong in good werkys and dedys and in worldly maters (40v) be feble. My loved suster in Cryste, yf ye love Cryste with all your hart and preferr nothyng before his love, ye shall wyth hym be gladde and jocunde in the celestyall kyngdom, and folow hym whithersoevere he goyth with the cumpanye of holy virgyns, and with them, as Holy Chyrch hath wryten, ye shall syng many swete songys. I pray youe, fele no noþer swetnes but Cryste, seke no noþere love but þe love of Cryste. For his love be hevy and sorowfull, unto þe tyme ye may se hym reyghnyng on the ryght hande of the Fadyr of heven. Amen.

The xiii exhortacion techyth how to love our neyghbour, withoute which love we cannot love perfyghtly God Moste dere suster, here what our Lord Jhesu Cryste sayth to hys disciplys: ‘in that everybodye shall knowe þat ye be my disciplys, yf ye love yche oþere’.144 All feythfull (41r) peple be the disciplys of Cryste. Every persone ys his disciple whose doctryne he foloweth. He then þat wyll be the disciple of Cryste lete hym studye to love hys neygbour as hymself. ‘The love of the neyghbour doeth no hurt nor evyll’.145 Why? ‘For love ys the fulfyllyng of the lawe of God’.146 Seynt Paule thapostle exhortyth us, sayeng: ‘lyve ye in love, as Cryst dyd love us and gave hymself for us’.147 [om.]148 Also Seynt John thapostle sayth: ‘he þat loveth his broþere ys in þe lyȝte of grace, and no hurt is in hym. He þat hateth his broþer ys in derknes of syn, and walkyth in derknes, and cannot tell whyther he goeth, bycause darknes of syn hath blyndyd hys eyes’.149 ‘He þat sayeth: “I

143 

Liber here quotes Song 2. 5; PL 184, 1222A. John 13. 35. 145  Rom. 13. 10. 146  Rom. 13. 10. 147  Eph. 5. 2. 148  MS reads ‘Also Seynt John thapostle sayeth exhortyng us lyve ye in love as Cryste did love us and gave hymself for us’. See Commentary. 149  i John 2. 10–11. 144 

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love God” and hatyth his brother, he ys a lyer and no trouth (41v) ys in hym’.150 ‘We have this commaundment of God, that he þat loveth hym muste love his broþere’;151 and ‘he þat loveth not his brother whom he doeth se, how may he love God whom he seeth not?’152 Salomon also seyth: ‘he þat ys a lovyng frende alwey loveth’,153 and Seynt Austen: ‘thou overecomyst man and wyn hym with kynde felicite or a kynde turn, and þou overecomyst þe devyl with the love of thyn enmye’. But loved suster, no carnall love ouȝt to be among the servantys of God, but spirituall. Nothyng ys more acceptable to God than the vertue of dileccion, and nothyng ys more desyreous to þe devyl þan þe destruccion of charite. Every feythfull creature thynkith to be your broþere or suster. Remembre þat oon God made us all. Reverent suster, by the love of thy neyghbour ye shal know how ye shall come to the love of God. As love liftyth up the hart and mynde, so malice drowneth (42r) them. Nor ye can love God withoute your neyghbour, nor your neyghbour withoute God. Ye kepe trew charite, yf ye love your frende in God and your enemy for God. How large ye be in þe love of your neyghbour, so hygh shall ye be in þe knowlege of God. If ye love trewly your neyghbour, your hart ys in quiettnes. He þat hath hys neyghbour in hate ys compasid with darknes of syn and werynes. In lovyng of your neyghbour, ye clense the eye of your mynde to se God. Yit, reverent suster, I exhorte you þat ye love noo persone carnally. Seynt Isidor sayth: ‘he ys mych drowned on erth þat loveth a mortall man or woman more than he ought carnally’. We may nevere dwell with God, yf we wyl not be charitable and lovyng togyder. A lovyng frende in necessite ys proved. If we wyll kepe the commaundmentys of God, we muste love our neyghbours as ourself. He þat withoute dissymulacion loveth man (42v) his brother plesith soon God his Fader. He that loveth his neyghbour wyll doo nor cause no murther, no thefte, no advoutre, no perjury, no fals wittnes, no rape, no envy, no stryfe. Therfor, good suster, lete us have evere in mynd þe love of God and our neyghbour, in which vertue ys conteyned all the lawe of God and his prophetis, and lete us performe it in dede. And if our neyȝbour suffer eny tribulacion or seknes or losse, or be put in pryson, yf we be sory for hym, we be in þe body of Cristys Chyrch; if we be not sorye, then we be oute of þe body of Crystis 150 

i John 4. 20. i John 4. 21. 152  i John 4. 20. 153  Prov. 17. 17. 151 

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Chyrch. For if charite which doeth comfourt and qwycken all the membrys of Holy Chyrch doeth se us to be gladde of the fall of our neyȝbour, lyȝtly he kuttyth us of from þe bodye. So long the member ys syke as it is conteyned in þe body. If a membur be kutte from þe bodye, it can noþere fele nor be sore. If a hande or a fote, or eny (43r) oþere membre, be cutte from þe bodye and then the hole body be divided in many partis or els caste into the fyre, the hand felyth not the fyre, bycause it ys divided fro þe body. Such oon ys every Cristen man and woman þat is not hevy or sory for the losse, tribulacion, angwysch, or necessite of anoþere person, but—þat ys worste of all—he ys gladde, for then he ys devided from the body of Cristys Church. But, good virgyn, yf [we]154 wold kepe trew and perfite charite, lete us love wel every person. Lete us labour to love feythfully oþer persons as ourself [þat]155 bycause Cryst ys our hedd we may be membrys of hym; and þat when he doeth apere þat ys our glorye, we by þe recorde of charyte and dileccyon of God and of our neyȝbour may apere with hym in glory. Then ys a frend loved when he is loved not for hymself but for God. Holy Isider sayth: ‘he þat loveth (43v) a frende unresonably doeth love hym more for hymself than for God’. Then is a man or a woman contrarye to the goodnes and justice of God when he dispiseth a frend striken with eny adversite. Trew frendeship ys by no occasion broken, in no ceson putte of, but howsomevere the tyme goyth, yt ys stedefaste. Few frendes þere be þat be lovyng unto thende. That frendeship is trew þat loketh for noon of his frendis substance excepte oonly his benevolens þat he may kyndely love agayn his lover. My loved suster in Cryste, I counseile you, þerfor þat ye love your frendis in God, þat is to say, in all goodnes. Love also your enemyes for God, as it is writen in þe Gospel of our saviour, sayeng: ‘love your enemyes and doo good to them þat hate you’,156 and ‘if thyn enemy hath nede of mete, fede hym; if he be thrysty, geve hym drynke’.157 ‘Blysse them þat purseweth (44r) you, blisse ye them and not curse them’.158 Dileccion ys the suster of charite. Charyte was nevere withoute dileccion, nor dileccion withoute charyte. Good virgyn, then necessary ys to us dileccion and love, in whom be so many vertues and of whom cummyth so mych goodnes. Dileccion hath two wyngys: the ryȝt wyng is the 154 

MS reads ‘ye’. Word missing in MS. 156  Luke 6. 27. 157  Rom. 12. 20. 158  Rom. 12. 14. 155 

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love of God, the lefft wyng ys the love of thi neyȝbour. No man nor woman can fle to heven with oon wyng. Why? For noþere the love of God oonly withoute þe love of þe neyȝbour, noþere þe love of þe neyȝbour oonly withoute þe love of God may fle to gete everelastyng blysse. Prudent virgyn, take to you thes two wyngys, the love of God and the neyȝbour, that ye may frely flee in doyeng good dedys and com to þe celestyall kyngdom. Amen.

The xiiii exhortacion sheweth how oon shuld have compassion of another (44v) Moste dere suster, here ye what oure Lord Jhesu Cryste sayth: ‘all good þing þat ye wold oþere men shuld doo to you, doo ye to them. This is þe lawe of God and þe prophetis’.159 And þe apostle Paule sayth: ‘we shuld be glad with them þat be gladde, and wepe and be sory with them þat wepe and be sory’,160 and in anoþere place he sayth: ‘take unto you seke persons and be compacient to everybodye’.161 And Salomon sayth: ‘he þat dispiseth his neyȝbour synneth’.162 ‘Have feythfulnes with thy neyȝbour in his poverte, þat þu mayst be glad in his prosperite. Abyde feythfully with hym in tyme of tribulacion, þat þou may in his heritage be heyr with hym’.163 ‘He þat makyth a pytte for his neyȝbour shall fall theryn hymself ’,164 acordyng to þe psalmist, sayng: ‘he opened and diggyd a dyche and fell therin hymself ’.165 He loveth not perfitely his neyȝbour þat helpyth hym not in his necessite. (45r) The more we help by compassion our neyȝbours in necessite, the more nye we be to God. We ouȝte to care for ourself þat we be not negligent in seeng to our neyȝbour. Therfor, loved suster, that þat ye wold not shuld hap or fortune to yourself, desyre not to fortune to anoþere. Have compassion of others hevynes. Wounde yourself with wepyng in oþer mennys sorowes. Be ye hevy in þe tribulacion of oþer and syk with them þat be syke. Morne the hevynes of oþere as your own, and with them þat wayle, sob and wepe, and doo þe same. Be ye such to oþere, as ye wold þat oþere shuld be to you. That ye wyl not suffer, make not anoþere to suffer. Doo no hurt to oþer, les þat ye have hurt. Be ye as softe 159 

Matt. 7. 12. Rom. 12. 15. 161  i Thess. 5. 14. 162  Prov. 14. 21. 163  Ecclus. 22. 28–29. 164  Ecclus. 27. 29. 165  Ps. 7. 16. 160 

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and as pacient in oþere persons defawtis as in your own. Loke þat ye ponder not oþerewyse yourself, and oþerewyse oþer persons. If your adversary or enemy be fallen, be not ye glad þereof. (45v) Be ye not prowde and jocunde of þe undoyng and mysfortune of your enemye, les peraventur a lyke mysfortune fall to you and les God turn his yre upon you. For he þat ys gladde of the mysfortune of his enemye, evyl shal soon happen to hym. Lete þerefor kynde affeccion be agaynste þe miserable persone, and compassion agaynste þe pore, and love and pyte agaynste the nedye. ‘If your enemy be hungrye, fede hym; and he be thrysty, geve hym drynke.’166 ‘Dispyse not pore peple’,167 ‘sette not nouȝt by nedye’,168 ‘have not in contempte fatherles children’.169 Lete nobodye have of you eny cause of hevynes, lete no man goo confounded from you. Visite the syke, comforte the feble, that ye may deserve to be comforted of oure Lorde in everelastyng joye and blisse. Amen.

The xv exhortacyon moveth us to shewe mercy and pyte to our evencrysten (46r) My moste loved suster, here what Jhesu Cryst sayth in the Gospell: ‘blessid be merciful peple, for they shall have mercy’,170 and in anoþere place he sayth: ‘be ye mercifull, for your Fader of heven ys mercifull’.171 And Seynt Paule thapostle sayth: ‘be ye yche to oþere gentyl and mercifull’,172 and ‘as þe electe and devoute servantis of God, have ye dedys of mercy with you’.173 ‘Pyte is profetable to everythyng’.174 Salomon sayth: ‘to doo mercy and justice plesith more God than doeth sacrifice’.175 Mercy maketh to every person a place in heven acordyng to the deservyng of his dedys. ‘The mercy and pyte of a man or a woman is aboute hymself and his neybour, the mercy of God ys overe all the

166 

Rom. 12. 20. Cf. Prov. 17. 5. 168  Prov. 22. 22. 169  Cf. Prov. 23. 10. 170  Matt. 5. 7. 171  Luke 6. 36. 172  Eph. 4. 32. 173  Col. 3. 12. 174  i Tim. 4. 8. 175  Prov. 21. 3. 167 

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world’.176 ‘He offereth sacrifice to God þat doeth werkes of mercy’.177 The mercy of God is callyd mercy of havyng compassion of anoþere persons wrecchydnes. He þat is not merciful to oþere (46v) cannot fynde þe mercy of God. My loved suster in Cryste, lete mercy and trouth goo before you. Nevere leve mercy. Ye shall doo good to your own soule, yf ye be mercifull. He þat is mercifull to anoþere shal have mercy of God. Reverente suster, þat þat ye have, have it for mercye. Shew mercy withoute grugge. Such shall be your werke, as ys your intente. Ther ys no mercy wher ys not good wyll and benevolence. That good dede which ye doo, doo it for mercy and not for vaynglory. Doo ye nothyng for lawde or praysyng but for þe everelastyng rewarde. Doo nothyng for temperall fame or name but for everelastyng lyfe to þe which, reverent suster, Almyȝty God vouchsave to brynge you. Amen.

The xvi exhortacion sheweth the profitte þat cummyth by thexamples of holy faders and sayntis whom we shuld folowe and doo aftyr, yf we wyl reygne wyth them in heven (47r) Wel beloved suster, thexaumples of holy sayntis profite mych to þe conversion and amendment of feythfull peple. Wherfor the fallys and rysyngs or reperacions of sayntis be writen, þat we wrecchys shuld not dispayr for the abundaunce or multitude of our synnes, but in rysyng ayen by penaunce aftyr oure fall in syn we may have hope of mercy; and þat nobody aftyr his syn dispayr of þe goodnes of God, sythe he seeth and knoweth þat ther was reperacion of seyntis after their fall. God þerfor shewed þe vertues of his sayntis for our exaumple, þat by their steppys we may com to the kyngdom of heven; or els, if we wil not folow them in well doyng and workyng, we in our own synnes be inexcusable. Holy men and wemen of God cesed nevere in this worlde to exercyse them in good werkys, as in fastyng, wacchyng, almysdedys, chastite, continens, perseverauns, paciens, swettnes, prayer, persecucion, benevolens, (47v) hunger, thurst, colde, nakydnes, and in manyfold labours and travels for þe name of Cryste. The holy sayntis dispised this present world, that they myȝt gete the everelastyng kyngdom. They receyved here no fayr promyses, no wrecchid rycches of this world, which bryngeth a man or a woman mysusyng them to þe paynes of hell, but utterly with theyr hole entent and mynde they forsakyng 176  177 

Ecclus. 18. 12. Ecclus. 35. 4.

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this world lyffte up their eyes to þe celestyall Jerusalem. Holy sayntis avoyded syn in worde, dede, thouȝt, syȝte, heryng, in movyng of their eyes, their handis, þeir feett, in yre, in stryfe, in wodenes, discension, vayneglorye, pryde, elacion, covetousnes, gloteny, sluggushnes, fornycacion, and in vyolence, or hastynes. Kepyng diligently their bodyes and soules, they fasted two manere of wyse: from vyce and mete. Good ys the abstinens fro metis, but mych better ys the abstinens fro vyce and syn. (48r) Therfor Holy Chyrch of them as of hyr membris sayth: ‘my handis hath stylled myrr’.178 What undirstand we by the handis but good werkis of seyntis? And what by the myrre but mortificacion of þe bodye and of synnes?179 The handis then of þe Chyrch hath stylled myrre, þat is to seye, holy sayntis by their good werkys have shewed us exaumples of good lyvyng and þat we shuld mortifye the lustys and the sensualite of our body. Wherfor, oon of them sayd: ‘if ye lyve aftyr the sensualite of your body, ye shall dye by syn’,180 and in anoþere place it is sayde: ‘mortifye your bodyes þat be upon erth’.181 And the Chyrch sayth: ‘my fyngyrs be myrre wele proved’.182 Then is myrr wel proved when the flesch ys perfitely mortifyed, and vyce and syn be qwenched and putte oute. Therfor, loved suster in Cryste, if we covette to have the felawship of holy sayntis, it is necessary for us to folow their exaumples. (48v) If we doo offende now, we have noo excuse. Why? For the law of God daily monyscheth us, and the exaumples of holy faders calleth us allwey to doo wele. And if oþerewhiles we folowe the exaumples of evyll persons, why do we not folowe thexaumples of holy fadirs and sayntis? And if we be redye and apte to folow lewd persons in doyng yll, why be we slowe to folow good in doyng wele? Reverent sustere, lete us pray God þat þe holy vertues which he ordeynd to his sayntis for their crown of glory be not to us to payne and dampnacion but to our profitte and salvacion. Withoute douȝte we beleve þat if we folow þe exaumples of holy sayntis, we shall after this lyfe reigne with them in heven. How mych more we rede the lyfe of seyntis or holy fadres, if we wyl not folow theyr exaumples, so mych more be we culpable. Now therfor, good virgyn, pray to Almyȝty God þat he may geve you thes vertues of holy fadres, as the (49r) humylyte of Cryste, devocion 178 

Song. 5. 5. Liber here quotes Heb. 11. 33; PL 184, 1226D. 180  Rom. 8. 13. 181  Col. 3. 5. 182  Song 5. 5. 179 

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of Peter, charyte of Seynt John, obedience of Abraham, pacyence of Ysaac, the sufferaunce of Jacob, chastite of Joseph, the mekenes of Moyses, constance of Josue, benignyte of Samuel, mercy of David, the abstinens of Danyel, and oþere good and worthy dedys of forfadres, þat aftyr this mortall lyfe ye may com to the felawship of them. Mayden of Cryste, consider you daily by what meenys, what intent, and what compunccion the servantis of Criste plesyd God. In Canticis it is seyd in þe person of Cryste to his Chyrch: ‘pryncys dowȝter, how feyr ys thy goyng in thy shoes’.183 Crist by the power of his godhed ys the prynce of all creatures, and therfor Holy Chyrch ys callyd the dowȝter of a prynce, for by the prechyng of Cryst she ys newly begoten and into a newe lyfe regenerate. What be þe shoes of the Chyrch, but thexaumples of holy fadres (49v) with þe which she ys in the weye of þis world defended þat thurgh all tribulacions she may goo shoed? My loved suster in Cryste, we doo shoe ourself spiritually when we take exaumple of holy fadyrs to lyve wele and overcome, lyke as they did, the temptacions of þe worlde. Agayn in Canticis Cryst spekyth, sayeng: ‘I have descendid into the garden þat I myȝt se the appuls of þe valey, and wheþere the vynes have flouryd and þe pomegranattis have buddyd’.184 The vynes doo flour when chyldren be in Cristis Chyrch trewly brouȝt furth in fayth and rootyd in holy conversacion of good werkys. Pomegranattis doeth budde when they þat be perfytte by exaumples of good dedys doeth edifye theyr neyȝbours, and by their prechyng and shewyng of good lyfe doo renewe them in vertuouse werkis and holy conversacion. Wherfor, loved suster spiritually in Cryst, I counseyl (50r) you þat ye shew of yourself to every person good exaumple in all your lyfe. Reverent virgyn, I desyre þat ye geve a lyght in lyvyng wele to all þe maydens of God þat be with you in þe monasterye. For as Seynt Gregory sayth: ‘they þat hyde theyr good lyfe from oþer, they be kyndeled within themself, but they be not to oþer in exaumple of lyȝte. And they þat by exaumple of vertue and holynes of lyfe and good exhortacion shew lyȝte to oþere, they be brennyng lampes bycause þei shew to oþere þat is within them: þe way of lyfe’. Of this spekyth our Lorde in þe Gospell: ‘lete your lyȝte’, sayth he, ‘shyne before þe peple þat they may se your good werkes and may glorifye your Fader þat ys in heven’.185 And for bycause all laude and glorye ouȝt to be referred only to God, I exhorte 183 

Song 7. 1. Song 6. 10. 185  Matt. 5. 16. 184 

80 Transcription

you, virgyn of Cryste, þat your good dedes be so in open sight, þat your entent may abyde pryvy within you. Therfor, my moste loved suster in Cryste, as I (50v) have sayd afore, in all your dedys, in all your werkis, in all your conversacion, folow ye holy and juste persons. Have before your eyes þe exaumples of seyntis and considere wele the exaumples of ryȝtwous persons. Lete the exaumples of holy faders be to you a steryng of vertue and lernyng. To do wele, merke þe vertue of sayntis; and to lyve wele, merke þe techyng and doctryne of them. Lete no infamye sclaunder your lyfe. Lete no evyl opinion or name cause you to be hevy. Lerne ye to have a good commendacion. Have ye a good wittnes and testymonye. Kepe your fame goode. Lete not your good fame be loste with stynkyng maners, lete it not be sclaundred or bacbited with opprobrious sayengs. Amen.

The xvii exhortacion sheweth how no stryfe ne debate ouȝte to be had in religion and how to advoyde the occasion of all contencion Seynt Paule thapostle sayth: ‘when ther is among you envye and contencion, (51r) do ye not folow your sensualyte and be carnall persons?’186 And Salomon sayth: ‘among prowde persons ys evere brawlyng’.187 ‘A lewde person sekyth alwey stryfe. The evyl angel ys sent agaynst hym’.188 He þat goyth by jopartous placis shal soon fall, so he þat dayly stryveth with his neyȝbours doeth lyg[h] tly189 fall into an evyl name. Meke persons doo hate contynually stryves. They þat dayly fyȝte and stryve be loved but of fewe persons. Therfor pees and concorde be necessary to every man and woman. Dere suster, here Saynt Austen, what he sayth: ‘o how irreprehensible and blameles we myȝte be yf we wold as diligently amende our fawtis as with diligence we repreve oþere persons defautis’. But and we consider ourself wele, we myȝte repreve many thyngys in us. I wyll þat ye know ther ys noþing more foule than stryve betwen religious persons, which shuld by concorde and love shyne in the world as the lyghtis in þe firmament. (51v) Contencions be wonte to growe of envy and detraccion. And if detraccion and brawlyng be in religyon, wher ys regular stylnes? Wher is perfeccion? Wher ys the silence of the Order? Wher ys the religion of the monasterie? Wher ys the bonde of charyte? Wher ys 186 

i Cor. 3. 3. Prov. 13. 10. 188  Prov. 17. 11. 189  MS reads ‘lygtly’. 187 

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pees and unyte? Wher ys þe concorde of fraternyte? Wher ys love of felawship? Alak, for sorow, stylnes of religyon ys loste, perfeccion is gon, sylence fayleth, the relygion of þe monastery ys come to nouȝte, lovyng charyte is broken. And if they þat ouȝt to lyve in pees begyn to make contencion, to stryve, to bakbyte, wher ys lyfe tranquyll? Wher is lyfe quyete? Wher is lyfe peesable? Wher is lyfe honeste? Wher is lyfe religious? Wher is contemplatyve lyfe? Wher is angellis lyfe? Suerly ther may not be perfite pees wheras reyneth a troublous tong. Wheras reyneth stryfe and contencion cannot be perfite religion. Se þerefor, (52r) loved suster, þat thurgh stryves and contencions ye lese not your labours. Be ware ye lese not your tyme by detraccions and brawlyng. Take hede diligently þat by chydyng and debate ye lese not the celestyall promys. Be ye chare les by folysch wordis ye lese everelastyng joyes. Therfor refreyne your tonge, and ye shal be religious, for if ye refreyne it not, ye shal not be religious. And if peraventur ye beleve not me, here what Seynt Jamys thapostle sayth: ‘if eny person thynketh to be a religious man or woman, not refreynyng his tunge but disseyvyng hymself in thynkyng þat he schal not be ponysched, therfor his religion ys vayne and nothyng worth’.190 ‘The tunge ys but a lytel membre’191 in a mannys bodye, and yit if it be not refreyned, ‘hit spotteth and lesyth all the bodye’.192 For a lytel sowre leven distroyeth an hole bache of bred, and a lytel sperkell of fyre doeth bren a grete (52v) wode. So the tung withoute a brydel of refreynyng doeth hurt lordys and rewlers, equall[s]193 and companyons, subjectis and children, and provoketh them to ire. A contenciouse tunge, if it have not a brydell, no man may lyve with it in pees. A brawlyng tunge ys full of poyson, which if it be not chastised, shall bryng all hys felawship to grete hevynes. Reverent suster, good it ys to you þat ‘ye withdraw your tung from evyll and lete not your mouth speke no gyle’.194 Consider fro whens ye come and wherto ye be come. Ye wente oute of þe worlde and to the castell of God, as to the monastery ye fledd. The rycches of þe worlde ye have forsake and be com to religion to gete hevenly ryches. And sythen ye have chosen wilfull poverte, ye ouȝte to forgete all thyng þat ye have lefte for Crystis sake. Be war þerefor þat ye preferr not yourself before oþere. The more hygher þat ye be, the more submytte you mekely to every persone. (53r) Leve the lewde company of conspiracion and detraccion. Fle murmurs and whisteryngs, her noon of them. 190 

Jas. 1. 26. Jas. 3. 5. 192  Jas. 3. 6. 193  MS reads ‘equall’. 194  Ps. 33. 14. 191 

82 Transcription

Pluck your heryng from detractours as ye wold from serpentis. Detractours put myschevous poysen into the eeris of the herers. He þat detracteth and he þat heryth wilfully a detractour, both doo syn. Good virgyn, here what the psalmystere seith: ‘I have not consentyd nor taryed with the counseil of vanyte’, that is to seye, with such that spended the tyme in lewde and vayn communicacion, ‘and I wyl not come among such persons’.195 In lyke wyse abyde not ye with them that clater of vanytees and companye not with suche as talke yll and shrewdly of their neyȝbour. Stryve ye in no cause or mater. Contencyon causeth stryfe, chydyng, brawlyng, and hatred. Contencion brekyth concorde and doeth trouble, acordyng to the psalmystere sayng, the eye of the mynde.196 Wherfore, loved sustere in Cryste, I counceyl you þat in no mater ye make contencion. Stryve ye noþere for mete, (53v) nor drynke, nor clothyng, but take of your hedde and officers that þat they geve you withoute murmur or gruge. If your sustere have better clothyng geven to hyr than ye have, care ye not. If your hedde geve you a vyle vestur and to your sustyr a good vestur, gruge ye not of hit, stryve ye not for hit. In no temperall mater nor transitory goodis, chese ye the better. In the substance of þe world covette not the better. Why? For bycause ye be not come to ryches but to poverte. Ye came not to religyon to have erthly goodis, but þat ye myȝt gete you spiritual vertues. Ye came not to the cloyster to be gayly be sen in preciouse clothyng, but þat ye myȝt lowly serve God. Ye cam not to religion to be seen gloryous arayed in the sight of the peple, but þat by humylyte ye myȝt plees God. Ye came not among a holy company to have your own wyll, but þat ye myȝt be obedient to the wyll of anoþere persone and for God to dispyse all erthly (54r) thyng[is].197 For it had be bettere for you to have dwellyd styll in your faders hous than to loke for precious garmentis in the monastery. Hit had be bettere for you to have had vayn solace and myrth in the world than among þe servantis of God for erthly and transitory thyngis to cause eny trouble. Hit had be better for you to have taryed in your own cuntrey þan in the house of God to stryve, or fyȝt, or murmur, or gruge for temperall goodis. Therfor, wel beloved suster, as Y have above sayd, studye and labour ye not to stryve in eny cause or mater, but oonly to plese God.

195 

Ps. 25. 4. Liber here quotes Ps. 6. 8; PL 184, 1230A. 197  MS reads ‘thing’. 196 

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The xviii exhortacion doeth counseill us to take mekely correccion and not to gruge or chek at such that doeth reforme us The excellent wyse kyng Salomon sayth: ‘my son, obey to þe reformacion and correccion of thy fader and fulfyll the cummaundmentis of thy moder, þat þu may have (54v) grace and favour shewd to þe’.198 ‘Accepte correccion for it ys a moder to the’.199 ‘He þat hateth correccyon ys unwyse’.200 ‘He þat forsaketh correccion or blamyng doeth gretly erre’.201 He þat settyth nouȝt by correccion doeth syn. He that wyll accepte correccion ys wyse and shall have here the lyfe of grace and in tyme to com þe lyfe of glory. He þat wyl not receyve correccion shall here in syn dye in soule and after both in soule and bodye. ‘He þat forsaketh correccion shal have an evyl name and be everemore nedye, and he þat doeth after his reformer shal be praysed and have a good name’.202 ‘More profetyth the correccion of a worde to a wyse man than a hundred strypes to a foole’.203 ‘A wyse man þat ys corrigible wyl not gruge nor murmur agayn hym þat correctyth hym’.204 Yit correccion ouȝt to be moderate, of þe which spekyth Seynt Ambrose, sayeng: ‘he þat is eesly correcte geveth reverence to hym þat correctyth (55r) hym, and he þat is cruelly chastysed or blamyd wyl noþere take correccion nor þat thyng þat shuld be for his welth’. They muste with fayrnes be born and suffred which for their infirmite and febylnes may not be blamyd. Some þere be þat muste be born and suffred, and som muste be correctyd and chastised. The prelatis of the Chyrch ouȝt to bere and suffer their subjectis whom they correcte, and to correcte and chastyse whom they bere and suffer. In the fygur of this Salomon caused the image of a lyon and of an oxe and cherubyn to be made on þe pyllars of the temple of God.205 What signifyeth the pyllars of the temple, but the prelatis of the Chyrch? Whosomevere take the charge of governance upon them lyke pyllars doo bere and hold up the burden under them. Cherubyn which he sette upon the pyllars by interpretacyon ys abundance of kunnyng, 198 

Prov. 1. 8–9. Prov. 4. 13. Liber here quotes Prov. 8. 10, Prov. 8. 33; PL 184, 1230D. 200  Prov. 12. 1. 201  Prov. 10. 17. 202  Prov. 13. 18. Liber here quotes Prov. 15. 5; PL 184, 1231A. 203  Prov. 17.10 204  Ecclus. 10. 28. 205  See i Kings 7. 199 

84 Transcription

signifyeng: þe prelatis ouȝte to have Godly kunnyng. (55v) By the lyon ys signifyed cruelnes and by the oxe pacience; and as on the pyllars wer not the lyons withoute þe oxen nor þe oxen withoute þe lyons, so þe prelatis of þe Chyrche ouȝt oþerewhyles hardly, oþerewhyles with swetnes, somtyme with sharpnes, somtyme with wordis, somtyme with strypes, to correcte their subjectis. For he þat with fayr wordys wyll not be correcte and amendyd, it ys necessary þat he be more sharply chastysed and rebuked. The woundes þat cannot be eesly helyd with payn muste be cutte. He þat is secretly monysched of his trespas and rekyth not forto amende, he ouȝt to be openly rebuked þat þe wounde which cowd not be prively helyd may be openly made hole and amendyd. They ouȝt to be openly blamyd which openly doeth hurt and offende that by þe correccion of oon all other may be amendyd. Hit ys better that oon be condempned for the salvacion of many than by (56r) the sufferaunce of oon many be in jeopardye. Seynt Gregory seyth: ‘ther be many þat here the wordis of correccion, and yit they dispyse to be repentaunte and doo penance’. Lete every person here of the kyngdom of God þat he loveth. Lete hym here of hell þat he feryth; and yf by love he come not to heven, yit lete hym com by feer and drede. Holy Isidour sayth: ‘juste persons mekely take correccion when they be rebuked for their defauȝtis’. Loved suster, correccion ys amendar and reformar, which wold not be dispysed, and therfor we ouȝt to love our prelate[s]206 and take mekely their wordis, which by their blamyngs and correccion take from us our propur wyll and the appetyte of þe world. Wherfor of them it ys wryten in Canticis in the voyce of every feythfull soule, seyeng: ‘the kepers þat kepe þe cyte have founde me, and have stryken me, and wounded me; they have take fro me my clothyng’.207 By the kepers of (56v) [the]208 cyte we undirstand the prelatis that kepe the state of Holy Chirch, which also fynde a feythfull soule, and with their prechyng strycketh hyrr, and with the love of the charite of Cryst wounde hyrr. And yit this is not sufficient for them, but also they take from hyrr all erthly delectacion and temperall substaunce, and so they send hyrr naked from syn and spoyled from worldly ryches to þe kyngdom of heven. Therfor, my loved suster in Cryst, it ys very necessary þat we love our hedys and prelatis as our own faders, and þat we take of them gladly correccion and reformacion of our lyfe for our welth, acordyng to the sayeng of David: ‘take ye’, 206 

MS reads ‘prelate’. Song 5. 7. 208  Word missing in MS. 207 

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sayth he, ‘correccion, les God shewe his wrath on us and þat ye perysch and goo from þe ryght waye’.209 If he that takyth not correccion shall perysche from þe ryȝt waye, withoute doute he shal be sure in the juste waye that wyll (57r) take correccion. Nowe therfor, reverent suster, I exhorte you to take gladly correccyon þat ye may be delyvered from the wrath of God and be suerly fastened in the juste waye. Gyve ye many thankes to them þat reforme you. If þe abbes or the priores shewe to you the weye of your welth, accepte their informacion gladly and be not rebell and frowarde. Love them as your own moder þat blame you for your transgressyon. Love them þat chastyce you for your neclygens. Answer not shrewdly to such þat reforme and correcte you, nor chek them agayn. Geve not shrewd wordis for good. Why? ‘For he þat loveth correccyon loveth wysedom’.210 If ye then love correccyon, ye shal be wyse. Ye shal be prudent yf ye paciently suffer rebukes. Ye shal be wyse yf ye take or bere mekely correccion. Good virgyn, we be of God and of our prelatys correcte in þis lyfe that we be not with this worlde dampned. Hit is mych more better for us to be chastised (57v) of our prelatis in this lyfe for our necligences, than in the lyfe to come to be dampned. Hit ys myche more better for us to be corrected of our prelatis in this worlde for our transgression[s]211 and defauȝtis than to be ponysched in tyme to come. Mi loved suster in Cryste, hit is bettere to you to be bette of the hande of your abbes or priores in this lyfe than to suffer payn in hell. Hit ys better to you to suffer correccion of the hande of your abbes or priores in this worlde þan to suffer everelastyng paynes in hell. Hyt ys bettere for you to be ponysched with a rodde for a whyle of your abbes or priores than to bren in everelastyng fyre, from the which he vouchesafe to delyvere you þat redemyd you with hys precyouse blode. Amen.

The xix exhortacion cownselyth us to be obedient to our prelatis and to such þat have eny rewle or governaunce on us in all goodnes Wel beloved suster, here ye the sayeng of Seynt Paule þe (58r) apostle: ‘ther is no power but of God. Everythyng that ys of God ys ordynate. Therfor he that resisteth such that have power, he resysteth the ordynaunce of God’.212 We ouȝt 209 

Ps. 2. 12. Prov. 12. 1. 211  MS reads ‘trangression’. 212  Rom. 13. 1–2. 210 

86 Transcription

not then to dispyse hedes and rewlers, wheþere they be of þe worlde or of the Chyrche, for they all be ordeynd of God. When we saye agaynst our prelatis by inobediens, we doo injury to God. When by pryde and inobedience we be rebellyous to our prelatis, we doo agaynst þe commaundmentis of God. When we be stoburn to our prelatis and inobedient, we sette nouȝt by God which sayeth:213 he þat is obedient to you ys obedient to me; ‘and he þat dispyseth you dispyseth me’.214 My loved suster in Cryst, then by our savyour sayeng he þat dispyseth his prelate dispiseth God, and he þat honoureth his prelate doeth honour God, and he þat is obedient to his prelate ys obedient to God. Thys vertue of obedience prayseth Samuel the prophete, sayeng: ‘better ys obediens than sacrifyce’,215 ‘for (58v) not to obeye is as grete a syn as idolatrye’.216 Marye the suster of Aaron by pryde and inobediens grugged agaynst Moyses hyr broder, and anone she was a leper.217 By Marye is signifyed the soule of every person þat by pryde and inobedience gruggeth agaynst his prelate to whom he wyll not obey nor kepe his holsom commaundmentis, and therfor he is smyten with the lepry of syn and made fowle. Chore also, and Dathan, and Abyron, which thurgh pryde, disdaynyng and inobedient, rose agayn Moyses and Aaron, for theyr presumpcion anon wer ponysched by the power of God,218 as it is wryten in the psalmody: ‘Dathan and Abyron with their cumpany sanke down into the erth qwycke’,219 ‘Chore and his felyshyp wer burned with the flame of fyre’.220 Also kyng Ozias, when he wold by pryde and inobedience have don sacrifice agaynst the lawe of God, was by the justice of God stryken with the lepry in his forhedde (59r) openly afore all the peple.221 Saul bycause he was inobedient loste his kyngdom and was take of his enemyes.222 Jonas the profete þat by inobedience ran awey and fledde was

213 

Liber here quotes Luke 10. 16; PL 184, 1233B. Luke 10. 16. 215  i Sam. 15. 22. 216  i Sam. 15. 23. 217  See Num. 12. 218  See Num. 16. 219  Ps. 105. 17. 220  Ps. 105. 18. 221  See ii Chr. 26. 222  See i Sam. 15. 214 

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swaloed of a fysche and caryed to the bottom of the see.223 We ouȝt then to be ware þat we be not so bolde to ryse agaynst our prelatis by inobedience, les God whos romthe they supplye doo sharply visite us for them. Reverent suster, for our welth God ordeyned prelatis in the Chirch, that they myȝt provyde for us, and geve acountis to God for us, and kepe us þat we doo no yll. Of this spekyth thapostle Paule, sayeng: ‘obey your rewlars and hedys and subdew yourself to them, for they be evere in care and wakyng for you, as though they shuld geve acountis for your soules’.224 The prelatis ouȝte to kepe and govern the flok of God with a grete wache and diligence. In fygur wherof ys redde (59v) in Scriptur that ‘lx strong men very experte in warres, havyng drawen swerdis and ych of them havyng a swerde gyrded aboute them, wer aboute the bed of kyng Salomon every nyȝte in the wacche for feer of perell that myȝte hape by false enemyes in the nyȝte’.225 By Salomon ys undurstond Cryst þat made pees betwen God and man, whos bed ys the congregacion of faythfull peple in whom God dwellyth and restyth. ‘Aboute thys bed ys ordeyned myȝty and strong men’,226 that is to seye, prelatis and governours which goeth aboute þe peple in chastisyng, blamyng, correctyng, exhortyng, and defendyng the cumpany of God from vyce and their enemyes visible and invisible. And thes be called ‘strong’,227 for prelatis of Holy Chyrch ouȝt to be perfytte in kepyng of the cummaundmentis of God. ‘They have’ also ‘drawen swerdis’,228 that is, theyr prechyng, by þe which they overecom the vyce of their subjectis. ‘They (60r) be very expert and kunnyng in warres’,229 for it ys necessary that in spiritual batell, as in temptacion, they be instructe and lerned. And ‘yche of them have a swerde fastened aboute hym’,230 for they ouȝt, fyrst in themself and then in their subjectis, to mortifye þe syn of the bodye. And all this they doo for the ‘jeopardy of þe nyȝtis’,231 that ys to saye, for the privy gylys and waytis of evyll spirits which in the nyȝte of þis world principally leye wayte to holy prelatis, that in deceyvyng them they may overethrowe the congregacion of þe servantis of God. 223 

See Jonah 1–2. Heb. 13. 17. 225  Song 3. 7–8. 226  Song 3. 7. 227  Song 3. 7. 228  Song 3. 8. 229  Song 3. 8. 230  Song 3. 8. 231  Song 3. 8. 224 

88 Transcription

Loved suster, for this cause I shewe you this, þat ye may knowe howe devoutly, howe mekely, we ouȝt to obeye our prelatis. Obedience ys oonly þe vertue that graffyth and kepeth oþere vertues in the soule; of the which spekyth Salomon, sayeng: ‘better ys obedience than sacrifice’,232 for by sacrifice was offered up the bodyes of bestis, but by obedience ys offered our propur wyll. Wherfor (60v) ‘an obedient man or woman ys a victoryous person’,233 for when he obeyth mekely to þe commaundment of anoþere person, he overecometh hymself in his hert. Adam fell down to hell bycause he was inobedient, Cryst ascendyd to heven for ‘he obeyd Almyȝty God his Fader unto deth’.234 ‘As thurgh þe inobedience of Adam wer made many synners, so by the obediens of Cryst be made many juste men and wemen’.235 ‘And as the inobediens of Adam caused deth, so the obediens of Cryst hath caused lyfe’.236 Therfor, loved suster, yf ye for Crystis love be obedient to your prelatis, ye shall with Cryst reigne in heven. Agaynst your moder thabbes or priores speke no shrewde worde, be ye nevere rebell or obstinate to your prelatis. In no cause objecte ye or saye agaynst your hedys and such as have rewle overe you. Honour all that be better lerned and better in lyfe than (61r) ye be. Geve reverence to everybody acordyng to their deservyng. To the hyer in degre geve a dewe reverence and acordyng to þeir dignite shewe honour to every person. Be ye not equall to your betters. Be ye obedient to your elders and folowe mekely theyr commaundmentis. Be ye obedient to all in good techyng. O spouse of Cryst, be ye so obedient to man and woman, that ye offende not þe wyll of God. In evyl werkes or dedis be ye nevere obedient. Obeye ye not nor consent to them þat byd you or commaund you to doo evyll (of what power so evere he be), though payne compell you or strayte ponyschment be put to you. Hit is better to suffer deth than to fulfyll an evyll and synfull commaundment. Hit ys better to be slayn of man than to be dampned for everemore. Ther is noon withoute grete offens that obeyeth to þat thyng þat shall com hurt of or syn. Therfor, reverent suster, be ye obedient (61v) in all goodnes tyll deth come, and God shall geve you a crown of lyfe. Amen.

232 

i Sam. 15. 22. Prov. 21. 28. 234  Phil. 2. 8. 235  Rom. 5. 19. 236  Rom. 5. 18. Liber adds Cf. i Cor. 15. 22; PL 184, 1235A. 233 

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The xx exhortacion gyveth counseil to persevere in good dedys and werkis, els we shall lese our rewarde of God Wel beloved suster, here what Seynt Jerom sayth: ‘the begynnyngs in Cristen peple be not asked or desired but the ende and perseverance’. Saynt Paule thapostle began yll, he ended wele; and Judas Scaryoth began wele and ended yll. The begynnyng of Judas Scaryoth ys commendyd, but the ende of his lyfe ys reproved. In vayne ys the begynnyng of a man or woman commendyd yf his ende be condempnyd. Wherfor Seynt Gregory sayth: ‘the vertue of a good dede ys perseverance. In vayn ys a good dede begon, yf afore the lyvys ende hit be lefte’. Of this spekyth Saynt Isidor, sayng: ‘God jugeth not a man or a woman of the lyfe that ys paste, but of his ende’. For every person at (62r) the tyme of his deth shal be other justifyed or condempned. Marye Maudlen deserved fyrst to se Cryst rysen from deth. Why? For she persevered in sekyng hym.237 Of this vertu also in þe voyce of perseverant persons it is sayd spiritualy in Canticis: ‘I have sought in my mynde and hert all my lyfe hym þat my soule loveth’.238 I counceyl you þerfor, good virgyn, that ye seke quietly and devoutly Jhesu Cryst your spouse contynually all dayes of your lyfe that ye may perfitly fynde hym in þe lyfe to com and se hym reynyng in his Faders palace. I desyre you, spouse of Cryst, þat ye say with David the prophete: ‘my soule hath thyrsted for God, the well of lyfe. When shall I come and apere before the face of God?’239 Suerly your soule ys thyrsty for God if it love hym abofe all þing, yf for his love it dispyseth all erthly thyngis, and yf it covete to se Cryst your spouse reynyng on þe ryȝt hand of God his Fader. The same prophete exhorteth us, sayng: ‘seke ye God and be ye stedefaste’.240 (62v) Seke hym alwaye in prosperyte, in trouble, in poverte, in abundaunce, in seknes, in helth, in youth, and in age. We ouȝte to seke God with a hole mynde and a hole entent that of hym we may meryte to be confermed in holy conversacion and þat we may meryte to fynde and se hym in the celestyall kyngdom. Lete us purge ourself from all fylth of body and soule, for no man or woman can withoute [a]241 chaste bodye at the generall resurreccion be lyft up to heven, nor noon may se the glorye of þe Godhed but such as be clene in hart and soule. 237 

See John 20. Song 3. 1. 239  Ps. 41. 3. 240  Ps. 104. 4. Liber here quotes the second half of the Biblical verse; PL 184, 1236. 241  Word missing in MS. 238 

90 Transcription

Loved suster, beleve me, the kyngdom of heven shal not be gyven to evyll persons and vagabundis but to them þat seke it, desyre and aske it, and labour for it. Witnes our savyour in þe Gospel, sayeng: ‘aske ye heven and ye shall have it. Seke ye heven and ye shall fynde it. Knock ye at heven gatis and they shal be opened to you’.242 Heven gate ys to be asked in prayeng, to be souȝt (63r) in wele lyvyng, to be knocked at in perseveryng in the service of God. Hit is not sufficient for a man or a woman to begyn good dedis, withoute they labour to contynue them to the ende of theyr lyfe. ‘Hit is better not to knowe the waye of justice than after it ys knowen to turn back’,243 our savyour sayeng to wyttnes: ‘no person puttyng his hande to the plowhe of God and loketh back ys apte to com to heven’.244 That ys to saye, they þat begyn wele and do not persevere be not meete to come to everelastyng lyfe. Wherfor, reverent suster, hit ys necessary that we call daily to Almyȝty God for the desyre of everelastyng blisse. And lete us not leve of the good werkis that we begyn, afore we may deserve to be delyvered from this mortall bodye and com to heven gatis openyd to us by our merciful savyour Jhesu Cryst. My loved suster in Cryst, it ys good for us to persevere in the service of God. For suche as goo from religion to the worlde (63v) agayn be made more black in their soules than eny ded cole. Why? For by sluggys[h]nes245 and dulnes of mynde they be ded and quenched from the fyre of þe charyte of God. Of this blaknes spekyth holy Isidor, sayeng: ‘they þat be turned from a good lyfe to an evel be made darke by covetyse and made foule and obscure by the blaknes of syn, and be straungers and alyens from the lyght of God. They þat goo fro their monastery to þe worlde be dyvyded from the felyschip of angels and cumpanyed with devellys. They þat forsake a holy congregacion and goo to þe secular lyfe be ferr fro the cumpany of God and subdewed to þe dominyon of the gostly enemy’. Most beloved suster in Cryst, consider what ye have done. Calle every day to your memory from whens ye come, to what ye be come, and why ye came. For Goddis sake ye have forsake all þe worlde and have dispysed it, and for his love ye have (64r) chosen religion. Ye have bouȝt þe kyngdom of heven and ye have geven yourself in pryce of hit. Labour therfor with grete diligence þat ye lese not that ye have bouȝt, but þat ye may have for everemore that ye have wysched and desired. Be ware ye lese not the kyngdom for the which ye gave 242 

Matt. 7. 7. ii Pet. 2. 21. 244  Luke 9. 62. 245  MS reads ‘sluggysnes’. 243 

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yourself in pryce to bye hit. Here what thapostle Paule sayth: ‘noo persone shall be crowned, but he þat lefully doth fyght and labour’.246 He doeth lefully labour that persevereth in good warkis to þe tyme of his deth. He lefully doeth labour þat is perseverant in the service of God withoute gyle and symulacion. He serveth God worthely þat bryngyth to a good ende the good werke þat he begynneth. He laboureth well in good dedis þat endyth them wele. Wherfor of suche þat be perseveraunt in the service of God spekith our moder þe Chyrch in Canticis, sayeng: ‘the rovys of our houses be of cedar and the rafters of spruse tre’.247 (64v) The houses of the Chyrch be the cumpany of feythfull peple servyng God and perseverant in all godly werkes and dedis. The cedar tre and þe spruse tre be of nature incorruptible, and they betoken the devoute servantis of God þat burn with an untedyous and incorruptible desyre and persevere in goodnes to the ende of theyr lyfe. Reverent suster, be ye then a spruse tre in the cumpany of God, perseveryng in good lyfe. Ye shal also be a cidar tre among the servantis of God, yf ye gyve of yourself exaumple of good lyfe and good conversacion to your felowship. Prudent virgyn, I have shewed you thes thyngis bycause ye shuld with all your mynde dispyse the love of þe world, and þat ye shuld nevere have appetyte to leve your religious lyfe for the lyfe of þe worlde nor to turn back agayn as a dog to hys vomyte. I counceyl you þat ye persevere all þe dayes of your lyfe in religion and nevere desyre more secular lyfe. I counseill you þat with a fervent desyre (65r)248 ye love religyon and with all your hert defye the world. I counseyl you þat ye abyde everemore in religion and nevere seke the meanys to goo to þe worlde agayn. Why? For in religyon ys a contemplatyfe lyfe, in the worlde ys a laboryous lyfe. In religyon ys a holy and a vertuous lyfe, in the world ys a synfull lyfe. In religyon ys a spirituall lyfe, in the world ys a bodely lyfe. In religion ys an hevenly lyfe, in the worlde ys an erthly lyfe. In religyon ys a quyete lyfe, in the world ys a troublous lyfe. In religyon is a peasable lyfe, in the worlde ys a brawlyng lyfe. In religyon ys a tranquyll lyfe, in þe worlde is a stryvyng lyfe and full of chydyng. In religyon ys a chaste lyfe, in the world a lecherous lyfe. In religyon ys a perfitte lyfe, in the world a vycious lyvyng. In religyon ys a lyfe full of vertue, in the worlde a lyfe full of vice and syn. In religyon ys a lyfe of holynes, in the world a lyfe of iniquite and unthryftynes.

246 

ii Tim. 2. 5. Song 1. 16. 248  In the top margin, written in another hand: ‘De vita contemplativa et activa’. 247 

92 Transcription

Reverente suster, ye have (65v) nowe herd the goodnes þat ys in religyon, and the evyll and lewdnes þat is in the worlde. Ye have herd the vertues of religyon, and þe vyce and syn of þe worlde. Ye have herde the welth and profytte of religyon. Ye have herd also the jeopardy and peryll of þe world. Ye have herd lyfe, ye have herd deth. Nowe therfor ‘beholde here befor you good and evyll’.249 Beholde the parell of the soule and the salvacion therof. ‘Beholde lyfe and deth’,250 ‘water and fyre’,251 chese ye whether ye wyll have. Beholde the waye of paradyse and the waye of hell, the waye þat bryngyth and ledyth to everelastyng lyfe, and the waye þat ledyth to perpetuall deth. Now goo ye which waye ye wyll yourself save this: I praye and desyre youe to chese the better waye. [A decision] My good broder, I wyll take your counseyle and wyll chese the better waye. Hit ys good for me to take counseill and to goo in that waye that ledyth to paradyse with the help of (66r) God. [The brother’s comment] Good virgyn, because ye have chosen the better waye, I thanke God. And now the good lyfe þat ye have begon to holde, leve it not. Kepe the purpos of good lyfe whyls ye lyve, for then shall your werke be perfyte, if it laste unto þe ende. Perpetuall helth ys promysed to begynners and the rewarde ys geven to them þat persevere in goodnes. He ys not to be praysed that doeth good, but he þat contynually doeth good. If ye then persever in good werkys and dedis to thende of your lyfe, ye shall be saved. Amen.

The xxi exhortacion shewyth what ys pur virginite in body and soule and the rewarde of the same Hit ys wryten in the Evangely how þat ‘prudent and wyse virgyns had oyle in their vesselles with lampes’.252 Wel beloved suster, here what I say. Suche as be virgyns both in body and soule be not folysch vyrgyns but rather wyse and may goo and mete theyr spouse and be receyved, for they have oyle in their vessels, (66v) that ys to sey, chastite in their soules. Suche as be vyrgyns in body and not in soule or mynde, they be no wyse virgyns but rather folysche, which cannot goo mete þeir spouse and be receyved, for they have not oyle in their vessels, that ys chastite, in their soule and mynde, of whom speketh Seynt Isidor, sayeng: ‘a virgyn in body and not in mynde and entent shall have no reward in 249 

Cf. Ecclus. 15. 18. Cf. Ecclus. 15. 18. 251  Ecclus. 15. 17. Liber here quotes the second half of Ecclus. 15.17; PL 184, 1238A. 252  Matt. 25. 4. 250 

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heven’. Also our Lorde sayeth in the Gospell of the folysch virgyns: ‘sothly I saye to you I knowe you not’.253 Therfor I exhorte you, my loved suster, þat ye be both in mynde, soule, and bodye a virgyn that after this present lyfe ye may deserve to be stalled of your spouse Jhesu Cryst in heven. Virginite ys not cummaunded but rather counseiled,254 for it ys a very hygh vertue. The rewarde of virginite ys dowble: for in this present lyfe hit hath nothyng to care fore of þe world, and in tyme to com hit shall receyve a grete reward of chastite. (67r) Wythoute doute such as be chaste and persevere in virgynyte, they shal be lyke unto angellis. I beleve þat virgyns shal be more accepte than oþer in the everelastyng blysse, wyttnesyng þe prophet Ysay sayeng: ‘thus sayeth God to such as be chaste:’255 ‘I shall geve them within my habitacion a place and a syngler name abofe oþere of my chyldren, a perpetuall name þat shall nevere perysch’.256 Every syn by penance may have forgyfnes and pardon; but virginite if it be loste, hit can in no wyse be repared agayn, for thouȜ it may receyve pardon and mercy by penance, yit þe olde puryte and incorrupcion hit shall nevere have agayn. Reverent suster, virginite of the bodye avayleth not wheras ys not a perfyte soule and mynde. Suche virgyns þat be prowde of þeir own meritis be comparyd to ypocritis þat covette an outeward lawd and glory of their good dedis, which they shuld have withyn their privy conscience. Of thes speketh the Gospell þat folysche virgyns had (67v) no oyle in their vessellis with them.257 That ys as muche to seye, þat þei kept nott privy in theyr conscience the testimony of their good dedis, but wolde be seen and praysed in the sight of the peple and not in hert before God. Saynt Austen sayeth: ‘nothyng avayleth þe virginite of the body wheras doeth inhabite ire or wrath of mynde’. Hit ys a grete differens betwene the purite of the soules virginite withoute all manere of corrupcion, and the virginite þat ys by voluptuous concupiscence polluted. Reverent suster, here what Seynt Jerom sayth: ‘hit profetyth nothyng to have a chaste body and have a mynde or wyll to marye. Also it avayleth not us to kepe the virginite of the chaste body, yf we doo not refreyne our eyes from all yll concupiscences and evell desyres. Virginite of þe body avayleth not when charite and meknes be gon from the hart’. I exhorte you þerefor, good suster, 253 

Matt. 25. 12. See i Cor. 7. 25–26. 255  Isa. 56. 4. 256  Isa. 56. 5. 257  See Matt. 25. 3. 254 

94 Transcription

þat ye be both in soule and body a pure virgyn. (68r) I exhorte you also þat ye have oyle of good werkys with you, and aray your lampe with good maners, and lyght it with holy vertues that when ‘the crye shal be made: “nowe your spouse is com, hyȝe you to mete hym”’,258 ye may mete with your spouse Jhesu Cryst and to be stalled of hym in heven. Amen.

The xxii exhortacion ys of the lawde of chastite, and how a virgyn shuld not dispyse no chaste wydow, and how oft tymes a chaste wydow ys bettere than a virgyn of body, and þat a virgyn ys not withoute chyldren Wel beloved suster, I pray you to here devoutly my counsell. Ther be iii maner of degrees signifyed by iii noumbres in the Gospell.259 The fyrst degre by the noumbure of xxx be signifyed maryed persons. The iid degre by the number of lx signifyeth the state of wydowhode. The iiid degre by the number of a hundreth ys assyned to virgyns for þeir crown or reward. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘ther be som (68v) persons lyvyng voluptuously in their yowth þat wold in theyr age be chaste and contynent, and so then they wold kepe chastite when the foule syn of lechery leveth and dispyseth them. Suche persons have no reward for they had no laboryous batell. For tho persons shal be rewarded in glorye þat have had here and suffered myȝty and strong batell’. The profytte of chastite ys a swettnes. Chastite ys an inviolate bewte of good persons. Chastite, or continence, ys a sykernes of the soule and mynde and a helth of the bodye. The foule syn of lechery maketh þe bodye feble and sone bryngyth it to croked age. A long chastite ys reputed for virginite. Wherfor, reverent suster, the bewte of chastite ought to be loved. Contynente and chast lyvers doo make a place within them for God to abyde yn acordyng to the sayeng of thapostle: ‘chaste lyvers be the temple of God, and the Holy Goste abydeth with them’.260 Contynence causeth a person (69r) to be nyȝe Almyȝty God. Chastite joyneth a man or a woman to heven and bryngeth hym thyder. Chaste maryage ys good, but the contynency of wydoes ys better, and perfytte virgynyte ys best of all. Yit a meke widoue ys better than a proude virgyn. Better ys a widow mornyng for hyr synnes than a virgyn bostyng hyrself before men of hyr virginite. Better ys a wydow wepyng for hyr offencis and trespaces þan a virgyn exaltyng hyrself of hyr own meritis. A virgyn ouȝt not to 258 

Matt. 25. 6. See Matt. 13. 8. 260  Cf. i Cor. 3. 16. 259 

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be proude in the sight of peple of the gyfte of hyr virginite, for she þat so doeth hath none oyle with hyr: hir lampe ys oute. A virgyn shuld not dispyse chaste wydowes and she shuld plese God, for yf she so doo, she shall displese God and hurt hyrselfe. That virgyn þat dispyseth wydowes lyvyng chaste and servyng God commytteth pryde. Why? For better ys a meke synner than a prowde, juste person. Therfor, reverent suster, dyspyse (69v) not þe women þat have forsake þe world, have had husbandis and bourn chyldren, for and ye dispyse them, ye shal be gretly to blame before God. Holy Anne the prophetes had a husband, and yit she prophecyed of Cryst and deserved to se hym.261 And Mary Mawdlen was a worldly woman and a synner, and yit she sawe Cryst when he roose from deth and deserved to be aposteles among the apostels of Crist.262 Good suster, I bryng yn thes exaumples þat ye in no wyse dispyse the servantis of God þat be com from worldly lyfe to serve God but raþere honour them. For those þat God hath vouchesave to chese to be his servantis, ye shuld not dispyse. I counseil you therfor þat: for the love of Cryst that ye serve them and love them as moders. Loved suster, ye ouȝte to serve them as a dowȝter bycause Almyȝty God hath converted them from the worldly lyfe to hym, and therfor ye doo injurye to God yf ye dispyse his servantys. (70r) My wel beloved suster in Cryst, saye not ye to yourself: oo, I am as barayn as a drye stok, I am an unfrutefull tree, bycause ye have no chyldren. For and yf ye love Cryst your spouse and drede hym as ye ouȝte, ye have vii chyldren. The fyrst chylde ys shamefastnes, [the]263 second pacience, the thyrd sobernes, the iiiith temperance, the vth charite, the vith humylyte, the viith chastite. Loo, my reverent suster, by the grace of the Holy Goste ye have oute of an incorrupte wombe withoute payne brought furth to Cryst your spouse vii chyldren, so þat in yow may be veryfyed the sayeng of Scriptur: ‘a baren woman hath borne vii chyldren’264 which, my loved suster, ye ouȝte to norysche, cherysche, and geve suk to, and to fede, comforte, and chastyse. Norysch them with good maners; cherysche them in the bosom of fervent contemplacion; geve them the brestys of everelastyng swettnes; fede them with the love of hevenly gladnes; comforte them (70v) with the bred of lyfe, that ys with the worde of God; chastyse them with the scorge of the drede of God; and cummaunde them þat they be not

261 

See Luke 2. See John 20. 263  Word missing in MS. 264  Jer. 15. 9. 262 

96 Transcription

proude, nor lyght of conversacion, nor ynobedient, and þat they nevere goo from you nor be oute of your presence. Ye knowe wele, my loved suster, þat vyrgyns have the principall place in heven and not unworthy, for they have utterly dispysed the world, and therfor they be hygh in heven, to þe which he vouchsafe to bryng you, in whos servyce he hath consecrated both your body and soule. Amen.

The xxiii exhortacion sheweth howe that the foule syn of the body ys grettere syn than eny other, and how þat the eyesyght ys þe occasion therof, and þat no person shuld sette by the bewte of the bodye or the face, and fynally how thys syn may be resisted My wel beloved suster, I exhort you to here devoutly the sayeng of our Lorde Jhesu Cryst. He sayth: ‘lete your lwnes be gyrded aboute, (71r) and lyght candels in your handis’.265 We doo gyrde our lwnys aboute when we distroye the lechery of the body by contynence or chastite. We hold burnyng candels in our handis when we shewe to our neyȝbour exaumple of vertue and lyȝte. Holy Isidour sayth þat ‘the fornicacion of the bodye ys advoutre, fornicacion of the soule ys idolatre’. The fyrst cummyth by lewde sight of the eye, the second by evyll communicacion. But he þat is not take and snared by the eyes may lyghtly resyst evyll wordis. Every unclene pollucion ys called fornicacion, although every person by dyverse lustys and evyll concupiscences may syn in bodye. Of the delyte þat a person hath to syn in fornicacion greweth many grete synnes that shittyth oute man or woman from heven and dyvyde them from God. Among all the vii dedly synnes lechery ys the grettest syn, for by the unclennes of bodye the temple of God ys vyolate and defyled, and so makyth the membyr of Cryste the membyr of (71v) a strompete. Wherfor, good virgyn, yf it be trew þat God be withyn you, lete fornicacion be ded in you. Lechery ys an enemy to God and distruccion of all goodnes. Hit hurteth not only the body but also conscience. That person þat synneth in lechery, thouȝe he semeth to lyve, yit he ys ded. ‘Allmyȝty God shall dampne all fornicatours and advoutrers’.266 Isidor sayth: ‘fornicacion, or the foule syn of lechery, ys worst of all oþere synnes and grettest and more grevous than deth. Hit ys better to dye than to syn in lechery. Hit ys better to dye than to be defyled therwith. Hit ys better to dye þan to lese the soule therby. Thys foule syn bryngyth man and woman to the paynes of hell and drowneth them theryn’. 265  266 

Luke 12. 35. Heb. 13. 4.

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The eyes and þe syght be the messengers and occasion of this syn, for the mynde or lewde appetyte ys take by the eyes by whom entreth the sharp arowe of evyll concupiscence and love. Wherfor, loved (72r) suster, kepe your eyesight, withdrawe it and fixe it not upon the bewte of the stynkyng bodye. Loke upon no man in þat entent to desyre hym or to love hym carnally. Loke not in the face of a man for to love hym in lewdnes, but ‘kepe your sight from all vanitees’.267 I praye you, reverent suster, tell me what profyte ys in the bewtyousnes of the body? Doeth it not wyther away as hay and his fayrenes vanyscheth awey as the shadow? And when deth cummyth, what bewte, I praye you, abydeth in the body? When þat ye se the karkesse all to swolne and stynkyng, doo ye not stoppe your nostrels þat ye fele not the stynkyng savour? Tell me, I pray you, wher ys the bewty of the visage? Wher be the fayr wordis þat mollifyed the hartis of the herers? Wher ys then the swete communicacion þat did make suche as hard them glad? Shew me, good virgyn, where shall be then the immoderate lawȝyng and lewde (72v) myrth? Wher the vayne and unprofetabyll sporte þat caused and steryd peple to lawgh? Hit ys loste, hit ys com to nouȝt, hit ys vanysched awey as smoke. This ys the ende of the bewtyousnes of the flesche, this ys the ende of the body. Thynke ye, therfor, reverent suster, þat all bewtye and fayrnes ys vayne. Salomon sayth: ‘hit is a disseyvyng favour and vayne bewtye or fayrnes’,268 and if it be vayne, hit ys but rotyn and wormes mete. Sythen then it ys but aschys and erth, be ye ware þat ye look or se no man to desyre hym. Why? ‘For the world with his concupiscence shall not abyde’.269 ‘All þat ys in the worlde, it ys other the lewde concupiscence or appetyte of þe bodye and of the eyes or els pryde’.270 The world then ouȝt to be dispysed for the love of Cryst with all that ys theryn. Good virgyn, ye þat have for Crystis sake lefte þe worlde, ye ouȝt (73r) not to rejoyse in the bewtye of men. I counseil you therfor þat ye love your spouse Jhesu Cryst above all þat ye may reyne with hym in the hevenly courte. Suerly yf the foule appetite of lechery delyteth more the mynde than the love of chastite, syn doeth reigne in man or woman. But and if the bewtyousnes of chastite delyteth more the mynde than the foule luste of þe body, ther reigneth no syn but all vertue. Although a person be chaste in þe body, yf he be lecherous in the mynde, ther reighneþ syn in his hert and soule, which ys ydolatrye. 267 

Ps. 118. 37. Prov. 31. 30. 269  i John 2. 17. 270  i John 2. 16. 268 

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Ther ys anoþere fornicacion spirituall of þe which speketh our Lorde in the Gospel, sayeng: ‘he þat sethe a woman to desyr hyr, he synneth with hyr in his harte’.271 By this foule syn peple be more subjecte to þe devyll þan by eny oþere. Chastite ys the bewte of the soule, and by this vertue man and woman be compared (73v) in meritis to angelles. My loved suster, bileve ye me, many have falle into the jeopardye of theyr soules by neclygence of their eyesight. [A demand] My loved broþere, shewe me if þat ye knewe, eny man or woman deceyved by their eyghsiȝt. [The answer] O reverent suster, ful many know I disseyved by their eyesight and kauȝt in the snares of the devyl. Som of them þat I have harde I shall shewe you. Dyna þe douȝter of Jacob went furth on a tyme to se the women of the cuntre þat she was yn, and anon Sichem seeng hyr caste a love to hyr and toke hyr agaynst hyr wyll and corrupte shamfully hyr virginite.272 And so the wrecched mayde bycause she sawe necligently þat she shuld not have sene, she loste hyr honestye and virginite. David the kyng also on a serten tyme lokyng oute at a wyndow of his place sawe a woman and caste so grete a love to hyr þat it made hym to syn in advoutre (74r) and murther of hyr husbande,273 and so disseyved was gylty in his own lawe. And bycause he sawe undiscretely that he ouȝt not to have sene, he blotted hymself all dayes of his lyfe. Myȝty Sampson went into the region of þe Philisteons and ther sawe a woman and loved hyr; and on a tyme when he slepte in hyr lapp, she did shave awey the heer of his hed, and so delyvered hym to his enemyes which dyd putte oute his eyes.274 And so the wrecchid person bycause he sawe þat he shuld not have sene, he loste his eyes and was in jeopardye of his lyfe. My loved suster, thynke ye not the contrarie but þat many by the sight of the eyes have falle into the parell of body and soule. Wherfor I exhorte you to make a cu[ve]nante275 with your eyesight that ye se not þat thing þat ye ouȝt not to se. Be ye ware lees ‘deth entyr into your soule by your eyesight’.276 If your body doeth impugne or ryse agaynst you, if þe syn of the bodye doeth tempte you, styrr or (74v) vexe you, call to your remembraunce the daye of your deth and thynke on the laste jugemente and of the horryble paynes of hell, which remembraunce shall cause you to overecom þe temptacion of the bodye. A 271 

Matt. 5. 28. See Gen. 34. 273  See ii Sam. 11. 274  See Judges 14–16. 275  MS reads ‘cūnante’. 276  Jer. 9. 21. 272 

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grete fyre overecometh a lytel fyre and oon nayle dryveth oute anoþere nayle, so the remembraunce of the fyer of hell shall putte oute the inordynate luste of the bodye. Reverent suster, I praye Allmyȝty God to geve unto you verey trewe chastite of bodye and soule. Amen.

The xxiiii exhortacion sheweth the benefyte þat cummyth of moderate abstynence or fastyng and þe hurt that cummyth of glotonye Abstinence or fastyng ys then perfytte when þat the bodye doeth faste and the soule and mynde doeth praye. Prayer by fastyng doeth the sonner ascende to heven. By prayer and fastyng the soule and mynde of man and woman ys joyned to angelles and coupled to (75r) God. Fastyngs be myȝty and strong wepyns agaynst the develles temptacions, and prayer overecummyth them. My loved suster in Cryst, by fastyng, fornicacion and lechery be putte awaye and restrayned. When glotony ys removed, lechery can have no dominacion nor rule. Abstinence doeth kepe under þe bodye and breketh the foule mocyons and luste of þe same. A man or woman overecom with mych mete doeth lesse the vertue and strength of prayer. As the body of man or woman ys when it ys long withoute mete and drynke, so ys the soule þat is not often fedde with the worde of God. Wherfor Seynt Jerom sayeth: ‘fastyngs ouȝt to be moderate lees they make the stomake to feble, for lytel and moderate mete ys profetable both to bodye and soule. A fatte bely maketh a dull wytte. Hit ys mych better to take every daye a lytell than seldom to take ynowhe or to mych. A lytel mete and a bely (75v) alwey hungry ys better than fastyng or abstynens of iii dayes. That person fastyth wele that flyeth from all vyce and syn. Hit is better to absteyn from syn than from mete. Hit ys not counted for an abstinence or fastyng when that the bely ys fylled’. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘he that ordeyneth ayenst nyȝt deyntes for to satisfye glotonye doeth ette in hys mynde all day long. A voyde bely maketh to wake in prayer. He þat ys stuffed full of mete and drynke ys allwey sluggysche in prayer. We cannot wele hold up our hedde when our bely ys full’. Reverent suster, kepe your body lowe for þe desyre of heven þat ye may fulfyll the sayeng of Scriptur: ‘my soule hath thyrsted with my body manyfold wayes for God’.277 The body ys then thyrsty for God when it absteyneth by fastyng and waxeth leen. Beleve me, loved suster, if ye suffer hungure and thyrst her for þe 277 

Ps. 62. 2.

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love of God, he shall satisfye youe in heven. (76r) Abstinence both geveth lyfe and sleyth: it gyveth lyfe to the soule and sleyth the bodye. Abstinence byldeth vertue in the soule and distroyeth vyce and syn of the body. With all diligence and labour we ouȝt to dispyse glotony and be ware of evyll appetyte of metis. For when the bely ys unmesurably fylled then the body ys steryd to lechery. We ouȝt to eet and drynke not in þat entent to fyll þe bely but þat the body may be susteyned. Wheras the bely ys fylled with mete, ther ys þe fyer of lechery kendeled; but þat body þat abstynence doeth breke, the forsayd fyer shall not burn. The rycche gloton þat was fedde dayly with deyntees, because he wold not absteyn from superfluous metis in this worlde, therfor he ys putte among the flames of fyer askyng a drop of water and cowd not gete it.278 As thurgh abstinence all spiritual vertues be roted and (76v) bylded in the soule, so by abundaunce of metis all vyce and syn be norysched and comforted in þe body. Ther can no person have perfeccion of vertues, but if he first refrayne in hymself glotony. We have in Scriptur how þat thre children wer putte in fyer and wer not burnyd for they wer abstynent.279 Danyel also was delyvered from lyons, for he kept in hymself abstynence.280 Ther can no body of hymself resiste þe temptacion of the devyll, excepte he refrayn in hym the appetyte of glotony. [A demand] My wel beloved broþere, I pray you, shew me how I shulde chastyse my body by abstinence. [The answer] My loved suster, ye muste so cherysche your body þat it take no pryde, and also so ye muste kepe hym under þat it shall not fall. Ye shuld so norysch your body þat it may doo service and so [om.]281 chastyse it þat it perysche not. If þat ye ponysch your bodye to sore, ye slee it; and if ye cherysche (77r) hit to myche, ye norysche your enemye. My loved suster, oon thyng ye ouȝte to kepe allweye in every abstynence and fastyng : þat ye slee not your bodye but raþere vyce and syn. Chastyse your bodye by moderate abstinence, faste and absteyn from mete. Have ye a pale face and leen chekys with a drye bodye, and not a ruddy face and a fatte bodye. Fede not your body for wormes. So take your mete þat ye may alweye be hungry. Bileve ye me, reverent suster, ye cannot overecom temptacions, excepte ye chastyse your bodye by abstynence and fastyng. By mych mete and drynke cummyth the foule luste and syn of the body, and the evyll spiritis enter sonnere wher they se grete abundance of mete and drynke. My loved suster in Cryst, as 278 

See Luke 16. See Dan. 3. 280  See Dan. 14. 281  MS reads ‘to’. 279 

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I have shewed you, and ye wold perfitely resyst the temptacyons of the bodye, absteyn not oonly from abundance of mete but also from all pleasour of the world that aftyr this lyfe ye maye joye (77v) in heven with angelles. Amen.

The xxv exhortacion sheweth the parell of dronkennes and howe wyne un­ mesurably or for pleasur takyn ys a grete syn and soberly taken it doeth good My wel beloved suster, here the sayeng of our Lorde Jhesu Cryst: ‘take hede’, sayeth he, ‘les your stomackis or hertis be overeleyd or syke by surfette or dronkenes’.282 Also Seynt Paule thapostle exhortyng his disciplys sayth: ‘be ye not dronken with wyne, wheryn ys lechery’.283 Salomon also sayth: ‘wyne ys a lecherous drynke’.284 ‘Behold not the wyne when it ys hygh-coloured or shynyng fayr in the glasse. Hit goyth yn fayre, but in conclusion hyt shall byȝte lyke a serpent and putt furth his poyson’.285 Ther ys no secrete counseil wher dronkenes hath dominacyon. Wyne hath undone many a person and brouȝt them to jeopardye both of body and soule.286 Ther is a wyll (78r) or appetyte of lechery wher ys a bely stuffed with mete and swollyn with drynkyng of wyne. Dronkenes maketh the body feble and snaryth the soule. Hit gendreth troble of mynde. Hit incresith wodenes of the hart. Hit noryscheth the foule syn of the bodye and causeth a person not to knowe hymself. A dronken person ys so ignorant þat he knoweth not wher he ys. To many it ys a boste to drynke mych and not to be dronken, whom the prophete Isaye rebuketh, sayeng : ‘woo be to you þat boste yourself of grete drynkyng of wyne or of strong drynke’287 and provoke yourself and oþere both to dronkenes. Also the prophete Joel sayth: ‘awake ye dronken peple. Wepe and wayle all ye þat drynk wyne for pleasur’.288 He sayth not: ye that drynke wyne in necessite but ‘þat drinke wyne for delectacion and pleasur’. Dronkenes ys a dedly syn, a grevous syn, and accoumpted with murther, advoutre, and fornicacion. Dronkenes (78v) doeth caste oute man or woman of heven and paradyse and drowneth hym in þe pytte of hell. Noe dranke wyne 282 

Luke 21. 34. Eph. 5. 18. 284  Prov. 20. 1. Liber quotes the second half of the verse; PL 184, 1245A. 285  Prov. 23. 31–32. 286  Liber here quotes Ecclus. 31. 35; PL 184, 1245B. 287  Isa. 5. 22. Liber here quotes Isa. 5. 11; PL 184, 1245C. 288  Joel 1. 5. 283 

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and shewed open hys privye membres which he had kepte close vi hundreth yer before.289 Loth made dronke with wyne laye with his own dowȝters, and yit he knew not þat he offended, for he was besyde hymself.290 Wherfor, my loved suster, remembre ye how detestable and of every servante of God ys dronkenes to be fledde. [A question] Peraventur ye wold aske me: ys it a syn to drynke wyne? [The answer] Reverent suster, hit is no syn to drynke wyne mesurably and soberly. So thapostle Paule bade his disciple and byschop Tymothe, sayeng : ‘drynke a lytell wyne for your stomake and your ofte sekenes’.291 Salomon also seyth: ‘wyne dronke with mesur ys comforte to the bodye and soule’.292 Wyne withoute mesure ys a poyson and overecummyth þe mynde: hit gendreth foule lustys of þe bodye and many unclene thouȝtis and mocyons. Allmyȝty (79r) God ordeynde wyne for us to þe comforte of our hart and not for dronkenes. Therfor, good suster and virgyn, lete us drynk not as mych as glotony asketh but as necessite requyreth. Lete us be ware [les]293 þat the wyne þat God ordeyned for our comfort and helth, we turne it to the use of glotony and synne. Many have ben by wyne taken of develles and evyll spiritis, and dronkenes ys noon oþere but an open devyll. Drynke therfor, my loved suster, wyne moderatly and meanly, and hit shal be to you helth of body and gladnes of mynde, and shall take awey from you sluggyshnes and dulnes and shall make you dyligent and devout in þe service of God. Why? For wyne soberly dronke causeth a man or a woman to be dyligent in prayer and qwyck in the service of God. My loved suster, yf ye here me as your lovyng broþere and doo all this þat I tell you ye shal be sapyent and wyse.

(79v) The xxvi exhortacion sheweth how many manere wayes syn may com, and þat ther be iii thyngis worste and lowest of all other and iii moste fayr and above all oþere in the worlde Mi wel beloved suster, here what our Lorde sayeth in þe Gospell: ‘whosomevere doeth commytte a syn ys servante of the same’.294 Twoo manere of wayes syn 289 

See Gen. 9. 21. See Gen. 19. 32–36. 291  i Tim. 5. 23. 292  Ecclus. 31. 36–37. 293  Word missing in MS. 294  John 8. 34. 290 

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ys commyttid or done: oþere bi love of lewde appetyte, or by drede or feer; as when a man or woman wolde have þat he loveth, or els they feer les they shall have hurt by that they dyd drede. Fower wayes ys syn commytted in the harte or wyll and iiii wayes in dede. Syn ys commytted in hart or wyll by suggestyon of the devyll, delectacion of the bodye, consente of the mynde, and defence of pryde. Syn ys commytted in dede oþerewhyle openly, oþerewhyle pryvely, otherwhyle by custom, and oþerewhyle by desperacion. (80r) Thees manere of wayes syn ys commytted in hart and dede. Yet iii manere of wayes syn may be commytted or done: oþere by ignoraunce, or by freylte or wekenes, or els wyttyngly. By ignoraunce synned Eve in paradise, wittnesyng thapostle Paule, sayeng: ‘the man was not disseyved but the woman’,295 wherfor Adam synned wyttyngly, Eve ignorantly. He þat is disseyved knoweth not what he doeth consent to. By freylte synned Seynt Petre when for feer of a mayde he denyed Cryst.296 Hit ys more grevous to syn by freylte than by ignorance, and myche more grevous hit ys to syn wyttyngly than by freylte. Also he doeth more grevous offende þat synneth openly than he þat synneth prively. He dowble offendyth þat synneth openly, for he hymself doeth syn and gevyth occasion to oþer. Hyt ys a part of justice for (80v) a man or a woman to knowe his own syn and trespace, and to be ashamed of them. Hit ys better for a person not to syn for the love of God than for the feer of hell. Hit ys also better not to syn than to amend syn. Every synner ys prowde, for he þat doeth that þat ys forbydden dispyseth the cummaundmentis of God. Wherfor, my loved suster, here what I saye and counseyl you. By oon syn many good thyngis be loste. Kepe therfor your soule from syn. ‘He that offendyth in oon ys gylty of all’.297 By oon syn many vertues ar perysched. Inclyne not your hert to that the bodye desyreth or delyteth yn nor consent to bodely delectacion, for ‘yf ye lyve after sensualite and þe bodye, ye shall syn’.298 Purge therfor your conscience from all syn that your soule may be pure and bryght and your body cleen. Loke þat no spotte of syn abyde in your conscience. The bodye cannot be corrupte, excepte þe mynde and wyll (81r) be fyrst corrupte, for and the soule be lete slypp by consent, anon the bodye is redy to syn. And so syn ys fyrst in the soule, for the body can

295 

i Tim. 2. 14. See Matt. 26. 69–75. 297  Jas. 2. 10. 298  Rom. 8. 13. 296 

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doo nothyng, but þat [free]299 wyll woll. Clense then contynually your hart and conscience from all syn, and the bodye shal not offende. [A question] Peraventur ye wyll aske me whethyr the soule of a synnere be stynkyng foule or blak, and the soule of a juste lyver be fayr and bewtyous? [The answer] My loved suster, ther be iii thyngis in this worlde more blak and wors than eny oþere evyll: the soule of a synner perseveryng in syn, which ys blacker than a crowe; the evyll angelles that takyth such a synners soule at his deth; and the pytte of hell wheryn þe soule ys caste. Ther be noon wors, nor blacker þingis in the worlde than thes iii be. Ther be on the contrarye wyse oþere thre mor better than eny oþere thyng: the soule of a juste lyver perseveryng in goodnes, the which ys as (81v) bryȝt and fayr as the son; the good angelles þat receyve hit at the howre of deth; and paradyse wheryn they putte hit. Ther ys no creatur better than thes thre be. The good angelles doe present the soule of a ryȝtwous lyvere to Almyȝty God, sayeng: ‘Sovereyn Lorde, here ys he þat ye did electe and chese and have now taken from þe worlde contynually to dwell in your courte of heven’.300 Wheras ye, my loved suster, shal be in perpetuall joye with your spouse Jhesu Cryst yf þat ye purge and kepe clene your soule from all syn and persevere in þe service of God, as ye have promysed. Amen.

The xxvii exhortacion sheweth how every synner ouȝt to be evere penitent and sory for his synnes and to leve them and be confessid of them, puttyng a generall confession for an exaumple Then a man or a woman begynneth to be juste when they begyn to accuse themself of theyr own synnes.301 (82r) Ther ys nothyng worse than to knowe a defawte or trespace and not to be penytent therfor. Every synner for two manere of causes ouȝt to wayle and be sory for his synnes: oon cause, þat thorogh negligence he lefte a good dede undone which he ouȝt to have doon; anoþere cause, þat boldly he hath don a trespace þat he ouȝt not to have done. That man or woman doeth worthy and dewe penaunce þat be sory and wepe for their synnes þat þei have don and doeth them not agayne. For he þat wepyth and ys sory for his syn and doeth the same agayn ys lyke to hym that doeth wasche a newe and a grene tyle-stone which the more he waschyth it, the 299 

MS reads ‘freel’. Ps. 64. 5. 301  Liber here quotes Prov. 18. 17; PL 184, 1247D. 300 

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fowler he makyth it. If a man or a woman be penitent when they may syn, and whyl they lyve amende theyr lyfe and purge them from all syn, withoute doute whensomevere deth commyth to þem, they shall goo to everelastyng reste and quyetnes, (82v) that ys in heven. And they þat lyve in syn and doo not penaunce tyl deth come, as þeir dampnacion ys uncerteyn to us, so the remission of þeir synnes ys in dowte. Wherfor þei þat wolde be sure in tyme of deth to have mercye, lette them doo penaunce whyle they ar hool and be sory for their synnes. And bycause the mercye of God ys privy and not knowen, it ys necessarye contynually to be contryte and penitent. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘a penitent person ouȝt to have no swerty of his own synnes’. And why? For a swerty or sykernes causyth negligens, and necligens oftentymes bryngeth a person or he be ware into syn agayn. Therfor, my loved suster, take my counseyll, and whyle ye may, amende your lyfe. As long as God sendyth yow lyfe, knowlege your synnes, and whyle ye have space, wepe and be sory for them. Be ye penitent and confesse your synnes. Lette the callyng (83r) of such as dye be to you amendement of your lyfe. Whyle ye may and have tyme, kepe you from syn and call to God for mercy and forgevenes of your synnes. Doo penaunce or deth come and er ye be drowned in the pytte of hell, wher ys no place of mercy nor licence to doo penaunce, wher ys no licence of amendment nor confession. Why? For in hell ys no redempcion nor hope of salvacion. Though ye be a synner, yit by penance here ye may have forgyfnes. Ther ys no syn so grete, but by penance it hath mercye. Desperacion incressyth syn and ys more grevous and worse than eny oþere syn. Wherfor, my loved suster, beleve ye sertenly that in confession ys hope of mercy. Have ye no dowte and dispayr ye not of the mercy of God. Have truste in confession and dowȝt not of his goodnes. [An observation] My loved brother, ye saye wele and geve me good councell. (83v) Confession:302 ‘O synnar þat I am. O wreche that I am þat have fallen into so many crymes and synnes, in so many necligences. What shall I fyrst wayle? What shall I fyrste wepe? What shall I fyrste mourne? My memorye wyll not serve me to shew the gestis and dedys of so many synnes. O teres wher be ye? Flow ye now overe my face. Water ye nowe my chekys. Helpe me, good Lorde, er deth come, er deth prevente me, er hell take me, er þe fyre of hell bren me. Helpe me, merciful God, er evere I be dampned withoute ende. My Lord God, what shall I doo when thy ferefull jugement shall come? What shall I answer there for myself ? What shall I, wrecche and synner, saye when þat I shall be presented before the trone of Cryste? 302 

In red ink in MS.

106 Transcription

Woo be the tyme þat I synned yn. Woo be þe tyme þat I dyd evyll. Woo be the tyme þat I brake the commaundmentis of God. Wold God I had not knowe the daye þat I so did. O þat ungracious day! (84r) O þat unhappy daye þat brouȝt me into the worlde! Hit had be better for me not to have be borne in this world than to be dampned in hell for everemore and to suffre perpetual payn. All ye, creatures of God in heven and erth, wepe and mourne overe me, for I have grevously synned. I have unhappyly offendid. I have wrecchydly trespasid: my synnes be innumerable. I promised þat I wolde lyve well, but I nevere kepte my good promyses. I alway returned agayn to my synnes and evere multiplyed þem. I dyd nevere chaunge myn evyll and lewde maners or condicions and nevere ceassid to doo lewdly. Pray ye for me, devoute men. Praye ye for me, all sayntis of heven, þat Almyȝty God may have mercye on me and forgeve me my synnes. O my wrecched soule, hoo shall have mercye on the, or comforte the, or mourne for the? Wher art þou, keper of all persons, redemere of every soule and savyour? Why hast þou (84v) dispysed me? Why turnest thy mercifull face fro me? My Lorde God, forgete me not to þe ende, forsake me not forevere, leve me not in the power of the devyll. I am a synnere, I am unworthy, yit I fle to the, my Lorde God. Thou art pacient, þou art pytyous, þou art full of mercy, þou dispises[t]303 noo person, þou denyest nobody thy mercye. Good Lorde, shew thy mercye on me, I praye þe. I doo not defende my synnes. I doo not hyde my trespasys. My lewdnes þat I have don doeth displease me. I, wrecche, have synned. I confesse myn errour. I knowlege my iniquyte and unthryftynes. I have offended, good Lorde, have mercy on me, wrecched synnere. Mercifull Lorde, pardon me, forgeve me my synnes. ‘If þou, good Lorde, reserve or kepe the synnes of thy peple and not forgeve them, what ys he that may abyde or suffyr it?’304 Nobody at thyn examynacion, þouȝe he be juste, can be suer and (85r) in sertente of hymself to be clere withoute spot of syn. Ther ys no person lyvyng withoute syn, be he nevere so perfitte. ‘Aungelles also þat served the wer not stable, they offended and synned’.305 Sythen then, good Lorde, no person devoute nor aungellys be withoute syn before the, how muche more I, wrecchyd synner and worme, the chylde of frayle man þat hath abundaunce of syn and hath multiplyed my synnes, and am made of erth and dwell in an erthly habitacion? 303 

MS reads ‘dispises’. Ps. 129. 3. 305  Cf. Job 4. 18. Liber then quotes Job 25. 5 and Job 15. 15; PL 184, 1249D. 304 

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Good Lord, holde thy ryȝte hande overe me. ‘Remembre of what substaunce I am’:306 how þat ‘I am erth, asches and duste’.307 Geve medicyne by þe which I may be heled. I, wrecche, have falle in the pytte of many synnes in jeopardye of hell. Good Lorde, delyvere my soule from dampnacion, lette not the pytte of hell suppe me up forevere. The ferefull daye ys now at hande, the tyme draweth nygh, ther remayneth nothyng but my grave and buryeng. ‘Forgeve (85v) me’, good Lorde, ‘er I goo hens to a derke and unknowen cuntrey’. Help me, my Lorde God, ‘afore I goo to the place of myserie and derknes’.308 Succure me er I dye, and forgeve me my synnes afore I departe hense. The answere of Seynt Bernarde:309 My loved suster in Cryste, Allmyȝty God have mercy upon you, and forgeve you all your synnes and pardon you whatsoevere ye have offendyd, and loose you therof. Doo ye now as ye ought to doo. Purpose in your mynde and hart to syn no more nor to do noo yll. Be ware þat ye offende not agayn after your contricion and penaunce. He ys not a trew penytent but raþere a scorner and a mocker þat synneth wylfully after hys penance. He semyth not to pray God for mercye mekely but rather to scorne hym prowdly þat levyth not his syn þat he was penytent for. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘in vayne ys þat penance which syn and trespace doeth corrupte’. ‘A wounde twyes (86r) hurt ys harde to hele’, and an ofte synnere with wepyng teres unneth ys worthy of mercye. Be ye therfor stedfaste in penance. Leve not the good lyfe þat ye have begon. Salvacion ys promysed to good begynners, and it ys geven to suche as persevere in goodnes. Therfor sayeth Scriptur: ‘blessid be þoo that doeth vertue alwey and every tyme’.310 ‘He þat persevereth to the ende shal be saved’.311 Good suster, I counseyl you to be evere ashamed of your syn. Goo with hangyng down your hede, and as though ye were do[un]e312 and with a sadde countenance. Wrap your bodye in cylyce of here and in asshes. Lette þe lowe grounde be your bedde. Ye ar but duste and asches, therfor sytte and lyve in them. Be ye alwey sorowfull and have compunccion in your hart. Be evere redy to wepe for your synnes. 306 

Ps. 88. 48. Cf. Gen. 18. 27. 308  Cf. Job 10. 20–22. 309  In red ink in MS. 310  Ps. 105. 3. 311  Matt. 24. 13. 312  MS reads ‘dome’, with a horizontal stroke above ‘m’. 307 

108 Transcription

Reverent suster, beleve ye me, the servantis of God ought nevere to be in suerte in this lyfe, though they be ryght perfytte, but they shuld evere wache and call to their remembraunce with wepyng teres theyr (86v) synnes. Wherfor in the lawde of Cryste your spouse it ys writen in Canticis: ‘hys herr ys lyke the braunches of palmes and blacke as a crowe’.313 What may be better undirstand by the herr of Cryste than his feythfull pepyll which in dependyng of hym as theyr hedde geve honour to hym when they kepe the fayth of the holy Trinite in their mynde and cleve faste to hym? The palme incresyth in hygh growyng and signifyeth victory. The herr then of Cryste be braunches of palmes, for his electe servantis in incresyng and ascendyng to perfeccion of vertues by þe grace of God, somtyme they be brouȝt to noble vyctorie. Hit ys also black as a crowe, for allthouȝe they be hygh in vertue, yit they knowe themself everemore to be synners. So in lyke wyse ye, my loved suster, thouȝe ye lyve wele and religiously, thouȝe ye serve God just and devoutly, yit I counseyll (87r) you that ye nevere leve wepyng for your synnes. And ye wolde have the spottys of your syn waschyd from you, love ye alway teres and delyte in them. Be ye as redy to wepe as ye war to syn. How grete a mynde ye had to syn, so grete a devocion have ye to be penitent and to doo penance. Acordyng to þe sekenes a medicyn muste be had. And your syn be grete, lette your contricion be grete. Reverent suster, he vouchsafe to help and comfort you in this present lyfe, whom aungelles doeth worshypp in heven. Amen.

The xxviii exhortacion tretyth of þe receyvyng of the sacrament and howe perylous it ys to receyve the body of Cryste unworthelye The apostle Paule314 sayth: ‘whosomevere doeth ette the body of Cryste and drynketh his blode unworthyly’,315 he grevously offendyth and commyttyth a grete syn. Why? For he commyth lewdly to þat that ys good. (87v) ‘Lette therfor man and woman prove themself wele and then resseyve the body of Cryste’.316 As hoo sayth: lette everybody considere his own lyfe and clense his hart from all malice that he may come dewly to so noble a sacrament.317 For whosumevere 313 

Song 5. 11. There is a hole in MS. 315  i Cor. 11. 27. 316  i Cor. 11. 28. 317  Liber quotes here i Cor. 11. 29; PL 184, 1251C–D. 314 

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receyveth it unworthely ys cause of his dampnacion. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘they þat in Cristis Chyrche lyve synfully and leve not to be comynde, thynkyng by þe commynyng þat they be purged of theyr syn, lette them knowe þat it avayleth them not to þeir purgacion’, wyttnesyng the prophet sayeng: ‘What ys it þat my loved peple hath commytted and done many synnes and trespaces in myn own hous? Shall halowed flesshe take from þe thy malice and syn?’318 As hoo sayeth: naye. Wherfor he that wold receyve the body of Cryste, lette hym fyrst studye and labour to be perseveraunt in the fayth and love of Cryste which sayth in the Gospell: ‘he that etyth my body (88r) and drynketh my blode dewly abydeth in me and I in hym’.319 As hoo sayth: he dwellyth yn me þat fulfyllyth my wyll in good werkes. For but yf he fyrste abyde in me by fayth and good werkes and I in hym, he cannot dewlye ette my body and drynke my blode. What ys it than þat the peple doth ette? We se þat every person doeth ofte receyve the sacrament of the awter: but some doeth ette spiritualy the body of Cryste and drynketh hys blode; and some not, but oonly þe body of Cryst conteyned in the sacrament and not the effecte of the sacrament. The good person receyveth þe sacrament with the spiritual effecte, and þe evyll synnere receyveth not spiritually the effecte but oonly the sacrament to his dampnacion. He þat receyveth the body of Cryste with Judas the traytour shal be with Judas condempned; and he þat receyveth it devoutly and faythfully with Saynt Petre and his faythful cumpanye, (88v) withoute dowte he shal be with them sanctifyed in the body of Cryste. Seynt Austen sayth: ‘he þat with a chaste bodye, a clene hert, a pure conscience, and with devocion cummyth to be commyned at the awter, he shall com with a good ende to the awter, þat ys before God in heven’. My loved suster, I praye you, here the wysedom of þe serpent which when he intendyth to go drynke, er he come to the water-place, he castyth oute all hys venom and poyson. Folowe ye þe serpent in this poynte: er ye come to the bord of Criste, caste oute all your poyson, as hate, wrath, malice, envye, evyll wyll, and all evyll thouȝtis oute of your hert. Forgeve also your sustres and all your neyȝbours that þat they have offendyd you yn that your synnes may be forgeven of God, as he hymself techyth in the Gospell, sayeng: ‘forgeve and ye shal be forgeven’.320

318 

Jer. 11. 15. John 6. 57. 320  Luke 6. 37. 319 

110 Transcription

And yf ye doo all thes thyngis þat I have sayde, ye may com to the well of lyfe, to Cryste þe well of all (89r) goodnes. He hymself sayeth in þe Gospell: ‘I am the bred of lyfe þat commeth from heven’,321 of the which bred spake David the kyng sayeng: ‘man shall ette the brede of aungellys’.322 The bred that aungellys be fedde with in heven in fruicion of the Godhed, man shal be fedde withall in erth spiritually, the which was fygured in the Olde Testament by manna þat the chyldren of Israel was fedde with in wyldernes;323 of the which spekyth thapostle, sayeng: ‘ther wer som þat dyd ette the same mete spiritually’324 in wyldernes, and yit dyed. So now in Crystis Chyrch to som þe body of Cryste ys lyfe, and to som it ys payn and ponyschment of syn. The body of God withoute dowte ys lyfe to them to whom Cryste ys lyfe; and to them it ys deth þat by syn, wylfull ignorance, and negligence be the membres of þe devyll. Therfor, loved suster in Cryste, I counseill you that when ye receyve the body of oure Lorde, ye doo undirstande and knowe in tastyng anoþere (89v) thyng þan þat ye fele in your mouth. Here also, good suster, what the prest sayth in the consecracion of the body of Cryste. He sayth: ‘we pray the, good Lord þat this oblacion may be blissid’, by the which we may be blissid; ‘ascribed’, by the which we all may be conjoyned togyder in heven; ‘ratifyed’, by the which we maye be accoumpted among the servantis of Criste; ‘resonable’, by the which we may be knowen from unresonable bestis; ‘acceptable’, by þe which we may be acceptable to Jhesu Cryste. Good sustere, as I have sayd afore, Cryste of hymself fedyth aungellis in heven and also all his feythfull servantis in erth. In heven he fedyth aungelles with his glorious sight, and in erth he fedyth us by fayth þat we perysche not by the waye. Cryste of hymself fedyth both aungell and man, and yit he remayneth hoole withoute dymynucion in his kyngdom. How noble bredde ys he, and howe (90r) mervelous, of þe which aungellys be fedde in heven and man in erth to his comforte. Cryste þe bredde of lyfe, þat ys þe refeccion of aungellys, ys the redempcion and medycyn of mankynde. Now therfor, my loved sustere, praye to God with all your mynde þat he clense your conscience from all malice of syn þat ye may dewly and worthely receyve the sacrament of þe bodye and blode of Jhesu Cryste. Amen.

321 

John 6. 51. Ps. 77. 25. 323  See Exod. 16. 324  i Cor. 10. 3. 322 

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The xxix exhortacion shewyth howe all evyll thouȝtis shuld be advoyded and not sufferyd to abyde wythin the mynde My wel beloved suster, here ye what Almyȝty God sayth by his prophete Isaie: ‘doo away the syn of your evyll þouȝtis oute of my sight’.325 Allthough a man or woman cease to doo evyll, yit and he have an evyll thouȝt abydyng in his hart, he ys not clere withoute syn. Holy Isider sayth: ‘we doo not oonly offende in our dedis but (90v) also in thoughtis, yf when they com unlefully, we delyte in them’. As a snake ys oftetymes slayne of the yong þat be in hyr bely, so evyll thouȝtis within us norysched sleyth us in soule, for they consume the soule with a venomys poyson. I counceyl you þerfor, my loved suster, to kepe your hart and mynde diligentlye, for ther ys the good dede and evyll. Wherfor sayth Scriptur: ‘with all diligence kepe thy hert, for of it cummyth lyfe’.326 Here, good virgyn, what the spouse sayth in the lawde of his mylitant Chyrch in Canticis canticorum: ‘the herr of thy hedde ys as purpur of a kyng putte in leedes’.327 The herr of the hedde of þe Chyrche, or of every faythfull soule, ys lykened to purpur putte in leedis. For purpur with small bondes ys bownde in the dyeng ledes, wherupon when water ys caste, hit runnyth by the pypes of leed to the cloth þat lyeth undur to colour or dye it; and so it ys callyd after purpur (91r) colour, which all ys convenient to every devoute soule. The herr of the hedde be the thouȝtis of the mynde þat ys bounde in pypes of leede, that ys to saye, in holy Scriptur and counsellys, les it flow abrode waveryng withoute profytte. Kepe therfor, reverent suster, your hart from evyll thouȝtis. Lette no fowle thouȝt steel prively to your mynde with deliberacion. God doeth not oonly examyn the bodye but also the mynde, and juggeth both consciens and soule of every thouȝt. When þerefor an evyll cogitacion moveth you, consent not to hit and suffyr it not to abyde in your hert, but what hour so evere he cummyth, putte it from you. As soon as the serpent apperyth, breke his hed, breke the hedde of the evyll thought. Amende þere þe defaute or trespace wher it groweth, as in the hert. Doo ye syn and offende ther wher ye know þat God ys not. Ther ys nothyng hidde from hym. He seeth every privy thouȝt and ys presente (91v) everywher.

325 

Isa. 1. 16. Prov. 4. 23. 327  Song 7. 5. 326 

112 Transcription

My loved sustere, wolde ye nevere be hevy? Ye wold saye: yee. Then lyve wele, for yf ye lyve wele, ye shall nevere be hevye. A suer mynde suffereth easely hevynes. A good mynde hath allway gladnes. And yf ye persevere in good lyfe, ye shall nevere be hevy. And ye lyve wele and religiously, ye shall nevere nede to fere adversite nor deth. The conscience of a synnere ys evere in payn. He þat ys gylty ys nevere suer but allway trobled with his own grugges. Reverent suster, here what Almyȝty God sayd of the woman to the serpent: ‘she shall breke thy hedde’.328 The hedde of þe serpent ys broken when syn ys ther amendid wher it hath his begynnyng. Almyȝty God clense your soule from all evyl thouȝtis that ye may serve hym withoute spotte of synne. Amen.

The xxx exhortacion sheweth howe sylence wold be kepte and all ydyll communycacion advoyded. (92r) The prophete Isaye sayth: ‘the bewty of all vertue ys sylence and a suerte for everemore’.329 David also, the prophete, in his prayer desired of God, sayeng: ‘putte, good Lorde, a custodye to my mouth and a dore of circumstance to my lyppes’.330 Holy fadres with grete diligens kepyng sylence stodyed and laboured to know and se how dulcett and how swete ys Almyȝty God, and all charges of actyfe lyfe sette asyde, they cleved to the contemplatyfe lyfe. My loved sustere, dispyse ye unmanerely wordis. Flee lewd communicacion. Vayne talkyng anone doeth pollute and corrupte the mynde, and lyȝtly it ys don in [om.]331 dede þat ys gladly herde. Lette nothyng escape your mouth þat may lette you from a good dede. Speke ye nevere þat worde þat is not convenient. Lette þat communicacion come from your mouth that may edifye your herers. Flye foule spekyng. Vayne speche sheweth a vayn consciens. The tong sheweth the conscience of man or woman. (92v) As the outeward speche doeth shewe, such ys provyd the ynwarde mynde and entent. ‘The mowth spekyth oute of the abundans of the herte’.332 From all ydell speche refreyn your tong. Speke no lewde fabulles. Clater no vayne wordis. Idell speche shal not be withoute jugement: ‘everybody shall geve acoumpte of his communicacion at the daye of jugement’.333 Thoo wordis þat ye 328 

Gen. 3. 15. Isa. 32. 17. 330  Ps. 140. 3. 331  MS reads ‘in in’. 332  Matt. 12. 34. 333  Cf. Matt. 12. 36. 329 

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speke, lette them be with gravite and doctryne and withoute rebuke. Lette not your tong hurt you, lette not your tong dampne you. Speke not þat worde þat your adversarye or enemy shall note and bere aweye. Lette sylence be as a frende to you. Kepe your mouth, seale your lyppys. Know what tyme ye speke and what hour. Speke in convenient tyme, kepe silence in convenient tyme. Holde your peace tyl ye be asked. Speke few wordis, passe not your bondis in spekyng. ‘Many wordis be not withoute syn’.334 A clateryng virgyn ys a (93r) foole, a wyse virgyn wyll have few wordys. Wysedom maketh shorte spekyng, hit ys a folyschnes to speke muche. Lette þerefor be in your spekyng a mesur and a wayght. Reverent sustere, he vouchesaf to gyve a custodie to your mouth þat hath chosen you to be his spouse. Amen.

The xxxi exhortacion techith to advoyde lyeng and to saye þe trouth Lyars cause that soth-sayers be not beleved. All kynde of lyeng ouȝte gretly to be fledde and exchwed howbeit þere ys oon manere of lyeng of lytel offence, as yf eny person doeth lye for the welth of anoþere. But bycause Scriptur sayth: ‘he þat makyth a lye sleyeth his soule’,335 they þat be perfytte with all diligence doth fle this manere of lyeng, so þat they noþere by fallace defende þe lyfe of oþer nor hurt their own soules when they wolde doo for theyr neyȝbour. My loved suster, I exhorte you to flye all manere of (93v) lyeng. Speke not falshed for none occasion or labour. Studye not to lye, þouȝe ye wold help anoþere. Defende not the lyfe of anoþere by a lye. Every lye in every person ys a syn. All þat varyeth from the trouth ys iniquite. Temperall lawe and the lawes of þe worlde doth ponysche and condempne lyars. Yf þat lyeng be dampned of every lawe, if falshed be ponysched by mannys lawe, how mych more before Almyȝty God þat ys wyttnes both of wordys and dedys, befor whom also every man and woman shall gyve accoumpte of every ydyl worde and be ponysshed for every fryvolous communicacion. The prophete David sayth: ‘thou shalt, good Lorde, distroye and dampn al thos þat be lyars’.336 ‘A false wyttnes shall not slepe unponysched’.337

334 

Prov. 10. 19. Wis. 1. 11 336  Ps. 5. 7. 337  Prov. 19. 5. 335 

114 Transcription

Reverent sustere, flye þerefor lyes. Speke no falshede. Speke þat trouth ys and lye not. Be ye a trewe sayer and disseyve not by lyeng. Saye not oon thyng and doo anoþere. My loved suster, God graunte you to seye the trowth. (94r) Amen.

The xxxii exhortacion techyth to advoyde perjurye and ofte sweryng Oure Lorde sayth in the Gospell: ‘thou shalt not swere by the firmament or by heven, for it ys the seete of God; nor by the erth, for it ys the stole of his feete; nor by thy hedde, for þou cannot make oon herr in hit whyȝt or black. Lette thy communicacion be ye, ye, nay, nay; that þat ys more ys syn’.338 As he þat spekyth not cannot lye, so he þat hath noo appetyte to swere cannot be forsworn. By what sotelty or crafte eny person sweryth, God þat ys wyttnes of þe conscience so takyth it as he þat sweryth doeth meen and undurstande. And yf we swere to doo evyll, we ouȝt not to fulfyll it. Reverent suster, wolde ye þat I shew you howe ye shall nevere be forsworne? Custom ye not to swere. Hit ys perylous to swere. The use of othes causeth a custom of perjury. Lette ther be in your mouth: hit ys (94 v) or hit ys not. Trouth nedyth noon othe. A faythfull sayeng holdeth the place of a sacrament. My loved sustere, the Holy Goste þat in your bodye made hym a temple to abyde yn putt in your mouth a signett of moderacion. Amen.

The xxxiii exhortacion sheweth þat detraccion ys a grevous synne and his usars be lyke to a berkyng dog, and þat such persons shuld not be herde My wel beloved sustere in Cryste, here what I saye, take hede what I counseyll, and merke well what I speke. Detraccion ys a grevous vyce, a grete syn and a dampnable. Detraccion ys a grete cryme. Every good person reproveth a detractour or a bacbyter and dispyseth hym. David þe prophete sayd: ‘I persued and ponysched hym þat dyd detracte and bacbyte secretly his neyȝbour’.339 Ther ys nothyng so foule and detestable as detraccion ys. Detractours berken lyke doggis: for as doggys gnawe and byte the fete of such as goo by (95r) them, so detractours gnawe and hurt the lyfe of þeir neyȝbours. Doggis be wont to byte suche as goo by them and with their ungracious tethe rente and tere theyr clothes, so doeth detractours the lyfe of theyr neyȝbours. 338  339 

Matt. 5. 34–37. Ps. 100. 5.

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Reverent sustere, cutte away þerefor from your tong the vyce of detraccion. Gnawe not the lyfe of anoþere. Repreve not another persons lyfe, nor tere it, nor rent it in pecys. Defyle not your mouth with anoþere persons lewdnes. Detracte not a synnere, but be sory for hym. Fere raþere in yourself that ye detracte in oþere. Amend in yourself þat ye repreve in oþere. And yf ye wyll detracte, detracte your own synnes. Looke not on oþere mennys synnes but on your own. Ye shall nevere saye evyll by oþere yf ye look well on yourself. Wherfor be ye diligent to amende yourself. Take hede of your own welth and correccyon. Here no detractours. Geve noon audience to whysperers. He ys in lyke wyse culpable þat detracteth and þat hereth a detractour. Shrewd (95v) and evyl sayers of oþere shall not come to hevyn. A virgyn þat desyreth to com to the celestyall chambre shuld sey evyll of noo person. O reverent virgyn, yf ye pluk your erys from detractours and bakbyters and refreyn your tong from all lewde sayengs, ye shal be accoumpted among the wyse and prudent virgyns. Amen.

The xxxiiii exhortacion sheweth how perylous ys envye and that charyte ouȝt to be hadde agaynste hytte All envyous man or woman ys a member of ‘the devyl by whose envye deth was brouȝt into the worlde’.340 Envye doeth burn, frete, and devour with his pestiferous heete the frute of vertue and all goodnes. Envye ys a mothe of þe soule. Envye sonnere hurtyth hym that hath it than anoþere. Envye consumyth the wytte of man or woman, hit burnyth þe stomak, hit teryth and rentyth the mynde and ys a pestilens to þe hart. Lette þerefor agaynst envye (96r) mete goodnes. Lette charite be ordeynd agaynst envye. My loved sustere, be not sory of þe goodnes of anoþere, nor vexe you[r] self341 for the profetyng or felicite of anoþere. Ther ys no vertue but hyt hath som envye contrarye to hit and agaynste hit. Only wrechednes and poverte ys withoute envye. Why? For no man ne woman hath envye at a wrecche or a myserable person. A virgyn þat desyreth to dwell in heven shuld envye no person in erth. A virgyn þat covetyth to entre with Cryste into the celestyall maryage shuld not be sory of anoþere persons promocion. My loved sustere, God purge your harte from all malice and envye þat ye may serve hym withoute spotte of syn. Amen. 340  341 

Wis. 2. 24. MS reads ‘you self ’.

116 Transcription

The xxxv exhortacion techyth to flye ire and wrath Good virgyn, here what Salomon sayth: ‘a softe aunswer brekyth wreth, a hard and a frowarde worde causyth stryf ’.342 ‘A gentyll worde pacifyeth enemyes and multiplyeth frendis and lovers’.343 In so mych a man (96v) or a woman ys provyd unwyse, in how mych he ys unpacient. By wreth the eye of the mynde ys troubled. By wreth wyse persons lese theyr wysedom. By wreth a man or woman ys from themself. Som be soon angrye and soon pacifyed agayn; and som be seldom wreth and long er they be pacifyed; and som, þat ys worst of all, be ofte angry and hard to pacifye. Yit he ys better þat ys soon angrye and lyȝtly pacifyed than he þat ys seldom angrye and long er he be pacifyed. My loved sustere, here Seynt Jamys thapostle: ‘lette every man and woman be qwyck to here, and slowe to speke, and seldom angry’.344 Why? For ‘an angry person in his synfull wreth doeth nothyng acceptable to God’.345 A virgyn, þat shuld be the temple of God, ouȝt in no wyse to be angry. Hit besemyth not the spouse of Cryste to be wrethfull. The virgyn þat ordeyneth a place in hyr hart for Cryste to abyde yn shuld expell all ire and wreth from hyr. A virgyn þat desyreth to com (97r) to the hevenly chambre ther to be with Cryste ouȝt alwey to putte oute of hyr hert ire and wreth. My loved suster, yf ye be temptyd with wreth, refrayn and mytigate it, refreyn þe cours of ire; and yf ye cannot advoyd hit, mesur it. Lette not ire sette you afyre. Lette not indignacion vexe you. ‘Lette not the son goo down in your ire and wreth’,346 that ys to saye, persevere not and goo not to bedde in wreth. Amen.

The xxxvi exhortacion sheweth the parell of hatred and the difference betwene wrath and hatred, and howe hit shulde be advoyded Honeste virgyn, here what I say. Hatred puttyth man or woman from the kyngdom of God, from paradyse, from heven. Hatred ys not by passion putte awey, ne by martirdom purged, ne by shedyng of blode wasched awey. We ouȝt not to hate man or woman but vyce and syn. ‘He that hateth his neyȝbour ys 342 

Prov. 15. 1. Ecclus. 6. 5. 344  Jas. 1. 19. 345  Jas. 1. 20. 346  Eph. 4. 26. 343 

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a murtherer’.347 ‘He þat hateth his broþere ys in derknes of syn (97v) and so lyveth’.348 He lovyth not God þat hatyth man or woman. How mych difference ys betwen a strawe and a beam, so mych is betwen wrath and hatred, for hatred ys a long contynued wrath. By wreth ys trobled the eye of the mynde, and by hatred ys putte oute the eye of the harte. My loved sustere in Criste, here what I saye. And yf ye have trobled your sustere in enythyng, make satisfaccion to hyr. If ye have offendid your sustere, doo penance before hyr. And yf ye have sclaundred eny of the maydens and servantis of God, praye hyr to forgyve you. Goo lyȝtly to reconciliacion. Slepe not tyl ye have made satisfaccion. Take not your reste afore ye be reconcyled. And ‘yf your enmy have a fall, be not therof gladde: ye shall not rejoyse of your enemyes hurte, les peraventur a lyke hurt fortune to you and les God turnyth hys wreth of justice from hym to you’.349 Delyte to be sorye for hym þat ys trobled. Have (98r) compassion of oþere persons myseries and be hevy in anoþere persons tribulacion. Wayle with them that wayle, wepe with them þat wepe. Reverent sustere, be ye not harde-harted. Doo not to such as offende you acordyng to theyr trespace. Remembre þat God shall juge you. ‘Forgeve þat ye may be forgyven’.350 Ye shall have no pardon withoute ye doo forgyve. Putte oute of your harte hatred and lette it not persevere in your mynde. Reverent sustere, God graunte you the love of hym and of your neyȝbour. Amen.

The xxxvii exhortacion sheweth the detestacion of pryde ‘Pryde ys the roote of all evyll’.351 ‘A prowde man or woman ys to be hated of God and of man’.352 A prowde man or woman ys lyke to the devyll. Pryde and covettyse ys in this oon syn that pryde cannot be withoute covettyse nor covettyse withoute pryde. The devyll by pryde and covetyse sayde: ‘I wyll ascende to the hye heven’.353 Cryste with humylite seyd: ‘I am meked unto þe erth’.354 (98v) 347 

i John 3. 15. i John 2. 11. 349  Prov. 24. 17–18. 350  Luke 6. 37. 351  Ecclus. 10. 15. 352  Ecclus. 10. 7 353  Isa. 14. 14. 354  Ps. 43. 25. 348 

118 Transcription

The devyl by pryde and covetyse seyd: ‘I wyll be lyke to Almyȝty God’.355 Cryste ‘by humylyte was obedient to the Fader of heven unto deth’.356 The devyll for pryde ys throwen down to hell. Cryst by humylite ys ascendid to heven. What is every syn but the contempte of God by the which his commaundmentis be dispysed and not sette by? My loved sustere, beleve me þat long wacche, prayers, fastyngs, almesdedis, and good labours, yf þei have the ende with pryde, they be reputed for nouȝt before God. Wherfor, reverent suster, shewe not furth the wyngis of pride. Why? For pryde deposed prowde aungellis and caste them oute of heven. ‘God resisteth prowde persons and gyveth grace to meke persons’.357 Also I counseyle youe, spouse of Cryste, þat ye be more gladde of þe company of good aungelles and of the maydens of God than of your noble byrth. I pray you to joye more of the company of poore virgyns than of the noblenes of your ryche frendis. Why? (99r) For ‘God accepteth no person afor anoþere’.358 ‘He þat dispyseth a pore man or woman doeth injury to God’.359 Reverent sustere, God graunte you profounde humylite and trew charite. Amen.

The xxxviii exhortacion techyth to flye all bostyng and vaynglorye and how vertues may be increased As well in our dedis as in our wordis we ouȝt to advoyd bostyng and vaynglorye. Therfor, loved sustere, loke aboute yourself and boste yourself of nothyng that ye have but of your synnes. Flye bostyng, flye the appetite of veynglorie. Crake not of yourself, boste not yourself, presume nothyng of yourself. Exalte not wantonly yourself. Take noo vaynglorye of your good dede. Referre noo good thyng to yourself. Be not overblowen with the wynde of favour. Dispyce the lawde of men, loke not after who doeth prayse or disprayse you. Lette not vayne lawde disseyve you nor disprayse greve you. He þat lokyth after no lawde or praysyng knowyth not wrong nor injury. The (99 v) virgyns þat be praysed of hyr good dedys before peple have noon oyle in theyr vessels, for by thappetyte of vaynglorye they have loste þeir 355 

Isa. 14. 14. Phil. 2. 8. 357  Jas. 4. 6. 358  Col. 3. 25. 359  Prov. 17. 5. Liber here quotes Prov. 14. 31; PL 184, 1259A. 356 

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rewarde þat they shuld have hadde of God. Lett suche as love vayneglorye considre contynually theyr own fowlnes and be sory þat they have loste the good dedys þat they dyd for the laude or prayse of peple, of whom spekyth our Lorde in the Gospell, sayeng: ‘certaynly, I saye they have receyved theyr rewarde’.360 The vertues of holy persons by the stodye of vayneglorye be subjecte to the power of the devyll, as kyng Ezechie þat shewed with vaynglorye to the Caldeys his ryches and jewells, and þerefor he hard by the prophete þat he shuld lese them.361 Also the Pharisee that came to þe temple to praye loste all his good dedys bycause he bostyd hymself of them.362 As an egle commyth down from a-hygh to hir praye, so man or woman from the hyght of good conversacion by (100r) the appetyte of vaynglorye ys throwen down byneth. My loved sustere in Cryste, put not your secrete conscience in anoþere mans tong. Lette anoþere person prayse you and not yourself. Know yourself by your own jugement and not by anoþere person. Ther can no man knowe better who ye be than ye þat knoweth yourself. Reverent suster, wyll ye þat I shew you how ye may increase in every vertue? And ye wolde increase your vertues, shew them not oute. Hyde your vertues and good dedys from vaynglorye. Covette not to be seen as ye shuld be. Kepe privye your vertue and shewe your synnes and vyces. And yf ye have doon or sayde eny good thyng, tell it not openly. Shew your evyll thouȝtis. Syn when it ys knowen ys soon heled, and in hydyng of hyt it ys multiplyed. Of a lytell defaute hydde and kepte privye groweth a grete defaute. Vertues kepte privye doo increase and blowen abrode doo dymynusche.Therfor, good suster, (100v) referr allwey your counseill and werk to God. In all your dedys aske the help of God and ascribe all goodnes to the grace and gyfte of God. Referr nothyng to your own meritis. Presume not in your vertue, truste not in your boldnes. My loved suster, here thapostyllis sayeng: ‘he þat ys lauded or praysed lette hym be praysed in God and for God’.363 So lette your lawde and commendacion be alweye in your spouse Jhesu Cryste. Amen.

360 

Matt. 6. 2. See ii Kings 20. 362  See Luke 18. 363  i Cor. 1. 31. 361 

120 Transcription

The xxxix exhortacion sheweth the profytte þat cummyth of humylyte and mekenes and howe hyt ought to be hadde Mi wel beloved suster, here what your spouse Jhesu Cryste sayth in þe Gospell: ‘lerne of me, for I am mylde and meke in hert’.364 Reverent sustere, ‘meke yourself to the myȝty power of God þat he may exalte you in the tyme of the laste ferefull jugemente’.365 The hart of a virgyn shuld evere be meke and sorye þat by mekenes hit be not prowde and by hevynes (101r) hit be not dissolute or wanton. Mekenes ys the noblest vertue of a virgyn and hyr pride the grettyst vyce and syn. A meke virgyn, þouȝe she be vyle in habytte, yit she ys gloryous before God by hyr vertue. A prowde vyrgyn, thouȝe she be fayre, bewteous and ornat in the syȝte of þe peple, yit before God she ys vyle, dispysed and reproved. Why? For the soule of a juste and a meke persone ys the seete of God, as he sayth hymself by the prophete: ‘upon whom shall I reste but on them that be meke, quyette, and dredyng my sayengs’.366 My loved sustere, be ye grounded in mekenes and lowest of all your companye. Preferre not yourself before oþere, thenk not yourself a senyour to oþere but thynke all to be your betters and elders. ‘The more elder þat ye be, þe more meke yourself in all thyngis. And yf ye kepe humylyte, ye shall have glorye and lawde’.367 The meker ye be, the more ye shal be commendyd. Descende þat ye may ascende. ‘Exalte not yourself, (101v) for he þat so doeth shal be brouȝte lowe’.368 Hit ys a grete fall to fall from an hygh place. Meknes cannot fall. O spouse of Cryste, remembure þat God ‘came to us humble and meke, takyng upon hym the garmente of a servante and beeng obedient unto deth’.369 My loved sustere, lyve ye as he lyved. Folowe ye his exaumples, folowe his steppys. Be ye vyle and dispysed and abjecte, dispyse yourselfe. He þat ys vyle here ys grete before God, and he that displeasyth hymself here doeth plese God. The lesse ye sette by yourself, the more acceptable ye shal be to God. Reverente sustere, yf ye kepe profounde humylyte, ye shall joye with prudent virgyns in heven. Amen.

364 

Matt. 11. 29. i Pet. 5. 6. 366  Isa. 66. 2. 367  Ecclus. 3. 20. 368  Matt. 23. 12. 369  Phil. 2. 7–8. 365 

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The xl exhortacion steryth to pacience by the which a man or woman may be a martyr Oure Lorde sayth in the Gospell: ‘blissed be pacient and peasable persons, for they shal be callyd the chyldren of God’.370 My loved suster, yf pacient and peasible persons be blissede and (102r) called the chyldren of God, then necessary ys to you ‘pacyens which maketh all werkis perfytte’.371 A peasable virgyn or mayden ys wyse, an angry mayden ys not prudent but a foole. Reverent suster, ye may be withouten wepyn a martyr, yf ye kepe trewly in your hart and mynde pacience. A peasable person shall com to the company of angellys, an envyous or an angrye person shall be a companyon of develles. A pacient man or woman fleeth discorde and debate, an impacient man or woman causeth stryfe. A softe and a paciente mayden, though she suffre wrong, she caryth not for it. A peasable virgyn ordeyneth a dwellyng place in hyr harte for Cryste. Why? For Cryste ys verey trewe peace, and ‘wher peace ys, he ys wonte to reste’.372 The chylde of peace shuld love peace. Be ye more redye to take wrong than to doo wronge. Lerne rather to suffer evyll than to doo evyll. Be ye paciente, mylde, softe, colde, and gentyll. Love peace and kepe peace wyth (102v) every person.373 Wyne by paciens and love everybodye. Shewe yourself rather to love than to be lovyd. Be ye not dissolute in love. Have evere pacyence of mynde. Be kynde, redy in affeccion, and curteys in speche. Flye the occasion of stryfe. Lyve alwey in peace. And if it may be, have pacyence wyth every person. Overcome by pacyence the rebukes of detractours and evyll sayers. Take the boclar of pacyens ayenste the swerde of the tong. Ye have a grete vertue, yf ye hurte not them þat hurten you. Ye have a grete strength, yf ye forgyfe your hurtis. Ye ar gretly to be commendyd, yf ye forgyve hym whom ye myȝte hurte. Reverente sustere, the peace and pacyence of Almyȝty God which passyth all knowlege kepe your harte and soule. Amen.

370 

Matt. 5. 9. Jas. 1. 4. 372  Cf. Ps. 75. 3 373  MS reads ‘person’ written above ‘bodye’ in line. 371 

122 Transcription

The xli exhortacion sheweth þe discommodites þat commyth [b]y374 discorde, and howe þe devyl feryth nothyng more in a company than concorde and charite ‘Ther be vi thyngis þat God loveth not and the viith he hath (103r) in detestacion’,375 that ys, ‘man or woman þat maketh discorde in a companye’.376 Cursed be that man or woman that causeth eny debate among the servantis of God. He þat brekyth peace and concorde ys the enemye of God. He doeth injurye to Cryste þat makyth eny discorde betwen þe servantis of God. Why? For ‘Cryst is our peace in þat he hath made a peace and a concorde’377 betwen angellys and mankynde. A concorde of evyl and lewde persons ys a discorde of good persons. As we shuld wysche and desyre þe peace and unite of good persons, so we ouȝt to desyr and wysche þat the concorde of evyl and lewde company may be broken. Concorde to doo syn ys nouȝt, concorde to doo well and vertuously and to serve God ys good. We be for þat entent gadred togyder in oon company, that in the service of God we all shuld have oon spirite or mynde and wyll. Hit advayleth not if oon hous or place conteyneth us and dyverse wyllys divyde us, for God (103v) loveth more the unyte of mynde than of place. Here we be in this oon place many persons, dyverse condicions, dyverse hartis, dyverse soules, which all ouȝt to be knytte and joyned in oon, as oon entent, oon love in God. So we ouȝte to be of oon mynde and of oon wyll, that we may serve God and love God with all our herte and mynde, and our neyȝbour as ourself. Necessary than ys to us the vertue of unyte and concorde; for yf I wyll doo aftyr my wyll, and this person aftyr his, and anoþere aftyr hys, ther muste be divisions, stryves, wreth, and dissencions, which be the propyr dedys of the sensual body, as thapostle Paule sayth: ‘And they þat doth them or suche oþere shall not com to heven’.378 My loved sustere, bileve ye me, our fastyng, our prayers, our sacrifice plesyth not so mych God as doeth concorde. Wherfor our savyour sayth in the Gospell: ‘goo fyrst and reconsyle the to thy broþere or neyȝbour and then come and

374 

MS reads ‘dy’. Prov. 6. 16. 376  Prov. 6. 19. 377  Eph. 2. 14. 378  Gal. 5. 21. 375 

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offre thyn oblacion or offeryng that þou woldest offre to me’.379 Reverent sustere, this vertue concorde (104r) and unyte ys grete before God, withoute the which our sacrifice by whom our synnes shuld be forgyven doeth not please God. We ought to knowe þat when we com to religyon, we take a batell agaynste the devyll. [A demand] Wel beloved broþere, telle me, I praye you, yf the devyll doeth fere enythyng? [The answer] My loved suster, ther ys nothyng þat the devyl fereth so myche as concorde and charite. For yf we gyve all that we have for Goddis sake, that the devyl fereth not, for he hath noothyng. If þat we doo faste, that the devyl fereth not, for he nevere etyth. If we wache, the devyl dredyth not, for he nevere slepyth. But and we kepe charite and concorde, that the devel ferethe gretely. Why? For we doo kepe that in erth that he wold not kepe in heven. And therfor Crystis mylitant Chyrch ys called fereful ‘as the wyngis or wardis of a batell welle ordred’.380 For as the enemyes drede when they se the wardes in their contrarye parte strong and well ordred to batell, so suerly (104v) the devyl fereth when he seeth spiritual persons gyrdyd with wepyn of vertue lyve in unite and concorde. He then overecom and confounded ys verey hevy when he cannot devyde and goo þurgh them by discorde. We ouȝt therfor to lyve togyder in concorde in the house of God þat we may overecaste the devyll. The mayden and servante of God þat wolde lyve in concorde shulde fyrste leve evyll customes þat she be not froward, unrewled, incorrygible, and þat by hyr lewdnes she troble not oþere of hyr company and hurte them. She shuld also mesur hyr gestes or behavour, hyr mocyons, hyr speche, and all hyr lyfe, þat she maye goodly agre with them þat she lyveth among. Wherfor, loved sustere, I counseil you þat ye lyve mekely in concorde with all your company in religyon. And suche as be hatefull, exhorte ye them to peace and charyte; and stryvyng persons move them to concorde. Lette ther be no communicacion of brawlyng and chydyng þat shulde dyvyde concorde (105r) and unyte. O spouse of Cryste, the charite that plucked you from the worlde conjoyne you to God. Amen.

379  380 

Matt. 5. 24. Song 6. 3.

124 Transcription

The xlii exhortacion moveth to suffyr pacyently adversyte or wrong by the exaumple of Cryste Wel beloved sustere, lerne ye the sufferaunce of Cryste. Remembre Cryste and ye shal not be hevy of your injuryes, for he sufferyng for us lefte us an exaumple. He beeng bette with roddys, scourged, mocked and scorned, nayled and crowned with thorne, condempned to deth of the crosse, evere hylde his peace. When eny person rebuketh you or doeth you wrong, or yf eny adversite fortuneth to you, it ys all for your synnes. Ye shall more easly suffre, yf þat ye marke for what adversite fortuneth to youe. Wherfor when ye be sayd evyl by, doo ye praye and seye ye well by hym that sayeth evyll by youe. By pacience pacifye ye the angry person. By feyr meanys breke the wreth of þe wood person. (105v) By goodnes overecom malice. By your vertue overecome the syn of other. By your sufferaunce and quyetnes distroye the rebukys of other. Reverent sustere, dispose your hart both to good and evyll, and as they come so bere them. Suffer adversyte and prosperyte howsomevere they happyn to you. Dispyce obprobryous wordis: dispysyng overecom evyll sayengs of mockars and scorners. In dissymulyng sette not by the errours of bacbyters. Good virgyn, although eny person dyspyse youe, provoke youe, move youe, scorn youe, saye evyll by you, rebuke you, styr you to stryfe or brawlyng, although he sclaundere you or doo you wrong, kepe ye your silence, holde your peace, dissymul ye, sette not by hyt, speke not, shew no wrong agayne, aunswer ye not shrewdly, and rebuke not, but holde your tong. In so doyng ye shall sonner have the vyctorie. O spouse of (106r) Cryste, take unto you a wrestelyng agaynst temporall troubles. Be ye in all fortunes stedfaste, suffre pacyently everythyng. Hit ouȝte to be borne pacyently of oon þat happeneth to many. Both he þat doeth trouble and he that ys trobled be mortall. He þat doeth evyll and he þat suffreth it shall oons dye. My loved suster, bileve ye me, no person can be your adversarie or enemy excepte God gave hym power, nor the devyll can have power of you but þat God suffreth hym. ‘We must by many tribulacions entre into heven’.381 We cannot suffre ynough for the glorye of heven. My loved suster, it ys impossible for you to be a woman and not to have troble or sorowe. We suffre all thyng in þis worlde lyke as a chaunce or fortune. Ther ys no man or woman lyvyng in thys worlde but oþerewhyle he ys pensyfe and sorowfull. Thys lyfe ys full of wepyng, hit hath his (106v) begynnyng with 381 

Acts 14. 21. Liber here quotes Rom. 8. 18; PL 184, 1263D.

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wepyng. A yong chylde when he ys born begynneth his lyfe with wepyng: as soon as he is oute of his moders bely, he fyrst begynneth to wepe er he lawgh. Tribulacion ys profitable. The adversitees of this lyfe doeth profytte us. How mych we be broken with adversite in this worlde, so mych more stedfast we be forevere. How mych we be trobled here, so mych we shall joye in tyme to come. If we be wele scourged here, we shal be founde clene purged in the laste jugement. Amen.

The xliii exhortacion shewith how thre manere of wayes God doeth ponysch in this worlde, and þat seknes of þe bodye ys profetable to the servantis of God pacyently suffred, whom God lesse sparyth in this worlde than he doeth grete and obstynate synners Oure Lorde sayeth in the Apocalips of Seynt John: ‘those that I love I correcte and chastyse’.382 Thre maner (107r) of wayes God ponyscheth man or woman in this worlde: obstinate synners of hym [are]383 reproved to their dampnacion, his own servantis whom he seeth doeth offende and trespace to their purgacion, hys just and perfitte servantis to encrease the glorye of theyr meritis. God ponysched Egipte with dyverse plagys to theyr dampnacion,384 pore Lazar was vysytt with seknes to hys purgacion,385 Job was scourged for þe profe of his pacience.386 Also oþerewhyle God ponyscheth man or woman afore theyr syn les þat they be neglygent, as he did Seynt Paule which by the steryng of the evyll aungell suffred the temptacion of the bodye.387 Otherwhyle man or woman ys scourged of God aftyr his offence þat he shuld be amendyd, as Seynt Paule caused oon to be putte in the power of Sathan to be ponysched in the bodye þat the soule myȝt be saved.388 Suche as be strong and hool it ys profetable for them to be seke, (107v) les by the strength of bodely helth they rejoyse more in transitory and worldly thyngys than they ouȝt to doo. Evyl ys the helth of þe bodye þat causeth the seknes 382 

Rev. 3. 19. Word missing in MS. 384  See Exod. 7–14. 385  See Luke 16. 19–31. 386  See Job. 387  See ii Cor. 12. 388  See i Cor. 5. 383 

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of the soule, and very good ys the seknes of the bodye þat makyth a man or woman hole in soule. The apostyll Paule commendyth the seknes of the body, sayeng: ‘when I am seke, then am I more strong’389 in soule. Man or woman shuld not gruge in the visitacion of God, for by þat he ys chastised he ys amendid of his synnes. We shall mor lyȝtly suffer the diseases of the body, yf þat we call to our remembraunce the syn[nes]390 and offences þat we have don. Man or woman in theyr seknes shuld not murmur and gruge agaynst God. Why? For he shal be juged of hym whos jugementis be evere juste and ryȝtwous. He þat ys seke and grugeth agaynst God, he accuseth the justice of þe juge and so provoketh the wrath of God agaynst hymself. Hit cannot be injuste and unryȝtwous þat (108r) plesyth a ryȝtwous and a juste juge. ‘Whom God loveth he ponyscheth and chastiseth every chylde of his that he taketh to hym’.391 In thys lyfe God sparyth synners and not juste lyvers. In the lyfe to com he shall spare his electe servantis and not obstynate synners. He þat deserveth not to be scourged in this lyfe shall suffer payn in hell. My loved sustere, seknes and diseases be commyn to everybodye. Ther ys no person withoute seknes in this worlde. God chastiseth allwey such whom he ordeyneth to have perpetuall helth. Reverent suster, be ye not hevy in your seknes but thanke God. Wysche ye to have the helth of the soule rather than of the bodye. The diseasis of the bodye be remedyes and medicyns of the soule. Seknes woundeth the bodye and cureth þe soule. Disease consumyth syn and vyce and breketh the strength of foule luste. Knowe yourself in seknes to be proved and not to be loste. ‘Gold ys tryed in the furnace’,392 so ye þat ye may be purged (108v) from foule syn be tryed in seknes þat ye maye apere mor bryȝt. Wherfor, my loved sustere in Cryst, in your seknes gruge not nor blasfeme and say not: why doo I suffer this disese? Why am I thus trobled? Why am I seke? [A demand] Good broþere, I praye you, shewe me what I ouȝt to saye in my seknes and howe I ouȝt to accuse myself. [The answer] Good sustere, on this wyse accuse yourself. I have synned, as I was worthy I have not receyved. I fele myself les ponysched than I have deserved. I have not so many paynes as I have synnes. O spouse of Cryste, wyll ye be purged of all your synnes? Accuse yourself in payn and lawde the justice of God. Hit ys sufficient to your purgacion, yf þat ye referr thos paynes þat ye suffer to the justice of God, yf for your 389 

ii Cor. 12. 10. MS reads ‘syn’. 391  Heb. 12. 6. Liber then quotes Prov. 3. 12; PL 184, 1264C. 392  Wis. 3. 6. 390 

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seknes ye mekely glorifye God, for he chastiseth you with the scourge of lovyng correccion. And he þat in sparyng you did caste you from hym, in strykyng he cryeth þat ye com to hym agayn. (109r) Reverente sustere, remembre all the tormentis of the worlde, all the paynes, all the seknes and sorowes of the same, and compare them to the fyre of hell, and it shal be lyȝte and easy þat ye doo suffer. And yf ye feere enythyng, feer the paynes of hell. Thes paynes þat we suffer here be temporall and not long duryng. The paynes of hell be everelastyng. In dyeng in the paynes of this lyfe, all paynes be gon. In dyeng in the paynes of hell, oon perpetuall payn doeth folowe anoþere. And if that ye be a religyous woman, your amendment ys þat that ye suffer for seknes mekely accepte doeth assoyle a religyous person of his synnes. They þat by castigacion be here correcte and amendyd be delyvered from the paynes of hell, and they þat be not under correccion amendyd both in temporall payne and eternall be dampned, for they be juged both in this worlde and in the nexte to com. And so to all suche ys dowble payn and dampnacion, for they have here a begynnyng (109v) of their tormentis and in tyme to come they receyve the residue of theyr contynuall paynes. Reverent sustere, in þat ye be overecom with febylnes of the bodye, payned with sorys, trobled with seknes, with passions of the soule all to shakyd, with angwysche of the mynde vexed, and trobled with temptacion of evyll spiritis, all thes the justice of God sendyth you for your syn. Your own wepyns doeth fyȝte agaynst you, with your own arows and dartis ye ar wounded. By whom ye offendid, by the same ye ar scourged. Bycause ye have folowed the bodye, ye ar corrected in the bodye; by the which ye fell to syn, by þe same ye suffer paynes. O spouse of Cryste, ye ar ryȝtwo[u]sly393 ponysched, ryȝtwously scourged. The payn of justice doeth correcte you. Amen.

The xliiii exhortacion steryth us to flye avarice which ys a chylde of pryde (110r) Oure Lord seyth in the Evangelye: ‘be ye ware of all avaryce, for þe lyfe of man ys not in abundaunce of that he hath upon erth’.394 And thapostle Paule sayeth: ‘lette no fornicacion, no unclennes, no avaryce be namyd among you’,395 for ‘no fornicatour, no unclene lyver, no avarice person that ys a servitute of

393 

MS reads ‘ryȝtwosly’. Luke 12. 15. 395  Eph. 5. 3. 394 

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ydolles shall come to heven’.396 Salomon also seyth: ‘he trobleth hys hous þat foloweth avaryce’.397 ‘A gredy man ys nevere satisfyed with money. He þat loveth ryches shall not take the frute of them’.398 ‘Ther ys nothyng wers than to love money. He þat so doeth hath his lyfe and soule to sell for money’.399 As avaryce drowneth a man or woman in hell, so liberalite of almesdede allwey lyfttyth them up to heven. An avaryce or a gredy person ys lyke to hell, for as hell nevere sayth ‘hoo’, so the gredy man or woman hath nevere money ynough. As he þat hath the dropesye (110v) the more he drynketh the more ys hys thyrst, so a covetyse person the more he getyth þe more he covetyth to have. Avaryce and covetyse be susters togyder, and pryde ys þeir modir. Pryde ys nevere withoute covetyse, nor covetyse withoute avaryce. Reverent sustere, ‘lette not your hande be redye to take and closed to gyve’,400 delyte more to geve than to take. ‘Better it ys to gyve than to receyve’.401 Lette no avaryce or gredynes fasten hys rootis in your hart but rather put hym oute. And if ye have perfitlye for Crystis love dispysed all worldly and erthly goodis, ye shall with hym joye in heven. Amen.

The xlv exhortacion movyth to advoyde covetyse, that ys, in wyll to have ‘The roote of all evyl ys covetyse’.402 No person can perfitely take upon him spirituall batell afore he hath tamyd and overecom the lustes and desyres of the bodye. Ther can no mynde be fre to beholde God þat covetyth (111r) erthly and transitory thyngis of this worlde. The eye of þe mynde may not se hygh thyngys, yf the duste of erthly covetyse closyth it. Covetyse ys a grete syn and the cause of every syn. And it ys no mervayle, though, when such dye, they be putte in the fyre of hell which quenchyd not the fyre of theyr covetousnes whyle they lyved here. My loved sustere, though ye have no money, yit and ye have an appetyte or wyll to have, it advayleth not. The nakydnes or barenes of your body doeth not profytte your soule, yf ye have an appetyte to have clothes. Judas the traytour 396 

Eph. 5. 5. Prov. 15. 27. 398  Eccles. 5. 9. 399  Ecclus. 10. 10. 400  Ecclus. 4. 36. 401  Acts 20. 35. 402  i Tim. 6. 10. 397 

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by covetyse solde Cryst.403 ‘We be born naked into this worlde and naked we shall goo oute of it’.404 Why covette we than erthly and transitory thyngis, if we bileve þat the goodis of this world shall perysch? Why love we them so mych? And if we love them more than we ouȝt to doo, we offende. Loved sustere, considere the course of your lyfe and knowe ye wel þat the lytell stuffe (111v) that ye have may suffyce you. If then covetyse, as I sayd afore, be the roote of all evyl, hit ys necessarie þat ye expell it oute of your hart þat oþer braunches of syn doo not budde by it. Reverent sustere, Almyȝty God make you for his love to dispyse prosperite of thys worlde and to fere noon of his adversite. Amen.

The xlvi exhortacion moveth to voluntary poverte by exaumples and shewith þe profitte of hytte ‘Blessid be they þat be pore in spirite, for they be possessonars of heven’. 405 Ther be many þat be pore whom theyr poverete maketh not them blessid but rather wrecchyd, for bycause they suffer not theyr poverte for God, but be constrayned. Ther be also som pore peple whom their poverte doth not make them wrecchyd but blessid, of whom ys spoken the sayeng of our savyour: ‘blessid be they that be pore in spirite or hart’.406 My loved sustere, I retourne to you agayn. Ye (112r) have hard the tribulacion and pacyence of Job, and therfor I exhorte you þat ye be not overethrown in tribulacion nor þat ye be prowde in prosperite. Ye rede þat noble patriarkis wer ryche in goodis but humble and meke in hart, as was Abraham þat sayd: ‘shall I speke to my Lord þat am but aschys and erth?’407 Reverent sustere, ye shal be blissed, yf þat in adversite as well as in prosperite ye thanke alwey God and bileve þe felicyte of thys temperall lyfe to vanysch awey as the smoke. Seynt Paule thapostle sayeth: ‘if þat for this lyfe oonly we truste in Cryste, we be more wrecchid than eny oþere peple’.408 Crist tauȝt us to dispyse the rewardis and brybes of this lyfe þat we shuld love noþere gold nor

403 

See Matt. 26. Cf. Job 1. 21. 405  Matt. 5. 3. 406  Matt. 5. 3. 407  Gen. 18. 27. 408  i Cor. 15. 19 404 

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sylvere; and þat we shuld not drede hungur, he fasted xl dayes.409 Þat we shuld not be aferd to be naked, he commaundid his disciplys to have but oon vestur or clothyng.410 That we shuld not fere no tribulacion, he (112v) suffred for us many tribulacions; and þat we shuld not fere deth, he suffred bytter deth for us. ‘All that ys in the world it is the concupiscens of þe bodye and of the eyesight and covetyse of the world, which all shall ones be distroyed’.411 Therfor, loved sustere, lette us not love þat þat ys in the worlde, les we perysch with hit. David the prophete was a noble kyng, and when he had both tresour of golde and sylvere and wyth a grete power rewled his peple, yit he knowlegid hymself meke and pore of hart, seyeng: ‘I am pore and fro my yowth in grete labours’.412 Agayn he sayd: ‘I am both nedy and pore’413 and in a straunge place. ‘I am a pore dweller in the cuntre and a pylgryme as all my faders were’.414 Reverente sustere, lete no transitory flateryngs no erthly profetis delyte you, nor be ye glad of worldly lucre nor sad ne hevye of worldly losse. As it ys writen: ‘if ye have ryches, sette not your hert to them’.415 Those goodis þat we gete and have with love we lese wyth (113r) sorowe. Here, spouse of Cryst, what I say. He to whom hevenly and erthly creatures doeth serve was made pore for us. Why? That by his poverete he myȝt make us ryche. Therfor, good virgyn, walk ye the same waye that Jhesu Cryst your spouse went in before you, and folow hym withoute tedyousnes. Wythoute doute yf ye folowe hym, ye shall reigne with hym in heven. Reverent sustere, behold the virgynyte and poverte of the blissid Virgyn Marye which was so rycche in our Lorde þat she became moder unto God, and she was so pore in worldly substaunce þat at the tyme of þe byrth she had no mydwyves nor servantis to serve and help hyr. She was also so pore þat she had no bedde to put hyr yong baby in but was fayn to leye hym in a maunger.416 Joseph also to whom she was spoused was so pore þat he gate his lyvyng by his crafte. We rede also of the holy apostyls, how they served God in hungur and

409 

See Matt. 4. 1–11. See Matt. 10. 10. 411  i John 2. 16–17. 412  Ps. 87. 16. 413  Ps. 69. 6. 414  Ps. 38. 13. 415  Ps. 61. 11. 416  See Luke 2. 410 

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thyrst, of whom Seynt Paule ys oon to wyttnes, sayeng: ‘I lyve (113v) in hungur, in thyrst, in mych fastyngs, in colde, in nakydnes, and in ofte wache’.417 O spouse of Cryst, ye have exaumples by whom ye may lern to sette nouȝt by worldly ryches and covete hevenly tresour. For ‘they þat covet to be ryche in this worlde fall in grete temptacions in the snares of the devyll and in many noysom desyres which casteth a man or a woman to hell’.418 They wyl gladly despyce worldly ryches þat perfitly truste of celestyal tresour, for wylful poverte bryngeth a man or woman to heven. We com not to religion to lyve delycatly, but þat by wacchyng, prayeng, fastyng, syngyng, fyȝtyng agaynst our adversarie þe devyl, we may be the helpe of Cryst com to the kyngdom that by hym ys promysed us. For we be born in this worlde and come naked to our baptyme that naked withoute eny impedyment we may come to heven. How inconvenient ys it! How foule an overesight þat (114r) he whom the moder bare naked, whom þe Chirch receyved naked, wold covette to goo ryche to heven! ‘Hit ys more possible for a camel to goo thorogh the eye of a nedyl than a rycche man of the worlde to entre into heven’.419 Hit ys bettere to lacke than to have to mych. He ys to covetous to whom God ys not sufficient. Loved sustere, if we in this world suffer wylfully hungure and thyrst and nakydnes for Cryst, we shall joye with hym in heven. Amen.

The xlvii exhortacion sheweth that murmuracion and gruggyng ys a gret syn, and how we shuld advoyd hit The place of our hart by the grace of God and the presence of þe Holy Goste ys halowed and sanctifyed when ther ys withyn charyte, pees, goodnes, humylite, pacience, concorde, gentylnes, with oþere suche. Thes be our rycches: good maners and vertues. But when we begyn among us to brawle, to gruge, to stryve, anone we caste of thes spiritual vertues (114v) and remayne naked from all goodnes. Why? For vertues may not abyde with vyce. ‘A lytel sour dough or levyn corruptyth an hole bache’.420 Every servante of God shuld pondere in his hart howe grete offence he rennyth yn when he gruggeth for temperall thyngis. Of þat he ought to be ryche he ys pore. What be our ryches? Vertues þat we lese when we grugge for mete or drynke. 417 

ii Cor. 11. 27. i Tim. 6. 9. 419  Mark 10. 25. 420  i Cor. 5. 6. 418 

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A grete syn ys murmuracion or gruggyng. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘no person þat gruggeth shal have the kyngdom of heven and no person þat receyveth it may murmure or grugge’. ‘The thoughtis in the hart of a fole be lyke the whel of a cart’421 þat karyeth haye and makyth a noyse, as þough hit dyd grone. Suche be many brethern and sustren in a congregacion that ar subjecte to sensualyte and nevere cesse gruggeng. Wherfor, loved sustere, very necessary ys to us the counseyl of Seynt Paule thapostle sayeng: ‘murmur ne grugge ye not, as som of the chyldren of Israel (115r) dyd’ in wylderenes ‘and wer distroyed’.422 Perylous ys for us to grugge, les we perysch in religion, as they dyd in wylderenes. Lete us kepe our tungys fro murmure, les that (God forbede) as þei wer distroyed in the worlde, we be distroyed in the worlde to come, and les as they wer ponysched in theyr bodyes, we be ponysched in our soules. Agayn thapostle spekyth to us, counseilyng: ‘lete us not tempte Cryste, as som of them aforsayd dyd tempte God and wer undone by serpentis’.423 He temptyth Cryste þat gruggeth for mete, drynke or clothyng, as it ys writen of the forsayde peple: ‘they temptyd God in their hartis in askyng mete for their lyves’.424 ‘They grugged also in þeir tabernaclys and were inobedyent to þe voyce of God’.425 He temptyth Cryste þat for lake of superfluous thyngis in religion gruggeth. He doeth agaynst Cryste þat loketh after more in religion than nedyth. He offendyth Cryst that in religion sekyng for erthly and transitory (115v) vanites sclaundreth his sovereyns. Hit ys sayd above how such ‘wer distroyed of serpentis’.426 Why of serpentis? But bycause a serpent ys a venomys beste, and every persone þat murmuryth hath the poyson of the devyl in his tunge, of which spekyth Seynt Jamys, sayeng: ‘the tunge ys unquiete, evyl, and ful of mortiferous poyson’.427 Lete us therfor be ware of murmuryng, les we perysch by the mortiferous venom of the devyll. My loved suster, here what our Lorde sayth in the Evangelye: ‘I saye to you take ye no care for your sustenance, what ye shal ete; nor for your bodye, what ye shall were’.428 As hoo sayth: God þat gave you lyfe wyl gyve you mete, and he 421 

Ecclus. 33. 5. i Cor. 10. 10. 423  i Cor. 10. 9. 424  Ps. 77. 18. 425  Ps. 105. 25. 426  i Cor. 10. 9. 427  Jas. 3. 8. 428  Matt. 6. 25. 422 

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þat gave you your bodye wyll geve you clothyng. Furthermor he sayth: ‘beholde the fowles of the eyer which noþere sowe, ne repe, nor gadre into barnys, and yit God fedyth them’.429 As hoo sayeth: if þat God provydeth for byrdes of the eyer þat be þis day (116r) and tomorow be gon and ded, how mych more shal he gyve to his servantis and maydens mete, drinke, and clothyng, whos soules be immortall and to whom the kyngdom of heven ys promysed. Agayn ‘considere the floures of the felde, how they grow, they labour not’.430 They noþere spyn ne carde, and yit God freschly doeth clothe them. Howe myche more wyll he clothe hys servantis and maydens? God wyl not slee his servantis with hungur or thyrst or lak of clothys. Wherfor he addyd, sayeng: ‘seke ye fyrst the kyngdom of God and hys ryȝtwosnes and ye shall have all these’.431 As hoo sayth: serve you God with drede, syng and praye to hym nyȝt and daye with feer, and he shall gyve you both in this lyfe and in lyfe to com all þat is to you necessarie. ‘They þat seke and serve God lack nothyng’.432 Loved sustere, God þat brouȝte you oute of your fadyrs house, yf ye persevere in his service, wyll graunte you in goodnes all your peticions and desyres of your harte. Amen.

(116v) The xlviii exhortacion sheweth the parell of propertee in a religious person, and howe propryetaryes be lyke to Judas the traytour, to Ananye and his wyfe, and to Giezi þe disciple of Helysie the prophete Wel beloved sustere, propertee þat ys take among the servantis of God for a grete syn, lete it nevere be founde in you. All thyng that ys in religion ys commyn to everybodye. If then the servante and mayden of God have enythyng pryvy, or properte that ys not knowen of other of hyr companye, hit ys theft and þe syn of theft. Why? For she hath all thyng in commyn with oþere of the servantis of God and besyde þat as hyr own she hydeth som thyng pryvely, whych ys theft and an open disseyt. This ys a grete syn and the waye of hell. By thys waye thevys goo to hell for, as Saynt Paule sayth: ‘noþere theves nor ravenars shal have heven’.433 The servante and mayden of God (117r) that doeth separate hyr-

429 

Matt. 6. 26. Matt. 6. 28. 431  Matt. 6. 33. 432  Ps. 33. 11 433  i Cor. 6. 10 430 

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self from the commynaltee in religion as in hydyng hyr own as properte, muste folowe þat she be denyed from the company of heven. Many com to the commyn felawship of religion, but (that I cannot saye withoute grete lamentacion) they lyve not all theryn acordyng to the holy Gospell and prechyng. In religyon be thapostyls of Jhesu Cryst, ther is also Judas Scarioth that betrayed hym,434 ther is also Ananya with his wyfe Saphira,435 ther ys also Giezi the disciple of Helisei.436 They þat forsake all þat they have in the worlde after þe exaumples of þapostyls for the love of the everelastyng lyfe, with the same apostyls they shall joye and be rewarded in heven. But he that after ys come to religion presumeth to doo falshed in the goodis of the religyon ys Judas Scarioth and with hym shall suffer payne in hell, for bycause he makyth properte of þat that is commyn.437 They that come from the secular lyfe to religion, (117v) yf that of thos thyngis that they had in the worlde they kepe oon part to themself and anoþere part they gyve to þe monastery, they deserve to have with Anania and Saphira þe sentence of soden deth.438 They þat com fro the worlde to religion and loke to have þerein that he cowde not have in his own house or place, withoute douȝte the lepry of Giezi shal cleve to hym, for the lepry þat Giezi had in his body he shall have in his soule.439 Good virgyn, as I have showd you above, ther ys a grete difference betwen them that be in religion. To them þat lyve in religyon afte[r]440 þe maner of thapostyls, hydyng nothyng of that they had in the worlde or have in present, doeth agre to the sayeng of the psalmyste: ‘hyt ys good and profetable for me to cleve to God and put all my truste in hym’.441 And agayn he sayeth: ‘putte all your mynde to God and he shal norisch you’.442 To them that443 as Judas Scaryot doeth kepe (118r) properte or hyd enythyng of the goodis of religion privye doeth agree to the sayeng of David the prophete: ‘they ascendid unto heven and descendid to the bottom of hell wher in tormentis and paynes lyef fayleth 434 

See Matt. 26. See Acts 5. 436  See ii Kings 5. 20–27. 437  See Matt. 27. 3–10. 438  See Acts 5. 5, Acts 5. 10. 439  See ii Kings 5. 27. 440  MS reads ‘afte’. 441  Ps. 72. 28. 442  Ps. 54. 23. 443  MS has ‘that’ added in margin. 435 

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them’.444 To them þat with Anania and Saphira of þat they had in þe world gyve oon part to religion and reserve anoþere part in properte to themself agreeth þe sayeng of the same prophete: ‘they put theyr trust in theyr own policye and vertue, and all their joye in abundance of theyr own ryches’.445 To them þat as Giezi loke after tho thyngis in religion which they cowd not have in the world agreeth the sayeng of the same prophete: ‘this is þe person þat trusteth not in God but in grete abundance of goodis and prevayleth in his vanyte’.446 Wherfor, reverent suster, kepe nothyng unknowen, hyde nothyng, lyrk nothyng, have nothyng pryvye. Whatsoevere ye have, have it with licence. And ye have enythyng, have it with blessyng. (118v) Wythoute the lycens of your abbes or priores, have ye nothyng. Receyve nothyng withoute blessyng. Gyve nothyng withoute lycence. Good virgyn, ‘put all your mynde to God and he shall preserve you’. 447 Amen.

The xlix exhortacion sheweth the tyme of prayer, and howe two manere of wayes prayer ys lette þat it cannot be herde, and how we shuld praye Wel beloved sustere, here what I say. Hit ys a provisyon or providence to praye afore dewe tyme. To praye in tyme ordeyned ys obedience. To lete passe the tyme of prayeng ys a necligence. Prayer ouȝt to be so mych oftenere þat it is more profetable. Our Lord sayth in the Gospel: ‘everythyng þat ye aske in your prayer trustyng of hit, ye shal have it’.448 And Seynt Paule sayth: ‘praye ye contynually’.449 And Seynt Jamys seyth: ‘the ofte prayer of a good man or woman profetyth mych’.450 Reverent sustere, ‘afore prayer dispose yourself devoutly, and (119r) be not as oon þat temptyth God’.451 In prayer order yourself and shewe the secretis of your hert þat ye may have more grace of God. Then ye trewly praye when ye thynke no noþere thyng in your mynde than your prayer. The juge ys son444 

Ps. 106. 26. Ps. 48. 7. 446  Ps. 51. 9. 447  Ps. 54. 23. 448  Matt. 21. 22. 449  i Thess. 5. 17. 450  Jas. 5. 16. 451  Ecclus. 18. 23. 445 

136 Transcription

ner won by prayer when the synnere ys amendyd of hys lewdnes. Prayer ys of the hert not of the lyppys. Hit ys bettere to praye with silence of the hart than oonly with wordis withoute attencion of mynde. That prayer ys pure, whom superfluous thouȝtis in his tyme troblyth not. For ferr from God ys the mynde þat in prayer ys occupyed with worldly thouȝtis. Two manere of wayes prayer ys lette þat man or woman cannot obteyn that he asketh: that ys, if þe man or woman levyth not theyr syn, or yf he forgeve not the person þat hath offendyd hym. Our mynde ys an hevenly thyng and then well beholdeth God in prayer when it ys not lette by worldly besynes and syn. When a person prayeth, (119v) he callyth the Holy Goste to hym; but after he ys com, anon all the temptacions of the devyll þat occupyed hys mynde not sufferyng hys presence doeth fle awaye. He þat is hurt, lete hym not leve ‘to praye for them þat hurted hym’,452 ellys acordyng to the sentence of God he offendyth that prayeth not for hys enemyes. As no medicyn profetyth in a wounde if the wepyn be in hyt styll, so nothyng advayleth the prayer of hym that hath hatred in his hart. He synfully holdeth up his handis to God that in prayeng shewyth bostyngly his own good dedis, as the Pharisy prayed in þe temple bostyngly and commendyd more hymself of hys good dedis þan God.453 Loved sustere, praye contynually with wepyng teres. Pray God nyȝt and daye. Gyve you oft to prayer, crye evere and wepe in prayer, aryse in the nyght to prayer, wache and praye, a lytel slepe and then agayn praye. Ofte prayer puttyth awey the temptacions of þe (120r) devyl. Prayer ys a cheef vertue agayn þe suggestions of the gostely enemy. Prayer prevayleth agaynst all evyll. Good suster, lete your prayer be pure. I counseyl you that ye praye for good persons þat they may persevere in goodnes. I desyre you also to praye for evyl persons that the[y]454 may from evyl be converted to good. Praye for your frendis and lovers and also for your enemyes. Praye for all feythfull peple qwyk and ded. ‘Lete your prayer ascende as frankincense in the sight of God’.455 Amen.

452 

Cf. Luke 6. 28. See Luke 18. 454  MS reads ‘the’. 455  Ps. 140. 2. 453 

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The l exhortacion sheweth how necessary ys redyng to us or the heryng of redyng By prayer we be clensid of our synnes, by redyng we be tauȝt what we shal doo. Bothe be good yf we may doo both. If we cannot, it ys better to praye than to rede. For when we praye we speke to God, when we rede God spekyth to us. My loved sustere, if ye covette to be allwey with God, evere praye and evere rede. Very necessary ys to us (120v) godly redyng, for by redyng we lern what we ouȝt to doo, what to flye, whyther to goo. Wherfor sayth the psalmyst: ‘thy worde, good Lorde, ys a lyȝted candel to my fete and a lyȝt to my goyng’.456 By redyng knowlege and undurstandyng be increced. Redyng techyth us to praye and to werke. Redyng infourmeth to þe actyve and contemplatyve lyves. The psalmyst sayeth: ‘blessid ys þat person þat ys occupyed nyȝt and daye in the lawe of God’.457 Redyng and prayer be wepyns that the devyl ys overecom with. Thes be instrumentis that heven ys com by. By redyng and prayer vyce and syn ar distroyed and vertues norysched in the soule. The servante and mayden of God shuld alwey praye and rede. The psalmyst sayth: ‘I shal not be confounded when I loke thorogh thy commaundmentis’.458 Therfor, loved sustere, gyve you ofte to prayer. Persevere in meditacion of holy Scriptur. Use you to rede. Redyng puttyth aweye errours of lyfe. Hyt plucketh awey man or woman (121r) from the vanytes of the worlde. Ye profytte mych when ye rede, namely yf ye doo after your redyng. Reverent sustere, God open your hert in his lawe and commaundmentys. Amen.

The li exhortacion moveth to labour, shewyng howe we shuld dyvyde the daye in thre partyes: in prayseng, redyng, and laboryng Jeremye the prophet sayth: ‘lyfte we up oure hartis with our handys to God’.459 He þat prayeth and laboryth doeth lyfte up his harte wyth hys handys to God. He þat prayeth and doo not labour lyftyth up his hert to God withoute hys handis. He þat laboryth and prayeth not lyftyth up his handis to God and not his 456 

Ps. 118. 105. Ps. 1. 1–2. 458  Ps. 118. 6. 459  Lam. 3. 41. 457 

138 Transcription

hart. Therfor, loved sustere, it ys necessarie for us to lyft up our hart in prayer to God and to hold up to hym our handis in werkyng. Why? Les we be rebuked for necligence of the commaundmentis when we thynke to obteyn soule helth oonly by prayer, or oonly by werkyng. Saynt (121v) Paule sayeth: ‘he that laboryth not shal not ete’.460 The servante and mayden of God shuld alweye praye, rede, and werke, les peraventure the syn of the body disseyve the ydyll mynde. The foule luste and pleasour of the body ys overecom by labour. My loved sustere, dyvyde your tyme of the daye in thre partis. In the fyrst part praye, in the seconde rede, in the thyrd labour. Kyng Salomon by ydilnes wrapped hymself in many synnes of þe bodye, and by the foule love o[r]461 concupiscens of the same dyd worship ydolles.462 Reverent sustere, thes thre be very necessary to you: prayer, redyng, and labour. By prayer we be purged; by redyng we be tauȝt; by labour, as the psalmyst seyth, we be blissed.463 If that at eny ceson ye leve prayeng, ye shuld werk so þat ye be nevere ydell, for ydelnes ys an enemye of the soule. The devyle lyȝtly disseyveth hym whom he fyndeth ydyl. The devyl dayly goyth (122r) into religyous placys, and yf he fynde enybody ydyl, anone he doeth accuse hym. O spouse of Cryst, take hede lest when the devyl commyth into the cloyster and sercheth every persone, fynde enythyng in you of the which he may accuse you. For this cause I counseyl you that for þe love of Cryste ye be not ydel. I praye you þat ye shew the love of Cryst to your companye not oonly in wordys but in good dedys. Then ye love God trewly when for his love ye labour and werke þat good dede þat ye can doo and may. Everye perfitte man and woman shuld shewe in them the love of God both in holy conversacion and dedys. Wherfor in Canticis canticorum the spouse, Cryste, exhorteth every good persone, sayeng: ‘putte me as a marke upon thy harte and upon thyn arme’.464 In þe harte be þe thouȝtis, and in þe armys stondyth the operacion[s]465 and labours. Then upon þe hart and the arme of every good persone Cryste ys putte (122v) as a marke, for in his servante he ys shewed both by wyll and dede how mych he ys loved, for the love of God ys nevere ydell. If it be trew love, it laboreth and doeth many good thyngis; if it labour not, it ys no love. 460 

ii Thess. 3. 10. MS reads: ‘of ’. 462  See i Kings 11. 463  Liber here quotes Ps. 127. 2; PL 184, 1273B. 464  Song 8. 6. 465  MS reads ‘operacion’. 461 

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I praye you þerfor, reverent vyrgyn, þat ye love God perfitely and that for his love ye sytte nevere ydell. And ye love God trewly, ye shal nevere be ydell, but rather ye shall forsake it and for hys love utterly dispyse it. The kyngdom of heven shal not be gyven to ydell persons but to þem that be dyligently exercised in the service of God. The kyngdom of God ys not gyven to vacabundis but to them that labour dewly for God. They that in good werkys be slouthfull and dull have no place in heven. Lecherye lyȝtly disseyveth man or woman gyven to ydylnes which by labour ys evere overecom. The body wered in labour hath lytel pleasour to the syn of the bodye. Wherfor, my loved sustere in (123r) Cryste, beware of ydylnes, love it not, wery your bodye with labour, exercise good werkes and profetable by the which the mynde may be occupyed, and lette evere your intente be in God. Amen.

The lii exhortacion sheweth howe þat oure mynde and voyce when we syng in þe quere shuld agree togyder, and þat oftentymes the laye peple heryng psalmodie and oþer service devoutly song be compuncte for theyr synnes Wel beloved sustere, when in the syȝt of God ye syng psalmes and ympnes, thynke that in your mynde þat ye syng in voyce. Lete your mynde agree with your voyce and tong. Thynke ye not oon thyng and syng anoþere. For and ye thynke oon thyng in your mynde and syng another in voyce, ye lese the profytte of your labour. And whyle your body stonde in þe chyrch, yf your mynde be wanderyng withoutefurth, ye lese your labour. Of such spekyth Scriptur, sayeng in (123v) þe voyce of God: ‘thys peple doeth honour and lawde me with theyr lyppys, but their hart ys ferr fro me’.466 The apostle sayth: ‘I wyl syng with my spirite and mynde’.467 I wyll syng wyth mouth and harte. Hit ys good therfor to praye God with mynde. Hit ys good also to glorifye God with the sounde of the voyce in ympnes, psalmys, and spiritual songis. As we be holp by prayers, so we be in syngyng of psalmodye rejoyced and comforted. The use of syngyng doeth lyght hevy hartis. Syngyng in þe chyrch maketh the myndes of the peple glad, hit comforteth wery persons, hit steryth slouthfull persons, and callyth synners to contricion. For though the hartis of worldly peple be harde, as soon as they here the swettnes of psalmodie devoutly

466  467 

Matt. 15. 8. i Cor. 14. 15

140 Transcription

song, they be converted to the love of God. Ther be many þat with þe swetnes of psalmodye beeng compuncte wayle theyr synnes. Prayer in thys lyfe oonly ys sayd for remission (124r) of synnes. Syngyng of psalmodye signifyeth the perpetual laude of God in everelastyng joye, as Scriptur sayeth: ‘blessid be they þat dwell in thy gloriouse place above, good Lorde, they shall lawde the for everemore’.468 Whosomevere syngyth psalmodye feythfully and with attencion of mynde in a manere ys companyed with aungelles. Howe? For man or woman to theyr power laudyth hym in erth, whom aungell[es]469 withoute pause contynually worshype and glorifye in heven. The syngyng of psalmodye oþerewhyles moveth us to wepyng teres, oþerewhyle to prayer, and causeth the nyȝte waches to be acceptable to us, sayeng with the prophete Davide: ‘exultate, justi, in Domino, [rectos decet collaudatio]’,470 that ys to seye: ‘ye, ryȝtwous persons, be ye glad in God. Prayseng besemyth good persons’. Psalmes doeth shewe unto us the fyrst houre of the daye in gladnes of lyght, sayeng: ‘Deus, in nomine tuo salvum me fac, [et in virtute tua judica me]’.471 They doo halow us the thyrde hour of the daye (124v) when we saye or syng: ‘et veniat super nos misericordia tua, Domine, salutare tuum secundum eloquium tuum’.472 They make us glade in the vith hour of the daye in tyme of masse. At the tyme of noon they resolve our fastyng and fede us with spiritual swetnes. They commend us to God at evesong-tyme, sayeng: ‘dirigatur ad te, Domine, oratio mea, sicut incensum in conspectu tuo; elevacio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum’.473 They exhorte us at complyn-tyme to lawde God, sayeng: ‘ecce nunc benedicite Domino omnes servi Domini’.474 My loved sustere in Cryste, kepe ye your syngyng so suere in your memorye þat it may sownde wele in the eerys of God, as when a good man or woman synge theyr service by love and devocion. Wherfor our spouse Criste in Canticis canticorum monyscheth his mylitant Chyrch and every devoute soule, sayeng: ‘shewe me thy face; lete me here thy voyce, for thy voyce ys swete and thy face 468 

Ps. 83. 5. MS reads ‘aungell’. 470  Ps. 32. 1. In red ink in MS. This is also the case with the subsequent Latin quotations in this chapter. 471  Ps. 53. 3 472  Ps. 118. 41. 473  Ps. 140. 2. 474  Ps. 133. 1. 469 

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fayre’.475 As hoo sayth: (125r) my loved spouse that lyeth in the bedde of swete contemplacion, in the which thou desirest to please me in psalmys, ympnys and spiritual songis, and in prayer, come and shewe me thy face, go oute from the secretis of thyn hart and shewe to oþere for their exaumple thy good dedys, as Cryste sayde in the Gospell: ‘lete them se your good dedys, þat they may glorifye the Fader of heven’.476 Lete me here thy voyce of prechyng, of praysyng, and of syngyng, by the which þou mayst cause oþere to laude and glorifye me. The song of psalmodye delyteth the herers and steryth the myndes of feythfull peple to lyve well. The voyce of such as syng devoutly ys oon with aungelles whom we se not. That the servantis of God shuld contynually laude God ys signifyed by the waters above, of whom ys sayd: ‘all the waters þat be above in the firmament laude and prayse God’,477 for the chosen peple of God shuld (125v) nevere cesse the prayseng of God. Of the inferiour waters ys sayde: ‘lete the waters þat be bynethe the fyrmament be gadred togyder in oon place’,478 for reproved persons that be nowe sperkled abrode in þe worlde shal be gadred togyder in hell their to be ponysched. Feythfull servantis of God shul gyve laudys contynually to God, for he delyteth in them; of whom may be verifyed Scripture that ys wryten in Canticis, þat ys in the voyce of Cryste, sayeng to his devoute servante: ‘thou dwellyst in fayr gardens’.479 Every devoute soule dwellyth in a garden when it ys fresche and grene yn hope and good werkis. She therfor þat dwellyth in gardeyns muste make hyr spouse Cryst to here hyr voyce of devoute techyng and syngyng, in the which he delyteth and whom all hys electe companye doeth harkyn, the which desireth to here redyng, psalmody, (126r) hympnes and oþere spiritual songis þat they may by them com to heven. Wherfor, reverente sustere, as I sayd above, hit ys very necessary to you that whyle ye lyve, ye laude and prayse Almyȝty God your Creatour, for by þat ys promysed unto you mercye. Lawde hym therfor in harte and voyce, in secrete contemplacion in your mynde, in devoute syngyng. Allthough we be synners and unworthy to lawde God, yit we ouȝt not to leve to lawde and prayse hym, for by þat we bileve to obteyn forgyvenes of our synnes. The psalmyst seyth:

475 

Song 2. 14. Matt. 5. 16. Liber here quotes again part of Song 2. 14; PL 184, 1275B. 477  Dan. 3. 60. 478  Gen. 1. 9. 479  Song 8. 13. 476 

142 Transcription

‘the sacrifice of prayseng shall honour me’,480 and in syngyng and lawdyng with psalmes and oþere spiritual songis ys the waye by the which ye maye com to heven, which if I shuld not shewe to you, ye cowde not fynde it. Therfor, loved sustere, bycause the hygh waye of your welth and salvacion ys in the handis of our Creatour, I counseil you þat the lawde of God goo nevere (126v) from your mouth. My loved sustere in Cryste, God ys your laude, so þat alwey hys lawde and prayesyng be in your mouth. Amen.

The liii exhortacion ys of actyfe and contemplatyve lyves signifyed by Jacob ladder, and shewyth howe they doo differre Jacob sawe a ladder stondyng upon þe grounde and aungelles of God goyng up and down þerby, and the toppe of hit to hys semyng towchyd the fyrmament.481 In this ladder be all thoo putte that be ordeyned to com to heven, and every persone that loketh after heven hath a place in this ladder. Thys ladder ys the universall Chyrch of Cryste which in parte doeth travayle and labour here in erth, and in parte doeth nowe reighne in heven. In this laddere be thre orders of peple: secular, actyve, and contemplatyve. The seculer persons be in the lowe steppe of the ladder, actyve persons be in the hygher place, and contemplatyve be in (127r) the hyghest steppe. Of thes thre orders of pepyll som be with the mylstone, som in the felde, and som in bedde. The mylstone ys the secular lyfe, in the felde be the prechers of the worde of God, in the bedde ys the fervent love of the spouse of Cryst. They that be with the mylstone compas aboute the erth, for they seke aftere erthly vanytes and love them. They þat be in þe felde tylleth þe grounde, for they sowe the worde of God in the eerys of the peple. They þat be in þe bedde dispyseth and sette nouȝt by þe worldly vanytes. At the fote of this ladder be þe worldly peple, in the myddyl of it be actyve persons, in the hyghest therof be contemplatyve persons, as though they were in heven, for they thynke oonly of hevenly thyngis. Thes be the aungelles of God goyng up and down by þe laddere, for they ascende by contemplacion to God and com down by compassion to theyr neyȝbour. Actyve lyfe ys innocencye of good werkis, contemplatyfe (127v) lyfe ys the speculacion or beholdyng of hevenly comodites. Actyfe lyfe is commyn and of many persons, contemplatyfe 480  481 

Ps. 49. 23. See Gen. 28. 12.

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is of fewe. Actyfe lyfe exerciseth and usyth worldly goodys well, contemplatyfe lyfe refusyng þe worlde delyteth to lyve oonly in God. [A demand] Good broþer, I praye you to shewe me the dyversite of actyve and contemplatyve lyfe. [The answer] My loved sustere, bytwen actyfe and contemplatyfe lyfe ys a grete differens. Actyfe lyfe ys to fede the hungure, to teche our neyȝbour the worde of God, to correcte the synnere, to reduce the prowde person to the waye of mekenes, to revoke such as be at debate to concorde and pees, to visytte the seke, to bury the deede, to redeme and delyvere prisoners, to distribute to every person that ys expedient, and to provyde þat ys necessary for everybodye. My loved sustere in Cryste, ye have herd the dedis and exercise[s]482 of actyfe lyfe. Now, and it lyke you, here the vertues of contemplatyfe lyfe. Contemplatyfe (128r) lyfe ys to kepe with all your mynde the love of God and your neyȝbour; to leve outeward besynes; to cleve oonly to the wyll of your maker, so þat it hath a wyll to doo noo erthly occupacyon but all þe besynes of þe worlde to sette at nouȝt: the mynde desyreth fervently to se the face of his maker and thynketh þat he beryth the wayght of hys corruptible bodye with hevynes; to wysche hartly to be with the company of aungelles in heven; and to be gladde of contynuall incorrupcion in the vision of God. Reverent sustere, ye have harde actyfe lyfe and also contemplatyfe lyfe. Nowe I praye you þat ye chese with Marie Maudlene the better part,483 þat is contemplatyfe lyfe. Actyve lyfe ys good, but mych bettere ys contemplatyfe lyfe. He þat fyrst profetyth well in actyfe lyfe ascendyth well to contemplatyfe lyfe. Whosoevere desireth temperall glorye and concupiscence of the bodye ys lette from contemplatyve lyfe. Take an exaumple of both (128v) lyves in Jacob484 which when he loved Rachel by whom ys signifyed contemplatyve lyfe, Lya was gyven to hym þat betokenyth actyfe lyfe; whiche lyfe servyth God in this worlde with labour and travayle when it receyveth poor folke and fedeth, clotheth, visyteth and comforteth them, and berye the deed, and all oþere werkis of mercy and pytye doeth to them. And yit Lya hath plentee of chyldren, for ther be many actyfe persons and fewe contemplatyfe. Rachel by interpretacion ys ‘a shepe’ or ‘seeng the begynnyng’, for such as be contemplatyfe be symple and innocente as shepe and alyenate from all worldly peple, that they clevyng oonly to Godly contemplacion may se hym þat sayeth: ‘I am he þat 482 

MS reads ‘exercise’. See Luke 10. 42. 484  See Gen. 29. 483 

144 Transcription

all thyng hath his begynnyng of and þat spekyth to you’.485 Rachel hath two chyldren,486 for þere be two kyndes of contemplatyve persons. Som doo lyve among company in religion, and som lyve solitarye and be dyvyded from all bodely company. (129r) But ferr more bettere and more perfyte ys contemplatyve lyfe than actyve. As an egle fasteneth hyr eyes in the sonbeme and loketh not down but when she wolde fede hyr bodye; so devoute persons oþerewhyle returne fro contemplacion to the actyve lyfe, consideryng hygh contemplacion to be so profetable, [yit]487 þat thes lowe þingys in actyfe lyfe be somwhat necessarie to our nede. Wherfor Cryst in Canticis canticorum spekyth to every devoute soule gyven to contemplacion, sayeng: ‘aryse and haste ye, my love, my culver, my fayre spouse, and come’.488 As hoo sayth: ‘aryse and haste ye, my love’ by trewe dileccion, love, and fayth; ‘my culver’ by innocencie and symplenes; ‘my fayre spouse’ by vertue of chastite. Aryse from þat swete bedde of thyne, that ys, from the quyetnes of contemplacion, in þe which þou desyrest to plese me oonly in psalmes, ympnes and spiritual songis. Haste the therfor ‘and come’, that ys to saye, goo furth to þe profytte (129v) of thy neyȝbours, that them also by devoute exhortyng and exaumple of good werkis þu mayst make thy folowers and mayste bryng them to þe welth of theyr soules. The vision of bestis in Ezechiel which went and turned not agayn perteyneth to perseveraunce of actyfe lyfe. And the bestis þat went and turned agayn perteyneth to the mesur and meane of contemplatyfe lyfe; 489 wherin when a persone applyeth his entente, anone smyten with his own infirmyte doeth descende; and the quycknes of mynde renewed agayne, he ascendyth to thos thyngis by contemplacion (from whom he descendid), which cannot be in actyfe lyfe. For if eny persone but a lytel in actyfe lyfe descendyth, anone he is wrapped with syn and vyce. Oftetymes the mynde ys lyfte up from the erth to heven, and agayn when it ys greved with þe infirmyte of þe body, from heven it descendyth to þe erth. God visiteth (130r) many seculer persons and by his grace lyftyth them up to hygh contemplacion, and also he thorogh his juste and pryvy jugement forsaketh many contemplatyves persons þat be fallen in worldly occupacions. 485 

John 8. 25. See Gen. 30. 22–24; Gen. 35. 16–18. 487  Word missing in MS. 488  Song 2. 10. 489  See Ezek. 1. 486 

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As he þat is buryed in his grave doeth cesse from all worldly maters, so a contemplatyve persone ys abstracte from all erthly occupacion and service. And as actyve persons ascendyng from actyve lyfe be buryed in the quyetnes of contemplacion; so such as leve þe seculer lyfe, actyfe lyfe receyveth them. And for that lyke as actyve lyfe ys the grave of seculer lyfe, so contemplatyve lyfe ys the sepulcure of the actyve lyfe. Devoute persons, as oþerewhyle they goo from the secrete of contemplacion to actyfe lyfe, so they turne ayen from actyfe lyfe to þe secrete of contemplacion þat they may in þeir hartis and myndis laude God, of whom they have receyved gyftes by the which they may exercyse them outewarde to his glorye and laude. As God wyll þat (130v) contemplatyfe persons somtyme goo oute to actyfe lyfe that they profitte oþere, so oþerewhyle he wyll þat nobodye troble them but þat they be quyette in the secrete of swete contemplacion, which ys well notyd in Canticis canticorum in the voyce of Cryste, sayeng: ‘I charge you, children of Jerusalem, þat ye stere not ne wake my loved spouse tyl she wyll hyrself ’.490 That ys to seye, stere ye not, nor cause to wake þe devoute soule gyven to Godly contemplacyon and occupyed in prayers and Godly redyng, and doo not move hyr to outewarde occupacion unto the tyme she wyl hyrself: that ys, tyl aftere the tyme of contemplacion she, moved by the fraylte of the bodye, wold be araysed from the slepe of hyr ynwarde quyetnes and swetnes. But yit no man ner woman in this mortall lyfe can perfitly beholde God in contemplacion. Seynt John sayth in the Apocalippys: ‘ther was made silence in heven as for half an hour’.491 Heven ys the soule of a juste persone, as God sayth by (131r) his prophete: ‘the soule of a juste man and woman ys my seet’.492 When, then, quyetnes of contemplatyfe lyfe ys in the mynde, ther ys ‘sylence in heven’; that ys to saye in the soule, for the troble of erthly thyngis and worldly occupacion doeth cesse in þe thouȝt and mynde. But bycause contemplatyfe lyfe in this worlde cannot be perfytte, hit is not sayde an hole houre was made silence in heven but aboute half an houre. They þat wolde perfitly kepe contemplatyve lyfe ouȝt to cesse from all worldly werkis. In þe voyce of whom it ys wryten in Canticis canticorum, sayeng: ‘I slepe and my harte waketh’,493 as a devoute soule shuld seye: whyles I slepe from all worldly besynes, I pondere in my mynde such thyngis as be hevenly and spirituall. 490 

Song 2. 7. Rev. 8. 1. 492  Isa. 66. 1. 493  Song 5. 2. 491 

146 Transcription

Also the shyp of Noe494 þat was double-chambred signifyeth actyve and contemplatyve persons of whom the actyfe stondyth bynethe and contemplatyfe above. And þat is [also]495 sayde þat in the shype were thre chambres signifyeth (131v) thre ordres of peple in Holy Chyrch: maryed, chaste (as wydoes) and virgyns. Of this contemplatyfe lyfe speketh our Lorde in þe Gospell, sayeng: ‘if þou wylt be perfitte, sell all þat þu haste, and gyve it to poor peple, and þu shalt have a tresour in heven: and come and folowe me’.496 And of Mary Mawdlene he sayth: ‘Marye hath chosen the bettere parte, which shall not be take from hyr’.497 Contemplatyfe lyfe ys not take aweye in this lyfe nor in the lyfe to com. Actyve lyfe shall be take from man and woman after this presente lyfe, for hit hath hys ende in this worlde, and contemplatyfe persevereth allweye. Actyve lyfe doeth here fayle, contemplatyfe lyfe here begynneth and shal be perfourmed in the lyfe to com. Goode virgyn, I counseill you þat for the love of God ye doo dispyse this present worlde and withdraw you from all worldly besynes. Studye to serve God withoute impedyment of þe worlde. Lette no worldly besynes drawe you from þe drede of God. (132r) Caste all thyng from you þat may lette your good purpose. With all your harte hate and dampne þat the worlde loveth. Be ye dedde to þe worlde and the worlde to you. As a dedde persone desyreth not the vaynglorye of þe worlde, and as though ye wer buryed in your grave, shyfte yourselfe from all worldly maters. My loved suster in Cryste, dispyse ye that thyng, lyvyng, that ye cannot have after deth. And yf ye doo on thys wyse, ye shall have after your deth everlastyng lyfe. Amen.

The liiii exhortacion sheweth howe we ouȝt not to be curyouse in knowyng of other persons defauȝtis and that curiosite ys a grete synne My loved sustere, I exhorte you þat ye stodye fro daye to daye to profytte in good dedys, and þat ye consydere not the vyces þat oþere persons doo, but considere the good werkis þat ye ouȝt to doo. A serten wyse man seyth: ‘serche not myche in suche thyngis þat perteyneth not to the’.498 Hit ys not (132v) nec494 

See Gen. 6 Word missing in MS. 496  Matt. 19. 21. 497  Luke 10. 42. 498  Ecclus. 3. 24. 495 

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essarie for you to knowe thoo thyngis þat passyth mannys knoulege. Hit ys convenient for a man or woman not to juge þe myndes of oþere, that cannot perfitely knowe þe hartis of other. Why? For we geve uncerten jugemente ‘to the tyme that our Lorde come, which shall shewe openly the counseils and privetyes of the secrete hartis’.499 Hyt is also convenient þat ye leve to syn and offende, þat wolde reprove þe vyce of other persons. Folysch peple, when þey wolde reprove the defauȝtis of oþere, doeth shewe theyre own. So long doeth not a man or woman knowe hys own trespace that he shuld wepe for and knowe, as he doeth curyously serche for þe knowlege of oþere persons offencys. But when man or woman commyth to hymself and consider hymself well, he doeth not serche that he may reprove in oþere persons, for he fyndeth in hymself thos trespaces þat he shuld mourne and be sory for. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘we shuld so mych (133r) lesse reprove or juge evyll the hartis or myndes of oþere persons, that with oure sight we cannot se the thouȝtis of anoþere mannys harte’. Isydor also sayth: ‘we doo sonner reprove þe vyce of everybodye than we doo note theyr vertues, nor we covette to knowe what a good persone doeth but rather serch what evyll he doeth’. Wherfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, I exhorte you that ye reprove more your own defautis than oþere persons. Fyrst knowe your own trespaces and diligently amende them, afore ye correcte oþere. That þat perteyneth not to you, medyl not with hit, and nevere desyre to knowe what oþere persons speke bytwen them. Aske not what enybody sayth or dooth. Be ware of curyosite and utterly flye it, les þat ye be forgetfull of your own condicions in sekyng and askyng of the maners of oþer. Amende as diligently your own vyce as ye wolde repreve and correcte the vyce of anoþere. Serch not (133v) for þat thyng þat ye ouȝt not to knowe, aske nothyng, know nothyng þat Holy Scriptur hath not or forbeddyth you. Reverent sustere, knowe ye for a serteyn þat curyosite ys a perylous presumpcion and a dampnable knoulege. Hit provoketh to heresy and throweth the mynde unto ungraciouse fabulles and lesyngs. Hit maketh peple bold and hedye in harde and ignorante causes or maters. Reverente sustere, with all diligens amende your own lyfe that after this lyfe ye maye come to perpetuall joye and gladnes. Amen.

499 

i Cor. 4. 5. MS omits part of this verse.

148 Transcription

The lv exhortacion counsellyth to wacche and to be at all tyme redye bycause the callyng and vysyttyng of God ys uncerten, and that we shuld folowe the counsell of Holy Scripture Wel beloved sustere, here our Lord Jhesu Cryste in the Gospell, sayeng: ‘wache ye, for ye knowe not when þat your mastere wyl com’.500 ‘I saye to you all: wache ye’501 and be redye. (134r) And Saynt Petre sayth: ‘be ye wyse and wacche in prayers’.502 ‘When the peple sayth: ther is pees and sewerte, then shall com upon them a soden destruccion of deth’.503 Also Salomon sayeth: ‘ther be good men and wyse, and theyr dedys be in the hande of God, and yit man knoweth not whethyr he be worthy of love or hate’.504 Why? ‘For that ys reserved uncerteyn in tyme to com’.505 Loved sustere in Cryste, God did hyde from us the tyme of his cummyng þat we beeng unserten a longe whyle shuld bileve þat our juge shall com, but when he shall come we cannot tell. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘the gladnes of this present lyfe must so be had, þat the bytterenes of þe jugement folowyng goo nevere oute of our mynde. Oftetymes the devyll disseyveth a man or a woman to syn, and when he perceyveth hym vexed of his fall in syn, then agayn he disseyveth by sykernes, puttyng hym in sewrte’. Therfor, my loved suster in Cryste, hit ys (134v) necessary þat when we doo wele, we call unto our mynde our synnes þat we have done, þat in knowyng of our offence we nevere undiscretly be glad of our good doyeng. Almyȝtye God wull þat the laste hour shuld be unknowen to us that we shuld evere suspecte it and dayly make us redye to it. Also þat we shulde not be in sewerte in this lyfe, holy Isider exhorteth us, sayeng: ‘lete no good man nor woman trust of his own goodnes nother synnere dispayre of the mercye of God, but lete them both have in theyr hartis hope and feer. Lete hym so trust of þe mercy of God þat he drede allwey his justice’. Although the conversacion of holy persons be laudable, yit it ys uncerteyn to us to what ende they be ordeyned. Therfor a man or woman shuld nevere be withoute feer, for satisfaccion of penaunce ys pondered oonly in the jugement of God and not of man. 500 

Matt. 24. 42. Mark 13. 37. 502  i Pet. 4. 7. 503  i Thess. 5. 3. 504  Eccles. 9. 1. 505  Eccles. 9. 2. 501 

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Wherfor sayth Cesarius: ‘howe mych sewer we be of our synnes paste, so mych (135r) we ouȝt to be diligent to advoyde þem to come’. Reverent sustere, knowe ye for a certen þat all þe lyfe of a wyse man or woman ys meditacyon or thynkyng of deth. Therfor yf ye hourely wache for God, ye shal be wyse. Yf ye dayly lyfte up your mynde to God and reduce to your memorye the daye of deth, ye shal be blissed acordyng to the sayeng of Scriptur: ‘blyssid ys þat man or woman that ys evere feerfull’.506 For this cause, good vyrgyn, I counseil you þat ye be alweye feerfull, allwey suspecte and ware, and agaynste the temptacions of þe devyll be ye wyly. Allwey wache and fyght contynually agaynste the olde enemye. Nyght and daye praye with all dyligence and fyȝte myȝtly agaynst the sottel waytis and gyles of þe devyll. Also good virgyn, here what Jhesu Cryste your spouse sayth in þe Gospell: ‘blissed ys þat servante whom þe Lorde when he cummyth fyndyth wakyng’.507 Then yf ye with all your mynde wake and wayte for the same Lorde Jhesu Cryste, ye shall be (135v) crowned among the sayntis in everelastyng blysse. Ye shal be blissed yf þat with grete devocion ye lyfte up the eyes of your mynde to the very trewe lyȝt, which ys God that hath promysed the crown of glorye to them þat so doeth. Wherfor in Canticis canticorum of the eyes of Cryste it ys wryten: ‘hys eyes be as the eyes of culvers overe waters, which be wasched with mylke and sytteth nye the ryvers and water-sydes’.508 The eyes of Cryste be holy and good persons þat lyve in sympylnes as culvers doeth and shewe to oþere by theyr exhortacion and exaumple the waye of þe soule helth; which eyes ben overe waters and ryvers, for they be evere conversaunte in refeccion of Holy Scriptur; and they ar wasched with mylke, for they be purged in baptyme by the grace of God from theyr synnes. And what undurstonde we by the ryvers and waters þat they sytte by, but the profounde and secrete sayengs of Holy Scripture, with the which we refresche us whensoevere we (136r) drynke them in heryng and redyng? The culvers also sytte by the water-syde that they may se in the watere the shadow, overe þe which they flyeng doeth escape the clawes of theyr enemyes. So vertuous persons by Holy Scriptur se the sotylte and dysseyte of the devyll and of þe evidence or descripcion that they se, they as by a shadow doo knowe theyr enemye and flye hys wyles. So ye, good sustere, be ofte in meditacion of Holy Scriptur,

506 

Prov. 28. 14. Luke 12. 43. 508  Song 5. 12. 507 

150 Transcription

for in them ye may knowe howe ye may escape the disseytis and fraude of your gostly enemyes. Also I exhorte you þat ye commytte hole yourself to the counsell of Holy Scriptur, þat ys to saye, doo ye nothyng but þat ye here by þe aunswer of Holy Scriptur, for ther ye shall fynde howe ye shall advoyde þe fraudes and wyles of the devyll. I counsell you also þat for drede of þe develles, þat be raveners, ye sytte overe the ryvers of Holy Scriptur, les ye sodenly and unprovided (that God forbede) be a praye to your enmyes. (136v) O foolys þat we be, why doo we not know and undurstonde þat our thouȝtis in the sight of God, afore they be brouȝt to the dede, ben openly knowen acordyng to the sayeng of the psalmyst: ‘God ys the sercher of herte and bodye’?509 Therfor, loved sustere, lete us evere thynke to stonde in þe sight of God and knowe þat we be but erth and asches. Beholde your ferefull juge rewardyng every person after hys meritis. He ys at hande and wyl not tarye. He shall com and save us. Lete us þerefor wache with all perseveraunce and devocion þat when he cummyth and knocketh, he fynde us not slepyng but wakyng in his laudes, in his love, and in his service. ‘Lete us travell whyle we have lyȝt that darknes overecom us not’.510 On thys wyse sayth the wysdom of God in Proverbys: ‘blissid ys he þat heryth me and wacheth at my dores dayly, and wayteth at þe postys of my dore. He þat fyndeth me shal fynde lyfe and shall receyve soule helth of God’.511 Vyrgyn of Cryste, (137r) I thus counsell you þat with all diligens ye wayte for God þat at the tyme of your moste necessite ye may have hym mercifull to you. Lete no chaunce fynde you unredye. Thynk þat þere is nothyng but þat may happen. Remembre allwey the wrechydnes to com. In prosperyte thynke how ye shall have adversite. Hit ys the properte of a wyse man or woman to prevent the perell to come. All such adversite þat ys lokyd for and prevented ys easlyer born and suffered. That thyng þat is knowen before ys not mervelyd at when it hapynth. A prevision makyth lyght adversite þat foloweth. All evyl fortunes and adversite be very grevouse when they com sodenly unprovydid for. A soden tempest of þe see causeth grete fere, and a soden enemy soor trobleth. Therfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, make redye your hart to all good and evyl. ‘In tyme of prosperite be not forgetefull of adversite, and in contrary

509 

Ps. 7. 10. John 12. 35. 511  Prov. 8. 34–35. 510 

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wyse in tyme of (137v) adversite be not unmyndfull of prosperyte’.512 Lete your mynde be contynually well occupyed les ye be polluted with vayn thouȝtis. Love the knowlege of Scriptur, and dispyse þe vyce of þe bodye. Loved sustere, yf with all your hert ye wayte for God and in all your lyfe with fervent devocion doo serve hym, withoute dowte ye shal reigne with hym in the courte of heven. Amen.

The lvi exhortacion shewyth howe we shuld be prudente and withoute doublenes, exaumple of the serpente and the dove Wel beloved sustere, merke what our Lord sayth in þe Gospell: ‘be ye prudente as serpentis and symple as doves’,513 that ys to seye, playn and withoute dowblenes. Salomon sayth: ‘þe playnes of good persons shall gyde them, and the disseyte of froward persons shal undoo them’.514 ‘The waye of playn and symple persons ys þe way of God, and drede to all them þat doo amysse’.515 ‘The ryȝtyousnes of an innocent man or woman (138r) shall dyrecte hys lyvyng, and þe wycked person shall perisch in his wyckydnes’.516 ‘An innocent gyveth credence to every worde’.517 ‘He þat disseyveth good lyvers by false meanes shall fall in his own hurte and losse, and innocente shall have his goodis’.518 ‘Synners hate innocente and playn persons, and good lyvers doeth wysch þeir welth’.519 A good homly person doeth profitte onely hymselfe, and how mych he edifyeth the Chyrch of Cryste by his lyvyng, so mych he distroyeth it, yf þat he resyste not them þat contraryeþ þe trouth. Saynt Jerom sayth: ‘in the servantis and maydens of God þe apparell of þe bodye shuld not be loked for but þe innocencye of mynde’. Lete noþere þe innocent ner þe playn person thynke hymself holye bicause he ys holy and playn of tong, but oonly in a pure and a playn conscience. Of two unperfite thyngis it ys bettere to have a good playnes and homelynes than a synfull eloquens, and a good symple persone ys more honorable than a grete janguler. 512 

Ecclus. 11. 27. Matt. 10. 16. 514  Prov. 11. 3. 515  Prov. 10. 29. 516  Prov. 11. 5. 517  Prov. 14. 15. 518  Prov. 28. 10. 519  Prov. 29. 10. 513 

152 Transcription

My (138v) loved sustere in Cryste, if your intent be pure and withoute faynyng befor Gode, your dedis shal not be derke in his jugement. They þat cannot be chaste by justice and vertue may in no wyse be innocente by symplenes. The company of holy and chosen persons begyn their lyef of playnes and symplenes [with feer]520 and ende it with charite, for God ys not oonly þe merkir of wordis but also of hart, and loveth them þat serve hym in symplenes of hart. Wherfor Cryste your spouse, sayth in Canticis canticorum: ‘ther ys oon syngler dove of myn þat is perfitte, and syngler electe, and chosyn to hyr moder’.521 Our modere ys þe grace of God by regeneracion, with whom oon dove ys chosen, for she receyveth oonly them þat be perseverante in symplenes and innocencye and be not dyvyded from oon. For ther be many faythfull persons when they gyve their mynd to God and by oon desyre and love of Cryste norysche and cherysch themself oon with anoþere and joyne togyder (139r) by charite, of many membrys they make oon bodye and all in symplenes and innocency lyvyng be as oon syngler dove of Cryste. They þat be dispysed and had in contempte of worldly peple be with God in grete glorye. Therfor, reverent sustere, pray we Almyȝty God þat he may sende us þe Holy Goste from heven, which may make us to have þe symplenes of the dove and þe prudence or wysdom of the serpent þat we may be innocente from malyce and wyse or prudente in our good dedys. The serpent ys a sotyl beste. Hit ys redde of oon serpent þat when she perceyveth þe charmar cummyng, she fastenyth oon eer to þe grounde and with hyr tayle stoppeth the oþere eer þat she here not the voyce of the chermar. Wherfor þe prophet David lykenyth such as be cruell and prudent in evyll and shrewdnes to such serpentis.522 Loved sustere, folow ye in this the serpent: stoppe your eerys þat ye here no evyll wordis. Praye to God ‘þat þe flateryng of the synnere doo not disseyve you’.523 The serpent (139v) stoppeth hyr eer þat she here not þe charmere, and stoppe ye your eerys lykewyse þat ye her not the detractour and bakbyter. The serpent ys prudente þat she here not þe voyce of deth and so shuld dye; and be ye also prudent þat evyl wordis entyr not by your eerys into your soule, and so dye spiritually. Therfor, spouse of Cryste, noþere þe prudence or wysdom of þe serpent withoute the innocencye and symplenes of þe dove nor on the contrary wyse shuld be in you, but both togydere þat the wysdom of þe serpent 520 

MS reads ‘before’. Song 6. 8. 522  Liber quotes here Ps. 57. 5–6; PL 184, 1284A–B. 523  Ps. 140. 5 521 

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may cause and stere þe symplenes of þe dove in you to be ware of evyll, and þe sympylnes of the dove may tempyr þe wysdom in you of þe serpent in doyng wele. My loved sustere in Cryste, the dove (as we rede) hath vii vertues in hyr which ye may have in you by the grace of the Holy Goste. The dove sytteth ofte overe ryvers of watere þat when she seeth the hawke com, she takyth (140r) [to]524 the watere and escapyth aweye. She chesyth of þe beste korn. Oftetymes she bryngyth up straunge byrdys and noryscheth them. She smyteth not with hyr byll. She hath no gall. She maketh hyr neste in wallys. She hath a mournyng for hyr song. Praye ye, good virgyn, God with all diligence þat he may graunte and gyve you þe vertues of the dove, þat ye may reste on þe revers of Holy Scriptur and by the counsell of hit ye may escape þe daunger of þe devyll. Chese in Holy Scriptur the beste sentences and sayengs, by þe which ye may refresch yourself withall. Norysch straunge chyldren, þat is to sey, suche persons as be straunge from God by your good wordis and exaumple converte them to God. Smyte not with your mouth, þat ys, doo no evyl to your neyȝbour nor saye none yll by hym. Have no gall in you, þat is, have no wreth in you. And make your neste in þe holys of stonys, that ys, putte your hope in þe woundis and passion of Jhesu Cryste your (140v) spouse. Have ye wepyng for your song that as seculer persons be mery in worldly songis, so be ye glad in wepyng and spiritual mournyng. Reverent sustere, as I have sayd above, thus ye ouȝt with all dylygence to knowe and to be ware of þe wyles of þe devyll. Thus we ouȝt by innocencye of lyfe to be innocent, and with innocencye to have wysdom and prudence. He þat menglyth not prudence with innocencye acordyng to þe sayeng of þe prophete ys a dove disseyved, ‘havyng no hert’:525 he ys a dove for his innocencye, he hath no harte bycause he hath no wysdom. Loved sustere, I exhorte you þat ye ordeyn in your hart a congruent abydyng place for Cryste þat he cummyng with the Fadere and the Holy Goste may vouchsave to make hym a dwellyng place theryn. Amen.

524  525 

Word missing in MS. Hos. 7. 11.

154 Transcription

The lvii exhortacion shewyth how religyous persons shuld flye þe company and communicacion of seculer women for dyverse perelles that cummyth therof (141r) Wel beloved sustere, flye þe cumpany of seculer wemen. Lete not seculer women þat be not of your profession be in felyship with you, for they wyll preche unto you þat they love. Ye shuld flye theyr cumpany, for þei love þe world and speke of worldly maters. They love erthly and transitory thyngis, and them þei wyl shew unto you and cause you to gyve audyence unto them. For every person wyl commende þat þat he loveth. Therfor a seculer woman wyl commende the world bycause she loveth it. For withoute dowȝte if þat she loved or desired hevenly þingis, she wolde laude them and alowe them, speke of them, and counsell you them. Therfor, sustere, I exhorte you to flye theyr company. Why? ‘For evyll sayengs and shrewd talkyngs doeth corrupt good maneres’.526 What shuld a mannys wyfe doo with þe spouse of Cryste? or a wedded woman with a devoute virgyn of God? or a seculer woman with a religyous woman? or she þat lovyth the (141v) worlde with hyr þat hath dispysed it? or she þat loveth a husband with hyr þat loveth Cryste? What shuld a seculer woman company with you þat hath not the habite with you? What doeth she with you þat beryth not the yoke of Cryste with you? She þat doeth varye in habite doeth varie in affeccion, and as she varyeth from you in vestur, so she varyeth in soule. A seculer woman ys an instrument of Sathan. She syngyth to you for to stere you to unthriftynes of þe world and sheweth you the wayes of þe devyll. As we rede of the marmayde, which is from þe bely upwarde lyke a fayr mayde and from þe bely dounward lyke a byrde, she syngyth swetely with a lowde voyce and many songis and with a grete swetnes she tymeth them. But oftetymes by hyr dulcet songis she disseyveth þe maryners and bryngeth them in parell. In lyke wyse a seculer woman by hyr disseytfull communicacion disseyveth the servante of Cryste, and as the marmayd (142r) by hyr swete songis ys wont to cause maryneres (and such as traveyl upon the see) to goo oute of þe ryȝt waye and bryng them to þeir own destruccion, so a worldly woman by flateryng and sottel wordis ys wonte to drawe backe þe servantis of God from theyr good purpose and brynge them in jeopardye of theyr soules. Therfor, my loved sustere, flye the song of þe marmaydes les when ye delyte to here worldly flateryngs, ye be turned from the ryȝt waye. What be þe wordis 526 

i Cor. 15. 33.

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of worldly wemen but the songis of mermaydes? Then flye theyr songis and plucke your eerys from the tong of evyl counsellers. So flye theyr wordis as ye wolde the hyssyng of a serpent. Be ware les as the serpent disseyved þe woman in paradyse, so the venomys tong of an evyll counsellyng woman disseyve you in religyon. Be ware þat deth entyr527 not by your eyes and eeres into your soule. Reverent suster, when ye se a woman contrarye to your purpose, (142v) arme your hart with þe bockeler of feyth and your forhede with the signe of þe crosse agaynst hyr. Good virgyn, in this oonly I wyll þat ye speke with worldly women: þat ye counsell them with holy exhortacions to leve þe worlde and com to religyon; and teche them to dispyse erthly vanytes and to love hevenly ryches, to goo fro þe worlde and to serve God. My loved sustere, and if ye doo as I teche you, ye shal both kepe yourself in this worlde from syn and in tyme to come ye shall receyve of God a crown in heven. Amen.

The lviii exhortacion shewyth howe religyous women shuld have famyliaryte with no man nor be ofte in hys company or sight, be he nevere so good or perfytte, forto avoyde dyvers occasyons and perellys Mi loved sustere, if þat with so grete diligens ye shuld flye women, howe mych more ouȝte ye to flye men? And if ye shuld so dyligently advoyde and fle þe company and the (143r) fabulacions of women, how mych mor ouȝt ye to fle the felyship and disseytis of men? And yf so gretely ye shuld not here women, how mych more ouȝt ye not to here þe flateryng of men? My loved sustere in Cryst, I counsell you þat a man, þough he be vertuous, have noo felyshyp or company with you. Though he be holy and juste, lete hym have no famyliarite with you. Though he be religyous, lete hym not be ofte with you. Though he be good, lete hym not ofte se you. Why? Les þat by familyarite of ofte visityng ye lese both your chastite, and ofte seeng ye lese both your goodnes and holynes; and les ye be both sclaundred. He lesyth the love and charite of God þat gyveth occasion to syn, and he le[s]yth528 þe love and charite of the neyȝbour þat gyveth hym occasyon to doo yll. For though he doo not evyll in dede, yit he doeth norysche an unhappy fame. By custom a man or woman lyȝtly synneth, and famylyaryte (143v) ofte­ tymes overecummeth them whom vyce cowde not, and occasyon many tymes 527  528 

Liber here quotes Jer. 9. 21; PL 184, 1285B. MS reads ‘levyth’.

156 Transcription

maketh and causeth a wyll to syn. Whom evyl luste cowd not overecom, custom shall. Two dyverse kyndis beeng togydere provokyth þe nature of þe body to þat it ys redye. The natural hete of þe bodye ys kyndeled yf þat it towch eny unlefull thyng. Man and woman by nature be dyverse, which yf they be togyder, though they offende not, yit by use and custom bytwen them they gendre an evyll fame. ‘Who wyl put fyre in his bosom and shal not be burned’?529 Fyre and towe put togyder causeth a flame. So man and woman, thouȝe they be two contraryes, beeng togyder, though they synne not, cause an evyl name and a gruge. A religyous man and a religious woman, yf they be immoderately togydre, þei gyve occasion to oþere to murmur and gruge. What doeth fyre and hurde togydre? Why ys a serpente put in the bosom? Why is fyre put in clothyng? (144r) Why ys a woman þat hath promised chastite to God in company with a man? Why doeth the woman þat hath forsake þe worlde love þe famyliaryte of man? Why loveth she the presens of men, þat desyreth to entre into þe hevenly chambre with Cryste? Why desyreth a woman devoute to God to here flateryng and disseytfull wordis of men? Why desireth a woman þat wyl not marye in þe worlde to se the faces of men in religyon? Therfor, loved suster, yf þat ye wyll be sewer from syn of the bodye, be ye separate both in bodye and mynde from the companye of men. And if ye wyll for þe love of Cryste kepe chastite, advoyde þe famyliaryte of men, for if ye be sette nye aboute a serpent, ye shal not be long unhurt. And ye sitte contynually nygh a fyer, thouȝe ye were as hard as iron, yit oones ye shal be molten. And if ye be nygh parell, ye cannot be long withoute hurte. Wherfor, my loved suster in (144v) Cryste, here my counsell. Lete men [not]530 knowe your name and not se your face, nor knowe it, though they here your name. Here the sayeng of thapostle Paule: ‘we muste have a good name and testymonye of them that be withoute’,531 and withyn a good lyfe for ourself and a goode fame for other. Reverent sustere, yf þat for God ye doo flye in erth the companye and famylyarite of men, ye shall have, by God in heven, the felowshyp of aungelles. Amen.

529 

Cf. Prov. 6. 27. Word missing in MS. 531  i Tim. 3. 7. 530 

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The lix exhortacion shewyth and councellyth þat a religyous woman shuld flye þe company of yong men and not comen with them allone, and sheweth how we shulde love man Mi welbeloved sustere, if þat on this wyse holy and devoute men shuld be exchued, les both goodnes by often seeng doeth perysch, how mych more shulde yong men be fledde, þat folow the synfull wayes and pleasur of the worlde? And if with so grete a dyligence ye shuld flye the (145r) resorte of holy and perfite men, howe mych more ouȝt ye to flye yong men, þat folowe theyr concupiscence and lustis? For this cause the devel bryngyth yong men in þe sight of a religiouse woman: þat she may remembre and thynke in the nyȝt-tyme the persons of them whom she sawe on the daye-tyme, and þat a late vision and the seeng of the bodye be often in hyr mynde. So þe arowe of Sathan entreth in by the eyes unto the soule accordyng to þe sayeng of þe prophete: ‘deth hath entred yn by your wyndoes and is gon into your houses’.532 The arowe of þe devel entreth not but by the wyttys of þe bodye. My loved sustere in Cryste, men muste be loved, but beeng absent. They muste be loved, but not within you, but withoute from you. Ye muste love men in your harte, but not in your companye. Love them in your mynde, but oute of your felyschyp. Men ye ouȝt to love not for the bewty of the bodye (145v) but þat they be the creatures of God. Also, reverent sustere, I exhorte you þat ye nevere speke aloon with man. Lete no man speke aloon with you, nor ye with hym withoute ii or iii of your susters with you for wytnes. The spouse of Cryste ouȝt not to speke with eny man aloon but with hyr confessour when she takyth penance for hyr synnes. A religiouse woman þat desyreth to speke with man aloon, folyschnes and vyce doeth reygn in hyr mynde. Therfor, my loved suster, here me. Yf ye wyll for þe love of Cryste kepe perfitely chastite, goo ferr from þe company of men. If þat ye perfitely dyspyse the felyshyp of man in erth for Cristys love, withoute doute ye shall reygn with hym in heven. Amen.

532 

Jer. 9. 21.

158 Transcription

The lx exhortacion doeth counsell forto flye all evyll companye and to be conversaunte with good and vertuous persons Mi loved sustere, here what Salomon sayth: ‘my chyld, yf synners flater the, consent (146r) not to them’,533 ‘folowe not the steppes of a lewde person’,534 ‘goo from an unthryfty person, and ye shall have pees’.535 Also Scriptur sayth: ‘lete good persons be in thy companye’.536 Whomsoevere þou knowest þat doeth love and drede God, lete hym be famylyar with the. Wherfor, reverent sustere, be ye not in companye with evyll persons. Saynte Ambrose sayth: ‘the lyfe of good persons shuld be a doctryne to oþere of wele lyvyng’. That person þat is in felyschyp with a good and a vertuouse person, of his company and conversacion he shall lerne the use of good communicacion and take exaumple of good lyvyng þat he may be kyndled from day to daye in the love of God. He ys not gretly praysed þat ys good among good persons, but he ys gretly to be commendyd þat ys good among evyll persons. As he ys worthy to be blamed þat ys evyll in the company of good lyvers, so ys he to be lawded þat ys good in the felyship of evyl companye. The wordys (146v) of them þat fere God be þe wordis of lyfe and helth of þe soule to them þat love them and doo aftyr them. As þe son rysyng puttyth away the darke mystis, so þe doctryn of holy vertuous persons doeth expell oute of oure knowlege the darknes of vyce and syn. Therfor sayth the prophete David: ‘with a good man or woman þou shal be good’,537 ‘and with a lewde person þou shal be lewde’.538 Wherfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, and ye wyll lyve wele, flye the company of evyll. Forsake lewde persons, put fro you folysch persons. Flye the company of men and women þat be redye to syn and offende, company not with lyght persons nor with such as be ydyll and vayne. Drawe ye to good company and desyre the felyshyp of such. Seke for them and be conversaunte contynually with them, and if ye be a felowe of them, ye shal be partner of þeir good conversacion and vertue. ‘He þat companyeth with wyse persons shal be wyse, and he þat wyll company with (147r) folys shal be a fool’.539 For it ys commenly seen 533 

Prov. 1. 10. Prov. 3. 31. 535  Cf. Ecclus. 7. 2. 536  Ecclus. 9. 22. Liber quotes here the second part of this verse; PL 184, 1288C. 537  Ps. 17. 26. 538  Ps. 17. 27. 539  Cf. Prov. 13. 20. 534 

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þat a man or woman wyl be conversaunte with such þat be lyke of conversacion unto them. Hit ys very perylous to lyve with an evyll felyshyp. Hyt ys jeopardy to be conversaunt with such þat be of froward wyll. Hyt ys better to have the hate of evyll company than theyr felyshyp. As the componable lyvyng of such as be good and vertuous hath mych good profytte, so the felyship of evyl persons hath many evyl commodites. He þat towchyth myre or eny foule thyng shal be made foule. Therfor, reverent sustere, yf ye here me gladly and doo after my counsell, ye shal be acounted among þe electe servantis of God. Amen.

The lxi exhortacion sheweth how a religyous person shuld not receyve pryvely [om.]540 letters nor gyftes or rewardis of seculer persons, nor loke after such vanytees for dyvers causes Wel biloved sustere, here what I saye. The servante and mayden of Cryste þat receyveth (147v) pryvely eny letters or gyftis breketh hyr religion. She doeth grete hurt and commytteth a grete syn, if she receyve eny lettres or rewarde or gyfte of seculer persons, for she breketh hyr profession þat for temperall gyftis hurteth and doeth agaynst hyr religion. A religiouse woman þat desyreth to entre with Cryste to the hevenly maryage shal not gyve to seculer persons sudaryes, combys, gyrdylles, rybondis, or lacys. She þat wayteth after the commyng of Cryste with a burnyng lampe shuld not receyve of seculer persons worldly gyftis, as kombes, glasses, and such oþere. Sche þat hath take a holy veyle upon hyr for þe love of Cryste ouȝt not to take of hyr worldly frendes gyftes of vanyte, and if she doo, she gretely offendyth. A religious woman þat delyteth in such vanitees ys disseyved, and she sheweth the tokyns of a commyn woman. Wherfor sayth Saynt Jerom: ‘a good and perfyte (148r) love hath no swete lettres and sudaryes [and]541 many rewardis’. As hoo sayth: if þat in the mynde of a religious woman wer perfitte love, she wold not receyve of seculer persons gyftys of vanite and superfluite. A chaste and a religious woman desyreth not to receyve gyftes of seculer frendys, but of Cryste for whos love she hath dispised and forsaken all worldly thyngis, for she ouȝt to covete gyftes of hym with whom she trustyth to joye in heven.

540  541 

MS reads ‘no’, noted for correction with expuncted dots. Word missing in MS.

160 Transcription

The more a man or woman delyteth in erthly rewardis, the more ferr he ys from the love of God. And if religious women doo in religyon þat seculer women be wonte to doo in þe world, they be gretly in blame before God. Then ther ys no difference betwen religious women and seculer. If religyous women doo gyve to their worldly frendis and lovers delectable gyftes as commyn women be wonte to doo, wher ys then goodnes? Wher ys religyosite? Wher ys chastite? (148v) Wher ys puryte? Wher ys holynes of perfeccion? If religyous women, that ouȝt by good werkys plees God, doeth plees their worldly frendis in gyvyng wanton and vycious gyftes, wher ys contynencye? Wher ys shamfastnes? Wher ys Godly reverence? Also if religyous women have an appetyte to plees more seculer lovers and frendis in þe world than Jhesu Cryste everelastyng kyng in heven, wher ys then observance of religyon? Wher ys hardnes of religyon? Wher ys þe fervour of contemplacion? Wher ys puryte of mynde? Wher ys contricion of harte? Wher ys diligente prayer? Wher ys wepyng for synnes? Wher ys religyous habyte? If religiouse women delyte in worldly gyftis as seculer persons be wonte to doo, wher ys þe contempte of þe world? Wher ys drede of hell? Wher ys memory of the laste jugement? Wher ys remembraunce of everelastyng burnyng in fyer? Wher ys love of God? And if religyous women covet þe gyftes and rewardes (149r) of vanyte to receyve of seculer persons, wher ys memory of offencys and synnys? Wher ys wepyng of eyes? Hit ys all loste, contempnyd, dispised, and sette at nouȝt. In very dede the religyous woman þat receyveth of worldly persons þat she delyteth yn, she dispyseth hyr relygion. She þat ys more gladde of the gyftis of worldly persons than of the rewles of hyr religyon brekyth hyr vowe. Of such spekyth the prophet, sayeng: ‘theyr ryȝt hande ys fylled with gyftis and brybes’.542 As hoo sayeth: thouȝe their dedys seme good, yit they delyte more in brybys and gyftis than in good warkys. They had levere take transitory rewardis of seculer persons than everelastyng [gyftis]543 of Cryste. The religyous woman þat perfitely loveth Cryste receyveth not plesaunt and superfluous gyftis of worldly persons, for she preferryth Cryste before all presentis. Wherfor it ys sayd in Canticis canticorum: ‘thou art as fayr as a turtyl’.544 Crystys milytant Chyrch and every perfite soule ys lykened (149v) to the tur-

542 

Ps. 25. 10. Word missing in MS. 544  Song 1. 9. 543 

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tyl bycause [s]he545 loveth perfitely Cryste and preferryth nothyng before hyt. The turtyll after she hath loste hyr mate sekyth nevere for anoþere after, for she nevere receyveth þe love of anoþere. So a religyous woman þat loveth Cryste perfitely receyveth no more the love of anoþere, þat is to seye, she loveth no more seculer persons in evyll. A religyous woman þat loveth man or woman more than Cryste ys not chaste but commytteth advoutre, for she dispyseth Cryste to whom she was spoused. A religyous woman when she commyth fyrst to religyon taketh Cryste for hyr husbande. If after she love man above Cryste, she synneth in advoutre, þouȝe not in bodye, she doeth in mynde and soule acordyng to the sayeng of Cryste in þe Gospell: ‘whosoevere seeth a woman and desyreth to have hyr to syn with hyr, he then hath synned with hyr in hys hart with so thynkyng’.546 So a woman synneth with man yf þat she wolde have hym (150r) in hyr hart and love hym carnally. Wherfor, loved sustere, I exhorte you þat ye love Cryste your spouse above all thyng and oonly of hym covette to receyve gyftes. For his love receyve no worldly gyfte ne token. Withoute doute such þat hath affeccion to worldly tokyns and gyftes doeth not hope of the celestyal rewarde and gyfte. ‘Worldly gyftes’, sayth Scripture, ‘and brybes doeth putte oute the eyes of wyse men and chaunge þe wordis of juste persons’.547 Certeynly yf ‘brybes putte oute the eyes of wyse men’, they putte oute also the spirituall eyes of religyous persons and of þe servantis of God þat he may not be seen and knowen perfitely of them. Saynt Isidor seyth: ‘the eye of þe mynde cannot se hygh thyngis, whom the duste of the erth closeth up’. As hoo sayth: the eye of the mynde cannot perfitely se and knowe hevenly thyngis, whom the duste of concupiscence doeth close. The mynde of the (150v) servante of God may not be fre to beholde God, if þat hyt be with worldly covetyse made darke. If þat the mynde of a religious woman delyte in worldly brybes, she may not perfitely beholde hevenly gyftes. If þat in receyvyng or gyvyng seculer persons she desyreth to plees, she loveth not perfitely God. For they be dispysed of God, sayth David þe prophete, þat covette to plees in such vanitees.548

545 

MS reads ‘he’. Matt. 5. 28. 547  Deut. 16. 19. 548  Liber quotes here Ps. 52. 6; PL 184, 1291B. 546 

162 Transcription

I praye you, reverent sustere, þat with all devocion ye her Ysaie the prophete, sayeng: ‘he þat shaketh his handis from all worldly brybes’549 ‘shall dwell in heven’550 and ‘he shall se the kyng of aungellis in his mageste’.551 He þat for Goddis sake refuseth þe gyftes of vanyte and superfluite shal se Almyȝty God in his mageste, and with all sayntis in his glorye shal be evere more in joye. Wherfor, loved sustere, I praye you folowe þe counsell of the prophete. Shake of your handis from all brybes and seculer gyftes. And yf ye wyll dwell in heven, I exhorte you also þat ye stodye to folowe hym þat sayde: ‘I wyll appere and be seen with justice and vertue in (151r) thy sight, good Lorde. I shal be satisfyed when thy glorye shal be seen and knowen’.552 Amen.

The lxii exhortacion doeth counsell forto fulfyll with devocion and good wyll that that we have vowed and promysed to God Wel beloved sustere, remembre wele what ye doo vowe to God and performe hyt. Vowe hool yourself and perfourme it. Accuse yourself in synnes. Laude God in hys benefyttis. Referr no good thyng to yourself. Knowlege þat all the good ye have, hyt ys of God. Knowlege ye hym mercifull and yourself a synnere, hym very trewe and you a lyer. My loved sustere, I praye you that ye saye with the prophete David: ‘I wyll goo into hys hous’, þat ys, into religyon; ‘in sacrifice’, that ys with a contryte and compuncte harte; ‘I wyll perfourme my vowes’,553 that ys to saye, I wyll ther offer hool myself to the, good Lorde in the awter of my herte which I have vowed to the. Necessary it ys þat he þat wolde be saved doo perfourme with all devocion the promyses þat he hath (151v) vowed to God. Wherfor the prophete sayth: ‘vowe ye yourself to your Lorde God and perfourme your vowe’;554 for it [is]555 necessary þat he doeth vowe doo perfourme hit. For in vowyng he maketh hymselfe a dettar, and ‘it wer bettere not to promys then afterward not to fulfyll þe promys’.556 549 

Isa. 33. 15. Isa. 33. 16. 551  Isa. 33. 17. 552  Ps. 16. 15. 553  Ps. 65. 13. 554  Ps. 75. 12. 555  Word missing in MS. 556  Eccles. 5. 4. 550 

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Ther be also som vowes þat be commyn to every person, and som that be specyall. Commyn vowes be those þat we doo promyse in baptym at our crystenyng, which be þat we syn not and þat we forsake the devyl and all hys werkis. Speciall vowes be when a person promyseth to be a monke, or channon, or heremyte, or eny such oþere, that yf he þat dyd vowe doeth not perfourme, he cannot be savyd. Why? For he þat promyseth to God to lyve wele and fulfyll it not with good dedis, he cannot be saved. Whosoevere caryth not to perfourme þoo good dedys that he vowed to God may not com to thoo good thyngis that God hath promysede. Howe wyll he receyve of þe hevenly goodnes (152r) that wyl not paye unto hym his vowe? For such be unfeythfull and not feythfull persons. Among unfeythfull peple he þat performyth not his vowe to God shal be putte to deth. Therfor, loved suster, I counsell you þat ye doo þat goodnes þat ye have promysed. Be ye not lyȝt in wordis and hard or slowe in dedis. Promyse nothyng withoute consideracion to God and promyse not that ye be unhable to perfourme. In the sight of God ye shal be gretly to blame [om.]557 if ye fulfyl not þat ye have promysed. They displese God þat kepe not theyr vowes. But yit, reverent sustere, chaunge your purpos and vowe in evyll promyses. What evel so evere ye have vowed, doo it not, nor that ye vowed withoute advysement. Hyt ys a wycked promys þat ye perfourme in syn. Nowe þerfor, spouse of Cryste, as I have sayd, if þat with all devocion ye fulfyll your vowes þat ye have promysed to God, ye shall receyve of hym everelastyng goodnes þat he hath promysed to youe. Amen.

(152v) The lxiii exhortacion gyveth counsell that whatsoevere we doo, we doo it with discrecion and in convenyente tyme and place Mi wel beloved sustere, knowe what ye be; knowe yourself; call to your remembraunce why ye ar born, and wherfor, and in what condicion. Kepe the order of your nature, be ye þat woman as God made you. Kepe a meane in all your werke. Doo nothyng withoute mesur; doo nothyng to lytell, nothyng to mych, nothyng immoderately, thouȝe it be good. All meane thyngis be profetable and in theyr manere of doyng perfitte. What ys don with mesur ys holesom. Good dedys immoderatly done be noysom. All þat ys to mych is thouȝte for a vyce. Hyt ys a wysdom in you to doo every thyng with discrecion þat ye make not of good evyll. 557 

MS reads ‘and if ’.

164 Transcription

Loved sustere, merke what ys meete for every tyme. Considere fyrst what ye ouȝt to doo, and in what place, what tyme, what manere, and howe (153 r) long ye shuld doo it. By discrecion knowe the causes of everythyng. With grete diligence dyvyd all thyng þat ye doo and thynk howe ye shuld begyn and howe ende. What good so evere ye doo with discrecion shal be a vertue, and withoute discrecion ys a vyce, for an undiscrete vertue ys acompted for a vyce. By an evyll custom many good thyngis be loste, and many be unlawfully used agaynst good customes. Use and custom ys preferred afore auctoryte. Lawe and reason shall overcom an evyl use. Good virgyn, I counsell you þat ye kepe stedfast fayth in your hart, a salette of welth on your hedd, the signe of the crosse in your forhed, the worde of trouth in your mouth, a good wyll in your mynde, drede and trew love of God and your neyȝbour in your breste, þe gyrdyll of chastite in your bodye, honestye in your doyng, sobyrnes in custom and goodnes, humylite in prosperite, pacyence in tribulacyon, (153v) innocencye in conversacion, a sure hope in God, þe love of everelastyng lyfe, and perseveraunce in good werkes to the ende of your lyfe. Amen.

The lxiiii exhortacion counselleth þat a religyous mayden shulde please no man by hyr bewtye and fayrnes, yf she wyll be chaste in bodye and soule Wel beloved sustere, lette us dispyse all vayne and synfull fayrnes, les þe spryngys of all vyces doeth bud in us. He þat loveth the bewty of his bodye disseyveth hymself. Why? For, as Salomon seyth, ‘hit is disseytfull and vayne, it ys also erth and asshys’.558 Ther wer and be many disseyved by the bewty of the bodye. Folysch persons when they desyr the fayrnes of þe bodye fallen into þe snares of þe devyll. Many by fayrnes of þe bodye be bounde in syn. God loketh not after þe bewty of the bodye but of the soule. God loveth more þe spirituall fayrnes than the bodely bewty in þe which (154r) he delyteth not. Therfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, I counsell you þat ye love þat fayrnes in the whych God delyteth. Behold ye nevere man in þat mynde þat ye wold love his bewtye or semeblynes and be glad þerof or desyr it. I praye you also þat ye nevere dresse and aray yourself in þat entent to please man and be sene fayr and bewtyous. For and yf ye doo, ye doo injurye to God sythen þat ye be spoused to Cryste, and yf ye covette to be wele seen in the syght of men, ye be not chaste but an advoutryce. Howe doo ye not commytte advou558 

Prov. 31. 30.

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tre þat loveth man more than Cryste or above Cryste? Howe doo ye saye þat ye commytte not advoutre , þat hath gyven yourself in religion to Cryste and now wolde please seculer persons with þe bewtye of your face? Whensoevere ye so doo, ye shewe a token of a commyn woman and a seculer woman, which be wonte to araye theyr faces þat they maye be seen fayr of men. O howe foule and abhomynable (154v) ys it for a religyous woman to doo as seculer and commyn wemen doen! Therfor, good virgyn, merke what I saye and counsell. Araye nevere your hedde and face for to please men, but araye your face ynwarde, þat ys your conscience, with good vertues þat ye may please Jhesu Cryste your spouse which delyteth not in þe bewty of þe bodye but of þe soule, nor in gay aray but in good maners and condicions, nor in settyng of þe bodye but in good conversacion. When a devoute soule ys arayed withyn for Cryste with good maners and vertue, [s]he559 ys loved of Cryste; þat he well sheweth in Canticis canticorum spekyng to hys loved spouses, sayeng : ‘howe bewtyous and fayr art þou, my loved spouse, in delectable thyngis’.560 As hoo sayth:561 in juste, holy and religyous lyvyng thou art bewtyous, and in lovyng me above all thyng þou art my loved spouses, for þou desyrist to please me more in mynde by good werkes than men by thy fayrnes (155r) of bodye, and therfor þou art my wel beloved spouses full of delycatys of Holy Scripture. For he that dispiseth to have abundaunce of the deyntes of Holy Scripture cannot perfittely com to the love and famyliaryte of Cryste. And he þat doeth covete more to please man with his bodely fayrnes or countenaunce than Cryste with good werkys loveth not perfitely Cryste ner is not lovyd of hym. I counsell you therfor, loved sustere, þat ye love Cryste above all thyng, for God þe Fadere of heven ‘hath chosen you in hym afore þe world’.562 I praye you also þat ye covete oonly and principally to please hym, and þat ye take not temperall praysyng of worldly peple. Amen.

559 

MS reads ‘he’. Song 7. 6. 561  Liber here repeats part of Song 7. 6; PL 184, 1294B. 562  Eph. 1. 4. 560 

166 Transcription

The lxv exhortacion shewyth how we shuld not lawgh immoderatly, whych ys þe condicion of a fole Wel beloved sustere, here the sayeng of wyse Salomon: ‘I juged lawȝhyng an offence and errour’.563 Hit is an errour when þat that ouȝt to be done is leffte and anoþere thyng ys done in his stede. Then (155v) hit ys an errour when he þat ouȝt to wepe doeth lawghe. Lawghyng ys callyde an errour, for when a person lawȝeth, he hath not in hys mynde the daye of hys deth. They be disseyved þat be mery in the prosperite of thys world, for if þat they wolde call to remembraunce the tyme of theyr deth, they shuld sonere wepe for theyr synnes than lawghe for þe vanites of the worlde; and if þat they wold remembre the paynes þat they shall suffer, they shuld not lawgh but wepe. Salomon sayth: ‘lawȝhyng shal be myngled with sorowe, and þe ende of sporte ys mournyng and hevynes’.564 And our Lorde in þe Gospell sayth: ‘blissed be they þat mourne and wepe, for they shal be confourted’.565 He sayd not: blissed be they þat laugh and make sport, for trewly they be blissid oonly þat wayle their synnes. They þat mourne and wepe acordyng to the wyll of God be blissed, for they shal be comforted. Saynt James þe apostle rebuketh (156r) folysch lawghers, sayeng: ‘your lawhyng shal be turnyd into mournyng and your sporte into sorowe’.566 ‘A fole in lawhyng puttyth oute alowde hys voyce, a wyse person unneth softly wyll lawgh’.567 Therfor, loved sustere, forsake lawhyng as an errour and chaunge temperall sporte into mournyng. Why? That ye may blisse yourself and be found in the tyme of deth blissed. Knowe yourself to be a pylgrym in this worlde, for thys ys not your cuntre but heven. Ye have here noo abydyng place, for God hath promysed to you the celestyal Jerusalem, to the which David the prophete desyred to com when he sayd: ‘laetatus sum in hiis quae dicta sunt mihi, in domum Domini ibimus’,568 that ys to seye, ‘I am glad of þat ys tolde me, how we shall goo to the habitacion of God’. With a lyke desyre sayd Seynt Paule þe apostle: ‘I wolde goo hens and be with Cryste’.569 Also þe psalmyste desyred to com 563 

Eccles. 2. 2. Liber quotes the whole of Eccles. 2. 2; PL 184, 1294D. Prov. 14. 13. 565  Matt. 5. 5. 566  Jas. 4. 9. 567  Ecclus. 21. 23. 568  Ps. 121. 1, in red ink in MS. 569  Phil. 1. 23. 564 

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to heven when he sayde: ‘heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est’,570 (156v) that ys to saye, ‘woo to me þat I am lette from my dwellyng place’. When þat he sayd thes wordys, he toke no sporte of the vanytees of þis worlde but for thys pylgrymage mournede. Therfor, good virgyn, lete your gladnes be in heven, and the myrth of your harte be alwey sobyr and softe acordyng to the sayeng of thapostyl Paule: ‘be ye mery evere in God’.571 And in anoþere place he sayth: ‘the comforte and profitte of the spirite and the harte ys sobyr myrth’572 which trobleth not the mynde with immoderate lawȝhyng, but hevyth it up by desyre to com to heven wher he may here our Lorde saye to hym: ‘entre into the joye of thy Lorde God’.573 The face of man or woman ys the glasse of the harte. By lawhyng a person may knowe the hart of a religyous woman. Lawhyng and sporte unprofetable shewyth the vayn secretis of a religyous woman, for she wold not undiscretely lawgh, if she had a chaste hart; she wold nevere wantonly lawgh, (157r) and she wer not wanton. Our Lorde sayth: ‘of þe abundaunce of þe harte the mouth spekyth’.574 Soo of the abundaunce of a vayne harte a mayden lawhyth, and if in the mynde of a woman wer no vanyte, she wolde nevere lawgh at vanyte. A sadde and a chaste person ys more merye in mournyng than in lewde sportyng. Sewerly if a religyous woman had in hyr mynde trewe chastite, she wold more love wepyng teres than temporall sporte. And if she wolde remembre hyr negligences and þe paynes of hell, she wolde make more of teres than of lawhyng. Wheras lawhyng and vayn sportis ben in use, ther ys no perfytte charyte. If þat a religyous woman loved Cryste perfyttly, she shuld not undiscretely lawgh but with his desyr contynually wepe. I merveyle why she loveth sportis and lawhyngs þat commyth to religyon in þat entente: forto wepe for hyr synnes. I mervel she ys not ashamed when she puttyth oute alowde (157v) hyr voyce, for it ys a grete overesyght for hyrr to lawgh, þat shuld in thys pylgrymage wepe for hyrr synnes. We wrecches why doo we lawgh and make sporte, which shal gyve acounte in the presence of aungelles and all sayntis of all our dedys? Therfor it ys bettere for us to wayle our synnes in this lyfe þat we may obteyn of God forgyfnes in the lyfe to com.

570 

Ps. 119. 5, in red ink in MS. Liber quotes the whole of Ps. 119. 5; PL 184, 1295C. Phil. 4. 4. Liber quotes the whole of Phil. 4. 4; PL 184, 1295C. 572  Gal. 5. 22. 573  Matt. 25. 21. 574  Matt. 12. 34. 571 

168 Transcription

I desyr you therfor, reverent sustere, þat ye flye lawhyngs and vayn sportis and contynually wepe for your syn. Here, spouses of Cryste, what the spouse sayth in Canticis canticorum: ‘thy eyes be as watere of Esebon’575. For when a devoute person wepyth for hys pylgrymage, he wascheth hymself by the grace of God fro syn. So a religyous woman ouȝt often to wepe and wayle þat she may be wasched from hyr synnes. Reverent sustere, if þat in this lyfe we doo perfitly mourne our synnes and forsake the vanytees of þe worlde, we truste to obteyn forgyfnes (158r) and mercye. Amen.

The lxvi exhortacion counsellyth not to wandere abrode into the townes and cytees and shewyth þe abusion of many religyous persons in that poynte Wel beloved sustere, here how Jeremye the prophete doeth mourne our unthryftynes, sayeng : ‘how ys it þat pure golde ys made blak and hys gay colour chaunged? The stonys of the sanctuarye be sparkled abrode in every strete’.576 By golde we undirstonde the lyfe of religyous persons which was afore tyme by glory and vertue very bryȝt, shynyng, and now by lewde dedys ys made derke. The fresch colour of the golde signifyeth the holy habite which by good werkys was very precious and gaye, but nowe by vyce and worldly occupyeng hit ys chaunged and made vyle. Veryly the noble habite of religious persons ys chaunged as of monkis, chanons, and religyous women, when it ys made more forto please in the sight of peple than in the (158v) sight of God. Veryly the fresch colour of gold ys chaunged when the habyt of religyous persons ys shaped more to plese þe peple by vaynglorye than God by meknes, and when they ar arayed more to plese in the kyngis palace than in the syght of theyr Creatour.577 The stonys of the sanctuary signifye religyous persons, which ouȝte nevere to wander abrode outewarde, but to abyde contynually in the secrete religyon in the syȝt of God. But nowadayes they be sparkled abrode in every strete, wanderyng and sekyng withoute vayn and worldly thyngis. ‘The stones of the sanctuary be sparkeled abrode in every strete’578 when religyous persons covyt more to be conversaunte in the kyngis palace than to abyde withyn the cloystere 575 

Song 7. 4. Lam. 4. 1. 577  Liber quotes again the second half of Lam. 4. 1; PL 184, 1296D. 578  Lam. 4. 1. 576 

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or monasterye, and when they desyre more to here the superfluous talkyng of ryche men than the doctryne of Scriptur, and when they be more glad at the (159r) festys of ryche men than in poverte and abstynence of religyous brethern. The servantes of God shuld bettere be content with grewel in þe monasterye than with a grete feste in the world. Religyous persons ouȝte more to love wortis among theyr brethern than abundans of mete among ryche persons. Religyous persons ouȝt to be more glad at the table of þeir pore brethern or sustern than at the kyngis borde. Why? For as Seynt Austen sayth, ‘it ys better to lacke than to have to mych’. Hit ys bettere to suffer poverte in religyon for Crystis sake than to have grete ryches in þe worlde. Hit ys necessary therfor þat every religyous person, if he desyre to be saved [om.],579 dispyse the world and kepe hymself withyn þe monasterye. A religyous person shuld flye the company of seculer persons and desyre the felyship of the servantis of God. Religyous persons ouȝt to be better contente with theyr cloystere and monastery þan (159v) with the kyngis hall. Now therfor here and merke what I saye and counsell. Hit ys bettere for you to sytte in your cloystere than to goo aboute the stretys of the cyte or town. Covette ye mor to abyde withyn your monasterye than to se citees and townes. Hyt ys better to abyde withyn the wallys of the monasterye than to be in þe siȝte of peple. And if ye kepe yourself within þe monasterye, ye shal be loved of Cryste, which he sheweth wele in Canticis canticorum, sayeng: ‘my suster thou art as a close garden, as a close well’. 580 Every devoute soule ys called ‘a close garden’,581 for when she noryscheth vertue, she bryngyth furth spirituall floures and refreschyth hyrself with vertue, and the frutys þat she bryngeth furth she kepyth. Also every perfite soule ys callyd ‘a close gardeyn’,582 for when she withdraweth hyr for the love of everelastyng lyfe from þe company of þe worldly peple, when she doeth flye the syght of them, when she doeth no good dede for the (160r) laude oonly of seculer persons, when she for the love of God kepyth hyrself close and dispiseth all vaynglorye, she hath with good mynde and entente hegged hyrself aboute, þat the gostely enemy cannot breke yn to spoyle hyr of vertue and meryte. A perfytte soule ys callyd also ‘a well closed aboute’,583 579 

MS reads ‘to’. Song 4. 12. Liber quotes more of the verse; PL 184, 1297C. 581  Song 4.12. 582  Song 4. 12. 583  Song 4. 12. 580 

170 Transcription

for when she thynketh often of hevenly thyngis and when she gadreth togydere in hyr memorye the knoulege and doctryne of Scriptur, she gendreth in hyr waters of lyfe, of þe which she may enfourme hyr neyȝbours. Therfor, loved sustere, as I have sayd afore to you, and yf for the love of Cryste ye close yourself within þe wallys of your monastery and cleve perfitly to your rewle, after this lyfe with the same Jhesu Cryste your spouse ye shal be everemor gladde. Amen.

The lxvii exhortacion tretyth of the temptacion of þe devyll, and how his temptacion may be overecom, and how we have not oonly temptacion (160v) of the devyll but also of the bodye Wel beloved sustere, here Saynt Jamys þe apostle: ‘resyste the devyl and he shall flye from you’.584 And Saynt Jerom sayth: ‘ther ys nothyng strongar than he þat overcomyth the devyll, and nothyng more feble than he þat ys overecom of his bodye’. The temptacions of the devyll ben advoyded by colde wacches and streyȝt fastyngs. Our sotel enemy alwey seketh by what meenys he may disseyve us, and he caryth not mych to undoe þe body but the soule, as a wolfe the flok of shepe. The devyl distroyeth soulys when by temptacion he sleyth feythfull peple, howbeit he temptyth the servantis of God no more þan God doeth suffre hym. When he temptyth þe servantis of God, he profiteth them, for he disseyveth them not by his temptacion but rather techith them. Oftentymes the temptacions þat the devyll moveth to the destruccion of man or woman (161r) God turnyth them to the profyte of theyr soules. The servantis of God cowd nevere suffre the temptacyons of the devyl, yf þat the goodnes of God dyd not ease and refrayn them. Allthough the devyll alwey covetyth to tempte the servantis of God, yit and he had not power of God, he cowde not perfourme hit. Therfor all the wyll of þe devyl ys evere unjuste, yit by þe sufferaunce of God hys power ys juste. The devel of hymself seketh wrongfully to tempte the servantis of God, but those þat be temptyd he cannot tempte but by the lycens of God. Wherfor in Scriptur it ys redde þat ‘the evyll spyrite of God did vexe and troble kyng Saule’.585 Wher may be wele asked: if he wer the spirite of God, why was he callyd an evyl spyrite? and he wer evyl, why the spyrite of God? To the which may be answered: that ther was the juste power of God and the evyll wyll 584  585 

Jas. 4. 7. i Sam. 16. 14.

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of the devyll. For he was an evyll spyryte by hys evyll wyll, and the (161v) spirite of God by the ryȝtyouse power þat he had of God. The devyl ys not þe gyver of syn but oonly the tempter. Nor he can nowher have intereste with his temptacyon, but wher fyrste he seeth and knoweth grete delectacions of the mynde. And if þat we putte aweye the delectacions of oure evyll thouȝtis, anon the devyll goyth away confused and his temptacions be broken. Oftentymes he wyll in the lyknes of a good spyryte disseyve the servantes of God when þat ‘he doeth transfygur hym into a bryȝte aungell’.586 But the discrecion of good and perfyte persons ouȝte to be so grete, that they may juge betwen good and evyl, les the devyl by hys gyle disseyve them. Thus dyd Josue aske when he sawe the angell of God com agaynste hym: ‘art þou our frende or our adversarye?’587 Wherfor seyth Jeremye the prophete: ‘if þat þou dyvyd the preciouse thyng from the vyle, þou shalt (162r) be as myn own chylde’.588 The devyl in the eyes of seculer persons ys very ferefull, but in the eyes of Goddis servantis he is not sette by. Unfaythfull peple dredyth the devyl as a lyon, but they þat be stedfaste and strong in fayth care no more for hym than for a worme, and when they se hym they dispyse hym. The devyl ys a slypper serpent, for and hys suggestyon be not resisted, he wyll (or oon be ware) slyp into the harte. The vyces of the devyls temptacion be but lyȝt and frayle, but and they be not avoyded afore they come in a custom, they be at laste very grete and strong, so þat nevere or with difficulte they be overecom. The devyl when he wyll tempte eny man or woman, he fyrste notyth theyr nature, and of þat he taketh wherby he doeth se them apte to syn. Saynt Isidor sayth: ‘the devyl temptyth mor a man on þat part by the which he knowyth hym (162v) to be lyghtly inclyned by abundauns of humours to syn and vyce; as he þat dryveth water doeth not lette it goo, but wher he knowyth hit wyll rune beste’. The devyl covetyth to disseyve man or woman in all theyr lyfe, but more speciall in theyr ende. And that ys that was sayd in Scriptur to the serpent: ‘thou shalt leye wayte at hyr hele’.589 Then the devyl leyth wayte at the hele of man or woman when he laboryth to disseyve hym in þe ende of his lyfe. For whom he cannot begyle in all the tyme of his lyfe, he purposyth to disseyve at hys ende. Furthermor, thouȝe a man be good and perfytte, yit it ys necessary þat 586 

ii Cor. 11. 14. Josh. 5. 13. 588  Jer. 15. 19. 589  Gen. 3. 15. 587 

172 Transcription

he be not to sewer of hymself in this lyfe, but alwey mekly be ware and evere in feer lesse he be disseyved in his ende. Therfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, hit ys necessary þat we praye Almyȝty God þat he permytte not us to be tempted more than we may suffer. For God everemore (163r) restrayneth the strength of þe devyll that he hurt not so myche as he wold. Wherfor in Canticis canticorum the Holy Goste rebuketh the evyl spirite, sayeng : ‘aryse the north wynde and come the sowth wynde, and blowe overe my garden, þat his swete savour and smell may goo abrode’.590 By the north wynde þat in colde wether doeth frese and makyth us sluggysche ys signifyed the evyl spyryte, which when he doeth tempte and possesse all reproved persons, he causeth them to waxe slowe from good werkes. And by the south wynde þat ys warme ys signifyed the Holy Goste, which when he visiteth the hartis and myndys of electe persons, he losyth them from slouth and maketh them fervent in the love of God. Lete then the north wynde aryse, þat ys to sey, lete the evyl spyryte goo from every feythfull soule þat he tempte not more than he shulde;591 and lete þe sowth wynde, þat ys the Holy Goste, come and blowe in þe soule (163v) and mynde the fyer of charyte, and so shal he dissolve and thaw the mynde from slouth and negligence. Wher the Holy Goste so doyth, the swete smell of his good dedis and lyvyng spredyth abrode to theyr own refreschyng and comforte and edifyeng of theyr neyghbours. [A demand] Myn owen broþere, I praye you to shew me what remedye ys agaynste the temptacions of the devyll. [The answer] My loved sustere in Cryste, this ys the remedye of hym þat ys trobled with the temptacions of syn or of the devylle: that the more he ys tempted, the more he gyve hym to prayer. If þat evyll thouȝtis of þe worlde and foule cogitacions doeth vexe your hert or mynde and stere you to doo som unleful thyng, by pure prayers and devoute wacchyng they shal be put oute of your mynde. Be ye often in the syght of God with all devocion in tyme of your prayer þat ye may escape the soden temptacion of the devyll. Reverent suster, I wold ye shuld knowe þat we shulde (164 r) not oonly fyght agaynste the temptacion of þe devyll, but also agaynste the vyces of þe bodye. Why? ‘For the bodye desyreth agaynst þe soule and the soule agaynste the bodye’.592 Therfor we ouȝte so perseverauntly to praye, untyl we may by 590 

Song 4. 16. Liber quotes again a version of Song 4.16; PL 184, 1299C. 592  Gal. 5. 17. 591 

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the grace of God overecom the suggestyons of bodely desyre and the temptacions of þe devyll. Often prayer doeth quenche the mocyons of the bodye and overecummyth the temptacion of the devyl, for prayer ys the principall vertue agaynste all temptacion. Therfor, loved sustere, as I have afore seyde, by pure prayer and devoute wache ye may overcom the temptacions of the enemye. And yf yit ye fele evyl mocyons and temptacion[s]593 of the bodye and if the foule luste of the bodye doeth stere you to syn, call then to your remembraunce the tyme of your deth, have in mynde the laste jugement, thynk on the tormentis, ponyschmentis, perpetual fyer, and horryble paynes of hell, which memorye and thouȝt shall quench in yow þe vycious hete of (164v) the flesch and bodye. Amen.

The lxviii exhortacion sheweth þat ther be dyverse manere of dremes and þat ther shuld be no lyȝt credence gevyn to them My loved sustere, take hede to that I shall shewe you. Oftentymes in nyghtis ceason the devyl by visions in slepe trobleth the knowlege of man or woman, and oftetymes visibly betyth the bodyes of men or women. Dremes com dyverse manere of wayes. Some dremes com by fulnes (or emptynes) of þe bely, which be knowen by experience. Some come of the propyr thouȝt, for oftetymes those thyngis þat we thynk on in the daye-tyme, we doo dreme on in the nyȝt. Many dremys come of the illusyons of evyll spiritis. Salomon wytnesyng þat sayth: ‘dremes hath caused many to erre and offende, and [many]594 have fallen into syn and have be disseyved by trustyng in them’.595 And som dremes and visions come in good manere as by mynystracion of holy revelacions, as it ys redde in the Olde Testament of (165r) Joseph the son of Jacob whych knewe by hys dreme that he shuld be hedde of all his brethern;596 and in the Evangelye it ys redde of Joseph the spouse of our ladye Marye that in his slepe he was warned to flye with Cryste beyng yong borne into Egypte.597 Otherwhyles both good and evyll dremes happen togyder, as oþerewhyle thouȝtis and illusyons, and oþerewhyle thouȝtys and revelacions acordyng to the sayeng of Danyel the prophete: ‘he that doeth revele and shewe mysterys 593 

MS reads ‘temptacion’. Word missing in MS. 595  Ecclus. 34. 7. 596  See Gen. 37. 597  See Matt. 2. 594 

174 Transcription

sheweth what ar to com’.598 Althouȝe som dremes be trewe, yit we ought not lyȝtly gyve credens to them, for they come of dyverse ymagynacions, and perfitely we knowe not howe they come. We shuld not therfor lyȝtly beleve them, lesse peraventur Sathanas chaungyng hymself into þe similitude of a good aungell doe disseyve eny unwyse or unlerned person. Somtyme the devyll so craftely disseyveth som men and women that be curyous and (165v) markyng theyr dremes, þat some dremys fortune no noþere wyse than they saye; they doo therfor oþerewhyle shewe trew thyngis þat they may disseyve in many. But although the dremes doeth so fortune as the devyll shewyth, yit they ar not to be byleved lesse they com of illusyon, as Scriptur sayth: ‘if they saye unto you and so hapneth as they saye, beleve them not’.599 Dremys be lyke unto wychecrafte, and they that truste in them be knowen to doo wychcrafte. Therfor though they seme trewe, they ouȝt not to be belevyd. They þat put their trust in dremys (or wychcrafte) truste not in God, and whoso[e] vere600 so doeth ys lyke hym þat foloweth the wynde or hym þat laboryth to take the shadowe. False wychcrafte and disseyvable dremys be both vayne. Lete our truste be alwey stedfaste in God and take no hede to dremys. Hit ys a grete congruens þat we shuld put our hope in God and have no confidens in dremys. Therfor, loved (166r) sustere, I councell you þat your mynde be not gyven to dremys or wychecrafte, but lette it be stedfast in Almyȝty God. And if ye doo merke them and thynke them trewe, ye shall soon be disseyved. Whyle ye lyve, dyspyce them and hope perfytly in the provydens of God, and then ye shall have both in thys lyfe and in the lyfe to com all thyng prosperous to you. Amen.

The lxix exhortacion counsellyth to have evere in mynde the tyme of deth, whych ys uncerteyn Wel beloved sustere, here þe wordys of Salomon: ‘whatsoevere þou mayst doo, doo it by and by, for ther is noþere werke, nor reason, nor connyng, nor wysdom after deth, to the which þou hyghyest and goost to’.601 For only in this present lyfe hit ys lefull to werke and doo good dedis. In the lyfe to come laboryng ys not lokyd for but the rewarde of good dedys. Thys lyfe ys shorte and faylyng. Seynt Isydor sayth: ‘he þat consydereth þe length (166v) of thys lyfe, not of hys 598 

Dan. 2. 29. Cf. Deut. 13. 1–3. 600  MS reads ‘whosov’re’. 601  Eccles. 9. 10. 599 

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tyme and space but of hys ende, he pondreth profetably how shorte and howe wrecchyd it ys’. Therfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, and yf ye seke for a trewe lyfe and perfytte, labour to goo to þat lyfe þat is trewe and perfytte (for the which ye be a Cristen woman) that ys to saye, to everelastyng lyfe; which ys very lyfe, and this lyfe here ys mortall. Therfor ye shuld in bodye dye toward þe world lesse þat ye dye in þe soule to Cryste. Then every person ys supposid to lyve when he beeng ded after þe world lyveth oonly to God in whom he promysed to lyve. Everye good person ys wery of the taryeng of this lyfe, for because it ys long or he shall com to þat contrey þat he desyreth. The commyng of deth ys to every man and woman unserten, and when a man or woman thenkyth not to dye, oo, then lyȝthlye he dyeth. Wherfor lete every person hygh hym to amend the syn þat he hath don, lesse he dye theryn and so lyfe and syn shall ende togydre. The devyll laboryth (167r) to bryng such as dye sodenly to tourmentys whom lyvyng he moved to vyce and syn. Though a man or woman be juste and good in this lyfe, yit when they departe from the bodye, they drede lesse that they be worthy of ponyschment. A quyette callyng commendyth the ende of good persons þat by it may be undyrstond they have þe company of aungelles when they withoute grete vexacion departe from theyr mortall bodye. Jhesu Cryste the son of God with grete honour receyveth his servantis departyng from this lyfe to heven. Wherfor in Canticis canticorum it ys writen in þe voyce of every faythfull soule, sayeng: ‘my loved spouse commyth down into hys garden to the place of swettnes þat he myght fede in þe gardens and gadre whyte lylyes’.602 He ‘commyth down’603 for to vysytte his mylitant Chyrch. He commyth with more grace to them whom he knoweth þat doeth put furth to theyr neyȝbours the swete savour of good name and fame by good (167v) dedys and example[s]604 of vertue. He ys ‘fedde in þe gardyns’ when he delyteth in the vertues of faythfull soules. He ‘gadreth lylyes’605 when he calleth his electe servantis from thys lyfe, and causeth them to goo to everelastyng lyfe. Of all such it ys wryten in the psalmodie that ‘the deth of juste and good persons ys precyous in the syght of God’.606 The webbe ys fynysched with thredys, and the lyfe of man ys spente with every daye. At the tyme of deth the soules of 602 

Song 6. 1. Song 6. 1. 604  MS reads ‘example’. 605  Song 6. 1. 606  Ps. 115. 15. 603 

176 Transcription

electe persons be gretly aferde, beeng unserten wheþere they shall goo to joye or payne. Some electe persons be purged at theyr ende from light offensis, and som in the hour of deth be mery and gladde of þe contemplacion and beholdyng of everelastyng goodnes. Almyȝty God wold þat the daye of our deth shuld be unknowen unto us, þat sythen it ys nevere knowen, it shuld be evere thouȝt to be nye, and þat man shuld be the mor diligente in good werkis doyng, þat he ys uncerteyn of his callyng. (168r) The fendys doeth receyve the soules of reprobate synners and evyl persons at þe tyme of theyr deth, þat they may be theyr tormentours in paynes which wer theyr counsellers and tempters to vyce and syn. When the soule departeth from þe bodye, then the evyl spiritis look for theyr werkis and folde togydre all the synnes þat they temptyd hym and counselled to be don, þat they may drawe the soule with them to tourmentis and paynes. An unthryfty and a lewd person ys ledde after deth to be ponysched. A juste and a good person after his labour ys sure in quietnes. As hevenly beatytude causeth electe persons to be glad, so it ys to be beleved þat synners from þe day of theyr departyng fyer doeth burn. My loved sustere in Cryste, I have shewed you thes thyngis, þat ye may knowe hit ys necessary for us alwey to dyspyse worldly vanytees and to have everemore in our mynde the daye of our deth. Here what (168v) Seynt Jamys the apostle sayth: ‘what ys our lyfe in this worlde, but a dewe soon goon’.607 And Salomon sayth: ‘make no boste of tomorowe, for þou knowest not what shal happen the, the nexte daye cummyng’.608 Therfor, reverent sustere, ye ouȝt to lyve warely and dayly to consyder the ende of your lyfe, þat ye may sette nouȝt by the flateryngs of this world and gete heven. ‘In all your dedys and werkys remember your laste ende and ye shall nevere lyȝtlye offende’.609 Therfor I counceyl you þat ye delyte not in the vanytees of this worlde, for withoute dowte ye shall dye; and put ye no truste in temperall goodis, for by no lotte ye can escape deth. Why delyteth the wrecchyd bodye in erthly vanytees, which ys made redy to [be]610 wormes mete? Remembre ye þat ‘ye be aschys and duste and’, as God sayde to Adam, ‘into them ye shall retourne’.611 Call to your mynde the sayeng of Job: ‘I shal be consumed’, sayth he, ‘as rottyn (169r) and 607 

Jas. 4. 15. Prov. 27. 1. 609  Ecclus. 7. 40. 610  Word missing in MS. 611  Gen. 3. 19. 608 

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stynkyng caryn, and as clothe þat is etyn with mothys’.612 Lete the daye of deth be evere in your mynde and by hys remembraunce ye shall perfitely avoyde syn and vyce. Amen.

The lxx exhortacion sheweth to whom deth ys acceptable and to whom not, and howe we shuld not wepe for som that dye or be dedde and for some we shuld Reverent sustere, here þe wordis of a sertayn wyseman, sayeng: ‘o þou deth, howe paynfull ys thy remembraunce to hym þat lyveth peasably in his substaunce and ryches’.613 ‘O deth, þou art acceptable to the poor and nedy person, to such þat hathe no ryches nor strength’.614 A lyke sayeng to this hath holy Isidor, sayeng: ‘o dethe, howe swete art þou to myserable persons and to such þat lyve paynfully, how gladdlye art þou to hevy and sorowfull persons’. Deth makyth an ende of all evyll in thys lyfe. It causeth an ende of all troble in thys worlde. But alake, alake, deth lookyd after and wyschyd for of myserable (169v) persons ys slowe and long in commyng. Therfor, loved sustere, it ys bettere to dye wele than to lyve evyll. Hit ys bettere not to be than to be unhaplye. [A demand] Wel beloved broþere, I praye you to shewe me, if þat we ouȝt to mourne for them þat be ded or to wepe for our frendis þat be ded? [The answer] Loved sustere, to þat holy Isidor shall answere you, sayeng: ‘alþouȝe pyte and compassyon compellyth to wepe for feythfull ded persons or frendis, yit feyth forbedyth to wepe or mourne for them’. Therfor we ouȝt not to mourne and to wepe for good and feythfull persons þat be discessyd, but raþere to thank God þat he hath vouchesave to delyvere them oute of þe mysery of this world, and hath caused þem to goo from wrecchidnes of this lyfe (as we beleve) to þe places of comforte, lyght, and perpetuall peace and quyetnes. Good virgyn, here what I saye. Those persones ouȝt to be mournyd and wayled in theyr deth whom þe devyl with an evyl name and shame doeth take, not those whom good angelles (170r) with honour doeth receyve. Those persons ar to be mourned and wayled for whom fendes after theyr deth drawen to the paynes of hell and theyr burye them, not those whom good angelles lede to the joyes of heven and there sette them. We shuld mourne for them þat dye an evyll deth, not for them þat dye wele and a good deth. 612 

Job 13. 28. Ecclus. 41. 1. 614  Ecclus. 41. 3. 613 

178 Transcription

Virgyn of Cryste, here what I saye. When þat I mourne and wepe for them þat dyed wele, I hurt both myself noþere profyte them. Lete them wepe and wayle bodly for their ded frendis þat doo denye the generall resurreccion or þat after deth beleve not that they shall aryse agayn. But, loved suster, we þat beleve our ded frendis to reigne with Cryste ouȝte not to wepe and mourne for them, but praye to God þat he wyll vouchesave to delyvere them from theyr negligences and offences. Amen.

The lxxi exhortacion sheweth how þat ther be two jugementys of God, and þat in þe laste jugement to his electe servantis he shall seme very (170v) gentyl and swete, and to all reproved persons very feerfull There be two jugementis of God: oon by þe which men and women be juged in this lyfe, anoþere by the which they shal be juged in the lyfe to com. Some have their jugement in this lyfe by syknes and poverte and by dyverse tribulacions of þis worlde bycause they shal not be juged in tyme to com, and therfor to som temporall payn doeth profytte for theyr purgacion, but þe dampnacion of som begynnyth here and shal be in the laste jugement perfourmed. Som be juged in thys world by troble; som in þe next world by fyre at the examinacion of þe ferefull juge, wheras the justice of a perfytte person shal not be sure. Therfor sayd Job of God, ‘he doeth consume the innocent and the wycked person’.615 The innocent ys consumed of God when þat innocencye openly examyned and comparyd to the innocencye of God ys of no reputacion (171r) and in manere noo innocencye. Also þe wycked synnere ys consumed of God when by strayte examynacion of God his wyckydnes and syn ys serched, and when it ys detecte and openly knowen, he ys condempned. Cryste in his jugement shall appere to his electe servantys mylde and pleasaunt acordyng to the dyversite of theyr merytis, and to synners and reproved persons he shall seem very ferefull. At þe tyme of jugement every man and woman shall have the juge to them as they have theyr conscience, so þat Cryste alwey abydyng in his tranquillyte and pacyence shall oonly apere fereful to them whom evyl conscience doeth accuse. Ther ys no person withoute syn, nor nobody can be suer of ‘the jugement of God when þat ther shal be gyven acounte of every ydyll worde’.616 Alake we wrecchyd synners, alake we unworthy creatures, what shal we saye for ourself 615  616 

Job 9. 22. Cf. Matt. 12. 36.

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that daye, which doo not oonly offende (171 v) in ydell wordis but dayly in dedis, and doo nevere leve and cease of our synnes and evyl dedis? If þat in the jugement of Almyȝty God the juste and good man or woman shal not be suer of hymself, what shal become of us synners þat dayly multyplye our synnes? If þat at the daye of jugement ‘the juste and good person shal be unnethe saved, wher shal we becom þat have done innumerable trespaces and synnes’?617 Ther shal no man nor woman be withoute feer þat daye when the fyrmamente above and the erth benethe shal be moved and all the elementys shal be tryed by fyer, of þe which daye spekith Scripture, sayeng: ‘that daye shal be a daye of wrath, a daye of tribulacion, a day of myserie and vengeaunce, a day of clowdes and darknes, a day of blowyng of trompes and cryeng’.618 ‘Be a man never so strong, he shal be that daye trobled’.619 [A question] O my good broþere, what shall we saye that daye when þat streyte juge shall com? In rememberyng (172r) of hys cummyng ye have made me to wepe. In callyng to mynde þat feerfull daye of jugement ye have constrayned me to wepyng teres. [The answer] My loved sustere in Cryste, ye have done wele yf ye have wepte with the feer of the strayte juge. For afore the daye of jugement com, we muste come before his presence in confessyon and wepe in his sight. ‘In thys lyfe ys an acceptable tyme and ceason of welth’.620 Wherfor sayth Scriptur: ‘seke ye God whyles he may be founde. Calle unto hym whyles he ys nygh at hande’.621 In this lyfe the juge ys not sene and yit ys nygh. In the lyfe to come he shal be seen and shal be ferr of. Therfor, loved sustere, hit ys necessary þat in this present lyfe we seke God with all our harte and mynde, yf we intende to fynde hym in the lyfe to com. If þat we seke hym in this lyfe with all devocion and leve synne, we shall at the daye of jugement opteyn of hym mercy, for he ys gentyl and mercifull. Of (172v) hym wryteth the psalmyste, sayeng: ‘Almyȝty God ys kynde and gentyl to every person, hys compassyon and mercye be above all hys werkys’.622 Therfor, loved sustere, lete us praye to þat feerfull and moste ryȝtwouse juge with wepyng teres and fervent devocion þat at the daye of jugement he gyve not to us acordyng to our trespaces and synnes but after hys pyte and mercye, and 617 

Cf. I Pet. 4. 18. Zeph. 1. 15–16. 619  Zeph. 1. 14. 620  ii Cor. 6. 2. 621  Isa. 55. 6. 622  Ps. 144. 9. 618 

180 Transcription

þat he suffer not us with reprobate synners to here þe dredfull sentence: ‘Goo ye cursed synners into perpetuall fyre’,623 but þat he maye cause us with hys electe servantis here hym saye: ‘Come ye blyssyd chyldren of my Fader, receyve ye the kyngdom that was ordeyned for you fro þe begynnyng of þe worlde’.624 Amen.

The lxxii exhortacyon counselleth to folowe þe exhortacions and doctryne þat be rehersed in thys lytell tretyse afore Wel beloved sustere, now be the grace of God I drawe the shyppe of our wrytyng and communicacyon unto the havyn. But yit somwhat (173r) I returne to you agayn, sayeng: ye desyred me to wryȝte unto you some doctryne of holy counsell, and I have gadred oute of þe wrytyngs of holy faders acordyng to your peticion serteyn sentences, thouȝe not as I ouȝt, yit as by the grace of God I myȝte, which in thys lytell boke I presente unto you. Now my loved sustere in Cryste, ye have counsell of good lyfe. Ye have gyven unto you counsell and rewle to lyve wele. Ther ys now noon ignoraunce þat may excuse you from syn. Ye be not now ignorante of good lyfe. Ye cannot now saye: I have offendyd or synned ignorantly. Why? For nowe þe lawe of good lyfe ys declared unto you, which ye ouȝt to folowe. Hit ys now shewde unto you howe ye shuld behave you in the house of God. Ye have now knowlege of þe commaundmentis. Nowe ye knowe what it ys to lyve wele. Se now therfor þat ye doo no more offend. Se þat fro hensfurth ye dispyse not the (173v) good counsell and doctryne þat ye have lerned, and se þat ye sette not at nought in evyl lyvyng the good lessons þat ye doo rede. For and yf ye so doo, ye shal be gretly to blame in the sight of God. Why? ‘For it ys bettere not to knowe the waye of good lyvyng than after we knowe it to goo backe and not to doo after it’.625 Therfor kepe ye in wyll and dede the gyfte of knoulege þat ys gyven unto you. Fulfyll in dede þat ye have lerned by techyng. Reverente sustere, agayn and agayn I exhorte you þat with grete stodye and dyligens ye kepe the counselles of this boke. Amen.

623 

Matt. 25. 41. Matt. 25. 34. 625  ii Pet. 2. 21. 624 

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The laste exhortacion ys a meke supplicacion of Seynt Bernard, prayeng and exhortyng hys suster to praye for hym, mekely knoulegyng hymself a synnere Wel beloved sustere, I praye you not to dysdayne to here þat I with grete desyre wyll saye unto you. For bycause I love you gretly in Cryste, I make you privye of my conscience, but I fere lesse in shewyng you my synnes (174r) I shall greve your heryng. But, my loved sustere, I praye you þat ye forgyve me unworthy synnere. I wreche and synnere almoste from my youth have defyled my lyfe. I have evere addyd newe syn to þe oold. I nevere ceassed to offende. I have not don the goodnes that I ought to have don and have done the evyl þat I ouȝt not to doo. I wrecche am not worthy to se heven for the multitude of my synnes, for I have provoked the ire of Almyȝty God agaynste me; and I have thouȝt, sayd and done fro my youthe unto thys day innumerable synnes before hym. I ungracyous offended in my chyldehode, I synned in my youthe, after I was of lawfull age, and in my manhode, and þat ys more grevous and perylous I have synned in myn age. I wrecched synnere have fallyn in the myre of lewdnes, in þe pytte of syn, in þe fowle podell of wyckednes. O wrecche, o unhappy, I have fallyn and I cannot by myself aryse. Therfor, my loved sustere in Cryste, I beseche you to lyffte (174v) me up by the hande of your prayer. Gyve me the hande of your prayer and drawe me oute of the depnes of vyce, oute of þe pytte of syn and wyckednes. My loved sustere, I am sure þat yf ye kepe the convenant þat ye have made with Cryst, the crown of everlastyng joye shal be gyven unto you and to me a synnere mercye and forgyfnes in this lyfe. And yf ye with a devoute mynde perfourme þat ye have vowed to Cryste, ye shal both for me unworthy opteyn mercye and ye shall with the holy company of virgyns joye in heven. Good virgyn, I am sure and dowȝte not þat the prayer of your virgynyte may gete the remission of my synnes unto me unworthy. Good virgyn, I praye you to here diligently what I saye. Ye be my moste devoute sustere in Cryste by whose prayer I douwȝt not to be purged cleen from the fowlnes of my synnes. If, reverent virgyn, ye be accept to God and kepe your chastyte with Jhesu Cryste your spouse, whatsoevere ye aske of hym for my welth ye (175r) shall have it. If þat ye love Jhesu Cryste your spouse above all thyng and persevere in his moste swete love, ye may obteyn absolucion and forgyfnes of my trespaces. Jhesu your spouse wull not denye you, but whatsoevere ye aske he wyll graunte you, which hath cowpled you to hym. He loveth you wele þat redemyd you with his own bloode. Therfor your love in Cryste shal be remyssion of my synnes. I

182 Transcription

have hope of forgyfnes yf ye, dere sustere whom I gretly love, doo entre yn with Cryste to the maryage in heven. Reverent sustere, ye shal be to me a comforte at the daye of the strayte and ferefull jugement of God wher I shall gyve accounte of myn offencys and neglygencys. Also the meryte of your holy vyrginite shall dymynushe the payne of my wyckydnes. Amen. Deo gracias

Commentary

The Commentary fulfils several functions: 1. It records linguistic difficulties and lists emendations. 2. It assesses the Middle English translation by comparing it to the Latin original as printed in PL 184, 1199–1306. 3. It acknowledges the sources of the Latin original when known: not all patristic references have been identified. In some instances passages may occur in several Latin texts. In such cases only the most likely source is usually noted in the Commentary. When a second source is given, more­ over, the reference may not cover the whole of the entry. This is mostly the case with Defensor, who quotes Isidore of Seville but does not always provide complete quotations. In the Commentary, the order of the entries follows the Middle English text and not the Latin. Some Latin phrases, therefore, may occupy a slightly different position in the original. In the absence of a modern Latin edition of the Liber, the PL edition is considered a fairly reliable witness of the Latin text. Spot checks in Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, which belonged to St Birgitta of Sweden herself, show no noticeable change from the PL version, apart from at times the use of a synonym or a different word order. Batt’s translation, which likewise demonstrates no significant variations from the PL version, has been preferred to other translations in English for purposes of comparison because of its completeness and literalness.1 Unlike other texts such as De doctrina cordis which have survived in different versions (long and short), the lack of substantial changes between 1 

For an assessment of all the English versions of the text, see Introduction, pp. 26–37.

184

Commentary

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, the PL version, and Batt’s rendering may suggest that the Latin Liber remained fairly stable through the Middle Ages.2 As it is not known which Latin manuscript the translator used (if indeed this manuscript has survived), not every detail has been noted in assessing the translation, and more changes have been observed in the early chapters of the text. All abbreviations are silently expanded in quotations from Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 and Batt’s translations. In transcriptions from Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 (and other unpublished Latin sources) the choice of ‘u/v’ ‘i/j’ corresponds to classical Latin usage. Since the Middle English uses rubrics rather than titles for each chapter, the Latin title has been preferred below when referring to a specific chapter of the text for the sake of brevity. Most entries record only one change. In a few cases, however, one entry may cover two changes, variant and addition, for example: and shew me by your good and religious conversacion and examples (fol. 40r), fulcite me bonorum vestrorum exemplis, PL 184, 1222A, MGL variant and addition. The vernacular is more explicit.

As in the above sentence, the changes between the Latin and the vernacular are usually indicated with underlining, but there is none where the entry consists entirely of different words, for example: helpe ye me with your devoute prayers (fol. 40r), MGL addition.

Grammatical variants (i.e., change of tenses or voices, of negatives into positives or vice versa, etc.) or changes in word order or in emphasis are not usually recorded. If the same variant reoccurs throughout the text, each occurrence is not systematically recorded. The techniques of ‘geminatio’ and combining of phrases/clauses, which are frequently used by the translator, are discussed in the Introduction.3 Such changes are therefore not mentioned below, unless they have a special significance. See, for example, the following case of ‘geminatio’: Mary Mawdlen was a worldly woman and a synner (fol. 69v), Maria Magdalena saecularis fuit, PL 184, 1240A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit.

2  For the Middle English version, see The Doctrine of the Hert, ed. by Whitehead, Renevey, and Mouron. 3  See Introduction, pp. 23–24.

Commentary

185

However, most of the changes recorded in the Commentary highlight one or other of the translator’s practices, including his many omissions of material he considers superfluous. The following abbreviated references are used in the Commentary: Batt

Bernard of Clairvaux, A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt

MGL

The Manere of Good Lyvyng (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517)

Paynell

Bernard of Clairvaux, A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse, trans. by Paynell

PL 184

Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber de modo bene vivendi

Tyrwhitt Bernard of Clairvaux, How to Live Well, trans. by Tyrwhitt

186

Commentary

Prologue (PL 184, 1199A: Praefatio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: Aquest

libro ordeno sant Bernart a pregarias de una su hermana a honor de Jhesu Christo;4 Paynell: The prologue; Batt: The Preface of the Author to the Treatise following; Tyrwhitt: Preface) A devoute tretes of holy Saynt Bernard, drawne oute of Latyn into English, callid The Manere of Good Lyvyng, which he sent unto his own suster, wherin is conteyned the summe of every vertue necessary unto cristis religion and holy conversacion (fol. 1r), MGL addition. The following is found in Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1491): Divi Bernardi doctoris clarissimi et abbatis Clarevalensis: Ad sororem suam modus bene vivendi: in quo continetur omnium virtutum summa ad christianam religionem necessaria. A similar title (i.e., Divi Bernardi abbatis ad sororem modus bene vivendi) is also encountered in other early Latin editions of the text. See Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1507); and Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1514). Paynell: ‘A uery conuenient forme and maner of liuyng for euery man or woman that is mynded to lyue in Chrystes lawes’ (fol.  1r). Batt: ‘A rule of good life: MRA, written by the mellifluous Doctor S. Bernard (Monke and Abbot of [the] holie Order of S. Ben[et])5 especiallie for Virgins, and other Religious woemen; and may profitably be read likewise by all others, that aspire to Christian perfection’ (title page). My wel beloved suster in Criste (fol. 1r), Charissima mihi in Christo soror, PL 184, 1199A. This kind of address is similar to those found in letters. See the examples given by Leclercq: ‘Carissimo fratri suo’, ‘Reverendissimo in Christo patri domino suo’. Leclercq, ‘L’Amitié dans les lettres au Moyen Âge’, 1 (1945), p. 407. Leclercq states that some writers ‘ont exposé sous cette forme [i.e., as letters] des idées spirituelles […] il existait ainsi, en matière doctrinale, tout un enseignement par correspondence’, Leclercq, ‘L’Amitié dans les lettres au Moyen Âge’, 2 (1946), p. 66. A letter attributed to St Bernard himself also starts with a similar formula: ‘Fratri et filio carissimo in Christo, Petro, Bernardus, peccator monachus et custos fraternae dilectionis’ (Leclercq, ‘Deux opuscules médiévaux sur la vie solitaire’, p. 98). See also Gransden, ‘The Reply of a 14th century Abbot’. The letter ends, ‘Ista frater karissime de exterioris hominis conversacione […] ‘, p. 467, my emphasis. 4 

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 3r. Word missing in text. Note that the missing word/letters are clearly visible on the EEBO version of the text. 5 

Commentary

187

ye have long desired þat I wold wryte som tretes of holy doctryne unto yowe (fol. 1r), diu est quod rogasti ut verba sanctae admonitionis scriberem tibi, PL 184, 1199A. Janson writes: ‘it was common even in classical times to say that some person(s) had requested that one should write’. Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces, p. 116. But, as Leclercq points out, ‘quand un auteur déclare avoir été sollicité de livrer un livre au public, ce n’est pas une excuse factice pour son besoin de célébrité […] Un ouvrage est presque toujours la solution d’un problème réellement posé par la vie, et ceci donne à cette littérature un caractère concret et animé. Un prologue n’est pas simplement une introduction, c’est une adresse’. Leclercq, ‘L’Amitié dans les lettres au Moyen Âge’, 2 (1946), p. 64. Compare with the opening of Aelred’s Rule of Life for a Recluse, ‘Iam pluribus annis exigis a me, soror, ut secundum modum uiuendi quem arripuisti pro Christo, certam tibi formulam tradam’. Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum, ed. by Hoste and Talbot, p. 637. ‘For many years now, my sister, you have been asking me for a rule to guide you in the life you have embraced for the sake of Christ’. Aelred of Rievaulx, A Rule of Life for a Recluse, trans. by MacPherson, p. 43. The Middle English translation in Oxford, Bodl. Library, MS Bodley 423 reads: ‘Suster, thou hast ofte axed of me a forme of lyuyng accordyng to thyn estat’. Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum, ed. by Ayto and Barratt, p. 1. ye have long desired (fol. 1r), diu est quod rogasti, PL 184, 1199A, MGL variant. ‘Classical authors […] generally used such normal words for exhortation and request as ROGARE, HORTARI’, Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces, p. 117. but bycause Scripture seith: ‘it is a pryde for a man to covett to teche his better’ (fol. 1r), Sed cum scriptum sit, ‘Superbia est quemquam velle docere meliorem se’, PL 184, 1199A. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob, ed. by Adriaen, vol. i (1979), bk vi, ch. xxxix, p. 333. I considered myself unworthy to take the werke upon me […] as Y myght not as I ouȝte (fol.  1r). A typical modesty topos. See Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces, pp. 120–24. gadred togethyr som small lessons of religious conversacion oute of the writyngs of my forfathirs (fol. 1v), sub mensa Patrum micas collegi, PL 184, 1199A, MGL variant. The image of crumbs for spiritual nourishment, although not retained by the translator, is found elsewhere. See the prologue of Caesarius of Heisterbach’s The Dialogue of Miracles: ‘Memor etiam praedictae sententiae Salvatoris, aliis “panes integros” turbis frangentibus, id est, fortes

188

Commentary

scripturarum quaestiones exponentibus, sive excellentiora moderni temporis acta scribentibus, ego “micas decidentes” colligens, propter inopes, non gratia, sed literatura, duodecim ex eis sportellas implevi’. Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogus miraculorum, ed. and trans. by Nösges and Schneider, i, Prologue, p. 200. ‘Mindful also of the saying of the Saviour, which I have quoted, while others are breaking whole loaves to the people, that is, are expounding hard problems of Scripture, or writing down the more important occurrences of modern days, I have collected the crumbs that fell and have filled twelve baskets with them for those who are poor, not in grace, but in learning’. Caesarius of Heisterbach, The Dialogue of Miracles, trans. by Scott and Bland, i, Prologue, p. 1. The same image is also encountered in the Ancrene Wisse: ‘Ah me is, þet wite ȝe, moni crome edfallen; secheð ham ant gederið, for ha beoð sawle fode’. Ancrene Wisse, ed. by Millett, i, 129. ‘But as you know I have let many a crumb fall — seek them out and gather them, for they are soul-food’, Ancrene Wisse, trans. by Savage and Watson, p. 173. which in this litell boke I sende unto youe accordyng to your peticion (fol. 1v), quas in hoc libro tuae sanctitati repraesento, PL 184, 1199A, MGL variant. The translator avoids the reference to sanctity. See Introduction, p. 23; Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, 300–22. Nowe, therfor, lovyng suster, take this boke […] ne in adversite broken with ire (fols 1v–2r). These two paragraphs may be seen as a rough summary of the whole work’s contents. Nowe therfor, lovyng suster, take this boke [...] what ys in them þat doeth please or displease their celestiall spouse (fol. 1v). Pinder believes that this paragraph shows that the author of the Liber knew the Speculum virginum. See Pinder, ‘The Cloister and the Garden’, pp. 161–62. While there is an undeniable congruence of ideas between the two texts, the mirror image is too common to really prove (or disprove) a direct link between them. See following note. take this boke and leye it every houre bifore you, therin looke ye as in a glasse (fol. 1v), hunc librum accipe, et eum ante oculos tuos quasi speculum propone, eumque omni hora velut speculum contemplare, PL 184, 1199A–B. The concluding paragraph of the Rule of St Augustine begins: ‘Ut autem uos in hoc libello tamquam in speculo possitis inspicere, ne per obliuionem aliquid neglegatis, semel in septimana uobis legatur’, Augustine, Règle, ed. by Verheijen,

Commentary

189

Praeceptum, i, p. 437, lines 240–242. ‘This little book is to be read to you once a week. As in a mirror, you will be able to see in it whether there is anything you are neglecting or forgetting ( James 1:23–25)’, Augustine, Rule, trans. by Canning, p. 24. Many medieval works are also specifically referred to as ‘mirrors’ (Latin ‘specula’). This is, for example, the case of the Myrour of Recluses (a Middle English translation of the Speculum inclusarum). The latter’s editor points out: ‘persistently enjoining the readers to see themselves and others, the author of the Mirror for Recluses heightens the significance of the title of his work; the book itself is a mirror reflecting the requirements of the vocation, and in his mirror the prospective recluses must measure their spiritual fitness and ultimately find their own reflections’. The Myrour of Recluses, ed. by Harley, p. xxiii. See also The Middle English ‘Mirror’, ed. by Blumreich (an edition based on Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Holkham misc. 40); The Myroure of Oure Ladye, ed. by Blunt; Whytford, A Looking Glass for the Religious, ed. by Lawrence. ne in adversite broken with ire (fol. 2r), nec in adversitate frangaris, PL 184, 1199C, MGL addition. The Middle English text is often more explicit than the Latin original. See Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 306–07.

Chapter 1: Faith (PL 184, 1200A: De fide; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240:

De fide; Paynell: Of fayth; Batt: Of faith; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Faith)

Chapters 1 (Faith), 2 (Hope), and 5 (Charity) represent the three Theological Virtues. The fyrst exhortacion ys how faith ought to be hadd and kepte, and how withoute goode werkys and conversacion it avayleth not to beleve (fol. 2v), MGL addition. All chapters in MGL are preceded by an argument absent from PL 184. For more details, see Introduction, p. 20. MGL shares this habit of briefly describing each chapter’s contents with a number of other texts. See, for example, Hilton, The Scale of Perfection, ed. by Bestul; Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe; Deonise Hid Diuinite, ed. by Hodgson. No man or woman maye com to þe everlastyng blisse [...] and in wele lyvyng dothe kepe his ryght fayth (fol. 2v), Nemo potest venire ad aeternam beatitudinem […] et bene vivendo fidem rectam custodit, PL 184, 1200A. Isidore of

190

Commentary

Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 2, 1, p. 94. For the second sentence, see also Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxiii, 21, p. 135. Seynt Paule sayeth: ‘wythoute feyth no man or woman maye please God’ (fol. 2v), beatus Isidorus: ‘Sine fide nemo potest placere Deo’, PL 184, 1200A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 2, 3, p. 94. Isidore here simply quotes Hebr. 11. 6. Both the Liber and MGL are therefore right in their attribution for this quotation. Batt translates: ‘Wherevpon blessed Isidorus saieth: Without faith no man can please God’, p. 5. But Paynell tries to acknowledge both attributions: ‘S. Paule sayeth, that it is impossyble to please God without fayth [‘Hebr. xi’ given in margin], and S. Isodore sayeth, that no man can please God without fayth’, fol. 3r. ‘whiche is not hadd by compulsion [...] it wyll turne agayne to þat hit was before’ (fol. 2v), ‘Fides nequaquam vi extorquetur […] in quod prius fuerat confestim revertitur’, PL 184, 1200A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 2, 4, p. 94. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxiii, 24, p. 136. ‘a yong tendre tree’ (fol. 2v), ‘novellae arboris’, PL 184, 1200A, MGL addition. This is the first of a series of images of trees and garden in the text. Both images often appear in religious and devotional texts. For an appraisal of the tree image in such works, see, The Desert of Religion, ed. by Mouron, i, pp. 39–50. ‘Feyth withoute good werkis ys a dedd feyth’ [...] and they þat doo not be as ypocrytis (fols 2v–3r), ‘Fides sine operibus mortua est’ […] simulatio hypocritarum est, PL 184, 1200A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 2, 8–9, p. 95. the cros of penaunce, (fol. 3r), Qui crucem portat, PL 184, 1200B, MGL addition. Other texts also see the cross in term of penance. In its discussion of the fourth article of the Creed, the Doctrine of the Hert says: ‘He [i.e., Christ] suffred hard passioun […] and was nayled to þe crosse […] þat nowþer for þe criyng of þe Juis ne of þe knyttes wiche scornyd him […] yit wold he not [i.e., come down from the cross] in tokene þat þou shalt not leve þe crosse of penaunce in religioun’. The Doctrine of the Hert, ed. by Whitehead, Renevey, and Mouron, p. 70, lines 74–79, my emphasis. In its examination of the Creed, one text reads: ‘Crist diede in þe cros bodily, þat we dure in þe cros of penaunce aȝenstonding synne to oure lives end. Þe cros of penaunce haþe foure parts’, my emphasis. Oxford, Bodl. Library, MS Bodley 938, fols 42v–43r. Another work, written by a

Commentary

191

religious sister, uses the same concept: ‘O goode Lord yeve grace þat I may helpe to bere youre cros, þat is to say mekli to bere for youre love alle hevy birthenys of charge þat fallith to me. Also to doon penaunce for the love of yow as ye dede for me’, Oxford, Bodl. Library, MS Holkham misc. 41, p. 65, my emphasis. but feythfully beleveth (fol. 3r), sed crediderit, PL 184, 1200B, MGL addition. The addition reinforces the theme of the chapter: faith. ‘he þat beleveth ryght in the son of God’ (fol. 3r), ‘Qui credit in Filium Dei’, PL 184, 1200B, MGL addition. ‘Ryght’ recalls the formula used at the beginning of the chapter: ‘he is blessid þat beleveth ryght, and in ryght belevyng doth lyve wele, and in wele lyvyng dothe kepe his ryght fayth’ (fol. 2v). feyth ys grete, but withoute charite it avayleth not (fol. 3r). Note that Chapter 5, ‘De charitate’, will examine ‘charite’ in greater detail. Therfor kepe in you ryght beleve […] Oon evel vice lesyth many good dedys (fol. 3r–v), Igitur […] serva in te rectam fidem […] Unum malum multa bona perdit, PL 184, 1200B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 3–4, pp. 64–65. Therefore kepe in you ryght believe, kepe pure fayth, kepe incorrupte fayth (fol. 3r), Igitur, soror venerabilis, serva in te rectam fidem, tene sinceram fidem, custodi intemeratam fidem, PL 184, 1200B. MGL reinforces the text’s message by repeating ‘kepe’ three times. Thynke noon evel o[f ] God (fol. 3r–v), nihil de Deo pravum et impium sentias, PL 184, 1200C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 4r. Batt translates: ‘thinke or imagine nothing of God that is wicked or lewd’, p. 7, my emphasis. Thynke noon evel o[f ] God, and in thynkyng noon evyll (fol. 3v), nihil de Deo pravum et impium sentias, nihil perverse cogites, PL 184, 1200C. When Latin uses synonyms, MGL often prefers repetitions. This phenomenon occurs throughout the text, but will not be systematically recorded in the Commentary. Evyll myxte with good doeth oftentymes muche hurte (fol. 3v), Malum mistum bonis contaminat plurima, PL 184, 1200C, MGL variant. Like many other translations of the period, MGL favours common words over Latinate ones. See Introduction, p. 22.

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Commentary

Ye shal not offende in your dedis […] Joyne noon evyll to good (fol. 3v), Non delinquas in opere […] non adjungas malum bonis, PL 184, 1200C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 4, p. 65. Corrupte not perfite bileve with evyll maners (fol.  3v), integritatem fidei pravis moribus non corrumpas, PL 184, 1200C, MGL variant. The choice of ‘perfite’ in MGL echoes the preceding sentence: ‘þat are perfight in faith’, my emphasis. The use of repetitions instead of synonyms in MGL as a whole creates a network of repeated ideas and concepts. See Introduction, p. 26.

Chapter 2: Hope (PL 184, 1201A: De spe; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De spe; Paynell: Of esperance and hope; Batt: Of hope; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Hope)

The second exhortacion: how no persone shuld dispeyre but hope on the mercie of God, and how we ought to have feer with hope and to lyve wele (fol. 3v), MGL addition. Hope of ryghtwous persons (fol. 4r), Exspectatio justorum, PL 184, 1201A, MGL variant. The vernacular often prefers a more common expression. They þat stynte not to doo evyll […] yf they wolde leve their syn and myslyvyng (fol. 4r), Qui male agere non cessant […] si a malo recederent, PL 184, 1201A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 4, 1, p. 98. yf they wolde leve their syn and myslyvyng (fol.  4r), si a malo recederent, PL 184, 2001A–B, MGL addition. ‘Myslyvyng’ here negatively echoes the title of the work. Seynt Isidor seith: ‘les that thurghe hope […] we ouȝte to be ferefull’ (fol. 4r), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Timere debemus ne per spem quam Deus promittit nobis, perseveranter peccemus’, PL 184, 1201B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 4, 2, p. 98. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxiv, 8, p. 137. The introduction of fear and dread anticipates Chapter 4, ‘De timore Dei’. Nor yit bycause he thurgh justice […] and anoþere whyle the feer of hell causeth hym to drede (fol. 4r–v), Nec rursus, quia juste peccata distringit […] nunc ad formidinem terror gehennae reducit, PL 184, 1201B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 4, 2, pp. 98–99.

Commentary

193

For every good lyver (fol. 4v), Omnis quippe justus, PL 184, 1201B, MGL variant. The translator again chooses a word which emphasizes the work’s title. the feer of hell causeth hym to drede (fol. 4v), ad formidinem terror gehennae reducit, PL 184, 1201B, MGL variant. Another instance where the vernacular opts for a more common expression. He þat dispeyreth of forgevenes of his syn […] by the syn þat he hath done (fol. 4v), Qui enim de peccati venia desperat […] quam de peccato damnat, PL 184, 1201B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 53, p. 43. Amende your lyvyng (fol. 4v), Emenda te ipsam, PL 184, 1201C, MGL variant. Once again, the translator chooses a word which recalls the work’s title.

Chapter 3: Grace of God (PL 184, 1201C: De gratia Dei; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De gracia Dei; Paynell: Of grace; Batt: Of the grace of God; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Grace of God) The thyrd exhortacion is howe we have no vertue of ourself nor can doo no good dede withoute the grace of God (fol. 5r), MGL addition. to þe damnpacion of man (fol. 5r), ‘in morte’, PL 184, 1201C, MGL variant. ‘for þe salvacion of man’ (fol. 5r), ‘in vitam aeternam’, PL 184, 1201C, MGL variant. Note the added parallelism in MGL: ‘and wheras syn did reigne to þe dampnacion of man, nowe doeth grace thurgh þe mercye of God reigne for þe salvacion of man’, my emphasis. ‘and for good lyvyng by þe grace of God ys everelastyng lyfe’ (fol. 5r), ‘gratia autem Dei vita aeterna’, PL 184, 1201C, MGL addition. The translator’s addition again reminds the reader of the text’s title. as Isider seyth: ‘it ys a gyfte of God þat man doeth profytte’ (fol. 5r), sicut beatus ait Isidorus, profectus hominis donum Dei est, PL 184, 1201D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 5, 3, p. 99. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxv, 14, p. 139. Note that ‘profectus’ has two meanings: ‘progress’ and ‘profit’. Paynell writes: ‘the profyte of a spirituall man […] is a gift of god’, fol. 7r. Batt translates: ‘Mans going forward, is the guift of God’, p. 11.

194

Commentary

Furthermor, we cannot amende ourself aftir […] ‘man hath no power of hymself to lyve and gyde hym wele’ (fol. 5v), Nec a se potest quisquam corrigi […] ‘ut ambulet et dirigat gressus suos’ ( Jerem. x, 23), PL 184, 1201D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 5, 3, pp. 99–100. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxv, 14, p. 139. we cannot amende ourself aftir þat we have offendid (fol. 5v), Nec a se potest quisquam corrigi, PL 184, 1201D, MGL addition. Another example of the vernacular text being more explicit. withoute the grace of God (fol. 5v), nisi a Deo, PL 184, 1201D, MGL addition. The translator introduces the concept of ‘grace’. For as the prophete Jeremye sayeth: ‘man’ […] but by the grace of God (fol. 5v), Homo nihil boni habet proprium […] ‘ut ambulet et dirigat gressus suos’ ( Jerem. x, 23), PL 184, 1201D. MGL combines two sentences of PL 184 and, in so doing, paraphrases Jeremiah, whereas PL 184 quotes him. Note the addition here of ‘by the grace of God’, which parallels the above addition ‘withoute the grace of God’ (fol. 5r), my emphasis. For as the prophete Jeremye sayeth (fol. 5v), testante propheta qui ait, PL 184, 1201D, MGL variant. There are many instances of the vernacular naming a character where the Latin does not. The translator most likely added proper names in order to help a less learned audience. This is not systematically recorded in the Commentary. Sythen þat every man and woman have receyved […] les he lese þat he hath receyved (fol. 5v), Cumque aliquod donum percipit […] qui non suo contentus officio subripit alienum, PL 184, 1201D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 5, 10, p. 102. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxv, 15, p. 139. have receyved oon special grace (fol. 5v), aliquod donum percipit, PL 184, 1201D, MGL variant. Note the renewed emphasis on ‘grace’. This is again evidence of the translator creating his own pattern of words and concepts throughout the text. and goo no further (fol. 5v), ne dum alterius membri officium subripere tentat, PL 184, 1201D, MGL variant. Another instance of the vernacular preferring a more common expression.

Commentary

195

In þe division of the gyftis of grace […] take example of anoþere lovyngly togythere (fols 5v–6r), In divisione donorum diversa […] alternoque sese exemplo erudientium, PL 184, 1201D–02A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 5, 7, p. 101. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxv, 17, p. 139. In þe division of the gyftis of grace (fol. 5v), In divisione donorum, PL 184, 1201D, MGL addition. A further introduction of the concept of ‘grace’. In figure of this the prophete Ezechiel (fol. 5v), Nam quod in Ezechiele, PL 184, 1202A, MGL addition. The vernacular text often assists its reader by making the nature of an illustrative biblical reference (or quotation) more explicit. wherby ys signified þat dyvers persons (fol. 5v), virtutes designantur sanctorum, PL 184, 1202A, MGL variant. MGL frequently avoids the word ‘sanctus’: see Introduction, p. 23; Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 308–09. havyng dyverse gyftis of grace (fol. 5v), virtutes designantur, PL 184, 1202A, MGL addition. Another instance of the translator’s insistence on ‘grace’. and in convertyng us from syn, he is with us (fol.  6r), concomitatur nos, PL 184, 1202A, MGL addition. The vernacular text is more explicit. For þe traspas of Adam (fol. 6v), Propter peccatum primi hominis, PL 184, 1202B, MGL variant. As noted previously, the vernacular often prefers the proper name. Almyȝty God thurgh his mercye (fol. 6v), Deus per suam sanctam misericordiam, PL 184, 1202C, MGL addition. The same addition often occurs throughout the text, but is not recorded below. See Introduction, p. 21, note 119. they þat be myndful of the goodnes and mercye of God doo love hym hertlye (fol. 7r), Ac si diceret, Memores gratiae tuae […] hoc est, illi te diligunt qui recti sunt corde, PL  184, 1202D, Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1057D. þeir good dedis and holynes (fol. 7r), de justitia aut sanctitate, PL 184, 1202D, MGL variant. Note also that here MGL unusually retains ‘holynes’.

196

Commentary

and lefte your fader and moder (fol. 7r), et quod domum patris tui reliquisti, PL 184, 1203A, MGL variant. The vernacular here alters the focus from a literal place (i.e., your father’s house) to a more emotional locus (i.e., your father and mother). The translation regularly introduces greater affectivity; see Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 310–11. to serve God in religion (fol. 7r), in monasterio servire Deo, PL 184, 1203A, MGL variant. The translator regularly chooses to translate ‘monasterium’ by ‘religion’. Later occurrences are not recorded below. See Introduction, p. 21, note 119. Peraventer ye wold aske me: broþere (fol. 7v). Such rhetorical questions seem to be a regular feature of texts of monastic or eremitic instruction. See Dolan, ‘The Rhetoric of Ancrene Wisse’, p. 210. Sothly oonly God ys good, holy and riȝtwous, for he is very goodnes hymself (fol. 7v). Julian of Norwich also insists on the goodness of God. Chapter 6 of the Revelation of Love, for example, shows that ‘in his goodnes is all the hole, and there failith right nowte’. Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, p. 6. Chapter 8 says: ‘God is al thing that is gode […] and the godenes that al thing hath, it is he’, Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, p. 9. but by God and his grace (fol. 7v), sed per Deum, PL 184, 1203A, MGL addition. Here again, the translator adds the concept of ‘grace’. quia odorem virtutis meae per universum mundum diffundo. ‘Ego’, inquit, ‘sum flos campi, et lilium convallium’, PL 184, 1203B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘for that I spread abroad the sweet sauour of my vertue throughout [the] whole world. I, saith he, am the flower of the Field & the lilie of the valley’, p. 17. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1062A. and as þe felde ys arayed with fresche flowres […] with þe fayth and knowlege of Cryst (fol. 7v), Sicut enim campus floribus adornatur et vernat […] et notitia decoratur, PL 184, 1203B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1062A. ‘I am the flour of þe felde and lylye of the valeyes’, as ho sayth: I geve grete grace […] but in me, as þe gyver of all vertue and grace (fols 7v–8r), ‘Ego

Commentary

197

flos campi, et lilium convallium’, quia illis hominibus amplius meam gratiam dono […] nec in suis meritis confidunt, sed in me, PL 184, 1203B–C. PseudoCassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1062A. but in me, as þe gyver of all vertue and grace (fol. 8r), sed in me, PL 184, 1203C, MGL addition. Another occurrence of the translator introducing the concept of ‘grace’. þat ye referre nothyng to your own deservyng [...] Putt nothyng in your vertue (fol. 8r), ut nihil tuis meritis attribuas […] In virtute tua nihil ponas, PL 184, 1203C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 62, p. 113. but ascribe all thing to þe gyfte of God and his grace (fol. 8r), Omnia divino dono et divinae gratiae ascribe, PL 184, 1203C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 62, p. 113.

Chapter 4: Dread of God (PL 184, 1203C: De timore Dei; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De timore Dei; Paynell: Of feare; Batt: Of the feare of God; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Fear of God)

The fourth exhortacion ys of þe drede of God and how we ouȝt to have it, and howe ther be fowre maner of feerys (fol. 8r), MGL addition. Of this drede spekith Salomon sayng (fol. 8v), Et Salomon, PL 184, 1203D, MGL addition. The addition emphasizes the theme of the chapter. ‘and doo noon evyl’ (fol. 8v), ‘et recede a malo’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL variant. Another instance where the vernacular prefers the more common word. ‘a gladnes in this present lyfe’ (fol. 8v), ‘et laetitia’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular text is more explicit. ‘and þe crown of contynuall joye in þe lyfe to come’ (fol. 8v), ‘et corona exsultationis’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL addition. ‘Hit doeth delyte the hert of man, indwyng it for everemore with joye and gladnes’ (fol. 8v), ‘Timor Domini ditabit cor, et dabit gaudium et laetitiam in longitudine dierum’, PL 184, 1203D. Note that the translator reflects the paronomasia (‘ditabit’ - ‘dabit’) with the alliteration ‘delyte’ and ‘indwyng’. The

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same sensitivity is exhibited throughout MGL, but is not routinely noticed here. By way of comparison, Batt translates: ‘The feare of our Lord shall delight the heart and shall giue ioy, gladnes in length of dayes’, p. 20. ‘for everemore’ (fol. 8v), ‘in longitudine dierum’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL variant. A typical example of the vernacular opting for the more common expression. ‘truste paciently in his mercye’ (fol. 8v), ‘sustinete ejus misericordiam’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL addition. In this entry and the next, note the emphasis on the role of patience, which is the focus of Chapter 40, De patientia. ‘and forsake hym not by impacience’ (fol. 8v), ‘et ne deflectatis ab illo’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL variant. ‘lest þat ye fall in parell of dampnacion’ (fol. 8v), ‘ne cadatis’, PL 184, 1203D, MGL addition. Another example in which the vernacular text is more explicit. ‘Ye þat drede God’ [...] they þat love God (fol. 9r). If the fear of God is the focus of this chapter, the love of God is examined in the next, ‘De charitate’, and in Chapter 12, ‘De dilectione Dei’. ‘bileve his sayengs’ (fol. 9r), ‘non erunt increduli verbo ejus’, PL 184, 1204A, MGL variant. The vernacular text often replaces a negative sentence with a positive statement. This feature is not systematically recorded below. ‘they þat love God perfitely fulfyll his commaundmentis’ (fol. 9r), ‘qui diligunt illum replebuntur lege ejus’, PL 184, 1204A, MGL addition. Perfection is another concept emphasized by the translator throughout the text. ‘wyll be clene in soule and perfytte in his siȝte’ (fol. 9r), ‘probabunt corda sua, et in conspectu illius sanctificabunt animas suas’, PL 184, 1204A, MGL variant. See previous entry. ‘wyll have paciens in adversitee’ (fol.  9r), ‘patientiam habebunt’, PL  184, 1204A, MGL addition. The concept of having patience in adversity is later examined in Chapter 42, ‘De tolerantia’. ‘wher man dyde wantt nooþinge necessary to hym’ (fol. 9v), ‘benedictio et omnis gloria operiet illum’, PL 184, 1204B, MGL variant. Another instance where the vernacular text chooses a more common phrase.

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In lyke wyse, who dredyth God lovyngly schal have all his desyre (fol. 9v), MGL addition. ‘which ys þe begynnyng of his love’ (fol. 9v). Note that so far Chapter 4 has been a clever juxtaposition of biblical quotations. for his drede puttyth awey syn […] dissolucion of lyfe, abundaunce of syn (fol. 9v), qui timor Domini expellit peccatum […] ibi est abundantia peccatorum, PL 184, 1204B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 26, p. 82. let evere drede and hope of God be [...] þat ye maye feer his justice (fols 9v–10r), timor et spes semper sint in corde tuo […] ut timeas ejus justitiam, PL 184, 1204C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 25, p. 82. þere be four manere of feerys: a worldly feer, a constrayned feer, a begynnyng feer, and a chaste feer (10r), quatuor esse timores; videlicet humanum, servilem, initialem, et castum, PL 184, 1204C. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, ii (1981), Liber iii, dist. xxxiv, cap. 4, pp. 192–93. Hugh of St Victor, Explanatio in Canticum beatae Mariae, PL 175, 427D. A worldly feer, as Cassiodour seyth [...] ‘feer ye not them þat have power to sleye þe bodye oonly’ (fol. 10r), Humanus timor est, ut ait Cassiodorus […] ‘Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus’ (Matth. x, 28), etc., PL 184, 1204C–D. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, ii (1981), Liber iii, dist. xxxiv, cap. 4, p. 193. The ultimate reference is to Cassiodorus, Expositio Psalmorium, ed. by Adriaen, ii, Psalm cxxvii, p. 1176. perell of the bodye (fol. 10r), pericula carnis, PL 184, 1204D, MGL variant. The translator quite frequently avoids the word ‘flesh’ and its derivatives as well as any images which may be too suggestive. See Introduction, p. 23; Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, pp. 309–10. The second feer, þat is a constrayned feer [...] but he fereth les he shall be sent into þe paynes of hell (fol. 10r–v), Secundus timor est servilis […] sed timet ne mittatur in poenas inferni, PL 184, 1204D. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, ii (1981), Liber iii, dist. xxxiv, cap. 4, p. 193. not for the love of God (fol. 10r), non propter Dei, PL 184, 1204D, MGL addition. The next chapter is ‘De charitate’.

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‘þe spirit of adopcion in grace’ (fol. 10v), ‘spiritum adoptionis filiorum’, PL 184, 1205A, MGL variant. Note yet again the introduction in the vernacular text of the concept of ‘grace’. As hoo sayeth: we ar not constrayned […] by his grace to be the children of God by adopcion (fol. 10v), id est spiritum filialem, PL 184, 1205D, MGL addition. This is one of several instances where the vernacular text adds a gloss. See Introduction, p. 22; Mouron, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: The Manner of a Good Translator?’, p. 306. Thys feer constrayned sumwhat ys good and profitable [...] þe custom of juste lyvyng sumwhat groweth (fol. 10v), Bonus est iste servilis timor […] per quem crescit paulatim consuetudo justitiae, PL  184, 1205A. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, ii (1981), Liber iii, dist. xxxiv, cap. 4, p. 193. þe custom of juste lyvyng (fol. 10v), consuetudo justitiae, PL 184, 1205A. MGL variant. The translator here again echoes the work’s title. Ther ys not as yit perfite charite in hym (fol. 11r). Note that the next chapter, ‘De charitate’, develops this very theme. and to com to heven (fol. 11r), et veniat regnum Dei, PL 184, 1205A, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular text preferring a more common expression. What ys perfytte charite, but perfitte lyfe? (fol. 11r), Quid est perfecta charitas, nisi perfecta sanctitas?, PL 184, 1205A, MGL variant. The translator often avoids ‘sanctus’ and its derivatives. ‘the perfitte drede of God abydeth for everemore’ (fol. 11v), ‘Timor Domini sanctus permanet in saeculum saeculi’, PL 184, 1205C, MGL variant. Another instance of the avoidance of ‘sanctus’, of the translator’s emphasis on perfection, and of the choice of a common adverb (‘everemore’) rather than the more formal phrase (‘in saeculum saeculi’). when charite begynneth to inhabite the hart of man or woman, feer þat ordeyned his place is put oute. And as charite groweth in the hart of man or woman, so doeth feer decrese (fol. 12r), Quanto autem magis charitas coeperit habitare in corde hominis, tanto magis timor decrescit, PL 184, 1205C, MGL addition.

Commentary

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the cordenars threde (fol. 12r), linum, PL 184, 1205D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. This feer ys perfitte (fol. 12r), Timor iste sanctus est, PL 184, 1205D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, expressions of perfection replace instances of ‘sanctus’ and its derivatives. it gendreth in man or woman perfeccion (fol. 12r), in mente hominis generat sanctitatem, PL 184, 1205D, MGL variant. for he þat hath this drede of feer (fol. 12v), MGL addition. The vernacular text emphasizes again the chapter’s theme: fear. he þat hath þis chaste feer perfittly (fol. 12v), ille habet castum et sanctum timorem, PL 184, 1206A, MGL variant. Another instance where the concept of perfection translates ‘sanctus’. or the ponyschyng of the fyre of hell (fol. 12v), vel propter supplicia gehennae, PL 184, 1206A, MGL variant. The vernacular opts for the more common expression. not for payne but with reverence and love (fol. 12v), note that the concept of love becomes increasingly important in the end of the present chapter, thus anticipating Chapter 5, ‘De charitate’. your speche well sette and spoken (fol. 13r), lingua affabilis, PL 184, 1206C, MGL variant. The translator is here more explicit. all with the helpe of God withoute whom ye can doo no good thyng (fol. 13v). These words remind the reader of the theme of the preceding chapter, ‘De gratia Dei’. and drede God with love in all your herte (fol. 13v), et Deum in toto corde tuo timueris, PL 184, 1206C, MGL addition. The theme of love is again highlighted with this addition.

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Chapter 5: Charity (PL  184, 1206C: De charitate; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De karitate Christi benedicti; Paynell: Of charite; Batt: Of charitie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Love)

Chapter 5 is the first to examine the subject of love, but the theme will be later explored in Chapter 12, ‘De dilectione Dei’; Chapter 13, ‘De dilectione proximi’; Chapter 14, ‘De compassione’; and Chapter 15, ‘De misericordia’. The fyfte exhortacion ys of charite and howe it ouȝt to be hadde perfitely (fol. 13v), MGL addition. Scripture sayth in the voice of every charitable person of Cryst (fol. 13v), MGL addition. By the wyne cellar ys undirstand the mylitaunt Chirch of Cryste […] every Cristen soule is brouȝte yn (fol. 13v), Cella vinaria, Ecclesia est […] scilicet sancta anima, introducitur, PL 184, 1206C–D. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1062D. By the wyne cellar ys undirstand the mylitaunt Chirch of Cryste (fol. 13v), Cella vinaria, Ecclesia est, PL  184, 1206C, MGL addition. The vernacular phrasing is much more explicit. every Cristen soule (fol. 13v), scilicet sancta anima, PL 184, 1206D, MGL variant. A further instance of the translator’s dislike for ‘sanctus’. We ouȝte to love som thyngis more þan som [oþere] (fol. 13v), Non debemus aequaliter omnia diligere, sed alia minus, et alia magis, PL 184, 1206D, MGL combining. Batt translates: ‘We ought not to loue all things equally, but some lesse & some more’, p. 31. The omission of ‘oþere’ is probably a result of the translator’s combining two clauses into one. and not to know the order howe we shuld doo (fols 13v–14r), et nescire ordinem faciendi, PL 184, 1206D, i.e., ‘and not to know the order in which we should do it’. For unexpressed object pronouns, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 42–43. with a perfite undirstandyng, a perfite soule, a perfite wyll, a perfite mynde and with a perfite memorye (fol. 14r), id est ex toto intellectu, et ex tota anima,

Commentary

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et ex tota voluntate, et ex tota mente, et ex tota memoria, PL 184, 1206D–1207A, MGL variants. The translator’s choice of ‘perfite’ here links this sentence to previous and subsequent discussions of perfection, which is an important theme in religious texts. Legrand comments on Florent Radewijns’s introduction to his Petit manuel pour le dévot moderne: ‘L’ Introduction définit la perfection — qui réside dans la sainteté — comme le but principal de la vie. Qui veut atteindre cet idéal de perfection doit se fixer deux objectifs concrets: la pureté du coeur et l’amour de Dieu’. See Radewijns, Petit manuel, ed. and trans. by Legrand, p. 25. and all our good lyfe (fol.  14r), et omnem vitam nostram, PL  184, 1207A, MGL addition. The translator thus again reminds his reader of the work’s title. Salamon sayeth þat ‘love ys as strong as deth’ [...] and þe bodye from þe love of the worlde and þe bodye (fol. 14r–v), Unde Salomon in Canticis canticorum: ‘Fortis est’ […] separat hominem a mundo et carnali amore, PL 184, 1207A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 3, 4, p. 97. þe love of the worlde and þe bodye (fol. 14v), mundo et carnali amore, PL 184, 1207B, MGL variant. Another instance where the translator indicates his dislike for ‘caro’ and its derivatives. God ys loved for his goodnes (fol.  14v), diligitur Deus propter se, PL  184, 1207B, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the vernacular text is more explicit. Of this love spekyth our savyour in þe Gospell, sayeng (fol. 14v), sicut scriptum est, PL 184, 1207C, MGL variant. As who sayth: we shuld love our neyȝbour to that and for þat thyng þat we love ourself, as þat he may be good and come to everelastyng lyfe (fol. 14v), Ac si diceret: Ad hoc debes proximum tuum diligere, ad id quod diligis te ipsum; scilicet ut bonus sit, et ut ad vitam aeternam pervenire possit, PL 184, 1207C, i.e., ‘As if he should say: Thou oughtst to loue thy neighbour to the same end as thou louest thy selfe; to wit, that he may be good and vertuous, and may be able to attaine to eternal happines’, Batt, pp. 34–35. What may more convenient be undirstand by the two brestys […] unto his neyȝbour with that he maye or ys of power? (fol. 15r), Quid per mammas convenientius in hoc loco […] et proximis suis quidquid boni potest largitur, PL 184,

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1207C–D. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 512B. Although there are modern editions of Gregory’s Expositio in canticis canticorum, the PL edition has been retained whenever the passage referred to occurs in the later part of the work, which is no longer attributed to Gregory. This text will henceforth be referred to as written by Pseudo-Gregory. by the which every good persone doeth norysche perfitely hymself (fol. 15r), Per quas mammas mens sancta omnes sensus suos per suam dilectionem nutrit, PL 184, 1207C–D, MGL variant. An example of the translator’s leaving out words which could lead to unchaste thoughts. ‘Sanctus’ is also avoided. by perfite charite (fol. 15r), charitatis conjunctione, PL 184, 1207D, MGL variant. The translator prefers to avoid the reference to marriage (‘conjunctio’) and to remind the reader of perfection. By þe oyntementis ys undirstande þe vertues þat doo grow oute of charite (fol. 15r), Per unguenta quippe ipsas virtutes, quae ex charitate nascuntur, intelligimus, PL 184, 1207D. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 512C. Seynt John sayth (fol. 15r), MGL addition. Another instance in which the vernacular text adds a proper name. ‘ys the chylde of God’ (fol. 15r), ‘ex Deo natus est’, PL 184, 1207D. MGL variant. The translator reminds the reader of the fourth fear in the preceding chapter, which ‘is also callyd a childis feer’ (fol. 12v), my emphasis. For more vertue ys (fol. 15v), Quia sanctior est, PL 184, 1208A MGL variant. Another example of the avoidance of ‘sanctus’. þan of bodyes by kynred oonly (fol. 15v), quam corporum, PL 184, 1208A, MGL addition. The addition ensures that no inappropriate interpretation is possible. We muste love every person with such affeccion of charyte þat they may be the servantis of God and be saved (fol. 15v), Omnes homines affectu charitatis debemus diligere, scilicet ut Deo serviant, PL 184, 1208B. Batt translates: ‘We ought to loue all men with the like affection of charitie; to wit, that they may serue God and be saued’, p. 37.

Commentary

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we may by the helpe of God com to heven (fol. 16r), ad aeternam patriam Deo adjuvante possumus pervenire, PL 184, 1208B, MGL variant. Another instance of the vernacular opting for the more common expression. ‘doo [good] for them þat hate yow’ (fol. 16r), ‘benefacite his qui oderunt vos’, PL 184, 1208B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 11v. Batt translates: ‘doe good to them that hate you’, p. 38. withoute þe which no man maye please God (fol. 16r), sine qua nullus potest placere Deo, PL 184, 1208C. Note that the same formula is already used in Chapter 1 about faith: ‘Seynt Paule sayeth: “wythoute feyth no man or woman maye please God”’, fol. 2v. ‘Sine fide nemo potest placere Deo’, PL 184, 1200A. He loveth not God þat hatyth man (fol. 16r), Deum non diligit, qui hominem odit, PL 184, 1208C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 3, 7c, p. 98. nor he loveth God þat dispiseth his commaundmentis (fol.  16 r), Nec Deum diligit, qui Dei praecepta contemnit, PL 184, 1208C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 3, 5, p. 97. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, iii, 55, p. 17. ther doeth reyne bodely concupiscens (fol. 16r), Ibi regnat carnalis cupiditas, PL 184, 1208C, MGL variant. Another occurrence of the translator’s dislike for ‘caro’ and its derivatives. Allthough a persone doeth beleve well, yit withoute þe love of charite, he cannot come to heven (fol. 16v). This is a reassessment of what was said in Chapter 1, but this time with emphasis on charity, not on faith. Compare with Chapter 1: ‘he þat beleveth ryght in the son of God ys swer of everelastyng lyfe’ (fol. 3r) and ‘feyth ys grete, but withoute charite it avayleth not’ (fol. 3r). he cannot come to heven (fol.  16v), ad beatitudinem pervenire non potest, PL 184, 1208C, MGL variant. Another example of the prevalence of the common expression in the vernacular. but with all hart and mynde desyre to come to Cryste whom ye love (fol. 16v), ad Christum quem diligis, tota mente suspires, ferveas, anheles, anxieris, PL 184, 1208D, MGL variant. The translator almost systematically tones down any sexual connotation.

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Commentary

‘and shew manyfestly myself [unto him]’ (fol.  17r), ‘et manifestabo ei me ipsum’, PL 184, 1208D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 12r. Batt translates: ‘and will manifest my selfe vnto him’, p. 40. in everelastyng lyfe (fol. 17r), in aeterna beatitudine, PL 184, 1208D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator’s preference for the common expression.

Chapter 6: Novices (PL  184, 1209A: De primordiis conversorum;

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De illis qui convertuntur ad Deum;6 Batt: Of the beginnings of such as are conuerted; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Conversion) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The vith exhortacion ys howe novicis þat be newe come to religion ouȝt to be perseveraunt, and howe they ouȝte to be informed (fol. 17r), MGL addition. The concept of perseverance is emphasized throughout this chapter and later in the text (Chapter 20). There is a reward promysed to good begynners […] ‘þat have not brouȝt their good werkis to a good ende’ (fol. 17r), Inchoantibus praemium promittitur […] id est bonum opus non consummaverunt, PL 184, 1209A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 7, 1–2, p. 105. a reward promysed to good begynners (fol. 17r), Inchoantibus praemium promittitur, PL 184, 1209, MGL addition. The translator continues to remind the reader of the work’s title: the The Manere of Good Lyvyng, my emphasis. but it is geven to suche as persevere in goodnes (fol. 17r), sed perseverantibus datur, PL 184, 1209A, MGL addition. The translator consolidates the didactic pattern with this repetition of the concept of ‘goodness’. See previous entry. ‘woo be to them þat have not brouȝt their good werkis to a good ende’ (fol. 17r), ‘Vae his qui sustinentiam perdiderunt’, PL 184, 1209A, MGL variant. See previous entry. 6 

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 adds in the margin: ‘De perseuerancia’, fol. 12r, which is also the title of Chapter 20.

Commentary

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Ther be som persons þat be converted to God onely by devocion of mynde [...] ‘constrayne suche by strayte ponyschment that doeth not draw to the wilfully’ (fol. 17r–v), Sunt multi homines, qui ex sola mentis devotione convertantur ad Deum […] ‘In camo et freno maxillas eorum constringe, qui non approximant ad te’ (Psal. xxxi, 9), PL 184, 1209A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 7, 9, p. 107. ‘constrayne suche by strayte ponyschment that doeth not draw to the wilfully’ (fol. 17v), ‘In camo et freno maxillas eorum constringe, qui non approximant ad te’ (Psal. xxxi, 9), PL 184, 1209A, MGL variant. Another example in which the translator favours a common expression. Every person that ys converted to God lette hym begyn at wepyng […] the bryȝtnes of our soule may be the better considered and known (fol. 17v), Omnis conversus a fletu incipiat peccatorum […] mundatis cordis oculis albefacta inspiciantur, PL 184, 1209A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 8, 2, p. 109. Hit ys necessarie to every persone newe converted to God þat [...] les he alwey lye under feer as a bounde servante (fol. 17v), Necesse est omni converso […] ne semper sub timore jaceat sicut servus, PL 184, 1209B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 8, 4, p. 109. þat after feer he doo ryse up to God by love as a chyld, les he alwey lye under feer as a bounde servante (fol. 17v), for the phrases ‘as a child’, ‘a bounde feer’, see the second fear in Chapter 4, fol. 10r–v. Suche as be novicis wold be comforted with fayr wordis [...] tyl þat þe olde conversacion be utturly destroyed (fols  17v–18r), Noviter conversi blandis verbis sunt consolandi […] donec vetus conversatio funditus ab animo exstirpetur, PL 184, 1209B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 8, 5–7, p. 110. Suche as be novicis wold be comforted with fayr wordis (fols  17v–18r), Noviter conversi blandis verbis sunt consolandi, PL 184, 1209B. Note that here and elsewhere in the text, the modal auxillary ‘will’ has retained its Old English meaning of obligation, i.e., ‘must’/‘have to’. Compare with the treatment of the novice in Guigo’s Consuetudines Cartusiae: ‘Qui tamen blande leniterque maxime tractatur in primis’. Guigo I, Coutumes de Chartreuse, ed. and trans. by a Carthusian, Chapter 22, 4, p. 214, line 28.

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Commentary

and chastice a novyc[e] with softnes (fol. 18r). The translator has various spellings for this word: ‘novys’ in the singular; ‘novees’, ‘novicis’, ‘novyces’ for the plural. There does not seem to be any other word ending in ‘yc’ in the text, but there are several ending in ‘-yce’, for example ‘dyspyce’, ‘cylyce’, ‘chastyce’, etc. Fyrste lete a novys be charitably correctyd and chastised of his evyl dedis and then aftir of [his] thoughtys (fol. 18r), Prius corrigendus et castigandus est novitius a pravo opere; deinde, a cogitatione, PL 184, 1209B–C. The presence of ‘his’ before ‘evyl dedis’ suggests a second ‘his’ before ‘thoughtys’. Then doeth a persone more know hymself to be grevyd […] the knowlege of God was shewed unto them than they wer before (fol. 18r), Tunc magis gravari se quisque impulsu vitiorum cognoscit […] divina cognitio aperitur (Exod. v), PL 184, 1209C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 9, 2, p. 111. For syn in a persone before his conversion hath pees […] they doo more grevous ryse agaynste man or woman (fol. 18r–v), Vitia enim in homine ante conversionem habent pacem […] gravius contra hominem insurgunt, PL  184, 1209C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 9, 3, p. 111. ‘Syn’ in the first part of the sentence is to be understood as ‘all sins’, which explains the plural in the second part of the sentence ‘they’. Many after theyr conversion suffer evyll mocyons of foule luste [...] so þat in no wyse they doo consent (fol. 18v), Multi post conversionem motum libidinis sustinent […] dum tamen non consentiant, PL 184, 1209C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 9, 4, p. 111. suffer evyll mocyons of foule luste (fol.  18v), motum libidinis sustinent, PL 184, 1209C, MGL addition. The translator’s additions here highlight his dislike of lechery which is emphasized throughout the text by his toning down suggestive images and by his avoidance of ‘caro’. A slouthfull conversion bryngyth many into their olde errours and resolvyth to sensualyte and the lyfe of þe bodye (fol. 18v), Remissa conversio multos in pristinos errores deducit, ac vivendi torpore resolvit, PL 184, 1209D, i.e., ‘a sluggish conversion brings many into their old errors and makes them again subject to physical desire and the life of the body’. For the absence of the personal pronoun (i.e., ‘them’), see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 42–43. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 1, p. 112.

Commentary

209

He þat is slouthfull in religion doeth thynke ydyl wordis [...] he gretly dredyth and feryth as horrible synnes (fol. 18v), Tepidus in conversione, otiosa verba et vanas cogitationes […] confestim quasi contraria et horrenda pertimescit, PL 184, 1209D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 2, p. 112. when he ys wakened (fol. 18v), cum animus […] evigilaverit, PL 184, 1209D, MGL variant. Another instance of the more common expression chosen in the vernacular. Gyle and slowth be to be fered in every worke of God [...] We be slouthfull when we fayntely and not wylfully doo þe werke of God (fols 18v–19r ), Fraus et desidia timenda sunt in omni opere Dei […] quando per torporem languidi ea quae Dei sunt, operamur, PL 184, 1209D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 3, p. 113. When we prayse not hym but ourself of our good dedys (fol. 19r ). The necessity of referring every good deed/thing to God has already been examined in Chapter 3. Every sciens and crafte of this world hath noble lovers and verey prompte and redye to execute them (fol. 19r), Omnis ars hujus saeculi strenuos habet amatores, et ad exsequendum promptissimos, PL 184, 1209D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 4, p. 113. Bycause he hath here present the reward of his werke [...] but in þe lyfe to come, be geven unto them (fol. 19r), Quia praesentem habet renumerationem sui operis […] sed in futura dabitur, PL 184, 1209D–1210A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 4, p. 113. and conjeyled with the colde ignorance of slouth (fol. 19r), et pigritiae inertia congelatos, PL 184, 1210A, MGL addition. The added adjective, ‘colde’, with the ensuing alliteration (‘conjeyled’/‘colde’) heightens the text’s message. This is one instance among many which reveals the translator’s artistic skill at conveying the original text in a new medium. See Introduction, pp. 24–25. They þat be novees shuld not be putte furth to outeward maters for [...] wher he thynketh impossyble to avoyde dedely syn (fol. 19r), Qui noviter sunt conversi ad Deum, non debent in exterioribus curis provehi […] ubi se meminit vitiis deserviisse, PL 184, 1210A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 10, 6–7, p. 114.

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yf they medyll with worldlye maters at þe begynnyng (fol. 19r), si illis implicentur, PL 184, 1210A, MGL addition. Another instance of the Middle English being more explicit. and wyther aweye as yong plantis newly sette and not suerly rootyd (fol. 19r), statim quasi arbuscula plantata et necdum radice perfixa, concutiuntur pariter et arescunt, PL 184, 1210A. The text here takes up again the tree image already present in Chapter 1. as yong plantis newly sette (fol. 19r), quasi arbuscula plantata, PL 184, 1210A, MGL addition. The comparison is strenghtened by the added adverb. chaunge of place for the soule helth (fol. 19r), pro animae salute mutatio loci, PL 184, 1210A, i.e., ‘change of place for the health of the soul’. ‘Soule’ is a genitive singular. For the ‘-e’ genitive singular, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. Many be converted to God and com to religion not in soule but in bodye, which I cannot withoute soor wepyng tell or saye. They have the habyte of religion, but a religious mynde and entent þei have not (fol. 19v), Multi convertuntur ad Deum non tam mente, quam corpore; quod nos sine gravi gemitu dicere non possumus: habitum religionis habent, sed mentem religiosam non habent, PL 184, 1210A–B. This passage seems strongly reminiscent of Walter Hilton’s Scale of Perfection, Bk i, chap. 1. See Hilton, The Scale of Perfection, ed. by Bestul, pp. 31–32. They have the habyte of religion, but a religious mynde and entent þei have not (fol. 19v), habitum religionis habent, sed mentem religiosam non habent, PL 184, 1210A–B. Note how the translator here changes the order of words in order to make his words more striking. And yit many have a good religious wyll and purpos (fol. 19v), Multi non habent religionis animum, PL  184, 1210B, MGL variant. Another instance where the translator turns a negative sentence into a positive statement. Many ther be þat com to religion not oonly for the welth of þe soule but also for necessite of the bodye, which doeth not worship God but acordyng to thapostle, seyeng: ‘their bely ys ther god’, whom they worship and care fore (fol. 19v), Multi enim ad conversionem veniunt, non tam propter ani-

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mae salutem, quam propter corporis necessitatem qui non Deum colunt, sed ventrem suum; de quibus Apostolus ait: ‘Quorum deus venter est’ (Philipp. iii, 19), PL 184, 1210B, i.e., ‘there are many who enter religion not only for the health of their soul but also for providing necessities for their body, and these people do not worship God, but according to the saying of the Apostle “their bely is their God”, in other words, they worship and care only for their belly’. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 887A–B. Their entent ys not to serve God dulye […] For erthly substauns ouȝt to be with us in use but hevenly thyngis in desyre (fols 19v–20r), Non est intentio eorum, ut digne Deo serviant […] Terrena quidem nobis in usu esse debent, coelestia vero in desiderio, PL 184, 1210B–C. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 887B. they lose the celestiall joye (fol. 20r), coelestia perdunt, PL 184, 1210B, MGL addition. Another instance where the vernacular text is more explicit. We ouȝt to bestowe well erthly riches (fol. 20r), terrena debemus expendere, PL 184, 1210C, MGL addition. See previous entry. for it ys a mervelous and a grete swetnes that Almyȝty God […] thorogh his mercy be your felicite (fol. 20r–v), Est enim quaedam admirabilis et magna multitudo dulcedinis […] ergo illa satietas sit nostra felicitas, PL 184, 1210C. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 887B–C. The address to the sister (i.e., ‘Soror in Christo amabilis’) is not in PL 176. from his trew lovers here in this world (fol. 20r), his qui diligunt eum, PL 184, 1210C, MGL addition. In this entry and the next, the vernacular is more explicit. ‘when thy glorye shall appere vysibly’ (fol. 20r), ‘cum apparuerit gloria tua’, PL 184, 1210C, MGL addition.

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Commentary

Chapter 7: Conversion (PL 184, 1210C: De conversione; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De bonorum operum;7 Batt: Of conuersion; Tyrwhitt: Concern­ ing Conversion) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The vii exhortacion shewith what it ys to com to religion, and of the disposicion of such þat entre religion, and how they may shew charite to theyr naturall frendes (fol. 20v), MGL addition. Oure Lord sayeth in the Gospell: ‘he þat wyll come aftyr me [...] and take the crosse of penauns upon hym and folow me’ (fol. 20v), Dominus dicit in Evangelio: ‘Qui vult venire post me […] et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me’ (Luc. ix, 23), PL 184, 1210C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 18, 2, p. 248. ‘and take the crosse of penauns’ (fol. 20v), ‘et tollat crucem suam’, PL 184, 1210C, MGL addition. The translator has already used the same expression, ‘cros of penaunce’, in Chapter 1, fol. 3r. But what ys it to denye hymself, but to renowns his own plesur? [...] He þat was angrye lete hym be mylde and tame (fol. 20v), Sed quid est semetipsum abnegare, nisi voluptatibus propriis renuntiare? […] qui iracundus, sit mansuetus, PL 184, 1210C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 18, 2, p. 248. For and if a person doeth forsake all þat he hath [...] but he þat forsaketh his lewde condicions doeth forsake hymself (fol. 20v), Nam si ita quisque renuntiet omnibus quae possidet […] qui renuntiat suis pravis moribus, semetipsum abnegat, PL 184, 1210D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 18, 2, p. 248. He þat forsaketh his possession[s] doeth forsake his own (fol. 20v), Qui renuntiat suis rebus, sua abnegat, PL 184, 1210D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 14r. The Latin has clearly a plural. Batt does not translate this clause.

7 

This title is taken from the List of Contents. The title in the text is wrongly given as ‘De contemptu huius mundi’, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 14r.

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Tho thyngis þat the lovers of þe world doo love [...] in adversite of þe world than they doo delyte in his prosperite (fol. 21r–v), Ea quae amatores saeculi diligunt […] gaudent adversitatibus mundi, quam prosperitatibus delectantur, PL 184, 1210D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 16, 1, p. 244. as thynges contrarye to their soule helth (fol. 21r), velut adversa, PL 184, 1210D, MGL addition. In the phrase, ‘soule helth’, ‘soule’ is a genitive singular. For the ‘-e’ ending genitive singular, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. See above, fol. 19r. tho thyngis þat be in this worlde be so contrary to þe servantis of God [...] for whom ys ordeynd a perpetuall dwellyng-place in heven (fol. 21r), ea quae in hoc mundo sunt, servis Dei contraria sunt […] quibus in coelo patria et domus est, PL 184, 1210D–1211A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 16, 2–4, p. 244. Devoute persons be as pylgrymes (fol. 21r), Sancti viri peregrini sunt, PL 184, 1211A, MGL variant. Another occurrence of the avoidance of ‘sanctus’. no tabernacle for perfytte persons (fol. 21r), sanctis […] tabernaculum non, PL 184, 1211A, MGL variant. See previous entry. for whom ys ordeynd a perpetuall dwellyng-place in heven (fol. 21r), quibus in coelo patria et domus est, PL 184, 1211A, MGL variant. Another instance of the vernacular opting for a more common expression. all temperall thyngis lyke wethyrd herbys [...] sette nouȝt by them for hevenly thyngis þat nevere shall fayle (fol.  21r–v), cuncta temporalia quasi herbae marcentes siccantur […] quia in eis nullam stabilitatem aspiciunt, PL 184, 1211A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 16, 6, p. 245. all temperall thyngis lyke wethyrd herbys, be dryed up and abyde not (fol. 21r–v). This comparison is part of the the tree/plant image encountered previously in Chapters 1 and 6. for hevenly thyngis þat nevere shall fayle (fol. 21v), prae aeternis rebus quae nunquam arescunt, PL 184, 1211A, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular text choosing a more common expression.

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Men and wemen of perfeccion which perfitely dispyse the world [...] the presence of God and the resorte of þe cumpany of angels (fol. 21v), Sancti viri qui perfecte saeculum contemnunt […] et angelicae societatis frequentiam contemplantur, PL 184, 1211A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 17, 1, p. 246. Men and wemen of perfeccion which perfitely (fol. 21v), Sancti viri qui perfecte, PL 184, 1211A, MGL variant. Note here that the translator’s dislike for ‘sanctus’ highlights the concept of perfection. Allthough God doeth defende and preserve among þe worldly peple [...] suer of hymself þat is contynually nyȝe parell or jobardye (fol. 21v), quamvis enim Deus in medio hominum […] securus, qui periculo fuerit proximus, PL 184, 1211B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 17, 2, pp. 246–47. among þe worldly peple (fol. 21v), in medio hominum carnalium, PL 184, 1211B, MGL variant. Another instance of the avoidance of ‘caro’ and its derivatives. good it ys for a person to be bodely remevyd from þe world [...] when þis lyfe of them ys hadde in contempte, the hevenly lyfe ys fownd in them (fols 21v–22r), bonum est ut homo sit corporaliter remotus a mundo […] dum ab eis vita haec contemnitur, coelestis invenitur, PL 184, 1211B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 17, 3–4, p. 247. His hert and mynde ys ferr from God, to whom þis wrecchid lyfe [...] and transitory thyngis with the which he ys wrappyd in (fol. 22r), Longe quippe a Deo est animus, cui haec miserabilis vita […] et transitoriis rebus quibus involvitur, PL 184, 1211C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 19, 1–2, pp. 248–49. for þe more þat a person þat is desyrous may knowe of hevenly thyngis (fol. 22r), Quanto homo plus potest superna cognoscere quae concupiscat, PL 184, 1211C. MGL is here elliptical, i.e., ‘By how much the more a man is able to know what heauenly things are to be desired’, Batt, p. 52. The servantis of God þat procure þe profitte of theyr own frendis [...] he drawe not backe from his spiritual labour or purpose (fol. 22r–v), Servi Dei qui parentum suorum utilitatem procurant […] ipse a spirituali opere vel proposito

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non declinet, PL 184, 1211C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 3–4, p. 252. þe profitte of theyr own frendis (fol.  22r), parentum suorum utilitatem, PL 184, 1211C, MGL variant. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. to shew them naturall kyndenes (fol.  22 v), illis gratiam carnis praestare, PL 184, 1211C, MGL variant. Yet another example of the translator’s dislike for ‘caro’. here what holy Isider sayth: ‘ther be many religious persons of chanons […] for the temporall welth of theyr frendis they lese their own soules’ (fol. 22v), audi sententiam beati Isidori: ‘Multi canonicorum, monachorum […] et pro temporali salute suorum parentum perdunt animas suas’, PL 184, 1211D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 4, p. 252. Yit ther is an ordinate discrecion, þat what ys mercifully shewde or geven [to straungers] shall not be denyed to our frendys (fol. 22v), Tamen ordinata discretio est, ut quod extraneis misericorditer impenditur, parentibus non negetur, PL 184, 1211D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 15r. Batt translates: ‘Howbeit an ordinate discretion is to be vsed, that what we mercifully bestow vpon strangers, we denie not to our parents’, p. 53, my emphasis. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 5, p. 252. In þat we helpe our frendis, it ys naturall; and þat we helpe straungers, it ys of almes and pyte (fol. 22v), Parentibus enim carnaliter praestatur quod extraneis pie impenditur, PL 184, 1211D, MGL variant. Another instance of the avoidance of the word ‘caro’ and its derivatives. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 5, p. 252. we ouȝte not to hate our frendes [...] which causeth us to goo oute of þe ryght waye (fols 22v–23r), non debemus odio habere parentes nostros […] qui nos a recto itinere deviant, PL 184, 1211D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 6, p. 252. By the bestis of the Philistens which brouȝt the arke of God […] such as have forsake the world for the love of God (fol. 23r), Per vaccas Philistaeorum quae

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ducebant arcam Domini […] qui propter Deum dereliquerunt saeculum, PL 184, 1211D–1212A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 21, 7, p. 253. By the bestis of the Philistens (fol. 23r), Per vaccas Philistaeorum, PL 184, 1211D, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the translator perhaps avoids the specific reference to cows, as his reader will not be involved in farm work. The same variant occurs later but is not recorded below. as the bestis morned for theyr children, so it is convenient for þe servantis of God to crye (fol. 23v), sicut vaccae pro filiis suis mugiendo pergebant, ita convenit servis Dei […] mugire, PL 184, 1212A–B, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids the animal image and chooses verbs which imply tears. Weeping is an important theme of devotional texts. The extreme example of this in England is Margery Kempe. Seynt Austen sayth: ‘if þat in the wey of God they be contrarye to us […] nor yit to berrey them dedd’ (fol. 23v), sicut ait beatus Augustinus, ‘si in via Dei nobis fuerint contrarii, nec sepultura a nobis illis debetur’, PL 184, 1212B. For the attribution to St Augustine, see the following quotation: ‘Jubet enim Scriptura parentes nostros ut propria viscera diligere, sit amen accedere nos ad servitium Christi non prohibeant; si autem prohibuerint, nec sepultura a nobis illis debetur (Luc. ix, 59)’. Augustine, Liber exhortationis, PL 40, 1054–55. ‘we be not bounde to them, noþer to socour or helpe them lyvyng, nor yit to berrey them dedd’ (fol. 23v), ‘nec sepultura a nobis illis debetur’, PL 184, 1212B, MGL addition. þat theryn ye persevere in good lyvyng (fol.  24r). MGL has already mentioned perseverance in Chapters 1, 4, and 6 and will fully develop the concept in Chapter 20. Perseverance is here linked to good living, the main theme of the text. Reste in the bosom of Cryst (fol.  24r), quiescas in sinu ejusdem Abrahae, PL 184, 1212B. MGL variant. The vernacular text here replaces the less familiar and less comforting figure of Abraham with Christ. and geve to oþere an example of vertue (fol. 24r), et aliis exemplum sanctitatis tribuas, PL 184, 1212C, MGL variant. Another instance of the text avoiding

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‘sanctus’ and its derivatives. Note that there are too many such examples in this part of the text for all of them to be recorded below. ye ar departyd with Josue oute of Egipte (fol. 24r), egressa es cum Josue de Aegypto (Exod. xiii, et xiv), PL  184, 1212C. Exodus 13–14 describes the Exodus under Moses’ command. God doeth send yow manna (fol. 24r), Deus manna pluit tibi, PL 184, 1212C, MGL variant. Another example of the more common expression favoured in the vernacular text. þat is the brede or food of holy prechyng and doctryne (fol. 24r), hoc est, panem coelestis verbi, PL 184, 1212C, MGL variant. The vernacular version is more explicit. I counseyl yow to persevere in religion (fol. 24r), moneo te ut perseveres in monasterio, PL 184, 1212C. The text continues to remind the reader of perseverance. myȝtly resistyng the devell (fol.  24v), contra diabolum viriliter pugnando, PL 184, 1212C–D, MGL variant. The adverb ‘viriliter’ may be understood in the context of women who were compared to men in Latin texts, but it would be awkward in the vernacular. The translator here shows sensitivity in adapting his text to a new audience. þat is to sey, beatitude of heven (fol. 24v), hoc est, beatitudinem vitae coelestis, PL 184, 1212D, MGL variant. Another instance of the more common expression chosen in the vernacular text. to se the face of God (fol. 24v), videre […] faciem indefessi Solis, PL 184, 1212D, MGL variant. The vernacular text prefers the familiar ‘God’ to the metaphorical and more alien expression.

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Commentary

Chapter 8: Contempt of the World (PL  184, 1212D: De

con­temptu mundi; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De contemptu huius mundi etc.; Paynell: Of the contempt of the worlde; Batt: Of the contempt of the world; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Contempt of the World) Paynell also numbers this Chapter 8, in spite of omitting Chapters 6 and 7.

The viii exhortacion ys how religiouse persons shuld dispyse utterly the world and his rycches (fol. 24v), MGL addition. ‘or suster, or chyldren’ (fol. 24v), ‘aut sorores’, PL 184, 1212D, MGL addition. It seems that widows are specifically intended in this addition. ‘and shal by possession have heven’ (fol. 24v), ‘et vitam aeternam possidebit’, PL 184, 1212D, MGL variant. The vernacular often prefers the more common ‘heven’. ‘He þat thynkyth’, sayth Scriptur, ‘hymself dayly to dye doeth lyghtly dispyse all thyng’ (fol. 25r), ‘Facile contemnit omnia, qui se quotidie moriturum aestimat’ (S. Hieron. in Epist. 1), PL 184, 1213A. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, i, letter liii, ‘Ad Paulinum’, section 11, p. 465. yf ye leve carnal appetyte (fol. 25r), si carnalia desideria deseris, PL 184, 1213B. One of the rare occasions where the translator has not replaced ‘caro’ and its derivatives by something else. yf ye renowns erthly desyres and worldly covetousnes (fol. 25v), si cupiditatibus et desideriis terrenis renuntias, PL 184, 1213B, MGL addition. Note that the translator thus achieves stylistic balance, i.e., adjective ending in ‘–ly’ + noun ‘and’ adjective ending in ‘–ly’ + noun. He loveth more a clene mynde and vertuouse than erthly substaunce (fol. 25v), Deus plus diligit mentem mundam et sanctam, quam terrenam substantiam (S. Greg. Hom. 5, in Evang.), PL 184, 1213B. See Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, i, v, p. 34. and appereld with good maners (fol. 25v), ac bonis moribus ornatam, PL 184, 1213B. Another reminder of the work’s title.

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Pretium non te turbet, PL 184, 1213C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let not the price cause in you any disturbance’, p. 60. and make yow þe chylde of his Fader (fol. 26r), et Deo Patri acquireret, PL 184, 1213C, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes the relationship between father and son, which is already commented upon in Chapter 4. which hath redemyd yow mercifully (fol. 26r), qui te redemit, PL 184, 1213C, MGL addition. The Middle English highlights God’s love for mankind. from þe power of þe enmye (fol. 26r), de manu inimici, PL 184, 1213C, MGL variant. A more common expression. Worldly goodys bryngen a man to jopardye of bodye and soule […] but ar evere in trouble and angwyssh of mynde (fol.  26r), Divitiae perducunt hominem usque ad periculum corporis et animae […] Sollicitudines enim rerum mentem conturbant, PL 184, 1213C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 91–92, pp. 138–39. divitiae pertrahunt hominem usque ad mortem, PL 184, 1213C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘riches draw a man downe to hell’, p. 60. yf þerefor ye wold be quyett, covett not [...] yf ye withdrawe yourself from þe besynes of þe world (fol. 26r–v), si ergo vis esse quieta, nihil […] si te a strepitu terrenarum actionum subtraxeris, PL 184, 1213D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 92, p. 139. Semper habebis pacem mentis, si te a strepitu terrenarum actionum subtrax­ eris, PL 184, 1213D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘You shall alwayes enioy inward peace, if you sequester your selfe from the hurly-burly of earthly actions’, p. 61. for goodes be nevere goten withoute syn, nor no persone medelyth […] Hit ys hard to serve both hevenly besynes and worldly maters (fol. 26v), quia divitiae nunquam sine peccato acquiruntur […] Difficile est simul servire coelestibus curis et terrenis negotiis: difficile est Deum simul et mundum diligere. Nemo potest simul perfecte Deum et mundum diligere. Uterque autem simul aequaliter amari non potest, PL 184, 1213D–14A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 93–94, pp. 139–40.

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Commentary

Noo person can boþe have the glorye of God (fol. 26v), Nemo potest simul amplecti gloriam Dei, PL 184, 1214A, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular choosing a more common expression. difficile est Deum simul et mundum diligere, PL 184, 1214A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘It is hard at once to loue God and worldly pleasures’, p. 62. Uterque autem simul aequaliter amari non potest, PL  184, 1214A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘both of them at once cannot be loued equally’, p. 62. Although a person in þe pompe of þe world be gloryous with purpur and gold apparelled (fol. 26v), quamvis homo in gloria saeculi fulgeat, quamvis purpura et auro vestitus sit, PL 184, 1214A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 90, p. 137. with a precious habyte, goo crowned with a crown […] in a fetherbede or a bed of down (fols 26v–27r), quamvis pretioso habitu redimitus incedat […] sed fragilis in pluma jacet, PL 184, 1214A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 90, pp. 137–38. The felicite and pompe of þis world ys but lytell and of short contynuance. Temporall power ys frayle and not abydyng (fol. 27r), Felicitas hujus mundi brevis est. Modica est hujus saeculi gloria, caduca est, et fragilis temporalis potentia, PL 184, 1214B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 91, p. 138. Modica est hujus saeculi gloria, caduca est, PL 184, 1214B, MGL omission. Batt does not translate, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 reads: modica est huius saeculi gloria, caduca est, fol. 18v. þat ye may have everelastyng ryches (fol. 27r), ut possis pervenire ad coelestia bona, PL 184, 1214B, MGL variant. A more common expression. Respue transitoria, ut habere merearis aeterna, PL 184, 1214B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Refuse things temporal, that you may haue those that are eternal’, p. 64. the felawship of worldly pepyle (fol.  27v), societatem hominum, PL  184, 1214C, MGL addition. The Middle English is here more explicit.

Commentary

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Chapter 9: Religious Habit (PL 184, 1214C: De habitu; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De habitu vestium; Paynell: Of the habyte and conuenient garmentes; Batt: Of the habit, or attire) Tyrwhitt omits this chapter.

The ixth exhortacion sheweth how religiouse habite shuld not be precious nor curyous nor superfluous, and how the habite and good lyfe shuld agre togyther (fol. 27v), MGL addition. Owre Lord Jhesu Cryste sayeth in þe Gospell: ‘suche as be clothed in easy and softe clothes be in kyngys howsis’ [...] nothyng that perteyneth to pryde and vaynglorye (fol. 27v), Dominus noster Jesus Christus dicit in Evangelio: ‘Ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur in domibus regum sunt’ […] nihil quod pertineat ad superbiam, et ad vanam gloriam, PL 184, 1214C–D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897A–B. the courte of Cryste delyteth in hard and cowrse clothyng (fol. 27v), asperis vero et humilibus delectatur Christi Ecclesia, PL 184, 1214C, MGL variant. Unusually, the translator has chosen here a less common word, i.e., ‘courte’. The addition thus introduces a parallelism with the beginning of the sentence: ‘The kyngys courte deliteth in softe and fyne clothyng, the courte of Cryste delyteth in hard and cowrse clothyng’, my emphasis. Saynt Jerome sayeth: ‘a softe vestur makyth not a clerke ornate but a clene soule’ (fols 27v–28r), Unde beatus Hieronymus: ‘Non facit ornatum clericum tenera vestis, sed munditia mentis’, PL 184, 1214D. Jerome (?), Epistola xlii, Ad Oceanum, PL 30, 289C. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897B, the quotation is not attributed to St Jerome. lete us aray ourself with spirituall ornamentis, as charite […] but accordyng to Scriptur withyn, as in the soule (fol. 28r), ergo ornemus nosmetipsos spiritualibus ornamentis; scilicet charitate […] ‘Omnis gloria ejus filiae regis ab intus’ (Psal. xliv, 14), PL 184, 1214D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897B. withyn, as in the soule (fol. 28r), MGL addition. ‘Omnis gloria ejus filiae regis ab intus’ (Psal. xliv, 14) (fol. 28r), PL 184, 1214D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘All the glorie of the daughter of the

222

Commentary

kingis within’, p. 65. PL here quotes Ps. 44. 14. Bodard equates the daughter with the soul. See Bodard, ‘La Bible expression d’une expérience religieuse’, p. 33. lete your ryche rayment be good maners, lete your clenlynes be a good lyfe (fol. 28r), divitiae tuae sint boni mores: pulchritudo tua sit bona vita, PL 184, 1214D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897B–C. lete your ryche rayment be (fol. 28r), divitiae tuae sint, PL 184, 1214D, MGL variant. The Middle English underlines one kind of wealth thus emphasizing the theme of the chapter, i.e., the religious habit. lete your clenlynes be (fol. 28r), pulchritudo tua sit, PL 184, 1214D, MGL variant. The Middle English focusses on interior rather than external beauty. þat is radd in Canticis: ‘my love ye be all bewtewous and no spotte ys in yowe’ (fol. 28r), quod in Canticis canticorum legitur: ‘Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te’, PL 184, 1214D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897C. Truly blessid ys þat man or woman þat doeth serve (fol. 28r), Vere beata est illa anima quae […] servit, PL 184, 1215A, MGL variant. A more common and concrete expression. Studye therfor to please Cryste not with preciouse garmentis but with good condicions (fol. 28r), Stude ergo placere Christo non pretiosis vestibus, sed bonis moribus, PL 184, 1215A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897C. Lete your clothes and shoes not be preciouse nor to muche vile, but clothe yow wyth a meen and competent habyte (fol. 28v), Vestimenta tua et calceamenta nec nimium sint pretiosa, nec multum vilia; sed ex moderato et competenti habitu, PL 184, 1215A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 897A. Seynt Austen sayd of hymself: ‘I knowlege þat I am ashamed of a precyous vestur’ [...] ‘hit besemyth not myn age’ (fol.  28v), Sic enim ait beatus Augustinus de semetipso: ‘Fateor, de pretiosa veste erubesco’ […] ‘non decet hos canos’, PL 184, 1215A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati

Commentary

223

Augustini, PL 176, 897A. The two quotations occur together in a number of texts: Augustine, Sermo ccclvi, PL 39, 1579; Symphosius Amalarius, Forma institutionis canonicorum, PL  105, 904; Adam the Carthusian, De ordine, habitu, et professione canonicorum, PL 198, 533; Philippus de Harveng, Vita beati Augustini, PL 203, 1225. The first quotation also appears on its own in the anonymous Vita Sancti Aurelii Augustini, PL 32, 219. ‘hit besemyth not this carkes’ (fol.  28v), ‘non decet haec membra’, PL  184, 1215A, MGL variant. The translator always emphasizes his dislike of anything physical. ‘hit besemyth not myn age’ (fol. 28v), ‘non decet hos canos’, PL 184, 1215A, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids the more visual image. shewe your profession both in habyte and in goyeng […] and the inward intent ys shewed by the goyng of the bodye (fols 28v–29r), professionem tuam habitu et incessu demonstra […] Corporis gestu animus proditur, PL 184, 1215B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 43, pp. 96–97. Animus enim in corporis gestu apparet, PL 184, 1215B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For the mind is seene in the gesture of the bodie’, p. 68. That ys to sey, ye be feyr for the perfeccion of bodye […] it ys not for favour of peple, but to please God (fol. 29r), Pulchra videlicet propter perfectionem corporis […] non ut ab hominibus videaris, sed ut soli Deo placeas operaris, PL 184, 1215C. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1061A–B. Ye have the eyes of the culver, when ye be clere from all malice, symulacion and faynengs (fol. 29r–v), Oculos habes columbarum, quia immunem te custodis ab omni malitia et simulatione, atque fictione, PL 184, 1215C. PseudoCassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1061B. Saynt Gregory seyth: ‘no man lokyth after precious clothyng [...] and be seen more honorable þan oþer’ (fol.  29v), ut dicit beatus Gregorius, ‘nemo vestimenta pretiosa quaerit […] et ut honorabilior caeteris appareat’, PL 184, 1215D. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, ii, xl, p. 399. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xliii, 9, p. 156.

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And therfor no man lyghtly wyll doo upon such manere of clothyng […] and pryde he seketh ryche arayment (fol. 29v), Nemo vult pretiosis vestibus indui […] pro sola vana gloria vestimentum pretiosum quaeritur’, PL 184, 1215D. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, ii, xl, p. 399. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xliii, 9, p. 156. loketh for no ryall garmentis (fol.  29v), pretiosa vestimenta non quaerit, PL  184, 1215D, MGL variant. Note that throughout this passage PL  184 repeats ‘pretiosus’, whereas MGL often prefers to avoid the repetition and to use synonyms. Not all these synonyms are recorded here. Quanto amplius in compositione corporis laetamur, tanto magis a superno amore disjungimur, PL 184, 1215D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘By how much the more we reioyce at the comlines of our bodie, by so much the more we are separated from the loue of God almightie’, p. 70. a religious woman hath a grete spotte (fol. 30r), maculam habet in se sanctimonialis femina, PL 184, 1216A, MGL addition. Single adjectives are often added in the vernacular in order to strengthen the text’s message. Non est sine macula Christi sponsa, si amat vestem pretiosam, PL 184, 1216A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The spouse of Christ is not without blame, if shee affect fine clothing’, p. 70. Also a blak vayle ys a token of chastite and holynes (fol. 30r), nigrum velum castitatis et sanctitatis est signum, PL  184, 1216A. One of the infrequent instances where the translator translates ‘sanctitas’ by ‘holynes’. This reoccurs later in the chapter, but further examples are not listed below. sicut sacratum est velum, sic opus tuum sit sanctum, PL 184, 1216B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and as your veile is hallowed, so let euerie thing that you take in hand’, p. 71. Qualis vis haberi, talis esto, PL 184, 1216B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘as you desire to be esteemed, so be indeede’, p. 71.

Commentary

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Chapter 10: Compunction (PL  184, 1216B: De compunctione;

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De compunctione cordis; Paynell: Of compunction; Batt: Of compunction of hea[r]t; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Compunction)8

The xth exhortacion ys of þe vertue and profytte of compunccion or contricion, and how many wayes a person ouȝte to be compuncte or sorye (fol. 30v), MGL addition. The compunccion of þe hart ys mekenes of mynde þat cummyth of the remembrance of syn […] and by desyre of heven þat he maye soon come thyder (fols 30v–31r), Compunctio cordis est humilitas mentis veniens de recordatione peccati […] desiderio supernae patriae, quatenus ad eam possit cito pervenire, PL 184, 1216B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 12, 1–4, p. 118. ys troubled for þe love of God (fol. 30v), propter Deum […] afficitur, PL 184, 1216B, MGL addition. The translator (and Batt) often appear to translate ‘propter Deum’ as ‘for þe love of God’. This addition is not systematically recorded in the Commentary. and trespace þat he hath done ayenst God and hys commaundmentis (fol. 30v), mala quae fecit, PL 184, 1216C, MGL addition. ys every good man and woman compuncte (fols 30v–31r), compungitur mens justi hominis, PL  184, 1216C, MGL variant. The Middle English regularly includes both sexes, where the Latin simply uses a masculine expression. by consideracion of this present lyfe (fol. 31r), consideratione peregrinationis hujus vitae, PL 184, 1216C. The Middle English uses the more common expression. and by desyre of heven (fol. 31r), desiderio supernae patriae, PL 184, 1216C, MGL variant. ‘Patria’ is regularly replaced by a more common expression in the vernacular. 8 

Tyrwhitt numbers his chapters according to their numbering in PL 184. Unlike Paynell, he does not number them continuously. It is therefore obvious to Tyrwhitt’s reader when he omits a chapter.

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Commentary

Every synner knoweth hym then to be vysitte of God [...] ‘God lokyd, and þe erth was moved and tremeled’ (fol. 31r), Omnis peccator tunc se cognoscit visitari a Domino […] ‘Respexit, et commota est, et contremuit terra’ (Psal. xvii, 8), PL 184, 1216C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 12, 5, p. 119. ‘Et conversus Dominus respexit Petrum, qui statim egressus foras, flevit amare’ (Matth. xxvi, 75), PL 184, 1216C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And our Lord turning, looked on Peter, who immediatly going forth a doores, wept bitterly’, p. 73. here þe exaumples of holy saynctis (fol. 31r), audi exempla sanctorum, PL 184, 1216D, MGL addition. ‘Holy’ ‘is of course appropriate when it applies to the saints and martyrs. This will also be the case in Chapter 16, ‘De exemplis sanctorum’. Thys be hard by þe prophete Nathan (fol. 31v), Sic enim audivit per prophetam, PL 184, 1216D, MGL addition. The translator frequently chooses to add a name. in þe mynde of a juste person (fol. 31v), in mente hominis, PL 184, 1217A, MGL addition. Another example of the vernacular being more explicit. that man or woman þat hath in theyr prayer (fol. 31v), Anima quae in oratione habet, PL 184, 1217A MGL variant. The translator often replaces the more abstract ‘anima’ by ‘man or woman’. doeth profite his own welth (fols 31v–32r), proficit ad salutem, PL 184, 1217A. MGL regularly uses ‘welth’ in the sense of ‘salvation, spiritual well-being’. See Glossary. Bycause therfor we have aftyr our baptyme defyled our lyfe (fol. 32r), Quia ergo post Baptismum inquinavimus vitam, PL  184, 1217A. Batt translates: ‘Wherefore sithence we haue defiled our life after baptisme’, p. 75. O frater mi, quaeso, dic mihi, PL 184, 1217B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Deare brother, tell me I pray you’, p. 76. ‘I schall wasch every nyȝt my conscience in wepyng for my syn [...] þat it may bryng furth þe good frute of vertue’ (fol. 32v), ‘Lavabo per singulas noctes

Commentary

227

lectum meum: lacrymis meis stratum meum rigabo’ (Psal. vi, 7), PL 184, 1217C, MGL variant and addition. The translator appears here to have glossed rather than translated the biblical quotation. ‘multum incola fuit anima mea’ (Psal. cxix, 5, 6), PL 184, 1217C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘my soule hath beene long a seiourner’, p. 77. ‘and if þu knewist as much as I, þou woldest wepe as I doo’ (fol. 32v), ‘Quia si cognovisses et tu’ (Luc. xix, 42), PL 184, 1217C, MGL addition. ‘and I be not seke with hym?’ (fol. 33r), ‘et ego non infirmor?’ (ii Cor. xi, 29), PL 184, 1217D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit and emphasizes the relationship between both parties. The flodes of Babylon be the goodys of þe world, which every good and juste servante of God doeth passe overe and sytteth above them by lyftyng up his mynde to heven, and mornyth þat he ys taryed from the joyes of þe celestyall Syon wher he shuld se þe gloryous vision of God (fol. 33r), MGL addition. For the addition of glosses, see Introduction, p. 22. to have Cryste, the son of God (fol. 33v), unigenitum Christum Dei Filium […] habere, PL 184, 1218A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Christ the onely begotten sonne of God to come’, p. 79. Here the vernacular does not replace but simply omits the uncommon expression. the son of God abydyng by grace in them (fol.  33v), Dei Filium, PL  184, 1218A, MGL addition. Here again the translator adds a reference to ‘grace’. þeir doeth no grevous thouȝt come nye (fol. 33v), ibi graves cogitationes non propinquant, PL 184, 1218A, i.e., ‘there’ as adverb of place. your spouse Jhesu Cryste spekyng to you (fol. 33v), Jesu Christi sponsi tui dicentis, PL 184, 1218A, MGL addition. The vernacular again emphasizes the relationship between both parties by being more explicit. That ys to seye, the voyce of thapostyls and prechours […] ‘be ȝe sorye and wepe’ (fol. 34r), hoc est, vox praedicantium Apostolorum […] ‘Miseri estote et lugete’ ( Jacob. iv, 9), PL 184, 1218A–B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1065C.

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it betokenyth the mournyng of devoute prechyours (fol. 34r), significat ploratum sanctorum, PL 184, 1218B, MGL variant. Another omission of ‘sanctus’, when it does not refer to the saints. to wayle and wepe for their synnes (fol. 34r), ad lamentum et fletum, PL 184, 1218B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. ‘Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis’ (Cant. i, 9), PL 184, 1218B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Thy cheekes are beautifull as the turtle doue’, p. 80. Hit ys þe propurte of þe turtyl þat [...] she seketh no more for anoþere (fol. 34r), Natura turturis est […] alterum amplius non quaerat, PL 184, 1218B– C. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1059C–D. ut aliquando faciem illius videre merearis in dextera Patris, PL 184, 1218C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that at length you may deserue to see his face, sitting at the right hand of God the father’, p. 81. Scriptur sayeth also in þe voyce of Cryste to his loved spouse (fol.  34v), MGL addition. ‘verey feyr be thy chekys’ (fol. 34v), ‘pulchrae sunt genae tuae’, PL 184, 1218C, MGL addition. The vernacular often intensifies the text message by introducing adverbs or adjectives. In þe chekys ys wonte to be shamfastnes seen (fol. 34v), In genis solet esse verecundia, PL 184, 1218C. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1059D. wassh your synnes indefynently (fol. 34v), indesinenter peccata tua […] lava, PL 184, 1218C–D, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘incessantly wash away your sinnes’, p. 81. As ‘f ’ and long ‘s’ can quite easily be confused, it is possible that MGL (or the Latin manuscript used by MGL) is here mistaken. Plange iniquitates tuas, mala scelerum tuorum deplora, mala quae egisti, flendo commemora: moeroris unda te irriget, compellat te plangere fluvius lacrymarum, PL 184, 1218D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Lament your iniquities. Deplore your offences. With teares call to mind the euills, which you haue committed. Let flouds of teares flow from your eies’, pp. 81–82. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 56, pp. 46–47.

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That ye have lewdlye doon and unlefully, purge it with wepyng (fols 34v– 35r), quae gessisti prave, fletibus dele; quae illicite commisisti, lacrymis ablue, PL 184, 1218D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 56, p. 46. when shall ye saye with holy and penitent kyng David to God (fol.  35r), quando dictura es Deo, PL 184, 1218D, MGL addition. Charissima, si iniquitates tuas non fleveris in hac mortalitate, quando dices, PL 184, 1218D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Most deare sister, if you do not bewayle your iniquities during this mortal life present, when will you say with Dauid’, p. 82. ‘nyght and daye both mete and drynke’ (fol. 35r), ‘panes die ac nocte’ (Psal. xli, 4), PL 184, 1219A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ye may deserve comfort and consolacion in heven (fol.  35 r), consolari merearis in coelestia patria, PL 184, 1219A. Another example of the more common ‘heven’ replacing the Latinate expression.

Chapter 11: Heaviness (PL 184, 1219A: De tristitia; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De tristicia huius mundi; Paynell: Of heuinesse; Batt: Of sadnes or heauiness of heart; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Sadness) The xith exhortacion sheweth howe hevynes and pensyfnes doeth hurt and howe it ouȝte to be advoyded (fol. 35r), MGL addition.

‘causeth a man or woman to wythyr and pyne aweye’ (fol. 35v), ‘exsiccat ossa’ (Prov. xvii, 22), PL 184, 1219A, MGL variant. The vernacular prefers the more common expression. ‘Fili, in bonis non des querelam, et in omni dato non des tristitiam verbi mali’ (Eccli. xviii, 15). ‘Omnis plaga, tristitia cordis est’ (Eccli. xxv, 17). ‘Jucunditas cordis, est vita hominis’ (Eccli. xxx, 23), PL 184, 1219A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Sonne in good deedes giue not blame, and in euerie guift giue not the sadnes of an euill word. (Prou. 18.) The heauiness of the heart is all plague. (Eccli. 25.) Ioyfulnes of heart is the life of man. (Eccl. 30.)’, pp. 83–84.

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‘tristitia flectit cervicem cordis’ (Eccli. xxxviii, 19), PL 184, 1219B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and sorrow of the heart boweth the neck’, p. 84. ‘vero autem tristi exsiceantur ossa’ (Prov. xvii, 22), PL 184, 1219B, MGL omission. Batt also omits, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol.  23v reads as PL 184. Also holy Athanasius sayeth: ‘an hevy man or woman ys allwey malicious and troubleth þe Holy Goste geven to hym of God’ (fol.  35v), Et beatus Athanasius dicit: ‘Homo tristis semper malitiatur, et contristat Spiritum sanctum sibi a Deo donatum’, PL 184, 1219B. Untraced. which prohibiteth the apostle (fol. 35v), Hoc etiam docet Apostolus, PL 184, 1219B, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘in whom ye be marked for the chyldren of redempcion’ (fol. 35v), ‘in quo signati estis in die redemptionis’ (Ephes. iv, 30), PL 184, 1219B, MGL variant. The Middle English emphasizes the relationship between God and the reader. Tristitia saecularis laedit et conterit atque allicit servos Dei, PL 184, 1219C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Worldly sadnes doth hurt, and consume, and ouerthrow Gods seruants’, p. 85. have ye evere spirituall gladnes (fol. 36r), indue semper laetitiam spiritualem, PL 184, 1219C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. ‘et gloriamini, omnes recti corde’ (Psal. xxxi, 11), PL  184, 1219C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and glorie all ye of right heart’, p. 85. ‘Cor sapientum ubi tristitia est, et cor stultorum ubi est laetitia?’ (Eccle. vii, 5), PL 184, 1219D, MGL omission. Batt translates again: ‘The heart of wisemen where sadnes is, and the heart of fooles, where mirth’, p. 86. Note that the quotation is here repeated in the Latin and that the translator often omits such repetitions. As hoo sayth: they be wyse (fol. 36v), Ac si apertius diceret: Cor sapientum, PL  184, 1219D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As if he had said more plainely’, p. 86. Thoo þat be hevy for þe love of God be wyse, and thoo þat be hevy for þe world be unwyse (fol. 36v), Qui secundum Deum tristitiam habent, sapientes

Commentary

231

sunt: qui autem secundum saeculum tristitiam habent, sunt stulti, PL  184, 1219D, MGL variant. The translator has chosen here a stylistic variant ‘wyse’, ‘unwyse’, rather than the literal translation ‘wyse’, ‘folysch’. Such stylistic sensitivity including parallelism or contrast is frequent throughout MGL. et iterum, ‘Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete’ (Philipp. iv, 4), PL 184, 1220A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And againe: *Reioyce in our Lord alwayes: againe I say reioyce’, p. 86. ‘which ys acordyng to þe wyll of God’ (fol. 37r), ‘quae secundum Deum est’, PL 184, 1220A–B, MGL addition. In this entry and the two following, the translator makes the text more explicit. ‘causeth penaunce þat shal bryng us to everlastyng welth’ (fol. 37r), ‘operatur salutem poenitentiae’, PL 184, 1220B, MGL variant. ‘causeth syn and dampnacion’ (fol. 37r), ‘operatur mortem’ (ii Cor. vii, 10), PL 184, 1220B. MGL variant. Ubi tristitia fuerit cooperta Spiritu sancto, non ibi est acceptabilis oratio, quia infirma est, et non potest ascendere ad Deum, PL 184, 1220B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Where sadnes doth oppose it selfe to the holy Ghost as an obstacle, there prayer is not acceptable: because it is weake, and cannot ascend to God’, pp. 87–88. ne dederis tristitiae cor tuum, PL 184, 1220B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘neither let your heart be the harbour or habitation of heauines’, p. 88. Thys evyl hevynes ys oon of the vij dedly synnes (fol. 37r), Tristitia unum ex septem principalibus vitiis, PL 184, 1220B, MGL addition. The vernacular text often adds adjectives to reinforce the text’s message. Seynt Isidor sayth: ‘if þou lyve well and religiously, þou shalt nevere be hevy or pensyfe. A good lyfe hath evere more gladnes and joye’ (fol. 37r), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Si bene et pie vixeris, nunquam eris tristis. Bona vita semper habet gaudium’, PL 184, 1220B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 61, p. 112. Pseudo-St Bernard, Tractatus de interiori domo seu de conscientia aedificanda, PL 184, 534C.

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and of þe promyse of heven (fol. 37v), et de promissione coelestis regni, PL 184, 1220C, MGL variant. The more common expression is preferred. be mery in God (fol. 37v), hilaresce, PL 184, 1220C, MGL addition. MGL is more explicit. to whom in your virginite (fol. 37v), cui in tuo virgineo corpore, PL 184, 1220C, MGL variant. The translator prefers the abstract concept.

Chapter 12: Love of God (PL  184, 1220D: De dilectione Dei;

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De dileccione Dei; Paynell: Of the loue of God; Batt: Of the loue of God; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Love of God) The focus of this chapter is not on God’s love for the nun but on the nun’s love for God.

The xiith exhortacion ys how God ouȝt to be loved abofe all thyng and nothyng to be preferryd before hys love (fol. 37v), MGL addition. and hate ys deth (fol. 38r), the concept of hatred is examined at greater length in Chapter 36, ‘De odio’. He loveth not God þat dispiseth his commaundmentis (fol.  38 r), Deum non diligit, qui praecepta Dei contemnit, PL  184, 1220D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 3, 5, p. 97. he hath electe yow afore þe begynnyng of þe world (fol. 38r), te elegit ante saecula, PL 184, 1221A, MGL addition. The vernacular text is more explicit. God made both us and our frendis (fol. 38v), Deus fecit nos, et parentes nostros, PL 184, 1221A, MGL variant. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. Ergo super omnia est nobis Deus diligendus, PL 184, 1221A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘God therefore ought to be loued of vs aboue all things’, p. 91. seye of Cryst with love and devocion (fol. 38v), Dic […] cum amore et dilectione de Christo, PL 184, 1221A, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘Say […] with loue and affection towards Christe’, pp. 91–92.

Commentary

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‘my love ys lovyng to me’ (fol. 38v), ‘Dilectus meus mihi’, PL 184, 1221A, MGL addition. The translator skillfully translates this awkward Latin phrase. ‘the which ys fedde among whyȝt lylyes’ (fol. 38v), ‘qui pascitur inter lilia’, PL 184, 1221A, MGL addition. The addition of the colour here intensifies the already poetic value of the clause. ‘and all derkenes be gon’ (fol. 38v), ‘et inclinentur umbrae’ (Cantic. ii, 16, 17), PL 184, 1221A, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common expression. I praye you speke more playner (fol. 38v), double comparative. See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 45. my love is cowpled to me by the bonde of charyte and love, and I am conjoyned and coupled to hym with a lyke charyte and love (fol. 38v), Dilectus meus mihi societur vinculo charitatis et amoris, et ego illi conjungar et socier vicissitudine mutuae dilectionis, PL 184, 1221B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1066D. my love is cowpled to me (fol. 38v), Dilectus meus mihi societur, PL 184, 1221B, MGL variant. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. with a lyke charyte and love (fol. 38v), vicissitudine mutuae dilectionis, PL 184, 1221B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘by the interchange of mutual amitie’, p. 92. ‘qui pascitur inter lilia’; hoc est, PL 184, 1221B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Who feedeth among the lilies; that is to say’, p. 92. the which delyteth and ys gladde among the whyȝt and odoriferous vertues of sayntis (fols 38v–39r), hoc est, delectatur et jucundatur inter candidas et odoriferas virtutes sanctorum, PL 184, 1221B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1067A. and among the cumpany of pure virgyns (fol. 39r), atque inter choros virginum, PL 184, 1221B, MGL addition. The vernacular text is more explicit.

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Commentary

‘donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbrae’, PL 184, 1221B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘till the day breake, and the shadowes decline’, p. 92. tyl þat the darke clowdys of thys present lyfe be gon and the bryȝtnes of everelastyng blysse doeth apere (fol. 39r), donec nubila transeant praesentis vitae, et appareat dies, hoc est, veniat claritas sempiternae beatitudinis, PL 184, 1221B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1067A. tyl þat the darke clowdys of thys present lyfe (fol. 39r), donec nubila transeant praesentis vitae, PL 184, 1221B, MGL addition. The translator intensifies the poetic value of the clause. which ys most hyest goodnes (fol. 39r), double superlative. The concept of God being the ‘highest good’, is already intimated above, in Chapter 3, ‘De gratia Dei’. ‘My love’, sayth she, ‘lovyng to me’ (fol. 39r), ‘Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi’, PL 184, 1221C, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘A bundle of myrrhe my b[e]loued is to me’, p. 93. The translator here echoes his translation of Song 2. 16 above: ‘my love ys lovyng to me and I to hym’, fol. 38v. speke more playner (fol. 39r), double comparative. See above, ‘I praye you speke more playner’ (fol. 38v). ‘Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur’, PL 184, 1221C, MGL omission. Batt does not translate, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 26r reads like PL 184. The place of the hart ys betwen the brestys […] for he hath loved me, he deyed for me (fol. 39r–v), Locus cordis est inter ubera […] quia dilexit me, et mortuus est pro me, PL 184, 1221C–D. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1060D. The place of the hart ys betwen the brestys (fol. 39r–v), Locus cordis est inter ubera, hoc est, inter mammillas, PL 184, 1221C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The place of the heart is betweene the breastes, that is betweene the pappes’, p. 93. The Middle English systematically avoids words which could lead to unchaste thoughts.

Commentary

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‘Com from Lybany, my spouse. Com from Lybany’, that ys from the worlde (fol. 39v), ‘Veni de Libano, sponsa’, PL 184, 1221D, MGL addition. The translator adds a gloss on ‘Lybany’. Laeva Jesu Christi sponsi mei sub capite meo; id est, PL 184, 1221D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let the left hand of my bridegroome (Christ Iesus) be vnder my head, that is to say’, p. 94. Although PL 184 does not give the reference, this is Song 2. 6. The grace of the Holy Goste (fol. 39v), donum Spiritus sancti, PL 184, 1221D, MGL variant. Here again the translator favours the concept of ‘grace’. the Holy Goste geven by Jhesu Cryste unto me (fol.  39v), Spiritus sancti, PL 184, 1221D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. the knowlege of Holy Scriptur be inprynted in my mynde (fol. 39v), intellectus sanctarum Scripturarum sit in mente mea, PL 184, 1221D, MGL variant. Unusually the Latin has here the more common word. ‘et dextera illius amplexetur me’; hoc est, PL 184, 1221D, MGL omission. Batt does not translate either but gives the reference: ‘(Cant. 2.), that is to say’, p. 94. Although PL does not give the reference, this is Song 2. 6. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 26r reads as PL 184. desyre ye the maydens and servantis of Cryst that be with you (fol. 39v), roga ancillas Christi quae tecum sunt, PL 184, 1221D, i.e., ‘intreat Christ’s maids and servants who are with you’. See Glossary. ‘Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore Jesu Christi sponsi mei langueo’ (Cantic. ii, 5), PL 184, 1221D, MGL omission. Batt tranlates: ‘Stay me vp with flouers, compasse me about with apples because I Languish with the loue of my beloued bridegroome Christ Iesus’, pp. 94–95. o my good susters, which love Cryste above all thyng […] for I am hevy, sorowfull and syke for the love of hym (fols 39v–40r), O vos, sanctae sorores meae, quae jam Christum super omnia diligitis […] quia prae amore illius infirmor, PL  184, 1221D–22A. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1063B.

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Commentary

helpe ye me with your devoute prayers (fol. 40r), MGL addition. and shew me by your good and religious conversacion and examples (fol. 40r), fulcite me bonorum vestrorum exemplis, PL 184, 1222A, MGL variant and addition. The vernacular is more explicit. for I am hevy, sorowfull and syke for the love of hym (fol. 40r), quia prae amore illius infirmor, PL 184, 1222A, MGL addition. It is interesting to note a concentration of changes in this part of the text: it would seem that the translator has chosen to emphasize the text’s affective quality in his rendering. This seknes ys vertuous (fol. 40r), haec infirmitas sancta, PL 184, 1222A, MGL variant. An other example of the vernacular avoiding ‘sanctus’. This conjunccyon ys withoute corrupcion and invyolate, this clyppyng ys clene and untowchyd (fol. 40r), conjunctio intemerata, haec copula inviolata, haec complexio illibata, PL 184, 1222A. Note that the translator replaces the three times ‘noun + adjective’ in Latin with two ‘noun + is + 2 complements’, thus showing again his stylistic sensitivity. This rewriting also allows him to omit ‘haec copula’ (which Batt translates: ‘this copulation’, p. 95), which could occasion impure thoughts. this clyppyng ys clene and untowchyd (fol.  40r), haec complexio illibata, PL 184, 1222A, MGL addition. Here instead of omitting a word, the translator adds the adjective ‘clene’ in order to pre-empt the all too suggestive ‘clyppyng’. O good susters (fol. 40r), et vos, sanctae sorores, PL 184, 1222A, MGL variant. Here again the translator replaces the adjective ‘sanctus’ by something else. ‘fulcite me floribus’, ‘id est’, PL 184, 1222A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘stay me vp with flowers, that is’, p. 95. help me with exaumples of good conversacion (fol. 40r), fulcite me floribus, id est vestrae conversationis exemplis, PL  184, 1222A. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1063B. trewly then ar ye hevy and syke for þe love of Jhesu Cryste yf þat for his love ye sett nouȝt by all thys worlde, yf ye love hym above all thyng, yf þat ye love more hevenly thyngis than erthly, if ye be strong in good werkys and dedys

Commentary

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and in worldly maters be feble (fol. 40r–v), vere pro amore Jesu Christi sponsi tui langues et infirmaris, si pro amore illius omnia quae in mundo sunt, contemnis et despicis.Vere pro amore Jesu Christi infirma jaces in lecto contemplationis, si Christum super omnia diligis. Vere pro amore Christi es infirma, si plus diligis coelestia quam terrena. Vere propter amorem et dilectionem Christi languida jaces in lecto animae dilectionis ac suavitatis, si in sanctis operibus fortis, et in terrenis actibus es debilis, PL 184, 1222A–B, MGL combining. Batt translates: ‘you truly languish through the loue of Iesus Christ your bridegroome, if you despise and con[t]emne all earthly things for the loue of him. Verily you lie sick in the bed of contemplation, if you loue Christ aboue all things. You are truly sick for the loue of Christ, if you loue heauenly things, more then earthly, You truly lie sick and languishing for the loue of Christ, in the bed of internal loue and sweetnes, if you be strong in good workes, and weake in worldly businesses’, pp. 95–96. The translator’s omissions of the three Latin sentences beginning with ‘vere’, results in in a juxtaposition of four clauses beginning with ‘yf ’, which in the Middle English greatly increases pressure on the reader. Si Christum in tota mente secuta fueris, et eum tota mente dilexeris, absque ulla dubitatione cum eo in coelesti patria gaudebis, PL 184, 1222B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you imitate Christ sincerely and loue him vnfeined[l]y, you shall without all doubt reioyce with him in his heauenly countrie’, p. 96. Si cum omni devotione Christo adhaeseris, et ad eum die ac nocte suspira­ veris in hoc praesenti saeculo, sine dubio cum eo exsultabis in coelesti pala­ tio, PL 184, 1222B. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you adhere to Christ with all deuotion, and sigh to him day and night in this present world, without doubt you shall reioyce with him in his heauenly pallace’, p. 96. ‘Qui pascis inter lilia / Septus choreis virginum, / Sponsus decorus gloria, / Sponsisque reddens praemia. / Quocunque pergis, virgines / Sequuntur, atque laudibus / Post te canentes cursitant, / Hymnosque dulces personant’. (In hymno de Virginibus, Brev. Rom.), PL 184, 1222C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Thou feeding there, where lillies spring, / While round about thee Virgins daunce: / Thy spouses doost to glorie bring, / And them with high rewards aduance. / The Virgins follow in thy wayes, / Whither so euer thou dost goe: / They trace thy steps with songs of praise / And in sweet hymnes, thy glorie show’, p. 97. ‘Qui pascis inter lilia […] Hymnosque dulces personant’, correspond to the second and third stanzas of Ambrose (attrib.), Hymni, PL 17, 1121.

238

Commentary

Ideo hoc dixi, soror charissima, ut Christum super omnia diligas, ut nihil amori illius praeponas, PL 184, 1222C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘This I haue said, (most deare sister) to the end you should loue Christ aboue all things, and preferre nothing before his loue’, p. 97.

Chapter 13: Love for one’s neighbour (PL 184, 1222D: De

dilectione proximi; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De dileccione proximi; Paynell: Of the loue of thy neyghbour; Batt: Of the loue of our neighbour; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Love of our Neighbour) The xiii exhortacion techyth how to love our neyghbour, withoute which love we cannot love perfyghtly God (fol. 40v), MGL addition.

‘For love ys the fulfyllyng of the lawe of God’ (fol. 41r), ‘Quia plenitudo legis est dilectio’ (Rom. xiii, 10), PL 184, 1222D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Seynt Paule thapostle exhortyth us, sayeng: ‘lyve ye in love, as Cryst dyd love us and gave hymself for us’. [om.] (fol. 41r). The omitted passage reads in the manuscript: ‘Also Seynt John thapostle sayeth exhortyng us lyve ye in love as Cryste did love us and gave hymself for us’. The repetition is evidently the result of confusion with the next biblical quotation taken from the First Epistle from John. Seynt Paule thapostle exhortyth us, sayeng (fol. 41r), Et Paulus apostolus, PL 184, 1222D, MGL addition. The translator thus enhances the didactic force of the scriptural quotation. ‘lyve ye in love’ (fol. 41r), ‘Ambulate in dilectione’, PL 184, 1222D, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the common expression. ‘ys in þe lyȝte of grace’ (fol. 41r), ‘in lumine manet’, PL 184, 1222D, MGL addition. The translator has again added the concept of ‘grace’. For previous examples, see above, fols 5r, 5v, 7v, 8r, 10v, 21r, 33v. ‘and no hurt is in hym’ (fol. 41r), ‘et scandalum non est in eo’, PL 184, 1222D– 23A, MGL variant. The Middle English again prefers the more common expression.

Commentary

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‘ys in derknes of syn’ (fol. 41r), ‘in tenebris est’, PL 184, 1223A, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit. ‘bycause darknes of syn hath blyndyd’ (fol. 41r), ‘quoniam tenebrae obcaecaverunt’, PL 184, 1223A, MGL addition. ‘he þat ys a lovyng frende’ (fol. 41v), ‘qui amicus est’, PL 184, 1223A, MGL addition. As has been shown in the previous chapter, the translator often highlights the affective value of the text by adding adjectives. et: ‘Frater in necessitate comprobatur’ (Prov. xvii, 17), PL 184, 1223A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and a brother is proued in distresses’, p. 99. and Seynt Austen: ‘thou overecomyst man and wyn hym with kynde felicite or a kynde turn, and þou overecomyst þe devyl with the love of thyn enmye’ (fol. 41v), Et beatus Augustinus: ‘Hominem vincis humana felicitate, diabolum vincis inimici dilectione’, PL 184, 1223A. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, ed. by Dekkers and Fraipont, ii, liv, 6, p. 660. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, iii, 21, p. 14. Sanctus amor non habet scandalum, PL 184, 1223B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Holy loue is free from scandal’, p. 100. oon God made us all (fol. 41v), unus artifex condidit nos, PL 184, 1223B, MGL variant. The vernacular prefers the more familiar expression. Verus amor non habet amaritudinem scandali, PL 184, 1223B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘True loue is void of scandal and bitternes’, p. 100. ys compasid with darknes of syn and werynes (fol. 42r), ‘circumdatus est tenebris’, PL 184, 1223C, MGL addition. This is the third time in this passage that the translator explains the nature of darkness by adding ‘of syn’. Seynt Isidor sayth: ‘he ys mych drowned on erth þat loveth a mortall man or woman more than he ought carnally’ (fol. 42r), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Multum in terra demersus est, qui diligit hominem moriturum plus quam oportet, carnaliter’, PL 184, 1223C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 28, 5b, p. 266. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, iii, 60, p. 17.

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Commentary

si in hoc saeculo, PL  184, 1223C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in this world’, p. 101. we wyl not be charitable and lovyng togyder (fol. 42r), unanimes esse nolumus, PL 184, 1223C, MGL variant. The translator highlights the theme of this chapter by replacing the concept of ‘accord’ by that of ‘charity’. a lovyng frende in necessite (fol. 42r), amicus in necessitate, PL 184, 1223C, MGL addition. The vernacular increases the affective value of the expression. in which vertue ys conteyned all the lawe of God (fol. 42v), in qua tota Lex pendet, PL 184, 1223D, MGL additions. In this and the two next entries, the Middle English is more explicit. we be in þe body of Cristys Chyrch (fol.  42v), in corpore Ecclesiae sumus, PL 184, 1223D, MGL addition. Note that the same variant reoccurs below, but is not recorded. we be oute of þe body of Crystis Chyrch (fol. 42v), a corpore Ecclesiae praecisi sumus, PL 184, 1223D, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common expression. charite which doeth comfourt (fol.  42v), Charitas quae colligit, PL  184, 1223D, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes the emotional benefit of ‘charity’. But, good virgyn, yf [we] wold kepe trew and perfite charite, lete us love wel every person (fol. 43r), Nos vero, honesta virgo, si veram et perfectam charitatem volumus custodire, diligamus bene, PL 184, 1224A. Batt translates: ‘But let vs (honest virgin) loue well and sincerely, if we desire to keepe true and perfect charitie’, p. 103, my emphasis. The variant ‘ye’ in MGL seems to be a mistake. Lete us labour to love feythfully oþer persons as ourself [þat] bycause Cryst ys our hedd we may be membrys of hym; and þat when he doeth apere þat ys our glorye, we by þe recorde of charyte and dileccyon of God and of our neyȝbour may apere with hym in glory (fol. 43r), Omnes fideles sicut nosmetipsos studeamus diligere, ut quia Christus est caput nostrum, mereamur membra illius esse: ut cum Christus apparuerit, qui est gloria nostra, nos per concordiam charitatis, et per dilectionem Dei et proximi, cum ipso possimus apparere in gloria, PL 184, 1224A. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 also has ‘ut’ in this sentence, fol. 28v. Batt translates: ‘Let vs endeauour to loue all good Christians as our

Commentary

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selues, that Christ being our head, we may merit to be his members: that when Christ our life shall appeare, we may appeare with him in glorie, by the concord of charitie, and the loue of God, and our neighbour’, p. 103, my emphasis. we may be membrys of hym (fol. 43r), mereamur membra illius esse, PL 184, 1224A, MGL variant. The vernacular favours the more common expression. Then ys a frend loved when he is loved not for hymself but for God (fol. 43r), Tunc vero amicus amatur, si non pro se, sed pro Deo amatur, PL 184, 1224A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 28, 5a, p.  266. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxiv, 45, p. 202. Holy Isider sayth: ‘he þat loveth a frende unresonably doeth love hym more for hymself than for God’ (fol. 43r–v), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Qui intemperanter amat amicum, magis amat illum pro se quam pro Deo’, PL 184, 1224A– B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 28, 5b, p. 266. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxiv, 45, p. 202. Then is a man or a woman contrarye to the goodnes and justice of God when he dispiseth a frend striken with eny adversite (fol. 43v), Tunc quisque bonitati atque divinae justitiae fit contrarius, quando despicit amicum aliqua adversitate percussum, PL 184, 1224 B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 29, 3, p. 267. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxiv, 47, p. 202. Trew frendeship ys by no occasion broken, in no ceson putte of but, howsomevere the tyme goyth, yt ys stedefaste. Few frendes þere be þat be lovyng unto thende (fol. 43v), Vera amicitia nulla occasione excluditur, nullo tempore deletur: sed ubicunque se verterit tempus, illa firma est. Pauci sunt amici qui usque ad finem sint chari, PL 184, 1224B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 29, 4–5, p. 267. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxiv, 48–49, p. 202. That frendeship is trew þat loketh for noon of his frendis substance excepte oonly his benevolens þat he may kyndely love agayn his lover (fol. 43v), Illa est vera amicitia, quae nihil ex rebus amici quaerit, nisi solam benevolentiam, scilicet ut gratis amet amantem se, PL 184, 1224B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 30, 2b, p. 268. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxiv, 51, p. 202. he may kyndely love agayn his lover (fol. 43v), gratis amet amantem se, PL 184, 1224B, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes this chapter’s theme: ‘charity’ among Christians.

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as it is writen in þe Gospel of our saviour, sayeng (fol. 43v), sicut scriptum est, PL 184, 1224B, MGL addition. The vernacular is often more explicit. For noþere the love of God oonly withoute þe love of þe neyȝbour, noþere þe love of þe neyȝbour oonly withoute þe love of God (fol. 44r), Quia nec sola dilectio Dei sine dilectione proximi, PL 184, 1224C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit and also enhances the didactic value of the passage by the parallelism of the two phrases. may fle to gete everelastyng blysse (fol. 44r), valet ad consequendam aeternam beatitudinem, PL 184, 1224C, MGL variant. The translator heightens the didactic message of the sentence by extending the metaphor of ‘wyngys’ and ‘fle[ing]’ present in the passage. and com to þe celestyall kyngdom (fol. 44r), et pervenire ad patriam coelestis regni, PL 184, 1224D, MGL omission. The vernacular usually omits or replaces ‘patria’ with a more common expression. See folios 16r, 47v, 156v, etc.

Chapter 14: Compassion (PL 184, 1224D: De compassione; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De conpassione proximi; Paynell: Of compassyon; Batt: Of compassion; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Compassion) The xiiii exhortacion sheweth how oon shuld have compassion of another (fol. 44r), MGL addition. This is þe lawe of God (fol. 44v), Haec est enim Lex, PL 184, 1224D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘et qui parat laqueum proximo suo, peribit in illo’ (Eccli. xxvii, 29), PL 184, 1225A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and he that prepareth a snare for his neighbour, shall perish in it’, p. 107. the more nye we be to God (fol. 44v), amplius Creatori nostro appropinquamus, PL 184, 1225A, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more familiar expression. Lete þerefor kynde affeccion (fol. 45v), sit igitur humanus affectus, PL 184, 1225B. ‘Kynde’ means here ‘natural’, but it probably signifies also ‘loving’.

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Chapter 15: Mercy (PL 184, 1225C: De misericordia; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De misericordia proximi; Paynell: Of mercy; Batt: Of mercie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Mercy)

The xv exhortacyon moveth us to shewe mercy and pyte to our evencrysten (fol. 45v), MGL addition. ‘as þe electe and devoute servantis of God’ (fol. 46r), ‘sicut electi Dei et sancti’, PL  184, 1225C, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘sanctus’. ‘to doo mercy and justice plesith more God than doeth sacrifice’ (46r), ‘Facere misericordiam et judicium magis placet Deo quam sacrificium’ (Prov. xxi, 3), PL 184, 1225D, i.e., ‘to do mercy and justice pleases God more than sacrifice [pleases God]’. to every person a place in heven (fol. 46r), locum unicuique, PL 184, 1225D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘the mercy of God ys overe all the world’ (fol.  46 r), ‘misericordia autem Domini super omnem carnem’, PL 184, 1225D, MGL variant. The translator usually replaces ‘caro’ by something more innocuous. þat þat ye have, have it for mercye. Shew mercy withoute grugge [...] Doo ye nothyng for lawde or praysyng but for þe everelastyng rewarde. Doo nothyng for temperall fame or name but for everelastyng lyfe (fol.  46v), quod habes, habeto ad misericordiam. Praebe misericordiam sine murmure […] Nihil facias propter temporalem opinionem, sed propter aeternam mercedem. Nihil facias propter famam, sed propter vitam aeternam, PL 184, 1226A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii 96–98, pp. 141–44. þat þat ye have, have it for mercye (fol. 46v), quod habes, habeto ad misericordiam, PL 184, 1226A, i.e., ‘whatsoeuer God hath giuen you, be readie to bestow in workes of mercie’, Batt, p. 111.

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Chapter 16: Examples of the Holy Fathers (PL 184, 1226B:

De exemplis sanctorum; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De exemplis sanctorum; Paynell: Of the examples of sayntes; Batt: Of the examples of the Sainctes; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Example of the Saints)

The xvi exhortacion sheweth the profitte þat cummyth by thexamples of holy faders and sayntis whom we shuld folowe and doo aftyr, yf we wyl reygne wyth them in heven (fol. 46v), MGL addition. thexaumples of holy sayntis profite mych to þe conversion and amendment of feythfull peple (fol. 47r), Ad conversionem vel emendationem fidelium multum exempla sanctorum prosunt, PL 184, 1226A–B, MGL addition. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 1, p. 115. The translator emphasizes the saints’ status by the addition of ‘holy’. The same addition reoccurs in this chapter devoted to the examples of the saints. Wherfor the fallys and rysyngs or reperacions of sayntis be writen, þat we wrecchys [...] sythe he seeth and knoweth þat ther was reperacion of seyntis after their fall (fol. 47r), Ideo scribuntur casus et reparationes sanctorum, ut miseri […] dum conspicit etiam post ruinam reparationem fuisse sanctorum, PL 184, 1226B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 3, p. 115. aftyr oure fall in syn (fol. 47r), post lapsum, PL 184, 1226B, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit. we may have hope of mercy (fol. 47r), spem habeamus, PL 184, 1226B, MGL addition. God þerfor shewed þe vertues of his sayntis for our exaumple [...] or els, if we wil not folow them in well doyng and workyng, we in our synnes be inexcusable, (fol. 47r) Propterea posuit Deus virtutes sanctorum ad exemplum nostrum […] vel, si eos ad bene operandum sequi noluerimus, in poenis inexcusabiles simus, PL 184, 1226B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 5, p. 115. Holy men and wemen of God cesed nevere in this worlde to exercyse them in good werkys, as in fastyng, wacchyng, almysdedys, chastite, continens, perseverauns, paciens, swettnes, prayer, persecucion, benevolens, hunger, thurst, colde, nakydnes, and in manyfold labours and travels for þe name of Cryste (fol. 47r–v). Similar statements about saints’ achievements are encoun-

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tered in devotional literature. Thomas à Kempis, in the Imitation of Christ, says, for example: ‘Sancti et amici Christi Domino servierunt in fame et siti, in frigore et nuditate, in labore et fatigatione, in vigiliis et ieiuniis, in orationibus et sanctis meditationibus, in persecutionibus et opprobriis multis’. Thomas à Kempis, De imitatione Christi, ed. by Lupo, Chapter 18, 3, p. 49. ‘The Saints and friends of Christ served Our Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in toil and weariness: in watching and fasting, in prayer and meditation, in persecutions and insults without number’. Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, trans. by Sherley-Price, p. 46. the holy sayntis dispised this present world (fol.  47 v), Sancti homines despexerunt praesentem mundum, PL 184, 1226C, MGL variant. It is interesting to observe that the translator has no qualm about referring to acknowledged saints as such. On the contrary, he emphasizes their holiness by translating ‘homines’ by ‘sayntis’ and ‘sanctus’ by ‘holy’. The same occurs a few lines down. they forsakyng this world (fol. 47v), hanc patriam […] relinquentes, PL 184, 1226C, MGL variant. The vernacular usually avoids ‘patria’ and prefers to it a more common expression. Holy sayntis avoyded syn (fol.  47v), Homines sancti vitaverunt peccatum, PL 184, 1226C, MGL variant. See above, ‘the holy sayntis dispised …, fol. 47v. heryng, in movyng of their eyes, their handis (fol. 47v) in auditu, in nutu, in oculis, in manibus, PL 184, 1226C. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in their hearing, in their nod or becking, in their eies, in their hands’, p. 114. Kepyng diligently their bodyes (fol. 47v), Custodientes corpora sua, PL 184, 1226D, MGL addition. The translator regularly enhances the didactic value of his text by additions of adverbs. id est de eisdem sanctis patribus, PL 184, 1226D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that is of the aforsaid holy Fathers’, p. 115. my hands hath stylled myrr (fol. 48r), ‘stylled’ is here to be understood as ‘distilled’. See Glossary. What undirstand we by the handis, but good werkis of seyntis? And what by the myrre but mortificacion of þe bodye and of synnes? (fol. 48r), Quid

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per manus, nisi operationes sanctorum intelligimus? et quid per myrrham, nisi morti­ficatio carnis et mortificatio vitiorum accipitur?, PL 184, 1226D. PseudoGregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 520A. but good werkis of seyntis (fol.  48r), nisi operationes sanctorum, PL  184, 1226D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Manus Ecclesiae sancti homines sunt bona operantes, de quibus dicit: ‘Operati sunt justitiam’ (Hebr. xi, 33), PL 184, 1226D. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The hands of the Church are holy men doing good workes, of whome shee saith: They haue wrought iustice’, p. 115. The handis then of þe Chyrch hath stylled myrre, þat is to seye, holy sayntis by their good werkys have shewed us exaumples of good lyvyng (fol. 48r), Manus ergo Ecclesiae myrrham bonorum operum stillant, quia nobis exempla bene vivendi demonstrant, PL 184, 1226D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. and þat we shuld mortifye the lustys and the sensualite of our body (fol. 48r), et ut vitia carnis nostrae mortificemus, praedicant, PL 184, 1226D–27A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and declare vnto vs how we ought to mortifie the vices of our flesh’, p. 115. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 520A has a similar statement: ‘quicunque aliis praedicant, necesse est si multis proficere velint, ut in omni opere suo carnalem vitam mortificare contendant’. ‘if ye lyve aftyr the sensualite of your body’ (fol. 48r), ‘Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis’, PL 184, 1227A, MGL variant. Another example of the translator replacing ‘caro’ by a more neutral expression. ‘ye shall dye by syn’ (fol. 48r), ‘moriemini’ (Rom. viii, 13), PL 184, 1227A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. ‘mortifye your bodyes’ (fol. 48r), ‘Mortificate membra vestra’, PL 184, 1227A, MGL variant. Again, the translator avoids words which could suggest lewd thoughts. Then is myrr wel proved when the flesch ys perfitely mortified (fol. 48r), Tunc vere est myrrha probatissima, quando perfecte caro mortificatur, PL 184,

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1227A. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 520B says: ‘Sed digiti myrrha probatissima pleni esse perhibentur; quia […] semper necesse est ut mortificatio carnalitatis teneatur’. if we covette to have the felawship of holy sayntis (fol.  48r), si societatem sanctorum habere cupimus, PL 184, 1227A, MGL addition. See earlier entries above, fol. 47r–v. For the law of God daily monyscheth us (fol. 48v), Quia et lex Dei quotidie nos admonet ut bene vivamus, PL 184, 1227A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For that the law of God doth admonish vs daily, that we liue vertuously’, p. 116. And if oþerewhiles we folowe the exaumples of evyll persons [...] And if we be redye and apte to folow lewd persons in doyng yll, why be we slowe to folow good in doyng wele? (fol. 48v), Sed et si aliquando secuti sumus exempla malorum hominum […] Et si apti […] fuerimus ad imitandum malos in malum, cur pigri simus ad imitandum bonos in bonum?, PL 184, 1227A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 7, p. 116. In choosing to repeat ‘folowe’ in this entry and the next two, the translator creates a didactic pattern. to folow lewd persons in doyng yll (fol. 48v), ad imitandum malos in malum, PL 184, 1227B, MGL variant. to folow good in doyng wele (fol. 48v), ad imitandum bonos in bonum, PL 184, 1227B, MGL variant. lete us pray God þat þe holy vertues which he ordeynd to his sayntis for their crown of glory be not to us to payne and dampnacion, but to our profitte and salvacion (fol. 48v), ergo deprecemur Deum, ut virtutes sanctae, quas suis sanctis praeparavit ad coronam, nobis non sint ad poenam neque ad damnationem, sed ad profectum et salutem, PL 184, 1227B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 8, p. 116. to his sayntis for their crown of glory (fol. 48v), suis sanctis […] ad coronam, PL 184, 1227B, MGL addition. Another example of the Middle English being more explicit. if we folow þe exaumples of holy sayntis (fol. 48v), si exempla sanctorum secuti fuerimus, PL 184, 1227B, MGL addition. See earlier entries above fol. 47r–v.

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How mych more we rede the lyfe of seyntis (fol. 48v), other texts also encourage such reading. Geert Grote, for example, includes: ‘vitae et collationes patrum’ and ‘Legenda et Flores sanctorum’ in the chapter ‘De sacris libris et studendis’. Geert Grote, Conclusa et proposita, non vota in nomine Domini a Magistro Gerardo edita, in Thomas à Kempis, Opera omnia, ed. by Pohl, vii, pp. 97–98. ‘The lives and collations of the Fathers’ and ‘Legends and excerpts concerning the saints’ in ‘Sacred books to study’. Grote, Resolutions and Intentions, trans. by Van Engen, p. 70. the lyfe of seyntis or holy fadres (fol.48v), vitam sanctorum patrum, PL 184, 1227B, MGL addition. See earlier entries above, fol. 47r–v. as the humylyte of Cryste, devocion of Peter, charyte of Seynt John [...] the abstinens of Danyel, and oþere good and worthy dedys of forfadres (fols 48v–49r), scilicet humilitatem Christi, devotionem Petri, charitatem Joannis […] abstinentiam Danielis, et caetera digna facta priorum sanctorum, PL 184, 1227B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 11, 12, pp. 117–18. pacyence of Ysaac (fol. 49r), Job is the more usual example of Old Testament’s patience. See, for example, Mercy’s words in Mankind. See Mankind, ed. by Lester, pp. 1–57 (p. 18). However, other biblical characters are also seen as examples of patience, as for instance Jonah in Patience. See Patience, ed. by Andrew and Waldron, pp. 185–206. Crist by the power of his godhed ys the prynce of all creatures, and therfor Holy Chyrch ys callyd the dowȝter of a prynce, for by the prechyng of Cryst she ys newly begoten and into a newe lyfe regenerate (fol. 49r), Christus per potentiam divinitatis princeps est omnium creaturarum: et ideo sancta Ecclesia filia principis dicitur, quia per praedicationem Christi in novam vitam regeneratur, PL 184, 1227C–D. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 533C. she ys newly begoten and into a newe lyfe regenerate (fol. 49r), in novam vitam regeneratur, PL 184, 1227D, MGL addition. The Middle English is here more precise, for it specifies two stages in the process: rebirth and regeneration. What be þe shoes of the Chyrch, but thexaumples of holy fadres, (49v) with þe which she ys in the weye of þis world defended þat þurgh all tribulacions she may goo shoed? (fol. 49r–v), Quae sunt autem calceamenta Ecclesiae, nisi

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exempla sanctorum patrum, quibus in via hujus saeculi munimur, ut per omnes tribulationes calceamenta ista ambulent?, PL  184, 1227D. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 533C–D. Agayn in Canticis Cryst spekyth (fol. 49v), Iterum in eisdem Canticis sponsus Ecclesiae Christus loquitur, PL 184, 1227D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Againe in the same Canticles the bridegroome of the Church Christ Iesus speaketh’, p. 119. The vynes doo flour when chyldren be in Cristis Chyrch trewly brought furth in faith […] and by their prechyng and shewyng of good lyfe doo renewe them in vertuouse werkis and holy conversacion (fol. 49v), Vineae florent, quando in ecclesiis, filii recenter in fide generantur […] et in novitate sanctae conversationis per praedicationem suam et per ostensionem bonae vitae sanctis operibus renovant, PL 184, 1227D–28A. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 523B. and rootyd in holy conversacion of good werkys (fol. 49v), et ad sanctam conversationem quasi ad soliditatem bonorum operum praeparantur, PL 184, 1228A, MGL variant. The translator continues the metaphor of garden and fruits present in the Song of Songs quotation a few lines above. Note that the image of trees already occurs in the first chapter of the text. doo renewe them in vertuouse werkis and holy conversacion (fol. 49r), in novitate sanctae conversationis […] sanctis operibus renovant, PL 184, 1228A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in newnes of holy conuersation do renew them’, p. 119. as Seynt Gregory sayth: ‘they þat hyde theyr good lyfe from oþer, they be kyndeled within themself, but they be not to oþer in exaumple of lyȝte’ (fol. 50r), quia, sicut ait beatus Gregorius, qui aliis suam bonam vitam abscondunt, in semetipsis accensi, sed aliis in exemplum luminis non sunt, PL 184, 1228A. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Hiezechihelem Prophetam, ed. by Adriaen, homilia v, 7, p. 60. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxvi, 9, p. 220. ‘And they þat by exaumple of vertue and holynes of lyfe and good exhortacion shew lyȝte to oþere, they be brennyng lampes bycause þei shew to oþere þat is within them: þe way of lyfe’ (fol. 50r), ‘Illi vero qui exemplum virtutum, et per viam sanctitatis atque per verbum praedicationis aliis lumen

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demonstrant, lampades ardentes sunt, quia aliis viam salutis ostendunt’, PL 184, 1228A–B. This sentence appears to paraphrase and summarize the following passage: ‘Hi autem qui et exempla uirtutum praerogant, et lumen boni operis per uitam et uerbum itinerantibus demonstrant, iure lampades appellantur […] Qui uero, in imitatione sanctitatis positus, lumen ex se rectitudinis multis demonstrant, lampas est, quia et sibi ardet, et aliis lucet’, Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Hiezechihelem Prophetam, ed. by Adriaen, p. 60. and good exhortacion (fol.  50r), atque per verbum praedicationis, PL  184, 1228B, MGL variant. The vernacular is better suited to nuns who are not usually called to preach. þei shew to oþere þat is within them: þe way of lyfe (fol. 50r), aliis viam salutis ostendunt, PL 184, 1228B, MGL addition. In this entry and the next the Middle English is more explicit. þat your good dedes be so (fol. 50r), ut ita sit opus tuum, PL 184, 1228B, MGL addition. in all your dedys, in all your werkis, in all your conversacion, folow ye holy and juste persons […] Lete not your good fame be loste with stynkyng maners, lete it not be sclaundred or bacbited with opprobrious sayengs (fol. 50v), in omnibus actionibus tuis, in omni opere tuo, in omni conversatione tua imitare sanctos, aemulare justos […] tua bona fama nullis fetoribus obscuretur, tua bona fama nullis opprobriis laceretur, PL 184, 1228B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 41, pp. 94–95. and considere wele the exaumples of ryȝtwous persons (fol. 50v), exempla justorum imitando considera, PL 184, 1228B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and by imitating them consider what they haue done’, p. 121. The translator may be aware that it is not always possible for his audience to imitate the actions of the saints. Lerne ye to have a good commendacion (fol. 50v), Disce flagrare bono praeconio, PL 184, 1228C, MGL variant. The vernacular chooses the more common expression.

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Chapter 17: Strife (PL 184, 1228C: De contentione; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De contencione proximorum; Paynell: Of contention and stryfe; Batt: Of contention; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Contention) The xvii exhortacion sheweth how no stryfe ne debate ouȝte to be had in religion and how to advoyde the occasion of all contencion (fol. 50v), MGL addition. ‘do ye not folow your sensualyte’ (fol. 51r), ‘nonne secundum hominem ambulatis’, PL 184, 1228C, MGL variant. The vernacular prefers the more common expression. doeth lyg[h]tly fall into an evyl name (fol. 51r). It would seem that the spelling ‘lygtly’ is a mistake, as it occurs nowhere else in MGL. Propterea pax et concordia ab omnibus hominibus amantur, PL 184, 1228D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Peace and concord are pleasing to euerie one’, pp. 122–23. here Saynt Austen, what he sayth: ‘o how irreprehensible and blameles we myȝte be yf we wold as diligently amende our fawtis as with diligence we repreve oþere persons defautis’ (fol. 51r), audi beatum Augustinum dicentem: ‘O quam irreprehensibiles esse possemus, si tam diligenter nostra vitia emendaremus, quanto studio aliena reprehendimus!’, PL 184, 1228D. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxx, 7, p. 210. I wyll þat ye know ther ys noþing more foule than stryve betwen religious persons (fol. 51r), Volo quod cognoscas quia nihil est turpius quam lites inter Religiosos, PL  184, 1229A. Note here the strength of the author’s opinion, expressed in ‘I wyll’ / ‘volo’, a rare occurrence. As ‘concorde’ is an Augustinian concept par excellence, the Latin author perhaps here reveals his allegiance. as the lyghtis in þe firmament (fol.  51r), sicut luminaria in coelo, PL  184, 1229A, MGL variant. Unusually, the translator has chosen here a more specific noun (and one with biblical connotations). if detraccion and brawlyng be in religyon (fol. 51v), si detractio et jurgia sunt in claustro, PL 184, 1229A, MGL variant. The translator usually translates ‘claus-

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trum’ by the more all-enclusive word ‘religion’. Further examples are not systematically recorded below. Note that ‘monasterium’ is also translated by ‘religion’. See Introduction, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: A Translation’, p. 21, note 119. Wher is perfeccion? (fol. 51v), ubi sanctitas religionis?, PL 184, 1229A, MGL variant. Again the translator avoids ‘sanctus’ and its derivatives. The same variant reoccurs a few lines down but is not recorded here. lovyng charyte is broken (fol. 51v), annullata charitas fraternitatis, PL 184, 1229A, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the simpler expression. Wher is lyfe religious? (fol.  51v), ubi vita modesta, ubi vita casta, PL  184, 1229B, MGL variant. It would seem that the translator considers the two adjectives as summarizing the very essence of the monastic life. Be ye chare (fol.  52r), Esto sollicita, PL  184, 1229B, i.e., ‘be careful’. See Glossary. ‘disseyvyng hymself in thynkyng þat he schal not be ponysched’ (fol. 52r), ‘seducens cor suum’, PL 184, 1229B–C, MGL addition. The Middle English is here much more explicit. a lytel sowre leven (fol. 52r), modicum fermentum, PL 184, 1229C, MGL addition. The translator regularly adds adjective and adverbs to reinforce the text’s message. an hole bache of bred (fol. 52r), totam massam, PL 184, 1229C, MGL addition. Here again the vernacular is more explicit. doeth hurt lordys and rewlers, equall[s] and companyons, subjectis and children (fol. 52v), dominos et praepositos, aequales et socios, subjectos et parvulos, omnes scandalizat, PL 184, 1229C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 34v. Batt also has ‘equalls’, p. 126. doeth hurt lordys and rewlers (fol. 52v), dominos et praepositos […] scandalizat, PL 184, 1229C, MGL variant. The Middle English has chosen the more common word. shall bryng all hys felawship to grete hevynes (fol. 52v), omnes socios suos perducet ad scandala, PL 184, 1229C, MGL variant. The vernacular not only pre-

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fers the more common word, ‘hevynes’ also suggests a wider range of meaning, i.e., private grief. to gete hevenly ryches (fol. 52v), ad coelestes divitias promerendas, PL 184, 1229D, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common verb. et ideo paupertatem elegisti, PL 184, 1229D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and for this cause haue chosen pouertie’, p. 126. the more submytte you mekely (fol. 52v), tanto te humilia in omnibus, PL 184, 1229D, ‘you’ is reflexive, i.e., ‘the more meekly subject yourself ’. Leve the lewde company of conspiracion (fol. 53r), dimitte conventicula conspirationis, PL 184, 1229D, MGL addition. By being more explicit, the translator guides his reader more effectively. Murmurationibus aurem tuam non praebeas, PL 184, 1229D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Listen not to murmurers’, p. 127. Fuge detrahentes; quasi serpentes, PL 184, 1229D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Shunne the societie of slaunderers, for that (as serpents)’, p. 127. Non solum ille qui detrahit peccat, sed ille qui voluntarie detrahentem audit, PL 184, 1230A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He that doth slaunder or backbite an other, doth not sinne alone; but he likewise that doth willingly listen vnto him’, p. 127. ‘I have not consentyd nor taryed with the counseil of vanyte’ (fol.  53r), ‘Non sedi cum concilio vanitatis’, PL 184, 1230A, MGL variant. The translator replaces the biblical expression with one which is more explicit. that is to seye, with such that spended the tyme in lewde and vayn communicacion (fol. 53r), MGL addition. The vernacular has added a glose to the biblical text.

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abyde not ye with them (fol. 53r), non sedeas, PL 184, 1230A, MGL variant. Again the translator has replaced the biblical expression by a more explicit verb. with suche as talke yll and shrewdly of their neyȝbour (fol. 53r), cum mala loquentibus, PL 184, 1230A, MGL addition. Note that the process of ‘geminatio’ (‘ylle and shrewdly’) here strongly reinforces the text’s message. Stryve ye in no cause or mater. Contencyon causeth stryfe, chydyng, brawlyng, and hatred. Contencion brekyth concorde (fol. 53r), Non contendas in ulla causa […] studeas. Contentio lites parit, contentio pacem cordis exstinguit, contentio rixas gignit, contentio jurgia seminat, contentio faces odiorum accendit, contentio concordiam rumpit, PL 184, 1230A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 39, p.  93. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxix, 12, pp. 209–10. in nulla causa decertare studeas, PL 184, 1230A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘be not a freind of discord and variance’, p. 128. acordyng to the Psalmystere sayng (fol. 53r). It would seem that ‘Psalmystere’ is a genitive singular. For nouns ending in ‘-er’ without a genitive ending, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. ‘Turbatus est a furore oculus meus’ (Psal. vi, 8), PL 184, 1230A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Mine eie is troubled with furie’, p. 128. quod a praepositis tuis tibi fuerit ministratum, sine murmuratione accipe, PL 184, 1230B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘accept gracefully, whatsoeuer they shall giue you’, p. 128. and to your sustyr a good vestur (fol. 53v), et sorori tuae […] pretiosum, PL 184, 1230B, MGL variant. The vernacular chooses the more common adjective. Sive meliora vestimenta sororibus tuis fuerint, et tu acceperis viliora, PL 184, 1230B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If your sisters get the best garments, and leaue you the worst’, p. 129. Ye came not to religyon (fol.  53v), non venisti ad monasterium, PL  184, 1230C. The translator regularly translates ‘monasterium’, by ‘religyon’. See Introduction, p. 21, note 119.

Commentary

255

to be gayly be sen in preciouse clothyng (fol. 53v), ut in vestimentis pretiosis resplendeas, PL 184, 1230C, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common expression. to be seen gloryous arayed (fol. 53v), in vestibus gloriosa appareas, PL 184, 1230C, i.e., ‘gloriously’. See Glossary. Note that ‘gloryous’ literally translates ‘gloriosa’. Batt translates: ‘that you might appeare glorious’, p. 129. Ye came not among a holy company (fol. 53v), non venisti ad sanctam congregationem, PL 184, 1230C. This is a rare occurrence of ‘sanct[us]’ translated by ‘holy’. The translator thus strongly indicates his view about what kind of place a monastery is (or should be). for God to dispyse all erthly thyng[is] (fols 53v–54r), pro Deo omnia terrena despicias, PL 184, 1230C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 35v. A plural seems to be understood here, as ‘omnia terrena’ is later translated by a plural: ‘yf for his love it dispyseth all erthly thyngis’ (fol. 62r), ‘si pro amore illius despicit omnia terrena’, PL 184, 1236A, my emphasis. your faders hous (fol. 54r), domo patris, PL 184, 1230C, ‘faders’, gen. s., i.e., of your father, your father’s. Subsequent genitive adopting this form are not recorded below. to have had vayn solace and myrth (fol. 54r), habere solatium, PL 184, 1230C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. solace and myrth in the world (fol. 54r), in domo parentum tuorum […] solatium, PL 184, 1230C, MGL variant. The vernacular systematically enhances the didactic value of the text. Here it highlights the contrast between life in the world and life in the monastery. to cause eny trouble (fol. 54r), movere scandalum, PL 184, 1230D, MGL variant. Another example of the simpler word preferred by the vernacular. to stryve, or fyȝt, or murmur, or gruge (fol. 54r), contendere, aut litigare, aut murmurare, PL 184, 1230D, MGL addition. The additional word reinforces the point made by the text.

256

Commentary

Chapter 18: Correction (PL 184, 1230D: De disciplina; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De tenendo disciplina[m]; Paynell: Of disciplyne and correction; Batt: Of d[i]scipline; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Discipline) The xviii exhortacion doeth counseill us to take mekely correccion and not to gruge or chek at such that doeth reforme us (fol. 54r), MGL addition. The excellent wyse kyng Salomon (fol. 54r), Sapientissimus Salomon, PL 184, 1230D, i.e., ‘the most wise’, ‘excellent’ is here an adverb. See Glossary. ‘þat þu may have grace and favour shewd to þe’ (fol. 54r–v), ‘ut addatur gratia capiti tuo, et torques collo tuo’ (Prov. i, 8, 9), PL 184, 1230D, MGL variant. The translator here appears to glose rather than translate the biblical verse. ‘Accipe disciplinam, et noli abjicere eam’ (Prov. viii. 10, 33), PL 184, 1230D, MGL omission. Batt also omits, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 35v, reads as PL 184. He that wyll accepte correccion ys wyse and shall have here the lyfe (fol. 54v), Qui custodierit disciplinam, inveniet vitam, PL 184, 1231A, MGL additions. In this and the three next entries, the vernacular is more explicit. the lyfe of grace and in tyme to com þe lyfe of glory (fol. 54v), vitam, PL 184, 1231A, MGL addition. As it has been noted earlier, the translator at times introduces the concept of ‘grace’. shall here in syn dye in soule and after both in soule and bodye (fol. 54v), ‘inveniet mortem’, PL 184, 1231A, MGL addition. ‘shal be praysed and have a good name’ (fol. 54v), ‘gloriabitur’ (Prov. xiii, 18), PL 184, 1231A, MGL addition. ‘Stultus irridet disciplinam patris sui. Qui autem custodit increpationes, sapiens est’ (Prov. xv, 5), PL 184, 1231A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘A foole scorneth the discipline of his father, but he that regardeth reprehensions shall become more prudent’, pp. 131–32. of þe which spekyth Seynt Ambrose, sayeng: ‘he þat is eesly correcte [...] nor þat thyng þat shuld be for his welth’ (fols 54v–55r), Unde beatus Ambrosius:

Commentary

257

‘Leviter castigatus exhibet […] nec increpationem suscipit, nec salutem’, PL 184, 1231A. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 21, p.  122. Julianus Pomerius, De vita contemplativa, PL 59, 449. The quotation is not attributed to Ambrose either in PL 59. They muste with fayrnes be born and suffred which for their infirmite and febylnes may not be blamyd (fol. 55r), Blanda pietate sunt portandi, qui pro sua infirmitate non possunt increpari, PL 184, 1231A–B. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 23, p. 122. Julianus Pomerius, De vita contemplativa, PL 59, 450A. Some þere be þat muste be born and suffred, and som muste be correctyd and chastised (fol. 55r), Pro diversitate peccantium alii portandi sunt, alii castigandi, quia modus est diversus peccatorum, PL 184, 1231B. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 24, p. 122. Julianus Pomerius, De vita contemplativa, PL 59, 443C–D. Some þere be þat muste be born (fol.  55r), Pro diversitate peccantium alii portandi sunt, PL 184, 1231B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘According to the diuersitie of those that offend, some are to be endured’, p. 132. and som muste be correctyd and chastised (fol.  55r), alii castigandi, quia modus est diversus peccatorum, PL 184, 1231B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘others to be corrected, for that there are sondrie sortes of sinnes’, p. 132. In the figur of this (fol. 55r), Hinc, PL 184, 1231B, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. For he þat with fayr wordys wyll not be correcte and amendyd, it ys necessary þat he be more sharply chastysed and rebuked [...] They ouȝt to be openly blamyd which openly doeth hurt and offende (fol. 55v), qui blandis verbis castigatus non corrigitur, necesse est ut acrius corrigatur et arguatur […] Palam sunt arguendi qui palam nocent, PL 184, 1231C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 46, 11–13, p. 293. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 30–32, p. 123. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 903B. ut dum aperta objurgatione sanantur, hi qui eos imitando deliquerunt, cor­ rigantur, PL  184, 1231C–D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that whiles

258

Commentary

they are healed by open reprehension, they likewise may be corrected, that did amisse by imitating them’, p. 134. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 46, 13, p. 293. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 32, p. 123. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 903B. Hit ys better that oon be condempned for the salvacion of many than by the sufferaunce of oon many be in jeopardye (fols 55v–56r), Melius est ut pro multorum salvatione unus condemnetur, quam per unius licentiam multi periclitentur, PL 184, 1231D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 46, 14, p. 293. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 33, p. 123. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 903C. Seynt Gregory seyth: ‘ther be many þat here the wordis of correccion, and yit they dispyse to be repentaunte and doo penance’ (fol. 56r), Etiam beatus Gregorius ait: ‘Sunt multi, qui verba increpationis audiunt, et ad poenitentiam redire contemnunt’, PL 184, 12231D. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, ii, xxxi, p. 273. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 26, p. 123. ‘and yit they dispyse to be repentaunte and doo penance’ (fol. 56r), ‘et ad poenitentiam redire contemnunt’, PL  184, 1231D. ‘Geminatio’ is used here (as elsewhere in MGL) to introduce additional meaning and nuances. In this instance, the translator describes two different processes: 1) to be repentant; 2) to do penance for one’s sins. yf by love he come not to heven (fol. 56r), si per amorem ad regnum non venit, PL 184, 1231D, MGL variant. The translator has preferred the more common expression. yit lete hym com by feer and drede (fol. 56r), a reminder of the longer examination of fear and dread in Chapter 4. Holy Isidour sayth: ‘juste persons mekely take correccion when they be rebuked for their defauȝtis’ (fol. 56r), Verba sunt Isidori: Justi benigne suscipiunt castigationem, quando de suis culpis arguuntur, PL 184, 1231D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 32, 6, p. 271. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxi, 28, p. 123.

Commentary

259

therfor we ouȝt to love our prelate[s] and take mekely their wordis (fol. 56r), et ideo debemus praelatos nostros diligere, et verba eorum benigne suscipere, PL 184, 1231D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 37r. ‘Prelate’, in the singular, seems to be a mistake, as it does not agree with the following ‘their’ or with the Latin. Batt translates: ‘therefore we ought to loue our superiours, and to listen to their wordes with all meeknes’, p. 135. By the kepers of [the] cyte (fol.  56r–v), the absence of the definite article appears to be a mistake, as one reads a few lines above: ‘the kepers þat kepe þe cyte’. Batt translates: ‘By the keepers of the citie’, p. 136, my emphasis. and with their prechyng strycketh hyrr (fol. 56v) eamque suis praedicationibus et exhortationibus atque minis percutiunt, PL 184, 1232A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and strike the same by their preachings, exhortations, and threatnings’, p. 136. but also they take from hyrr all erthly delectacion and temperall substaunce (fol. 56v), sed etiam pallium ei tollunt: id est omnem terrenam delectationem, atque substantiam temporalem, PL 184, 1232A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘but they also take away her cloke from her; that is, all temporal substance, and earthly delectation’, p. 136. and spoyled from worldly ryches (fol.  56v), ac spoliatam divitiis, PL  184, 1232A–B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. correccion and reformacion of our lyfe for our welth (fol. 56v), disciplinam nostrae salutis, PL 184, 1232B, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ enhancing the didactic value of the text by specifying two separate processes. Ergo si de via justa nolumus perire, necesse est nos disciplinam suscipere, PL 184, 1232B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If therefore we will not perish out of the iust way of saluation, it is expedient that we embrace discipline’, p. 137. and be suerly fastened in the juste waye (fol. 57r), et in via justa confirmeris, PL 184, 1232B, MGL variant. The vernacular has chosen the more common, English, expression. illi qui increpaverit te, gratias repende, PL 184, 1232B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘render him thanks, that shall rebuke you’, p. 137.

260

Commentary

mala pro bonis non reddas. Adversus bona consilia non respondeas jurgia, PL 184, 1232C. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘neither render euill for good. Answere not churlishly when they giue you good instructions’, p. 138. in this worlde for our transgression[s] and defauȝtis (fol. 57v), in hoc saeculo […] pro transgressionibus et culpis, PL 184, 1232D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 38r. Batt translates: ‘now […] for the transgressions and faults’, p. 139, my emphasis. As ‘defauȝtis’ is plural and both the Latin and Batt’s translation have ‘transgressions’ in the plural, the absence of a final ‘-s’ in MGL seems an oversight. melius est tibi manu abbatissae flagellis caedi, quam in inferno poenas pati, PL 184, 1232D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘it is better for you to be scourged by the hand of your Abbesse, then to endure eternal sorrow and anguish’, p. 139. than to suffer payn in hell (fol. 57v), quam in inferno cruciari in futuro, PL 184, 1232D, MGL variant. The vernacular chooses the more common and English word. melius est tibi manu abbatissae flagellis veberari, quam in inferno torqueri, PL 184, 1232D–33A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘It is better for you to be chastised by the hand of your Abbesse, then to sustaine those torments, which shall neuer cease’, p. 139. Hit ys better to you to suffer correccion of the hande of your abbess or priores in this worlde (fol. 57v), melius tibi est in hoc mundo de manu abbatissae vel priorissae sustinere flagella, PL 184, 1233A, MGL variant. Unusually here the Middle English is less specific than the Latin, which may indicate that the correction envisaged is not necessarily one involving a whip (‘flagella’). þan to suffer everelastyng paynes in hell (fol. 57v), quam pati aeternas poenas in gehenna, PL 184, 1233A, MGL variant. The vernacular usually refers to hell and heaven with the more common and English expressions.

Commentary

261

Chapter 19: Obedience (PL  184, 1233A: De obedientia; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De obediencia;9 Paynell: Of obedyence; Batt: Of obedience; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Obedience)

The xix exhortacion cownselyth us to be obedient to our prelatis and to such þat have eny rewle or governaunce on us in all goodnes (fol. 57v), MGL addition. We ouȝt not then to dispyse hedes and rewlers (fol. 58r), Ergo non debemus contemnere potestates, PL 184, 1233A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. ‘Qui vos audit, me audit’ (Luc. x, 16), PL 184, 1233B. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He that heareth you heareth me’, p. 141. then by our savyour sayeng (fol. 58r), ergo, PL 184, 1233B, MGL addition, i.e., ‘the saying of our Saviour’. Another instance of a genitive without inflexion. The Middle English is more explicit. ‘et obedire magis quam offerre adipem arietum: quoniam quasi peccatum ariolandi est repugnare’, PL 184, 1233B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and to harken, rather then to offer the fatte of rammes. Because it is as it were the sinne of enchantment, to resist’, p. 142. quae contra Moysen fratrem suum, id est, praelatum, murmuravit per inobe­ dientiam et rebellionem, PL  184, 1233C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘which murmured aga[i]nst Moyses her brother, (that is, against her Prelate or superiour)’, p. 142. the soule of every person þat by pryde and inobedience (fol. 58v), animam cujuslibet hominis, PL 184, 1233C, MGL addition. Note that the addition here partly replaces the sentence omitted above. See previous entry, ‘per inobedientiam et rebellionem’. Et quia non vult per obedientiam praecepta sui praelati suscipere, PL 184, 1233C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And for that shee will not admit the precepts of her Prelate by humbly obeying him’, p. 142. 9 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘De servando obedienciam’.

262

Commentary

wer ponysched by the power of God (fol. 58v), poenas sustinuerunt, PL 184, 1233C–D, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘Dathan and Abyron with their cumpany sanke down into the erth qwycke’ (fol. 58v), ‘Aperta est terra, et deglutivit Dathan, et operuit super congregationem Abiron’, PL 184, 1233D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the Middle English uses more common and simple language. ‘Chore and his felyshyp wer burned with the flame of fyre’ (fol. 58v), ‘Exarsit ignis in synagoga eorum, flamma combussit peccatores’ (Psal. cv, 18), PL 184, 1233D, MGL variant. Note that in this quotation as in the previous entry, the translator paraphrases rather than translates. atque contumaciam thuribulum accepisset, PL 184, 1233D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and stubbornes, he had taken the censar in his hand to burne incense’, p. 143. was by the justice of God stryken (fol. 58v), a Deo est […] percussus, PL 184, 1233D, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit. with the lepry in his forhedde openly afore all the peple (fols 58v–59r), lepra […] in fronte, PL 184, 1233D, MGL addition. for our welth God ordeyned prelatis (fol. 59r), pro salute nostra, posuit Deus praelatos, PL 184, 1234A, MGL variant. Unusually here the Middle English has the more specific, less common expression. in fygur wherof ys redde (fol.  59r), de quibus […] legitur, PL  184, 1234A, MGL addition. The Middle English often signals the introduction of an allegorical reading more explicitly. ‘lx strong men’ (fol. 59v), ‘sexaginta fortes […] ex fortissimis Israel’, PL 184, 1234A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘three-score valiants of the most valiant of Israel’, p. 144. ‘every nyȝte in the wacche for feer of perell that myȝte hape by false enemyes in the nyȝte’ (fol. 59v), ‘propter timores nocturnos’ (Cant. iii, 8), PL 184, 1234B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit.

Commentary

263

quia revera pacificus est, PL 184, 1234B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘for that he is truly peaceable’, p. 145. and defendyng the cumpany of God (fol.  59v), custodiunt Ecclesiam Dei, PL 184, 1234B, MGL variant. The Middle English here emphasizes the military image. prelatis of Holy Chyrch ouȝt to be perfytte (fol.  59 v), praelati sanctae Ecclesiae perfecti sunt, PL 184, 1234B, MGL variant. The translator is more realistic than the original Latin. This is also another example of the translator avoiding ‘sanctus’. that is, theyr prechyng (fol. 59v), id est, spirituale verbum, quia praedicando, PL 184, 1234B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that is, the spiritual worde, for that by their preaching’, p. 145. that in spiritual batell, as in temptacion (fol.  60r), ut ad bella spiritualia, PL 184, 1234C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. ‘yche of them have a swerde fastened aboute hym’ (fol. 60r), ‘uniuscujusque ensis super femur suum’, PL 184, 1234C, MGL variant. The vernacular uses the more common expression. Praelati sanctae Ecclesiae super femur enses tenent, PL 184, 1234C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The Prelates of our holy mother the Church hold their swordes vpon their thigh’, p. 146. to mortifye þe syn of the bodye (fol. 60r), vitia […] resecare, PL 184, 1234C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more practical expression. ‘lectulum Salomonis’, id est, PL 184, 1234C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘King Salomons bed, that is’, p. 146. they may overethrowe the congregacion (fol. 60r), congregationem […] foedare ac maculare possint, PL 184, 1234C, MGL variant. The Middle English, which in this passage omits the reference to Salomon’s bed (see previous entry), also avoids the image: ‘foedare ac maculare’ and emphasizes the consequences for readers instead.

264

Commentary

Obedience ys oonly þe vertue that graffyth and kepeth oþere vertues in the soule; of the which spekyth Salomon, saying [...] for when he obeyth mekely to þe commaundment of anoþere person, he overecometh hymself in his hert (fol. 60r–v), Obedientia sola virtus est quae virtutes caeteras menti inserit, insertasque custodit: de qua Salomon ait […] quia qui pro Domino alienae voci humiliter obedit, semetipsum in corde superat, PL 184, 1234C–D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 919D–20A. Obedience ys oonly þe vertue (fol. 60r), Obedientia sola virtus est, PL 184, 1234C, i.e., ‘obedience is the only vertue’. þe vertue that graffyth and kepeth (fol. 60r), virtus […] quae […] inserit […] custodit, PL 184, 1234C, MGL variant. The vernacular introduces again the ‘tree’ image encountered earlier in the text. See fol. 2v, etc. was offered up the bodyes of bestis (fol. 60r), aliena caro mactatur, PL 184, 1234D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding the word ‘flesh’. ‘an obedient man or woman ys a victoryous person’ (fol. 60v), ‘vir obediens loquitur victorias’ (Prov. xxi, 28), PL 184, 1234D, MGL variant. The Middle English glosses rather than quotes the biblical verse. when he obeyth mekely to þe commaundment of anoþere person (fol. 60v), quia qui pro Domino alienae voci humiliter obedit, PL 184, 1234D, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘the inobediens of Adam caused deth’ (fol. 60r), ‘propter peccatum Adae omnes homines sunt in condemnationem mortis’, PL 184, 1234D–35A, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the translator focusses the message on obedience, the theme of the present chapter. ‘the obediens of Cryst hath caused lyfe’ (fol. 60r), ‘per justitiam Christi omnes homines in justificationem vitae’ (Rom. v, 18), PL 184, 1235A, MGL variant. Et iterum: Sicut inobedientia primi parentis generavit mortem, ita obedi­ entia Christi generavit vitam (i Cor. xv, 22), PL 184, 1235A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And againe: As the disobedience of our first parents begot death: so the obedience of Christ begot life’, pp. 147–48.

Commentary

265

saye agaynst your hedys and such as have rewle overe you (fol. 60v), praepositis tuis […] contradicas, PL 184, 1235A, MGL addition. This is another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing added meaning, since the additional words extend the advice to a wider range of power relationships. Honour all that be better lerned and better in lyfe than ye be […] Be ye obedient to your elders and folowe mekely theyr commaundmentis. Be ye obedient to all in good techyng (fols 60v–61r), Venerare autem homines melioris scientiae, ac melioris vitae […] Senioribus praesta obedientiam, et famulare humiliter imperiis eorum. Cede auctoritati majorum, defer digna servitia majoribus. Esto cunctis obediens in bonis praeceptis, PL 184, 1235A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 73–74, pp. 123–24. Geve reverence to everybody acordyng to their deservyng (fol. 61r), Venerare unumquemque hominem pro suae merito sanctitatis, PL  184, 1235A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Reuerence euerie man according to the merit of his sanctitie’, p. 148. The omission here can be explained by the translator’s usual avoidance of ‘sanctus’ and its derivatives. Cede auctoritati majorum, defer digna servitia majoribus, PL 184, 1235B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Yield to the authoritie of your elders: and be readie to serue your seniours’, pp. 148–49. be ye so obedient to man and woman, that ye offende not þe wyll of God (fol. 61r), ita obedias homini, ut non offendas voluntatem Dei, PL 184, 1235B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 74, p. 124. nor consent to them þat byd you or commaund you to doo evyll (of what power so evere he be) [...] Ther is noon withoute grete offens that obeyeth to þat thyng þat shall com hurt of or syn (fol. 61r), malum facere jussa non consentias. Noli obedire in malo cuiquam potestati […] Neque enim est sine culpa, qui ut malum fieret obedivit, PL 184, 1235B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 75, pp. 124–25. Hit ys better to be slayn of man (fol.  61r), melius est ab homini jugulari, PL 184, 1235B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common and less violent verb. than to be dampned for everemore (fol. 61r), quam aeterno judicio damnari, PL 184, 1235B, MGL variant. In this instance the Latin is more explicit than

266

Commentary

the vernacular. This is often the case when the original highlights something the strength of which the translator wishes to moderate. Ther is noon withoute grete offens (fol.  61r), Neque enim est sine culpa, PL 184, 1235B, MGL addition. The vernacular increases the didactic value of the text by emphasizing the perpetrator’s responsibility. to þat thyng þat shall com hurt of or syn (fol. 61r), ut malum fieret, PL 184, 1235B, i.e., ‘to that thing of which hurt or sin shall come’. MGL translates both meanings of ‘malu[s]’ and thus is more specific. be ye obedient in all goodnes (fol. 61v), esto obediens, PL 184, 1235B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit.

Chapter 20: Perseverance (PL  184, 1235C: De perseverantia; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De perseverancia bonorum operum; Paynell: Of perseueraunce; Batt: Of perseuerance; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Perseverance)

The xx exhortacion gyveth counseil to persevere in good dedys and werkis, els we shall lese our rewarde of God (fol. 61v), MGL addition. here what Seynt Jerom sayth: ‘the begynnyngs in Cristen peple be not asked or desired’ […] The begynnyng of Judas Scaryoth ys commendyd, but the ende of his lyfe ys reproved (fol. 61v), audi beatum Hieronymum dicentem: ‘Non quaeruntur in Christianis initia vel exordia’ […] Laudatur initium Judae, sed finis vitae illius condemnatur, PL  184, 1235C. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, i, letter liv Ad Furiam, section 6, p. 472. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxii, 5, p. 100. In vayne ys the begynnyng of a man or woman commendyd yf his ende be condempnyd (fol. 61v), MGL addition. The vernacular increases the didactic value of the text by repeating what the example of Judas should mean for the audience. Seynt Gregory sayth: ‘the vertue of a good dede ys perseverance. In vayn ys a good dede begon, yf afore the lyvys ende hit be lefte’ (fol. 61v), Unde beatus

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Gregorius: ‘Fructus boni operis perseverantia est. Incassum bonum agitur, si ante terminum vitae deseratur’, PL 184, 1235C. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob, ed. by Adriaen, i, xxxvii, p. 57. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxii, 7–8, p. 100. Of this spekyth Saynt Isidor, sayng: ‘God jugeth not a man or a woman of the lyfe that ys paste, but of his ende’ (fol. 61v), De hoc etiam beatus Isidorus ait: ‘Non judicat Deus hominem de praeterita vita, sed de suo fine’, PL  184, 1235C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 14, 6, p. 125. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxii, 14, p. 101. For every person at the tyme of his deth shal be other justifyed or condempned (fols 61v–62r), Unusquisque enim in die mortis suae justificabitur, aut condemnabitur, PL 184, 1235C. Isidore of Seville, De ecclesiasticis officiis, ed. by Lawson, ii, 17, 9, p. 82. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxii, Cyprianus, 15, p. 101. unde scriptum est, ‘Ubi te invenero, ibi te judicabo’, PL 184, 1235C, MGL omission. The same quotation appears in other texts, but there seems to be no agreement as to its source: Eccle. 11. 3, Eccli. 11, Ezech. 24. 14, Ezech. 33 are all given as references, but none of them appears to be correct. It would seem that the following note in Abbot Suger’s Vita Ludovici Grossi is right: ‘Haec verba in sacris Scripturis non occurrunt’. Abbot Suger, Vita Ludovici regis vi, PL 186, 1326B, note 363. Batt, however, translates: ‘If the tree shall fall to the south, or to the North; in what place soeuer it shall fall, there shall it be (Eccl. 11.)’, p. 151, which is Ecclesiastes 11. 3. Of this vertu also in þe voyce of perseverant persons it is sayd spiritualy in Canticis (fol. 62r), Unde etiam in Canticis canticorum dicitur, PL 184, 1235D, MGL addition. The Middle English often tells the reader explicitly that a nonliteral reading is required. ‘I have sought in my mynde and hert all my lyfe’ (fol. 62r), ‘In lectulo meo per noctes’, PL 184, 1235D, MGL variant. The translator gloses the first part of the biblical verse rather than translates it. In this entry and the next, the translator’s variants can be explained by his cautionary approach to the ‘flesh’. that ye seke quietly and devoutly Jhesu Cryst (fol. 62r), ut quaeras eumdem Jesum Christum […] in lectulo tuo, id est in requie mentis, atque quietae contemplationis, PL 184, 1235D, MGL variant.

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contynually all dayes of your lyfe (fol. 62r), Per noctes quaere eum, hoc est, in hac vita, PL 184, 1235D, MGL variant. The variant reading is here again due to the translator glossing rather than translating ‘In lectulo meo per noctes’ above. all dayes of your lyfe that ye may perfitly fynde hym (fol. 62r), in hac vita, ad eum suspirando, eumque desiderando, ut eum perfecte […] invenire possis, PL 184, 1235D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in this life sigh after him; and desire him: that you may perfectly find him’, p. 151. and se hym reynyng in his Faders palace (fol. 62r), ac videre regnantem eum in Patris solio, PL 184, 1235D, MGL variant. The concept of a ‘palace’ would be more immediately familiar to the vernacular reader than that of a ‘throne’ (‘solium’). Sine intermissione quaere eum bene vivendo, ut faciem ejus merearis videre in coelesti regno, PL 184, 1235D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Seeke him without intermission by liuing vertuously, that you may merit to see him in eternal felicitie’, pp. 151–52. ‘quaerite faciem ejus semper’ (Psal. civ, 4), PL 184, 1236A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘seeke his face alwayes’, p. 152. withoute [a] chaste bodye (fol. 62v), nisi casto corpore, PL 184, 1236A. Batt translates: ‘those that are chast of bodie’, p. 153. noon may se the glorye of þe Godhed (fol. 62v), gloriam divinae majestatis, PL 184, 1236B, MGL variant. The vernacular prefers the more familiar expression. shal not be gyven to evyll persons (fol. 62v), non otiosis […] dabitur, PL 184, 1236B, MGL variant. The Latin ‘otiosus’, i.e., slothful, refers to the sin regularly opposed to ‘holy occupations’, which suits best the context of the present chapter. However, the Middle English extends the reflection to all sins, including sloth. and labour for it (fol. 62v), atque pulsantibus, PL 184, 1236B, MGL variant. The vernacular prefers the more common verb. ‘aske ye heven and ye shall have it’ (fol. 62v), ‘Petite, et accipietis’, PL 184, 1236B, MGL additions. In this and in the next two entries, MGL is more specific than the Latin original.

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‘Seke ye heven and ye shall fynde it’ (fol. 62v), ‘quaerite, et invenietis’, PL 184, 1236B, MGL additions. ‘Knock ye at heven gatis and they shal be opened to you’ (fol. 62v), ‘pulsate, et aperietur vobis’ (Matth. [vii], 7), PL 184, 1236B, MGL additions. Heven gatis […] Heven gate (fol. 62v), understand ‘heven’ as a genitive singular of a weak noun. See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 22–23. our savyour sayeng to wyttnes (fol. 63r), Unde Dominus in Evangelio, PL 184, 1236B, MGL variant, i.e. ‘what our Saviour says is witness to this’. ‘to the plowhe of God’ (fol. 63r), ‘ad aratrum’, PL 184, 1236C, MGL addition. Again, the vernacular is more explicit. ‘ys apte to com to heven’ (fol. 63r), ‘aptus est regno Dei’ (Luc. ix, 62), PL 184, 1236C, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common and familiar expression. That ys to saye, they þat begyn wele and do not persevere be not meete to come to everelastyng lyfe (fol. 63r), MGL addition. The translator has added a gloss to the biblical quotation. hyt ys necessary that we call daily (fol. 63r), pulsemus quotidie, PL 184, 1236C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. that we call daily to Almyȝty God (fol.  63r), pulsemus quotidie aures Dei omnipotentis, PL 184, 1236C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that […] we knock daily at the eares of almightie God’, p. 154, my emphasis. The omission can be explained by the translator’s choice of the more common idiom. to be delyvered from this mortall bodye (fol. 63r), de carcere mortis hujus eripi, PL 184, 1236C, MGL variant. The vernacular here interprets rather than translates the Latin, which makes the text more explicit. and com to heven gatis (fol. 63r), et ad portam coelestis patriae pervenire, PL 184, 1236C, MGL variant. Understand ‘heven’ as a genitive singular of a weak noun. See above, fol. 62v. The vernacular has the more common expression.

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openyd to us by our merciful savyour Jhesu Cryst (fol. 63r), illo aperiente, PL 184, 1236C, MGL addition. Note that the translator has placed this clause at the end of the sentence rather than at the beginning in PL 184 and in Batt (p. 154). The addition makes his text more explicit. For suche as goo from religion to the worlde agayn be made more black in their soules than eny ded cole (fol. 63r–v), quoniam qui de monasterio ad saeculum revertuntur, plus quam carbones nigri efficiuntur. Qui de monasterio ad saeculum descendunt, efficiuntur nigri sicut carbones frigidi, PL 184, 1236C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 22, 5, p. 254. by sluggys[h]nes and dulnes of mynde (fol. 63v), ‘sluggys[h]nes’ seems to have several other spellings in the text: i.e., ‘slouggyschnes’, ‘slugguschnes’, ‘sluggushnes’, but none end in ‘-snes’. It would appear, therefore, that the absence of ‘h’ here is a mistake. Of this blaknes spekyth holy Isidor, sayeng: ‘they þat be turned from a good lyfe to an evel be made darke by covetyse [...] They þat forsake a holy congregacion and goo to þe secular lyfe be ferr fro the cumpany of God and subdewed to þe dominyon of the gostly enemy’ (fol. 63v), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Qui de bona vita ad malam revertuntur per cupiditatem mundi, sunt contenebrati […] Qui sanctam congregationem relinquunt, et ad saecularem vitam descendunt, a societate Dei elongantur, atque dominio diaboli subjugantur’, PL 184, 1236C–D. Untraced. ‘be straungers and alyens from the lyght of God’ (fol. 63v), ‘atque lucernae claritatis Dei sunt extranei’, PL 184, 1236D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and estranged from the light of the brightnes of God’, p. 155, my emphasis. The vernacular version is simpler. ‘and goo to þe secular lyfe’ (fol.  63v), ‘et ad saecularem vitam descendunt’, PL 184, 1236D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. ‘and subdewed to þe dominyon of the gostly enemy’ (fol. 63v), ‘atque dominio diaboli subjugantur’, PL 184, 1236D, MGL variant. The translator prefers referring to Satan by emphasizing his enmity. ‘he þat lefully doth fyght and labour’ (fol. 64r), ‘qui legitime certaverit’ (ii Tim. ii, 5), PL 184, 1237A, MGL addition. This is yet another example of

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‘geminatio’ used for added meaning. The idea of ‘labour’ has perhaps its origin in the next biblical verse: ‘Laborantem agricolam oportet primum de fructibus percipere’ (ii Tim. 2. 6), my emphasis. He lefully doeth labour þat is perseverant in the service of God (fol. 64r), Ille certat legitime, qui in servitio Dei perseverat, PL 184, 1237A, MGL variant. The concept of ‘fighting’ (i.e., ‘certat’) might lead to some confusion, as Chapter 17, ‘De contentione’, has previously warned the reader against this vice. The translator then here repeats the idea of ‘labour’ instead (see preceding entry), which will be later examined in Chapter 51, ‘De operatione’. þat bryngyth to a good ende (fol. 64r), usque ad consummationem perducit, PL 184, 1237A, MGL addition. The vernacular chooses the more common word and strengthens his message by the added adjective. He laboureth well in good dedis (fol. 64r), Ille in bonis operibus bene desudat, PL 184, 1237A, MGL variant. Not only does the translator here favour the more common verb but also he obviously chooses to make a pattern with his repetitions of ‘labour’. This enhances the didactic value of the text. in good dedis þat endyth them wele (fol. 64r), qui ea quae bene inchoavit, consummat, PL 184, 1237A, MGL variant. Note that here the translator emphasizes the ‘well ending’ of an action rather than its ‘well beginning’ as in the Latin. The translator thus makes his text more relevant to the theme of this chapter, i.e., ‘De perseverantia’. spekith our moder þe Chyrch (fol. 64r), Ecclesia […] dicit, PL 184, 1237A, MGL addition. The translator thus makes the concept of the Church a more familiar and less abstract entity for his reader. The houses of the Chyrch be the cumpany of feythfull peple servyng God (fol. 64v), Domus Ecclesiae sunt conventicula fidelium Deo servientium, PL 184, 1237B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1061C. and perseverant in all godly werkes and dedis (fol. 64v), atque in his quae Dei sunt perseverantium, PL 184, 1237B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. The cedar tre and þe spruse tre be of nature incorruptible, and they betoken the devoute servantis of God þat burn with an untedyous and incor-

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Commentary

ruptible desyre (fol. 64v), Cedrus itaque atque cypressus arbores sunt imputribilis naturae, et signant sanctos Dei, qui infatigabili atque immarcessibili desiderio Conditoris sui flagrant, PL 184, 1237B. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1061D. they betoken the devoute servantis of God (fol. 64v), sanctos Dei, PL 184, 1237B, MGL, variant. Another example of the translator replacing ‘sanctus’ by another adjective. burn with an untedyous and incorruptible desyre (fol.  64v), infatigabili atque immarcessibili desiderio Conditoris sui flagrant, PL 184, 1237B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘burne with an vnfailing and vnfading desire of their Creatour’, p. 157, my emphasis. Here, uncharacteristically, the Middle English is less explicit than the Latin. It could be that these words are already omitted in the Latin manuscript the translator used. a spruse tre in the cumpany of God (fol. 64v), cypressus in domo Dei, PL 184, 1237B, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of words here parallels the expression he used a few lines earlier: ‘the cumpany of feythfull peple’ (fol. 64v). a cidar tre among the servantis of God (fol. 64v), in domo Dei cedrus, PL 184, 1237B, MGL variant. In this entry and the preceding, the translator emphasizes the reader’s social situation rather than her place of abode. and good conversacion to your felowship (fol. 64v), atque odorem bonae conversationis sociabus tuis, PL 184, 1237B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and the sweet sauour of a vertuous conuersation to your companions’, pp. 157–58. The omission makes for a simpler and more common reading. þat with a fervent desyre ye love religyon (fols 64v–65r), cum summo desiderio monasterium diligas, PL 184, 1237C, MGL variant. The translator often emphasizes the affective value of his text by his choice/addition of adjectives and adverbs. and with all our hert defye the world (fol. 65r), et ut toto corde saeculum postponas, PL  184, 1237C, MGL variant. The translator enhances the didactic value of the text by substituting the stronger verb. ye abyde everemore in religion (fol. 65r), in omni tempore in domo Dei permaneas, PL 184, 1237C, MGL variant. Throughout this passage, the vernacular

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translates ‘domo Dei’ by another phrase. Here the translator tightens his text by explicity referring to the monastic life. in the world ys a bodely lyfe (fol. 65r), in saeculo est vita carnalis, PL 184, 1237C, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding references to ‘caro’. chese ye whether ye wyll have (fol. 65v), extende manum tuam, et elige quod vis, PL 184, 1238A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘stretch forth your hand, and choose which you please’, p. 160. Beholde the waye of paradyse (fol. 65v), Ecce via paradisi, PL 184, 1238A. In this sentence the Latin repeats ‘ecce’ four times, but it is only translated once, i.e., ‘beholde’ in MGL. Batt translates it twice. See p. 160. Kepe the purpos of good lyfe (fol. 66r), Propositum bonum vitae jam conserva, PL 184, 1238A, MGL variant. With ‘good’ qualifying ‘lyfe’ rather than ‘purpose’, the translator has chosen to remind the reader of the work’s title: ‘the manere of good lyvyng’. Batt agrees with PL 184: ‘Keepe this good resolution’, p. 161, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 reads as MGL: ‘propositum bone vite’, fol. 44r. Perpetuall helth ys promysed (fol. 66r), Salus […] promittitur, PL 184, 1238B, MGL addition. This addition reveals the translator’s skill. The Latin word ‘salus’ means both ‘health’ and salvation in the ecclesiastical sense. By adding the adjective ‘perpetuall’, the translator thus renders both meanings of the word. ys promysed to begynners (fol.  66r), perseverantibus promittitur, PL  184, 1238B, MGL variant. Taking into account the second part of the sentence, i.e., ‘and the rewarde ys geven to them þat persevere in goodnes’ (praemium perseverantibus datur, PL 184, 1238B), MGL perhaps makes more sense. Batt’s ‘to such as are perseuerant’ (p. 161) and Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 (fol. 44r) both agree with PL 184. to them þat persevere in goodnes (fol. 66r), perseverantibus datur, PL 184, 1238B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. He ys not to be praysed (fol. 66r), Non est bonus, PL 184, 1238B, MGL variant. As the translator avoids qualifying his reader of being ‘sancta’, the same reluctance perhaps explains in this context his replacing ‘bonus’ by another word.

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Chapter 21: Virginity (PL  184, 1238B: De virginitate; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De virginitate custodienda; Paynell: Of virginite; Batt: Of virginitie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Virginity) The xxi exhortacion shewyth what ys pur virginite in body and soule and the rewarde of the same (fol. 66r), MGL addition. Hit ys wryten in the evangely how þat (fol. 66r), MGL addition. The vernacular regularly draws attention to the biblical text by adding such introductory statements. ‘prudent and wyse virgyns had oyle’ (fol. 66r), ‘Prudentes virgines acceperunt oleum’, PL 184, 1238B, MGL addition. Technically, the doublet here is simply an example of ‘geminatio’. However, the repetition of the doublet and/or the use of one or the other adjective in connection with the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matt. 25. 1–12) create a recognizable pattern throughout the text. See fols 95v, 101v, etc. and may goo and mete theyr spouse and be receyved (fol. 66r), et possunt exire obviam sponso, PL 184, 1238B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. The same addition is repeated in the text a few lines down, but is not recorded here. of whom speketh Seynt Isidor, sayeng: ‘a virgyn in body and not in mynde and entent shall have no reward in heven’. Also our Lorde sayeth in the Gospell of the folysch virgyns: ‘sothly I saye to you I knowe you not’ (fol. 66v), Sic ait beatus Isidorus: ‘Virgo corpore et non mente, non habet praemium in remuneratione.’ Et Dominus in Evangelio de fatuis virginibus ait: ‘Amen dico vobis, nescio vos’ (Matth. xxv, 4, 12), PL 184, 1238B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 7, p. 178. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 19, p. 66. ‘shall have no reward in heven’ (fol. 66v), ‘non habet praemium in remuneratione’, PL 184, 1238B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. be stalled of your spouse Jhesu Cryst in heven (fol.  66v), collocari in coelesti thalamo a Jesu Christo coelesti sponso, PL  184, 1238C, MGL variant.

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Unsurprisingly, the translator has replaced the altogether too suggestive image by the more common word. Virginite ys not cummaunded but rather counseiled, for it ys a very hygh vertue (fol. 66v), Virginitas non est jussa, sed admonita (i Cor. vii, 25, 26), quia nimis est excelsa, PL 184, 1238C. ‘Conjugium concessum est (i Cor. vii) virginitas admonita tantum, non jussa. Sed ideo tantum admonita, quia nimis excelsa’, Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 2b p. 177, my emphasis. Given the translator’s habit of avoiding such references, it is interesting to note that in this instance the reference to marriage has already been omitted in the Liber. for it ys a very hygh vertue (fol. 66v), quia nimis est excelsa, PL 184, 1238C MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. The rewarde of virginite ys dowble: for in this present lyfe, hit hath nothyng to care fore of þe world, and in tyme to com hit shall receyve a grete reward of chastite (fol. 66v), Duplicatum est bonum virginitatis, quia in hoc mundo sollicitudine caret saeculi, et in futuro praemium castitatis recipiet, PL 184, 1238C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 3, p. 177. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 15, p. 66. a grete reward of chastite (fol. 66v), praemium castitatis, PL 184, 1238C, MGL addition. Another instance where the translator strengthens the message of his text by adding an adjective. Wythoute doute such as be chaste and persevere in virgynyte, they shal be lyke unto angellis (fol. 67r), Sine dubio qui casti perseverant et virgines, Angelis Dei erunt aequales, PL 184, 1238C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 4, p. 177. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 16, p. 66. they shal be lyke unto angellis (fol. 67r), Angelis Dei erunt aequales, PL 184, 1238C, MGL variant. As the translator avoids referring to his reader as ‘sancta’, it is to be expected that he cannot see her as the equal of angels. I beleve þat virgyns shal be more accepte (fol. 67r), Virgines feliciores erunt, PL 184, 1238C, MGL addition. This rare assertion in the first person reveals the depth of the translator’s feelings on this topic.

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I beleve þat virgyns shal be more accepte (fol. 67r), Virgines feliciores erunt, PL 184, 1238C, MGL variant. In view of the remaining part of the sentence which focusses on God’s actions rather than on virgins’ state of mind, the Middle English makes more sense. This variant emphasizes the translator’s focussing on the didactic message of the Latin rather than on its form. virgyns shal be more accepte than oþer in the everelastyng blysse, wyttnesyng þe prophet Ysay, sayeng [...] ‘a perpetuall name þat shall nevere perysch’ (fol. 67r), Virgines feliciores erunt in aeterna beatitudine, Isaia testante, qui ait […] ‘nomen sempiternum dabo eis, quod non peribit ‘(Isai. lvi, 4, 5), PL 184, 1238C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 4, p. 177. ‘thus sayeth God to such as be chaste’ (fol. 67r), ‘Haec dicit Dominus eunuchis’, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. The translator’s variant is more inclusive and more appropriate to a female audience. ‘I shall geve them within my habitacion’ (fol. 67r), ‘Dabo eis in domo mea, et in muris meis’, PL 184, 1238D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘I will giue vnto them in my house, and within my walls’, p. 164. ‘a syngler name abofe oþere of my chyldren’ (fol. 67r), ‘nomen melius a filiis et filiabus’, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. The same adjective is preferred by the translator later in the text, in Chapter 56, ‘De prudentia’, where discussing chastity along with ‘symplenes’, he translates Song 6. 8, ‘ther ys oon syngler dove of myn þat is perfitte, and syngler electe, and chosyn to hyr moder’ (fol. 138v), my emphasis. Since the translator creates patterns of words and concepts throughout his text, this may explains his preference for ‘syngler’ here. Every syn be penance may have forgyfnes and pardon; but virginite if it be loste, hit can in no wyse be repared agayn, for thou3 it may receyve pardon and mercy by penance, yit þe olde puryte and incorrupcion hit shall nevere have agayn (fol. 67r) Omne peccatum per poenitentiam recipiet indulgentiam. Virginitas vero si labitur, nullo modo reparatur: nam quamvis quis per poenitentiam recipiet veniam, tamen incorruptionem numquam recipiet pristinam, PL 184, 1238D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 6, p. 178. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 18, p. 66. virginite of the bodye avayleth not wheras ys not a perfyte soule and mynde (fol. 67r), nihil valet virginitas carnis, ubi non est integritas mentis, PL 184, 1238D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 8, p. 178.

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virginite of the bodye avayleth not (fol.  67r), nihil valet virginitas carnis, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding the word ‘flesh’. Subsequent examples in this chapter are not recorded below. wheras ys not a perfyte soule and mynde (fol. 67r), ubi non est integritas mentis, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. ‘Perfyte’, which has here been chosen to render ‘integritas’, highlights the concept of perfection. Suche virgyns þat be prowde of þeir own meritis be comparyd to ypocritis [...] but wolde be seen and praysed in the sight of the peple and not in hert before God (fol. 67r–v), Virgines de suis meritis gloriantes, hypocritis comparantur […] scilicet in facie gloriari apud homines, non in corde apud Deum, PL 184, 1238D–39A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 11, p. 179. þat be prowde of þeir own meritis (fol. 67r), de suis meritis gloriantes, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. The translator’s variant makes it clear that such behaviour is an instance of Pride. withyn their privy conscience (fol. 67r), intra conscientiam, PL 184, 1238D, MGL addition. The translator thus makes the contrast between the outside (referred to in the previous clause: ‘outeward lawd and glory of their good dedis’) and the inside more explicit, my emphasis. þat folysche virgyns had no oyle (fol. 67r–v), virgines non habere oleum, PL 184, 1238D, MGL addition. The translator makes the text more explicit. þei kept nott privy in theyr conscience (fol. 67v), non servare in conscientia, PL 184, 1238D, MGL variant. By choosing to repeat these words, the translator enhances the didactic value of the text. but wolde be seen and praysed (fol. 67v), gloriari, PL 184, 1239A, MGL addition. Another example where ‘geminatio’ adds meaning to the text by distinguishing two separate concepts. Saynt Austen sayeth: ‘nothyng avayleth þe virginite of the body, wheras doeth inhabite ire or wrath of mynde’ (fol. 67v), Verba sunt beati Augustini: ‘Nihil prodest virginitas carnis, ubi habitat iracundia mentis’, PL 184, 1239A. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 4, p. 65. ‘Virginitas sola nihil prodest.

278

Commentary

Et revera, fratres charissimi, quid prodest viro vel feminae, clerico vel monacho, vel sanctimoniali, si in corpora virginitas custoditur, quando per malas concupiscentias cordis integritas violatur?’, Augustine, Sermo ccxxviii, PL 39, 2165. the purite of the soules virginite (fol. 67v), puritatem virginalis animae PL 184, 1239A. ‘Soules’ is a noun in the genitive singular, i.e., ‘the virginity of the soule’. þat ys by voluptuous concupiscence polluted (fol.  67v), quae multorum libidini subjacuit, PL 184, 1239A, MGL variant. This is another instance of the translator’s caution with the flesh. here what Seynt Jerom sayth: ‘hit profetyth nothyng to have a chaste body, and have a mynde or wyll to marye’ (fol.  67v), audi beatum Hieronymum dicentem: ‘Nihil prodest habere carnem virgineam, si mente quis nupserit’, PL  184, 1239A. Jerome, De perpetua virginitate B. Mariae, PL 23, 204A. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 11, p. 66. ‘Also it avayleth not us to kepe the virginite of the chaste body, yf we doo not refreyne our eyes from all yll concupiscences and evell desyres’ (fol. 67v), ‘nihil etiam prodest corporis virginei custodire virginitatem, si oculos a concupiscentia noluerit refrenare’, PL 184, 1239A. ‘Quid enim prodest, Domine Deus, virginem esse corpore, si contingat mente esse corruptum?’, Ambrose (attrib.), Precationes duae, PL 17, 760A. ‘Virginite of þe body avayleth not when charite and meknes be gon from the hart’ (fol. 67v), ‘Virginitas in corpore nihil proderit, si charitas aut humilitas a corde discesserit’, PL 184, 1239A. Caesarius of Arles, Sermones, ed. by Morin, ii, ccxxxvii, 4, p. 947. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 27, p. 67. ‘from all yll concupiscences and evell desyres’ (fol. 67v), ‘a concupiscentia’, PL 184, 1239A, MGL additions. The Middle English reinforces the didactic value of the text. in soule and body a pure virgyn (fol. 67v), mente et corpore virgo, PL 184, 1239A, MGL addition. The vernacular is here more explicit. and aray your lampe with good maners (fol. 68r), atque ut ornes lampadem tuam bonis operibus, PL 184, 1239A–B, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of a synonym here reminds the reader of the work’s title: The Manere of Good

Commentary

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Lyvyng, my emphasis. This is part of the translator’s patterns of words and concepts which he introduces throughout the whole work. and to be stalled of hym in heven (fol. 68r), et ab eo collocari in coelesti thalamo, PL 184, 1239B, MGL variant. The Middle English here prefers the more common and less suggestive term.

Chapter 22: Continence (PL 184, 1239B: De continentia; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De castitate diligenda; Paynell: Of continence; Batt: Of chastitie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Continency) The xxii exhortacion ys of the lawde of chastite, and how a virgyn shuld not dispyse no chaste wydow, and how oft tymes a chaste wydow ys bettere than a virgyn of body, and þat a virgyn ys not withoute chyldren (fol. 68r), MGL addition. Ther be iii maner of degrees signifyed by iii noumbres in the Gospell (fol. 68r), MGL addition. The reader of the Latin text probably recognizes that these three numbers referred to Matt. 13. 23, but the vernacular reader might not have known that they had been taken from the Gospell. for þeir crown or reward (fol. 68r), pro virginitatis corona, PL 184, 1239B, MGL variant. The translator’s additional word explains what is meant by ‘crown’.

Holy Isidor sayth: ‘ther be som persons lyvyng voluptuously in their yowth [...] For tho persons shal be rewarded in glorye þat have had here and suffered myȝty and strong batell’ (fol. 68r–v), Beatus Isidorus ait: ‘Quidam in juventute luxuriose viventes,’ […] Eos vero exspectat gloria, quibus fuerunt gloriosa certamina, PL 184, 1239B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 24–25, p. 176. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 12–13, p. 66. ‘when the foule syn of lechery’ (fol. 68v), ‘luxuria’, PL 184, 1239C, MGL addition. The Middle English enhances the didactic value of the text. ‘lechery leveth and dispyseth them’ (fol. 68v), ‘eos luxuria servos habere contempsit’, PL 184, 1239C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘luxurie scorneth to acknowledge them as his seruants’, p. 167.

280

Commentary

The profytte of chastite ys a swettnes [...] The foule syn of lechery maketh þe bodye feble and sone bryngyth it to croked age (fol. 68v), Castitatis enim fructus est suavitas […] Luxuria carnem debilitat, fractamque celeriter ducit ad senectutem, PL 184, 1239C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 5, p. 177. The profytte of chastite ys a swettnes (fol. 68v ), Castitatis enim fructus est suavitas, PL 184, 1239C, MGL variant. The translator avoids the image and is therefore more explicit. an inviolate bewte of good persons (fol. 68v), pulchritudo inviolata sanctorum, PL 184, 1239C, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular avoiding ‘sanctus’. The foule syn of lechery maketh (fol. 68v), Luxuria […] debilitat, PL 184, 1239C, MGL addition. By additions which reinforce the text’s message, the translator often attempts to guard his reader from evil (or encourage him to do good). the bewte of chastite ought to be loved (fol. 68v), amanda est pulchritudo castitatis, PL 184, 1239C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 40, 5, p. 177. a place within them for God to abyde yn (fol. 68v), Deo in semetipsis […] habi­ ta­culum, PL 184, 1239C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. Contynence causeth a person to be nyȝe Almyȝty God (fols  68 v–69 r), Continentia facit hominem proximum Deo, PL  184, 1239C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 9, pp. 69–70. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 21, p. 67. Ibi habitat Deus, ubi permanet continentia, PL 184, 1239D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘There God dwelleth, where continency remaineth’, p.  168. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 9, p. 70. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 21, p. 67. Chastite joyneth a man or a woman to heven and bryngeth hym thyder (fol.  69r), Castitas jungit hominem coelo. Castitas perducit hominem ad regnum, PL 184, 1239D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 10, p. 70. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xiii, 23, p. 67.

Commentary

281

Caste viventibus promittitur regnum coelorum. Caste viventes habebunt haereditatem in coelo, PL 184, 1239D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The kingdome of heauen is promised to such as liue chastly. Such as liue chastly, shall haue an inheritance in heauen’, p. 168. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 10, p. 70. and perfytte virgynyte ys best of all (fol. 69r), optima vero integritas virginalis, PL 184, 1239D, MGL variant. ‘Integritas’ is already replaced by the concept of perfection in the previous chapter. See fol. 67r. Melior est vidua cum humilitate, quam Virgo cum superbia, PL 184, 1239D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘A widow is better with humilitie, then a virgin with pride’, p. 168. Note that Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 46 r, also omits this sentence. hath none oyle with hyr (fol. 69r), another reference to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matt. 25. 1–12). A virgyn shuld not dispyse chaste wydowes and she shuld plese God (fol. 69r), Non debet virgo despicere viduas. Virgo quae Deo vult placere, non debet mulieres caste viventes contemnere, PL 184, 1240A. It was not infrequent for widows to enter convents: Bondeelle-Souchier notes that in the Cistercian Order, ‘il est tout à fait clair que certaines maisons accueillent des veuves de haut lignage qui choisissent d’y finir leurs jours’. Bondéelle-Souchier, ‘Les Moniales cisterciennes et leurs livres manuscrits’, p. 205. It is not surprising that such advice would strike a chord with a Syon audience: St Birgitta herself was a widow and a number of the nuns who entered Birgittine convents were themselves widows. Margaret of Clarence was one of those widows for whom Simon Winter wrote his Lyfe of Saint Ierom, at the end of which the saint is described as a ‘a lovere of wydous’. See Wynter, The Lyf of Saint Ierom, in Virgins and Scholars, ed. and trans. by Waters, p. 272. See also Shaw, ‘Holland, Margaret, duchess of Clarence’. For a study on widowhood in the Middle Ages, see Barron and Sutton, Medieval London Widows. Holy Anne the prophetes (fol. 69v), Anna prophetissa, PL 184, 1240A, MGL addition. This is a rare occasion where the translator introduces ‘holy’ without ‘sanctus’ being present in the Latin.

282

Commentary

Mary Mawdlen was a worldly woman and a synner (fol. 69v), Maria Magda­ lena saecularis fuit, PL 184, 1240A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. deserved to be aposteles among the apostels of Crist (fol. 69v), Apostolorum apostola esse meruit ( Joan. xx), PL 184, 1240A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 46v. Note that the translator here retains the feminine ‘aposteles’, which later translators will not have the confidence to do. Paynell translates: ‘deserued to be chrystes messenger to his apostles’, fol. 85v; Batt has ‘merited to be the Apostle’, p. 170; and Tyrwhitt reads: ‘merited to become an Apostle to the Apostles’, p. 95. Non debes ergo honestas feminas quae de saeculo ad monasterium venerunt despicere, PL  184, 1240B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘You ought not therefore to despise […] honest woemen, who haue come out of the world to religion’, p. 170. to chese to be his servantis (fol. 69v), eligere, PL 184, 1240B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. saye not ye to yourself (fol. 70r), non dicas, PL 184, 1240B, MGL addition. The translator thus emphasizes that the following is part of a self-assessment process. I am as barayn as a drye stok (fol. 70r), Ecce ego lignum aridum, PL 184, 1240B, MGL addition. In this entry and the next, the vernacular is more explicit. bycause ye have no chyldren (fol. 70r), MGL addition. yf ye love Cryst your spouse and drede hym (fol. 70r), another reminder of the necessity of love and dread fully examined in Chapter 4, ‘De timore Dei’. [The] second pacience (fol. 70r), secundus, patientia, PL 184, 1240B. All the other virtues in the list are preceded by the article ‘the’ in the text; its omission here must therefore be a mistake. Batt translates: ‘the second patience’, p. 171. hos filios quos Jesu Christo sponso tuo genuisti, PL 184, 1240C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘these children, which you haue brought forth to Christ Iesus your celestial bridegroome’, p. 172.

Commentary

283

cherysche (fol. 70r), fovere, PL 184, 1240C, MGL variant. This is another example of the translator’s cautionary approach to the world of the flesh: ‘fovere’, i.e., ‘to fondle, to caress’ is too sensual for his liking. The same variant reoccurs a few lines down. See next entry. cherysche in the bosom of fervent contemplacion (fol. 70r), fove eos in sinu intimae contemplationis, PL 184, 1240C, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding suggestive words. comforte them with the bred of lyfe (that ys with the worde of God) (fol. 70r–v), conforta eos pane verbi coelestis, PL 184, 1240C, MGL addition. The translator explains what the image literally means. nor lyght of conversacion (fol. 70v), et ut non sint leves, PL 184, 1240C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. have the principall place in heven (fol. 70v) principalem locum teneant in regno Dei, PL 184, 1240D, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common expression. they have utterly dispysed the world (fol.  70v), contempserunt praesentem mundum, PL 184, 1240D, MGL addition. The translator often reinforces the didactic value of the text by sharpening its message. they be hygh in heven (fol.  70v), pervenerunt ad coeleste regnum, PL  184, 1240D, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular opting for the more common expression. he hath consecrated both your body and soule (fol. 70v), corpus tuum et animam tuam consecrasti, PL 184, 1240D, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 47r, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘you haue consecrated your bodie and soule’, p. 173, my emphasis. The change of subject here in MGL highlights the status of the nun as especially chosen by God.

284

Commentary

Chapter 23: Fornication (PL 184, 1240D: De fornicatione; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De fornicacione vitanda; Paynell: Of fornication; Batt: Of fornication) This chapter is omitted by Tyrwhitt.

The xxiii exhortacion sheweth howe that the foule syn of the body ys grettere syn than eny other, and how þat the eyesyght ys þe occasion therof, and þat no person shuld sette by the bewte of the bodye or the face, and fynally how thys syn may be resisted (fol. 70v), MGL addition. when we distroye the lechery of the body (fol.  71r), cum carnis luxuriam per continentiam coarctamus, PL 184, 1240D, MGL variant. The translator’s avoidance of ‘caro’ is particularly noticeable in this chapter although it is not recorded below. we distroye […] by contynence or chastite (fol. 71r), per continentiam coarctamus, PL 184, 1240D, MGL addition. This is another example of ‘geminatio’ used for additional meaning. The doublet refers to two different categories of people: the continence of widows and the chastity of virgins. we shewe […] exaumple of vertue and lyȝte (fol. 71r), lucis exempla monstramus, PL 184, 1240D, MGL addition. Here again ‘geminatio’ adds meaning: the first and added word explains how to understand the second one. Holy Isidour sayth þat ‘the fornicacion of the bodye ys advoutre, fornicacion of the soule ys idolatre’ (fol. 71r), Fornicatio carnis, ut ait beatus Isidorus, adulterium est, fornicatio animae, servitus idolorum est, PL 184, 1241A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 18, p. 174. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 24, p. 97. The fyrst cummyth by lewde sight of the eye, the second by evyll communicacion. But he þat is not take and snared by the eyes may lyghtly resyst evyll wordis (fol. 71r), Prima fornicatio tela oculorum sunt; secunda, verborum: sed qui non capitur oculis, potest resistere verbis, PL 184, 1241A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 8, p. 172. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 28, p. 98. by lewde sight of the eye (fol. 71r), tela oculorum, PL 184, 1241A, MGL variant. The translator eleminates the image of ‘darts’ and replaces it by a value judgement, ‘lewde sight’.

Commentary

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the second by evyll communicacion (fol. 71r), secunda, verborum, PL 184, 1241A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. may lyghtly resyst evyll wordis (fol. 71r), potest resistere verbis, PL 184, 1241A, MGL additions. The translator enhances the didactic value of his text by these additions. Every unclene pollucion ys called fornicacion, although every person by dyverse lustys and evyll concupiscences may syn in bodye […] and so makyth the membyr of Cryste the membyr of a strompete (fol. 71r–v), Omnis immunda pollutio fornicatio dicitur, quamvis quisque diversa turpitudinis voluptate perfruatur […] et tollens membrum Christi, facit membrum meretricis, PL 184, 1241A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 19–20, p. 175. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 31–32, p. 98. may syn in bodye (fol. 71r), perfruatur, PL 184, 1241A, MGL variant. In this and the next two entries, the Middle English has the more common expression. shittyth oute man or woman from heven (fol. 71r), regnum Dei clauditur, PL 184, 1241A, MGL variant. and distruccion of all goodnes (fol. 71v), paternae benedictionis atque substantiae perditio, PL 184, 1241A, MGL variant. Hit hurteth not only the body (fol. 71v), Fornicatio non solum maculat corpus, PL 184, 1241A–B, MGL variant. The translator regularly avoids image and opts instead for the literal sense. Isidor sayth: ‘fornicacion, or the foule syn of lechery, ys worst of all oþere synnes [...] Thys foule syn bryngyth man and woman to the paynes of hell and drowneth them theryn’ (fol. 71v), beati Isidori verba: ‘Fornicatione coinquinari deterius est omni peccato […] Luxuria perducit hominem ad poenas inferni: luxuria mergit hominem in infernum: luxuria mittit hominem ad tartarum’, PL 184, 1241B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 8–10, pp. 68–70. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 34–36, pp. 98–99. ‘worst of all oþere synnes and grettest’ (fol. 71v), ‘deterius […] omni peccato; fornicatio major est omnibus peccatis’, PL 184, 1241B, MGL variant. The translator avoids suggestive words.

286

Commentary

‘Fornicatio grave peccatum est, fornicatio omnia mala superat’, PL  184, 1241B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Fornication is a grieuous sinne, fornication doth surpasse all euills’, p. 175. ‘luxuria mittit hominem ad tartarum’, PL 184, 1241B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘luxurie sendeth a man to destruction’, p. 175. The eyes and þe syght be the messengers and occasion of this syn, for the mynde or lewde appetyte ys take by the eyes (fol. 71v), Oculi annuntii sunt fornicationis. Visio est prima occasio fornicationis. Mens enim per oculos capitur, PL 184, 1241B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 16, p. 74. the mynde or lewde appetyte (fol. 71v), mens, PL 184, 1241C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. by whom entreth the sharp arowe of evyll concupiscence and love (fol. 71v), Per oculos intrat ad mentem sagitta amoris, PL 184, 1241C, MGL additions. The translator reinforces the text’s message by these additions. visio oculorum mittit sagittas fornicationis, PL 184, 1241C, MGL omission. PL 184 also seems to omit part of the text, for Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 reads: ‘visio oculorum mittit sagittas fornicacionis in mente. Oculus est prima sagitta mortis’, fol. 48r. Batt translates: ‘the eiesight sendeth the darts of fornication into the mind; the eie is the first dart of fornication’, p. 176. kepe your eyesight, withdrawe it and fixe it not upon the bewte of the stynkyng bodye. Loke upon no man in þat entent to desyre hym or to love hym carnally (fol. 72r), reprime oculos tuos, ergo subtrahe visum. Non defigas oculos tuos in speciem carnis; nullum hominem hac intentione aspicias ut eum concupiscas, nullum hominem ideo aspicias ut eum carnaliter diligas, PL 184, 1241C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 16, p. 74. kepe your eyesight (fol. 72r), reprime oculos tuos, PL 184, 1241C, MGL, variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. fixe it not upon the bewte of the stynkyng bodye (fol. 72r), Non defigas oculos tuos in speciem carnis, PL 184, 1241C, MGL addition. Not only has the translator here avoided ‘caro’, he also enhances the didactic value of the text by the

Commentary

287

additional present participle. These almost emotional additions are intended to influence the reader into ‘good lyvyng’. pulchritudinem hominis non concupiscas, PL 184, 1241C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘desire not any mans beautie’, p. 176. I praye you, reverent suster, tell me (fol.  72r), Dic mihi, soror venerabilis, PL 184, 1241C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 48r, MGL addition. This is a rare instance, where one can hear the translator’s own voice. Doeth it not wyther away as hay (fol. 72r), nonne sicut fenum siccatur homo, PL 184, 1241C, MGL variant. In MGL the antecedent of ‘it’ is ‘bewtyousnes of the body’. ye see the karkesse all to swolne (fol.  72r), videris totum corpus tumidum, PL 184, 1241D, MGL variant. The translator aims at increasing his reader’s disgust by the stronger word. ye fele not stynkyng savour (fol.  72r), non sustineas fetorem fetidissimum, PL 184, 1241D, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of words here echoes his rendering of ‘caro’ a few lines above (fol. 72r). Tell me, I pray you, wher ys the bewty of the visage (fol. 72r), Dic ergo, ubi tunc pulchritudo vultus, PL 184, 1241D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 48r, MGL addition. This second instance of the translator’s voice in this chapter reveals the strength of his feelings on the subject. This ys the ende of the bewtyousnes of the flesche, this ys the ende of the body (fol. 72v), ita est consummatio pulchritudinis carnis, consummatio corporis, PL 184, 1241D. Note that here the translator exceptionally does not translate ‘caro’ by ‘body’, as this would make the second clause redundant. It is a measure of how strongly these words are meant, that he does not simply first translate ‘caro’ by ‘body’ and then omits the second clause altogether. and if it be vayne (fol. 72v), si pulchritudo carnis vana est, PL 184, 1242A, MGL variant. The use of the pronoun allows the translator to omit ‘caro’. rotyn and wormes mete (fol. 72v), putredo […] et vermis, PL 184, 1242A, i.e., ‘meat for worms’, ‘wormes’ is a genitive plural.

288

Commentary

se no man to desyre hym (fol. 72v), ne […] homines aspicias, et eorum pulchritudinem concupiscas, PL 184, 1242A, MGL variant. The use of the pronoun avoids attracting attention to what the reader has to guard himself from. other the lewde concupiscence (fol.  72v), concupiscentia, PL  184, 1242A, MGL addition. As this is often the case, the translator stirs up the reader’s response by these additions. or els pryde (fol.  72v), MGL addition. The translator here underlines the importance of the first and greatest sin: Pride. Suerly yf the foule appetite of lechery delyteth more the mynde than the love of chastite […] ther reigneth no syn but all vertue (fol. 73r), Certe, si plus delectat mentem concupiscentia fornicationis, quam amor castitatis […] jam non regnat peccatum in homine, sed regnat justitia, PL 184, 1242A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 17, p. 174. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 30, p. 98. the foule appetite of lechery delyteth (fol. 73r), delectat […] concupiscentia fornicationis, PL 184, 1242A, MGL addition. Another example of the translator’s increasing the didactic message of the text by adding adjectives expressing a value judgement. no syn but all vertue (fol.  73 r), non […] peccatum […] sed regnat justitia, PL 184, 1242B, MGL variant. The Middle English is here more explicit. which ys ydolatrye (fol. 73r), Fornicatio cordis est idolorum servitus, PL 184, 1242B, MGL variant. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 18, p. 174. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxi, 24, p. 97. Ther ys anoþere fornicacion spirituall of þe which speketh our Lorde in the Gospel, sayeng: ‘he þat sethe a woman to desyr hyr, he synneth with hyr in his harte (fol. 73r), Est et alia fornicatio spiritualis, de qua Dominus ait: ‘Qui viderit mulierum ad concupiscendum eam, jam moechatus est eam in corde suo’ (Matth. v, 28), PL 184, 1242B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 39, 18, p. 174. ‘he synneth with hyr’ (fol. 73r), ‘jam moechatus est eam’, PL 184, 1242B, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids the more suggestive verb which specifically alludes to adultery.

Commentary

289

By this foule syn (fol. 73r), carnis luxuriam, PL 184, 1242B, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular avoiding ‘caro’. be compared in meritis to angelles (fol.  73 r–v), coaequatur […] meritis Angelorum, PL 184, 1242B, MGL variant. As seen earlier (see fol. 67r), the translator does not wish his reader to see herself as the angels’ equal. David the kyng […] all dayes of his lyfe (fols 73v–74r), David is also given as an example of sin committed through the eyes in Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 898D–99A. Dinah and David are also cited as examples of the misuse of sight in the Ancrene Wisse. See Ancrene Wisse, ed. by Millett, i (2005), pp. 22–23. lokyng oute at a wyndow of his place (fol. 73v), stans in solario domus suae, PL 184, 1242C, MGL variant. The translator here introduces the motif of the window, which often plays a pivotal role in religious and vernacular texts. In Part ii, the Ancrene Wisse warns its reader about dangers attached to windows. See Ancrene Wisse, ed. by Millett, i (2005), pp. 20–26. In Malory, it is through a window that Gawain sees the yet unknown Gareth arriving at Arthur’s court. See Malory, Works, ed. by Vinaver, p. 177, lines 12–16. and murther of hyr husbande (fol. 74r), et homicidium, PL 184, 1242C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. was gylty in his own lawe (fol. 74r), legis Dei reus (ii Reg. xi), PL 184, 1242D, MGL variant. Interestingly here, the translator appears to make David’s crime one against the law of the land for which he is responsible, since he is the king. and so delyvered hym to his enemyes (fol. 74r), tradidit eum in manibus inimicorum ejus, PL 184, 1242D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and deliuered him into the hands of his enemies’, p. 181, my emphasis. This is not the first time that the translator avoids the image. See above, fols 26r, 65v. Wherfor I exhorte you to make a cu[ve]nante with your eyesight (fol. 74r), Moneo ergo te, soror in Christo amabilis, ut facias pactum cum oculis tuis, PL 184, 1242D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 49v. The manuscript’s abbreviation indicating a doubling of the consonant ‘n’ is obviously a scribal error. ‘lees deth entyr into your soule by your eyesight’ (fol. 74r), ‘ne mors intret per fenestram’ ( Jerem. ix, 21) oculorum tuorum ad animam tuam, PL 184, 1242D–

290

Commentary

43A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘death enter not into your soule by the windowes of your eies’, p. 182. The translator regularly chooses a more literal (non metaphorical) and therefore more explicit expression. Itaque, soror in Christo dilectissima, sicut jam superius dixi tibi, PL 184, 1243A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Therefore most louing sister in Christ, (as I haue alreadie told you)’, p. 182. If your body doeth impugne or ryse agaynst you, if þe syn of the bodye doeth tempte you [...] and thynke on the laste jugemente and of the horryble paynes of hell (fol. 74r–v), si te caro adhuc impugnat, si te adhuc luxuria tentat […] Reduc ad memoriam horribiles poenas inferni, PL 184, 1243A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 11, pp. 70–71. if þe syn of the bodye doeth tempte you, styrr or vexe you (fol. 74r–v), si te adhuc luxuria tentat, si te adhuc libido invitat, si adhuc memoria fornicationis te cruciat, PL 184, 1243A. This is another example of the translator’s caution. He replaces ‘luxuria’, ‘libido’, and ‘memoria fornicationis’, by the much less suggestive ‘syn of the bodye’. Propone tibi futura tormenta, PL 184, 1243A. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Set before you the future torments’, p. 182. major ardor minorem ardorem vincat; stridor flammarum horribilis amorem depellat libidinis, PL 184, 1243A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let the greater heate vanquish the lesser. Let the crashing noyse of those hellish flames, put to flight all inordinate affections’, p. 183. so the remembrauce of the fyer of hell (fol. 74v), ita saepe ardor gehennae, PL 184, 1243B, MGL addition. The translator here highlights the reader’s active involvement with the text. Alered of Rievaux provides a ‘triplic[em] meditatione[m]’ exercise for his reader, ‘de praeteritis scilicet, praesentibus et futuris’. See Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum, ed. by Hoste and Talbot, pp. 662–64. ‘Threefold meditation […] on the past, the present and the future’, Aelred of Rievaulx, A Rule of Life for a Recluse, trans. by MacPherson, p. 79. the inordynate luste of the bodye (fol. 74v), ardorem luxuriae, PL 184, 1243B, MGL variant. The translator’s message is again much stronger.

Commentary

291

Chapter 24: Abstinence (PL 184, 1243B: De abstinentia; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De abstinencia ciborum et viciorum; Paynell: Of abstinence; Batt: Of abstinence; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Abstinence) The xxiiii exhortacion sheweth the benefyte þat cummyth of moderate abstynence or fastyng and þe hurt that cummyth of glotonye (fol.  74v), MGL addition. Abstinence or fastyng ys then perfytte when þat the bodye doeth faste [...] By prayer and fastyng the soule and mynde of man and woman ys joyned to angelles and coupled to God (fols 74v–75r), Hoc est perfectum jejunium, quando noster homo exterior jejunat […] Per jejunium et orationem mens hominis conjungitur Angelis et copulatur Deo, PL  184, 1243B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 1a–b, p. 189. when þat the bodye doeth faste (fol. 74v), noster homo exterior jejunat, PL 184, 1243B, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the vernacular prefers the more common and less abstract expression. and the soule and mynde doeth praye (fol. 74v), interior vero orat, PL 184, 1243B, MGL variant. Prayer by fastyng (fol. 74v), Prayer is the focuss of later chapters in the text. See Chapters 49–51, De oratione, de lectione, de operatione. the sonner ascende to heven (fol. 74v), facilius penetrat coelum, PL 184, 1243B, MGL variant. The Middle English chooses the more familiar verb. Fastyngs be myȝty and strong wepyns agaynst the develles temptacions, and prayer overecummyth them (fol. 75r), Jejunia fortia arma sunt adversus tentationes daemoniorum. Per jejunium et orationes vincuntur daemones, PL 184, 1243B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 3, p. 190. agaynst the develles temptacions (fol. 75r), adversus tentationes daemoniorum, PL 184, 1243B, i.e., ‘against temptations of devils’, ‘develles’ is a genitive plural. vis scire per quid magis luxuria restringitur? — Frater mi, volo, atque ut illud mihi ostendas rogo. — Audi ergo, amabilis soror in Christo, PL 184, 1243B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Deare sister in Christ, are you

292

Commentary

desirous to know by what luxurie is best extinguished? Louing brother, I would verie willingly, and therefore I entreat you to tell me. Listen then most amiable sister in Christ’, pp. 184–85. by fastyng, fornicacion and lechery be putte awaye and restrayned. When glotony ys removed, lechery can have no dominacion nor rule (fol. 75r), Per jejunium fornicatio superatur, per jejunium luxuria restringitur: remota saturitate non dominatur luxuria, PL 184, 1243C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 14, pp. 72–73. When glotony ys removed (fol. 75r), remota saturitate, PL 184, 1243C, MGL variant. The translator prefers the more common word. Abstinence doeth kepe under þe bodye and breketh the foule mocyons and luste of þe same (fol. 75r), Abstinentia carnem superat, abstinentia carnem refrenat, abstinentia frangit motum libidinis, PL 184, 1243C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 15, p. 73. abstinentia dissolvit virtutem fornicationis. Per famem et sitim luxuria destruitur, fames et sitis luxuriam vincunt, PL  184, 1243C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘abstinence defeateth fornication of his forces: luxurie is destroyed by hunger & thirst: hunger & thirst ouercome lust’, p. 185. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 15, p. 73. A man or woman overecom with mych mete (fol. 75r), Mens multitudine ciborum lassata, PL 184, 1243C, MGL variant. By translating ‘lassata’ by ‘overecom’, the translator creates a pattern with the sentence above: ‘prayer overecummyth them’, and thus enhances the didactic value of his text. doeth lesse the vertue and strength of prayer (fol. 75r), perdit vigorem orationis, PL 184, 1243C, i.e., ‘does lose the power and strength of prayer’. ‘Lesse’ is a verb. See Glossary. seynt Jerom sayeth: ‘fastyngis ouȝt to be moderate lees they make the stomake to feble, for lytel and moderate mete ys profetable both to bodye and soule’ (fol. 75r), Hieronymus sic ait: ‘Jejunia moderata debent esse, ne nimis debilitent stomachum, quia modicus et temperatus cibus corpori et animae est utilis’, PL 184, 1243C. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, iii, letter cxxv Ad Rusticum monachum, section 7, p. 124. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 17, p. 48.

Commentary

293

‘A fatte bely maketh a dull wytte’ (fol. 75r), ‘Pinguis venter non gignit subtilem sensum’, PL 184, 1243C. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, i, letter lii Ad Nepotianum, section 11, p. 435. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 18, p. 48. ‘Hit ys mych better to take every daye a lytell than seldom to take ynowhe or to mych. A lytel mete and a bely alwey hungry ys better than fastyng or abstynens of iii dayes’ (fol. 75r–v), ‘Multo melius est quotidie parum sumere, quam raro satis comedere. Parcus cibus, et venter cito esuriens triduanis praefertur jejuniis’, PL 184, 1243C–D. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, i, letter liv Ad Furiam, section 10, p. 477. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 25, p. 49. ‘than seldom to take ynowhe or to mych’ (fol. 75r), ‘quam raro satis comedere’, PL 184, 1243D, MGL addition. The translator lists all eventualities. ‘That person fastyth wele that flyeth from all vyce and syn’ (fol. 75v), ‘Ille bene jejunat, qui ab omnibus vitiis declinat’, PL 184, 1243D. Untraced. ‘Hit is better to absteyn from syn than from mete’ (fol. 75v), ‘Melior est abstinentia vitiorum quam ciborum’, PL 184, 1243D. ‘Sanctius est jejunium vitiorum, quam ciborum’, Martinus Legionensis, Sermones, PL 208, 730B. ‘Hit ys not counted for an abstinence or fastyng when that the bely ys fylled’ (fol. 75v), ‘Non est reputata abstinentia ubi fuerit ventris satietas subsecuta’, PL 184, 1243D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 10, p. 192. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 29, p. 50. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘he that ordeyneth ayenst nyȝt deyntes for to satisfye glotonye doeth ette in hys mynde all day long’ (fol. 75v), Et beatus Isidorus: ‘Tota die epulas in cogitatione ruminat, qui ad explendam gulam vespere sibi delicias praeparat’, PL 184, 1243D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 12, p. 192. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 48, p. 51. ‘A voyde bely maketh to wake in prayer’ (fol.  75v), ‘Venter vacuus in oratione vigilare facit’, PL 184, 1243D. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 71, p. 54. ‘Indigens venter in orationibus vigilantiam praestat’, Macarius Nitriensis, Epistola, PL 103, 451A. ‘He þat ys stuffed full of mete and drynke ys allwey sluggysche in prayer. We cannot wele hold up our hedde when our bely ys full’ (fol. 75v), ‘Nam

294

Commentary

qui repletus est, infert somnum gravissimum: unde non bene vigilare possumus, quando venter noster cibis est repletus’, PL 184, 1243D. For the first clause, see Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 71, p. 54. ‘ys allwey sluggysche in prayer’ (fol. 75v), ‘infert somnum gravissimum’, PL 184, 1243D, MGL variant. The translator’s words here emphasize the contrast with the preceding sentence which alludes to ‘wak[ing] in prayer’. ‘We cannot wele hold up our hedde’ (fol. 75v), ‘unde non bene vigilare possumus’, PL 184, 1243D, MGL variant. The vernacular is here more descriptive than the Latin. kepe your body lowe for þe desyre of heven þat ye may fulfyll the sayeng of Scriptur [...] The body ys then thyrsty for God when it absteyneth by fastyng and waxeth leen (fol.  75v), aridum porta corpus tuum propter desiderium coelestis regni, ut impleas quod scriptum est in Psalmo […] Caro enim tunc Deum sitit, quando per jejunium abstinet et arescit, PL 184, 1243D–44A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 4a, p. 190. For the last sentence, Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 44, p. 51. kepe your body lowe (fol. 75v), aridum porta corpus tuum, PL 184, 1243D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. for þe desyre of heven (fol. 75v), propter desiderium coelestis regni, PL 184, 1243D, MGL variant. The translator often prefers the simpler ‘heven’ to ‘coelesti regn[o]’. Other occurrences of this variant are not systematically recorded below. and thyrst for þe love of God (fol. 75v), Deum esurieris, PL 184, 1244A, MGL addition. The translator regularly adds ‘for the love of ’ when the Latin has only ‘Deus’. Other instances of this variant are not recorded below. he shall satisfye youe in heven (fol.  75v), ex eo in coelesti patria satiaberis, PL 184, 1244A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. Abstinence both geveth lyfe and sleyth: it gyveth lyfe to the soule and sleyth the bodye (fol. 76r), Abstinentia vivificat et occidit: vivificat animam, et occidit corpus, PL 184, 1244A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 44, 4b, p. 190. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 44, p. 51.

Commentary

295

when the bely ys unmesurably fylled then the body ys steryd to lechery (fol. 76r), quando enim venter immoderate reficitur, corpus ad luxuriam excitatur, PL 184, 1244A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 42, 4, p. 184. but þat body þat abstynence doeth breke, the forsayd fyer shall not burn (fol.  76r), Corpus autem quod abstinentia frangit, ignis luxuriae non exurit, PL 184, 1244A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 42, 7, p. 185. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, x, 51, p. 52. The rycche gloton þat was fedde (fol. 76r), ille purpuratus dives qui […] epulabatur, PL 184, 1244B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. absteyn from superfluous metis (fol. 76r), abstinere a cibis, PL 184, 1244B, MGL addition. The translator makes it clear that he does not wish the reader to go to extremes. and so [om.] chastyse it (fol. 76v), et sic eam debes castigare per abstinentiam, PL 184, 1244C. In combining this Latin phrase with the preceding one, MGL wrongly introduces the particle marking the infinitive, ‘to’. ye slee it (fol. 76v), civem tuum occidis, PL 184, 1244C, MGL variant. The translator avoids the unfamiliar image. Chastyse your bodye by moderate abstinence, faste and absteyn from mete. Have ye a pale face and leen chekys with a drye bodye, and not a ruddy face and a fatte bodye (fol. 77r), per abstinentiam corpus tuum castiga: jejuna et abstine a cibis, pallida gere ora, et non rubea; facies tua non sit rubicunda, sed pallida. Aridum porta corpus tuum, et non crassum, PL 184, 1244C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 14, p. 72. Chastyse your bodye by moderate abstinence (fol. 77r), per abstinentiam corpus tuum castiga, PL 184, 1244C, MGL addition. The translator again insists on the reader’s common sense. ita comede ut semper habeas famem: venter tuus nequaquam impleatur cibis. Esuri et siti, abstine et aresce, PL 184, 1244D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘eate in that moderate manner, that you alwayes feele hunger: fill not your bellie with more then nature doth require. Hunger, thirst and abstaine, and drie vp

296

Commentary

your bodie with fasting’, p. 190. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 14, p. 72. ye cannot overecom temptacions, excepte ye chastyse your bodye by abstynence and fastyng (fol. 77r), tentationes vincere non poteris, nisi corpus tuum per abstinentiam castigaveris, PL 184, 1244D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 14, p. 72. by mych mete and drynke cummyth (fol.  77r), Per cibum et potum crescit, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. the foule luste and syn of the body (fol. 77r), luxuria, PL 184, 1244D, MGL addition. This is another example of the translator strengthening the message of the text with additions. Ciborum saturitas suscitat luxuriam carnis: luxuria semper est adjuncta saturitati. Frigus vigiliarum exstinguit luxuriae ardorem, PL 184, 1244D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Large commons cause carnalitie: lust is alwayes a companion to satietie. The cold of rising to matins, quencheth the fire of lasciuiousnes’, pp. 190–91. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 14, pp. 72–73. resyst the temptacyons of the bodye (fol.  77 r), tentationes fugere carnis, PL 184, 1245A, MGL variant. The translator here emphasizes the reader’s role by his choice of verb. from abundance of mete (fol. 77r), a cibis, PL 184, 1245A, MGL addition. Again, the translator does not wish his reader to fast excessively.

Commentary

297

Chapter 25: Drunkenness (PL 184, 1245A: De ebrietate; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De ebrietate fugenda;10 Paynell: Of dronkennes; Batt: Of drunkennes) This chapter is omitted by Tyrwhitt. The xxv exhortacion sheweth the parell of dronkennes and howe wyne unmesurably or for pleasur takyn ys a grete syn and soberly taken it doeth good (fol. 77v), MGL addition. ‘wyne ys a lecherous drynke’ (fol. 77v), ‘Luxuriosa res est vinum, et tumultuosa ebrietas’ (Prov. xx, 1), PL 184, 1245A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Wine is a luxurious thing, & drunkennes tumultuous’, p. 192. wher dronkenes hath dominacyon (fol. 77v), ubi ebrietas est, PL 184, 1245B, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. ‘Vinum in jucunditatem creatum est, non in ebrietatem’ (Eccli. xxxi, 35.), PL 184, 1245B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Wine was created for ioyfullnes, not for drunkennes’, p. 193. Ubicunque saturitas abundaverit, ibi luxuria dominabitur, PL 184, 1245B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Wheresoeuer fulnes doth abound, there luxurie doth domineere’, p. 193. Ther is a wyll or appetyte of lechery (fols 77v–78r), voluptas luxuriae sequitur, PL 184, 1245B, MGL. This is another example of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning to the text. Hit gendreth troble of mynde. Hit incresith wodenes of the hart. Hit noryscheth the foule syn of the bodye (fol. 78r), ebrietas generat perturbationem mentis, ebrietas auget furorem cordis, ebrietas nutrit flammam fornicationis, PL 184, 1245B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 43, 1, p. 187. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxviii, 23, p. 115. Hit noryscheth the foule syn of the bodye (fol. 78r), ebrietas nutrit flammam fornicationis, PL184. 1245B, MGL variant. The vernacular is both less suggestive and plainer. 10 

In the List of Contents, this chapter is entitled: ‘De crapula et ebrietate’.

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Commentary

and causeth a person not to knowe hymself (fol.  78r), ebrietas ita alienat mentem, ut homo nesciat semetipsum, PL  184, 1245B. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Drunkennes doth so alienate the mind, that a man knoweth not himselfe’, p. 193, my emphasis. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 43, 2, p. 187. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxviii, 24, p. 115. A dronken person ys so ignorant (fol. 78r), homo ebrius est ita a semetipso alienus, PL 184, 1245B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the simpler word. To many it ys a boste to drynke mych and not to be dronken [...] and provoke yourself and oþere both to dronkenes (fol. 78r), Plerisque laus est multum bibere, et non inebriari […] ‘et viri fortes ad miscendam ebrietatem’, PL 184, 1245B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 43, 3b, p.  188. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxviii, 25, p. 115. ‘woo be to you þat boste yourself of grete drynkyng of wyne’ (fol. 78r), ‘Vae, qui potentes estis ad bibendum vinum’, PL 184, 1245B–C, MGL variant. The vernacular here adds the sin of Pride to that of Glotony. ‘of grete drynkyng of wyne or of strong drynke’ (fol. 78r), ‘qui potentes estis ad bibendum vinum’, PL 184, 1245B–C, MGL addition. The translator covers all eventualities. et iterum, ‘Vae qui consurgitis mane ad ebrietatem sectandam, et potandum usque ad vesperam, ut vino aestuetis’ (Isai. v, 11), PL  184, 1245C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And againe: Woe to you, that rise earely to follow drunkennes, and to drinke euen vntill euening, that you may be enflamed with wine’, p. 194. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 43, 4, p. 188. Also the prophete Joel sayth: ‘awake ye dronken peple. Wepe and wayle all ye þat drynk wyne for pleasur’ (fol. 78r ), Etiam Joel propheta clamat, dicens: ‘Expergiscimini, ebrii, et flete; et ululate, omnes qui bibitis vinum in dulcedine’ ( Joel i, 5), PL 184, 1245C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 43, 6, p. 188. and drowneth hym in þe pytte of hell (fol. 78v), ebrietas demergit hominem in infernum, PL 184, 1245C, MGL addition. The image of drowning is more immediately grasped, if hell is referred to as a ‘pit’.

Commentary

299

remembre ye how detestable and of every servante of God ys dronkenes to be fledde (fol. 78v), cogita […] quantum sit detestanda et fugienda ebrietas ab omnibus servis Dei, PL 184, 1245D, i.e., ‘Consider therefore […] how much drunkennes is to be detested and auoided of all the seruants of God’, Batt, p. 195. his disciple and byschop Tymothe (fol. 78v), Timotheo discipulo suo, PL 184, 1245D, MGL addition. ‘Geminatio’ here again adds meaning to the text. per multum vinum gravatur mens, PL  184, 1245D–46A, MGL omission. Batt partly translates: ‘troubleth the mind’, p. 196, but Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 53v reads like PL 184. Caveamus igitur, ne illud quod Deus ad medelam nobis corporis tribuit, vitio gulae deputemus, PL 184, 1246A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let vs take heede, least we consume that in the vice of gluttonie, which God hath giuen vs as a medecine for our bodie’, p. 196. Lete us be ware [les] þat the wyne þat God ordeyned for our comfort and helth (fol. 79r), caveamus ne vinum quod Deus nobis dedit ad salutem corporum, PL 184, 1246A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 53v. Batt translates: ‘Let vs take heede, least […] that […] which God hath giuen vs for the health of our bodies’, p. 196, my emphasis. The omission of ‘les’ in MGL is clearly a mistake. caveamus ne medicinam carnis in vitium convertamus ebrietatis, PL 184, 1246A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let vs take heede, least we change the medicine of our flesh, into the vice of drunkennes’, p. 196. noon oþere but an open devyll (fol. 79r), nec […] aliud […] quam manifestissimus daemon, PL 184, 1246A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the simpler expression. and shall take awey from you (fol. 79r), Bibe vinum cum sobrietate, et auferet a te, PL 184, 1246A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Drinke wine soberly without excesse, and it will take from you’, p. 197. as your lovyng broþere (fol. 79r), quasi fratrem tuum, PL 184, 1246B, MGL addition. The vernacular here and elsewhere increases the affective value of the text.

300

Commentary

Chapter 26: Sin (PL 184, 1246B: De peccato; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240:

De servitute peccati; Paynell: Of synne; Batt: Of sinne; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Sin)

The xxvi exhortacion sheweth how many manere wayes syn may com, and þat ther be iii thyngis worste and lowest of all other and iii moste fayr and above all oþere in the worlde (fol. 79v), MGL addition. Twoo manere of wayes syn ys commyttid or done […] les they shall have hurt by that they dyd drede (fol. 79v), Duobus modis committitur peccatum […] vel cum timet ne incurrat malum quod metuit, PL 184, 1246B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 17, 1, p. 130. oþere bi love of lewde appetyte (fol. 79v), nempe aut amore cupiditatis, PL 184, 1246B, MGL variant. The translator regularly adds such adjectives to make bad and sinful things immediately evil to his reader. Fower wayes ys syn commytted in the harte or wyll and iiii wayes in dede […] Thees manere of wayes syn ys commytted in hart and dede (fols 79v–80r), Quatuor modis committitur peccatum in corde, quatuor etiam modis perpetratur in opere […] Istis modis ergo et corde peccamus, et opere perpetramus peccatum, PL 184, 1246B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 17, 2, p. 130. Fower wayes ys syn commytted in the harte or wyll (fol. 79v), Quatuor modis committitur peccatum in corde, PL 184, 1246C, MGL addition. The same addition reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. Yet iii manere of wayes syn may be commytted or done: oþere by ignoraunce, or by freylte or wekenes, or els wyttyngly [...] and myche more grevous hit ys to syn wyttyngly than by freylte (fol. 80r), Tribus modis peccatum committitur; videlicet per ignorantiam, per infirmitatem, et per industriam, id est scienter […] sed multo est gravius peccare per industriam, quam per infirmitatem, PL 184, 1246C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 17, 3–4, pp. 130–31. or els wyttyngly (fol. 80r), et per industriam, id est scienter, PL 184, 1246C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and by industrie, that is, of set purpose’, p. 199.

Commentary

301

Also he doeth more grevous offende þat synneth openly than he þat synneth prively. He dowble offendyth þat synneth openly, for he hymself doeth syn, and gevyth occasion to oþer (fol. 80r), Gravius etiam peccat qui in publico delinquit, quam qui in abscondito. Dupliciter peccat qui in publico peccat, quia et peccat, et aliis peccare demonstrat, PL 184, 1246D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 20, 1, pp. 135–36. Also he doeth more grevous offende (fol. 80r), Gravius etiam peccat, PL 184, 1246D, i.e., ‘he offends more grievously’, ‘grevous’ is an adjective used as an adverb. See Glossary. Hyt ys a part of justice for a man or a woman to knowe his own syn and trespace, and to be ashamed of them (fol. 80r–v), Jam quaedam pars justitiae est hominem suam iniquitatem cognoscere, et de peccatis propriis in semetipso verecundiam habere, PL 184, 1246D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 20, 3, p. 136. Hit ys better for a person not to syn for the love of God than for the feer of hell (fol. 80v), Melius est hominem non peccare propter amorem Dei, quam propter timorem inferni, PL 184, 1246D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 21, 1, p. 136. The concepts of love and dread have been examined in Chapter 4, ‘De timore Dei’. Hit ys also better not to syn than to amend syn (fol. 80v), Melius est etiam non peccare, quam peccatum emendare, PL 184, 1246D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 23, 1, p. 138. Every synner ys prowde, for he þat doeth that þat ys forbydden dispyseth the cummaundmentis of God (fol. 80v), Omnis peccans superbus est. Faciens enim vetita, contemnit divina praecepta, PL 184, 1246D–47A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 38, 2, p. 168. By oon syn many good thyngis be loste (fol. 80v), per unum malum pereunt multa bona, PL 184, 1247A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 4, p. 65. ‘He that offendyth in oon ys gylty of all’ […] nor consent to bodely delectacion (fol. 80v), ‘qui in uno peccavit, factus est omnium reus’ […] non consentias

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Commentary

carnali delectationi, PL 184, 1247A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 4–5, pp. 65–66. By oon syn many vertues ar perysched (fol. 80v), per unum peccatum multae justitiae pereunt, PL 184, 1247A, MGL variant. The translator avoids the concept of ‘justitia’ which may not be clear to his reader. For previous examples, see fols 60r, 73r. Non des animam tuam in potestate carnis, PL 184, 1247A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Permit not your soule to be in the power of your flesh’, p. 201. ‘yf ye lyve after sensualite and þe bodye, ye shall syn’ (fol. 80v), ‘si secundum carnem vixeris, morieris’, PL 184, 1247A, MGL variant. Another instance of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. Purge therfor your conscience from all syn that your soule may be pure and bryght (fol. 80v), Munda ergo conscientiam tuam ab omni peccato: sit mens tua pura, PL 184, 1247A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 5–6, pp. 66–67. sit etiam corpus tuum ab omni iniquitate purgatum, PL 184, 1247A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let your bodie be likewise purged from all iniquitie’, p. 201. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 6, p. 66. Note that Isidore reads ‘animus’ instead of ‘corpus’. and your body cleen. Loke þat no spotte of syn abyde in your conscience (fol. 80v), sit corpus tuus immaculatum, macula peccati in corde tuo non remaneat, PL 184, 1247A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 6, p. 67. The bodye cannot be corrupte, excepte þe mynde and wyll be fyrst corrupte, for [...] Clense then contynually your hart and conscience from all syn, and the bodye shal not offende (fols  80v–81r), Non potest corpus corrumpi, nisi prius fuerit corruptus animus […] Munda ergo cor tuum ab iniquitate, et caro tua non peccabit, PL 184, 1247A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 7, p. 68. and the soule be lete slypp by consent (fol. 81r), Si anima labitur, PL 184, 1247A, MGL addition. The translator here emphasizes the reader’s responsibility by being more explicit.

Commentary

303

Anima praecedit carnem, PL 184, 1247B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The soule goeth before the flesh’, p. 201. And so syn ys fyrst in the soule (fol. 81r), in crimine anima prima vadit ad peccandum, PL 184, 1247B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the simpler expression. but þat [free] wyll woll (fol. 81r), nisi quod voluerit animus, PL 184, 1247B. ‘Freel’ is obviously a scriptural error. the soule of a synnere be stynkyng foule (fol. 81r), anima hominis peccatoris est foeda, PL 184, 1247B, MGL addition. This is not the first time the translator has added ‘stynkyng’, in order to rouse his reader’s reaction more effectively. See above, fol. 72r. and the pytte of hell (fol. 81r), et infernus, PL 184, 1247B, MGL addition. As in the previous chapter, the addition here makes the image more immediate to the reader. See above, fol. 78v. a juste lyver perseveryng in goodnes (fol. 81r), justi hominis perseverans in bonis operibus, PL 184, 1247C. A reminder of the concept of perseverance, which has been examined above in Chapter 20, ‘De perseverantia’. and have now taken from þe worlde (fol. 81v), MGL addition. The vernacular adds an explanatory gloss to the first part of the biblical quotation. ‘in your courte of heven’ (fol.  81v), ‘in atriis tuis’ (Psal. lxiv, 5), PL  184, 1247C, MGL addition. The Middle English unusually here keeps the less familiar word, but adds the more common expression. shal be in perpetuall joye with your spouse Jhesu Cryst (fol.  81v), sine dubitatione in coelesti thalamo cum Jesu Christo sponso tuo laetaberis, PL 184, 1247C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘you shall without all doubt reioyce in the heauenly bride-chamber with Christ Iesus your bridegroome’, p. 203. Another instance where this all-too suggestive word (i.e., ‘thalamus’) is omitted or replaced in the vernacular. and persevere in þe service of God (fol. 81v), et in servitio Dei […] perseveraveris, PL 184, 1247C. A further reminder of the importance of perseverance.

304

Commentary

Chapter 27: Penitence and Confession (PL 184, 1247C: De confessione peccatorum et poenitentia; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De confessione peccatorum;11 Paynell: Of confession of synnes and penaunce; Batt: Of the confession of sinnes, and penance; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Penitence)

The xxvii exhortacion sheweth how every synner ouȝt to be evere penitent and sory for his synnes and to leve them and be confessid of them, puttyng a generall confession for an exaumple (fol. 81v), MGL addition. Then a man or a woman begynneth to be juste when they begyn to accuse themself of theyr own synnes (fol. 81v), Tunc homo incipit esse justus, quando de peccatis suis propriis incipit accusare se ipsum, PL  184, 1247D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 1, p. 120. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, viii, 32, p. 37. unde scriptum est, ‘Justus in principio accusator est sui’ (Prov. xviii, 17), PL 184, 1247D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Wherevpon it is written: The iust is first accuser of himselfe’, p. 204. Ther ys nothyng worse than to knowe a defawte or trespace and not to be penytent therfor (fol.  82r), Nihil autem pejus quam culpam cognoscere, nec deflere, PL 184, 1247D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 4, p. 120. and not to be penytent therfor (fol. 82r), nec deflere, PL 184, 1247D, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of words here reminds the reader of the theme of the present chapter. Every synner for two manere of causes ouȝt to wayle and be sory for his synnes [...] anoþere cause, þat boldly he hath don a trespace þat he ouȝt not to have done (fol. 82r), Omnis peccator duobus modis debet flere peccata sua […] et malum quod non debuit facere, fecit, PL 184, 1247D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 5, p. 120. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, viii, 33, pp. 37–38.

11 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘De confessione peccatorum et remissionis indulgencie’.

Commentary

305

That man or woman doeth worthy and dewe penaunce þat be sory and wepe for their synnes þat þei have don [...] the more he waschyth it, the fowler he makyth it (fol. 82r), Ille homo digne agit poenitentiam, qui praeterita peccata plangit […] qui quanto amplius laverit, tanto amplius faciet lutum, PL 184, 1247D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 7, p. 121. For the first sentence, Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, ix, 59, p. 45. a grene tyle-stone (fol. 82r), laterem crudum, PL 184, 1247D, i.e., ‘a newly made tile’. See ‘grene’ in the Glossary. If a man or a woman be penitent when they may syn [...] withoute doute whensomevere deth commyth to þem, they shall goo to everelastyng reste and quyetnes, that ys in heven (fol. 82r–v), Sic quando homo peccare potens poenitet […] sine dubitatione quando ei mors advenerit, ad aeternam perveniet requiem, PL 184, 1247D–48A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 14, p. 122. amende theyr lyfe and purge them from all syn (fol. 82r), ab omni crimine corrigit, PL 184, 1248A, MGL variant. The translator is more precise and highlights two separate processes: a change in the manner of living and penitence for sins. to everelastyng reste and quyetnes, that ys in heven (fol. 82r–v), ad aeternam […] requiem, PL 184, 1248A, MGL addition. The vernacular has added an explanation for the previous phrase. And they þat lyve in syn and doo not penaunce tyl deth come [...] lette them doo penaunce whyle they ar hool and be sory for their synnes (fol. 82v), Qui autem male vivit, et in morte poenitentiam agit […] in sanitate poenitentiam agat, et in sanitate peccata sua lugeat, PL 184, 1248A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 15, pp. 122–23. And bycause the mercye of God ys privy and not knowen, it ys necessarye contynually to be contryte and penitent (fol. 82v), Igitur quia miseratio Dei occulta est, sine intemissione flere necesse est, PL 184, 1248A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 18, p. 123. contynually to be contryte and penitent (fol. 82v), sine intermissione flere, PL 184, 1248A, MGL variant. The Middle English here replaces the reference to weeping by a direct allusion to penitence, the theme of the present chapter.

306

Commentary

Holy Isidor sayth: ‘a penitent person ouȝt to have no swerty of his own synnes’ (fol. 82v), Isidori verba: ‘Non oportet poenitentem de peccatis suis habere securitatem’, PL 184, 1248A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 18, p. 123. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxiii, 21, p. 103. For a swerty or sykernes causyth negligens, and necligens oftentymes bryngeth a person or he be ware into syn agayn (fol. 82v), Quia securitas negligentiam parit, negligentia vero saepe hominem incautum ad priora peccata reducit, PL 184, 1248A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 13, 18, p. 122. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxiii, 22, p. 103. As long as God sendyth yow lyfe (fol.  82v), Dum Deus dat tibi licentiam, PL 184, 1248B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. dum adhuc vivis, peccata tua luge, PL 184, 1248B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Bewayle your sinnes, whiles you are yet liuing’, p. 206. Dum potes, mala quae fecisti emenda, PL 184, 1248B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Whiles you are able amend what is amisse’, p. 207. and call to God for mercy and forgevenes of your synnes (fol. 83r), clama ad Deum pro te, PL 184, 1248B, MGL variant. The translator is more explicit. dum adhuc vivis in corpore, tibi indulgentiam peccatorum tuorum acquire, PL 184, 1248B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Whiles you yet liue in this mortal bodie, obtaine pardon of your sinnes’, p. 207. poenite: priusquam infernus te rapiat, peccata tua luge: priusquam in pro­ fundum inferni mergaris, negligentias tuas plange, PL  184, 1248B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘doe satisfaction for your offences. Before hell snatch you away, lament your sinnes. Bewaile your negligences, before you be drowned in the bottome of hell’, p. 207. ubi jam non est laetitia, PL  184, 1248B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘where there is no place of gladnes’, p. 207. ys no redempcion nor hope of salvacion (fol. 83r), nulla est redemptio, PL 184, 1248C, MGL addition. The translator is more precise and covers all eventualities.

Commentary

307

in confession ys hope of mercy (fol. 83r), spes in confessione, PL 184, 1248C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. O wreche that I am þat have fallen into so many crymes and synnes, in so many necligences. What shall I fyrst wayle? What shall I fyrste wepe? What shall I fyrste mourne? (fol. 83v), heu me misera! in tantis peccatis, in tantis criminibus, in tantis negligentiis cecidi! quid primum plangam, quid primum plorem, quid primu[m] lugeam?, PL 184, 1248C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 57, p. 47. Ego misera, quem luctum primum sumam? ego indigna, quas lacrymas prius fundam?, PL 184, 1248D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Poore wretch that I am: what lamentation shall I first make? What teares shall I vnworthy wight first power forth?’, p. 208. My memorye wyll not serve me to shew the gestis and dedys of so many synnes (fol. 83v), Memoria non sufficit referre gesta tantorum criminum, PL 184, 1248D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 57, p. 47. O lacrymae, ubi vos subtraxistis?, PL 184, 1248D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘O teares, whither haue you withdrawen your selues?’, p. 209. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 58, p. 47. ubi estis, fontes lacrymarum? movemini, obsecro, ad fletum meum: fontes lacrymarum, PL 184, 1248D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Where are you, ô fountaines of teares! Be moued, I pray you, at my weeping: ô you fountaines of teares’, p. 209. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 58, pp. 47–48. Flow ye now overe my face. Water ye nowe my chekys (fol. 83v), fluite super faciem meam, rigate maxillas meas, PL 184, 1248D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 58, p. 48. date mihi planctum amarum, PL 184, 1248D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Afford me bitter lamentation’, p. 209. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 58, p. 48. Helpe me, good Lorde, er deth come, er deth prevente me, er hell take me, er þe fyre of hell bren me (fol. 83v), Succure mihi, Deus meus, antequam

308

Commentary

moriar, antequam mors praeveniat, antequam me infernus rapiat, antequam me flamma comburat, PL 184, 1248D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 63, p. 50. antequam me tenebrae involvant, PL 184, 1248D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘before those vtter darknesses enwrap and couer me’, p. 209. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 63, p. 50. Helpe me, merciful God, er evere I be dampned withoute ende (fol. 83v), Subveni mihi, Deus meus, priusquam ad tormenta perveniam, priusquam me devoret ignis gehennae, priusquam sine termino crucier in inferno, PL  184, 1248D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 63, pp. 50–51. My Lord God, what shall I doo when thy ferefull jugement shall come? (fol. 83v), quid faciam cum venerit tremendum judicium tuum?, PL 184, 1249A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. What shall I answer there for myself ? (fol. 83v), quid respondebo, cum venerit examen judicii tui?, PL 184, 1249A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common and simpler phrase. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. What shall I, wrecche and synner, saye when þat I shall be presented before the trone of Cryste? (fol. 83v), quid dicam, ego misera et peccatrix, cum praesentata fuero ante tribunal Christi?, PL 184, 1249A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. before the trone of Cryste (fol. 83v), ante tribunal Christi, PL 184, 1249A, MGL variant. The vernacular here represents Christ as a king rather than as a judge. Woo be the tyme þat I synned yn. Woo be þe tyme þat I dyd evyll. Woo be the tyme þat I brake the commaundmentis of God (fol. 83v), Vae diei illi in quo peccavi! vae diei illi quando malum feci! vae diei illi quando transgressa sum praecepta Dei, PL 184, 1249A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. Wold God I had not knowe the daye þat I so did (fol. 83v), Utinam non illuxisset sol super me! utinam non fuisset ortus sol super me!, PL 184, 1249A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common and direct expression. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51.

Commentary

309

O þat ungracious day! (fol. 83v), O dies detestanda, PL 184, 1249A, MGL variant. The vernacular introduces again the concept of grace. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. O dies abominanda, PL 184, 1249A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘O day to be abhorred’, p. 210. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. O þat unhappy daye þat brouȝt me into the worlde! (fol. 84r), o dies penitus non nominanda, quae me in hoc saeculum protulit, quae mihi claustra ventris aperuit!, PL 184, 1249A, MGL variant and omission. Batt translates: ‘O day not worthy to be so much as once named, which brought me into this world, which opened vnto me the enclosure of my mothers wombe’, p. 210. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 64, p. 51. Hit had be better for me not to have be borne in this world than to be dampned in hell for everemore, and to suffre perpetual payn (fol.  84 r), melius mihi fuerat non esse in hoc saeculo natam quam in inferno perpetuo cruciatam: melius mihi fuerat non esse genitam, quam pati aeternas poenas gehennae: satius mihi fuerat non esse in hoc mundo procreatam, quam pati aeterna mala, PL 184, 1249A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 65, p. 52. All ye, creatures of God in heven and erth, wepe and mourne overe me (fol. 84r), Flete super me, coelum et terra; plorate me, omnes creaturae; et quae potestis sensum vitae habere, lacrymas effundite super me, PL 184, 1249B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 65, p. 52. for I have grevously synned. I have unhappyly offendid. I have wrecchydly trespasid: my synnes be innumerable (84r), Peccavi enim graviter, peccavi infeliciter, peccavi miserabiliter: innumerabilia sunt peccata mea, PL 184, 1249B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 65, p. 52. I promised þat I wolde lyve well, but I nevere kepte my good promises [...] and nevere ceassid to doo lewdly (fol. 84r), Ut bene viverem, ultro promisi: sed bona quae promisi, nunquam servavi […] a malis factis nunquam cessavi, PL 184, 1249B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 66, pp. 52–53. semper delicta mea iteravi, PL 184, 1249B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘I haue iterated or redoubled mine offenses’, p. 211.

310

Commentary

Pray ye for me, devoute men. Praye ye for me, all sayntis of heven, þat Almyȝty God may have mercye on me and forgeve me my synnes (fol. 84r), Orate pro me Dominum, viri sancti; intercedite pro me ad Dominum, omnes sancti. Omnes animae justorum, intercedite pro me, si forte misereatur mei Deus, si forte iniquitates meas auferat, PL 184, 1249B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 67, p. 53. Praye ye for me, all sayntis of heven (fol. 84r), intercedite pro me ad Dominum, omnes sancti, PL 184, 1249B, MGL addition. Unsurprisingly, the translator chooses to leave no doubt as to whom he regards as ‘saints’. Omnes animae justorum, intercedite pro me, PL 184, 1249B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘All ye soules of iust men make intercession for me’, p. 211. hoo shall have mercye on the, or comforte the, or mourne for the? (fol. 84r), quis miserabitur tui? quis consolabitur te? O anima misera! o anima, quis dabit lamentum pro te?, PL  184, 1249B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 68, p. 54. Wher art þou, keper of all persons, redemere of every soule and savyour? Why hast þou dispysed me? Why turnest thy mercifull face fro me? (fol. 84r–v), Ubi es, custos hominum? ubi es, Redemptor animarum? ubi es, pastor bone? Cur despexisti me? Cur avertisti faciem tuam a me?, PL 184, 1249C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 69, p. 55. Why turnest thy mercifull face fro me? (fol. 84v), Cur avertisti faciem tuam a me?, PL 184, 1249C, i.e., ‘why do you turn your merciful face from me?’. For the absence of the personal pronoun ‘thou’, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 42–43. ‘Mercifull’, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. My Lorde, God forgete me not to þe ende, forsake me not forevere, leve me not in the power of the devyll (fol. 84v), Deus meus, non me obliviscaris in finem. Non me deseras in perpetuum, non me deseras in potestate daemonum, PL 184, 1249C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 69, p. 55. Thou art pacient, þou art pytyous, þou art full of mercy, þou dispises noo person, þou denyest nobody thy mercye (fol. 84v), Tu clemens, tu pius, tu multae miserationis. Nullum spernis, nullum detestaris, nullum recusas a misericordia, PL 184, 1249C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 69, p. 55.

Commentary

311

Thou art pacient (fol. 84v), Tu clemens, PL 184, 1249C, MGL variant. Patience is later examined in Chapter 40, ‘De patientia’. þou dispises noo person (fol. 84v), nullum spernis, nullum detestaris, PL 184, 1249C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Thou despisest no man, thou abhorrest no man’, p. 212. The ending in ‘-es’ is one possible form for the indicative present, second-person singular. See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 32. ut non deneges mihi quod misericorditer multis dedisti, PL  184, 1249C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Denie not that […] to me, which thou hast mercifully graunted to many’, p. 212. I doo not defende my synnes. I doo not hyde my trespasys. My lewdnes þat I have don doeth displease me (fol. 84v), Scelera mea non defendo, peccata mea non abscondo. Displicet mihi malum quod feci, PL 184, 1249C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 70, p. 56. I confesse myn errour. I knowlege my iniquyte and unthryftynes (fol. 84v), Errorem meum confiteor, culpam meam manifesto, iniquitatem meam cognosco, PL 184, 1249D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 70, p. 56. I have offended, good Lorde, have mercy on me, wrecched synnere. Mercifull Lorde, pardon me, forgeve me my synnes (fol. 84v), Peccavi, Deus meus, propitius esto mihi peccatrici; parce malis meis, ignosce peccatis meis, indulge criminibus meis, PL 184, 1249D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 71, p. 56. ‘If þou, good Lorde, reserve or kepe the synnes of thy peple and not forgeve them’ [...] þouȝe he be juste, can be suer and in sertente of hymself to be clere withoute spot of syn (fols 84v–85r), ‘si iniquitates observaveris, Domine’ […] quis enim justus qui se audeat dicere sine peccato?, PL 184, 1249D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 71, p. 57. ‘reserve or kepe the synnes of thy peple and not forgeve them’ (fol. 84v), ‘iniquitates observaveris’, PL 184, 1249D, MGL addition. The translator has added a gloss.

312

Commentary

þouȝe he be juste, can be suer and in sertente of hymself (fols 84v–85r), nec justitia justi secura erit, PL 184, 1249D, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. Ther ys no person lyvyng withoute syn [...] ‘Aungelles also þat served the wer not stable, they offended and synned’ (fol. 85r), Nullus homo est sine peccato […] ‘Ecce qui servierunt Deo, non fuerunt stabiles’, et in Angelis inventa est iniquitas: stellae non sunt mundae coram te, coeli non sunt mundi in conspectu tuo, PL 184, 1249D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 71, p. 57. nemo est mundus a delicto, nemo est mundus in conspectu tuo, PL  184, 1249D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘no man is free from offense: no man is cleane in thy sight’, p. 213. be he nevere so perfitte (fol.  85r), ecce inter sanctos nemo est immaculatus, PL 184, 1249D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘sanctus’. stellae non sunt mundae coram te, coeli non sunt mundi in conspectu tuo, PL 184, 1249D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the starres are not cleane in his sight, (Iob. 25.) The heauens likewise are not cleane in his sight’, pp. 213–14. Sythen then, good Lorde, no person devoute nor aungellys be withoute syn before the (fol. 85r), Si igitur nemo in conspectu tuo est sanctus, nemo immaculatus, PL 184, 1249D–50A, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids ‘sanctus’, but perhaps surprisingly introduces here ‘angels’. how muche more I, wrecchyd synner and worme […] and am made of erth and dwell in an erthly habitacion? (fol. 85r), quanto magis ego peccatrix et putredo ac vermis […] quae sedeo in pulvere, quae habito in domo lutea, quae terrenum habeo fundamentum, PL 184, 1250A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 71, pp. 57–58. the chylde of frayle man (fol. 85r), filia hominum, PL 184, 1250A, MGL addition. The translator highlights man’s condition. þat hath abundaunce of syn (fol. 85r), quae bibi iniquitates quasi aquas, PL 184, 1250A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the simpler and plainer expression.

Commentary

313

and am made of erth (fol. 85r), quae sedeo in pulvere, PL 184, 1250A, MGL variant. The Middle English prefers the more common words. Good Lord, holde thy ryȝte hande overe me [...] how þat ‘I am erth, asches and duste’ (fol.  85r), Deus meus porrige dexteram tuam mihi peccatrici […] Memento, Domine, quia terra sum: memento quia ‘cinis, et pulvis sum’, PL 184, 1250A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 72, p. 58. Good Lord, holde thy ryȝte hande overe me (fol. 85r), Deus meus, porrige dexteram tuam mihi peccatrici, PL 184, 1250A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘stretch forth thy right hand to me a sinner’, p. 214. MGL suggests some kind of blessing, the Liber (and Batt’s translation) imply rather a call for help. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 72, p. 58. how þat ‘I am erth, asches and duste’ (fol. 85r), Memento, Domine, quia terra sum; memento quia ‘cinis, et pulvis sum’, PL 184, 1250A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Remember ô Lord, that I am but [e]arth. Remember, that I am but dust and ashes’, p. 214. Similar omissions of verbal repetitions or of synonyms, which reduce several clauses into a single one, frequently reoccur in this chapter, but these are not systematically recorded below. Geve medicyne by þe which I may be heled (fol. 85r), Medicinam qua saner tribue, medicinam qua curer impende, PL  184, 1250A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 72, p. 58. Good Lorde, delyvere my soule from dampnacion (fol. 85r), Deus meus, libera animam meam captivam ab inferno, PL 184, 1250A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘O my God, deliuer my captiue soule from hell’, p. 214. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 73, P. 59. lette not the pytte of hell suppe me up forevere (fol.  85r), non concludat me profundum, non absorbeat me infernus, PL 184, 1250A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 73, p. 59. non urgeat super me puteus os suum, abyssus non deneget mihi exitum, PL 184, 1250B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let not the pit of perdition shut his mouth vpon me. Let not that bottomlesse depth denie me to goe forth’, p. 215. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 73, p. 59.

Commentary

314

The ferefull daye ys now at hande, the tyme draweth nygh […] good Lorde, ‘er I goo hens to a derke and unknowen cuntrey’ (fol. 85r–v), Ecce dies timendus jam imminet, jam venit ultima dies, jam prope est dies mortis […] Domine, ‘antequam vadam at terram tenebrosam’ PL  184, 1250B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 74, p. 60. the tyme draweth nygh (fol. 85r), jam venit ultima dies, PL 184, 1250B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. jam prope est dies mortis, PL 184, 1250, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the day of death deth now draw neere’, p. 215. ‘to a derke and unknowen cuntrey’ (fol. 85v), ‘ad terram tenebrosam’, PL 184, 1250B, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning to the text, in this case making it more frightening to the reader. Succure me (fol.  85v), Redemptor animarum, succurre mihi, PL  184, 1250, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘O Redeemer of soules, succour me’, p. 215. The whole of this chapter is much less rhetorical in the Middle English. forgeve me my synnes afore I departe hense (fol. 85v), solve vincula peccatorum meorum, priusquam ad mortem perveniam, PL 184, 1250B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 74, p. 60. and forgeve me my synnes (fol. 85v), solve vincula peccatorum meorum, PL 184, 1250B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. afore I departe hense (fol. 85v), priusquam ad mortem perveniam, PL 184, 1250B, MGL variant. The Middle English version is perhap more immediate. It may remind the modern reader of Everyman. See Everyman, ed. by Lester, pp. 59–105. The answere of Seynt Bernarde (fol. 85v), MGL addition. The translator thus clearly indicates that the penitent’s confession is at an end and that the text resumes its ‘admonitiones’ to the reader. and forgeve you all your synnes and pardon you whatsoevere ye have offendyd, and loose you therof (fol. 85v), et dimittat[om.]12 tibi omnia peccata 12 

PL 184, 1250B reads: ‘dimittati’.

Commentary

315

tua; Deus retribuat tibi indulgentiam tuorum delictorum; Deus indulgeat tibi quidquid peccasti; Deus te lavet ab omni peccato, PL 184, 1250. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 75, pp. 60–61. Doo ye now as ye ought to doo [...] Be ware þat ye offende not agayn after your contricion and penaunce (fol. 85v), Age itaque jam ut opportet […] cave culpas tuas iterare, non te polluas post peccatum, post luctum poenitentiae non redeas ad peccatum, PL 184, 1250B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 76, p. 61. non iterum facias quod iterum plangas, PL  184, 1250C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘doe not that againe, which may moue you againe to teares and repentance’, p. 216. þat synneth wylfully after hys penance (fol. 85v), qui adhuc agit unde poeniteat, PL 184, 1250C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit. to pray God for mercye mekely (fol. 85v), Deum deprecari humilis, PL 184, 1250C, MGL addition. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘in vayne ys þat penance which syn and trespace doeth corrupte’. ‘A wounde twyes hurt ys harde to hele’ (fols  85v–86r), Unde et beatus Isidorus ait, ‘Inanis est poenitentia, quam sequens coinquinat culpa’: et iterum, ‘Iteratum vulnus tardius sanatur’, PL 184, 1250C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 77, pp. 61–62. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, ix, 70, p. 46. an ofte synnere with wepyng teres unneth ys worthy of mercye (fol. 85v), Frequenter peccans et lugens vix meretur veniam, PL 184, 1250C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 77, p. 62. Be ye therfor stedfaste in penance [...] ‘He þat persevereth to the ende shal be saved’ (fol. 86r), Esto igitur confirmata in poenitentia […] et iterum, ‘Qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit’ (Matth. xxiv, 13), PL 184, 1250C–D. The text underlines again the importance of perseverance, examined earlier in Chapter 20, ‘De perseverantia’. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 77–78, p. 62.

316

Commentary

Salvacion ys promysed to good begynners, and it ys geven to suche as persevere in goodnes (fol. 86r), Salus perseverantibus datur, PL 184, 1250C–D, MGL variant. It seems that something was omitted in PL  184, 1250C–D. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 reads: ‘Salus perseverantibus promittitur, praemium perseverantibus datur’, fol. 59r. This reading corresponds to Batt’s translation: ‘To such as perseuere saluation is promised, on such the reward of heauen is bestowed’, p. 217. Instead of combining the two phrases together, something he has done extensively in this chapter, the translator here retains the two separate clauses and underlines the concept of goodness, thus reminding his reader of the text’s title, the Manere of Good Lyvyng. ‘blessid be þoo that doeth vertue alwey and every tyme’ (fol. 86r), ‘Beati qui custodiunt judicium, et faciunt justitiam in omni tempore’ (Psal. cv, 3), PL 184, 1250D, MGL variant. Another instance where the translator replaces ‘justitia’ by ‘vertue’, which is the simpler concept in this context. be evere ashamed of your syn. Goo with hangyng down your hede […] Be evere redy to wepe for your synnes (fol. 86r), semper portes verecundiam in vultu de recordatione peccati; portes pudorem in facie de memoria delicti. Propter verecundiam peccati oculos tuos levare erubesce: ambula demissa facie […] semper esto parata ad lacrymas, PL 184, 1250D–51A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 23–24, pp. 79–81. to be evere ashamed of your syn (fol. 86r), semper portes verecundiam in vultu de recordatione peccati, PL 184, 1250D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that you alwayes behaue your selfe as one ashamed with your countenance cast downe, through the remembrance of your sinne’, p. 217. The Middle English chooses the more common and simpler expression. portes pudorem in facie de memoria delicti, PL 184, 1250D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let a blushing bashfulnes appeare alwayes in your face, through the memorie of your offences’, p. 217. Propter verecundiam peccati oculos tuos levare erubesce, PL  184, 1250D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let the shame of your sinne make you ashamed to looke vp to heauen’, p. 217. and as though ye were do[un]e (fol. 86r), moesta moerore, PL 184, 1250D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common words.

Commentary

317

Wrap your bodye in cylyce of here (fol. 86r), cilicium […] involvant membra tua, PL 184, 1250D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. cilicium operiat corpus tuum, PL 184, 1250D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 59v, MGL omission. Batt, p. 217, also omits. Lette þe lowe grounde be your bedde (fol. 86r), Terra sit tibi cubile, PL 184, 1250D, MGL addition. The added adjective reinforces the text message. It means both ‘low’ and ‘humble’. See Glossary. stratus sit tibi humus, PL 184, 1250D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the ground your couerlets’, p. 218. semper moerens, semper suspiria cordis emittens, PL 184, 1250D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘alwayes mourning, alwayes sighing’, p. 218 Sit lamentum in tuo pectore, sint gemitus in tuo corde; frequenter lacrymae fluant ab oculis tuis, PL 184, 1250D–51A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let sighes proceede from your breast, grones from your heart. Let teares often flow from your eies’, p. 218. though they be ryght perfytte (fol. 86r), quamvis sint justi, PL 184, 1251A, MGL variant. The translator thus builds on his pattern of the concept of ‘perfection’. Note that he also regularly replaces ‘justus’/‘justitia’ by other words. quod credunt faciunt, PL 184, 1251A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and performe what they beleeue’, p. 219. for his electe servantis (fol. 86v), electi quique, PL 184, 1251B, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. somtyme they be brouȝt to noble vyctorie (fol. 86v), quandoque ad victoriam perducuntur, PL 184, 1251B, MGL addition. As the translator emphasizes evil by added adjectives, he highlights positive concepts by the same process. allthouȝe they be hygh in vertue (fol. 86v), quamvis virtutibus in coelum se erigant, PL 184, 1251A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘although they eleuate themselues to heauen by their vertues’, p. 219. In this entry and the next, the Middle English is more explicit; here the omission of ‘in coelum’ avoids possible confusion, since the reader has not yet reached heaven.

318

Commentary

that ye nevere leve wepyng for your synnes (fol. 87r), ut nunquam deseras lacrymas, PL 184, 1251B, MGL addition. love ye alway teres and delyte in them [...] Acordyng to þe sekenes a medicyn muste be had. And your syn be grete, lette your contricion be grete (fol. 87r), semper diligas lacrymas. Dulces tibi sint lacrymae, delectet te semper planctus et luctus […] Secundum infirmitatem adhibenda est medicina, gravia peccata grandia lamenta desiderant, PL 184, 1251B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 24, pp. 80–81. Dulces tibi sint lacrymae, PL 184, 1251B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let teares be sweet vnto you’, p. 220. nunquam deseras planctum et luctum, PL 184, 1251B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘neuer cease from mourning’, p. 220. lette your contricion be grete (fol. 87r), grandia lamenta desiderant, PL 184, 1251C, MGL variant. By using the more technical term, the translator is here more explicit. whom aungelles doeth worshypp in heven (fol. 87r), quem Angeli adorant in coelesti curia, PL 184, 1251C, MGL variant. Another example of the vernacular choosing the more common expression.

Chapter 28: Eucharist (PL 184, 1251C: De communione; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De comunion[e] corporis Domini; Paynell: Of communyon, that is of the receyuing of the very body and blode of Christ; Batt: Of communicating or communion; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Communion) The xxviii exhortacion tretyth of þe receyvyng of the sacrament and howe perylous it ys to receyve the body of Cryste unworthelye (fol. 87r), MGL addition. The apostle Paule sayth (fol. 87r), MGL addition. he grevously offendyth and commyttyth a grete syn (fol. 87r), Id est, peccatum et maculam contrahet sibi, PL 184, 1251C, MGL variant. With the alliterating adverb and adjective, the Middle English increases the importance of the offence.

Commentary

319

‘and then resseyve the body of Cryste’ (fol. 87v), ‘et sic de pane illo edat, et de calice bibat’, PL 184, 1251C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘& so let him eate of that bread, and drinke of the chalice’, p. 221. ‘Quicunque enim Corpus et Sanguinem Domini manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit’ (i Cor. xi, 29), PL 184, 1251C–D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For he that eateth and drinketh vnworthily: eateth and drinketh iudgement to himselfe’, p. 222. For whosumevere receyveth it unworthely ys (fol. 87v), MGL addition. This replaces i Cor. 11. 29. See above entry. Holy Isidor sayth: ‘they þat in Cristis Chyrche lyve synfully and leve not to be comynde [...] Shall halowed flesshe take from þe thy malice and syn?’ (fol. 87v), Unde etiam beatus Isidorus ait: ‘Qui in Ecclesia scelerate vivunt, et communicare non desinunt […] nunquid carnes sanctae auferent a te malitias tuas?’ ( Jer. xi, 15?), PL 184, 1251D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, i, 22, 7, p. 75. ‘What ys it þat my loved peple’ (fol. 87v), ‘Quid est quod dilectus meus’, PL 184, 1251D, MGL addition. The vernacular interprets ‘dilectus’ rather than translates it. as hoo sayeth: naye (fol. 87v), MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. to be perseveraunt in the fayth and love of Cryste (fol. 87v), in Christi fide et dilectione manere, PL 184, 1251D, MGL variant. The translator chooses again to remind his reader of the concept of ‘perseverance’. Sacramentum hoc dicitur corpus Christi proprium de virgine natum, res vero, spiritualis Christi caro, PL 184, 1252A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘This Sacrament is called the proper bodie of Christ, borne of the Virgin: but the spiritual substance is the flesh of Christ’, p. 223. and þe evyll synnere receyveth not spiritually the effecte (fol. 88r), malus vero, quia ‘manducat indigne’, sicut Apostolus ait, ‘judicium sibi manducat et bibit’; non probans se prius, nec dijudicans corpus Domini. Ergo quid manducat peccator et quid bibit? Non utique carnem et sanguinem spiritualiter ad suam salutem; sed

320

Commentary

judicium ad suam damnationem, licet videatur cum caeteris Sacramentum altaris percipere. Itaque alius accipit corpus Domini ad salutem, PL 184, 1252A–B, variant and omission. Batt translates: ‘but a bad man, for that he eateth vnworthily, eateth and drinketh, (as the Apostle saith 1. Cor. 11.) iudgement to himselfe: not prouing himselfe first, not discerning the bodie or our Lord. What then doth the sinner eate, and what doth he drinke? Certaynely not the flesh and blood spiritually to his saluation, but iudgement to his damnation, although he seeme with the re[st] to receiue the sacrament of the altar. One therfore receiueth the bodie of our Lord to his saluation’, pp. 223–24. Seynt Austen sayth: ‘he þat with a chaste bodye, a clene hert, a pure conscience, and with devocion cummyth to be commyned at the awter, he shall com with a good ende to the awter, þat ys before God in heven’ (fol. 88v), Audi […] verba beati Augustini: ‘Qui casto corpore et mundo corde cum pura conscientia atque devota mente ad istam altaris communionem venit, ad illud altare qui est Christus in coelis, ante oculos Dei felici transmigratione perveniet’, PL 184, 1252B. Augustine, Sermo ccxix, PL 39, 2168. ‘he shall com with a good ende to the awter’ (fol. 88v), ‘ad illud altare […] felici transmigratione perveniet’, PL 184, 1252B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. here the wysedom of þe serpent (fol.  88 v), audias prudentiam serpentis, PL 184, 1252C. The concepts of wisdom and prudence become increasingly important in the second half of the text. They are examined in more detail in Chapter 56, ‘De prudentia’. Alioquin esca illa licet de coelo venerit, et potus, quia corporeus erat, Angelis non congruebat: sed utique ille panis, et potus qui per hoc praefigurabatur. Christus vero panis est Angelorum, et Sacramentum hoc vera caro ejus est, et verus sanguis: quod Sacramentum spiritualiter manducat et bibit homo, PL  184, 1252D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘for otherwise that bread, albeit it came from heauen, and drinke, for that it was corporal, was not food fit for Angells: but that bread and drinke, which was prefigured by this. Howbeit Christ is the bread of Angells, and this sacrament is his true flesh, and true blood: which sacrament man doth spiritually eate and drinke’, p. 226. The bred that aungellys be fedde with in heven in fruicion of the Godhed, man shal be fedde withall in erth spiritually (fol. 89r), Ac per hoc unde vivunt

Commentary

321

Angeli in coelis, inde vivit homo in terris, PL 184, 1252D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the translator has made the text more explicit. the which was fygured in the Olde Testament by manna þat the chyldren of Israel was fedde with in wyldernes (fol. 89r), quia totum spirituale et divinum in eo quod percipit homo, PL 184, 1252D, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘because all is spiritual and diuine, in that which a man receiueth’, p. 226. by syn, wylfull ignorance (fol. 89r), per culpam et ignorantiam, PL 184, 1253A, MGL addition. Another example of the translator reinforcing the text’s didactic value by adding an adjective. þan þat ye fele in your mouth (fol. 89v), quam odore sentis, PL 184, 1253A, MGL variant. The Middle English describes the experience in terms which are more realistic. ‘ascribed’, by the which we all may be conjoyned togyder in heven (fol. 89v), ‘adscriptam’, per quam nos omnes in coelo conscribamur, PL 184, 1253A, MGL variant. Both ‘ascribere’ and ‘conscribere’ mean to enrol. However the former more specifically signifies ‘to add to a list’, the latter to ‘write together in a list’. The translator indicates the nuance by adding the adverb ‘togyder’ and by choosing ‘conjoyned’ to translate ‘conscribamur’. we maye be accoumpted among the servantis of Criste (fol. 89v), in visceribus Christi censeamur, PL 184, 1253A, MGL variant. Instead of translating the unusual phrase, the vernacular interprets it with more common words. we may be knowen from unresonable bestis (fol. 89v), a bestiali sensu exuamur, PL 184, 1253A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common words. ‘acceptable’ (fol. 89v), ‘acceptabilemque facere digneris’, quatenus et nos per hoc quod in nobis displicemus, PL 184, 1253A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘And that thou wilt vouchsafe to make it acceptable: that we, likewise, (sithence we are displeasing to our selues)’, p. 228. all his feythfull servantis in erth (fol.  89v), in terra omnes fideles, PL  184, 1253B, MGL addition. Since the translator has introduced the word (‘servantis’) a few lines above, its repetition here facilitates the understanding of the whole passage.

322

Commentary

In heven he fedyth aungelles (fol. 89v), sanctos Angelos satiat in patria, PL 184, 1253B, MGL variants. The vernacular has the more common words. he fedyth aungelles with his glorious sight (fol.  89v), per speciem sanctos Angelos satiat, PL 184, 1253B, MGL addition. Another example of the translator reinforcing the text’s message by adding an adjective. þat we perysche not by the waye (fol.  89v), ne deficiamus in via, PL  184, 1253B, MGL variant. The translator interprets rather than translate ‘deficiamus’ (‘fail’, ‘fall’). quem manducat angelus pleno ore in patria, ipsum comedit peregrinus homo pro modulo suo ne lassetur in via, PL 184, 1253B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He, on whome the Angells feede to the full in heauenly countrie is mans foode heere on earth, according to the measure of his imbecillitie, and this (as I haue said alreadie) least he faint in the way’, pp. 228–29. he clense your conscience from all malice of syn (fol. 90r), mundet conscientiam tuam ab omni malitia, PL 184, 1253C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit.

Chapter 29: Evil Thoughts (PL  184, 1253C: De cogitatione;

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De cogitacionibus bonis et malis; Paynell: Of thought; Batt: Of our thoughts or cogitations; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Thought)

The xxix exhortacion shewyth howe all evyll thouȝtis shuld be advoyded and not sufferyd to abyde wythin the mynde (fol. 90r), MGL addition. here ye what Almyȝty God sayth by his prophete Isaie: ‘doo away the syn of your evyll þouȝtis oute of my sight’ (fol. 90r), audi ea quae Dominus ait per Isaiam prophetam: ‘Auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis vestris’ (Isa. i, 16), PL 184, 1253C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 25, 2b, pp. 142–43. Allthough a man or woman cease to doo evyll, yit and he have an evyll thouȝt abydyng in his hart, he ys not clere withoute syn (fol. 90r), Quamvis homo cesset ab opere malo, tamen si malam cogitationem habet in corde suo, non

Commentary

323

est sine culpa, PL 184, 1253C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 25, 2b, p. 142. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxviii, 37, p. 136. an evyll thouȝt abydyng in his hart (fol. 90r), malam cogitationem […] in corde suo, PL 184, 1253C, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit. he ys not clere withoute syn (fol. 90r), non est sine culpa, PL 184, 1253C, MGL, addition. Holy Isider sayth: ‘we doo not oonly offende in our dedis, but also in thoughtis, yf when they com unlefully, we delyte in them’ (fol. 90r–v), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Non solum in factis peccamus, sed in cogitationibus, si eis illicite occurrentibus delectemur’, PL 184, 1253C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 25, 3, p. 143. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxviii, 38, p. 146. As a snake ys oftetymes slayne of the yong þat be in hyr bely, so evyll thouȝtis within us norysched sleyth us in soule, for they consume the soule with a venomys poyson (fol. 90v), Sicut enim vipera a filiis suis in ventre adhuc positis occiditur, ita nos occidunt cogitationes nostrae intra nos enutritae, quia consumunt animam nostram veneno viperino, PL 184, 1253C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 25, 4, p. 143. sleyth us in soule (fol. 90v), nos occidunt, PL 184, 1253D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. in the lawde of his mylitant Chyrch (fol. 90v), in laudibus Ecclesiae, PL 184, 1253D, MGL addition. The translator is more precise in his reference to the Church. The herr of the hedde of þe Chyrche, or of every faythfull soule [...] that ys to saye, in holy Scriptur and counsellys, les it flow abrode waveryng withoute profytte (fols 90v–91r), Comae capitis Ecclesiae lectulum sanctae animae […] quia in Scripturis divinis, ne inutiliter fluant, stringuntur, PL 184, 1253D– 54A. Pseudo-Gregory, Super Cantica canticorum expositio, PL 79, 535C–D. which all ys convenient to every devoute soule (fol. 91r), quae omnia sanctae menti congruunt, PL 184, 1254A, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘sanctus’.

324

Commentary

les it flow abrode waveryng withoute profytte (fol. 91r), ne inutiliter fluant, PL 184, 1254A, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. Kepe therfor, reverent suster, your hart from evyll thouȝtis. Lette no fowle thouȝt steel prively to your mynde with deliberacion (fol. 91r), Custodi ergo cor tuum, venerabilis virgo, a contagione noxia; mentem tuam turpis cogitatio non subrepat, PL 184, 1254A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 5, p. 66. steel prively to your mynde with deliberacion (fol. 91r), mentem tuam […] non subrepat, PL 184, 1254A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. sit mens tua pura, PL 184, 1254A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let your mind be alwayes pure and cleane’, p. 232. God doeth not oonly examyn the bodye, but also the mynde [...] Amende þere þe defaute or trespace wher it groweth, as in the hert (fol. 91r), Deus enim non solum examinat carnem, sed mentem […] Ibi emenda culpam, ubi nascitur, scilicet in corde: caput cogitationis pravae expelle a corde tuo, PL 184, 1254A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 6–7, pp. 67–68. As soon as the serpent apperyth (fol.  91r), Quam cito apparuerit scorpio, PL  184, 1254A–B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol.  63r, MGL variant. The image of the serpent has already been used in connection with wisdom. See MGL, fol. 88v. The translator creates a pattern with this motif. caput cogitationis pravae expelle a corde tuo, PL 184, 1254B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘expell the head of the euil cogitation from your heart’, p. 233. Doo ye syn and offende ther, wher ye know þat God ys not. Ther ys nothyng hidde from hym. He seeth every privy thouȝt and ys presente everywher (fol. 91r), Ibi pecca [ fort. peccas], ubi nescis esse Deum. Nihil enim celatur ante Deum. Videt occulta; qui fecit abscondita. Dominus ubique praesens est, PL 184, 1254B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 59–60, pp. 110–11. Spiritus Dei totum implet; majestas omnipotentis Dei penetrat omnia ele­ menta: nullus locus est extra Deum, Dominus scit cogitationes hominum, PL 184, 1254B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The spirit of God filleth the

Commentary

325

whole world. The maiestie of almightie God penetrateth all the elements: there is no place without God. Our Lord knoweth the cogitations of men’, p. 233. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 60, pp. 111–12. wolde ye nevere be hevy? Ye wold saye: yee. Then lyve wele (fol. 91v), vis nunquam esse tristis? — Frater mi, volo. — Ergo bene vive, PL 184, 1254B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 61, p. 112. Then lyve wele, for yf ye lyve wele, (fol. 91v), Ergo bene vive. Si bene vixeris, PL 184, 1254B. The reader is reminded again of the text’s title and purpose. A suer mynde suffereth easely hevynes. A good mynde hath allway gladnes [...] He þat ys gylty ys nevere suer but allway trobled with his own grugges (fol. 91v), Secura mens leviter sustinet tristitiam, bona mens semper habet gaudium […] Nunquam reus homo securus est; mens enim male sibi conscia propriis agitatur stimulis, PL 184, 1254B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 61, p. 112. And yf ye persevere in good lyfe (fol. 91v), Si enim in bona vita perseveraveris, PL 184, 1254B. Another important concept, perseverance, is here placed along side ‘good lyfe’. ye shall nevere be hevy (fol. 91v), tristitia elongabitur a te, PL 184, 1254B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. si in sanctitate perseveraveris, tristitia non occurret tibi, PL 184, 1254B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you perseuere in sanctitie, sorow will not occurre vnto you’, p. 234.

326

Commentary

Chapter 30: Silence (PL 184, 1254C: De silentio; Uppsala, UUB, MS

C 240: De silencio sine ficcione; Paynell: Of silence; Batt: Of silence; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Silence) The xxx exhortacion sheweth howe sylence wold be kepte and all ydyll communycacion advoyded (fol. 91v), MGL addition.

‘the bewty of all vertue ys sylence’ (fol. 92r), ‘cultus justitiae est silentium’, PL 184, 1254C, MGL variant. Another instance where the translator replaces ‘justitia’ by the more immediately understandable idea of ‘vertue’. stodyed and laboured to know and se (fol. 92r), studuerunt vacare et videre, PL 184, 1254D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 63v, MGL variant. ‘Vacare’ is a difficult word to translate, as it means ‘to be empty, to be at leisure, to be free from labours’. It could therefore be construed in the wrong way and suggest sloth. The translator avoids the pitfalls by replacing it with ‘know’, a less ambiguous statement. Batt translates: ‘haue endeauoured to remaine in solitarines, and to see’, p. 235. all charges of actyfe lyfe sette asyde, they cleved to the contemplatyfe lyfe (fol. 92r), a thorough examination of the active and contemplative lives is to be found in Chapter 53, ‘De activa et contemplativa vita’. dispyse ye unmanerely wordis. Flee lewd communicacion […] Lette nothyng escape your mouth þat may lette you from a good dede (fol. 92r), respue inhonesta verba, fuge impudicos sermones […] Nihil unquam ex ore tuo procedat quod te possit impedire, PL 184, 1254D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 45, p. 99. and lyȝtly it ys don in [om.] dede þat ys gladly herde (fol. 92r), et facile agitur quod libenter auditur, PL 184, 1254D. The repetition of ‘in’ in MGL is obviously a scribal error. þat may lette you from a good dede (fol. 92r), quod te possit impedire, PL 184, 1254D, MGL addition. The translator’s words again remind the reader of the work’s title. Lette þat communicacion come from your mouth that may edifye your herers. Flye foule spekyng; vayne speche sheweth a vayn consciens (fol. 92r), Hoc non procedat de labiis tuis quod offendat aures audientis; fuge turpitudinem

Commentary

327

sermonis. Vanus sermo demonstrat vanam conscientiam, PL 184, 1254D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 45, p. 99. As the outeward speche doeth shewe, such ys provyd the ynwarde mynde and entent […] Thoo wordis þat ye speke, lette them be with gravite and doctryne, and withoute rebuke. Lette not your tong hurt you (fol. 92v), qualis sermo ostenditur, talis animus comprobatur […] Ea quae loqueris, gravitate atque doctrina digna fiant. Sit sermo tuus irreprehensibilis; lingua tua non te perdat, PL 184, 1255A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 45–47, pp. 99–101. restringe linguam tuam ab otioso verbo, PL 184, 1255A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘restraine your tongue from impertinent discourses’, pp. 236–37. Ante uniuscujusque faciem verba sua stabunt in die judicii, PL 184, 1255A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Euerie mans wordes shall stand before him at the day of doome’, p. 237. Lette not your tong hurt you (fol.  92v), lingua tua non te perdat, PL  184, 1255A, MGL variant. The translator differentiates between spiritual death, which is referred to in the next clause (‘lette not your tong dampne you’), and perhaps here venial offences. Speke not þat worde þat your adversarye or enemy shall note and bere aweye. Lette sylence be as a frende to you […] Lette, þerefor, be in your spekyng a mesur and a wayght (fols 92v–93r), non loquaris quod indigne suscipiat adversarius: amicum tuum sit silentium […] sit ergo in verbo tuo mensura, sit in sermone tuo statera. Modum loquendi non transeas, PL 184, 1255A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 48–49, pp. 102–03. þat your adversarye or enemy shall note and bere aweye (fol.  92v), quod indigne suscipiat adversarius, PL 184, 1255A, MGL variant. The translator is not only more explicit but also is perhaps alluding to Titivillus, who may be familiar to the audience from sermons and from plays like Mankind. In medieval literature and drama, Titivillus is traditionally the demon who writes down the congregation’s idle (and therefore sinful) chatter in church. pone linguae tuae claustra silentii, PL 184, 1255A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Put a cloister of silence to your tongue’, p. 237. interrogatio os tuum aperiat, PL 184, 1255B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let some demaund open your mouth’, p. 238.

328

Commentary

A clateryng virgyn ys a foole, a wyse virgyn wyll have few wordys (fols 92v– 93r), a reminder of the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins, which the text mentions in Chapter 21; see above, fol. 66r.

Chapter 31: Lying (PL 184, 1255B: De mendacio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De mendacio; Paynell: Of lieng; Batt: Of lying; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Falsehood)

The xxxi exhortacion techith to advoyde lyeng and to saye þe trouth (fol. 93r), MGL addition. Lyars cause that soth-sayers be not beleved (fol. 93r), Mendaces faciunt ut nec vera dicentibus credatur, PL 184, 1255B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 30, 1, p. 152. All kynde of lyeng ouȝte gretly to be fledde and exchwed [...] so þat they noþere by fallace defende þe lyfe of oþer nor hurt their own soules when they wolde doo for theyr neyȝbour (fol.  93r), Summo studio cavendum est omne genus mendacii […] ut nec vitia cujuslibet per eorum fallaciam defendant, nec suae animae noceant, dum praestare alienae carni volunt. Tamen hoc genus mendacii facile credimus dimitti, PL 184, 1255C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 30, 7, p. 153. when they wolde doo for theyr neyȝbour (fol. 93r), dum praestare alienae carni volunt, PL 184, 1255C, i.e., ‘when they would take care of their neighbour’. Tamen hoc genus mendacii facile credimus dimitti, PL 184, 1255C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Howbeit we beleeue, that this kind of lying is easily forgiuen’, pp. 239–40. I exhorte you to flye all manere of lyeng. Speke not falshed for none occasion or labour [...] ‘thou shalt, good Lorde, distroye and dampn al thos þat be lyars’. ‘A false wyttnes shall not slepe unponysched’ (fol. 93r–v), moneo te ut summopere fugias omne genus mendacii, nec per occasionem, nec per studium loquaris falsum […] ‘Et perdes eos qui loquuntur mendacium’ (Psal. v, 7), et testis falsus non erit impunitus, PL 184, 1255C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 53–54, pp. 106–07.

Commentary

329

nullum justum mendacium, PL 184, 1255C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘no lie can stand with iustice or vpright dealing’, p. 240. Yf þat lyeng be dampned of every lawe (fol. 93v), si mendacium apud homines damnatur, PL 184, 1255D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the vernacular is not simply more precise; it also transforms the original statement into a legal point and thus reinforces the text’s message. if falshed be ponysched by mannys lawe (fol. 93v), si falsitas humano judicio punitur, PL 184, 1255D, MGL variant. ‘A false wyttnes shall not slepe unponysched’ (fol. 93v), ‘et testis falsus non erit impunitus’, PL 184, 1255D, MGL variant. The Middle English introduces a time limit which strengthens the text’s message. flye þerefor lyes. Speke no falshede [...] Saye not oon thyng and doo anoþere (fol. 93v), declina ergo mendacium, falsum ne loquaris […] non aliud dicas, et aliud facias, PL 184, 1255D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 55, p. 108. flye þerefor lyes (fol. 93v), declina ergo mendacium, PL 184, 1255D, MGL variant. The translator has chosen a stronger verb.

Chapter 32: Perjury (PL 184, 1256A: De perjurio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De periurio; Paynell: Of periury; Batt: Of periurie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Perjury) The xxxii exhortacion techyth to advoyde perjurye and ofte sweryng (fol. 94r), MGL addition. As he þat spekyth not cannot lye, so he þat hath noo appetyte to swere cannot be forsworn (fol. 94r), Sicut mentiri non potest qui non loquitur, sic pejerare non poterit, qui jurare non appetit, PL 184, 1256A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 31, 1, p. 155. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxvii, 10, p. 142. By what sotelty or crafte eny person sweryth, God þat ys wyttnes of þe conscience so takyth it as he þat sweryth doeth meen and undurstande (fol. 94r), Quacunque arte verborum quisque juret, Deus tamen qui est testis conscientiae, hoc ita accipit, sicut ille cui juratur intelligit, PL 184, 1256A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 31, 8, p. 156. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxxvii, 16, p. 142.

330

Commentary

Nunquam jures. Si non juraveris, nunquam pejerabis: si pejerare times, nun­ quam jures; prohibe etiam tibi juramentum, PL 184, 1256A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Sweare not at any time: if you sweare not at all, you shall neuer be forsworne: if you feare to be forsworne, sweare not at all. Forbeare to sweare’, pp. 242–43. Custom ye not to swere, hit ys perylous to swere […] A faythfull sayeng holdeth the place of a sacrament (fol. 94r–v), tolle usum jurandi. Periculosum enim est jurare […] fidelis sermo retinet locum sacramenti; firma etiam sit sacramenti tui fides, PL 184, 1256B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 56, p. 109. usus jurandi ducit hominem ad perjurium, PL 184, 1256B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The vse of swearing frequently, bringeth a man to periurie’, p. 243. firma etiam sit sacramenti tui fides, PL  184, 1256B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let your protestation of the truth be as credible as an oath’, p. 243. made hym a temple to abyde yn (fol. 94v), sibi fecit templum, PL 184, 1256B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit.

Chapter 33: Backbiting (PL 184, 1256B: De detractione; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De detraccione; Paynell: Of detractyon; Batt: Of detraction; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Detraction)

The xxxiii exhortacion sheweth þat detraccion ys a grevous synne and his usars be lyke to a berkyng dog, and þat such persons shuld not be herde (fol. 94v), MGL addition. Detraccion ys a grevous vyce, a grete syn and a dampnable. Detraccion ys a grete cryme. Every good person reproveth a detractour or a bacbyter and dispyseth hym (fol. 94v), Detractio grave vitium est, detractio grave peccatum est, detractio gravis damnatio est, detractio grande crimen est. Omnes reprehen­ dunt detractorem, omnes vituperant detrahentem, PL 184, 1256B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 50, pp. 103–04. For the last sentence, see Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xli, 13, p. 153. Every good person reproveth a detractour or a bacbyter (fol. 94v), Omnes reprehendunt detractorem, PL 184, 1256C, MGL addition. The translator is more specific and here perhaps also hints again at the work’s title.

Commentary

331

Ther ys nothyng so foule and detestable as detraccion ys. Detractours berken lyke doggis (fol. 94v), Hoc summae turpitudinis est, hoc nihil foedius est. Detrahentes latrant quasi canes, PL 184, 1256C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 50–51, p. 104. and with their ungracious tethe rente and tere theyr clothes (fol. 95r), et dente mortifero lacerare transeuntes, PL 184, 1256C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more realistic translation as most dogs do not tear passers-by to pieces! so doeth detractours the lyfe of theyr neyȝbours (fol. 95r), MGL addition. The translator glosses the text in order to make sure his reader understands the metaphor. cutte away þerefor from your tong the vyce of detraccion (fol.  95r), ergo abscinde a lingua tua vitium detrahendi, PL  184, 1256C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 50, p. 103. nor tere it, nor rent it in pecys. Defyle not your mouth with anoþere persons lewdnes. Detracte not a synnere, but be sory for hym. Fere raþere in yourself that ye detracte in oþere (fol.  95r), vitam alienam non laceres, de alieno malo non inquines os tuum; non detrahas peccatori, sed condole. Quod in alio detrahis, in te potius pertimesce, PL 184, 1256C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 50, p. 103. Quanto studio reprehendis alienam vitam, tanto studio emenda temetip­ sam. Quando alteri detrahis, te discute; quando alium mordes, tua peccata re­dargue, PL 184, 1256D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘With the same diligence that you reprehend others, seeke to correct your selfe: when you backbite an other, examine your selfe. When you backbite an other, blame your owne sinnes’, p. 245. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 51, p. 104. And yf ye wyll detracte, detracte your own synnes [...] He ys in lyke wyse culpable þat detracteth and þat hereth a detractour (fol. 95r), Si vis detrahere, tuis peccatis detrahe […] similiter est culpabilis qui detrahit, et qui detrahentem, audit, PL 184, 1256D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 51–52, pp. 104–05. In this instance, see also Isidore of Seville, Synonyma de lamentatione animae peccatricis, PL 83, 857A–B, 51–52.

332

Commentary

Non intendas alienis vitiis, sed tuis propriis, PL 184, 1256D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Consider not other mens vices, but your owne manifold imperfections’, p. 245. Pari reatu detrahentes et audientes tenentur, PL 184, 1256D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Detractors, and such as willingly heare them, are both guiltie of the same sinne’, p. 246. ye shal be accoumpted among the wyse and prudent virgyns (fol. 95v), a further reference to the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matt. 25. 1–12.

Chapter 34: Envy (PL 184, 1257A: De invidia; Uppsala, UUB, MS C

240: De invidia; Paynell: Of enuye; Batt: Of enuie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Envy)

The xxxiiii exhortacion sheweth how perylous ys envye and that charyte ouȝt to be hadde agaynste hytte (fol. 95v), MGL addition. All envyous man or woman ys a member of ‘the devyl by whose envye deth was brouȝt into the worlde’ (fol. 95v), Homo invidus membrum est ‘diaboli, cujus invidia mors introivit in orbem terrarum’ (Sap. ii, 24), PL 184, 1257A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 25, 3, p. 262. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xv, 23, p. 72. Envye doeth burn, frete, and devour, with his pestiferous heete the frute of vertue and all goodness [...] Lette þerefor agaynst envye mete goodnes. Lette charite be ordeynd agaynst envye (fols 95v–96r), Invidia cuncta germina virtutum concremat, invidia cuncta bona pestifero ardore devorat […] Igitur contra invidiam occurrat bonitas: charitas praeparatur adversus invidiam, PL 184, 1257A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 37, pp. 91–92. Envye sonnere hurtyth hym that hath it than anoþere (fol. 95v), invidia prius se ipsam mordet quam alterum, PL 184, 1257A, i.e., ‘Enuie hurteth it selfe, before it hurteth an other’, Batt, p. 247. Envye sonnere hurtyth hym (fol. 95v), invidia prius se ipsam mordet, PL 184, 1257A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. invidia primum suum mordet auctorem, PL  184, 1257A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Enuie first of all gnaweth it[s] owne author’, p. 247.

Commentary

333

hit burnyth þe stomak (fol. 95v), pectus urit, PL 184, 1257A, MGL variant. The translator has replaced the perhaps unchaste word by a more neutral term, but he may also be more realistic, in that prolonged anxiety does provoke stomach pains. ys a pestilens to þe hart (fol. 95v), cor hominis quasi quaedam pestis pascit, PL 184, 1257A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. be not sory of þe goodnes of anoþere, nor vexe you[r]self for the profetyng or felicite of anoþere (fol. 96r), de bono alterius non doleas, de alterius profectu non tabescas, de alterius felicitate non crucieris, PL 184, 1257B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 37, p. 92. nor vexe you[r]self for the profetyng (fol. 96r), the missing letter ‘r’ is an obvious scribal mistake. Ther ys no vertue but hyt hath som envye contrarye to hit and agaynste hit. Only wrechednes and poverte ys withoute envye. Why? For no man ne woman hath envye at a wrecche or a myserable person (fol. 96r), Nulla virtus est quae non habeat contrarium invidiae malum. Sola miseria caret invidia. Quare? Quia nemo invidet misero, PL 184, 1257B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 25, 4, p. 262. hyt hath som envye contrarye to hit and agaynste hit (fol. 96r), quae non habeat contrarium invidiae malum, PL 184, 1257B, MGL addition. The use of ‘geminatio’ reinforces the message of the text. shuld envye no person in erth (fol. 96r), hominibus non debet invidere, PL 184, 1257B, MGL addition. The translator is not simply more explicit here: as the next sentence suggests, the reader’s focus should be the spiritual life. entre with Cryste into the celestyall maryage (fol. 96r), cum Christo ad nuptias […] intrare, PL 184, 1257B, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit. ye may serve hym withoute spotte of syn (fol. 96r), ei possis sine macula servire, PL 184, 1257B, MGL addition.

334

Commentary

Chapter 35: Wrath (PL  184, 1257B: De ira; Uppsala, UUB, MS C

240: De ira; Paynell: Of anger; Batt: Of anger; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Anger)

The xxxv exhortacion techyth to flye ire and wrath (fol. 96r), MGL addition. By wreth wyse persons lese theyr wysedom (fol. 96v), Julian of Norwich says: ‘wreth is not ell but a frowardness and a contrarioste to peace and to love, and eyther it commyth of faylyng of myte or of faylyng of wisdam, or of faylyng of goodness’. Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, chap. 48, p. 51. be ofte angry and hard to pacifye (fol. 96v), ad iram citius incitantur, et ad pacem tardius inclinantur, PL 184, 1257C, MGL variant. In this and the next two entries, the translator has replaced the quickness/slowness at which someone reacts with frequency and degree, which are the more serious faults. Such changes underline the translator’s care in ensuring that his version of the text best advises ‘good lyvyng’ to his reader. and lyȝtly pacifyed (fol. 96v), et ad pacem cito revertitur, PL 184, 1257C, MGL variant. ‘and seldom angry’ (fol. 96v), ‘et tardus ad iram’ PL 184, 1257C, MGL variant. ‘an angry person, in his synfull wreth, doeth nothyng acceptable to God’ (fol. 96v), ‘ira viri, Dei justitiam non operatur’ ( Jacob. i, 19, 20), PL 184, 1257D, MGL variant. The vernacular is much clearer. As in previous instances, the translator finds the concept of ‘justitia’ difficult to grasp for his readers. procul dubio nec ira virginis justitiam Dei operari poterit, PL 184, 1257D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and so consequently without all doubt neither can the anger of a virgin worke the iustice of God’, p. 250. to com to the hevenly chambre ther to be with Cryste (fol. 97r), cum Christo ad coelestem thalamum pervenire, PL 184, 1257D, MGL variant. Not surprisingly, the translator omits the sexual connotation of ‘thalamus’ (‘sleeping room’, ‘marriage bed’). yf ye be temptyd with wreth, refrayn and mytigate it, refreyn þe cours of ire; and yf ye cannot advoyd hit, mesur it (fol. 97r), si te praevenerit iracundia, restringe illam: si te praeoccupaverit ira, mitiga eam. Tempera furorem, tempera

Commentary

335

indignationem. Motum iracundiae restringe, refrena impetum irae. Si non potes vitare iram vel temperare, PL 184, 1257D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 30, p. 85. Tempera furorem, tempera indignationem. Motum iracundiae restringe, PL 184, 1257D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Temper your furie, temper your indignation. Restraine the motion of your anger’, p. 251. non te rapiat furor, PL 184, 1257D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘at least let not furie carrie you’, p. 251. that ys to saye, persevere not, and goo not to bedde in wreth (fol. 97r), MGL addition. The translator has added a gloss to the biblical quotation.

Chapter 36: Hatred (PL 184, 1258A: De odio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De odio; Paynell: Of hatred; Batt: Of hatred; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Hatred)

The xxxvi exhortacion sheweth the parell of hatred and the difference betwene wrath and hatred, and howe hit shulde be advoyded (fol.  97r), MGL addition. Hatred puttyth man or woman from the kyngdom of God, from paradyse, from heven. Hatred ys not by passion putte awey, ne by martirdom purged, ne by shedyng of blode wasched awey (fol. 97r), Odium separat hominem a regno Dei, odium separat hominem a paradiso, odium subtrahit hominem a coelo: odium nec per passionem deletur, nec per martyrium purgatur, nec per sanguinem effusum abluitur, PL 184, 1258A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 36, p. 91. We ouȝt not to hate man or woman but vyce and syn (fol. 97r), Non debemus odio habere homines, sed vitia, PL 184, 1258A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 27, 1, p. 264. ‘ys in derknes of syn’ (fol. 97r), ‘in tenebris est’, PL 184, 1258A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit.

336

Commentary

‘and so lyveth’ (fol. 97v), ‘et in tenebris ambulat’ (i Joan. [ii, 11]), PL 184, 1258A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. And yf ye have trobled your sustere in enythyng, make satisfaccion to hyr […] Slepe not tyl ye have made satisfaccion. Take not your reste afore ye be reconcyled (fol. 97v), Si contristaveris in aliquo sororem tuam, satisfac illi […] non dormias donec prius venias ad satisfactionem; non quiescas priusquam revertaris ad pacem, PL 184, 1258B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 35, p. 89. And yf ye have trobled your sustere (fol. 97v), Si contristaveris […] sororem tuam, PL 184, 1258B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. And ‘yf your enmy have a fall, be not therof gladde: ye shall not rejoyse of your enemyes hurte, les peraventur a lyke hurt fortune to you, and les God turnyth hys wreth of justice from hym to you’ (fol. 97v), ‘Si ceciderit inimicus tuus, noli gratulari: non laeteris super inimici interitu, ne forte superveniant in te similia; ne convertat Deus ab eo in te iram suam’ (Prov. xxiv, 17, 18), PL 184, 1258B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 39, p. 93. ‘ye shall not rejoyse of your enemyes hurte’ (fol. 97v), ‘non laeteris super inimici interitu’, PL 184, 1258B, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes the effect of adversity on one’s enemies rather than misfortune itself. ‘your enemyes hurte’ (fol. 97v), ‘inimici interitu’, PL 184, 1258B, i.e., ‘your enemy’s hurt’. ‘turnyth hys wreth of justice’ (fol. 97v), ‘convertat […] iram suam’, PL 184, 1258B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. Delyte to be sorye for hym þat ys trobled [...] Wayle with them that wayle, wepe with them þat wepe (fols 97v–98r), Delectet te dolere super eum qui afflictus est […] cum plangentibus plange, cum lugentibus luge, PL 184, 1258B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 40, p. 94. non sis dura, PL 184, 1258B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘be not obdurate’, p. 253.

Commentary

337

Doo not to such as offende you acordyng to theyr trespace. Remembre þat God shall juge you. ‘Forgeve, þat ye may be forgyven’. Ye shall have no pardon withoute ye doo forgyve (fol. 98r), Peccanti in te non retribuas secundum culpam suam, quia et in te venturum est judicium Dei. ‘Dimitte, ut dimittatur tibi’: non enim habebis indulgentiam, nisi dederis veniam, PL 184, 1258C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 36, p. 90. Doo not to such as offende you acordyng to theyr trespace (fol. 98r), Peccanti in te non retribuas secundum culpam suam, PL 184, 1258C, i.e., ‘Proceede not against him or her that hath offended you according to the fault committed’, Batt, p. 253. God graunte you the love of hym and of your neyȝbour (fol. 98r), the love of God and of neighbour has been examined earlier in Chapters 12 and 13, respectively, ‘De dilectione Dei’ and ‘De dilectione proximi’.

Chapter 37: Pride (PL 184, 1258C: De superbia; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De superbia; Paynell: Of pryde; Batt: Of pride; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Pride)

The xxxvii exhortacion sheweth the detestacion of pryde (fol. 98r), MGL addition. ‘I am meked unto þe erth’ (fol. 98r), ‘Humiliata est in pulvere anima mea’ (Matth. xxvi, 38), PL 184, 1258D, MGL variant. The vernacular has chosen a more straightforward rendering. ‘was obedient to the Fader of heven’ (fol.  98v), ‘factus est obediens Patri’, PL 184, 1258D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. by the which his commaundmentis be dispysed and not sette by? (fol. 98v), quo ejus praecepta contemnimus?, PL  184, 1258D, MGL addition. This is another example where ‘geminatio’ is used for added meaning. and good labours (fol. 98v), et labores, PL 184, 1258D, MGL addition. The translator is more explicit.

338

Commentary

shewe not furth the wyngis of pride (fol. 98v), alas superbiae non extendas, PL 184, 1258D, MGL variant. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 21, p. 77. pennas superbiae non erigas, PL  184, 1258D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 68v, MGL omission. Batt freely translates: ‘beware of being high minded’, p. 255. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 21, p. 77. pryde deposed prowde aungellis (fol. 98v), superbia Angelos deposuit, PL 184, 1259A, MGL addition. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 22, p. 78. potentes stravit, PL 184, 1259A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘depressed the potent’, p. 255. and caste them oute of heven (fol. 98v), superbos dejecit, PL 184, 1259A, MGL variant. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 22, p. 78. þe company of good aungelles (fol. 98v), societate Angelorum, PL 184, 1259A, MGL addition. As in the above example where ‘labores’ is translated by ‘good labours’ (fol. 98v, PL 184, 1258D), the translator here also tightens his text and eliminates any misunderstanding. I pray you to joye more of the company of poore virgyns than of the noblenes of your ryche frendis (fol. 98v), Rogo te […] ut magis exsultes de societate pauperum virginum, quam de tuorum nobilitate parentum divitum, PL 184, 1259A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 888B. than of the noblenes of your ryche frendis (fol. 98v), quam de tuorum nobilitate parentum divitum, PL 184, 1259A, MGL variant. The same variant has already been noted above. See fol. 22v. For ‘God accepteth no person afor anoþere’ (fol.  99r), Quia ‘non est personarum acceptio apud Deum’, PL 184, 1259A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 888B. ‘Qui contemnit pauperem, exprobrat factori ejus’ (Prov. xiv, 31), PL 184, 1259A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He that contemneth the poore, doth vpbraid his Creator’, p. 256.

Commentary

339

Chapter 38: Boasting (PL 184, 1259A: De jactantia; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De iactancia; Paynell: Of vayne glorye; Batt: Of boasting; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Boasting)

The xxxviii exhortacion techyth to flye all bostyng and vaynglorye and how vertues may be increased (fol. 99r), MGL addition. As well in our dedis as in our wordis we ouȝt to advoyd bostyng and vaynglorye (fol. 99r), Tam in factis quam in dictis cavere debemus jactantiam, PL 184, 1259A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 23, 1, p. 256. we ouȝt to advoyd bostyng (fol.  99r), cavere debemus jactantiam, PL  184, 1259A–B, MGL variant. The vernacular is more specific in its advice. loke aboute yourself and boste yourself of nothyng that ye have but of your synnes (fol. 99r), circumspice te ipsam, et nihil tibi arroges ex his quae in te sunt, praeter peccata, PL 184, 1259B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 23, 2b, p. 256. and boste yourself of nothyng that ye have (fol. 99r), et nihil tibi arroges ex his quae in te sunt, PL 184, 1259B, MGL variant. The vernacular not only has the more common verb, it also more immediately refers to this chapter’s theme: ‘boasting’. Flye bostyng, flye the appetite of veynglorie […] Take noo vaynglorye of your good dede. Referre noo good thyng to yourself (fol. 99r), Cave jactantiam, fuge appetitum vanae gloriae […] nihil boni tibi tribuas, de bono opere non glorieris, PL 184, 1259B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 21, pp. 77–78. cave inanis gloriae studium, PL  184, 1259B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 69r, MGL omission. Batt freely translates: ‘seeke not to be great in the mouthes of men’, p. 257. Be not overblowen with the wynde of favour. Dispyce the lawde of men [...] He þat lokyth after no lawde or praysyng knowyth not wrong nor injury (fol. 99r), non sis inflata vento favoris. Contemne laudem hominum […] Qui laudem non appetit, nec contumeliam sentit, PL 184, 1259B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 42, pp. 95–96.

340

Commentary

The virgyns þat be praysed of hyr good dedys before peple have noon oyle in theyr vessels (fol. 99r–v), for the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, see Matt. 25. 1–12. This is yet another reference to this parable. The vertues of holy persons by the stodye of vayneglorye be subjecte to the power of the devyll [...] and þerefor he hard by the prophete þat he shuld lese them (fol.  99v), Virtutes sanctorum per inanis gloriae studium dominio subjiciuntur daemonum […] propterea per prophetam eas perituras audivit (iv Reg. xx), PL 184, 1259C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 23, 9, p. 257. As an egle commyth down from a-hygh to hir praye […] by the appetyte of vaynglorye ys throwen down byneth (fols 99v–100r), Sicut ex alto aquila ad escam descendit […] per vanae gloriae appetitum ad inferiora demergitur, PL 184, 1259C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 23, 18, p. 259. put not your secrete conscience (fol.  100r), non ponas conscientiam tuam, PL 184, 1259C, MGL addition. The vernacular is here more precise. Know yourself by your own jugement and not by anoþere person. Ther can no man knowe better who ye be than ye þat knoweth yourself (fol. 100r), tuo tamen judicio te decerne, non alieno. Nemo magis scire potest quae sis, sicut tu quae conscia tui es, PL 184, 1259D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 42, p. 96. — Frater dilecte, volo; atque ut mihi ostendas rogo. — Ausculta ergo, soror venerabilis, PL 184, 1259D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The answere. Yes, deare brother, verie willingly, and I entreat you to tell me. Hearken, therefore, venerable sister’, p. 260. And ye wolde increase your vertues (fol. 100r), si vis omnes virtutes tuas augere et non perdere, PL 184, 1259D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you will augment all your vertues, and not loose them’, p. 260. shew them not oute (fol. 100r), absconde virtutes tuas pro elatione, PL 184, 1259D, MGL variant and omission. Batt translates: ‘hide your vertues for feare of pride and elation’, p. 260. The translator creates a contrast with the phrase: ‘shewe your synnes and vyces’, a few lines down, and thus increases the didactic value of his text.

Commentary

341

Covette not to be seen (fol. 100r), Fuge videri, PL 184, 1259D, MGL variant. The translator shows his skills at advising the reader. His choice of verb aims at preventing the occasion of this sin altogether, whereas the Latin appears to tell the reader what is the appropriate behaviour to adopt once the sin has been recognized. absconde tua bona opera, PL 184, 1259D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Keepe close your good workes’, p. 260. Peccatum manifestando decrescit, tacendo crescit, PL  184, 1260A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Sinne, by discouering it, doth decrease; and encreaseth, if it be kept close’, p. 260. Virtutes jactanter manifestando annihilantur, humiliter occultando multi­ plicantur, PL 184, 1260A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Vertues, are annihilated by vainegloriously reuealing them, they are multiplied by humbly hiding them’, p. 261. and ascribe all goodnes (fol. 100v), Omnia […] adscribe, PL 184, 1260A, MGL addition. the vernacular is more explicit. ascribe all goodnes to the grace and gyfte of God (fol. 100v), Omnia divinae gratiae, divino dono ascribe, PL 184, 1260A. The same idea is already developed in Chapter 3, ‘De gratia Dei’. here thapostyllis sayeng (fol. 100v), audi Apostolum dicentem, PL 184, 1260A, i.e., ‘here the sayeng of the apostle’. ‘lette hym be praysed in God and for God’ (fol. 100v), ‘in Domino glorietur’ (i Cor. i, 31), PL 184, 1260A, MGL addition. The Middle English extends the range of the biblical quotation.

342

Commentary

Chapter 39: Humility (PL  184, 1260A: De humilitate; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De humilitate; Paynell: Of humilyte; Batt: Of humilitie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Humility)

The xxxix exhortacion sheweth the profytte þat cummyth of humylyte and mekenes and howe hyt ought to be hadde (fol. 100v), MGL addition. ‘meke yourself to the myȝty power of God’ (fol. 100v), ‘humilia temetipsam sub potenti manu Dei’, PL 184, 1260B, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the variant reading interprets rather than translates the biblical verse. ‘in the tyme of the laste ferefull jugemente’ (fol. 100v), ‘in tempore tribulationis’ (i Pet. v, 6), PL 184, 1260B, MGL variant. The hart of a virgyn shuld evere be meke and sorye þat by mekenes hit be not prowde and by hevynes hit be not dissolute or wanton (fols 100v–101r), Conscientia virginis semper debet esse humilis et tristis: scilicet ut per humilitatem non superbiat; et per inutilem tristitiam cor ad lasciviam non dissolvat, PL 184, 1260B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 19, 3b, p. 250. Mekenes ys the noblest vertue of a virgyn and hyr pride the grettyst vyce and syn (fol. 101r), Humilitas est summa virtus virginis. Summum enim convicium est superbia, PL 184, 1260B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 19, 1, p. 249. be ye grounded in mekenes and lowest of all your companye (fol. 101r), esto humilis, esto in humilitate fundata, esto novissima omnium, PL 184, 1260C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 20, p. 77. be ye grounded in mekenes (fol. 101r), esto in humilitate fundata, PL 184, 1260C. ‘Grounded’ translates Latin ‘fundata’; this term is derived from St Augustine. See Baker, ‘The Structure of the Soul and the “Godly Wylle”’, pp. 37–49. Preferre not yourself before oþere, thenk not yourself a senyour to oþere [...] The meker ye be, the more ye shal be commendyd (fol. 101r), nulli te praeponas, nulli te superiorem deputes […] quanto enim humilior fueris, tanto te major sequetur gloriae altitudo, PL 184, 1260C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 20, p. 77.

Commentary

343

thenk not yourself a senyour to oþere (fol. 101r), nulli te superiorem deputes, PL  184, 1260C, MGL variant. Unusually, here the vernacular restricts the meaning of the original by focussing only on superiority of rank. but thynke all to be your betters and elders (fol. 101r), aestima omnes superiores te esse, PL 184, 1260C, MGL variant. Another instance where ‘geminatio’ adds sense, here by referring to superiority of rank as well as to seniority of age. ‘The more elder þat ye be’ (fol. 101r), ‘quanto major es’, PL 184, 1260C, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘And yf ye kepe humylyte, ye shall have glorye and lawde’. The meker ye be, the more ye shal be commendyd (fol. 101r), ‘Si humilitatem tenueris, habebis gloriam’ (Prov. xi, 16 et xv, 35): quanto enim humilior fueris, tanto te major sequetur gloriae altitudo, PL 184, 1260C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma de lamentatione animae peccatricis, PL 83, 864C–D, 87. Note that this sentence is omitted in CCSL 111B, ii, 87, p. 134. the more ye shal be commendyd (fol. 101r), tanto te major sequetur gloriae altitudo, PL 184, 1260C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. Descende þat ye may ascende [...] Meknes cannot fall (fol. 101r–v), Descende ut ascendas […] Humilitas casum nescit, humilitas ruinam nunquam incurrit, humilitas lapsum nunquam passa est, PL  184, 1260C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 21–22, p. 78. humiliare ut exalteris, ne exaltata humilieris, PL 184, 1260C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘be humbled, that you may be exalted, least being exalted you be humbled’, p. 264. Qui enim extollitur, humiliabitur, PL  184, 1260D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For he that is extolled, shall be humbled’, p. 264. de alto major ruina est, PL 184, 1260D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 70v, MGL omission. Batt freely translates: ‘the higher we clime vp; the greater is our fall, if our foote slip’, p. 264. humilitas ruinam nunquam incurrit, humilitas lapsum nunquam passa est, PL 184, 1260D, MGL omission. Humilitas casum non novit, humilitas nun-

344

Commentary

quam ruinam incurrit, humilitas lapsum nunquam passa est, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 70v, PL omission. Batt translates: ‘Humilitie neuer suffered any such mischance: humilities foote did neuer slip, humilitie neuer tooke any hurt’, p. 264. The first clause in Batt’s translation corresponds to ‘humilitas casum non nouit’ in Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240. remembure þat God ‘came to us humble and meke, takyng upon hym the garmente of a servante and beeng obedient unto deth’ (101v), agnosce quia ‘Deus humilis venit’, agnosce quia se ‘in forma servi humiliavit, factus obediens usque ad mortem’ (Philip. ii, 6–8), PL 184, 1260D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 22, pp. 78–79. lyve ye as he lyved. Folowe ye his exaumples […] The lesse ye sette by yourself, the more acceptable ye shal be to God (fol. 101v), ambula sicut ille ambulavit: sequere exemplum ejus […] Tanto eris ante oculos pretiosior, quanto fueris ante oculos tuos despectior, PL 184, 1260D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 22–23, p. 79. lyve ye as he lyved (fol. 101v), ambula sicut ille ambulavit, PL 184, 1260D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. ye shall joye with prudent virgyns in heven (fol. 101v), another reference to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, see Matt. 25. 1–12.

Chapter 40: Patience (PL 184, 1261A: De patientia; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De pasciencia; Paynell: Of pacyence; Batt: Of patience; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Patience) The xl exhortacion steryth to pacience by the which a man or woman may be a martyr (fol. 101v), MGL addition. A peasable virgyn or mayden ys wyse, an angry mayden ys not prudent but a foole (fol. 102r), another reference to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. A peasable person shall com to the company of angellys, an envyous or an angrye person shall be a companyon of develles (fol. 102r), Non pacificus con-

Commentary

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sortium non merebitur Angelorum: invidus et iracundus erit particeps daemoniorum, PL 184, 1261A, MGL variant. This is a good example of the translator’s stylistic sensibility. By turning the first clause into a positive statement, he greatly enhances the syntactical parallelism of both clauses, and thus makes the contrast the reader faces much starker. an impacient man or woman causeth stryfe (fol. 102r), imo iracundus suscitat lites, PL 184, 1261A, MGL variant. The choice of ‘impacient’ here creates the kind of contrast and parallelism that the translator favours (see the preceding clause, ‘a pacient man or woman fleeth discorde and debate’) and at the same time reinforces the chapter’s theme: patience. Cryste ys verey trewe peace (fol. 102r), Christus pax est, PL 184, 1261B, MGL addition. The added words highlight the statement. Be ye paciente, mylde, softe, colde, and gentyll (fol.  102r), Esto patiens, esto mitis, esto suavis, modesta, mansueta, PL 184, 1261B, Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 31, p. 86. Love peace and kepe peace wyth every person. Wyne by paciens and love everybodye. Shewe yourself rather to love than to be lovyd (fol.  102r–v), Ama pacem, dilige pacem, pacem cum omnibus retine. Omnes in mansuetudine et charitate amplectere; proba te amplius amare quam ipsa ameris, PL 184, 1261B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 38, p. 92. Love peace and kepe peace wyth every person (fol. 102r–v), Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 reads ‘bodye’ in the text but has the correction ‘person’ written above the line. The correction has been inserted in the text, as ‘everybodye’ appears in the next line. It is likely that the translator wished to avoid such close repetitions of the same word. Wyne by paciens and love everybodye (fol. 102v), Omnes in mansuetudine et charitate amplectere, PL  184, 1261B, MGL variant. The translator again focusses on this chapter’s theme: patience. proba te amplius diligere, quam diligaris, PL 184, 1261B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘shew, I say, by the sweet affection of your heart, that you are more affectionate, then affectioned’, pp. 267–68.

346

Commentary

Be ye not dissolute in love. Have evere pacyence of mynde. Be kynde, redy in affeccion, and curteys in speche. Flye the occasion of stryfe. Lyve alwey in peace (fol. 102v), Non sis levis in amicitia, retine semper vinculum amicitiae. Habeto semper patientiam mentis. Esto benigna, esto prompta affectu, esto affabilis in sermone, grato animo appare ad omnes. Tolle occasionem litis, sperne litem, vive semper in pace, PL 184, 1261B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 38–39, pp. 92–93. retine semper vinculum amicitiae, PL 184, 1261B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 71r, MGL omission. Batt freely translates: ‘Be constant and firme towards your friend’, p. 268. grato animo appare ad omnes, PL 184, 1261B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Behaue your selfe pleasant towards all men’, p. 268. Overcome by pacyence the rebukes of detractours and evyll sayers. Take the boclar of pacyens ayenste the swerde of the tong (fol. 102v), contumelias detrahentium per patientiam supera, clypeo patientiae frange sagittas contumeliae, praebe scutum conscientiae contra gladium linguae, PL 184, 1261C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 31, p. 86. clypeo patientiae frange sagittas contumeliae, PL 184, 1261C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Breake the darts of their contumelious speeches vpon the shield of your patience’, p. 268. Take the boclar of pacyens (fol. 102v), Praebe scutum conscientiae, PL 184, 1261C, MGL variant. Again the translator focusses on the theme examined in the present chapter: patience. Ye ar gretly to be commendyd (fol. 102v), magnae es gloriae, PL 184, 1261C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. The same variant already occurs in the previous chapter, see fol. 101r. Given the translator’s avoidance of ‘sanctus’ when referring to the reader, it is not suprising that he may deeem ‘glory’ unsuited to her. yf ye forgyve hym whom ye myȝte hurte (fol. 102v), si ei de quo te potuisti ulcisci, parcas, PL 184, 1261C, MGL variant. The translator avoids the reference to vengeance and thus extends the statement to any harm the reader could cause others, whether or not she has been provoked.

Commentary

347

Chapter 41: Concord (PL 184, 1261C: De concordia; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De concordia; Paynell: Of concorde; Batt: Of concord; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Concord)

The xli exhortacion sheweth þe discommodites þat commyth [b]y discorde, and howe þe devyl feryth nothyng more in a company than concorde and charite (fol. 102v), MGL addition. þat commyth [b]y discorde (fol. 102v), the scribe must have been confused by the next word ‘discorde’ and wrote ‘dy’, instead of ‘by’. ‘Ther be vi thyngis þat God loveth not and the viith he hath in detestacion’ (fols 102v–103r), ‘Sex sunt quae odit anima mea, dicit Dominus, et septimum quod detestatur’, PL 184, 1261C, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of words makes the contrast between the first six things and the seventh much starker and thereby increases the didactic value of his text. For a list of the first six things, see Prov. 6. 17–19. ‘man or woman þat maketh discorde’ (fol. 103r), ‘eum qui seminat discordias’, PL 184, 1261C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb.The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. A concorde of evyl and lewde persons ys a discorde of good persons [...] þat the concorde of evyl and lewde company may be broken (fol.  103r), Concordia malorum […] ut concordia malorum rumpatur, PL  184, 1261D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 31, 1, p. 269. A concorde of evyl and lewde persons (fol.  103r), Concordia malorum, PL 184, 1261D, MGL addition. Here the ‘geminatio’ specifies one kind of evil persons. The same addition reoccurs in the text, but is not recorded below. a discorde of good persons (fol.  103r), contrarietas est bonorum, PL  184, 1261D, MGL variant. This entrance and the next are both examples of the translator’s sensitivity and skills at rendering the original. Here he not only emphasizes the contrast between good and evil but also makes the text clearer for the reader and highlights the theme of the present chapter: concord. Note that in this occasion, he could have kept the paronomasia (‘concordia maiorum, contrarietas est bonorum’), as Batt did, ‘the concord of the wicked is the contrarietie of the good’, p. 270, my emphasis.

348

Commentary

As we shuld wysche and desyre þe peace and unite of good persons, so we ouȝt to desyr and wysche þat the concorde of evyl and lewde company may be broken (fol. 103r), sicut optamus ut boni pacem habeant, ita optare debemus ut concordia malorum rumpatur, PL 184, 1261D, MGL, additions. In this sentence, the translator adds weight to his statement by his repeated use of ‘geminatio’ and the added chiasmus (‘wysche and desyre’ and ‘desyr and wysche’). By so doing he slows down the pace of the text and thus makes his reader take in the sense more carefully. Concorde to doo syn ys nouȝt […] that in the service of God we all shuld have oon spirite or mynde and wyll (fol. 103r), Concordia ad faciendum peccatum, mala est […] ut in servitio Dei omnes unum spiritum et unum animum habeamus, PL 184, 1261D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 882A. Omnibus habitantibus in domo Dei debet esse anima una et cor unum in Deo, PL 184, 1261D–62A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘All that dwell in the house of God, ought to haue one soule, and one heart’, p. 270. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 882A. Hit advayleth not if oon hous or place conteyneth us and dyverse wyllys divyde us [...] as thapostle Paule sayth: ‘And they þat doth them or suche oþere shall not com to heven’ (fol. 103r–v), Nihil prodest si nos contineat una domus, et separet voluntas diversa […] sicut ait Apostolus, ‘Qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non consequentur’ (Galat. v, 21), PL 184, 1262A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 882A–C. the propyr dedys of the sensual body (fol. 103v), opera carnis, PL 184, 1262A, MGL variant. This is another instance of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. ‘And they þat doth them or suche oþere’ (fol. 103v), ‘Qui talia agunt’, PL 184, 1262A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. our fastyng, our prayers, our sacrifice plesyth not so mych God [...] ‘and then come and offre thyn oblacion, or offeryng, that þou woldest offre to me’ (fol. 103v), Deo non tantum placent nostra jejunia, nostrae orationes, nostra sacrificia […] ‘et tunc veniens offeres munus tuum’, PL 184, 1262B. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 883B–C.

Commentary

349

‘that þou woldest offre to me’ (fol. 103v), MGL addition. The Middle English adds a gloss to the last phrase of the biblical quotation. this vertue concorde and unyte ys grete before God […] we take a batell agaynste the devyll (fols 103v–104r), magna est virtus concordiae apud Deum […] luctamen contra diabolum sumimus, PL 184, 1262B. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 883C. telle me, I praye you (fol. 104r), dic mihi, PL 184, 1262B, MGL addition. This is a rare instance, where one can hear the translator’s own voice. ther ys nothyng þat the devyl fereth so myche as concorde and charite [...] He then overecom and confounded ys verey hevy when he cannot devyde and goo þurgh them by discorde (fol. 104r–v), nihil est quod diabolus tantum timeat quantum concordiam et charitatem […] Ipse victus et confusus vehementer dolet, cum eos per discordiam dividere et penetrare non valet, PL 184, 1262B–C. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 883C–D. Crystis mylitant Chyrch ys called fereful (fol. 104r), sancta Ecclesia terribilis esse […] dicitur, PL 184, 1262C, MGL variant. The translator is here more precise in his choice of words. Note that he has used this variant earlier in the text. See fols 13v, 90v. ‘as the wyngis or wardis of a batell welle ordred’ (fol. 104r), i.e., ‘as the armie of a campe set in array’, Batt, p. 273. the wardes in their contrarye parte strong and well ordred (fol. 104r), acies castrorum bene ordinatas, PL  184, 1262C, MGL addition. The vernacular makes the text clearer and more explicit. she troble not oþere of hyr company and hurte them (fol. 104v), ne […] ancillas Dei conturbet vel scandalizet, PL 184, 1262D, MGL variants. The Middle English has the more common expressions. The same variant for ‘ancillas Dei’ occurs again in this chapter but is not recorded below. she maye goodly agre with them (fol. 104v), secundum Deum concordare possit cum illis, PL 184 1262D. It is not clear what the Middle English ‘goodly’ here signifies as it both means ‘properly, rightly, graciously’ and ‘divinely’. Batt translates: ‘shee may be able religiously to agree’, p. 274. It is entirely possible that the ambiguity is deliberate and that the MGL is playing on words.

350

Commentary

Chapter 42: Suffer adversity (PL  184, 1263A: De tolerantia;

Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De tollerancia; Paynell: Of sufferaunce; Batt: Of sufferance or forbearance; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Endurance) The xlii exhortacion moveth to suffyr pacyently adversyte or wrong by the exaumple of Cryste (fol. 105r), MGL addition. lerne ye the sufferaunce of Cryste. Remembre Cryste and ye shal not be hevy of your injuryes […] by your vertue overecome the syn of other. By your sufferaunce and quyetnes distroye the rebukys of other (fol. 105r–v), disce a Christo modestiam, disce tolerantiam, Christum attende, et non dolebis de injuriis […] Tuo bono supera mala aliorum. Tua tranquilla mente aliorum contumelias disperde, PL 184, 1263A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 33–34, pp. 87–89. lerne ye the sufferaunce of Cryste (fol. 105r), disce a Christo modestiam, disce tolerantiam, PL 184, 1263A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘learne modestie of Christ, learne long sufferance or forbearance’, p. 275. scourged, mocked and scorned, nayled (fol.  105 r), flagellis caesus, sputis derisus, clavis confixus, PL 184, 1263A, MGL omissions. Batt translates: ‘scourged with whippes, besmeared with spittle, fastned with nayles’, p. 275. Note that the Middle English is much less graphic in its description of the Passion. A similar reduction of the more violent elements of the text occurs in the Middle English translation of De doctrina cordis. See ‘The Doctrine of the Hert’, ed. by Candon, pp. lxii–lxiii. condempned to deth of the crosse (fol. 105r), cruce damnatus, PL 184, 1263A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. quando aliquis maledicit tibi, tu benedic ei, PL 184, 1263A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘When any one doth curse you, blesse him, and speake him faire’, p. 276. Maledicenti tibi benedictionem appone, PL 184, 1263A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For curses adde blessings’, p. 276. by pacience pacifye ye the angry person (fol.  105r), irascentem patientia declini, PL 184, 1263B. Patience and wrath have been the subject of earlier chapters. See, respectively, Chapters 40 and 35.

Commentary

351

by feyr meanys breke the wreth (fol. 105r), blandimento iracundiam […] dissolve, PL 184, 1263B, MGL variant. The translator extends the meaning of his text by not being specific. In this instance he might also have objected to ‘blandimentum’ (‘flattery’) which, as one of the sins of the tongue, could confuse his reader. lenitate vince nequitiam, PL  184, 1263B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘vanquish his wickednes by your meeknes’, p. 276. by your vertue overecome the syn of other (fol. 105v), Tuo bono supera mala aliorum, PL 184, 1263B, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. by your sufferaunce and quyetnes (fol. 105v), Tua tranquilla mente, PL 184, 1263B, MGL addition. The ‘geminatio’ not only adds meaning but also reminds the reader of this chapter’s theme: sufferance. dispose your hart both to good and evyll, and as they come so bere them. Suffer adversyte and prosperyte howsomevere they happyn to you (fol. 105v), ad bona et ad mala praepara cor tuum; et bona et malo prout tibi evenerint, porta. Sustine adversa et prospera, ut quaecumque occurrerint tibi, quaecumque evenerint tibi, mente placida sustineas, PL 184, 1263B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 29, p. 85. quaecumque evenerint tibi, mente placida sustineas, PL 184, 1263B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘or occurre vnto you, you may sustaine it with a quiet mind’, p. 277. In dissymulyng sette not by the errours of bacbyters (fol. 105v), Dissimulando contemne errores detrahentium, PL 184, 1263B, i.e., ‘Take no notice of the e­ rrours of detractors’, Batt, p. 277. although eny person dyspyse youe […] but holde your tong. In so doyng ye shall sonner have the vyctorie (fol. 105v), quamvis te quisque irritet […] tene silentii pacem: tacendo citius vinces, PL 184, 1263B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 32, p. 87. Hit ouȝte to be borne pacyently of oon þat happeneth to many (fol. 106r), patienter ab uno sustinendum est, quod multis accidit, PL 184, 1263C, i.e., ‘one should suffer patiently what happens to many’.

352

Commentary

We cannot suffre ynough for the glorye of heven (fol. 106r), Non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam (Rom. viii, 18), PL 184, 1263D, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘The passions of this time are not condigne to the glorie to come, which shall be reuealed in vs’, p. 279. The Middle English has the simpler and more common expression. it ys impossible for you to be a woman (fol. 106r), impossibile est ut sis femina, PL 184, 1263D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 74r. It is interesting that the text here (Latin and Middle English) chooses to be gender specific, when in most similar cases it is not. This not only sheds light on the author’s understanding of women’s condition in the Middle Ages but also indicates that the text was first intended for a feminine audience. For a medieval understanding of women’s condition, see Hali Meiðhad, ed. by Millett. and not to have troble or sorowe (fol. 106r), et non gustes angustias, PL 184, 1263D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. as soon as he is oute of his moders bely (fol. 106v), quando egreditur de vulva, PL 184, 1263D, MGL variant. The translator has avoided the all-too-suggestive word. flentes projiciuntur in hanc miseram vitam, PL 184, 1263D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘We are cast weeping into this miserable life’, p. 279. so mych more stedfast we be forevere (fol. 106v), tanto in perpetuo solidamur, PL 184, 1263D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common adverb. we shal be founde clene purged in the laste jugement (fol. 106v), purgati in judicio inveniemur, PL 184, 1264A, MGL additions. The translator often reinforces the message of the text with the additions of adjectives and adverbs.

Commentary

353

Chapter 43: Sickness (PL  184, 1264A: De infirmitate; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De infirmitate corporali; Paynell: Of sickenes; Batt: Of sicknes; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Infirmity)

The xliii exhortacion shewith how thre manere of wayes God doeth ponysch in this worlde, and þat seknes of þe bodye ys profetable to the servantis of God pacyently suffred, whom God lesse sparyth in this worlde than he doeth grete and obstynate synners (fol. 106v), MGL addition. Thre maner of wayes God ponyscheth man or woman in this worlde [...] Job was scourged for þe profe of his pacience (fols 106v–107r), Tribus modis Deus in hac vita castigat hominess […] flagellatus est etiam Job ad probationem ( Job v), PL 184, 1264A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 2, 3, p. 197. obstinate synners of hym [are] reproved (fol. 107r), percutit reprobos, PL 184, 1264A, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 74v, MGL variant. In MGL the translator chose to use the passive rather than the active voice. The omission of the conjugated verb ‘are’ is obviously a scribal mistake. his own servantis (fol. 107r), electos, PL 184, 1264A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common word. hys just and perfitte servantis (fol. 107r), justos, PL 184, 1264A, MGL addition. Whereas the Latin differentiates the three categories of people punished by God by the three adjectives ‘reprobos’, ‘electos’ and ‘justos’, the translator adds a further contrast by referrring to the first group as ‘obstinate synners’ and by associating the two others by the repetition of ‘servantis’. He then adds the adjective ‘perfitte’ to distinguish between the ‘electos’ and ‘justos’. God ponysched Egipte (fol. 107r), Deus percussit Aegyptum, PL 184, 1264A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. pore Lazar was vysytt with seknes (fol. 107r), flagellatus est pauper Lazarus, PL 184, 1264A, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. For the meaning of ‘vysytt’, see Glossary. Job was scourged for þe profe of his pacience (fol.  107r), flagellatus est etiam Job ad probationem, PL 184, 1264A, MGL addition. The translator thus reminds his reader of the theme of Chapter 40, ‘De patientia’.

354

Commentary

Also oþerewhyle God ponyscheth man or woman afore theyr syn [...] þat the soule myȝt be saved (fol. 107r), Flagellat etiam hominem ante peccatum […] ut spiritus ejus salvus esset (i Cor. v), PL 184, 1264A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 2, 4, p. 197. les þat they be neglygent (fol. 107r), ne malus fiat, PL 184, 1264A, MGL variant. The Middle English focuses on lesser faults. Suche as be strong and hool it ys profetable for them to be seke […] they rejoyse more in transitory and worldly thyngys than they ouȝt to doo (fol. 107r–v), Qui valentiores sunt et sani, utile est eis infirmari […] plus laetentur in transitoriis et terrenis rebus quam debent, PL 184, 1264B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 3, 5, p. 201. by the strength of bodely helth (fol. 107v), per vigorem salutis, PL 184, 1264B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Evyl ys the helth of þe bodye þat causeth the seknes of the soule [...] ‘when I am seke, then am I more strong’ in soule (fol. 107v), Mala est sanitas carnis, quae hominem deducit ad infirmitatem animae […] ‘Cum enim infirmor, tunc fortior sum’ (ii Cor. xii, 10), PL 184, 1264B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 3, 7–8, p. 202. Man or woman shuld not gruge in the visitacion of God [...] yf þat we call to our remembraunce the syn[nes] and offences þat we have don (fol. 107v), In flagellis Dei non debet murmurare homo […] si ad memoriam reduxerimus mala quae fecimus, PL 184, 1264B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 4, 1, p. 202. Man or woman shuld not gruge in the visitacion of God (fol. 107v), In flagellis Dei non debet murmurare homo, PL 184, 1264B, MGL variant. The translator has preferred the more straightforward expression. He had already replaced ‘flagellatus est’ by ‘was vysytt’, above. See fol. 107r. the syn[nes] and offences þat we have don (fol. 107v), mala quae fecimus, PL 184, 1264B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 75r. The use of the ‘geminatio’, ‘synnes and offences’, indicates that ‘synnes’ should also be plural. murmur and gruge agaynst God (fol.  107v), murmurare, PL  184, 1264C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit.

Commentary

355

For he shal be juged of hym whos jugementis be evere juste and ryȝtwous. He þat ys seke and grugeth agaynst God, he accuseth the justice of þe juge (fol. 107v), Quia ab illo judicatur, cujus judicia semper sunt justa. Qui infirmitatem patitur, et contra Deum murmurat, justitiam judicantis accusat, PL 184, 1264C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 4, 2a-b, pp. 202–03. ‘et quasi pater in filio complacet sibi’ [Prov. iii, 12], PL 184, 1264C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and as a father in the sonne, pleaseth himselfe’, p. 283. In thys lyfe God sparyth synners […] In the lyfe to com he shall spare his electe servantis and not obstynate synners (fol. 108r), In hac vita Deus parcit peccatoribus […] In futura vita parcet justis, et non parcet peccatoribus, PL 184, 1264C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii. 1, 6, p. 195. he shall spare his electe servantis (fol. 108r), parcet justis, PL 184, 1264C, MGL variant. The translator often avoids ‘justus’ in the same way that he does ‘sanctus’. and not obstynate synners (fol. 108r), et non […] peccatoribus, PL 184, 1264C, MGL addition. The Middle English not only reinforces the message of the text, it also introduces grammatical parallelism with the previous phrase (‘his electe servantis’) in that both nouns are preceded by an adjective. shall suffer payn in hell (fol. 108r), in inferno torquebitur, PL 184, 1264C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. Ther ys no person withoute seknes (fol. 108r), nemo est qui […] non doleat, PL 184, 1264C, MGL variant. By his choice of words the translator reminds his reader of this chapter’s theme: sickness. desidera plus valere mente quam carne, PL 184, 1264D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Desire rather to be sound in affection then in the flesh’, p. 283. Disease consumyth syn (fol.  108r), languor enim vitia excoquit, PL  184, 1264D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more straightforward expression. and not to be loste (fol. 108r), non frangaris, PL 184, 1264D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression.

356

Commentary

be tryed in seknes (fol. 108v), tribulationis camino purgaris, PL 184, 1264D, MGL variant. The translator has chosen to remind his reader again of this chapter’s theme. þat ye maye apere mor bryȝt (fol. 108v), ut purior appareas, PL 184, 1264D, MGL variant. The Middle English here continues the metaphor of the gold ‘tryed in the furnace’, which occurs a few lines earlier in the text. See fol. 108r. persecutionis igne conflaris, PL 184, 1264D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and refined in the fire of persecution’, p. 284. gruge not nor blasfeme and say not: why doo I suffer this disese? Why am I thus trobled? Why am I seke? (fol. 108v), non murmures, non blasphemes, non dicas, Quare sustineo mala? non dicas, Cur affligo? utquid mala patior?, PL 184, 1264D–65A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 29, p. 24. Why am I seke? (fol. 108v), utquid mala patior, PL 184, 1265A, MGL variant. The translator encreases the didactic value of his text, by using the same formula: ‘Why am I thus trobled? Why am I seke?’ I have synned, as I was worthy I have not receyved. I fele myself les ponysched than I have deserved. I have not so many paynes as I have synnes (fol. 108v), Peccavi: ut eram digna non recepi: aequalem vindictam peccati mei non sentio, minus me sentio percussam quam mereor; juxta modum meriti minor est tribulatio ultionis; secundum meritum peccatorum meorum dispar est causa poenarum: non sunt tanta supplicia, quanta exstiterunt peccata, PL 184, 1265A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 29, p. 24. aequalem vindictam peccati mei non sentio, PL 184, 1265A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The punishment which I sustaine, is not equal to my sinne’, p. 285. I fele myself les ponysched (fol. 108v), minus me sentio percussam, PL 184, 1265A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. juxta modum meriti minor est tribulatio ultionis; secundum meritum pec­ catorum meorum dispar est causa poenarum, PL 184, 1265A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The measure of my paines are vnequal to the merit of my sinnes. My punishment is farre short of what I haue deserued’, p. 285.

Commentary

357

wyll ye be purged of all your synnes? Accuse yourself in payn [...] And he þat in sparyng you did caste you from hym, in strykyng he cryeth þat ye com to hym agayn (fol. 108v), vis a peccatis tuis purgari? in poena te accusa […] et qui parcendo te a se abjiciebat, feriendo clamat ut redeas, PL 184, 1265A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 30, p. 25. exercet in te disciplinam, PL 184, 1265B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘he fatherly chastiseth you for your amendement’, p. 285. And he þat in sparyng you did caste you from hym, in strykyng he cryeth þat ye com to hym agayn (fol. 108v), et qui parcendo te a se abjiciebat, feriendo clamat ut redeas, PL 184, 1265B, i.e., ‘And he that did cast you away by sparing you, doth call vnto you to returne by punishing you’, Batt, pp. 285–86. remembre all the tormentis of the worlde, all the paynes, all the seknes and sorowes of the same, and compare them to the fyre of hell, and it shal be lyȝte and easy þat ye doo suffer (fol. 109r), cogita quoslibet mundi cruciatus; intende animo quascunque mundi poenas, quoscunque tormentorum dolores, quascunque dolorum acerbitates: compara hoc totum gehennae, et leve erit quod pateris, PL 184, 1265B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 30, pp. 25–26. compare them to the fyre of hell (fol. 109r), compara hoc totum gehennae, PL 184, 1265B, MGL variant. The Middle English usually translates ‘gehenna’ by a more common expression. And yf ye feere enythyng, feer the paynes of hell […] for they have here a begynnyng of their tormentis and in tyme to come they receyve the residue of theyr contynuall paynes (fol. 109r–v), Soror amabilis, si times, poenas inferni time […] quia et hic habent judicia tormentorum, et illic supplementum poenarum. Manus igitur Dei te ad poenam traditit, indignatio Dei te affligi jussit. Ipse iratus jussit te mala omnia experiri, PL 184, 1265B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 30–32, pp. 26–27. your amendment ys þat that ye suffer for seknes mekely accepte doeth assoyle a religyous person of his synnes (fol. 109r), emendatio est quod pateris, PL 184, 1265B; emendatio est quod pateris. Conversum namque flagella a peccatis absolvunt, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 76r. PL 184, 1265B, omits the second clause. The Middle English means: ‘your amendment is the following: that which you suffer by meekely accepting sickness absolves you, a religious person, from your sins’.

358

Commentary

Converso instantes plagae ad purgationem proficiunt, PL  184, 1265B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 76r, MGL omission. Batt, p. 286, also omits. be delyvered from the paynes of hell (fol. 109r), illic liberatur, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. be not under correccion amendyd (fol.  109r), nec sub flagello corriguntur, PL 184, 1265B, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids the allusion to physical correction. gemina his percussio est, PL 184, 1265C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to these doth appertaine a double percussion’, p. 287. Manus igitur Dei te ad poenam tradidit, indignatio Dei te affligi jussit. Ipse iratus jussit te mala omnia experiri, PL 184, 1265C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The hand of God therefore hath deliuered you to be punished; the indignation of God hath commanded, that you be afflicted, he hath ordained in [h]is anger, that you haue a tast of all aduersities whatsoeuer’, p. 287. in þat ye be overecom with febylnes of the bodye [...] Bycause ye have folowed the bodye, ye ar corrected in the bodye; by the which ye fell to syn, by þe same ye suffer paynes (fol. 109v), nam quod et corporis debilitatibus frangeris […] Quia secuta es carnem, flagellaris in carne: in ipsa gemis, in qua peccasti, PL 184, 1265C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 32–33, pp. 27–28. payned with sorys (fol. 109v), quod carnis morbis afficeris, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant. Another example where the translator avoids ‘caro’. trobled with seknes (fol. 109v), quod languorum stimulis cruciaris, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant. In this and the next three entries, the vernacular has the more common words. Here ‘seknes’ further highlights the theme of the present chapter. with angwysche of the mynde vexed (fol. 109v), mentis angustia torqueris, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant. trobled with temptacion of evyll spiritis (fol. 109v), crescente impugnatione malignorum spiritum agitaris, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant.

Commentary

359

the justice of God sendyth you for your syn (fol. 109v), pro peccato tuo tibi divina justitia irrigat, PL 184, 1265C, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘know that it is God’s iustice that doeth this in respect of your sinnes’, p. 287. by the which ye fell to syn (fol. 109v), in qua peccasti, PL 184, 1265D, i.e., ‘by the which [i.e., by your body] you committed sins’. Bycause ye have folowed the bodye, ye ar corrected in the bodye (fol. 109v), Quia secuta es carnem, flagellaris in carne, PL  184, 1265D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. by þe same ye suffer paynes (fol. 109v), in ipsa gemis, PL 184, 1265D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common words which also underline the present chapter’s theme. Soror amabilis, in ipsa carne cruciaris, in qua deliquisti: in ipsa tibi est cen­ sura supplicii, in qua fuit causa peccati. Unde corruisti ad vitia, inde sustines tormenta, PL 184, 1265D, MGL omission. Batt partly translates: ‘Amiable sister, you are punished in the same flesh, in which you haue done amisse. You are censured to be punished in the same, in which was the cause of sinne’, p. 288. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 33, p. 28. ye ar ryȝtwo[u]sly ponysched, ryȝtwously scourged. The payn of justice doeth correcte you (fol. 109v), juste argueris, juste flagellaris, justo judicio judicaris. Procella juste te conterit, justitiae poena te premit, PL 184, 1265D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 34, p. 29. ye ar ryȝtwo[u]sly ponysched, ryȝtwously scourged (fol. 109v), the absence of ‘u’ in the first occurrence of ‘ryȝtwo[u]sly’ appears to be a scribal error, as the second occurence of the adverb in the sentence shows. Note also that the adjective ‘righteous’ has various spellings throughout the text, but none without the letter ‘u’. See Glossary. ye ar ryȝtwo[u]sly ponysched (fol. 109v), juste argueris, PL 184, 1265D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. justo judicio judicaris. Procella juste te conterit, PL 184, 1265D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘iustly iudged and condemned. The storme of tribulation doth iustly ouerwhelme you’, p. 288.

360

Commentary

Chapter 44: Avarice (PL 184, 1265D: De avaritia; Uppsala, UUB, MS

C 240: De avaricia pessima; Paynell: Of couitousnes; Batt: Of auarice; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Avarice) The xliiii exhortacion steryth us to flye avarice which ys a chylde of pryde (fol. 109v), MGL addition. ‘shall come to heven’ (fol. 110r), ‘habet haereditatem in regno Dei’ (Ephes. v, 5), PL 184, 1266A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common word. as hell nevere sayth hoo (fol. 110r), sicut infernus nunquam dicit, Satis est, PL 184, 1266A, i.e., ‘as hell never says stop’. avaritia non sit in te, PL 184, 1266B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let not auarice abide in your breast’, p. 291.

Chapter 45: Covetousness (PL 184, 1266B: De cupiditate; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De cupiditate; Paynell: Of cupidyte Batt: Of inordinate affection or desire; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Greediness) The xlv exhortacion movyth to advoyde covetyse, that ys, in wyll to have (fol. 110v), MGL addition.

No person can perfitely take upon him spirituall batell [...] The eye of þe mynde may not se hygh thyngys, yf the duste of erthly covetyse closyth it (fols 110v–111r), Nemo potest perfecte spiritualia bella suscipere […] non potest videre oculus mentis alta, si eum claudit pulvis terrenae cupiditatis, PL  184, 1266B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 41, 1–2, p.  180. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, xxx, 16–17, p. 120. and the cause of every syn (fol. 111r), omnium criminum materia est, PL 184, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 78r, 1266C; MGL variant. ‘Cupiditas omnium criminum mater est’, Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 41, 4, p. 180. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxx, 18, p. 120. And it ys no mervayle, though, when such dye, they be putte in the fyre of hell which quenchyd not the fyre of theyr covetousnes whyle they lyved here (fol. 111r), Non est mirum si morientes inferni ignibus deputentur, qui viventes

Commentary

361

flammam cupiditatis suae non exstinxerunt, PL 184, 1266C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 41, 9, p. 182. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxx, 21, p. 120. they be putte in the fyre of hell (fol. 111r), inferni ignibus deputentur, PL 184, 1266C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. doeth not profytte your soule (fol. 111r), nihil valet, PL 184, 1266C, MGL addition. In this and the next two entries, the Middle English is more explicit. Judas the traytour (fol. 111r), Judas, PL 184, 1266C, MGL addition. considere the course of your lyfe (fol. 111r), cursum tuum considera, PL 184, 1266D, MGL addition. cupiditas perversa non sit in te, PL 184, 1266D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let not the peruerse desire of this vice dwell in you’, p. 293.

Chapter 46: Poverty (PL 184, 1266D: De paupertate; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De domina paupertate; Paynell: Of pouertie; Batt: Of pouertie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Poverty)

The xlvi exhortacion moveth to voluntary poverte by exaumples and shewith þe profitte of hytte (fol. 111v), MGL addition. whom their poverte doth not make them wrecchyd but blessid (fol. 111v), quos paupertas non facit miseros, sed beatos, quia eam propter Deum sustinent, PL 184, 1267A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘whome pouertie maketh not wretched but blessed; who endure the same for the loue of God’, p. 294. Ye rede þat noble patriarkis wer ryche in goodis (112r), Tu Patriarchas divites opibus […] legis, PL 184, 1267A. The words ‘rede’/‘legis’ seem to indicate that the text’s recipient was ‘litterata’. to vanysch awey as the smoke (fol. 112r), velut fumum et vaporem evanescentem, PL 184, 1267A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘as smoke, or as a vapour, that sodainly passeth away’, p. 295.

362

Commentary

‘and covetyse of the world’ (fol. 112v), ‘et ambitio saeculi’, PL 184, 1267B, MGL variant. The Middle English is more didactic: ‘covetyse’ unambiguously refers to one of the seven deadly sins and to the theme of the preceding chapter. he knowlegid hymself meke and pore of hart (fol. 112v), humilem se cognoscit, PL 184, 1267C, MGL addition. The translator reminds his readers of the first beatitude, Matt. 5. 3. and in a straunge place (fol. 112v), MGL addition. These added words to the second biblical quotation in this passage maintain the stylistic balance of three quotations with ‘in’ + ‘something’. It also adds meaning to the second quotation which otherwise would be a simple repetition. ‘I am a pore dweller in the cuntre’ (fol. 112v), ‘incola ego sum in terra’, PL 184, 1267C, MGL addition. By the added adjective the translator reinforces the chapter’s theme: poverty. and folow hym withoute tedyousnes (fol. 113r), et passibus indefessis sequere coelestem ducem, PL 184, 1267D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next the vernacular has the more common words. þat she became moder unto God (fol. 113r), ut mater Domini esse mereretur, PL 184, 1267D, MGL variant. ut ipsum etiam diversorium tam angustum habuerit, PL 184, 1267D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that for want of better lodging’, p. 298. cum esset justus, PL 184, 1267D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 80r, MGL omission. Batt, p. 298, does not translate either. and covete hevenly tresour (fol. 113v), et coelestes concupiscere, PL 184, 1268A, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. ‘which casteth a man or a woman to hell’ (fol. 113v), ‘quae mergunt hominem in interitum’ (i Tim. vi, 9), PL 184, 1268A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common words. ‘than a rycche man of the worlde’ (fol. 114r), ‘quam divitem’, PL 184, 1268B, MGL addition. The vernacular emphasizes the contrast between this world and heaven.

Commentary

363

Chapter 47: Murmuring (PL  184, 1268C: De murmuratione; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De murmuracione; Paynell: Of murmuracion; Batt: Of murmuring; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Murmuring)

The xlvii exhortacion sheweth that murmuracion and gruggyng ys a gret syn, and how we shuld advoyd hit (fol. 114r), MGL addition. The place of our hart, by the grace of God and the presence of þe Holy Goste [...] ‘A lytel sour dough or levyn corruptyth an hole bache’ (fol. 114r–v), Hospitium cordis nostri per gratiam Dei sanctificatur, et per inhabitationem Spiritus sancti […] Nam et ‘modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit’, PL 184, 1268C. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 905D. The place of our hart (fol.  114r), Hospitium cordis nostri, PL  184, 1268C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. and the presence of þe Holy Goste (fol. 114r), et per inhabitationem Spiritus sancti, PL 184, 1268C, MGL variant. The vernacular is less formal. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘no person þat gruggeth shal have the kyngdom of heven and no person þat receyveth it may murmure or grugge’ (fol. 114v), Unde Gregorius: ‘Regnum coelorum nullus quia murmurat accipit: nullus qui illud accipit murmurare potest’, PL 184, 1268D. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, i, xix, p. 146. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xli, 12, p. 153. The thoughtis in the hart of a fole be lyke the whel of a cart […] that ar subjecte to sensualyte and nevere cesse gruggeng (fol. 114v), Praecordia fatui, sicut rota currus […] qui sunt carnalibus desideriis subditi, et murmurare nunquam cessant, PL 184, 1268. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 911C. and makyth a noyse, as þough hit dyd grone (fol.  114v), et murmurans, PL 184, 1268D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit and explains the metaphor. thapostle, sayeng: ‘murmur ne grugge ye not, as som of the chyldren of Israel dyd’ in wylderenes ‘and wer distroyed’ (fols  114v–115r), apostoli dicentis:

364

Commentary

‘Neque murmuraveritis, sicut quidam eorum murmuraverunt, in deserto videlicet, et perierunt ab exterminatore’, PL 184, 1268D. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 911C. Non ergo murmuremus, ne forte sicut illi perierunt in hac vita, nos pereamus in futura. Caveamus ab omni murmuratione, PL 184, 1269A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let vs not murmure, least as they perished in this life, we perish in the next. Let vs beware of all murmuring’, p. 303. les as they wer ponysched in theyr bodyes, we be ponysched in our soules (fol. 115r), ne forte quod illi passi sunt in corporibus, nos patiamur in animabus, PL 184, 1269A, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes the punishment rather than the suffering. þat loketh after more in religion than nedyth (fol. 115r), qui in monasterio plus quam oportet, requirit, PL 184, 1269B, i.e., ‘who in the monastery seeks for more than he needs’. For the lack of the personal pronoun, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 42. sekyng for erthly and transitory vanites (fol. 115r–v), res terrenas et transitorias requirendo, PL 184, 1269B, MGL variant. The Middle English reinforces the text’s message. Hit ys sayd above how such ‘wer distroyed of serpentis’ (fol. 115v), ‘Et a serpentibus perierunt’ ( Judith. viii, 25), PL 184, 1269B, MGL addition. The translator facilitates his reader’s task by adding the cross-reference. Why of serpentis? But bycause a serpent ys a venomys beste […] Lete us therfor be ware of murmuryng, les we perysch by the mortiferous venom of the devyll (fol. 115v), Quare a serpentibus perierunt, nisi quia serpens venenosus est […] Cavendum est ergo nobis a murmuratione, ne mortifero et diabolico veneno pereamus, PL  184, 1269B. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 911C–D. ‘take ye no care for your sustenance’ (fol. 115v), ‘ne solliciti sitis animae vestrae’, PL 184, 1269B, MGL variant. By interpreting rather than translating, the translator shows again his concern that his audience should properly understand the original.The Latin could cause confusion, since the biblical verse refers to physical life.

Commentary

365

‘beholde the fowles of the eyer which noþere sowe, ne repe, nor gadre into barnys, and yit God fedyth them’ (fol. 115v). See Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman, ed. by Schmidt, Passus vii, p. 83, lines 125–30. provydeth for byrdes of the eyer (fol. 115v), gubernat aves, PL 184, 1269C, MGL addition. The added words echo Matt. 6. 26, quoted a couple of lines earlier. and tomorow be gon and ded (fol. 116r), et cras non erunt, quarum anima est mortalis, PL 184, 1269C, MGL variant. The translator thus avoids the issue of animals’ souls. ‘considere the floures of the felde’ (fol. 116r), ‘Considerate lilia agri’, PL 184, 1269C, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common and also the more realistic word, since lilies do not usually grow in fields. God freschly doeth clothe them (fol.  116 r), Deus sic vestit illa, PL  184, 1269C, MGL variant. The vernacular often reinforces the message of the text with adverbs and adjectives. God wyl not slee his servantis (fol. 116r), Non occidet Deus animas servorum suorum, PL 184, 1269D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘God will not kill the soules of his seruants’, p. 308. The translator avoids confusion again, as the words following, ‘with hungur or thyrst or lak of clothys’, make it clear that bodies, not souls, are considered here. syng and praye to hym (fol. 116r), cantate, et exsultate ei, PL 184, 1269D, MGL variant. The vernacular more precisely refers to two exercises of the ‘lectio divina’: singing hyms and prayer. Note that prayer is examined later in Chapter 49, ‘De oratione’, and singing in Chapter 52, ‘De psalmis et hymnis’. ‘lack nothyng’ (fol. 116r), ‘minuentur omni bono’ (Psal. xxxiii, 11), PL 184, 1269D, MGL variant. The translator reinforces the message of the text by phrasing it in absolute terms.

366

Commentary

Chapter 48: Possessions (PL  184, 1269D: De proprio; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De proprietate bonorum temporalium; Batt: Of proprietie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Property) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The xlviii exhortacion sheweth the parell of propertee in a religious person, and howe propryetaryes be lyke to Judas the traytour, to Ananye and his wyfe, and to Giezi þe disciple of Helysie the prophete (fol. 116v), MGL addition. For she hath all thyng in commyn with oþere of the servantis of God and besyde þat as hyr own she hydeth som thyng pryvely, whych ys theft and an open disseyt (fol. 116v), Quia omnia habet in communi cum caeteris ancillis Dei, et quasi proprium sibi aliquid abscondit. Furtive aliquid habere non commune cum caeteris ancillis Dei, et quasi proprium sibi aliquid abscondere, hoc furtum est; haec manifesta fraus est, PL 184, 1270A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Because shee hath all things in common with the rest of God’s handmaides, and yet hideth soe thing as peculiar to her selfe. To keepe any thing closely, and to hide it as peculiar to ones selfe, not common to the rest of the handmaides of God, this I say is plaine theft, and apparant fraud’, p. 310. muste folowe þat she be denyed from the company of heven (fol. 117r), consequens est ut separetur a consortio coelestis vitae, PL 184, 1270A, i.e., ‘it must follow that she is denied the company of heven’. For the lack of pronoun subject ‘it’, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 42. she be denyed from the company of heven (fol. 117r), separetur a consortio coelestis vitae, PL 184, 1270A, MGL variants. The vernacular has the stronger verb and the more common word to represent eternal life. acordyng to the holy Gospell and prechyng (fol. 117r), secundum Evangelium, PL 184, 1270B, MGL addition. Another instance of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning to the text. In religyon be thapostyls of Jhesu Cryst (fol. 117r), In monasterio sunt sancti Apostoli Jesu Christi, PL 184, 1270B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘In a monasterie there are the holy Apostles of Iesus Christ’, p. 311. In this case, ‘sanctus’ is not replaced; it is simply omitted.

Commentary

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and be rewarded in heven (fol.  117r), et remunerabuntur in aeterna beatitudine, PL 184, 1270B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common noun. But he that after ys come to religion (fol. 117r), Qui autem postquam ad conversionem monasterii venit, PL 184, 1270B, i.e., ‘but he that after he has entered the monastery’. For the absence of the personal pronoun in a subordinate clause, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 42. þe sentence of soden deth (fol.  117v), sententiam maledictionis, PL  184, 1270C, MGL variant. The Middle English rendering is more accurate to the story of Anania and Sapphira. the lepry þat Giezi had in his body (fol. 117v), lepram quam Giezi sustinuit in corpore, PL 184, 1270C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. The same variant reoccurs in this paragraph, but is not recorded below. afte[r] þe maner of thapostyls (fol. 117v), the omission of ‘r’ in ‘after’ is obviously a mistake. ‘wher in tormentis and paynes lyef fayleth them’ (fol. 118r), ‘animae eorum in malis tabescebant’, PL 184, 1270D, MGL variant. The translator interprets rather than translates the second half of the biblical verse. ‘this is þe person þat trusteth not in God’ (fol. 118r), ‘Ecce homo qui non posuit Deum adjutorem’, PL 184, 1271A, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the vernacular has the more common expression. ‘and he shall preserve you’ (fol. 118v), ‘et ipse te enutriet’ (Psal. li, 9), PL 184, 1271A, MGL variant.

368

Commentary

Chapter 49: Prayer (PL 184, 1271A: De oratione; Uppsala, UUB, MS

C 240: De oratione faciendi ora competenti; Paynell: Of prayer; Batt: Of prayer; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Prayer) Paynell numbers this Chapter 48. The xlix exhortacion sheweth the tyme of prayer, and howe two manere of wayes prayer ys lette þat it cannot be herde, and how we shuld praye (fol. 118v), MGL addition. Hit ys a provisyon or providence to praye afore dewe tyme [...] Prayer ouȝt to be so mych oftenere þat it is more profetable (fol. 118v), Ante tempus orare, est providentia […] Tanto crebrior debet esse oratio, quanto est utilior, PL 184, 1271A–B. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 891A. Prayer ouȝt to be so mych oftenere þat it is more profetable (fol.  118 v), Tanto crebrior debet esse oratio, quanto est utilior, PL 184, 1271B. Batt translates: ‘Prayer ought to be by so much the more frequent, by how much the more profitable it is’, p. 315. ‘the ofte prayer of a good man or woman’ (fol. 118v), ‘deprecatio justi assidua’ ( Jacobi v, 16), PL 184, 1271B, MGL variant. The translator regularly renders neuter or masculine Latin expressions by ‘man or woman’. See Introduction, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng: A Translation’, pp. 21–22. dispose yourself devoutly (fol. 118v), praepara animam tuam, PL 184, 1271B, MGL variant. By adding adverbs and adjectives, the Middle English is often more precise. Prayer ys of the hert, not of the lyppys. Hit ys bettere to praye with silence of the hart than oonly with wordis withoute attencion of mynde (fol. 119r), Oratio cordis est, non labiorum. Melius est cum silentio cordis orare, quam solis verbis sine intentione mentis, PL 184, 1271C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 4, p. 221. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 27, p. 30. That prayer ys pure, whom superfluous thouȝtis in his tyme troblyth not. For ferr from God ys the mynde þat in prayer ys occupyed with worldly thouȝtis (fol. 119r), Pura est oratio, quando in suo tempore superfluae cogita-

Commentary

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tiones non conturbant. Longe quippe est a Deo animus, qui in oratione cogitationibus saeculi est occupatus, PL 184, 1271C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 8, p. 222. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 28, p. 31. Two manere of wayes prayer ys lette þat man or woman cannot obteyn that he asketh: that ys, if þe man or woman levyth not theyr syn or, yf he forgeve not the person þat hath offendyd hym (fol. 119r), Duobus modis oratio impeditur, ne impetrare quisque possit quod postulat: nempe si adhuc homo mala committit, aut si peccanti in se ex toto corde non dimittit, PL 184, 1271C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 12, p. 223. if þe man or woman levyth not theyr syn (fol. 119r), si adhuc homo mala committit, PL 184, 1271C, MGL variant. Albeit in a negative phrase, the vernacular emphasizes the more positive aspect: abstaining from sin. Our mynde ys an hevenly thyng and then well beholdeth God in prayer when it ys not lette by worldly besynes and syn (fol. 119r), Mens nostra coelestis est; et tunc Deum in oratione bene contemplatur, quando nullis terrenis curis aut erroribus impeditur, PL 184, 1271C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 7, p. 222. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 36, p. 32. by worldly besynes and syn (fol. 119r), terrenis curis aut erroribus, PL 184, 1271C, MGL variant. The translator’s first concern is always to convey the message as adequately as possible. Hence he will interpret the original, if simply translating it could lead to confusion. When a person prayeth, he callyth the Holy Goste to hym; but […] not sufferyng hys presence doeth fle awaye (fol. 119r–v), Quando quisque orat, Spiritum sanctum ad se vocat […] praesentiam ejus ferre non sustinentes effugiunt, PL 184, 1271C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 3, p. 221. He þat is hurt, lete hym not leve ‘to praye for them þat hurted hym’ [...] so nothyng advayleth the prayer of hym that hath hatred in his hart (fol. 119v), Qui laeditur, non desistat orare pro se laedentibus (Luc. vi, 28) […] ita nihil proficit oratio illius, qui odium habet in corde, PL 184, 1271D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 13–14, p.  223. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 39–40, p. 32. He synfully holdeth up his handis to God that [...] and commendyd more hymself of hys good dedis þan God (fol. 119v), Culpabiliter expandit manus

370

Commentary

ad Deum […] et magis laudabat semetipsum de bonis operibus, quam Deum (Luc. xviii), PL 184, 1271D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 20, p. 225. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 42, p. 33. praye contynually with wepyng teres. Pray God nyȝt and daye […] Prayer prevayleth agaynst all evyll (fols 119v–120r), ora cum lacrymis indesinenter. Ora jugiter, precare Deum diebus ac noctibus […] oratio daemoniis omnibus malis praevalet, PL 184, 1271D–72A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 12–13, pp. 71–72. praye contynually with wepyng teres (fol. 119v), ora cum lacrymis indesinenter, PL 184, 1271D, MGL addition. The vernacular has the stronger expression. Ora jugiter, PL 184, 1271D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Pray continually’, p. 318. Oratio sit sine cessatione, oratio sit frequens, orationis sint arma assidua, oratio de ore tuo non cadat, insiste orationi, PL  184, 1271D–72A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let your prayer be without ceasing, let your prayer be often. Let it be your vsual weapon. Let your mouth neuer cease from praying, insist in prayer’, p. 318. crye evere and wepe in prayer (fol.  119v), Geme semper et plange, PL  184, 1272A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit and this often enhances the didactic message of the text. pernocta in oratione et prece, incumbe nocturnis vigiliis, PL  184, 1272A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Passe ouer the night in prayer and supplication, applie your selfe to nightly watching’, p. 318. puttyth awey the temptacions of þe devyl (fols 119v–120r), diaboli jacula submovet, PL 184, 1272A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common and literal expression. oratio quotidiana diaboli tela exsuperat, PL 184, 1272A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘frequent prayer doth make the weapons of the diuel to be little auaileable’, p. 319.

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vincit daemones, superat immundos spiritos. Per orationem vincuntur dae­ monia, PL 184, 1272A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘it vanquisheth the diuells: it ouercommeth the vncleane spirits. By prayer the diuells are conquered’, p. 319. I desyre you also to praye for evyl persons that the[y] may from evyl be converted (fol. 120r), Rogo etiam te, ut ores pro malis hominibus, ut de malo ad bonum convertantur, PL 184, 1272A. ‘The’ is obviously a scribal error for ‘they’.

Chapter 50: Reading (PL 184, 1272B: De lectione; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De leccione legenda;13 Paynell: Of holy lesson; Batt: Of reading; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Reading) Chapter 49 in Paynell. The l exhortacion sheweth how necessary ys redyng to us or the heryng of redyng (fol. 120r), MGL addition. By prayer we be clensid of our synnes […] If we cannot, it ys better to praye than to rede (fol. 120r), Per orationem mundamur a peccatis […] Si vero non licet, melius est orare, quam legere, PL 184, 1272B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 8, 1, p. 228. For when we praye we speke to God, when we rede God spekyth to us (fol. 120r), nam cum oramus, cum Deo loquimur; cum legimus, Deus nobiscum loquitur, PL 184, 1272B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 8, 2, p. 229. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxxi, 17, p. 232. when we praye we speke to God (fol. 120r), Julian of Norwich says: ‘Prayor onyth the soule to God’. Julian of Norwich, A Revelation of Love, ed. by Glasscoe, chap. 43, p. 45. if ye covette to be allwey with God, evere praye and evere rede (fol. 120r), si vis cum Deo semper esse, semper ora, et semper lege, PL 184, 1272B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 8, 2, p. 229. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxxi, 17, p. 232. 13 

The title of this chapter is taken from the List of Contents. In the text, the end of Chapter 49 and beginning of Chapter 50 are missing, fol. 85r.

372

Commentary

Very necessary ys to us godly redyng (fol. 120r–v), that is ‘lectio divina’ which involves more than simply reading. See Boland, ‘Lectio divina’, cols 470–510. ‘ys a lyȝted candel to my fete’ (fol.  120v), ‘Lucerna pedibus meis’, PL  184, 1272B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 85r, MGL variant. This is a rare instance where the translation updates the text to contemporary times. Candles, rather than the oil lamp of the Scriptures, must have been used by the vernacular audience of the text. Batt translates: ‘Thy worde is a lampe to my feete’, p. 321. Redyng infourmeth to þe actyve and contemplatyve lyves (fol. 120v), the active and contemplative lives are further explored in Chapter 53. ‘þat person þat ys occupyed’ (fol. 120v), ‘qui […] meditabitur’, PL 184, 1272C, MGL variant. The Middle English is here less precise, but in being so exhorts the reader to be always acting according to God’s commandments whether or not he is meditating. heven ys com by (fol.  120v), aeterna beatitudo acquiritur, PL  184, 1272C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. Persevere in meditacion of holy Scriptur […] Ye profytte mych when ye rede, namely yf ye doo after your redyng (fols 120v–121r), persevera in meditatione Scripturarum […] Multum proficis cum legis, tamen si facias ea quae legis, PL 184, 1272C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 19, p. 76. in lege Dei esto assidua, habeto studium in divinis legibus, PL 184, 1272C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let Gods law be your continual conuersation: be perpetually perusing the same’, p. 322. lectio sit tibi quotidiana legis meditatio, PL 184, 1272D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let the reading of Gods diuine law be your daily meditation’, p. 322. Per lectionem sensus et intellectus crescunt: lectio enim docet quid facias, dis­ cernit quid caveas, ostendit quo tendas, PL 184, 1272D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘By reading (as I haue alreadie said) your wit and vnderstanding will be encreased. For reading teacheth you what to doe, it discerneth, what you ought to eschew, it sheweth whither you are to tend’, p. 322.

Commentary

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Chapter 51: Labour (PL 184, 1272D: De operatione; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De operacione cordis cum manibus ad Deum;14 Paynell: Of workes; Batt: Of working; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Work) Chapter 50 in Paynell.

The li exhortacion moveth to labour, shewyng howe we shuld dyvyde the daye in thre partyes: in prayseng, redyng, and laboryng (fol. 121r ), MGL addition. in prayseng (fol.  121r). See Glossary. ‘Prayseng’ is similarly used in other Middle English translations. See The Myrour of Recluses, ed. by Harley, pp. 3–4. He þat prayeth and laboryth doeth lyfte up his harte wyth hys handys to God [...] He þat laboryth and prayeth not lyftyth up his handis to God and not his hart (fol. 121r), Qui orat et laborat, cor levat ad Deum cum manibus […] Qui autem laborat, et non orat, manus levat ad Deum, et non cor, PL 184, 1272D. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, vii, 41, p. 32. when we thynke to obteyn soule helth (fol. 121r), dum salutem quaerimus obtinere, PL 184, 1273A, i.e., ‘when we think to obtain the well-being of the soul’. ‘Soule’ is a genitive singular. For the ‘-e’ genitive singular, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. Incidentally, note that MGL here adds the word ‘soule’ and by so doing is more specific than the Latin original. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 86r, reads as PL 184. les peraventure the syn of the body (fol. 121v), ne forte spiritus fornicationis, PL 184, 1273A, MGL variant. This is another instance where the vernacular avoids all too suggestive vocabulary. ‘Fornicatio’ is also replaced by a more neutral expression in the entry after next. The foule luste and pleasour of the body (fol. 121v), Delectatio carnis, PL 184, 1273A, MGL addition. As has been noted earlier, the translator regularly avoids ‘caro’. The use of the ‘geminatio’ here highlights what has to be avoided. 14 

This title is taken from the List of Contents. In the text the chapter title reads: ‘De operacione cordis cum manibus ad Deum et de lectione legen[da]’. This title applies both to this chapter and the preceding one, whose title and beginning are missing in the text. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 85v.

374

Commentary

by the foule love o[r] concupiscens of the same (fol. 121v), per cupiditatem fornicationis, PL 184, 1273A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 86r. The manuscript reads ‘of ’, which is not an impossible reading but would be uncharacteristically wordy. Other occurrences of ‘concupiscence’ in the text (‘the lewde concupiscence or appetyte of þe bodye’, MGL, fol. 72v) suggest that the translator rather intended the ‘geminatio’. ‘Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatus es et bene tibi erit’ (Psal. cxxvii, 2), PL 184, 1273B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Because thou shalt eate the labours of thy hands; blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee’, p. 325. when the devyl commyth into the cloyster and sercheth every persone, fynde enythyng in you (fol. 122r), cum diabolus claustra intraverit, et uniuscujusque facta scrutatus fuerit, aliquid inveniat, PL 184, 1273B, i.e., ‘when the devil comes into the cloister and searches every person, he may find anything in you’. For the absence of the personal pronoun in a main clause, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 42. ‘Fynde’ is a subjunctive present. See Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 31–33. Everye perfitte man and woman (fol.  122 r), Unaquaeque sancta anima, PL 184, 1273C, MGL variant. Another example where ‘sanctus’ is translated by the concept of ‘perfection’. and in þe armys stondyth the operacion[s] and labours (fol. 122r), et in brachiis operationes, PL 184, 1273C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 87r. The plural ‘labours’ shows that the absence of ‘s’ in ‘operacion’ is a scribal mistake. Batt translates: ‘in our armes, actions’, p. 326. Cryste ys putte as a marke (fol. 122r–v), dilectus in signaculum ponitur, PL 184, 1273C, MGL variant. The vernacular often prefers a proper name. for in his servante (fol. 122v), quia in sancta anima, PL 184, 1273C, MGL variant. Another instance of ‘sanctus’ being replaced by another expression. By choosing to indicate an ancillary position here, the translator emphasizes the reader’s present and continuous struggle to attain ‘good lyvyng’. ye shal nevere be ydell (fol. 122v), nulla hora otiosa eris, PL 184, 1273D, MGL variant. The translator prefers the more usual expression.

Commentary

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but rather ye shall forsake it and for hys love utterly dispyse it (fol. 122v), pro amore illius otium recusas […] omni tempore contemnis otium, PL 184, 1273D, i.e., ‘utterly forsake and despise being idle for his love’. MGL here combines several Latin clauses. Qui Deum tota mente diligit, propter Deum otium postponit, PL 184, 1273D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He that loueth God with his whole will, doth for the loue of him loath to be idle’, p. 327. luxuria cito decipit hominem otiosum et vagantem, luxuria gravius urit quem otiosum invenit. Libido cedit rebus, luxuria cedit operibus, luxuria cedit industriae et labori, PL 184, 1273D–74A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘lasciuiousnes doth soone deceiue him that doth gad vp and downe: lasciuiousnes doth enflame him worst of all, that it findeth idle. Lust yeeldeth to labour, giueth back to trauaile, retireth from such as refuse to be idle’, pp. 327– 28. hath lytel pleasour to the syn of the bodye (fol. 122v), minus delectatur flagitio, PL 184, 1274A, MGL variant. The Middle English is more precise and refers specifically to lechery. beware of ydylnes, love it not […] by the which the mynde may be occupyed (fol. 123r), Quapropter […] praecave otium, non diligas otium […] quo animi implicetur intentio, PL 184, 1274A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 19, p. 76. quaere tibi opus utile, PL 184, 1274A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘seeke some profitable worke’, p. 328.

376

Commentary

Chapter 52: Of Psalms and Hymns (PL 184, 1274A: De psalmis et

hymnis; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De cantando vel legendo psalmos et hymnos; Batt: Of the psalmes and hymnes; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Psalms and Hymns) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The lii exhortacion sheweth howe þat oure mynde and voyce when we syng in þe quere shuld agree togyder, and þat oftentymes the laye peple heryng psalmodie and oþer service devoutly song be compuncte for theyr synnes (fol. 123r), MGL addition. when in the syȝt of God ye syng psalmes and ympnes, thynke that in your mynde þat ye syng in voyce. Lete your mynde agree with your voyce and tong (fol. 123r), cum in conspectu Dei cantas Psalmos et hymnos, hoc tracta in mente tua, quod cantas in voce. Mens tua cum voce concordet, concordet cum lingua, PL 184, 1274A. Bernard of Portes expresses similar advice: ‘Cum steteris ad psallendum coram Domino, omne studium, omnem vigilantiam adhibe, tu mens cum lingua conveniat’. Bernard de Portes, Epistola Bernardi Portarum, trans. by a Carthusian, p. 64, lines 234–36. ‘When you stand in front of our Lord to sing hymns, apply all your attention, all your vigilance to harmonize your thoughts to your tongue’ (my translation). when in the syȝt of God ye syng psalmes and ympnes, thynke that in your mynde þat ye syng in voyce (fol. 123r), cum in conspectu Dei cantat Psalmos et hymnos, hoc tracta in mente tua, quod cantas in voce, PL 184, 1274A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 892A. This quotation is part of St Augustine’s Rule and not of Hugh’s Commentary. thynke that in your mynde þat ye syng in voyce (fol. 123r), hoc tracta in mente tua, quod cantas in voce, PL 184, 1274A, i.e., ‘think in your mind what ye are singing with your voice’. Lete your mynde agree with your voyce and tong (fol.  123 r), Mens tua cum voce concordet, concordet cum lingua, PL 184, 1274A. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 892A. and ye thynke oon thyng in your mynde and syng another in voyce, ye lese the profytte of your labour (fol. 123r), Si aliud cantes in mente, et aliud cantes in voce, perdis fructum laboris tui, PL 184, 1274A. This sentence is possibly

Commentary

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inspired by Hugh of St Victor: ‘Orandi perseverantia ita solum meretur […] hoc mente meditemur’, Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 892A. ‘I wyl syng with my spirite and mynde’. I wyll syng wyth mouth and harte (fol. 123v), ‘Psallam spiritu, psallam et mente’ (i Cor. xiv, 15). Cantabo ore, et corde, PL 184, 1274B, MGL variant. The translator rephrases the original in order to introduce stylistic parallelism which adds ‘gravitas’ to the statement made. and callyth synners to contricion (fol. 123v), peccatores ad lamenta invitat, PL 184, 1274B, MGL variant. The vernacular is here more didactic and more precise in that it invites the reader to perform the first part of the Sacrament of Penance. they be converted to the love of God (fol. 123v), ad amorem pietatis convertuntur, PL 184, 1274C, MGL variant. The translator has chosen to replace an abstract concept by a personal relationship. Prayer in thys lyfe oonly ys sayd for remission (fol. 123v), Oratio tantummodo in hac vita effunditur in remissionem, PL 184, 1274C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. ‘þat dwell in thy glorious place above’ (fol. 124r), ‘qui habitant in domo tua’, PL 184, 1274C, MGL variant. The translator here subtly plays on the reader’s expectations, since the monastery can already been seen as ‘domo tua’. moveth us to wepyng teres (fol. 124r), commovet nos ad lacrymas, PL 184, 1274C, MGL addition. The Middle English often makes the text’s message stronger by the introduction of adjectives (here, strictly speaking, a present particiciple) and/or adverbs. ‘exultate, justi, in Domino, [rectos decet collaudatio]’ (fol. 124r), ‘Exsultate, justi, in Domino, rectos decet collaudatio’ (Psal. xxxii, 1), PL  184, 1274D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 88v, MGL omission. The translator obviously had in mind the complete Latin verse, since he translates it: ‘that ys to seye: “ye, ryȝtwous persons, be ye glad in God. Prayseng besemyth good persons’, fol. 124r. The same holds true of subsequent scriptural quotations in Latin in MGL. Batt translates but does not quote the verse in Latin, p. 331.

378

Commentary

‘Deus, in nomine tuo salvum me fac, [et in virtute tua judica me]’ (fol. 124r), ‘Deus, in nomine tuo salvum me fac, et in virtute tua judica me’ (Psal. liii, 3), PL 184, 1274D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 88v, MGL omission. in the vith hour of the daye in tyme of masse (fol. 124v), hora diei sexta in panis confractione, PL 184, 1274D, MGL variant. The translator often choses more common and simpler language, thus avoiding rhetorical figures. and fede us with spiritual swetnes (fol. 124v), et nos satiant dulcedine ac suavitate spirituali, PL 184, 1274D, MGL variant. Another instance of the more common verb preferred. ‘ecce nunc benedicite Domino omnes servi Domini’ (fol. 124v), ‘Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, omnes servi Domini’ (Psal. cxxxiii, 1), PL 184, 1275A. The reading ‘Domino’ is also possible, since the verb ‘benedicere’ is often followed by a dative. þat it may sownde wele in the eerys of God (fol. 124v), in auribus Dei bene sonat cum sancta anima, PL 184, 1275A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘God is much delighted with the musique of a sacred soule’, p. 335. In this instance, the translator simply omits ‘sanctus’. Wherfor our spouse Criste in Canticis canticorum monyscheth his mylitant Chyrch and every devoute soule (fol.  124v), ‘dans ce texte [i.e., the Song of Songs] l’épouse n’est plus l’Eglise, mais l’âme sainte. Il n’est pas rare que St Bernard passe de la sorte, sans même prévenir ses auditeurs, d’un sens ecclésial à un sens individuel’. Bodard, ‘La Bible expression d’une expérience religieuse’, pp. 42–43. ‘lete me here thy voyce’ (fol. 124v), ‘sonet, vox tua in auribus meis’, PL 184, 1275A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the simpler wording. thy good dedys (fol. 125r), pulchritudinem bonorum operum tuorum, PL 184, 1275B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the beautie of your good workes’, p. 335. Since in other places, the text warns against paying attention to ‘beauty’, the translator may have thought that it was best avoided altogether. as Cryste sayde in the Gospell (fol. 125r), MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit.

Commentary

379

Lete me here (fol. 125r), ‘Sonet vox tua in auribus meis’, PL 184, 1275B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let your voyce sound in my eares’, p. 336. See the earlier entry above (‘lete me here thy voyce’, fol. 124v). of praysyng, and of syngyng (fol. 125r), vox divinae laudis, vox jubilationis, PL 184, 1275B, MGL variants. The vernacular has the more common wording. and steryth the myndes (fol. 125r), et instruit animas, PL 184, 1275B, MGL variant. The Latin is more detached and intellectual, whereas the Middle English prefers an emotionally charged verb. steryth the myndes of feythfull peple to lyve well (fol. 125r), instruit animas fidelium ad bene vivendum, PL 184, 1275B. The text reminds the reader again of its title. The voyce of such as syng devoutly (fol.  125 r), Vox cantantium, PL  184, 1275B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more precise. verba laudis misceamus, PL 184, 1275B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let vs intermingle wordes of praise’, p. 336. in hell their to be ponysched (fol.  125v), in infernum cruciandi, PL  184, 1275C, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. of whom may be verifyed Scripture (fol.  125v), testatur sponsus, PL  184, 1275C, MGL variant. The vernacular does not use ‘spouse’ to designate Christ as systematically as the Latin original. sayeng to his devoute servante (fol. 125v), sponsae, id est sanctae animae loquitur, dicens, PL 184, 1275C, MGL variant and omission. Batt translates: ‘speaketh to his spouse, that is to a deuout soule, saying’, p. 337. The translator uses various words to replace ‘sanctus’; ‘servante’ is one of them, See above, fol. 122v. ‘thou dwellyst in fayr gardens’ (fol. 125v), ‘Quae habitas in hortis’ (Cantic. viii, 13), PL 184, 1275C, MGL addition. The Middle English intensifies the text message by the addition of adjectives and adverbs. Every devoute soule dwellyth in a garden (fol. 125v), In hortis habitat Ecclesia, vel quaelibet sancta anima, PL 184, 1275C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The Church, or euerie deuout soule dwelleth in the gardens’, p. 337.

380

Commentary

þat they may by them com to heven (fol. 126r), ut ad coelestem patriam reviviscant, PL 184, 1275D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expressions. lauda eum in voce jubilationis, PL 184, 1275D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘praise him in the voyce of iubilation’, p. 338. in devoute syngyng (fol. 126r), in jubilatione vocis, PL 184, 1275D–1276A, MGL variant. Not only has the vernacular the simpler wording here but also it echoes ‘syng devoutly’ (fol. 125r), ‘devoute servante’ (fol. 125v), ‘Every devoute soule (fol. 125v), ‘devoute techyng and syngyng’ (fol. 125v) in the lines above. This is another example of the translator’s introducing didactic patterns in the text. ‘et illic iter quo ostendam illi salutare Dei’ (Psal. xlix, 23), PL 184, 1276A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and there is the way, by which I will shew him the saluation of God’, p. 339. and in syngyng and lawdyng with psalmes and oþere spiritual songis (fol. 126r), Ac si apertius diceret: In Psalmis, PL 184, 1276A, MGL variant. With these words, almost the exact repetition of ‘redyng, psalmody, hympnes and oþere spiritual songis’ (fol. 126r) a few lines above, the translator highlights the didactic aim of the present chapter. ye maye com to heven (fol. 126r), ad aeternam laudem pervenire possis, PL 184, 1276A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common wording. ergo et tu laus illius esto, PL 184, 1276A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘be you therefore his praise’, p. 339.

Commentary

381

Chapter 53: Active and Contemplative Lives (PL  184,

1276B: De activa et contemplativa vita; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De activa et de contemplativa vita; Paynell: Of lyfe actyue and contemplatyue; Batt: Of the actiue and contemplatiue life; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Active and Contemplative Life) Chapter 51 in Paynell. The liii exhortacion ys of actyfe and contemplatyve lyves signifyed by Jacob ladder, and shewyth howe they doo differre (fol. 126v), MGL addition.

Jacob ladder (fol. 126v), i.e., ‘Jacob’s ladder’. For the lack of a genitive ending, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 24. the toppe of hit to hys semyng (fol. 126v), et cacumen illius, PL 184, 1276B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more prudent and thus refers the statement to Jacob. towchyd the fyrmament (fol. 126v), coelos tangebat (Gen. xxviii, 12), PL 184, 1276B, MGL variant. This is a rare occasion, where the Latin has the more common word. that be ordeyned to com to heven (fol. 126v), ad vitam aeternam praedestinati, PL 184, 1276B, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the Middle English has the more common expressions. that loketh after heven (fol. 126v), qui spectat ad regnum coelorum, PL 184, 1276B, MGL variant. in the lowe steppe of the ladder (fol. 126v), in minori gradu, PL 184, 1276B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more precise. Ager est animus hominis saeculi, PL 184, 1276C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The field is the mind of a secular man’, p. 341. the fervent love of the spouse of Cryst (fol. 127r), amor sponsi, scilicet Christi, PL 184, 1276C, MGL addition. Another instance where the Middle English intensifies the message of the text by an adjective.

382

Commentary

they seke aftere erthly vanytes (fol. 127r), terrena quaerunt et diligunt, PL184, 1276C, MGL addition. The vernacular again is more precise and so enhances the didactic value of the text. They þat be in þe bedde dispyseth and sette nouȝt by þe worldly vanytes (fol. 127r), Qui in lecto sunt despiciunt et contemnunt omnia mundana, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 90v, i.e., ‘Those who are in the bed dispise wordly vanities and consider them worthless’. PL 184, 1276C appears to have the wrong reading: ‘In lecto sunt qui despiciunt et contemnunt’. for they thynke oonly of hevenly thyngis (fol. 127r), quia coelestia cogitant, PL 184, 1276C, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the translator is again more precise, and in so doing makes the text’s message clearer to the reader. Actyve lyfe ys innocencye of good werkis [...] Contemplatyfe lyfe refusyng þe worlde delyteth to lyve oonly in God (fol. 127r–v), Activa vita innocentia est bonorum operum […] contemplativa vero saeculo renuntians, soli Deo vivere delectatur, PL 184, 1276C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 1–2, p. 241. the speculacion or beholdyng of hevenly comodites (fol. 127v), speculatio supernorum, PL 184, 1276C–D, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. Contemplatyfe is of fewe (fol. 127v), contemplativa vero, paucorum, PL 184, 1276D; contemplativa vero est paucorum, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 91r. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the contemplative onely to a few’, p. 342. The omission of ‘vero’ could be due to the manuscript the translator uses. However, his care in rendering the Latin suggests that the adverb is here deliberately omitted, for ‘vero’ could discourage the reader in her efforts to live the comtemplative life. bytwen actyfe and contemplatyfe lyfe ys a grete differens (fol. 127v), inter activam et contemplativam vitam maxima est differentia, PL 184, 1276D, MGL variant. For an explanation of the absence of the superlative in the Middle English, see the previous entry. to teche our neyȝbour the worde of God (fol. 127v), verbum sapientiae proximos docere, PL 184, 1276D, MGL variant. The vernacular often chooses to represent God in person rather than through an abstract concept.

Commentary

383

to leve outeward besynes (fol. 128r), ab exteriori actione requiescere, PL 184, 1277A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. so þat it hath a wyll to doo noo erthly occupacyon (fol. 128r), ita ut jam nihil agere libeat, PL 184, 1277A, MGL variant, i.e., ‘so that your mind does not wish to be involved with any earthly occupation’. The vernacular is more precise. the mynde desyreth fervently to se (fol.  128r), ad videndum […] animus inardescat, PL 184, 1277A, MGL variant. The Middle English avoids the image of burning which usually applies to hell. to be with the company of aungelles in heven (fol.  128 r), hymnidicis Angelorum choris interesse, PL 184, 1277A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common wording. appetere admisceri coelestibus civibus, PL 184, 1277A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to couet to be admitted into the companie of those heauenly citizens’, p. 344. He þat fyrst profetyth well in actyfe lyfe [...] and concupiscence of the bodye ys lette from contemplatyve lyfe (fol.  128r), Qui prius in hac vita proficit […] aut carnalem affectat concupiscentiam, a contemplatione prohibetur, PL 184, 1277B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 3a-b, p. 241. Whosoevere desireth temperall glorye (fol. 128r), Quicumque adhuc temporalem gloriam […] affectat, PL 184, 1277B, MGL variant. The vernacular not only has the more common verb but also ‘desireth’ emphasizes the contrast with the comtemplative mind which ‘desyreth fervently to se the face of his maker’ (fol. 128r) a few lines above. and concupiscence of the bodye (fol. 128r) aut carnalem […] concupiscentiam, PL  184, 1277B, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. Note that there are too many such examples for all to be systematically recorded below. Take an exaumple of both lyves in Jacob which [...] Lya was gyven to hym þat betokenyth actyfe lyfe (fol. 128r–v), Exemplum enim activae vitae et contemplativae de Jacob accipe […] data est ei Lia (Gen. xxix), quae significat ativam vitam, PL 184, 1277B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 4, p. 241.

384

Commentary

and all oþere werkis of mercy (fol. 128v), i.e., ‘the seven works of mercy’, one of the devotional series often to be included in didactic texts after the Lateran Council of 1215. Lya hath plentee of chyldren (fol.  128v), Lia est fecunda in filiis, PL  184, 1277B, MGL variant. The translator again is prudent in his choice of words. and alyenate from all worldly peple (fol. 128v), et ab omni tumultu saeculi alieni, PL 184, 1277C, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common wording. ‘he þat all thyng hath his begynnyng of’ (fol.  128v), ‘principium’, PL  184, 1277C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit and gives an explanation of ‘principium’. As an egle fasteneth hyr eyes in the sonbeme and loketh not down [...] þat thes lowe þingys in actyfe lyfe be somwhat necessarie to our nede (fol. 129r), Sicut aquila defigit oculos in radios solis, nec deflectit […] ut tamen ista humilia paululum nostrae indigentiae sint necessaria, PL  184, 1277C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 7, p. 242. so devoute persons (fol. 129r), ita et sancti, PL 184, 1277C, MGL variant. The same variant occurs again in this chapter but is not recorded below. consideryng hygh contemplacion to be so profetable, [yit] þat thes lowe þingys in actyfe lyfe be somwhat necessarie to our nede (fol. 129r), considerantes illa sublimia sic esse utilia, ut tamen ista humilia paululum nostrae indigentiae sint necessaria, PL 184, 1277C–D. Batt translates: ‘considering those high things so to be profitable, that notwithstanding these humble things in respect of our pouertie are likewise needfull’, pp.  346–47, my emphasis. It is likely that the confusion is already present in the Latin manuscript, since Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 reads in the first clause: ‘considerantes illa sublimia esse utilia’ (fol. 92v), thus omitting ‘sic’. consideryng hygh contemplacion to be so profetable (fol. 129r), considerantes illa sublimia sic esse utilia, PL 184, 1277C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry the vernacular is more explicit and thus avoids any possible confusion.

Commentary

385

þat thes lowe þingys in actyfe lyfe be somwhat necessarie to our nede (fol.  129r), ut […] ista humilia paululum nostrae indigentiae sint necessaria, PL 184, 1277C–D, MGL addition. Cryst in Canticis canticorum (fol. 129r), in Canticis canticorum sponsus, scilicet Christus, sponsam, id est, PL 184, 1277D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the bridegroome, to wit Christ […] his spouse, to wit’, p. 347. spekyth to every devoute soule (fol. 129r), sanctam animam […] hortatur, PL 184, 1277D, MGL variants. The Middle English has the more common word and again replaces ‘sanctus’. ‘my fayre spouse, and come’ (fol. 129r), ‘formosa mea, et veni’ (Cantic. ii, 13), PL 184, 1277D, MGL addition. The same addition reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. by trewe dileccion, love, and fayth (fol. 129r), per dilectionem et fidem, PL 184, 1277D, MGL additions. The added words emphasize the love between Christ and the soul. from þat swete bedde of thyne (fol. 129r), de illo dulcissimo stratu tuo, PL 184, 1277D, MGL variant. Since the translator has uncharateristically kept the reference to ‘stratu tuo’ (‘your bed’), it may not be surprising that he replaces the superlative by the simple adjective. by devoute exhortyng (fol. 129v), per officium praedicationis, PL 184, 1277D, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘by the office of preaching’, p. 347. It is interesting to note that the translator here thought it necessary to omit the reference to ‘preaching’. The vernacular text obviously does not wish to encourage its female readers to become Margery Kempe-like ‘preachers’. The vision of bestis in Ezechiel which went and turned not agayn […] For if eny persone but a lytel in actyfe lyfe descendyth, anone he is wrapped with syn and vyce (fol. 129v), Visio animalium in Ezechiele, quae ibant et non revertebantur […] si quisquam vel ad modicum descenderit, statim inquinationibus vitiorum involvitur, PL 184, 1278A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 9, p. 243.

386

Commentary

anone smyten with his own infirmyte doeth descende (fol. 129v), sua reverberatus infirmitate statim descendit, PL 184, 1278A, i.e., ‘he goes down immediately beaten by his own weakness’. For the lack of pronoun subject ‘he’, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 42. he ascendyth to thos thyngis by contemplacion (fol. 129v), ad ea […] rursus ascendit, PL 184, 1278A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. he is wrapped with syn and vyce (fol. 129v), inquinationibus vitiorum involvitur, PL 184, 1278A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. God visiteth many seculer persons and by his grace lyftyth them up to hygh contemplacion, and also he thorogh his juste and pryvy jugement forsaketh many contemplatyves persons þat be fallen in worldly occupacions (fols 129v–130r), Multos saeculares homines visitat Deus, et per suam gratiam elevat ad altitudinem contemplationis: et multos contemplativos justo atque occulto judicio suo Deus in terrenis actibus lapsos derelinquit, PL 184, 1278A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 12, p. 244. As he þat is buryed in his grave doeth cesse all worldly maters [...] þat they may in þeir hartis and myndis laude God, of whom they have receyved gyftes by the which they may exercyse them outewarde to his glorye and laude (fol. 130r), Sicut sepultus in monumento cessat ab omni terreno negotio […] ut intus Deum laudent, ubi acceperunt unde foris ad ejus gloriam operentur, PL 184, 1278B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 15, 5–6, p. 242. As he þat is buryed in his grave doeth cesse all worldly maters (fol. 130r), Sicut sepultus in monumento cessat ab omni terreno negotio, PL 184, 1278B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 93r. Batt translates: ‘Like as he that lieth buried in a sepulcher doth cease from all earthly care’, p. 349, my emphasis. to þe secrete of contemplacion (fol. 130r), ad secretum intimae contemplationis, PL 184, 1278B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to the closet of inward contemplation’, p. 350. It would seem that ‘intimus’ is also too suggestive an adjective. they may in þeir hartis and myndis laude God (fol. 130r), intus Deum laudent, PL 184, 1278B, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit.

Commentary

387

of whom they have receyved gyftes (fol. 130r), ubi acceperunt, PL 184, 1278B, MGL variant. in the secrete of swete contemplacion (fol. 130v), in secreto contemplationis suavissimae, PL 184, 1278C, MGL variant. Here as elsewhere in the text, the translator sometimes avoids superlatives. in the voyce of Cryste (fol. 130v), sponsus insinuat, PL 184, 1278C, MGL variant. The vernacular often prefers to designate a person by his name than by his status or title. cum filias Jerusalem ne sponsam evigilare faciant adjurat, PL 184, 1278C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘when he adiureth the daughters of Ierusalem, not to awaken his spouse’, p. 350. ‘I charge you, children of Jerusalem’ (fol. 130v), ‘Adjuro vos, filiae Jerusalem, per capreas, cervosque camporum’, PL 184, 1278C, MGL omissison. Batt translates: ‘I adiure you, ô daughters of Ierusalem by the roes, and the harts of the fields’, p. 350. and doo not move hyr to outeward occupacion (fol. 130v), et ne eam ad exteriora opera inquietare velitis, PL 184, 1278C, MGL variant.The Middle English has the more common verb. of hyr ynwarde quyetnes and swetnes (fol. 130v), a somno internae quietis et intimae dulcedinis, PL 184, 1278D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘of internal rest, and inward sweetnes’, p. 351. The translator again omits ‘intimus’. for the troble of erthly thyngis (fol. 131r), quia strepitus terrenarum rerum, PL 184, 1278D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. In þe voyce of whom it ys wryten in Canticis canticorum (fol. 131r), Unde in eisdem Canticis sponsa de se dicit, PL 184, 1279A, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘whereupon in the same Canticles the spouse saith of her selfe’, p. 352. A rare example where the Middle English is less clear than the Latin. ‘I slepe and my harte waketh’ (fol. 131r), ‘Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat’ (Cantic. v, 2), PL 184, 1279A. For a Middle English extended gloss on this

388

Commentary

verse, see Richard Rolle, ‘Ego dormio’, in Rolle, Prose and Verse, ed. by OgilvieThomson, pp. 26–33. from all worldly besynes (fol. 131r), a mundanis tumultibus exterius, PL 184, 1279A, MGL variant. Batt tranlates: ‘outwardly […] from worldly tumults and cares’, p. 352. The translator is more didactic and has chosen a phrase he has used elsewhere in the text. See fols 22v, 26v, 119r, 131v. And þat is [also] sayde þat in the shype were thre chambres (fol. 131r), Quod etiam arca dicitur tricamerata, PL 184, 1279A; Etiam archa Nohe quae tricamerata dicitur, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 94r. Batt translates: ‘And for that the arke is also said to haue beene triple vauted (that is, to haue had three loftes one aboue an other)’, p. 352. Although the Middle English text makes some sense without the adverb ‘also’, the agreement among the other versions here referred to suggests that its omission in MGL is due to scribal error. chaste (as wydoes) (fol. 131v), continentium, PL 184, 1279A, MGL addition. In this and the next entry the vernacular is more explicit. shal be perfourmed in the lyfe to com (fol. 131v), in coelo perficitur, PL 184, 1279B, MGL variant. and withdraw you from all worldly besynes [...] As a dedde persone desyreth not the vaynglorye of þe worlde (fols 131v–132r), propter Deum ab omnibus curis saeculi te suspende […] tanquam mortua mundi gloriam non concupiscas, PL 184, 1279B–C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 94–95, pp. 140–41. Nulla sollicitudo rerum te subtrahat ab intentione Dei, PL 184, 1279B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let no worldly solicitude withdraw you from the feare of God’, p. 354. tanquam mortua ab amore praesentis vitae te separa, PL 184, 1279C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As one dead, separate your selfe from the loue of this present life’, p. 354. as though ye wer buryed in your grave, shyfte yourselfe from all worldly maters (fol. 132r), Soror mihi amabilis in Christo, sicut sepulta in monumento, non habeas curam de saeculo, PL 184, 1279C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 95, p. 141.

Commentary

389

tanquam defuncta in sepulcro, ab omni terreno te priva negotio. PL  184, 1279C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As one lying dead in your sepulcher, sequester your selfe from all earthly affaires’, p. 354. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 95, p. 141. dispyse ye that thyng, lyvyng, that ye cannot have after deth (fol. 132r), contemne vivens, quae post mortem habere non poteris, PL 184, 1279C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 95, p. 141.

Chapter 54: Curiosity (PL  184, 1279C: De curiositate; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De curiositate bonorum operum; Paynell: Of curiosite; Batt: Of curiositie; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Curiosity) Chapter 52 in Paynell. The liiii exhortacion sheweth howe we ouȝt not to be curyouse in knowyng of other persons defauȝtis and that curiosite ys a grete synne (fol. 132r), MGL addition. ‘suche thyngis þat perteyneth not to the’ (fol. 132r), ‘In supervacuis rebus’, PL 184, 1279C–D, MGL variant. The translator interprets the phrase rather than translates it, and thus makes the text more explicit to the reader. thoo thyngis þat passyth mannys knoulege (fol. 132v), ea […] quae ab humanis sensibus sunt remota, PL 184, 1279D, MGL variant. The translator is again more explicit than the Latin. Hit ys convenient for a man or woman not to juge þe myndes of oþere, that cannot perfitely knowe þe hartis of other (fol. 132v), Dignum est valde ut mentes hominum desinat judicare, qui aliena corda nescit perfecte cognoscere, PL 184, 1279D, i.e., ‘it is befitting that men or women who cannot perfectly know the hearts of others judge not their minds’. Hyt is also convenient þat ye leve to syn and offende, þat wolde reprove þe vyce of other persons (fol. 132v), Dignum est etiam ut desinat peccare, qui alienam vitam vult reprehendere, PL 184, 1279D, i.e., ‘It is also convenient that you, that would reprove other persons’ vices, cease to sin and to offend’.

390

Commentary

et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum, PL 184, 1279D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘also will lighten the hidden things of darknes’, pp. 355–56. ‘the counseils and privetyes of the secrete hartis’ (fol. 132v), ‘consilia cordium’ (i Cor. iv, 5), PL 184, 1279D, MGL addition. Another instance of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning to the text, here highlighting that there is no secret for God. So long doeth not a man or woman knowe hys own trespace that he shuld wepe for and knowe, as he doeth curyously serche for þe knowlege of oþere persons offencys (fol. 132v), Tamdiu homo ignorat peccata sua quae debuerat flere et cognoscere, quamdiu aliena vitia exquirit curiose, PL 184, 1279D, i.e., ‘as long as a man or woman inquisitively tries to know other persons’ offences, so long he does not know his own trespass which he should know and weep for’. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘we shuld so mych lesse reprove or juge evyll the hartis or myndes of oþere persons, that with oure sight we cannot se the thouȝtis of anoþere mannys harte’ (fols 132v–133r), Unde beatus Gregorius: ‘Nos tanto minus debemus aliena corda reprehendere, quanto scimus visu nostro non posse alienae cogitationis tenebras illustrare’, PL 184, 1280A. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob, ed. by Adriaen, i, ix, p. 31. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxx, 14, p. 211. ‘se the thouȝtis’ (fol. 133r), ‘cogitationis tenebras illustrare’, PL 184, 1280A, MGL variant and omission. Batt translates: ‘bring to light the darknes of their thoughts’, p. 357. The translator also shows the quality of his rewriting by being consistent: since he omits the reference to light and darkness above (PL 184, 1279D), he leaves it out here too. ‘the thouȝtis of anoþere mannys harte’ (fol.  133r), ‘alienae cogitationis’, PL 184, 1280A, MGL addition. The Middle English here repeats almost the same phrase (‘the hartis or myndes of oþere persons’) which makes the statement more striking. Isydor also sayth: ‘we doo sonner reprove þe vyce of everybody [...] but rather serch what evyll he doeth’ (fol. 133r), Etiam beatus Isidorus ait: ‘Facilius reprehendimus vitia uniuscujusque hominis […] sed quid male egerit perscrutamur’, PL 184, 1280A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 46, 23, p. 295. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxx, 22, p. 212.

Commentary

391

‘what a good persone doeth’ (fol. 133r), ‘quid boni quisque fecerit’, PL 184, 1280A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 95v, MGL variant. MGL translates as if the Latin read: ‘bonus’. Fyrst knowe your own trespaces and diligently amende them, afore ye correcte oþere (fol. 133r), Prius vide tua propria quam aliena delicta. De tua correctione esto sollicita; de tua salute esto attenta; de tua emendatione esto provida, PL 184, 1280A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 51, p. 104. That þat perteyneth not to you, medyl not with hit [...] Be ware of curyosite and utterly flye it (fol. 133r), quod ad te non pertinet, noli quaerere […] Cave curiositatem, PL 184, 1280A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 52, p. 105. and utterly flye it (fol. 133r), omitte curas alienae vitae: nulla curiositas animum tuum decipiat, nulla concuspicentia detestandae curiositatis te subrepat, PL 184, 1280B, MGL variant and combining. Batt translates: ‘Trouble not your selfe about the life of others, let no curiositie deceiue your mind, let no desire of this detestable vice ouertake you vnawares’, pp. 357–58. The translator makes his own the phrase ‘less is more’. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 52, p. 105. les þat ye be forgetfull of your own condicions in sekyng and askyng of the maners of oþer. Amende as diligently your own vyce as ye wolde repreve and correcte the vyce of anoþere (fol.  133r), ne tu oblita tuorum morum alienos perquiras. Christi sponsa, tanta cura corrige tua vitia, quanto studio reprehendis aliena, PL 184, 1280B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 52, p. 105. nulla tibi sit cura sciendi latentia, PL 184, 1280B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘be not desirous to know those things, that are hidden’, p. 358. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 71, p. 121. Serch not for þat thyng þat ye ouȝt not to knowe, aske nothyng, know nothyng þat Holy Scriptur hath not or forbeddyth you (fol. 133r–v), Cave inquirere ea quae non debes scire: praetermitte quasi secretum quod Scripturae sanctae auctoritate non didicisti: nihil ultra quaeres quam scriptum est: nihil amplius perquiras, quam divinae Litterae demonstrant. Scire nunquam desideres quod scire non debes, PL 184, 1280B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 71, pp. 121–22.

392

Commentary

curyosite ys a perylous presumpcion […] Hit maketh peple bold and hedye in harde and ignorante causes or maters (fol. 133v), curiositas periculosa praesumptio est […] in causis obscuris reddit audaces, in rebus ignaris facit homines praecipites, PL 184, 1280C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 71, p. 122. unto ungraciouse fabulles (fol. 133v), in fabulas sacrilegas, PL 184, 1280C, MGL variant. The vernacular is less restrictive and simply envisages wicked, harmful falsehoods. ye maye come (fol. 133v), merearis pervenire, PL 184, 1280C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘you may merit to attaine’, p. 359. The Middle English has the more common expression.

Chapter 55: Watching (PL  184, 1280C: De vigilantia; Uppsala,

UUB, MS C 240: De vigilando in servicio Dei;15 Paynell: Of watche; Batt: Of watchfulnes; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Watchfulness) Chapter 53 in Paynell. The lv exhortacion counsellyth to wacche and to be at all tyme redye bycause the callyng and vysyttyng of God ys uncerten, and that we shuld folowe the counsell of Holy Scripture (fol. 133v), MGL addition. ‘wache ye’ and be redye (fol. 133v), ‘vigilate’, PL 184, 1280C, MGL addition. Another occurrence of ‘geminatio’ introducing added meaning. ‘a soden destruccion of deth’ (fol. 134r), ‘repentinus […] interitus’ (i Thess. v, 3), PL 184, 1280D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more precise and specifies the nature of the destruction. Saynt Gregory sayth: ‘the gladnes of this present lyfe must so be had, þat the bytterenes of þe jugement folowyng goo nevere oute of our mynde. 15 

The text has ‘servicio’ superscript over ‘timore’ which is crossed out, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 96v. In the List of Contents, this chapter is entitled: ‘De vigilando in timore Domini’.

Commentary

393

Oftetymes the devyll disseyveth a man or a woman to syn, and when he perceyveth hym vexed of his fall in syn, then agayn he disseyveth by sykernes, puttyng hym in sewrte’ (fol.  134 r), Verba sunt beati Gregorii: ‘Laetitia praesentis vitae ita est agenda, ut amaritudo sequentis judicii nunquam recedat a memoria. Saepe diabolus decipit hominem ad peccandum, et cum de ruina conspicit eum afflictum, iterum per securitatem decipit eum’, PL 184, 1280D. For the first sentence of this quotation, see Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia, ed. by Étaix, ii, xxxix, p. 383, and Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lv, 19, p. 180. For the second sentence, see ‘Plerusque enim hostes callidus mentem cum peccato subplantat: cum de ruina afflicta respicit, securitatis pestifere blandiciis seducit’, Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxiii, 11, p. 102; and ‘Cavenda est etiam callidi hostis versutia, qui mentem quam peccato supplantat, cum de ruina sua afflictam respicit, securitatis pestiferae blanditiis seducit, et ei spes ad securitates vacuas ante oculos vocat, quatenus utilitatem tristitiae subtrahat’, Hincmar, De divortio Lotharii regis et Tetbergae reginae, PL 125, 684D. ‘hym vexed of his fall in syn’ (fol. 134r), ‘de ruina […] eum afflictum’, PL 184, 1280D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘he disseyveth by sykernes, puttyng hym in sewrte’ (fol. 134r), ‘per securitatem decipit eum’, PL 184, 1280D, MGL addition. The added words gloss the previous phrase. dum illam videre non possumus, PL 184, 1281A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘sithence we are vnable to see it’, p. 361. holy Isider exhorteth us, sayeng: ‘lete no good man nor woman trust of his own goodnes nother synnere dispayre of the mercye of God, but lete them both have in theyr hartis hope and feer. Lete hym so trust of þe mercy of God þat he drede allwey his justice’ (fol. 134r), beatus Isidorus no[s] admonet, dicens: ‘Neque justus de sua justitia confidat, neque peccator de misericordia Dei desperet quidquam; sed pariter habeant in corde spem et metum: sic speret Dei misericordiam, ut semper timeat ejus justitiam’, PL 184, 1281A. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 97r, reads: ‘beatus Ysidorus nos admonet […]’, my emphasis. The PL reading ‘beatus Isidorus non admonet’ is obviously an error, my emphasis. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxiii, 16, pp. 102–03. For the second part of the sentence, see: ‘Pariter spes et metus; sic spera misericoridiam, ut justitiam metuas’, Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 25, p. 82.

394

Commentary

‘lete no good man nor woman trust of his own goodnes’ (fol. 134v), ‘neque justus de sua justitia confidat’, PL 184, 1281A, MGL variants. As the translator usually avoids referring to the reader as ‘sanctus’ (‘-a’), it follows that he also prefers not to call him/her ‘justus’ (‘-a’). ‘Good’ and ‘goodnes’ also have the didactic advantage of reminding the audience of the work’s title. but lete them both have in theyr hartis hope and feer (fol. 134v), hope and fear have been extensively examined in Chapters 2 and 4. Wherfor sayth Cesarius: ‘howe mych sewer we be of our synnes paste, so mych we ouȝt to be diligent to advoyde þem to come’ (fols 134v–135r), Unde ait Caesarius: Quanto sumus securi de praeteritis, tanto debemus esse solliciti de futuris, PL 184, 1281B. Caesarius of Arles, Regula ad monachos, PL 67, 1104A. ‘sewer we be of our synnes paste’ (fol.  134v), ‘sumus securi de praeteritis’, PL 184, 1281B, MGL addition. In this entry and the next, the vernacular is more explicit. ‘to be diligent to advoyde þem to come’ (fol. 135r), ‘esse solliciti de futuris’, PL 184, 1281B, MGL addition. ye shall be crowned among the sayntis (fol. 135r–v), inter beatos computaberis, PL 184, 1281C, MGL variant. The translator has preferred an immediately understandable image to the more abstract verb. Note that the concept of a crown as a reward in heaven has been used on many previous occasions in the text. See fols 8v, 11r, 28r, 39v, 48v, etc. Vere beata eris, si ad Deum cum omni instantia vigilaveris, PL 184, 1281C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘You shall be blessed doubtlesse, if you watch to God with all diligence’, p. 364. that hath promysed the crown of glorye (fol. 135v), quia promisit Deus coronam, PL 184, 1281C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more precise. of the eyes of Cryste it ys wryten (fol. 135v), de oculis sponsi dicitur, PL 184, 1281D, MGL variant. As has been noted previously, the vernacular often prefers a proper name. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below.

Commentary

395

the waye of þe soule helth (fol. 135v), viam salutis, PL 184, 1281D, i.e., ‘the way of the soul’s salvation’. For the addition of the word ‘soule’ in MGL see above fol. 121r. that they may se in the watere the shadow, overe þe which they flyeng doeth escape the clawes of theyr enemyes (fol. 136r), ut umbram volantium desuper avium in aqua videant, et per eam irruentium in se ungues rapaces effugiant, PL 184, 1281D–82A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that in the water they may see the shadow of such birdes as flie ouer them, and by the same may shunne the talents of the greedie falcon’, p. 365. It is unclear in the Middle English whether ‘overe þe which’ refers to the ‘watere’ or to the ‘shadow’. The next chapter, ‘De prudentia’ comes back to this image. See fols 139v–140v. be ofte in meditacion of Holy Scriptur, for in them ye may knowe (fol. 136r), in meditationibus sanctarum Scripturarum esto assidua, quia in eis poteris cognoscere, PL 184, 1282A, i.e., ‘be often in meditation of Holy Scripture, for by this means you may know’. be ofte in meditacion (fol. 136r), in meditationibus […] esto assidua, PL 184, 1282A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. and fraude of your gostly enemyes (fol.  136r), hostium insidias, PL  184, 1282A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. doo ye nothyng but þat ye here by þe aunswer of Holy Scriptur (fol. 136r), ut nihil aliud facias, nisi quod ex responso Scripturarum audieris, PL 184, 1282A, i.e., ‘do nothing, except for what your hear by the answer of Holy Scripture’. Rogo ut super rivulos sanctarum Scripturarum indesinenter vigiles, et ut cum summo studio deceptiones inimicorum vites, PL 184, 1282B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘I entreat you also that you continually watch vpon the riuers of the holy Scriptures, and that with all care and diligence you seeke to shunne the snares of your enemies’, pp. 366–67. ‘the sercher of herte and bodye’ (fol. 136v), ‘scrutans corda et renes’, PL 184, 1282B, MGL variant. Unsurprisingly, the translator avoids the all too suggestive word.

396

Commentary

‘and shall receyve soule helth of God’ (fol. 136v), ‘et hauriet salutem a Domino (Prov. viii, 35)’, PL184, 1282C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. Lete no chaunce fynde you unredye [...] A soden tempest of þe see causeth grete fere, and a soden enemy soor trobleth (fol. 137r), nullus casus te inveniat imparatam […] Subita maris tempestas terrorem suscitat: improvisus hostis male perturbat. Omnia repentina graviora sunt; quae repente accidunt, gravius occurrunt, PL 184, 1282C–83A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 28–29, pp. 83–85. nullus sit casus quem non praeveniat meditatio tua, PL 184, 1282C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let there be no euent, which your meditation doth not preuent’ [i.e., ‘anticipate’], p. 368. Thynk þat þere is nothyng (fol. 137r), propone ante oculos tuos nihil esse, PL 184, 1282C–D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common wording. In prosperyte thynke how ye shall have adversite (fol.  137r), in prosperis meditare quo pacto adversaberis, PL 184, 1282D. Prosperity and adversity have already been commented upon in the text, especially in Chapter 42, ‘De tolerantia’. Semper cogita in mente ne aliquid contrarii accidat, PL 184, 1282D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Ponder alwayes in your mind, that some mi[s]chance or other may happen ere it be long’, p. 369. Advenientes impetus praemeditatio frangit, praecogitatio attenuat futuras molestias, PL  184, 1282D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Premeditation doth represse sodaine inuasions: premeditation doth attenuat future troubles’, p. 369. and a soden enemy (fol. 137r), improvisus hostis, PL 184, 1282D, MGL variant. The translator reinforces the message of the text by repeating ‘soden’ three times in this passage. Omnia repentina graviora sunt; quae repente accidunt, gravius occurrunt, PL 184, 1283A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘sodaine euents are most irksome, sodaine accidents are most vnwelcome’, p. 370.

Commentary

397

Chapter 56: Prudence (PL 184, 1283A: De prudentia; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De pruden[c]ia et simplicitate apud Deum; Paynell: Of wysdome; Batt: Of wisdome or discretion; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Prudence) Chapter 54 in Paynell.

The lvi exhortacion shewyth howe we shuld be prudente and withoute doublenes, exaumple of the serpente and the dove (fol. 137v), MGL addition. That ys to seye, playn and withoute dowblenes (fol. 137v), MGL addition. The translator has added a gloss to the biblical quotation. ‘þe wycked person shall perisch in his wyckydnes’ (fol. 138r), ‘in impietate sua corruet impius’ (Prov. xi, 5), PL 184, 1283B, MGL variants. In this and the next entry, the vernacular has the more common words. ‘Synners hate innocente’ (fol. 138r), ‘Viri sanguinum oderunt […] simplicem’, PL 184, 1283B, MGL variant. ‘good lyvers doeth wysch’ (fol. 138r), ‘justi […] quaerunt’, PL 184, 1282B, MGL variant. The Middle English regularly avoids the adjective ‘justus’. Note that the variant ‘good lyvers’ also reminds the reader of the text’s title. A good homly person doeth profitte (fol. 138r), Sancta rusticitas […] prodest, PL 184, 1283B, MGL variant. Both ‘justus’ and ‘sanctus’ are often translated by perhaps the more realistic adjective ‘good’. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. the Chyrch of Cryste by his lyvyng (fol. 138r), Ecclesia[m] Christi merito vitae, PL 184, 1283B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the Church of Christ by the merit of life’, p. 372. The translator often omits or replaces words which could cause the reader to be proud of his achievements. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 100v, reads ‘ecclesiam’; the missing letter ‘m’ in PL 184 is an error. Saynt Jerom sayth: ‘in the servantis and maydens of God þe apparell of þe bodye shuld not be loked for but þe innocencye of mynde’ (fol. 138r), Et beatus Hieronymus ait: ‘In servis et in ancillis Dei non est quaerendus cultus corporis, sed simplicitas mentis’, PL 184, 1283B–C. No quotation has been traced, but the following expresses a similar idea: ‘simplicitas mentis et deuota Deo

398

Commentary

suo anima approbata est’, Jerome, Altercatio Luciferiani et Orthodoxi, ed. by Canellis, 15, p. 40. to have a good playnes and homelynes than a synfull eloquens (fol. 138r), habere rusticitatem sanctam, quam eloquentiam peccatricem, PL 184, 1283C, MGL variant. The ‘geminatio’ intensifies the text message by giving more weight to what is to be preferred. a good symple persone ys more honorable than a grete janguler (fol. 138r), magis veneranda est rusticitas, quam verbosa loquacitas, PL 184, 1283C, MGL variant. The translator often replaces abstract concepts with more concrete wording. be pure and withoute faynyng (fol. 138v), est simplex, PL 184, 1283C, MGL variant and addition. In this and the next entry, ‘geminatio’ adds meaning to the text. be chaste by justice and vertue (fol. 138v), casti esse per justitiam, PL 184, 1283C, MGL addition. begyn their lyef of playnes and symplenes [with feer] (fol. 138v), vias rectitudinis et simplicitatis suae timore inchoat, PL 184, 1283C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 100v. Batt translates: ‘begin the way of righteousnes and simplicitie with feare’, p. 373. Although the reading ‘before’ in MGL makes some sense, the examination of fear and charity in Chapter 4 suggests that ‘with feer’ is the correct reading. ‘ther ys oon syngler dove of myn þat is perfitte, and syngler electe, and chosyn to hyr moder’ (fol. 138v), ‘Una est columba mea, perfecta mea: una est matri suae, electa genitrici suae’ (Cantic. vi, 8), PL 184, 1283D, i.e., ‘there is one single dove of mine that is perfect, and uniquely elected and chosen of her mother’. The King James version reads: ‘My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her’, Song 6. 9. and be not dyvyded from oon (fol. 138v), et ab unitate non dividuntur, PL 184, 1283D, i.e., ‘and are not diuided from vnitie’, Batt, pp. 373–74. and joyne togyder by charite (fols 138v–139r), dum habentes cor unum et animam unam se in charitate conjungunt, PL 184, 1283D, MGL omission. Batt

Commentary

399

translates: ‘as long as hauing one heart and one soule they conioyne themselues in charitie’, p. 374. as oon syngler dove of Cryste (fol. 139r), una columba, PL 184, 1283D, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit. had in contempte of worldly peple (fol. 139r), apud homines despecta sunt, PL 184, 1283D–84A, MGL addition. ‘Furor illis secundum similitudinem serpentis, sicut aspidis surd[a]e, et obturantis aures suas, ut non exaudiat vocem incantantium, et venefici incantantis sapienter’ (Psal. lvii, 5–6), PL 184, 1284A–B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘They haue furie according to the similitude of a serpent: as of the Aspe that is deafe, and stoppeth his eares: which will not heare the voyce f the inchanters and of the sorcerer inchanting wisely’, p. 375. ‘þat þe flateryng of the synnere’ (fol. 139r) ‘oleum peccatoris’, PL 184, 1284B, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the translator interprets rather than translates. ‘doo not disseyve you’ (fol. 139r), ‘non impinguet caput tuum’ (Psal. cxi, 5), PL 184, 1284B, MGL variant. Oleum peccatoris, laus est adulatoris, PL 184, 1284B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘By the oyle of a sinner, I meane the praise of a flatterer’, p. 375. be ye also prudent þat evyl wordis entyr not by your eerys into your soule, and so dye (fol. 139v) tu esto prudens, ne verba mala per aures tuas intrent ad animam tuam, et moriaris, PL 184, 1284B, i.e., ‘be you also prudent so that evil words do not enter into your soul by your eers and so you should die’. For the absence of the personal pronoun, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 42–43. and so dye spiritually (fol. 139v), et moriaris, PL 184, 1284B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. the dove sytteth ofte overe ryvers of watere þat when she seeth the hawke com, she takyth [to] the watere and escapyth aweye [...] þat ye may reste on þe revers of Holy Scriptur and by the counsell of hit ye may escape þe daunger

400

Commentary

of þe devyll (fols  139v–140r), columba saepe super rivulos aquarum sedet, ut viso accipitre veniente se in undas immergat, et evadat […] scilicet ut super rivulos sanctarum Scripturarum sedeas, et admonitione earum incursum diaboli evadas, PL 184, 1284C. Compare with Aelred’s Rule of Life for a Recluse, ‘nunquam uolo esse securam, sed timere semper tuamque fragilitatem habere suspectam, et instar pauidae columbae frequentare riuos aquarum, et quasi in speculo accipitris cernere superuolantis effigiem, et cauere. Riui aquarum sententiae sunt Scripturarum, qui de limpidissimo sapientiae fonte profluentes, diabolicarum suggestionum produnt imaginem, et sensum, quo caueantur elucidant’, Aelred of Rievaulx, De institutione inclusarum, ed. by Hoste and Talbot, p. 654. ‘I would have you never rest secure but always be afraid. Beware of your weakness and like the timid dove go often to streams of water where as in a mirror you may see the reflection of the hawk as he hovers overhead and be on your guard. The streams of water are the teaching of Scripture, flowing from the clear fountain of wisdom. It makes you aware of the devil’s promptings and teaches you how to take precautions’, Aelred of Rievaulx, A Rule of Life for a Recluse, trans. by MacPherson, p. 68. The same image appears elsewhere: ‘Iuxta [columba] fluenta sedet ut uiso accipitre se demergat et sic euadat’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘The bird sits near running water so that if it sees a hawk it can dive in and escape. In the same way the preachers have the Holy Scriptures close at hand, so that, seeing the devil attacking them with temptations, they can immerse themselves in the actions prescribed by Scripture and thus escape’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. See also Hildegard of Bingen, Letters, trans. by Baird and Ehrman, i, letter 77r, p.171. she takyth [to] the watere and escapyth aweye (fols 139v–140r), se in undas immergat, et evadat, PL 184, 1284C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 102r. Batt translates: ‘shee may diue into the water, and so escape his talents’, pp. 376–77. The omission of the preposition in MGL is obviously a scribal mistake. She chesyth of þe beste korn (fol. 140r), in tritico meliora grana eligit, PL 184, 1284C. ‘Meliora grana eligit eodemmodo ipsi meliores sententias de scripturis eligunt’. Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v; ‘The dove chooses its grain, pecking out the best, just as preachers choose the best sentences from the Scriptures’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162 Oftetymes she bryngyth up straunge byrdys and noryscheth them (fol. 140r), saepe alienos pullos nutrit, PL 184, 1284C. ‘Alienos pullos nutrit’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘It brings up the chicks of other birds’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162.

Commentary

401

she bryngyth up straunge byrdys (fol. 140r), alienos pullos nutrit, PL 184, 1284C, i.e., ‘she brings up another’s chicks’. She smyteth not with hyr byll (fol. 140r), rostro non percutit, PL 184, 1284C. ‘Hec [non] lacerat rostro. Et hoc bene competit predicatoribus qui sanctas scripturas non corrumpunt, sicut heretici faciunt’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘The dove does not mangle things with its beak: again, this applies to the preachers, who do not falsify the Holy Scriptures as the heretics do’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. She hath no gall (fol. 140r), non habet fel, PL 184, 1284C. ‘Columba simplex auis est felle caret’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80r. ‘The dove is a simple bird, free of gall’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 161. She maketh hyr neste in wallys (fol. 140r), nidum facit in fenestris murorum, PL 184, 1284C. Batt translates: ‘shee buildeth her nest in the holes of walls’, p.  377. ‘In foraminibus petre nidificant’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘It nests in holes in the rock’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. She hath a mournyng for hyr song (fol.  140r), gemitum habet pro cantu, PL 184, 1284C. ‘Habet gemitum pro cantu’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol.  80v. ‘The dove sighs rather than sings’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. The Bestiary mentions three other qualities of doves not referred to in MGL: ‘Alis se defendunt. Ita predicatores sententiis patrum se muniunt et defendunt […] Habet et hanc naturam ut uisionem amissam recuperet. Ita predicatores ecclesie aliquo dono spiritus sancti amisso per aliquod peccatum recuperant illud, sicut et dauid qui spiritum prophetie quem amiserrat recuperauit. Habet et hanc naturam quod gregatim uolant. Eodem modo predicatores gregatim fidem tenentes tendunt gressibus bonorum operum atque uirtutum’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fols 80v–81r. ‘The dove uses its wings to defend itself; and the preachers strengthen their defences with the words of the fathers […] The dove can also recover from blindness: the preachers of the Holy Church, if some gift of the Holy Spirit has been lost through a person’s sin, recover it just as David recovered the gift of prophecy which he had lost. It flies in flocks, just as the preachers who believe in the faith gather in flocks and follow good works’, Barber, Bestiary, pp. 162–63.

402

Commentary

þat ye may reste on þe revers (fol. 140r), ut super rivulos […] sedeas, PL 184, 1284C, MGL variant. The translator interprets the verb rather than translates it. þat is to sey, suche persons as be straunge from God by your good wordis and exaumple converte them to God (fol. 140r), id est, homines prius a Deo alienos, tuis verbis atque exemplis ad Deum converte, PL 184, 1284D. ‘Ita predicatores filios huius seculi alienatos a deo per peccatum suis predicationibus nutriunt eos trahentes ad Christum’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘The preachers nourish the children of this world who are estranged from God by their sins, and bring them again to Christ’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. þat is, have no wreth in you (fol. 140r), id est, non habeas in te iracundiam, PL 184, 1284D. ‘Ita predicatores carent ira et amaritudine quia licet irascantur, tamen non dicitur ira, cum rationabilitate irascantur’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80r–v. ‘In the same way, preachers are free from rage and bitterness, because although they may be angry, it cannot be called rage when they are angry with good reason’, Barber, Bestiary, pp. 161–62. that ys, putte your hope in þe woundis and passion of Jhesu Cryste your spouse (fol. 140r–v), id est, spem tuam, PL 184, 1284D; id est, spem tuam in celo pone, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 102r, MGL addition. It seems that PL here is missing a few words. Batt translates: ‘that is, put your confidence in our Sauiours sufferings’, p. 378. ‘Sic et predicatores in uulneribus, id est in fide uulnerum Christi de quo dicitur: “Petra autem erat Christus”. Nidum, id est munimentum sibi et illis faciunt’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘Just as preachers take refuge in their belief in the wounds of Christ, of which it is said: “The rock morever was Jesus”. They make a nest and a defence there for themselves and others’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162. as seculer persons be mery in worldly songis, so be ye glad in wepyng and spiritual mournyng (fol. 140v), ut sicut homines saeculares gaudent cantilenis saeculi, ita tu gaudeas in gemitu et tristitia spirituali, PL 184 1284D. ‘Ita predicatores procul amoto cantus et amore seculi, gemiunt pro suis et altorum peccatis’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fol. 80v. ‘And so the preachers, not caring for love-songs, sigh for their own sins and those of others’, Barber, Bestiary, p. 162.

Commentary

403

to make hym a dwellyng place theryn (fol.  140v), apud te mansionem sibi facere in domicilio tui pectoris, PL 184, 1285A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to make to himselfe a mansion in you in the house of your breast’, p. 379. The translator omits the possibly unchaste suggestion.

Chapter 57: Flee from secular women (PL 184, 1285A: De fuga mulierum saecularium; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De societate saecularium mulierum;16 Batt: That a virgin ought to auoid the companie of lay woemen)

This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s and in Tyrwhitt’s translations. The lvii exhortacion shewyth how religyous persons shuld flye þe company and communicacion of seculer women for dyverse perelles that cummyth therof (fol. 140v), MGL addition. flye þe cumpany of seculer wemen (fol.  141r). Daichman writes: ‘in their never-ending effort to curb the abuses prompted by the need to entertain noble company, the bishops were constantly issuing new injunctions or refurbishing old rules that had been allowed to expire. One such was the Cistercian statute establishing that nuns were forbidden to eat with secular guests “on account of the perils which besest cloistered persons if they live among the gentiles, and lest their good manners be corrupted by evil communications”’ Daichman, ‘Misconduct in the Medieval Nunnery’, pp. 111–12. Lete not seculer women þat be not of your profession be in felyship with you, for they wyll preche unto you þat they love (fol. 141r), Saeculares feminae, quae tecum non habent unam professionem, non accedant ad tuam societatem, quia quod amant hae, tibi praedicant, PL  184, 1285A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 100.

16  In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘De societate secular[i]um mulierum vitandam’. Note that in Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, the title is ‘Ut vitentur laicae mulieres’. Some early printed texts of the Liber follow Leander’s heading for this chapter. Chapter 57 in Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem (1507), for instance, is entitled ‘Ut layci mulieres vitentur’.

404

Commentary

Ecce quod diligunt, tibi dicunt, PL 184, 1285A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Behold, what they loue, that they say vnto you’, p. 380. Sic enim scriptum est, PL 184, 1285B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘For so the common Prouerbe goeth’, p. 380. to flye theyr company (fol. 141r), ut societatem saecularium feminarum expellas a te, PL 184, 1285B, MGL variant. The phrase is already introduced in the argument of the present chapter: ‘The lvii exhortacion shewyth how religyous persons shuld flye þe company’, fol. 140v, my emphasis. The repetition makes the vernacular more didactic. ‘evyll sayengs and shrewd talkyngs doeth corrupt good maneres’ (fol. 141r), ‘corrumpunt bonos mores colloquia mala et prava’ (i Cor. xv, 33), PL 184, 1285B. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p.100. or a wedded woman with a devoute virgyn of God? (fol. 141r), ‘aut quid agit mulier nupta cum virgine Deo devota?’, PL 184, 1285B. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. with a devoute virgyn of God? (fol. 141r), ‘cum virgine Deo devota?’, PL 184, 1285B, MGL variant. The Middle English highlights devotion rather than the status of the reader. Quid in unum agit saecularis femina cum Christi sponsa?, PL 184, 1285B– C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘What hath a secular woman to doe with Christ’s spouse?’, p. 381. with hyr þat hath dispysed it? (fol. 141v), cum femina quae mundum reliquit?, PL 184, 1285C, MGL variant. The Middle English has the stronger wording. quid agit femina maritata cum muliere Christo dilecta?, PL  184, 1285C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘What maketh a married woman with a woman espoused to Christ the celestial bridegroome?’, p. 381. Femina quae tuum propositum non tenet, quare ad tuam societatem venit?, PL 184, 1285C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Why should a woman that em­braceth not the same course of life with you, be admitted into your company?’, p. 381.

Commentary

405

What shuld a seculer woman company with you þat hath not the habite with you? (fol. 141v), saecularis femina quae non habet tuum habitum, quare accedit ad tuum consortium?, PL 184, 1285C, i.e., ‘Why should a secular woman who does not wear the religious habit with you be in your company?’ What doeth she with you þat beryth not the yoke of Cryste with you? (fol. 141v), saecularis femina quid tecum agit, quae tecum jugum Christi non ducit?, PL 184, 1285C. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. femina quae tecum jugo Christi collum non submisit, quare ad tuum collo­ quium accedit?, PL 184, 1285C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Why should a secular woman, that hath not submitted her neck with you to the yoke of Christ, be admitted to your conference?’, p. 382. She þat doeth varye in habite doeth varie in affeccion (fol. 141v), Dispar est habitu, dispar affectu, PL 184, 1285C. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. A seculer woman ys an instrument of Sathan. She syngyth to you for to stere you to unthriftynes of þe world and sheweth you the wayes of þe devyll (fol. 141v), Mulier saecularis organum est satanae. Haec cantat tibi quod illecebras saeculi moveat, et semitas diaboli ostendat, PL 184, 1285C–D. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 102. to stere you to unthriftynes of þe world (fol. 141v), quod illecebras saeculi moveat, PL 184, 1285D, MGL variant. The Middle English wording underlines the wickedness of the world. As we rede of the marmayde, which is from þe bely upwarde lyke a fayr mayde and from þe bely dounward lyke a byrde [...] In lyke wyse a seculer woman by hyr disseytfull communicacion disseyveth the servante of Cryste, and [...] ys wonte to drawe backe þe servantis of God from theyr good purpose and brynge them in jeopardye of theyr soules (fols  141v–142r), Sirena maris talis est sursum ex umbilico, qualis pulcherrima et formosa virgo: ab umbilico vero usque ad pedes talis sicut est piscis […] ita saecularis femina per suos deceptorios sermones decipit Christi servos. Et […] solet Deo servientes a sancto proposito retrahere, et in periculum animarum suarum perducere, PL 184,

406

Commentary

1285D–86A. Compare the whole extract to this account: ‘Syrene sicut dicit phisiologus mortifera sunt animalia, que a capite usque ad umbilicum figuras habent hominum, extremas uero partes usque ad pedes habent uolatilis. Et quia figura musica quoddam dulcissimum melodie carmen emitunt, ita ut per suauitatem uocis auditus hominum alonge nauigantium demulceant et ad se trahant. Ac nimia suauitatis modulatione perlectant aures et sensus eorum et eos in sompnum uertant. Tunc demum cum uiderint eos in graui sompno, subito inuadunt et dilaniant carnes eorum, et sic persuasione uocis ignaros et incautos homines decipiunt et mortificant. Sic igitur decipiuntur qui in deliciis et pompis et uoluptatibus delectantur et comediis et tragediis et diuersis musicis melodiis dissoluti, uelut in sompno graui totum mentis uigorem amitunt et subito efficiuntur aduersariorum auidissime prede’, Book of Beasts: A Facsimile of MS Bodley 764, intro. by de Hamel, fols 74v–75r. ‘Sirens, so the naturalists tell us, are deadly creatures, which from the head down to the navel are like men, but their lower parts down to their feet are like birds. Their music is a song with the sweetest melody, so that if seafaring men hear it afar off, they leve their true course and are lured towards the sirens. The sweetness of the sound enchants their ears and senses and lulls them to sleep. As soon as they are fast asleep, the sirens attack them and devour their flesh, and so the lure of their voices brings ignorant and imprudent men to their death. In the same way all those who delight in the pomp and vanity and delights of this world, and lose the vigour of their minds by listening to comedies, tragedies and various musical melodies, will suddenly become the prey of their enemies’, Barber, Bestiary, pp. 150–51. For an assessment of sirens in the Middle Age, see Leach, ‘“The Little Pipe Sings Sweetly while the Fowler Deceives the Bird”’, pp. 187–211. from þe bely upwarde (fol. 141v), sursum ex umbilico, PL 184, 1285D, MGL variant. If the vernacular often adds precision to the text, it does not do so with physical descriptions which could cause unchaste thoughts. and from þe bely dounward lyke a byrde (fol. 141v), ab umbilico vero usque ad pedes talis sicut est piscis, PL 184, 1285D; ex umbilico vero usque ad pedes est talis sicut avis, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 103v. Batt translates: ‘but from the nauel downe to the feete, shee is like to a fish’, p. 382, my emphasis. Bird or fish, there seems to be some confusion here between the various versions, but bird is the right translation. It is interesting to note that in the Bestiary mentioned above, if the text speaks of sirens being ‘like birds’, the illustration shows them to be half-fish. See Barber, Bestiary, p. 150.

Commentary

407

Sirena habet caput virginis, et posteriora piscis, PL 184, 1285D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘A mere-maid hath the head of a virgin, and the hinder parts of a fish’, pp. 382–83. and with a grete swetnes she tymeth them (fol. 141v), atque cum magna dulcedine dat voces concordes, PL 184, 1285D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 103v, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘and most delightfull to the hearers’, p. 383. Saepe nautae navigantes mare dulces audiunt voces sirenarum, et per dulces voces et suaves cantus earum decipiuntur, et ad mortale periculum perducun­ tur, PL 184, 1285D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The mariners oftentimes listen as they saile on the seas to the sweet voyces of the mere-maides, and by their sweet voyces and musick, are deceiued, and suffer shipwrack’, p. 383. Sicut sirena per dulces cantus decipit marinarios, ita saecularis femina per suos deceptorios sermones decipit Christi servos, PL 184, 1285D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Like as the meare-maid by her sweet songs deceiueth the marriners, so a secular woman by her deceitfull speaches deceiueth Christs seruants’, p. 383. flye the song of þe marmaydes les when ye delyte to here worldly flateryngs, ye be turned from the ryȝt waye (fol. 142r), fuge cantus sirenarum, ne dum delectaris audire delectamenta terrena, a recto intinere avertaris, PL 184, 1286A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. ye delyte to here worldly flateryngs (fol. 142r), dum delectaris audire delectamenta terrena, PL 184, 1286A, MGL variant. The vernacular stresses the nature of these words rather than their effect on the reader. flye theyr songis and plucke your eerys from the tong of evyl counsellers (fol. 142r), cantus sirenae fuga et a lingua mala suadentis mulieris separa aures tuas, PL 184, 1286A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. from the tong of evyl counsellers (fol. 142r), a lingua mala suadentis mulieris, PL 184, 1286A, MGL variant. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below.

408

Commentary

Vide ne mulier vana et garrula infundat in aures tuas mortis venena, PL 184, 1286B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Take heede least a vaine and pratling woman infect your eares with deadly poyson’, p. 384. per fenestras tuas, id est, PL 184, 1286B. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in by your windowes, that is’, p. 384. when ye se a woman contrarye to your purpose, arme your hart with þe bockeler of feyth, and your forhede with the signe of þe crosse agaynst hyr (fol. 142r–v), cum videris mulierem disparem tui propositi, muni cor tuum scuto fidei; et contra eam trophaeo crucis arma frontem tuam, PL 184, 1286B. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 1, p. 101. in this oonly I wyll (fol. 142v), in hoc solum […] concedo, PL 184, 1286B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the stronger expression. In hoc solum tantum do tibi licentiam loquendi cum saeculi femina, PL 184, 1286B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘In this respect onely I giue you leaue to talke with a secular woman’, p. 385. and to love hevenly ryches (fol. 142v), et amare coelestia, PL 184, 1286B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Item, ut per tuam allocutionem transitoria despiciat et aeterna concupiscat, PL 184, 1286B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Againe, that by your good counsell, shee may contemne transitorie things, and couet those that are eternal’, p. 385. as I teche you (fol. 142v), sicut dixi tibi, PL 184, 1286C, MGL variant. This is entirely appropriate to the vernacular version, since the translator gives his reader more guidance to understand the text correctly.

Commentary

409

Chapter 58: Flee from men (PL 184, 1286C: De cavendo virorum

consortio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De societate vir[orum];17 Batt: That a virgin ought not to loue the companie of men) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s and in Tyrwhitt’s translations. Note that Chapter 2 of Leander of Seville’s De institutione virginum is ‘Ut virgo effugiat virum’. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101.

The lviii exhortacion shewyth howe religyous women shuld have famyliaryte with no man nor be ofte in hys company or sight, be he nevere so good or perfytte, forto avoyde dyvers occasyons and perellys (fol. 142v), MGL addition. if þat with so grete diligens ye shuld flye women, howe mych more ouȝte ye to flye men? (fol. 142v), si tanto studio […] quanto magis debes fugere viros?, PL 184, 1286C. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. ye shuld not here women (fol. 143r), aures tuas separabis a verbis feminarum, PL 184, 1286C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common wording. ‘Separare’ is again translated by ‘not here’ in the next clause, but is not recorded here. þat a man, þough he be vertuous, have noo felyshyp or company with you (fol. 143r), ut vir quamvis sit sanctus, nullam tamen tecum habeat societatem, PL 184, 1286C–D. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p.101. þough he be vertuous (fol. 143r), quamvis sit sanctus, PL 184, 1286C, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ replaced by a different adjective. lete hym not ofte se you (fol. 143r), nullam tecum habeat vivendi jugitatem, PL 184, 1286D, MGL variant. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101.

17 

In the List of Contents, this title reads: ‘Ut virgo non diligat societatem virorum’.

410

Commentary

ye lese both your chastite (fol. 143r), utriusque pereat castitas, PL 184, 1286D. Leander has here: ‘utriusque sanctitas […] pereat’. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. ye lese both your goodnes and holynes (fol.  143r), annihiletur honestas, PL 184, 1286D, MGL variant. This is a rare instance where the translator introduces ‘holynes’ when it is absent from the Latin text. It would seem that he thought that ‘honestas’ (i.e., ‘reputation’, ‘respectability’) was not a word strong enough to express the loss of chastity. The ‘geminatio’ reinforces the strength of his feeling on this point. He lesyth the love and charite of God þat gyveth occasion to syn [...] yit he doeth norysche an unhappy fame (fol. 143r), Decidet a charitate Dei, qui occasionem dederit peccandi […] tamen opinionem pessimam nutrit, PL 184, 1286D. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. He lesyth the love and charite of God þat gyveth occasion to syn, and he le[s]yth þe love and charite of the neyȝbour (fol. 143r), Decidet a charitate Dei, qui occasionem dederit peccandi. Decidet etiam a charitate proximi, PL 184, 1286D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 105r. Batt translates: ‘He sheweth himselfe to haue lesse charitie towards God then is fitting, that giueth occasion of offending. He sheweth himselfe likewise to haue lesse loue towards his neighbour then is expedient’, p. 387, my emphasis. Although ‘levyth’ in MGL makes some sense, the repetition of the same verb in the Latin and Batt’s translation suggests that ‘lesyth’ is the correct reading for the second half of the sentence. He le[s]yth the love (fol. 143r), Decidet a charitate, PL 184, 1286D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. he doeth norysche an unhappy fame (fol. 143r), opinionem pessimam nutrit, PL 184, 1286D, MGL variant. Another example of the translator’s skill, since ‘unhappy’ is a more appropriate and the richer adjective in this context. And occasyon many tymes maketh and causeth a wyll to syn. Whom evyl luste cowd not overecom, custom shall (fol.  143v), Saepe occasio peccandi voluntatem fecit et facit. Quos voluptas superare non potuit assiduitas superat, PL 184, 1286D–87A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 18, p. 75.

Commentary

411

Whom evyl luste (fol. 143v), Quos voluptas, PL 184, 1287A, MGL addition. The Middle English often reinforces the message of the text by the addition of adjectives and adverbs. Two dyverse kyndis beeng togydere provokyth þe nature of þe body to þat it ys redye. The natural hete of þe bodye ys kyndeled yf þat it towch eny unlefull thyng (fol. 143v), Dispar sexus in unum collocatus illuc provocat instinctum carnis, quo nascitur. Etiam naturalis flamma carnis accenditur, si illicita attingit, PL 184, 1287A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. Two dyverse kyndis (fol. 143v), Dispar sexus, PL 184, 1287A, MGL variant, yet another instance of the translator avoiding explicit sexual references. provokyth þe nature of þe body (fol. 143v), provocat instinctum carnis, PL 184, 1287A, MGL variant. Another example of the translator replacing ‘caro’ by ‘body’. to þat it ys redye (fol. 143v), quo nascitur, PL 184, 1287A, MGL variant. The translator avoids the possibly unchaste reference (for a virgin nun). ‘Who wyl put fyre in his bosom and shal not be burned?’ Fyre and towe put togyder causeth a flame (fol. 143v), ‘Quis colligabit ignem in sinu suo, et non comburetur?’ (Prov. vi, 27). Ignis et stupa in unum posita flammas nutriunt, PL 184, 1287A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. Quanquam sint contraria, si in unum fuerint collocata, flammas generant, PL 184, 1287A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Although they be of a contrarie nature, yet if they be put together, they beget fire’, p. 389. So man and woman, thouȝe they be two contraryes (fol.  143v), ita vir et femina, PL 184, 1287A, MGL addition, perhaps from the previous omitted sentence. Sexus viri et feminae diversus est; et ideo si in unum conjunguntur, statim inde occasio peccandi nascitur, PL 184, 1287B, MGL omission. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 2, p. 101. Batt translates:

412

Commentary

‘The Sexe of a man and a wom[a]n are different: and therefore if they meete togither ouer often, there ariseth an occasion of sinning’, p. 389. into þe hevenly chambre (fol. 144r), coelestem thalamum, PL 184, 1287B. In this and the next entry, the translator avoids the sexual connotation. Note that the same variant for ‘thalamus’ (i.e., ‘sleeping room’, ‘marriage bed’) occurs earlier in the text. See above, fol. 97r. be sewer from syn of the bodye (fol. 144r), esse a fornicatione secura, PL 184, 1287C, MGL variant. Lete men [not] knowe your name (fol. 144v), Viri nomen tuum non sciant, PL 184, 1287C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 105v. Batt translates: ‘Let not men know your name’, p. 391, my emphasis. The absence of negation in MGL is probably due to scribal error.

Chapter 59: Flee from young men (PL 184, 1287D: De fugienda

societate juvenum; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De fugere societate juvenum;18 Batt: That a virgin ought to shunne the company of young men) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s and in Tyrwhitt’s translations. Chapter 3 of Leander’s De institutione virginum is ‘Ut declinare debeat virgo iuvenes’, pp. 102–03. The lix exhortacion shewyth and councellyth þat a religyous woman shuld flye þe company of yong men and not comen with them allone, and sheweth how we shulde love man (fol. 144v), MGL addition.

if þat on this wyse holy and devoute men shuld be exchued [...] þat folow the synfull wayes and pleasur of the worlde? (fol. 144v), si taliter viri sancti sunt declinandi […] qui sequuntur temporalis vitae tenebrosas vias, ac delectationes?, PL 184, 1287D. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. 18 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘ut virgo fugiat societatem juvenum’.

Commentary

413

les both goodnes (fol. 144v), ne utriusque sanctitas, PL 184, 1287D, MGL variant. Another instance of ‘sanctus’ and its derivatives replaced by a different word in the Middle English. and pleasur of the worlde (fol. 144v), temporalis vitae […] delectationes, PL 184, 1287D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. For this cause the devel bryngyth yong men in þe sight of a religiouse woman: þat she may remembre and thynke in the nyȝt-tyme the persons of them whom she sawe on the daye-time (fol. 145r), Ad hoc diabolus oculis religiosae feminae juvenes objicit, ut formas eorum quos per diem viderit, meditetur in nocte, PL 184, 1287D–88A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. and þat a late vision and the seeng of the bodye be often in hyr mynde (fol. 145r), et ut recens visio corporis inspectio assidue versetur in animo, PL 184, 1288A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. So þe arowe of Sathan entreth in by the eyes [...] The arowe of þe devel entreth not but by the wyttys of þe bodye (fol. 145r), Sic intrat sagitta Satanae per januas oculorum […] Non intrat sagitta diaboli ad interiora mentis, nisi per sensus corporis, PL 184, 1288A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. men muste be loved, but beeng absent (fol.  145r), amandi sunt viri, sed absentes, PL 184, 1288A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. but not within you, but withoute from you (fol. 145r), non intus, sed foris, PL  184, 1288A, MGL additions. The Middle English is more explicit: the translator is always going the extra mile to ensure that his reader understands the point made by the text. in your harte, but not in your companye (fol. 145r), in animo, sed non in domo, PL 184, 1288A, MGL variant. Here the Latin sounds better stylistically, but perhaps at the detriment of the intended meaning. Although the translator is sensitive to matters of style, he always privileges the meaning first.

414

Commentary

diligendi sunt viri, quia sunt opus Dei, sed extra domum, PL 184, 1288A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Men are to be loued, for that they are the worke of God, yet not within your house or place of abode’, p. 394. Men ye ouȝt to love not for the bewty of the bodye but þat they be the creatures of God (fol. 145r–v), amandi sunt viri non propter pulchritudinem corporis, sed quia sunt opus Creatoris, PL 184, 1288A. Leander of Seville, De institutione virginum, ed. by Vega, chap. 3, p. 102. but with hyr confessour (fol. 145v), nisi cum suo magistro, PL 184, 1288B, MGL variant. The vernacular here restricts the meaning of ‘magister’ (‘master in theology’, ‘head of ecclesiastical order, house or department’, ‘head of college’) to ‘her confessor’. It is interesting to note that Batt translates: ‘cum suo magistro’ by ‘with her ouerseer or ghostly father’ (p. 394), thus allowing for diverse possibilities. Paynell and Tyrwhitt both omit the chapter. folyschnes and vyce doeth reygn (fol.  145v), stultitia […] regnat, PL  184, 1288B, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning and thereby reinforcing the message of the text.

Chapter 60: Flee from evil company (PL  184, 1288B: De

vitando pravorum consortio; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De malorum societate;19 Batt: That a virgin ought not to conuerse with bad men) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s and in Tyrwhitt’s translations. The lx exhortacion doeth counsell forto flye all evyll companye and to be conversaunte with good and vertuous persons (fol. 145v), MGL addition.

‘lete good persons be in thy companye’ (fol. 146r), ‘Viri justi socii sint tibi; in timore Dei sit gloria tua’ (Eccli. ix, 22), PL 184, 1288C. MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Let iust men be your guests, and let your gloriation be in the feare of God’, p. 396.

19 

In the List of Contents, the title of this chapter reads: ‘Ne virgo non accedat ad socie­ tatem malorum hominum’.

Commentary

415

Saynte Ambrose sayth: ‘the lyfe of good persons shuld be a doctryne to oþere of wele lyvyng’ (fol. 146r) Beatus Ambrosius: ‘Sanctorum hominum vita caeteris hominibus bene vivendi debet esse norma’, PL 184, 1288C. Ambrose, De Ioseph, ed. by Schenkl, p. 73. ‘the lyfe of good persons’ (fol.  146r), ‘sanctorum hominum vita’, PL  184, 1288C, MGL variant. ‘Good’ is one of the adjectives which replaces ‘sanctus’ in the vernacular. ‘a doctryne to oþere of wele lyvyng’ (fol. 146r), ‘caeteris hominibus bene vivendi […] norma’, PL 184, 1288C. Note that the Latin reads here ‘norma’, i.e., ‘rule’. The wording reminds the reader of the work’s title: The Manere of Good Lyvyng, my emphasis. The translator again prefers ‘doctryne’ in the Epilogue: ‘some doctryne of holy counsell’, fol. 173r (verba sanctae admonitionis, PL 184, 1305B). of his company and conversacion (fol. 146r), ex ejus societate, PL 184, 1288C, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing additional meaning. and take exaumple of good lyvyng (fol.  146r), et exemplum boni operis, PL 184, 1288C, MGL variant. The Middle English again reminds the reader of the work’s title. Vere ille homo est laudabilis, qui in societate malorum bonus, PL  184, 1288C–D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Verily that man is exceeding laudable, that is good euen among such as are euill’, p. 397. As þe son rysyng (fol. 146v), Sicut sol oriens, PL 184, 1288D, i.e., the sun. Note that Middle English devotional texts often play on the words ‘sun/son’ (i.e., ‘sol’ and ‘filius Dei’). puttyth away the darke mystis (fol. 146v), expellit caliginem, PL 184, 1288D, MGL addition. The Middle English often strengthens the text by the addition of qualifying adjectives. doeth expell oute of oure knowlege (fol.  146v), a sensibus nostris expellit, PL 184, 1288D, MGL variant. The vernacular extends the meaning to include intellectual cognition.

416

Commentary

and ye wyll lyve wele (fol. 146v), si vis bene vivere, PL 184, 1288D. Another reminder of the text’s title and intention. Forsake lewde persons, put fro you folysch persons. Flye the company of men and women þat be redye to syn and offende (fol.  146v), Vita malos, cave iniquos, fuge improbos, sperne a te ignavos. Fuge turbas hominum, maxime aetatum quae pronae sunt ad vitium, PL 184, 1288D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 43, p. 97. þat be redye to syn and offende (fol. 146v), maxime aetatum quae pronae sunt ad vitium, PL 184, 1288D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘especially of the younger sort, that are prone to sinne’, p.  398, my emphasis. The vernacular emphasizes the propensity to sin whatever the age. company not with lyght persons nor with such as be ydyll and vayne (fol.  146v), nec te adjungas levibus personis, nec te admisceas vanis, PL  184, 1288D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 43, p. 97. Drawe ye to good company and desyre the felyshyp of such [...] He þat towchyth myre or eny foule thyng shal be made foule (fols 146v–147r), Bonis te conjunge, bonorum consortium apete […] Qui enim tetigerit immundum, coinquinabitur: qui tetigerit sordidum, sordidabitur, PL 184, 1288D–89A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 44, p. 98. and be conversaunte contynually with them (fol.  146v), sanctis individue adhaere, PL 184, 1289A, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ being omitted in the vernacular version. For it ys commenly seen þat a man or woman wyl be conversaunte with such þat be lyke of conversacion unto them (fol. 147r), Similis enim simili conjungi solet, PL 184, 1289A, MGL variant. The vernacular is here much more explicit than the Latin, but keeping close to it, unlike Batt who quite untypically translates: ‘For birdes of a feather are wont to flock togither; and like to like, quoth the diuel to the colliar’, p. 398. Hit ys very perylous (fol. 147r), Periculosum est, PL 184, 1289A, MGL addition. Another example of the Middle English strengthening the text’s message by the introduction of adjectives and adverbs.

Commentary

417

Hyt ys jeopardy to be conversaunt (fol. 147r), perniciosum est vitam […] sociari, PL 184, 1289A, i.e., ‘it is dangerous to associate oneself ’. For the absence of the indefinite article before the noun, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 45. the componable lyvyng of such as be good and vertuous (fol.  147r), vita communis sanctorum, PL 184, 1289A MGL variant. A rare instance where the Latin has the more common word. Batt translates: ‘the conuersing and liuing togither of good men’, p. 399. For the meaning of ‘componable’. See Glossary. hath mych good profytte (fol. 147r), multa habet bona, PL 184, 1289A, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular reinforces the text’s message with additions. hath many evyl commodites (fol. 147r), plurima mala affert, PL 184, 1289A, MGL addition.

Chapter 61: Accept no letters or gifts (PL 184, 1289B: De litteris vel munusculis clanculum non acceptandis; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De accipere litteras in occulto;20 Batt: That a virgin ought not to receiue letters or tokens in secret; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Receiving of Letters and Small Presents Secretly) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation. The lxi exhortacion sheweth how a religyous person shuld not receyve pryvely [om.] letters nor gyftes or rewardis of seculer persons, nor loke after such vanytees for dyvers causes (fol. 147r), MGL addition. þat receyveth pryvely eny letters or gyftis breketh hyr religion (fol. 147r–v), quae in abscondito litteras vel dona recipit, Ordinem suum frangit, PL  184, 1289B. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 904B.

20 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘Ut virgo non suscipiat dona vel litteras in occulto’.

418

Commentary

þat receyveth pryvely eny letters or gyftis (fol.  147r–v). Daichman notes: ‘Despite pressure and precautions, however, the world continued to penetrate the cloister […] Dean Kentwode of St Helens enjoined the prioress and convent that “none of them speak nor commune with a secular person, nor send or receive letters, missives or gifts of any secular person”’. Daichman, ‘Misconduct in the Medieval Nunnery’, p. 113. breketh hyr religion (fol. 147v), Ordinem suum frangit, PL 184, 1289B, MGL variant. The translator seems to be more interested in the reader’s endangering her whole ‘raison d’être’ in the monastery rather than merely breaking the commandments of her Order. Batt is here more specific: ‘doth contrarie to the rule of our most holy Father S. Bennet (chap. 54.)’, p. 400. for she breketh hyr profession þat for temperall gyftis hurteth and doeth agaynst hyr religion (fol. 147v), quia sum Ordinem frangit […] quae propter temporalia dona, sui Ordinis praevaricatrix existit, PL 184, 1289B, i.e., ‘she who for the receiving of temperal gifts harms and acts against the constitutions of her religion violates her monastic profession’. A religiouse woman (fol. 147v), Sanctimonialis femina, PL 184, 1289B. Batt has here an interesting addition: ‘A Nunne or religious women’, p. 400, my emphasis. with Cryste to the hevenly maryage (fol. 147v), cum Christo […] ad nuptias, PL 184, 1289B, MGL addition. The translator makes sure that no doubt is possible as to the nature of this marriage. She þat wayteth after the commyng of Cryste with a burnyng lampe (fol. 147v), another reference to the Parable of the Ten Wise Virgins, Matt. 25. 1–12. of hyr worldly frendes (fol. 147v), ab amicis suis, PL 184, 1289C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. quae propter Deum super caput suum velum sacrum imposuit, PL  184, 1289C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Shee that for the loue of God hath taken a sacred veile vpon her head’, p. 401. Wherfor sayth Saynt Jerom: ‘a good and perfyte love hath no swete lettres and sudaryes [and] many rewardis’ (fols  147v–148r), Unde dicit bea-

Commentary

419

tus Hieronymus: ‘Dulces litteras et sudariola et crebra munuscula sanctus amor non habet’, PL 184, 1289C. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, i, letter lii Ad Nepotianum, section 5, p. 424. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 904D. ‘love hath no swete lettres and sudaryes [and] many rewardis’ (fol. 148r), ‘Dulces litteras et sudariola et crebra munuscula sanctus amor non habet’, PL 184, 1289C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 108v. Batt translates: ‘loue alloweth not of letters of loue or complements, or of hand-kerchiefs, or of frequent tokens or presents’, p. 401, my emphasis. The absence of ‘and’ in MGL appears to be a scribal error. wer perfitte love (fol. 148r), sanctus amor esset, PL 184, 1289C, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ being avoided in the vernacular text. she wold not receyve of seculer persons (fol. 148r), ab hominibus non acciperet, PL 184, 1289C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. A chaste and a religious woman (fol. 148r), Mens casta et religiosa, PL 184, 1289C, MGL variant. Batt again is more specific: ‘A Nunne, that is of a chast and religious mind’, p. 401, my emphasis. Batt’s preference to ‘nunne’ reappears in this chapter but is not recorded below. she hath dispised and forsaken all worldly thyngis (fol.  148r), contemnit omnia terrena, PL 184, 1289C, MGL addition. Another instance of ‘geminatio’ introducing additional meaning. to joye in heven (fol. 148r), gaudere in coelesti patria, PL 184, 1289D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. Casta femina non quaerit terrena dona, sed coelestia, PL 184, 1289D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘A chast woman, coueteth not the contentments of the earth, but of heauen’, p. 402. the more ferr he ys from the love of God (fol. 148r), tanto magis a Dei amore elongatur, PL 184, 1289D, i.e., ‘the farther he or she is from the love of God’. For the formation of comparatives, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 45.

420

Commentary

Igitur, si inter eas quae sunt in monasterio, et eas quae sunt in saeculo, nulla est distantia, inter religiosas etiam et saeculares feminas nulla est dissonan­ tia, PL 184, 1289D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 108v, MGL omission. Batt translates freely: ‘But if there be no difference betweene secular and religious woemen, it is like that their conditions are both one’, p. 402. doo gyve to their worldly frendis (fol. 148r), dant suis amicis, PL 184, 1289D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. The same addition reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. wher ys then goodnes? (fol. 148r), ubi est honestas, PL 184, 1289D, MGL variant. As has been seen in a previous chapter (see fol. 143r), the translator prefers using another word. It is interesting that in both instances he chooses ‘goodnes’ which is more relevant to the text’s title. to plees more seculer lovers and frendis (fol. 148v), placere hominibus in saeculo, PL 184, 1290A, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. of everelastyng burnyng in fyer (fol. 148v), aeterni incendii, PL 184, 1290A, MGL addition. The vernacular text reinforces the text message. And if religyous women covet þe gyftes and rewardes of vanyte to receyve of seculer persons (fols 148v–149r), Igitur, si sanctimoniales feminae concupiscunt dona vanitatis ab hominibus accipere, PL 184, 1290A–B, i.e., ‘and if religious women desire to receive vain gifts and presents from secular persons’. ubi recordatio peccatorum?, PL 184, 1290B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘where is the remembrance of their sinnes and iniquities?’, p. 404. she dispyseth hyr relygion (fol. 149r), Ordinem suum contemnit, PL 184, 1290, MGL variant. See above fol. 147v. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. Batt is more specific: ‘to hate her holy order and habit’, p. 404. brekyth hyr vowe (fol. 149r), propositi est praevaricatrix, PL 184, 1290B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common wording. Again, Batt is more specific: ‘violateth those good purposes, which shee made at her first entrance into the cloister’, pp. 404–05.

Commentary

421

transitory rewardis of seculer persons than everelastyng [gyftis] of Cryste (fol. 149r), ab hominibus […] dona, quam a Christo aeterna bona, PL 184, 1290B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 109v. Batt translates: ‘presents from men, then an eternal recompence from Christ’, p. 405. A literal translation of ‘bona’ would require ‘goodis’, but ‘gyftis’ seem better suited to the context. take transitory rewardis (fol. 149r), accipere dona, PL 184, 1290B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘thou art as fayr as a turtyl’ (fol. 149r), ‘Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis’ (Cantic. i, 9), PL 184, 1290C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Thy cheekes are beautifull, as the turtle doues’, p. 405. Unsurprisingly, the translator has omitted the words which refer to physical beauty. Crystys milytant Chyrch every perfite soule ys lykened to the turtyl bycause [s]he loveth perfitely Cryste (fol. 149r–v), Turturi assimilatur Ecclesia, vel quaelibet sancta anima, quia Christum perfecte diligit, PL 184, 1290C. Batt translates: ‘The Church, or euerie deuout soule is compared to the turtle doue, for that shee perfectly loueth Christ’, p. 405, my emphasis. The Latin has here no expressed subject, but the implied subject is feminine, i.e., ‘Ecclesia’ and ‘sancta anima’ are both feminine nouns. Note also that in MGL ‘turtyl’ features in the next sentence, where it is seen as a feminine word: ‘The turtyll, after she hath loste hyr mate’, fol. 149v, my emphasis. Crystys milytant Chyrch (fol. 149r), Ecclesia, PL 184. 1290C, MGL addition. The vernacular is here more precise. Crystys milytant Chyrch every perfite soule ys lykened to the turtyl (fol. 149r–v), Turturi assimilatur Ecclesia, PL 184, 1290C. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1059D. The turtyll after she hath loste hyr mate sekyth nevere for anoþere after (fol. 149v), Turtur ex quo per occasionem conjugem suum perdidit, nunquam alterum amplius quaerit, PL 184, 1290C. Pseudo-Cassiodorus, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, PL 70, 1059C–D. for she nevere receyveth þe love of anoþere (fol. 149v), quia adulterinum amorem non recipit, PL 184, 1290C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more

422

Commentary

common and more neutral expression. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. she love man above Cryste (fol. 149v), carnaliter hominem super Christum diligit, PL 184, 1290D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘shee carnally loue any man more then Christ’, p. 406. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘caro’ and its derivatives. ‘and desyreth to have hyr to syn with hyr’ (fol. 149v), ‘ad concupiscendum eam’, PL 184, 1290D, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit. ‘hath synned with hyr in hys hart with so thynkyng’ (fol. 149v), ‘moechatus est eam in corde suo’ (Matth. v, 28), PL 184, 1290D, MGL addition. Obsecro, ut Jesum Christum sponsum tuum super omnia diligas, PL  184, 1290D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘I entreat you, that you will loue Christ Iesus your bridegroome aboue all things’, p. 407. þat hath affeccion to worldly tokyns and gyftes doeth not hope of the celestyal rewarde and gyfte (fol. 150r), qui terrena dona affectat, coelestia non sperat, PL 184, 1290D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 83, p. 130. ‘Worldly gyftes’, sayth Scripture, ‘and brybes’ (fol. 150r), ‘munera’, PL 184, 1290D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Note also the added meaning introduced by the ‘geminatio’. Certe, si munera excaecant oculos sapientium, obcaecant etiam ne Deum videant mentes religiosorum virorum, PL 184, 1291A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Certainely if guifts blind the eies of the wise, they will likewise blind the eies of such as are religious, without God’s peculiar grace and affiance’, p. 407. þat he may not be seen and knowen perfitely of them (fol. 150r), ne Christus videatur, PL  184, 1291A, MGL addition. Another instance of meaningful ‘geminatio’.

Commentary

423

Saynt Isidor seyth: ‘the eye of þe mynde cannot se hygh thyngis, whom the duste of the erth closeth up’ (fol. 150r), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Non potest oculus mentis alta videre, quem pulvis claudit’, PL 184, 1291A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, ii, 41, 2, p. 180. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, xxx, 17, p. 120. cannot perfitely se and knowe hevenly thyngis (fol. 150r), non potest […] perfecte coelestia conspicere, PL 184, 1291A, MGL addition. See the second entry above, fol. 150r. The same addition reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. ‘Deus dissipabit ossa eorum qui hominibus placent: confusi sunt, quoniam Deus sprevit eos’ (Psal. lii, 6), PL 184, 1291B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘God hath dissipated the bones of them that please men: they are confounded because God hath despised them’, p. 409. ‘the kyng of aungellis’ (fol. 150v), ‘Regem sanctorum’, PL 184, 1291B, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ not translated but replaced. Ac si diceret: Qui propter Deum manus suas ab omni munere excutit, in coelo habitabit, et Regem sanctorum in gloria sua videbit, PL 184, 1291B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As if he had said more plainely: He that shaketh his hand from al guifts for the loue of God almightie, shall dwell on high, that is, in heauenly felicitie, and shall see the King of kings in his glorie’, p. 409. Shake of your handis from all brybes and seculer gyftes. And yf ye wyll dwell in heven (fol. 150v), et excutias manus tuas ab omni munere; si tu in excelsis vis habitare, PL 184, 1291C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 83, p. 131.

424

Commentary

Chapter 62: Fulfil your vows (PL  184, 1291C: De votis Deo

reddentis; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De voto redendo;21 Batt: That a virgin ought deuoutly to performe what shee hath promised to God; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Paying of Vows to God) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The lxii exhortacion doeth counsell forto fulfyll with devocion and good wyll that that we have vowed and promysed to God (fol. 151r), MGL addition. Referr no good thyng to yourself (fol. 151r), this idea has been examined earlier in Chapter 3, ‘De gratia Dei’. Quicunque ad gaudia aeterna desiderat pervenire, necesse est ut bona quae Deo promisit, studeat adimplere, PL 184, 1291D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Whosoeuer doth desire to attaine to eternal beatitude: must of necessitie endeauour to performe those good things, which he hath promised to God’, pp. 411–12. for it [is] necessary þat (fol. 151v), quia necesse est ut, PL 184, 1291D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 111r–v. The absence of ‘is’ in MGL is due to a scribal error. þat he doeth vowe doo perfourme hit (fol. 151v), ut qui vovit, etiam reddat, PL 184, 1291D, i.e., ‘that he who makes a vow, does fulfill it’. For the absence of the relative pronoun, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, p. 44. we doo promyse in baptym at our crystenyng (fol. 151v), in Baptismo promisimus, PL 184, 1292A, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Ille qui Deo non vult reddere bona, quae vovit ei, quomodo vult a Deo acci­ pere bona quae ei Deus promisit?, PL 184, 1292A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He that will not render to God those good things, which he hath promised him: how can he expect to receiue from God, those good things, which God hath promised him?’, p. 413. 21 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘Ut virgo cum devocione re[d]dat quod Deo promisit’.

Commentary

425

aut quomodo se putat a Deo accipere coelestia dona, qui Deo negligit persol­ vere vota sua?, PL 184, 1292B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Or how doth he thinke to receiue celestial guifts from God that neglecteth to performe his vowes to God’, p. 413. Inter infideles deputabuntur, qui quod voverunt non impleverunt. Melius est enim non promittere, quam fidem promissi non solvere, PL 184, 1292B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘They shall be reputed among the infidells, that performe not their vowes. For it is better not to promise, then not to accomplish’, p. 414. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 58, p. 110. In the sight of God ye shal be gretly to blame [om.] if ye fulfyl not þat ye have promysed (fol. 152r), In conspectu Dei multum eris culpabilis, si non reddideris bonum quod promiseris, PL 184, 1292B; In conspectu Dei multum eris culpabilis, si non reddideris bonum quod promisisti, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 112r. Batt translates: ‘You will be verie culpable in the sight of God, if you do not performe the good, which you haue promised’, p. 414. The double conjunction ‘and if ’ in the manuscript is obviously a scribal error. chaunge your purpos and vowe in evyll promyses (fol. 152r), rescinde fidem in malis promissis, PL 184, 1292C, MGL variant. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 58, p. 110. The ‘geminatio’ introduces added meaning. Note that the translator does not here translate ‘fides’ perhaps in order to avoid the reader some confusion, since ‘fayth’ is used to denote belief in Chapter 1, ‘De fide’. in turpi voto muta decretum, PL 184, 1292C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘in an vnseemely vow, change what you had determined’, pp. 414–15. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 58, p. 110. nor that ye vowed withoute advysement. Hyt ys a wycked promys þat ye perfourme in syn (fol. 152r), quod incaute vovisti, non impleas. Impia est promissio quae scelere adimpletur, PL 184, 1292C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 58, p. 110. ye fulfyll your vowes (fol. 152r), reddideris […] bona, PL 184, 1292C, MGL variant. The wording in the Middle English reminds the reader of this chapter’s theme: i.e., ‘De votis Deo reddendis’.

426

Commentary

Chapter 63: Discretion (PL 184, 1292C: De fine et scopo sui status

semper considerando; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: ut virgo consideret illud per quod venit ad monasterium;22 Batt: That a virgin ought alwayes to consider the reason, [w]hy shee came to religion; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the End and Aim of our State in Life) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The lxiii exhortacion gyveth counsell that whatsoevere we doo, we doo it with discrecion and in convenyente tyme and place (fol. 152v), MGL addition. knowe what ye be; knowe yourself [...] be ye þat woman as God made you (fol. 152v), scite quid sis, cognosce temetipsam […] Talis esto, qualem te Deus facit; qualem te factor instituit, esto talis, PL 184, 1292C–D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 2, pp. 63–64. ad quam rem sis in hoc saeculo provocata. Memento conditionis tuae, PL 184, 1292D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to what end you are placed in this world. Remember what you are’, p. 416. qualem te factor instituit, esto talis, PL 184, 1292D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 112v, MGL omission. Batt freely translates: ‘Liue according to the condition of your creation’, p. 416. Kepe a meane in all your werke [...] Hyt ys a wysdom in you to doo every thyng with discrecion þat ye make not of good evyll (fol. 152v), Tene modum in omni opere tuo […] Temperate facere cuncta prudentia est. Ne de bono facias malum, PL 184, 1292D. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma de lamentatione animae peccatricis, PL 83, 862C–D, 863A, 77–78; Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 77–78, pp. 126–27. Note that the Elfassi edition omits the last two sentences. in omni re temperamentum tene, PL 184, 1292D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘In all your actions keepe the meane’, p. 416. Hyt ys a wysdom in you (fol. 152v), prudentia est, PL 184, 1292D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. 22 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘Ut virgo consideret semper illud propter quod venit ad monasterium’.

Commentary

427

to doo every thyng with discrecion (fol.  152 v), Temperate facere cuncta, PL 184, 1292D, MGL variant. The vernacular reminds the reader of this chapter’s theme. merke what ys meete for every tyme. Considere fyrst what ye ouȝt to doo, and in what place, what tyme, what manere, and how long ye shuld doo it (fols 152v–153r), respice etiam quid sit aptum cuique tempori. Primo videas quid debeas facere, ubi et quando, qualiter, et quandiu facias, PL 184, 1293A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 78, p. 127. By discrecion knowe the causes of everything […] Use and custom ys preferred afore auctoryte. Lawe and reason shall overcom an evyl use (fol. 153r), Per discretionem cognosce causas rerum […] Usus igitur auctoritati cedat. Lex et ratio pravum usum vincant, PL 184, 1293A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 79–80, p. 128. tene discretionem in omni actione tua; cum bene distinxeris opus tuum, optime justa eris, PL 184, 1293A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Vse discretion in all your actions. Your perfection will appeare, if you doe all things after a discreet manner’, p. 417. virtus sine discretione locum vitii obtinet, PL 184, 1293A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Vertu without discretion is esteemed little better then a sinne’, p. 417. By an evyll custom many good thyngis be loste (fol. 153r), Per pravam consuetudinem multa sunt vitiata, PL 184, 1293A, MGL addition and variant. The vernacular reinforces the message of the text and extends the range of meaning. pravo usu multa sunt profanata, PL 184, 1293A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘by euil vse many things are abused’, p. 418. be unlawfully used agaynst good customes (fol. 153r), sunt illicite usurpata contra pudicos mores, PL 184, 1293A, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common adjective.

428

Commentary

Chapter 64: Disregard beauty (PL 184, 1293B: De studio placen­

di hominibus per pulchritudinem cavendo; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: ut virgo non desideret placere hominibus de pulc[h]retudine vultus;23 Batt: That a virgin ought not to seeke to please men by the beautie of her countenance; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Danger of Taking Pleasure in Personal Beauty) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation.

The lxiiii exhortacion counselleth þat a religyous mayden shulde please no man by hyr bewtye and fayrnes, yf she wyll be chaste in bodye and soule (fol. 153v), MGL addition. Quia pulchritudo corporis fallax est, vana est, terra et cinis est, deceptio est hominis, PL 184, 1293C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Because the beautie of the bodie is deceitfull, and vaine: it is earth and ashes, and the deceiuing of man’, p. 419 ‘hit is disseytfull and vayne, it ys also erth and asshys’ (fol. 153v), ‘Fallax gratia, et vana est pulchritudo’ (Prov. xxxi, 30), PL 184, 1293C, MGL variant. The translator has combined the omitted sentence above with the biblical quotation. dum carnis pulchritudinem attendunt, retiaculis diaboli praepediuntur, PL 184, 1293C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘by gazing vpon the comelines of a faire face, they are caught in the diuells net, eare they are awares’, p. 420. þat ye nevere dresse and aray yourself (fol. 154r), ut nunquam vultum tuum componas, PL 184, 1293D, MGL variant. The vernacular here is more explicit, alluding specifically to clothing. Devotional texts written for women often include advice against fancy clothing. See Richard Rolle, The Commandment, in Rolle, Prose and Verse, ed. by Ogilvie-Thomson, p. 36, lines 100–04. ut in conspectu hominum formosa videaris, PL 184, 1293D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘with an affectation to seeme faire in the sight of men’, p. 421.

23 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘Ut virgo non quaerat placere hominibus de pulc[h]retudine vultus’.

Commentary

429

yf ye covette to be wele seen (fol. 154r), si […] vis apparere, PL 184, 1293D, MGL variant. The vernacular is more explicit. Quasi adultera Christo facis injuriam, si ut ab hominibus ameris, ostendis pulchritudinem tuam, PL 184, 1293D–94A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As an adulteresse you doe Christ wrong, if you shew your beauty, that you may be liked and loued of men’, p. 422. and now wolde please seculer persons (fol.  154r), et nunc hominibus vis placere, PL 184, 1294A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. O howe foule and abhomynable (fol. 154r), O quam turpe est et quam absurdum, PL 184, 1294A, MGL variant. The translator always aims at guiding the reader in the right direction and so chooses words best suited for his intention. ‘Absurd’ is simply not strong enough. Araye nevere your hedde and face (fol. 154v), Nunquam vultum tuum componas, PL 184, 1294A, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing additional meaning. It would appear that the translator has a better understanding of women than the original author! nor in gay aray (fol. 154v), non in compositione vultus, PL 184, 1294B, MGL variant. As above (fol. 154r), the vernacular is more precise and again targets clothing specifically. but in good conversacion (fol. 154v), in sancta conversatione, PL 184, 1294B, MGL variant. Another instance of ‘sanctus’ having been replaced by a different adjective. When a devoute soule ys arayed withyn for Cryste with good maners and vertue, [s]he ys loved of Cryste (fol. 154v), Cum sancta anima intus propter Christum bonis moribus ornatur, a Christo diligitur atque amatur, PL  184, 1294B. Batt translates ‘diligitur’ by ‘it becommeth faire and pleasing’, p. 423, my emphasis. Although the Latin has here no expressed subject, the implied one, i.e., ‘sancta anima’, is feminine. MGL usually considers the word ‘soul’ as referring to its feminine reader. See, for example, ‘nor cause to wake þe devoute soule, gyven to Godly contemplacyon, and occupyed in prayers and Godly redyng, and doo not move hyr’ (fol. 130v), my emphasis.

430

Commentary

in Canticis canticorum, spekyng to hys loved spouses (fol. 154v), in Canticis canticorum, ubi sponsae loquitur dicens, PL 184, 1294B. Note that ‘spouses’ here means ‘female spouse’. See Glossary. The same word ‘spouses’ reoccurs again a few lines down. As hoo sayth (fol. 154v), Ac si diceret: Quam pulchra es, amica mea, PL 184, 1294B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘As if he should say: How beautifull art thou my dearest’, pp. 423–24. Ideo es pulchra et decora, quia bene vivendo in bonis operibus conversaris: atque ideo es amica, quia perfecte me diligis, quia alterum amicum plus quam me non diligis. Nec solum es amica mea, sed etiam charissima, PL 184, 1294B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Thou art therefore faire and beautifull, for that thou dost conuerse in good workes by liuing well and in this respect thou art my dearest for that thou dost loue me perfectly because thou dost not loue any other friend more then me. Thou art not onely my friend, but also my dearest’, p. 424. Ille ad amorem Christi perfecte pervenire poterit, qui deliciis Scripturarum se refecit, et Christum diligit, et a Christo diligitur, PL 184, 1294C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He alone will be able to attaine to the loue of Christ Iesus, who recreateth himselfe in the delightes of the holy scriptures: such a one both loueth Christ, and is beloued of Christ’, p. 425. with his bodely fayrnes or countenaunce (fol. 155r), de pulchritudine vultus sui, PL 184, 1294C–D, MGL variant. The Middle English extends the point to the whole of the body.

Commentary

431

Chapter 65: Avoid laughter (PL 184, 1294D: De risu immoderato

fugiendo; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: ut virgo non rideat inmoderate; Batt: That a virgin ou[gh]t not to laugh immoderatly; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Avoiding of Immoderate Laughter) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation. The lxv exhortacion shewyth how we shuld not lawgh immoderatly, whych ys þe condicion of a fole (fol. 155r), MGL addition. ‘I juged lawȝhyng an offence and errour’ (fol. 155r), ‘Risum deputavi errorem, et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?’ (Eccle. ii, 2), PL  184, 1294D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Laughter I haue reputed errour; and to ioy I haue said: Why art thou deceiued in vaine?’, p. 426. Vere frustra decipitur, qui in temporalibus gaudiis gaudet et laetatur, PL 184, 1294D–95A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘He is truly deceiued in vaine, that taketh content in temporal delectation’, pp. 426–27. And if þat they wold remembre (fol. 155v), Qui de rebus vanis rident, si […] in mente haberent, PL 184, 1295A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Those that laugh at friuolous and the vaine things, if they did remember’, p. 427. þat laugh and make sport (fol. 155v), qui rident: sed ‘Beati qui lugent’, PL 184, 1295A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that laugh; but, Blessed are they that mourne’, p. 427. non illi qui de rebus vanis rident, PL 184, 1295A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘not they that laugh at vaine things’, pp. 427–28. That ye may blisse yourself (fol. 156r), Scilicet ut beatifices te, si in hac peregrinatione ploraveris: videlicet ut, PL 184, 1295B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Certainely […] that by lamenting during this your pilgrimage […] I meane, that’, p. 428. and be found in the tyme of deth blissed (fol. 156r), in die mortis tuae beata inveniaris, si te ipsam in hoc mundo ploraveris, PL 184, 1295B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘at the hower of your death you may be found blessed, if you bewayle your offenses in this world’, p. 428.

432

Commentary

Ye have here noo abydyng place (fol. 156r), non habes hic civitatem manentem, PL 184, 1295B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word. With a lyke desyre sayd Seynt Paule þe apostle (fol. 156r), Tali etiam desiderio ardebat Christi servus, qui dicebat, PL 184, 1295B–C, MGL variant. The Middle English often prefers a proper name. ‘heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est’ (fol. 156r), ‘Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est, habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar’ (Psal. cxix, 5), PL 184, 1295C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Woe is to [m]e, that my seiourning is prolonged: I haue dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar (Ps. 119)’, p. 429. This is one of the rare occasions where MGL quotes the Scriptures in Latin. ‘be ye mery evere in God’ (fol.  156v), ‘Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete’ (Philipp. iv, 4), PL 184, 1295C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Reioyce (saith he) in our Lord alwayes: againe I say reioyce’, p. 430. ‘the comforte and profitte of the spirite’ (fol. 156v), ‘Fructus autem Spiritus’, PL 184, 1295C, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing additional meaning. ‘ys sobyr myrth’ (fol. 156v), ‘est gaudium’ (Galat. v, 22), PL 184, 1295C, MGL addition. The translator is careful to avoid any possible confusion with the laughter which this chapter condemns. with immoderate lawȝhyng (fol. 156v), fecunditate ridendi, PL 184, 1295C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 116r, MGL variant. The vernacular has the simpler wording. Note that Batt similarly translates: ‘through imm[o]deratnes of laughter’, p. 430. by desyre to com to heven (fol. 156v), per desiderium perveniendi ad coelestem patriam, PL 184, 1295D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. wher he may here our Lorde saye to hym (fol. 156v), ubi possit audire, PL 184, 1295D, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit.

Commentary

433

shewyth the vayn secretis (fol. 156v), conscientiam vanam ostendunt, PL 184, 1295D, MGL variant. plerumque quale sit cor feminae sanctimonialis, demonstrat risus et jocus turpis, PL 184, 1295D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘laughter and vnseemely iesting do often-times make knowne the heart of a religious woman’, p. 430. than in lewde sportyng (fol. 157r), quam risu, PL 184, 1295D, MGL variant. In this and the next three entries, the Middle English reinforces the message of the text. Here the vernacular does not simply consider laughing but any inappropriate pastime. she wold more love wepyng teres (fol. 157r), plus amaret lacrymas, PL 184, 1296A, MGL addition. and vayn sportis ben in use (fol. 157r), et jocus abundat, PL 184, 1296A, MGL addition and variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. she shuld not undiscretely lawgh (fol. 157r), non rideret, PL 184, 1296A, MGL addition. The translator’s poetic sensibility requires an added adverb in this clause to parallel ‘contynually’ in the next (‘but with his desyr contynually wepe’, fol. 157r, my emphasis). but with his desyr contynually wepe (fol. 157r), sed cum desiderio illius indesinenter ploraret, PL 184, 1296A, i.e., ‘but incessantly mourne through a desire of seeing and enioying him’, Batt, p. 432. quia qui perfecte Christum diligit et timet, non ridet, sed amore ejus luget, PL 184, 1296A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘because he that perfectly loueth Christ, doth likewise feare: he doth not laugh, but lament through the loue of so true a louer’, p. 432. for it ys a grete overesyght (fol. 157v), quam turpe est, PL 184, 1296A, MGL variant. The vernacular emphasizes the reader’s responsibility. risus et jocos caveas, et pro peccatis tuis indesinenter lacrymas fundas, PL 184, 1296B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘you will abstaine from iesting and laughter: and will incessantly powre forth teares for your manifeld offences’, p. 433.

434

Commentary

spouses of Cryste (fol. 157v), sponsa Christi, PL 184, 1296B. For ‘spouses’ see, above, fol. 154v. the spouse sayth in Canticis canticorum (fol. 157v), sponsus in Canticis canticorum sponsae loquitur dicens, PL 184, 1296B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the bridegroome saith to the spouse in the Canticles’, p. 433. Bene oculi sponsae sicut piscina dicuntur, PL 184, 1296B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘The eies of the spouse are fitly termed a fishpoole’, p. 433. when a devoute person wepyth (fol.  157v), dum sancta anima […] plorat, PL  184, 1296B, MGL variant. A further instance of ‘sanctus’ replaced by another adjective. a religyous woman ouȝt often to wepe (fol. 157v), sanctimonialis femina debet sine intermissione lugere, PL 184, 1296B, MGL variant. The Middle English is perhaps more realistic.

Chapter 66: Do not wander outside (PL 184, 1296C: De non

vagando foras; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De non desiderare civitates videre;24 Batt: That a virgin ought not to desire to gad abroad, and see cities; Tyrwhitt: Concerning not Wandering Abroad) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation. The lxvi exhortacion counsellyth not to wandere abrode into the townes and cytees and shewyth þe abusion of many religyous persons in that poynte (fol. 158r), MGL addition.

‘be sparkled abrode in every strete’ (fol. 158r), ‘Dispersi […] in capite omnium platearum’ (Thren. iv, 1), PL 184, 1296C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common word.

24 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘Ut virgo non desideret civitates videre’.

Commentary

435

The fresch colour of the golde (fol. 158r), Color optimus auri, PL 184, 1296C, MGL variant. The same variant reoccurs in this chapter but is not recorded below. In this and the next entry, the translator demonstrates his skills by emphasizing the visual aspect of the colour of gold rather than its value. was very precious and gaye (fol. 158r), erat pretiosus atque optimus, PL 184, 1296C, MGL variant. the noble habite of religious persons (fol. 158r), habitus optimus religiosorum virorum, PL 184, 1296D, MGL variant. Similary, the translator has replaced the superlative value of the habit with a reason why it is so. Certe hodie sunt mutata Religiosorum virorum optima vestimenta, PL 184, 1296D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Verily the holy habits of such as are religious are exceedingly changed in these our dayes’, pp. 435–36. Sequitur: ‘Dispersi sunt lapides sanctuarii in capite omnium platearum’, PL 184, 1296D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘It followeth: The stones of the sanctuarie are dispersed in the head of all streetes (ibidem.)’, p. 436. religyous persons, which ouȝte nevere to wander abrode outewarde (fol. 158v), Religiosos viros, qui nunquam debent foris vagari, PL 184, 1296D– 97A, MGL addition. The vernacular reinforces the message of the text. Daichman writes, ‘the injunction that nuns should remain within their convents, repeated through the centuries, may actually be seen as the most powerful indication of its failure’. Daichman, ‘Misconduct in the Medieval Nunnery’, pp. 110–11. in the secrete religyon (fol. 158v), in secreto monasterii, PL 184, 1297A, i.e., ‘in the solitude of the monastery’. shuld bettere be content with grewel (fol. 159r), plus debent diligere legumina, PL 184, 1297A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 118r, MGL variant. Batt translates: ‘ought rather to make choice of pease and beanes’, p. 437. The translator’s choice of variant may indicate the reader’s actual food. The eating of vegetables is usually seen as the proper diet of the religious. When the penitent Perceval reforms his way of life with his hermit uncle, he ‘n’i ot se betes non, / Cerfueil, laitues et cresson / Et mill, et pain d’orge et d’avaine, / et iaue de clere fontaine’.

436

Commentary

Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval, ed. by Roach, p. 191. ‘[Perceval] did not have anything to eat but beetroot, chervil, lettuces and watercress and millet, and barley-and-oat bread, and water from a clear fountain’ (my translation). to love wortis (fol. 159r), amare olera, PL 184, 1297B, i.e., ‘to like vegetables’. The sentence is missing in Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 118r. Batt translates: ‘make choise to feed vpon hearbes’, p. 437, my emphasis. The translator again may refer to the reader’s actual food: ‘wortis’ seems to mean a vegetable dish. See Glossary. For as Seynt Austen sayth, ‘it ys better to lacke than to have to mych’ (fol.  159r), sicut ait Augustinus, ‘melius est minus egere quam plus habere’, PL  184, 1297B. Augustine, Regula ad servos Dei, PL  32, 1380. Hugh of St Victor (attrib.), Expositio in Regulam beati Augustini, PL 176, 696C. Hit ys necessary therfor þat every religyous person if he desyre to be saved [om.] dispyse the world (fol. 159r), Necesse est igitur ut quisque Religiosus, si salvari desiderat, saeculum contemnat, PL 184, 1297B; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240 fol. 118v. Batt translates: ‘Wherefore it is necessarie, that euerie religious man, if he desire to be saued, contemne the world’, p. 438. The occurrence of ‘to’ before ‘dispyse the world’ in the manuscript may have resulted from a confusion of two separate grammatical constructions. ‘Hit ys necessary’ could be followed either by the conjunction ‘that’ and a conjugated verb, or by ‘to’ and an infinitive. and kepe hymself withyn þe monasterye (fol. 159r), et sese intra monasterii claustra concludat, PL 184, 1297B, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. Hit ys bettere for you to sytte in your cloystere than to goo aboute the stretys of the cyte or town. Covette ye mor to abyde withyn your monasterye than to se citees and townes. Hyt ys better to abyde withyn the wallys of the monasterye than to be in þe siȝte of peple (fol. 159v) Daichman explains: ‘the conventual records and the bishops visitation reports note that nuns went on visits to sick relatives, business trips, and pilgrimages; sometimes they went to weddings, christenings, and funerals, each time renewing those ties with the world that many found difficult to break’. Daichman, ‘Misconduct in the Medieval Nunnery’, p. 110.

Commentary

437

And if ye kepe yourself within þe monasterye (fol. 159v), si te incluseris in claustro, PL 184, 1297C, MGL variant. The translator repeats the same phrase (see the second entry above) and thus increases the didactic value of his text. he sheweth wele in Canticis canticorum, sayeng (fol. 159v), bene in Canticis canticorum sponsus insinuat, cum sponsae loquitur, dicens, PL  184, 1297C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Which the bridegroome doth well insinuat in the Canticles, speaking there in this manner to his spouse’, p. 439. ‘my suster thou art as a close garden’ (fol. 159v), ‘Hortus conclusus, soror mea, hortus conclusus’, PL 184, 1297C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘My sister spouse is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed’, p. 439. Whenever he regards repetitions as merely detracting the reader’s attention from the text’s message, the translator regularly omits phrases and combines sentences together. See Introduction, pp. 23–24. ‘as a close well’ (fol. 159v), ‘fons signatus’ (Cantic. iv, 12), PL 184, 1297C, MGL variant. The translator prefers the emphasis on the repetition of ‘close’ (‘as a close garden, as a close well’) to the more precise vocabulary of the Latin. Every devoute soule (fol. 159v), Unaquaeque sancta anima, PL 184, 1297C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, ‘sanctus’ has been replaced by another adjective. every perfite soule (fol. 159v), sancta anima, PL 184, 1297C, MGL variant. from þe company of þe worldly peple (fol. 159v), a strepitu saeculari, PL 184, 1297C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the vernacular has the more common expression. þat the gostely enemy cannot breke yn (fol.  160r), ne […] hostis antiquus irrumpere possit, PL 184, 1297D, MGL variant. to spoyle hyr of vertue and meryte (fol. 160r), ad interiora rapienda, PL 184, 1297D, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. when she thynketh often of hevenly thyngis (fol. 160r), dum coelestia assidue cogitat, PL 184, 1297D, MGL variant. The vernacular is perhaps more realistic.

438

Commentary

she gadreth togydere in hyr memorye (fol. 160r), semper in ventre memoriae congregat, PL 184, 1297D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common wording. she gendreth in hyr waters of lyfe (fol. 160r), quasi aquas viventes sancta mens in se gignere non cessat, PL 184, 1297D, MGL variant. Another instance of the translator suppressing ‘sanctus’. she may enfourme hyr neyȝbours (fol. 160r), sitientes proximos reficere valeat, PL  184, 1297D, MGL variant. The translator dispenses with the image in favour of simpler language. with the same Jhesu Cryste your spouse (fol. 160r), Jesu Christo sponso tuo in thalamo, PL 184, 1297D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘with […] Iesus Christ your bridegroome, in his heauenly bride-chamber’, p. 441. The translator regularly avoids the all too suggestive word, ‘thalamus’.

Chapter 67: Temptations (PL 184, 1298A: De tentatione; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De temptacionibus diaboli;25 Paynell: Of temptacyon; Batt: Of temptation; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Temptation) Chapter 55 in Paynell. The lxvii exhortacion tretyth of the temptacion of þe devyll, and how his temptacion may be overecom, and how we have not oonly temptacion of the devyll but also of the bodye (fol. 160r–v), MGL addition. And Saynt Jerom sayth: ‘ther ys nothyng strongar than he þat overcomyth the devyll, and nothyng more feble than he þat ys overecom of his bodye’ (fol. 160v), Et beatus Hieronymus dicit: ‘Nihil eo fortius qui diabolum vincit: et nihil imbecillius, quam ille qui a carne sua superatur’, PL 184, 1298A. Jerome, Epistulae, ed. by Hilberg, iii, letter cxxv, Ad Rusticum monachum, section 1, p. 118.

25 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘De temptacionibus diaboli sive mundi’.

Commentary

439

‘he þat ys overecom of his bodye’ (fol. 160v), ‘ille qui a carne sua superatur’, PL  184, 1298A, MGL variant. Another instance of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. The temptacions of the devyll ben advoyded by colde wacches (fol. 160v), Sagittae diaboli frigore vigiliarum […] sunt exstinguendae, PL 184, 1298A, i.e., ‘the temptations of the devil are avoided through vigils in the cold of the night and the early morning’. Batt translates: ‘the fierie darts of the diuel are to be extinguished by the cold of Matins’, p. 441. The temptacions of the devyll (fol. 160v), sagittae diaboli, PL 184, 1298A, MGL variant. In this entry and the two following, by avoiding the metaphorical language of the Latin, the Middle English is more common and more explicit. ben advoyded by colde wacches (fol.  160 v), frigore vigiliarum […] sunt exstinguendae, PL 184, 1298A, MGL variant. to undoe þe body (fol. 160v), jugulare corpora, PL 184, 1298A, MGL variant. Howbeit he temptyth the servantis of God no more þan God doeth suffre hym [...] God turnyth them to the profyte of theyr soules (fols 160v–161r), tamen diabolus non amplius tentat electos, quam permittat Deus […] Deus convertit eas ad profectum animarum, PL  184, 1298A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 3–4, p. 204. Howbeit he temptyth the servantis of God no more þan God doeth suffre hym (fol. 160v), tamen diabolus non amplius tentat electos, quam permittat Deus, PL 184, 1298A. The translator replaces ‘electos’ by ‘servantis’ in the same way he avoids ‘sanctus’. The servantis of God cowd nevere suffre the temptacyons of the devyl [...] but those þat be temptyd he cannot tempte but by the lycens of God (fol. 161r), Nunquam servi Dei tentationes diaboli sustinere potuissent […] sed eos qui tentandi sunt tentare non poterit, nisi ei Deus licentiam dederit, PL 184, 1298B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 5, pp. 204–05. yf þat the goodnes of God (fol. 161r), si […] pietas Dei, PL 184, 1298B, MGL variant. The translator has opted for a word regularly used in the text.

440

Commentary

Wherfor in Scriptur it ys redde þat ‘the evyll spyrite of God did vexe and troble kyng Saule’ [...] and the spirite of God by the ryȝtyouse power þat he had of God (fol. 161r–v), Unde et in libris Regum de diabolo scriptum est, quia ‘spiritus Domini malus exagitabat Saul’ […] et idem spiritus Domini erat per acceptam justissimam potestatem, PL  184, 1298B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 6, p. 205. To the which may be answered (fol. 161r), Sed in hoc loco comprehensa est duobus verbis, PL 184, 1298C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the vernacular has the simpler expression. by the ryȝtyouse power þat he had of God (fol. 161v), per acceptam justissimam potestatem, PL 184, 1298C, MGL variants. The devyl ys not þe gyver of syn but oonly the tempter [...] anon the devyll goyth away confused and his temptacions be broken (fol. 161v), Diabolus non est jussor vitiorum, sed solummodo incentor […] statim diabolus confusus recedit, et arma tentationis ejus franguntur, PL 184, 1298C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 7, pp. 205–06. The devyl ys not þe gyver of syn but oonly the tempter (fol. 161v), Diabolus non est jussor vitiorum, sed solummodo incentor, PL 184, 1298C. The Middle English again chooses more common language; it may not be as precise as the Latin, but it is certainly clearer. Batt translates the Latin more literally: ‘The diuel is not a commander of sinne, but onely a stirrer vp to the same’, p. 444. nor he can nowher have intereste with his temptacyon (fol. 161v), neque alibi potest fomenta concupiscentiae succendere, PL 184, 1298C, MGL variant. In this instance, the translator has kept the metaphorical language but changed the image to one which is more immediately understandable. and his temptacions be broken (fol. 161v), et arma tentationis ejus franguntur, PL 184, 1298C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and the weapons of his temptations are weakned and abated’, p. 444. This omission highlights the translator’s sensitivity as a writer. As he replaced ‘sagittae diaboli’ by ‘the temptacions of the devyll’ above (see fol. 160v), he consistently also omits ‘arma’ here. Oftentymes he wyll in the lyknes of a good spyryte disseyve the servantes of God [...] ‘if þat þou dyvyd the preciouse thyng from the vyle, þou shalt be

Commentary

441

as myn own chylde’ (fols 161v–162r), Saepe diabolus per speciem boni vult decipere servos Dei […] ‘Si pretiosum a vili separaveris, quasi os meum eris’ ( Jerem. xv, 19), PL 184, 1298C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 9–10, pp. 206–07. But the discrecion of good and perfyte persons (fol.  161v), sed discretio sanctorum, PL 184, 1298D, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ being replaced by other adjectives. Thus dyd Josue aske when he sawe the angell of God com agaynste hym (fol. 161v), Haec est enim percunctatio Josue dicentis, PL 184, 1298D, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. ‘þou shalt be as myn own chylde’ (fols 161v–162r), ‘quasi os meum eris’ ( Jerem. xv, 19), PL 184, 1298D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common word. The devyl in the eyes of seculer persons ys very ferefull […] when they se hym they dispyse hym (fol. 162r), Diabolus in oculis saecularium hominum terribilis est […] et cum eum viderint, contemnunt, PL 184, 1298D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 13, p. 207. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxviii, 27, p. 225. The devyl ys a slypper serpent, for [...] so þat nevere or with difficulte they be overecom (fol. 162r), Diabolus est serpens lubricus […] ita ut nunquam, aut cum difficultate vincantur, PL 184, 1298D–99A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 14–15, p. 208. For the first sentence, Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxviii, 28, p. 225. and hys suggestyon be not resisted (fol. 162r), sed si capiti ejus, hoc est, primae suggestioni non resistitur, PL 184, 1298D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘to whose head (that is, to whose first suggestion) if we resist not’, p. 445. The vernacular is simpler without the image. The devyl when he wyll tempte eny man or woman [...] and of þat he taketh wherby he doeth se them apte to syn (fol. 162r), Diabolus quando decipere aliquem hominem quaerit […] et inde se applicat, unde videt hominem aptum ad peccandum, PL 184, 1299A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 24, p. 210. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxviii, 30, p. 225.

442

Commentary

Saynt Isidor sayth: ‘the devyl temptyth mor a man on þat part [...] but wher he knowyth hit wyll rune beste’ (fol. 162r–v), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Amplius tentat diabolus hominem ex parte […] nisi ubi eam melius currere cognoscit’, PL 184, 1299A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 25, p. 211. ut secundum humoris conspersionem adhibeat et tentationem, PL  184, 1299A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘that according to a mans complexion he may accommodate his temptation’, p. 446. The devyl covetyth to disseyve man or woman in all theyr lyfe […] but alwey mekly be ware and evere in feer lesse he be disseyved in his ende (fol. 162v), In tota vita diabolus cupit hominem decipere […] sed semper humilis caveat, semperque ne in fine decipiatur, sollicitus pertimescat, PL 184, 1299A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 5, 16, p. 208. thouȝe a man be good and perfytte (fol.  162v), quamvis homo sit justus, PL 184, 1299B, MGL variant. The translator creates patterns of words and concepts by introducing repetitions. ‘Good and perfyte persons’ features earlier in the chapter. See above, fol. 161v. yit it ys necessary (fol. 162v), nunquam tamen ita sibi fidat, PL 184, 1299B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the simpler expression. the Holy Goste rebuketh the evyl spirite (fol. 163r), Spiritus sanctus diabolum increpat, PL 184, 1299B, MGL variant. The translator’s words emphasizes the opposition between God and the Devil by the adjectives ‘holy’ and ‘evyl’. ‘þat his swete savour and smell’ (fol. 163r), ‘aromata illius’ (Cantic. iv, 16), PL 184, 1299C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common words. ys signifyed the evyl spyryte (fol. 163r), quid aliud nisi immundus spiritus designatur, PL 184, 1299C, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the translator increases the didactic value of his text by repeating the phrase ‘evyl spyryte’. In addition to this he also avoids here the suggestion of impurity introduced by the adjective ‘immundus’. lete the evyl spyryte goo from every feythfull soule (fol. 163r), malignus spiri­ tus ab Ecclesia, vel ab unaquaque fideli anima discedat, PL 184, 1299C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘let the diuel depart from the Church, or from euerie faithfull soule’, p. 448.

Commentary

443

et perflet hortum sponsi, ‘et fluant aromata illius’, PL  184, 1299C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and blow through the garden of the bridegroome, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow’, p. 448. and so shal he dissolve and thaw (fol. 163v), solvat, PL 184, 1299D, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ adding meaning to the vernacular. In this sentence, it reminds the reader of the significance of the ‘sowthe wynde’ a few lines above (fol. 163r). this ys the remedye of hym þat ys trobled with the temptacions of syn or of the devylle: that the more he ys tempted, the more he gyve hym to prayer (fol. 163v), hoc est remedium ejus qui vitiorum vel daemonum tentationibus aestuat, ut quanto amplius tentatur, tanto amplius ad orationem currat, PL 184, 1299D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 7, 1, p. 220. the remedye of hym þat ys trobled (fol. 163v), remedium ejus qui […] aestuat, PL 184, 1299D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. by pure prayers and devoute wacchyng (fol.  163v), per orationes puras et ­vigilias sanctas, PL 184, 1299D, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ being replaced by a different adjective. Be ye often in the syght of God (fol. 163v), Assidue […] assiste in conspectu Domini, PL 184, 1300A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. I wold ye shuld knowe (fol. 163v), Cognosce, PL 184, 1300A, MGL variant. One of the rare interventions of the translator in the text. quenche the mocyons of the bodye (fol. 164r), exstinguit impugnationem vitiorum, PL 184, 1300A, MGL variant. The translator is more precise and refers to sins of the body specifically, which agrees with his attitude to ‘caro’. Often prayer doeth quenche the mocyons of the bodye […] for prayer ys the principall vertue agaynste all temptacion (fol. 164r), Frequens oratio exstinguit impugnationem vitiorum […] Oratio est prima virtus adversus tentationum incursus, PL 184, 1300A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 12–13, pp. 71–72.

444

Commentary

and overecummyth the temptacion of the devyl (fol. 164r), Oratio continua superat tela diaboli, PL 184, 1300A, MGL variant. The translator not only demonstrates great skills throughout but also shows great consistency, and therefore omits ‘tela’ here as he did ‘arma’ above (fol. 161v). See also the next entry. the principall vertue agaynste all temptacion (fol. 164r), prima virtus adversus tentationum incursus, PL 184, 1300A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the first fortresse against the assaults of temptations’, 451. And yf yit ye fele evyl mocyons and temptacion[s] of the bodye [...] which memorye and thouȝt shall quench in yow þe vycious hete of the flesch and bodye (fol. 164r–v), Sed si adhuc sentis molestias carnis […] Memoria ardoris gehennae exstinguat in te ardorem luxuriae, PL 184, 1300B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 11, pp. 70–71. evyl mocyons and temptacion[s] of the bodye (fol. 164r), molestias carnis, si tangeris stimulis carnis, si memoria libidinis adhuc titillat animum tuum; si caro tua adhuc te impugnat, sit te luxuria tentat, PL 184, 1300B, Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 122r. ‘Temptacion’ in the singular is obviously a mistake which is perhaps due to the translator here combining several clauses together. if the soule luste of the bodye (fol. 164r), si te libido, PL 184, 1300B, i.e., ‘if the lust of the body alone’. See Glossary.

Chapter 68: Dreams (PL  184, 1300B, De somniis; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De sompnis vanis; Paynell: Of dreames; Batt: Of dreames; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Dreams) Chapter 56 in Paynell. The lxviii exhortacion sheweth þat ther be dyverse manere of dremes and þat ther shuld be no lyȝt credence gevyn to them (fol. 164v), MGL addition. Oftentymes in nyghtis ceason the devyl by visions in slepe trobleth the knowlege of man or woman and, oftetymes, visibly betyth the bodyes of men or women (fol. 164v), Saepe in noctibus daemones occurrentes conturbant sensus hominum per visiones: saepe etiam aperta impugnatione grassantes corpora

Commentary

445

hominum verberant, PL 184, 1300B–C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 6, 1, pp. 215–16. the devyl by visions in slepe (fol. 164v), daemones occurrentes […] per visiones, PL 184, 1300B, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. visibly betyth the bodyes (fol. 164v), aperta impugnatione grassantes corpora […] verberant, PL  184, 1300C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘assaulting them openly, they whip and lash them well sauouredly’, p. 452. The vernacular has the simpler expression. Dremes com dyverse manere of ways [...] for oftetymes those thyngis þat we thynk on in the daye-tyme, we doo dreme on in the nyȝt (fol. 164v), Diverso modo fiunt somnia […] nam saepe quae in die cogitamus, in nocte recognoscimus, PL 184, 1300C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 6, 6, p. 217. Dremes com dyverse manere of wayes (fol. 164v). The most influential classification of dreams in the Middle Ages is found in Macrobius’ Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, Book i, Chapter 3, Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, trans. by Stahl, pp. 87–92. See also Chaucer’s discussion of dreams at the beginning of The House of Fame, Chaucer, The Riverside Chaucer, ed. by Benson, pp. 348–49, lines 1–65. Some dremes com by fulnes or emptynes of þe bely (fol. 164v). According to Macrobius, overindulgence or lack of food belong to the fourth category of dreams, i.e., nightmares. See Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, trans. by Stahl, p. 88. Some come of the propyr thouȝt (fol. 164v), quaedam etiam ex proposita cogitatione oriuntur, PL 184, 1300C, i.e., ‘some come of our own thoughts’. those thyngis þat we thynk on in the daye-tyme, we doo dreme on in the nyȝt (fol. 164v). This is the ‘mental variety’ of the nightmare. See Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, trans. by Stahl, pp. 88–89. Many dremys come of the illusyons of evyll spiritis […] ‘he that doeth revele and shewe mysterys sheweth what ar to com’ (fols 164v–165r), multa somnia eveniunt ex illusione immundorum spirituum […] ‘Qui revelat mysteria, osten-

446

Commentary

dit tibi quae ventura sunt’ (Dan. ii, 29), PL 184, 1300C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 6, 7, pp. 217–18. Many dremys come of the illusyons of evyll spiritis (fol. 164v). It is not immediately obvious to which Macrobian category this kind of dreams belongs; it could be the ‘apparition’, the ‘oracular dream’, or the ‘enigmatic dream’. See Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, trans. by Stahl, pp. 89–90. of the illusyons of evyll spiritis (fol. 164v), ex illusione immundorum spiri­ tuum, PL 184, 1300C, MGL variant. Patterns and repetitions often extend beyond one chapter. This variant already occurred in the previous chapter. See above, fol. 163r. ‘dremes hath caused many to erre and offende, and [many] have fallen into syn and have be disseyved by trustyng in them’ (fol. 164v), ‘Multos errare fecerunt somnia, et exciderunt sperantes in illis’ (Eccli. xxxiv, 7), PL 184, 1300C; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 122v. Batt translates: ‘Dreames haue made many to erre, and they that hoped in them, haue failed’, p. 453. Since the preceding clause has a different subject, i.e., ‘dremes’, an expressed subject is necessary in the present clause. ‘[many] have fallen into syn and have be disseyved by trustyng in them’ (fol. 164v), ‘et exciderunt sperantes in illis’ (Eccli. xxxiv, 7), PL 184, 1300C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. som dremes and visions come in good manere as by mynystracion of holy revelacions (fol.  164v). This category of dreams appears to fit Macrobius’s ‘oracular dream’. See Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, trans. by Stahl, p. 90. as by mynystracion of holy revelacions (fol. 164v), super revelationis mysterio, PL 184, 1300C, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the vernacular is more explicit. to flye with Cryste beyng yong borne (fol. 165r), ut fugeret cum puero, PL 184, 1300D, MGL variant. Althouȝe som dremes be trewe, yit we ought not lyȝtly gyve credens to them [...] lesse peraventur Sathanas chaungyng hymself into þe similitude of a

Commentary

447

good aungell doe disseyve eny unwyse or unlerned person (fol. 165r), Quamvis autem quaedam vera somnia sunt, tamen facile non debemus eis credere […] ne forte Satan in angelum lucis se transformans, aliquem hominem incautum decipiat, PL 184, 1300D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 6, 8, p. 218. we ought not lyȝtly gyve credens to them (fol. 165r). The Book for a Simple and Devout Woman similarly says: ‘Dremes and siȝtes þat þu seest in þi slepe, ȝeue to hem no feiþe’. Book for a Simple and Devout Woman, ed. by Diekstra, p. 300, lines 7621–22. The existence of Middle English lunar prognostic texts suggest that people did perhaps believe in dreams too readily. One regular encounters statements such as the following: ‘[2nd day] Qwat that a man dreme schuld be but vanyte’, ‘[5th day] Qwat that a man dreme that nyght afftyr mydnyght schuld falle the neste day be sum symylytude’, Medieval Lunar Astrology, ed. by Means, pp. 96–97. Sathanas chaungyng hymself into þe similitude of a good aungell (fol. 165r), Satan in angelum lucis se transformans, PL 184, 1300D, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. Somtyme the devyll so craftely disseyveth som men and women that be curyous and markyng theyr dremes […] Dremys be lyke unto wychecrafte, and they that truste in them be knowen to doo wychcrafte (fol.  165r–v), Aliquando daemones quosdam curiosos et somnia observantes ita deceptoria arte decipiunt […] Somnia similia sunt auguriis, et qui ea observant, augurari noscun­ tur, PL 184, 1300D–01A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 6, 9–10a, pp. 218–19. som men and women that be curyous and markyng theyr dremes (fol. 165r–v), quosdam curiosos et somnia observantes ita deceptoria, PL 184, 1300D, i.e., ‘some men and women who are curious and take note of their dreams’. Dremys be lyke unto wychecrafte (fol. 165v), Somnia similia sunt auguriis, PL 184, 1301A, variant. The same interpretation of ‘auguriis’ reoccurs later but is not recorded below. Note that the interpretation of ‘auguriis’ is slightly different in each English translation. Paynell has: ‘dreames ar likened vnto augures, the whiche do judge thynges by the chatteryng and flyght of byrdes’, fol. 187r. Batt writes: ‘Dreames are like to south saying’, p. 455. Tyrwhitt literally translates: ‘dreams are like Auguries’, p. 223.

448

Commentary

and whoso[e]vere so doeth (fol. 165v), the usual spelling in MGL for this word is either ‘whosoevere’ or ‘whosomevere’. Non debemus credere somniis, ne forte decipiamur in illis, PL 184, 1301A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘We ought not to giue credit to dreames, least we be deceiued by them’, pp. 455–56. Hit ys a grete congruens (fol. 165v), Dignum valde est, PL 184, 1301B, MGL variant. This is a rare occasion where the Latin uses a more common expression than the vernacular. And if ye doo merke them and thynke hem trewe (fol. 166r), Si enim auguria vel somnia observaveris, PL 184, 1301B, MGL addition. Perhaps because of the very subject discussed in this chapter, the vernacular is consistently more explicit than the Latin.

Chapter 69: Think of Death (PL 184, 1301B: De brevitate vitae; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De brevitate huius vite; Paynell: Of the shortnes of life; Batt: Of the shortnes of our liues; Tyrwhitt: Concerning the Shortness of Life) Chapter 57 in Paynell. The lxix exhortacion counsellyth to have evere in mynde the tyme of deth, whych ys uncerteyn (fol. 166r), MGL addition, my emphasis. Note how the translator links this chapter with the next (‘De morte’) by introducing ‘deth’ in the present title. ‘nor wysdom after deth’ (fol. 166r), ‘nec sapientia […] apud inferos’, PL 184, 1301B–C, MGL variant. See preceding entry. For only in this present lyfe hit ys lefull to werke and doo good dedis. In the lyfe to come laboryng ys not lokyd for but the rewarde of good dedys (fol.  166r), Tantum enim in hac praesenti vita est licitum operari bonum. In futura namque vita jam non exspectatur operatio, sed [bonorum] operum retri­ butio, PL 184, 1301C. Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 124r has the correct reading. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 61, 1, p. 326. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxx, 13, p. 229.

Commentary

449

Seynt Isydor sayth: ‘he þat consydereth þe length of thys lyfe, not of hys tyme and space but of hys ende, he pondreth profetably how shorte and howe wrecchyd it ys’ (fol. 166r–v), Unde beatus Isidorus: ‘Qui longitudinem praesentis vitae non de suo spatio, sed de ejus fine considerat, quam sit brevis et misera, satis utiliter pensat’, PL 184, 1301C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 61, 3a, p. 327. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxx, 14, p. 229. and yf ye seke for a trewe lyfe and perfytte […] which ys very lyfe, and this lyfe here ys mortall (fol. 166v), si veram vitam quaeris […] Aeterna vita est vitalis, ista est mortalis, PL 184, 1301C. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 61, 5, p. 327. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxx, 16, p. 229. Therfor ye shuld in bodye dye toward þe world [...] lyveth oonly to God in whom he promysed to lyve (fol. 166v), Ideo debes in carne mori mundo […] in solo Deo vivit, in quo vivere promisit, PL 184, 1301C–D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 61, 6, p. 327. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxx, 17, p. 229. ye shuld in bodye dye (fol. 166v), debes in carne mori, PL 184, 1301C, MGL variant. Another example of the translator avoiding ‘caro’. Everye good person ys wery of the taryeng of this lyfe, for because it ys long or he shall com to þat contrey þat he desyreth (fol. 166v), De mora vitae hujus taedium patitur justus, eo quod ad desideratam patriam tarde perveniat, PL 184, 1301D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 61, 7, p. 328. Defensor, Scintillae, ed. by Rochais, lxxx, 18, p. 229. he moved to vyce and syn (fol. 167r), accendit ad vitia, PL 184, 1301D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common verb. the ende of good persons (fol.  167r), finem justorum hominum, PL  184, 1301D, MGL variant. Although this is not as systematic as his treatment of ‘sanctus’, the translator also replaces ‘justus’ with other adjectives. þe company of aungelles (fol. 167r), sanctorum Angelorum […] consortium, PL 184, 1301D, MGL variant. In this entry and the next, the Middle English has the more common expression. departyng from this lyfe to heven (fol. 167r), ab hac vita recedentes in aeterna beatitudine, PL 184, 1302A, MGL variant.

450

Commentary

it ys writen in þe voyce of every faythfull soule (fol. 167r), Unde sponsa […] loquitur dicens, PL 184, 1302A, MGL variant. In this entry and the two following, the vernacular is more explicit. ‘my loved spouse’ (fol. 167r), ‘Dilectus meus’, PL 184, 1302A, MGL addition. ‘Spouse’ emphasized the nature of the relationship in an unambiguous way. ‘to the place of swettnes’ (fol. 167r), ‘ad areolam aromatum’ (Cantic. vi, 1), PL 184, 1302A, MGL variant. Note that the translator is consistent: as he previously replaced the mention of ‘aromates’ by the reference to ‘swete savour and smell’ (see fol. 163r), he also alters his text here. þat he myght fede in þe gardens and gadre whyte lylyes (fol. 167r), MGL addition, this is the second part of Song 6. 1. for to vysytte his mylitant Chyrch (fol. 167r), quia Ecclesiam visitans, PL 184, 1302A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. He commyth with more grace (fol. 167r), majori gratia, PL 184, 1302A, MGL addition. This is a rare instance, where MGL creates two separate sentences (repeating the verb and subject) where the Latin has only one. by good dedys (fol. 167r–v), sanctis operibus, PL 184, 1302A, MGL variant. Another example of ‘sanctus’ being replaced by the translator. and example[s] of vertue (fol.  167v) et exemplis virtutum, PL  184, 1302A; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 124v. Batt also has a plural noun: ‘and vertuous examples’, p. 460. With the preceding clause already in the plural, i.e., ‘ by good dedys’ (fol. 167r–v), the omission of the plural in ‘example’ must be an error. ‘the deth of juste and good persons’ (fol. 167v), ‘mors sanctorum’, PL 184, 1302A, MGL variant. Again ‘sanctus’ is translated by other words. they shall goo to joye or payne (fol. 167v), ad praemium, an ad supplicia transeant, PL 184, 1302B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common words. þat he ys uncerteyn of his callyng (fol. 167v), quanto incertior est de sua evocatione, PL 184, 1302B, i.e., ‘that he does not know when he shall die’.

Commentary

451

and folde togydre all the synnes (fol.  168r), mala […] replicant, PL  184, 1302B, MGL variant, i.e., ‘they repeat all the sins’. The word ‘folde’ possibly suggests a manuscript roll (in which all sins are written) being unfolded and read by the devils. See Glossary. ys ledde after deth to be ponysched (fol. 168r), post mortem ducitur cruciandus, PL 184, 1302B–C, MGL variant. In this and the next two entries, the vernacular has the more common expression. I have shewed you thes thyngis (fol. 168r), in auribus tuis haec expono, PL 184, 1302C, MGL variant. ‘but a dewe soon goon’ (fol. 168v), ‘vapor ad modicum parens?’ ( Jacobi iv, 15), PL 184, 1302C, MGL variant. ‘for þou knowest not what shal happen the, the nexte daye’ (fol. 168v), ‘ignoras enim quid superventura pariat dies’ (Prov. xxvii, 1), PL 184, 1302C, i.e., ‘for you do not know what shall happen to you the next day’. The first ‘the’ is the personal pronoun ‘thee’, the second the definite article ‘the’. and gete heven (fol. 168v), et coelestia bona acquirere, PL 184, 1302C, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression. ‘et in aeternum non peccabis’ (Eccli. vii, 40). Quia si ea semper considera­ veris, PL 184, 1302D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and you will not sinne for euer: (Eccli. 7.) for if you alwayes consider them’, p. 463. the wrecchyd bodye (fol. 168v), Caro misera, PL 184, 1302D, MGL variant. Another example of ‘caro’ being replaced by a different word. which ys made redy to [be] wormes mete? (fol. 168v), quae ad manducandum vermibus praeparatur?, PL 184, 1302D; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240, fol. 125v. Batt translates: ‘which is prepared to be meate for wormes’, p. 463. The absence of ‘be’ in MGL is awkward and probably due to scribal error. Honestissima soror, ideo hoc dixi, ut nunquam obliviscaris ordinem tuae conditionis, PL 184, 1302D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Most honest sister, I haue said this for this reason, that you neuer forget the state of your condition’, pp. 463–64.

452

Commentary

‘as rottyn and stynkyng caryn’ (fols  168v–169r), ‘Quasi putredo’, PL  184, 1302D, MGL variant. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing additional meaning to the text. Memoriam tuae mortis tibi objice, diem exitus tibi propone, PL 184, 1303A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Set the memorie of death before you as a mirrour: set before you the day of your departure’, p. 464.

Chapter 70: Death (PL 184, 1303A, De morte; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De morte corporali; Paynell: Of death; Batt: Of death; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Death) Chapter 58 in Paynell. The lxx exhortacion sheweth to whom deth ys acceptable and to whom not, and howe we shuld not wepe for som that dye or be dedde and for some we shuld (fol. 169r), MGL addition. ‘O deth, þou art acceptable’ (fol. 169r), ‘O mors, bonum est judicium tuum’, PL 184, 1303A, MGL variant. The translator’s choice of words is much more effective than the Latin original and thus demonstrates his skills at understanding his audience. A lyke sayeng to this hath holy Isidor, sayeng: ‘o dethe, howe swete art þou to myserable persons and to such þat lyve paynfully, how gladdlye art þou to hevy and sorowfull persons’ (fol. 169r), Huic simile est quod ait beatus Isidorus: ‘O mors, quam dulcis es miseris, quam suavis es amare viventibus, quam jucunda es tristibus atque lugentibus!’, PL 184, 1303A. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 19, p. 17. Deth makyth an ende of all evyll in thys lyfe. It causeth an ende of all troble in thys worlde (fol. 169r), Mors ponit finem omnibus malis in hac vita. Dat terminum malis in hoc saeculo adimit omnem calamitatem. Mors praebet terminum hominibus in tribulationis in hoc mundo, PL 184, 1303A–B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, i, 20, p. 18. adimit omnem calamitatem. Mors praebet terminum hominibus in tribu­ lationibus in hoc mundo, PL 184, 1303B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘it

Commentary

453

cutteth off all worldly calamities. Death yeeldeth [an] end to the tribulations of this world’, p. 466. than to be unhaplye (fol. 169v), quam esse infeliciter, PL 184, 1303B, i.e., ‘then to be in miserie’, Batt, p. 466. to þat holy Isidor shall answere you, sayeng [...] ‘yit feyth forbedyth to wepe or mourne for them’ (fol. 169v) ad hoc beatus Isidorus respondeat tibi […] ‘fides tamen pro eis lugere vetat’, PL 184, 1303B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 62, 12, p. 330. and hath caused þem to goo from wrecchidnes of this lyfe (fol. 169v), et […] fecit transire, PL 184, 1303B, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit. Defunctos fideles lugere non debemus, quos ad requiem migrasse non dubi­ tamus, PL 184, 1303B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘We ought not to lament for such as die in Christ, whome we doubt not to passe to perpetual rest’, p. 467. with an evyl name and shame doeth take (fol. 169v), cum ignominia rapiunt, PL 184, 1303C, MGL addition and variant. A special case of ‘geminatio’ where the translator not only provides added meaning but also increases the didactic message of the text with an internal rhyme. Note also the choice of a more common verb. and theyr burye them (fol. 170r), sepeliuntur in inferno, PL 184, i.e., ‘and bury them there’. illi sunt flendi, qui mala morte praeoccupantur; et non illi qui pretiosa morte honorantur, PL 184, 1303C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Those are to be lamented, that are presented by a bad death; not those that are honoured by a good death’, pp. 467–68. quando mortuos ploro, et illis non prodest, et mihi obest, PL 184, 1303C– D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘when I weepe for those that are dead, it hurteth me, and doeth them no good’, p. 468. that they shall aryse agayn (fol. 170r), resurrectionem, PL 184, 1303D, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression.

Commentary

454

non debemus mortuos carnaliter lugere, sed pro eis Domino preces fundere, PL 184, 1303D, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘We ought not to weepe for our dead friends according to the manner of worldlings, but rather to make intercession to our Lord for them by our prayers’, p. 468. delyvere them from theyr negligences and offences (fol. 170r), de poenis eri­ pere, PL 184, 1303D, MGL variant. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing added meaning to the text.

Chapter 71: Judgements (PL 184, 1303D: De judicio; Uppsala, UUB,

MS C 240: De die iudicii;26 Paynell: Of iudgement; Batt: Of iudgement; Tyrwhitt: Concerning Judgment) Chapter 59 in Paynell. The lxxi exhortacion sheweth how þat ther be two jugementys of God, and þat in þe laste jugement to his electe servantis he shall seme very gentyl and swete, and to all reproved persons very feerfull (fol. 170r–v), MGL addition.

There be two jugementis of God [...] anoþere by the which they shal be juged in the lyfe to com (fol. 170v), Duplex est judicium divinum […] alterum, quo in futura judicabuntur, PL 184, 1303D. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, i, 27, 7, p. 84. therfor to som temporall payn doeth profytte for theyr purgacion […] and shal be in the laste jugement perfourmed (fol. 170v), Ideo quibusdam ad purgationem proficit temporalis poena […] et illic paratur perfecta perditio, PL 184, 1304A. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, i, 27, 7, p. 84. and shal be in the laste jugement perfourmed (fol. 170v), et illic paratur perfecta perditio, PL 184, 1304A, MGL variant. The Middle English is clearer and more explicit.

26 

In the List of Contents, the title for this chapter reads: ‘De divino iudicio’.

Commentary

455

in thys world by troble (fol. 170v), in hoc saeculo per tribulationem, PL 184, 1304A, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. when it ys detecte and openly knowen, he ys condempned (fol. 171r), et de recto damnatur, PL 184, 1304A, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. Cryste in his jugement shall appere to his electe servantys mylde and pleasaunt […] shall oonly apere fereful to them whom evyl conscience doeth accuse (fol. 171r), Christus in judicio pro diversitate meritorum mitis ac suavis apparebit electis […] illis solis terribilis appareat, quos mala conscientia accusat, PL 184, 1304A–B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, i, 27, 9, p. 84. every man and woman shall have the juge to them as they have theyr conscience (fol.  171r), qualem unusquisque habuit conscientiam, talem judicem habebit, PL 184, 1304B, i.e., ‘euerie one shall find the iudge, according as he findeth his owne conscience’, Batt, p. 470. in his tranquillyte and pacyence (fol.  171r), in sua tranquillitate, PL  184, 1304B, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing added meaning to the text. Soror charissima, audi beatum Isidorum, PL 184, 1304B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘Most deare sister, heare what blessed Isidorus saith’, p. 471. Ther ys no person withoute syn, nor nobody can be suer of ‘the jugement of God when þat ther shal be gyven acounte of every ydyll worde’ (fol. 171r), ‘Nullus homo est sine peccato, nec quisquam securus esse potest de Dei judicio; cum etiam de otiosis verbis reddenda sit ratio’ (Matth. xii, 36), PL 184, 1304B. Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, ed. by Cazier, iii, 62, 9, p. 330. Si ad examen districti Judicis, nec justitia justi hominis erit secura; nos mi­seri quid faciemus in die illa, PL 184, 1304B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If at the examination of the seuere iudge, the iustice of the iust man shall not be assured: what shall we doe at that day’, p. 471. when the fyrmamente above and the erth benethe (fol. 171v), quando coeli […] et terra, PL 184, 1304C, MGL variant and additions. This is a rare instance when the translator chooses a less common word than the Latin. It would seem

456

Commentary

that he has a particular liking for ‘fyrmamente’, since he already substituted it for ‘caelum’ earlier in the text. See fol. 126v. Note also that the addition of adverbs make the text more explicit. shal be tryed by fyer (fol. 171v), calore sunt solvenda, PL 184, 1304C, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common verb. The same verb is applied to gold in Wisdom, ‘Gold ys tryed in the furnace’ (Wis. 3. 6.), which metaphorically refers to sickness and tribulation, and is quoted earlier in the text (fol. 108r). ye have constrayned me to wepyng teres (fol. 172r), ad lacrymas me coegisti, PL 184, 1304C–D, MGL addition. The vernacular increases the didactic message of the text with the addition of adjectives (here a present participle). we muste come before his presence (fol. 172r), oportet nos praevenire ante faciem, PL 184, 1304D, MGL variant. The Middle English is more explicit. and leve synne (fol. 172r), et a malis operibus recesserimus, PL 184, 1304D, MGL variant. The vernacular has the more common expression. with wepyng teres and fervent devocion (fol. 172v), cum lacrymis et omni devotione, PL 184, 1305A, MGL variant. For the additions of ‘wepyng’ and of ‘fervent’, see the third entry above (fol. 172r). The translator’s stylistic sensitivity is often revealed in his favouring parallel expressions, in this entry: (present participle used as an) adjective + noun ‘and’ adjective + noun. with hys electe servantis (fol. 172v), cum electis suis, PL 184, 1305A, MGL addition. In this and the next entry, the Middle English is more explicit. ‘blyssyd chyldren of my Fader’ (fol.  172v), ‘benedicti Patris mei’, PL  184, 1305A, MGL addition.

Commentary

457

Chapter 72: Epilogue (PL 184, 1305B: Epilogus; Uppsala, UUB, MS

C 240: De exortacione; Paynell: The brothers exhortacion; Batt: Of exhortation; Tyrwhitt: Epilogue)

The lxxii exhortacyon counselleth to folowe þe exhortacions and doctryne þat be rehersed in thys lytell tretyse afore (fol. 172v), MGL addition. I drawe the shyppe of our wrytyng and communicacyon unto the havyn (172v), navim locutionis ad portum dirigo, PL 184, 1305A–B, MGL variant. A rare instance where the translator has retained the original classical image. Janson notes that ship metaphors are used to ‘express their [i.e., the authors’] anxiety and uncertainty in the face of their task by an allusion to sailing’. Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces, p. 146. acordyng to your peticion (fol.  173r), ad tuam commonitionem, PL  184, 1305B, MGL variant. In this and the next entry, the translator repeats words and phrases from the Prologue. See above, fol. 1v. I presente unto you (fol.  173r), tuae Dilectioni […] repraesentavi, PL  184, 1305B, MGL variant. ye have counsell of good lyfe. Ye have gyven unto you counsell and rewle to lyve wele. Ther ys now noon ignoraunce þat may excuse you from syn. Ye be not now ignorante of good lyfe (fol. 173r), habes bonae vitae monita. Datum est tibi consilium bene vivendi, et etiam norma. Nulla jam ignorantia a peccato excusat. Non es jam nescia bonae vitae. Non enim imprudens aut ignara bene vivendi, PL 184, 1305B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 100, pp. 144–45. and rewle to lyve wele (fol. 173r), et etiam norma, PL 184, 1305B, MGL addition. The Middle English is not only more explicit but also reminds the reader of the text’s title. For nowe þe lawe of good lyfe ys declared unto you, which ye ouȝt to folowe (fol. 173r), Quia jam lex posita est tibi quam debes sequi, PL 184, 1305B. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 100, p. 145. þe lawe of good lyfe ys declared unto you (fol. 173r), lex posita est tibi, PL 184, 1305B, MGL addition. See the second entry above.

458

Commentary

jam ostensa sunt tibi praecepta bene vivendi, PL 184, 1305B, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘the way to liue well is now shewed you’, p. 476. howe ye shuld behave you (fol. 173r), qualiter […] debeas conversari, PL 184, 1305C, i.e., ‘how you should behave yourself ’. For the form of the reflexive pronoun in Middle English, see Burrow and Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, pp. 43–44. Ye have now knowlege of þe commaundmentis [...] and se þat ye sette not at nought in evyl lyvyng the good lessons þat ye doo rede (fol. 173r–v), qualis debeas esse, jam ostensum est tibi. Jam habes cognitionem mandatorum […] Bonum legis male vivendo contemnis, PL 184, 1305C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 100, p. 145. qualis debeas esse, jam ostensum est tibi, PL 184, 1305C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘and how you are to comport yourselfe in the same’, p. 476. Ye have now knowlege of þe commaundmentis. Nowe ye knowe what it ys to lyve wele (fol. 173r). Gregory the Great writes: ‘bene uiuentium laus est perscrutari secreta mandatorum dei’. Gregory the Great, Commentaire sur le Cantique, ed. and trans. by Bélanger, p. 74. the good counsell and doctryne þat ye have lerned (fol. 173v), bonum quod nosti, PL  184, 1305C, MGL addition. The vernacular is more explicit and increases the didactic message of the text by repeating words from the beginning of the chapter. See fol. 173r. the good lessons þat ye doo rede (fol. 173v), Bonum legis, PL 184, 1305C, MGL addition. The added word is repeated from the Prologue. See fol. 1v. not to knowe the waye of good lyvyng (fol. 173v), viam salutis non cognoscere, PL 184, 1305C, MGL variant. The translator is insisting on the work’s title. ‘to goo backe, and not to doo after it’ (fol. 173v), ‘retro ire’, PL 184, 1305C, MGL addition. The Middle English is more explicit. Therfor kepe ye in wyll and dede the gyfte of knoulege þat ys gyven unto you. Fulfyll in dede þat ye have lerned by techyng (fol. 173v), Ergo acceptum donum scientiae mente et opere retine: imple opere quod didicisti praeceptione, PL 184, 1305C. Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, ed. by Elfassi, ii, 100, p. 145.

Commentary

459

kepe ye in wyll and dede the gyfte of knoulege þat ys gyven unto you (fol. 173v), one of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Chapter 73: Intercession for the Author (PL 184, 1305D: Sororis pro se intercessionem apud Deum rogat; Uppsala, UUB, MS C 240: De obsecratione rubrica; Batt: Of obsecration; Tyrwhitt: He Begs from his Sister that She Will Intercede to God, for Him) This chapter is omitted in Paynell’s translation. The laste exhortacion ys a meke supplicacion of Seynt Bernard, prayeng and exhortyng hys suster to praye for hym, mekely knoulegyng hymself a synnere (fol. 173v), MGL addition. to here þat I with grete desyre wyll saye (fol. 173v), audire ea quae tibi volo dicere cum magno desiderio, PL 184, 1305D, i.e., ‘to hear that which I will say with great desire’. ‘Þat’ is here a pronoun not the conjunction. See Glossary. I shall greve your heryng (fol. 174r), aures tuas polluam, PL 184, 1305D, MGL variant. Unsurprisingly, the translator replaces ‘polluam’ (which may suggest impure thoughts) with another verb. I ungracyous offended in my chyldehode (fol. 174r), Ego infelix peccavi in infantia, PL 184, 1306A, MGL variant. The translator is always careful to provide his reader with a clear and unambiguous message and does not hesitate to alter the original text accordingly. Since ‘infelix’ perhaps implies that his sinning was a matter of chance, he judiciously translates it by ‘ungracyous’, which indicates that he was ‘wicked’ as a result of Original Sin. in þe fowle podell of wyckednes (fol. 174r), in puteum iniquitatis, PL 184, 1306A, MGL addition. The Middle English reinforces the text’s message. Ego infelix cecidi in profundum malorum: descendi miser in volutabrum vitiorum, PL 184, 1306A, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘I vnhappie man haue fallen into the depth of wickednes. I wretched man, haue descended into the filth of vice’, p. 479.

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with the holy company of virgyns joye in heven (fol. 174v), cum sanctis virgi­ nibus in coelesti thalamo laetaberis, PL 184, 1306B, MGL variant. The Middle English has the more common expression and one which avoids reference to the ‘marriage-bed’ (‘thalamus’). Soror venerabilis, si tu in servitio Dei, sicut pollicita es, perseveraveris: et mihi peccatori indulgentiam consequeris, et tu inter choros virginum in per­ petuum exaltaberis, PL 184, 1306B–C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you perseuere in the seruice of God like as you haue promised, you will both obtaine pardon for the offences, which I haue committed, and be exalted among the quires of virgins world without end’, pp. 480–81. and kepe your chastyte with Jhesu Cryste your spouse (fol. 174v), et si tu cum Jesu Christo sponso tuo casto cubili cubueris, PL 184, 1306C, MGL variant. Again the translator omits any improper suggestion. Si tu, soror, castis amplexibus Christum amplexata fueris, profecto mihi pec­ catori veniam obtinere poteris. Si tu amplexibus Christi fragrantissimo odore virginitatis adhaeseris, mihi indigno indulgentiam obtinebis, PL 184, 1306C, MGL omission. Batt translates: ‘If you deare sister, shall embrace Christ with in the chast armes of your soule, you doubtles will be able to [o]btaine forgiuenes for mine offenses, be they neuer so foule. If you adhere to the embracements of Christ with the most ardent odour of virginitie, you will easily obtaine pardon for me, though otherwise vnworthy’, p. 481. and persevere in his moste swete love (fol. 175r), et in ejus dulcissimo amore requieveris, PL 184, 1306C, MGL variant. The vernacular reminds the reader of the concept of perseverance which is examined in Chapter 20. ye may obteyn absolucion and forgyfnes (fol. 175r), absolutionem acquirere poteris, PL 184, 1306D, MGL addition. Another example of ‘geminatio’ introducing added meaning. Jhesu your spouse wull not denye you (fol. 175r), Jesus Christus sponsus tuus non te contristabit, PL 184, 1306D, MGL variant. The Middle English not only has the more common verb, it is also clearer. to the maryage in heven (fol. 175r), ad nuptias in coelestem thalamum, PL 184, 1306D, MGL variant. Another instance of ‘thalamus’ being omitted.

Appendix I

The Three Other Texts in MS Laud misc. 517

The Manere of Good Lyvyng is followed in Oxford, Bodl. Libr., MS Laud misc. 517 by three other short texts, of which a transcription is given below.1 The same transcription rules apply and modern punctuation has been added. Note that the Glossary does not include vocabulary from these three texts.

1. (175v) Here folowen the xii degrees of mekenes Seynt Gregor the doctour seyth þat ‘withoute mekenes it ys unlefull to truste of forgyvnes of our synnes’. Also the same doctour sayth þat ‘he þat gadreth vertues withoute mekenes ys lyke to a man þat beryth duste in his open hande in a grete wynde, for the wynde beryth evere the duste awaye’. So it ys by þat person that ys not meke. Peraventure he ys pacient, chaste, sobre, obedient, discrete, and honest in lyvyng, but he goeth opyn hande in þe wynde, evere redy to receyve lovyngs and praysyngs, redye evere to be in worshyp of the worlde whych ys þe devyls wynde and bloweth all hys vertues awaye, but yf they be closed in mekenes. For he þat is meke hath levere to be repreved than loved, dispysed than praysed. He covetyth to be the outecaste of all. He thynketh oþere mennys synnes small, and hys own synnes grete and horryble. Mekenes steryth God to forgyfnes. Mekenes ys full of knowyng (176r) of a mannys own wrecchydnes. Mekenes ys ashamed when peple prayse hym, and Seynt Jerom sayeth þat ‘mekenes makyth of erthly men hevenly’. Ther may no 1 

See Introduction, pp. 8–9.

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vertue bryng a man oute of the devyls snares but by hit, as it was showed to a holy man which an angell lad on a tyme into an hygh mountane and shewed hym þe state of all the worlde, and ther he sawe all þe world sette full of the devyls snares þat he þouȝt wondere how eny man shuld goo untake. And the angel sayd that theyr myȝt noon goo untake, but the meke man. Therfor it ys moste nedeful to you to lern mekenes, to meke you in þe sight of God, þat he vouchesave to make you his lover. For yf it be so þat God hath callyd you and steryd you more than anoþere to lern hys lawes and to desyre the blysse of heven, yit bere you the lower and everemore drede, leste ye fall to olde wrecchydnes, whych ys more dampnable þan I can tell. For God sayth in the Gospell: ‘many be callyd and fewe chosen’. (176 v) Many God steryth to leve the worlde and all hys delytes, but fewe he cheseth to be hys lovers. For unneth eny ys þat desyreth the love of God þat wyll labour to com therto. But and þei wold sette theyr hertis to delyte in the love of God, soon shuld their erthly savour be benom them and theyr hartis sette so hygh þat no hevy thouȝt of syn myȝt reche unto it. And therfor, sustere, look not abacke, beholde nevere what ye have forsake but what ye have take. Turn not agayn, for God sayth in the Gospell that ‘hoso leyeth hys hande on the plowgh and loketh behynde hym, he ys not worthy the blysse of heven’. Therfor have mynde on Goddis wordis and stable your purpos to love God more and more. And for ye have myche nede to lerne mekenes, I shall tell you of xii degrees of mekenes, as ferfurth as God wyll gyve it unto me at this tyme. Seynt Bernarde spekyth of xii degrees of mekenes of þe which thys ys the fyrst:2 in herte and dede to shewe lowlynes. (177r) In hert forto holde yourself leste and unworthyest of all oþere, beholde your own defauȝtis and no nothers, desyre not hyer state than þat God hath sette you yn, beeng nevere þe gladder but hevyer þat men prayse you. Also in dede, not beryng you hygh in prowde spekyng ne [in]3 lookyng ne in no noþere countenance. For Seynt Gregor seyth: ‘as ofte as we answer mekely to them þat repreve us, so ofte we smyte the devyll’. The second degre4 ys forto be of lytell speche and that it be resonable and profetyng to the herers, for Salomon seyth that in mych speche may no syn lake. Wherfor I counsell you to be of lytell speche, ne take upon you to repreve oþere sustern dedis. But for them þat ye may not amend, if ye se ther ys no amendment, have sorow and compassion in your hert and praye for them, and 2 

MS has ‘fyrste’ in left margin. MS omits ‘in’. 4  MS has ‘iid’ in right margin. 3 

The Three Other Texts in MS Laud misc. 517

463

þat suffyseth to you. For dyverse peple be which the more they be steryd to good the wers they be, to whom it ys grete perell to speke. For it ys bettere to you to be in silence and in your harte to speke with God. (177v) And when ye begyn to speke to God, putte oute of your mynde all oþere rascall, as fantasyes or thouȝtis of eny oþere thyng. For anone as ye be occupyed with God, then wyll your olde synnes, þouȝtis, and vanytes sterte ­bytwyn hym and you and benom you the syȝt of hym. But leeve not so sodenlye but turn to hym and gete hym agayn, and with grete travayl in meditacion of Crystis passion your hert shal be stabled and so delyted to here God spekyng to you in your herte þat it shal be in tyme cummyng grete disese to you to speke with eny man. The iiid degre5 ys to be not lyȝtly lawhyng but meen in countenance, not gyvyng you to playes, ne to wantones, ne to commyn with them þat be full gyven to worldly lyȝtnes. For they wyl make you forgete our Lord Jhesu and make your herte unstable and wyll lesse your love. Therfor ye muste drawe to sadnes and thenke on the short tyme þat we have to lyve here. If ye beholde verely the shortnes of thys lyfe, ye wold (178r) not luste to playe. The iiiith degre6 ys sylence unto þe tyme þat ye be spoken to. But love evere sonnere to here than to speke. For, as clerkis saye, the tunge ys the gate of þe soule, and yf the gate of your soule be opyn — þat ys to seye, if ye be ofte clateryng — [ye]7 shal lette the devyl to entyr and gete þe mastry of your soule. Therfor I fynde in holy mennys lyves sylence so mych loved þat ther was a holy man þat was namyd Agatharo which, for he cowde not kepe well silence as hym thouȝt he shuld doo, bare iii yer togydere a stone in his mouth tyl he had lerned perfitly to kepe silence. Also a philosophour seyd to his good frende þat yf he wolde com to perfeccion, he muste be of lytell spech and seldom. Also the prophet Jeremye in his Lamentacions sayth: ‘a solytary man or woman shall sytte styll and lyffte hym overe hymself when he forgetyth all thys world and rayseth hys thouȝtis, his desyres, and hys affeccions to þe blisse of heven, and suffer (178v) not his hert to be occupyed with lower thyngis þan God or þat þat to hym longyth’. And þat may no man doo, but yf he wyl be of lytel speche. For trewly it ys a foule stynkyng pryde, and þe veryest confusyon to eny þat wold be Goddis lovere, to be a grete jangler tyl hys hert be stablyd in God. For sykerly,

5 

MS has ‘iiid’ in left margin. MS has ‘iiiith’ in right margin. 7  MS reads ‘who’. 6 

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Appendix I

but he leve þat foule vyce, God wyll withdrawe his grace and lette hym fall and bettere to know hymself. The vth degre8 ys a man or a woman to kepe the commyn rewle of Holy Chyrch in theyr outeward doyngs, as in worchyng, etyng, and drynkyng: not to sytte and ete bred and drynk watere in þe syght of men, dispysyng þe mete þat God hath ordeynd for mannys sustenans. Drawe to no syngularytes but ete as oþere doo for the tyme and place. And evere more as ye ete and drynke, at every morsell, thanke ye God þat fedyth you þat tyme, so þat your mynde goo not fro hym. And trewly withyn a whyle ye shal have so grete delyte and myrth in thynkyng of God þat ye shall (179r) thenke þat ye have no enemy but slepe. But to thys joye may no man com þat hath eny oþere lykyng than God. Also I avyse you þat ye be not of mych abstynence tyl ye know it be with you or agaynste you. The vith degre9 ys forto hold and cownte yourself leste and worste of all oþere, and not to putte yourself furth afore oþere. For God byddyth in the Gospell: ‘when þou art beden to a feste, sytte down in the lowest place’. And to þe gostely undurstandyng herof, methynkyth so grete a feste ys noon as ys þe love of God, to the whych yf ye be beden by ynwarde steryng of þe Holy Goste, I avyse you to sytte in þe loweste place, that ys to seye, holde you wors þan eny oþere. Behold your own fawtis and oþere mennys good dedis. Dispyse ye noon but yourself and know ye wele. The lesse þat ye be sette by among oþere, the grettere ye be in þe syght of God; and thys shuld be a grete cause to you to desyr to be dispysed and to be þe outecaste of all oþer. (179v) The viith degre10 ys to hold you unworthy of eny benefyte of God, þat ys to sey, of many dyvers gyftis of God, as ys ryches, helth, prosperite, and govere­ naunce of oþere, and oþere thyngys whych, yf God sende, shuld not be take but with grete drede. For then yf ye trespace to God, the more ys your syn and offence. The viiith degre11 ys mekely and lowly to shryve you to your confessour þat ys kunnyng and hath power, and accuse yourself of all your unkyndnes, rech­lesnes, and presumpcion. And favour no more yourself in utteryng of your synnes than ye wold doo your moste enemy in þe world. And evere after when your old synnes come to your mynde, have sorowe for them. For God sayth: ‘if a man or woman forgete theyr synnes, I shall thenke on them; and if they with sorowe of hert have them in mynde, I shall forgete them’. 8 

MS has ‘vth’ in left margin. 9  MS has ‘vith’ in right margin. 10  MS has ‘viith’in left margin. 11  MS has ‘viiith’ in left margin.

The Three Other Texts in MS Laud misc. 517

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The ixth degre12 ys lyȝtly to obey to doo þat thyng þat ys plesyng to God, though the thyng be harde. For trewly it ys no wonder if it be hard at the (180r) begynnyng of your conversyon to God to leve all vyces and folow vertues. For Seynt Jerom sayth þat ‘long custom of synnyng hath made to us the waye of vertue sharpe and bytter’. And thys may ye se by reson, as it ofte fallyth that he þat ys bodely seke may not ete, for he thynketh all thyng bytter that he etyth. So it faryth by hym þat ys gostely seke: he hath no savour in the word of God, whych ys the fode of þe soule, but all holy techyng þat ys callyd gostely fode ys byttere and unsavery to hym whyls he ys in þe seknes of syn. And wytte ye well, whatsoevere he be þat hath no savour in the word of God ne luste to here it, he ys gostly seke, and wrecchydnes of syn hath venomed hys taste and blynded so þe eye of hys hert þat he may noþere luste to her Goddys wordis ne se hys own synfull state but, as a blynde hors doeth, fall in every dyche. And but yf he the sonnere seke counceyl of good lechys, I holde hym full ferr from helth. The xth degre13 (180v) ys to be lyȝt and glad in disese. For wytte ye well þat yf God spare not youe in thys lyfe but sendyth you tribulacion and disese, he loveth you and wyl forbere you in þat oþere lyfe. Thys wytnesyth Job whych, when he was in his moste disese and lay rottyng on a dunghyl, he prayde to God and sayd: ‘Lorde, spare me not in thys lyfe þat þou forbere me in þat oþere lyfe’. He wyst well þat sythen God sparyth so lytell his servantis in thys lyfe, he wyll ponysch full sore his enemyes in þat oþere lyfe. The xith degre14 ys with all buxomnes to be sugette to all oþere in thyngis þat be lefull and not hyndryng þe love of God. For God seyth in hys Gospell to hys disciplys: ‘he þat ys moste of you shal be all your servante’, and þat lowlynes shewed he in hymself wele in waschyng of hys dysciplys fete. The xiith degre15 and þe laste ys not to folowe your own mynde and wyll, that ys to seye, the wyll of synnyng. For he þat conformyth hys wyll to the wyll of God (181r) and wyl not doo þat thyng which he troweth myȝte displese his Lord God, he foloweth not the desyres of hys flesch. For he wyll noþer ete ne drynke ne slepe ne wake but for more furtheryng of þe love of God. And whatsoevere he doeth, he doeth it for the love of God. Deo gracias 12 

MS has ‘ixth’ in left margin. 13  MS has ‘xth’ in right margin. 14  MS has ‘xith’ in left margin. 15  MS has ‘xiith’ in left margin.

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2. (181r) Seynt Albert the byschop seyth thes wordis Fyrst, when ye receyve our Lord in forme of bred, ye receyve v partis. The fyrst ys the same body þat he toke of the Virgyn Marie. The second ys the same blode þat he shed on the crosse for our redempcion. The iiid ys the same soule which the Fadyr of heven sent down from hys own hart into the bosom of þe Virgyn Marie. The iiiith ys the lyfe with þe body. The vth ys ther ye receyve the Fader, the Son, and þe Holy Goste, the hool Trinyte togyder after dyvyne worchyng. In the fyrst, when ye receyve þe (181v) blessyd bodye of our Lorde, ye be made partenere of all the goodnes which he wrouȝte in all his lyfe and of all his passion, also of all þe goodnes which he hath wrouȝte from Adam unto the laste man, also of all them þat be in heven and therfor it ys callyd a communyon. In the second, when ye receyve hys precyous blode withyn hys bodye, ye be made clene of all your synnes, þouȝe they be dedly yf ye knowe not of them. In the iiid, when ye receyve hys moste gracyous soule and when ye offyr þat noble gyffte into the bosom of the Fader of heven, then the Fadyr forgetyth all the trespacis þat evere ye wrouȝt in his syght. In the iiiith, when ye receyve hys lyfe with the bodye, ye be chaunged and be made a godly creatur. Lyke as bodly mete þat ye receyve ys chaunged into you wherby ye receyve bodely strength, ryȝt so ye receyve spiritual strength with vertues to withstand all evyl thouȝtis and wycked dedis. In the vth, when ye receyve the hoole Trinyte, ye be fulfylled (182r) with his grace. For nothyng may fyll a soule but oonly God, ne nothyng may fyll þe hert but that þat it loveth. In the receyvyng of the blessyd sacrament with all love, reverens and worshyp, brese ye not the hoost with your teth, but lete it relente in your mouth by itself, and so receyve ye it down hool as mych as ye may. And if ye lyste to knowe wher it ys becom, as soon as your bodely wyttis hath loste the talent therof, anone it entreth into your soule; and yf the soule receyve hit not worthely, then it ys in heven. Deo gracias

The Three Other Texts in MS Laud misc. 517

467

3. ( fol. 182r) Of pacyens to be had in sekenes If a man knewe how profetable sekenes wer to hym, he wold desyr nevere to lyve withoute sekenes, for the sekenes of the body ys the helth of þe soule. Thys the apostle consyderyng sayth: ‘when I am seke, then am I strong and myȝty’. The sekenes of þe body ys the qwencher of fleschly lustys. It ys þe destruccyon (182v) of vanyte, the dryver awey of curyosite. It settyth nouȝt by the vaynglory of þe world. It ys the avoyder of pride, the outelawer of envye, the expulsion of lechery, and ys þe very geter of the grace of God, wyttenesyng oure Lorde sayeng to Paule: ‘my grace ys sufficient for the, Paule, for in sekenes vertue ys made perfitte’; which sayeng the apostle understandyng well with grete joye of hert sayd thus: ‘I shal be joyfull and glad in my sekenes’. Therfor sykenes shuld be gladly desyred and born of us, whych quenchith in us the burnyng flamys of synnes and obteyneth the grace of our Lord Jhesu Cryste. Seknes purgeth us from syn and ordeyneth for us a celestyall crown. O sekenes, to us so profitable, full mykel art þou to be biloved of us. God graunte me þat I nevere goo withoute the, ne sytte withoute the, nevere to aryse withoute the, but evere to lyve in the. The sekenes of the body purgeth and sanctyfieth the soule. The sekenes of the (183r) body ys to us the shewyng of þe love of God and the very token of hys chastement, wytnesyng our Lord sayeng: ‘whom I love, them I chaste’. Certeynly, yf we wyl be beloved of God, we ouȝt to desyre to suffre his chastemente. For yf we love not to be chastysed of hym, we may in no wyse be receyved of hym, wyttenesyng Holy Scriptur sayeng: ‘Almyȝty God skourgeth every servante þat he resseyveth’. And suche as he chastyth not he receyveth not, as our Lorde sayth by hys prophete: ‘I have suffred them to lyve after the desyres of theyr hertis’. Therfor the chastement of God ys to us full necessarye, and sekenes ys pacyently to be suffered wherby foloweth the helth of the soule. It ys with all thankis and gladnes of hert to be taken, for it gendryth the hate of the worlde and incresyth the love of God. It maketh us to juge thys present lyfe to be a paynfull pryson and an exile. But þe wreched peple that gyveth them all to the worlde, if they (183v) myȝt lyve allwey in helth withoute sekenes, they wold nevere desyre oþere lyfe. Wherof it ys hevy to here or to speke, for many ther be whych anone as they be vysited of God with sekenes for þeir soule helth, they take it not pacyently, but in all haste they sende their water to the phisicion to knowe wheþere they shall rekovere or no. Thes wreched peple be signifyed by þat cursyd kyng Ochozie which, as it ys conteyned in the iiiith Boke of Kingis, when he laye seke, he sente his servantis with hys water to the false god Accaron to knowe yf he shulde

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rekovere of hys sekenes. The prophete Helye by the cummaundment of God mette them and seyd: ‘goo ye to your kyng ayen and seye ye to hym thus in my name: is ther not a trewe God in Israel to aske counsell of ? But þou haste sent to the false god Accaron for cownsell. Therfor seyth Almyȝty God þat þou shalt nevere aryse fro thy bedde, but theryn þou shalt dye’, which folowed after þe sentence of God. Lykewyse, ofte it fallyth all þem (184r) myserably to dye which sendyth to þe fals god Accaron for counseyl which by interpretacion ys as mych to seye as uryne, and overebesyeth themself to putte from them the visitacion of God; which be gostely blynded and wyll not knowe that God chastyseth hys chosen peple to prove them, to purge them, and to sanctifye them, and fynally to glorifye them in everelastyng blysse. Amen.

Appendix II

Paynell’s Translation: A compendius and a moche fruytefull treatyse of well liuynge, contaynyng the hole summe and effect of al vertue

Note that the whole text can be accessed on line via EEBO.1 The transcription below is mostly diplomatic, with the exception of paragraph division, some capitalization, word division, and some punctuation, which have all occasionally been added or changed in order to make the text more readable. Abbreviations are silently expanded, and all footnotes are editorial.

1. The Dedication2 (1v) To the high and excellent Lady Mary, deare doughter to our moost pusaunte soueraygne lorde the kyng, T. Paynel sendeth gretyng. After I had gathered and translated certayne chapters of this fruytful and vertuous boke, Lady moost excellent, I with my selfe imagynyng and reuoluyng to whose tuition and defense I shuld gyue or commit the same, youre excellence 1 

For the reference in Short-Title Catalogue, ed. by Pollard and Redgrave, see Introduction, p. 26, note 150. 2  The text does not formally entitle this section ‘Dedication’. The first page of text has a small cross in the bottom margin. The next page (verso) has the same cross followed by ‘v’. The last page of the Dedication has no pagination. Arabic numerals have here been added to this prefatory material.

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apeared to my mynde most metest, and among all other the mooste apteste, and for this thinge moost conuenient. For who can denye but þat youre grace, thus well lerned (as in (2r) dede ye are) and thus inclyned to the obseruacion of Chrystes lawes, is a ryght good bulwarke and a sure defence agaynst the gnawers of other mens labours? And this proper boke, replenished with all godly and spiritual lerninge, I dare beholde to say that your grace (ponderyng the sayenges and intent therof ) neuer red thyng in englishe that aluerde3 or styrd you more to deuocion, to the loue of god and your neyghbour, to fulfyl his swete and easy commaundementes, to exchue and vtterly auoyde all wantonnesse, all ydelnesse, all vanite, al trifelyng, dalyance, all worldly pastyme and pleasure, then dothe this boke, the whiche S. Bernarde, at his systers request, compiled and made, exhortynge her and all other to (2v) goddes seruice, to his leate4 and loue, and to the complement of his moost swetest preceptes and commaundementes. Consyderynge then, the vtilite, the deuoute pretence and swete argument of this treatyse, remembring also the integrite of hym that made it, and agayne the deuoute purpose of her it was made for, ponderynge also your graces moost curius and exquisite insuynge of theyr vertues and heuenly liuynge, coulde I haue dedicate[d]5 this, my simple and rude translacion (rude it is and not eloquently paynted, because I wolde be playne) to any other then to youre excellence, a very mirour and glasse of all goodnesse, of all vertue, of all deuocion and perfet fayth? Meruell it is to heare how men extoll your (3r) pure and vertuous liuyng, and therewith your constancy in all goodnesse, your bountifulnesse and opende hande to the poore: verteous mooste commendable, and the trewe pathway to conducte and brynge al suche as truely and customably use them to eternal beatitude. I wyll not at this tyme expresse youre manyfolde other vertues and gyftes of nature, nor speake of youre diuine and humayne knowledge, of youre pacience and lowly behauoure, nor of your humilite and chastite, thynges (consideryng your gracys estate and age) to be wunderde at. But by this, your clene liuynge and longe contynuance therof, men maye nowe se, perceyue and fele the effecte of godly and vertuous education, the (3v) very rote and spryng of all godly operacyon, of all vertue and clene lyfe. What nedeth me (I say) to speake of your beutyfulnesse, of your most amiable and lowly countinance, of youre wyse and chaste communi[c]acyon,6 or of your well proportioned body in euery behalfe? The which gyftes of nature to many 3 

‘Aluerde’, i.e., MED ‘aluren’, to entice, to attract. ‘Leate’, i.e., MED ‘leaute’, truth, faithfulness. 5  The text reads: ‘dedicate’. 6  The text reads: ‘cōmuninacyon’ 4 

Paynell’s Translation

471

other are as inticementes and occasions of euyl disposicion, but to your grace they are (as I coniecture) vertuous prouocations and the fresh remembraunce of the hygh and marueylous workes of almightye God, whome I hartely beseche and pray to continue your grace this newe yeare and euer in vertue, and to sende you longe lyfe to his pleasure.

2. (xliiir) Of the loue of god the xij. Chap. (xliiiv) The lorde sayeth,7 he that loueth me, wyll kepe my commaundementes, and my father shal loue him, and we wyl come vnto him and dwell with hym. And Saynt Johan sayeth,8 we loue god for he hath fyrst loued vs. He þat loueth god shall pray for the forgyuenesse of his synnes, and take hede he fal no more. My wel beloued syster, loue almyghtye god and call vnto hym for help, for the loue of God is the very lyfe, and his hatred very death. God wyll not be beloued onely with worde, but with harte and good workes. He loueth not god that dispyseth his commaundementes. The mynde of hym that (xliiiir) loueth God is not in earth, but in heuen, and euermore desyryng of celestyal and heuenly thynges. Good syster, I exhorte you to loue God aboue all thynge. We shulde rather loue GOD, then our frendes, why so? For he hath created and made bothe vs and them with his owne handes, that is, through his owne propre vertue and power as it is wryten.9 He hath made vs, and not we haue made oure selfe. Also he hath gyuen vs greater gyftes, then eyther father or mother dyd, and therfore we ought to loue hym aboue them. Yt is a greate fooly to loue any thynge more then GOD. Yea he synneth greatly that loueth anye creature more then GOD, he is in (xliiiiv) greate arrour that preferth the loue of any creature aboue the loue of GOD, and therfore God must be beloued aboue al thing. O honest virgyn, I pray you to say thus by chryst Jesus10 with loue and dilection, my welbeloued god, of whome I am greatly beloued, the which pastorth among the liles vntyl it be day, that is, as longe as it is daye, and tyl the cloudes go downewardes, that is, vntyl the cloude of this present lyfe swage and auoide,11 and that the day appeare, that is, vntyl the clerenesse of the spiritual beatitude 7 

In left margin: ‘Johan .xv.’ In left margin: ‘I. Iohan, iiii’. 9  In right margin: ‘psal xcix’. 10  In left margin: ‘Canti. ii.’. 11  ‘Swage’, i.e., MED ‘swagen’, diminish, pass away; ‘auoide’, i.e., MED ‘avoiden’, go away, disappear. 8 

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and blysse doth appeare. It is a poynt of Justice to loue god with al your harte, and wyllyngly to cleue vnto hym. And to loue the soueraygne goodnes is soueraigne beatitude. He that (xlvr) loueth god is good. Yf he be good, he must nedes be blessed, and how moch more a man loueth god, so moch the more he is blessed. Dilectation and loue is the proper vertue of saintes. I haue sayd these thynges vnto you, to thentent that the loue of this transytory worlde shulde not seperate you from god. And hearewith I pray you to tell and to declare vnto vs somwhat of the loue of your spouse Chryst Jesu.12 My louer is vnto me as a handfull or a shefe of myrre, he restyth apon my pappes. Declare this thing a litle more playnly to vs, that we may the better vnderstande it. My louer (I saye) is vnto me as a litle shefe of myrre, he shall rest betwexte my pappes. The place of a mans hart is betwext (xlvv) the pappes,13 that is to say, the memory, þe dilection, the loue of christ Jesu shalbe euermore in my hart. And whether it be in prosperite, or in aduersyte, I wyl euermore cal and reduce to my memory al the godnesse that he shewed me. For he hath loued me, and suffered his death for me, and is ascendyd to heuen, to thentent I shuld come vnto hym. He dothe dayly call me, sayng, leaue the world my spouse,14 come vnto me and ye shalbe crowned. The lefte hand of my louer and spouse is vnder my head, þat is to saye, the gyfte of the holy goost resteth in me in this present lyfe, and I wolde the vnderstandynge of holy scrypture were in my mind, that I myght loue hym and know hym perfytly. His ryght hande (xlvir) shal inbrayce me, that is,15 he shal conuey and brynge me to eternall lyfe and blysse. O good syster, saye thus vnto the handemaydes of GOD, vnderset me with floures,16 vnderbolster me with appelles, for why, I consume away in the loue of my spouse Chryst Jesu. O my holy systers, þat loue God aboue all thynge,17 and prefer no worldly thinge aboue his moste swetest loue, vpholde me by your good examples, and shew me howe I maye fynde my louer Chryst Jesus, for I am sycke for the loue of my spouse. This loue is swete, this sycknesse18 is verye hooly, this dilectyon is chaste, this coniunction is intemerate, this copulacyon is inuiolate, this imbrasynge is without any spot of synne. 12 

In right margin: ‘Canti. i.’. In left margin: ‘Canti. i.’. 14  In left margin: ‘Canti. iiii.’. 15  In right margin: ‘Canti. i.’. 16  In right margin: ‘Can. ii.’. 17  In right margin: ‘Can. ii.’. 18  The text seems to read: ‘lycknesse’. However, it could be that the letter ‘s’ has been partially rubbed out. 13 

Paynell’s Translation

473

(xlviv) O my holy systers sustayne me with the floures of your good examples and of your hooly conuersation, for I am sycke for the loue of my spouse. Verely ye kepe your bed of contemplacyon for his sake, yf ye loue hym aboue all thynges. Verely ye are sycke for goddes sake, yf ye esteme that is celestiall aboue that is earthly. Verely ye consume and waste awaye in the dilection and loue of chryst and in youre bed of inwarde dilection and swetnesse, yf ye be stronge in holy operations and workes, and feble in worldly worke and operatyon. Good syster, yf ye loue Chryst with all your harte, nor prefer nothynge aboue his loue, ye shall be with hym in great ioye in the kyngdome of heuen, yf ye folow God (lxviir) with all youre mynde, and loue hym with all youre harte, without any doute, ye shall be with hym in heuen, and folowe hym with other hooly virgyns whethersoeuer he go. Yf ye cleue vnto god with all deuotion, and with great desyre do sythe19 in this present worlde to come vnto hym, without doute ye shall be with hym in greate ioye, and pleasure in the hyghe palece of heuen, and with other holy vyrgyns ye shall synge to his laude and prayse, holy songes, and deuoute hymnes, as it is wrytten in the cantykels.20 Thou that art nuryshed amonge the lilees, environed and compast with the companes of virgyns, glorifyenge your spouses with glorie, and giuynge them greate rewardes, (lxviiv) and giftes, whethersoeuer ye go the virgyns do folowe you, and syngynge behynde you, they beset you, and delyte and conforte you with manyfolde swete songes and hymnes, that is, with depe loue, and deuoute prayer. O welbeloued syster, let nothinge be swete vnto you, but only chryste Jesus, requere no nother loue but his onely, loue no nother mans beutefulnes but his only, and loke ye wepe and wayle to come to his loue, and vntyll ye maye se hym syt vpon the ryght hande of his father.

3. (lxxxiiiv) Of continence, the. xxij chapitur Good sister, I pray you to harken with all deuocyon vnto my admonicyon. The nomber of thyrte is the fyrst nombre, and it sygnifyeth the confederacyon of maryage. The nombre of thre score is the seconde degre of nombres, and it sygnif[i]eth21 the contynence of wydowes. A hundered is the thyrd degre of nombers, the which is deputed vnto virgyns, for the glorye and crowne of theyre virginyte. Saynt Isodore sayeth þat ther be which in there youth lyued luxuriusly, 19 

A variant of ‘sigh’. In right margin: ‘Can. ii.’. 21  The text reads: ‘sygnifeth’. 20 

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and in age do intend to lyue chastly, and that wyl liue then in continence and chastite, (lxxxiiiir) when voluptuousnesse and bodely pleasure hath forsaken and left them. But suche men shall haue litle or no reward, for they haue taken no payne to resyste temptacyon. They shal be rewarded, and the crowne of glorye appertayneth to them, that valyantly haue foughten and warsteled22 for it. The fruyte of chastite is swetnesse. Chastite is the sauegard of the soule, and the health of the body. Luxuriousnesse dothe feble a mans body, and causeth man to seme olde and aged before his tyme. Continuall and longe chastite is reputed for virginite. Therfore, good syster, the beutifulnesse of chastite, ought to be loued and myche made of. They that lyue continently and chastely, prepare them selfe as (lxxxiiiiv)23 an habitacle and a mancyon place for god to dwell in, of the which Saynt Paule sayeth,24 they that lyue chast are the temple of god, and the holy gooste dwelleth in them. Continence causeth man to be nygh vnto god. God dwelleth there where chastite is. Chastite bryngeth a man to heuen, chastite leadeth a man to þe kingdome of blysse. The kyngdome of heuen is prepared for those that lyue chastely. They that lyue chaste shall inheryte heuen. Chaste matrimonie and wedlock is good. Yet the contynence of honest widowes is better, but integrite, and pure virgynyte mooste excellent. The humble wydowe is better then the prowde virgyn. A wydow hauyng humilite is better then þe prowd (lxxxvr) virgyn. Better is the wydowe that bewayleth her synnes then the virgin that bostes her of her virginite. Better is the wydowe that lamenteth her iniquite then the virgyn that exalteth her self of her merites. A virgyn shulde not glorifye her selfe of her virginyte in the present25 of other. For, yf she so do, she bryngeth no oyle with her, and her lampe is clene out. A virgyn shulde not dyspyse a wydow. A virgin that intendeth to please god must not dyspyse suche women as lyue in chastyte. For, yf she so do, she shall greatly dysp[l]ease26 the lorde. It is a token of pryde, for a virgyn to desprayse any women lyuyng chastely, or þat is gyuen to goddes seruice, why so? For þe meke (lxxxvv) and humble synner is more to be laudyd a great dele then the proude iust man. Therfore dysprayse no women, for many a holy woman hath ben maryed, and haue had chyldren. Truely, yf ye blame or accuse any such,

22 

That is ‘and wrestled’. On EEBO folios lxxxiiiiv and lxxxr are missing. This is probably due to the misnumbering of folio lxxxvir, see note 29 below. 24  In left margin: ‘Cor. vi.’. 25  ‘Present’, i.e., presence (MED). 26  The text reads: ‘dyspease’. 23 

Paynell’s Translation

475

ye are culpable before god. For the holy prophete Saynt An was maryed.27 Yet neuerthelesse she prophesyed of Chryst, and deserued to se hym. Also Mary Magdalene28 was a secular woman, and yet she sawe chryst after he was rysen from death to lyfe, and deserued to be chrystes messenger to his apostles. We shulde neuer haue them in contempte, the whiche god hath chosen to be his seruantes. Wherfore I exhort you that, for the loue of chryst, ye do them the seruyce, and pleasure (lxxx[vi]r)29 ye maye or can, and that ye loue them, as mothers. And good syster, ye ought to loue them as your owne chyldren, for god hath conuerted and drawen them from the worlde to his seruyce. Yf ye then despyse them, bycause they be his handmaydens and seruantes, ye do hym iniure. O good syster in Chryst Jesu, neuer say or thynke your selfe a drye stock or an vnfrutefull tree. For yf ye loue the lorde as ye shuld do, ye haue seuen goodly chyldren. The fyrste is called shamefastnesse, the seconde pacyence, the thyrde sobernesse, the fourth temperaunce, the fyfte is charyte, the syxte humilyte, the seuenth chastite. Behold nowe, good syster, how that by the great grace of GOD, without any grefe (lxxxviv) or corporall corruptyon, ye haue brought forthe to Goddes honour seuen fayre chyldren. And so ye haue fulfylled that is wrytten.30 The barren hath brought forthe seuen chyldren. Therfore, good syster, ye muste nouryshe, repast, confort, and chasten these your goodly chyldren. Ye muste nouryshe them with good maners, with deuoute contemplacyon, with the mylke of eternall swetenesse. Ye must repast them with the loue of heuenly pasture. Ye muste conforte them with the breade of the worde of God. Ye must chasten them with the roddes of the feare of god, and commaunde them to flye, and auoyd all pryde, and lyghtnesse, and that they neuer transgresse his commaundementes, and that they (lxxxviir) neuer go ne departe from you. Nowe ye se then, howe that virgyns fynd out and optayne the moost excellent and moost souera[i]n31 place of the kyngdome of heuen, and not without a great cause, for they haue dispised this present worlde. And therfore they are come to euerlastynge ioye, to the whiche I desyre that he do brynge you, to whose seruyce ye haue consecrated bothe bodye and soule. Amen. 27 

In left margin: ‘Luke. ii.’. In left margin: ‘Mark. xvi.’. 29  Folio ‘lxxxvi’ is mistakenly numbered ‘lxxxiv’. 30  In left margin: ‘Reg. ii.’. 31  The text reads: ‘excellentes and moost soueraunce’, Latin: ‘principalem locum’, PL 184, 1240D. MGL has: ‘hygh’, fol. 70v, and A Rule of Good Life, trans. by Batt: ‘celestial’, p. 172. MED gives ‘sufferante’ as a possible spelling for ‘soverain’. The printed spelling could therefore be explained by a scribe reading a ‘c’ for a ‘t’, but something has obviously gone wrong here, as ‘excellentes’ cannot be so conveniently explained. 28 

Appendix III

Batt’s Translation: A Rule of Good Life (…) translated into English by the R. Father Antonie Batt

This is a diplomatic transcription, except for the fact that paragraph divisions have been added, abbreviations are silently expanded, and some punctuation has been altered. This edition has about twenty-two lines of text per page, and this may explain the few paragraph divisions in the original text. Note Batt’s usage of the asterisk to mark biblical quotations.

1. Title Page and Preliminary Material (no pagination, a1r)1 A Rvle of Good Life: MRA2 Written by the mellifluous Doctor S. Bernard (Monke and Abbot of [the]3 holie Order of S. Ben[et])4 especiallie for Virgins, and other Religious woemen; and may profitably be read likewise by all others, that aspire to Christian perfection.

1 

Here, as below in this section of primary material, pagination is sometimes lacking. The missing pagination has been silently supplied. 2  The EEBO copy of the text has the signature of ‘Margaret Mary Sender’ on the folio facing the title page. 3  Word missing in text. Note that here as well as in subsequent notes, the missing word/ letters are clearly visible on the EEBO version of the text, although they are not in the printed facsimile. 4  The ‘et’ of ‘Benet’ is not visible on the facsimile.

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[F]aithfully5 translated into English by the R. Father Antonie Batt, Monke of the holie Order afore[sai]d6 of the Congregation of England. [Pr]inted7 at Doway, by lavrence kellam. 1633. (a2r) To the Venerable, Religious, and deuout sister, Dame Francis Gawen, Of the holie Order of S. Benet, and first Abbesse of the cloister of our Ladie of comfort in Cambray. The rule of our blessed Sauiour (right religious and deuout spouse of Christ Iesus) ordaineth that we giue not that which is holy to dogges, nor cast (a2v) pearles before swine. Ma.7.8 I persuade my selfe, that I obserue this rule of our Lord, by dedicating this holie Treatise, this heauenly pearle, this perfect Institution of a virginal life, to one that is totallie dedicated to Christ, as desiring to be not vnworthy of the name of his doue, his loue, his spouse. To such a soule ought such pearles to be addressed. As for dogged hearts, that teare in peeces those that endeauour to feed them with celestial documents: (a3r) or swinish soules, who delight onely in the draught and durt of vanitie and vice: I know full well, that such lecture as this is will be vnsauerie and vnwelcome vnto them; and therefore my thoughts neuer directed it that way. To you therefore (religious and deuout Dame) do I addreße it, who by your owne practice, both in your owne selfe, and in the direction of other soules, can best iudge of it, and most contently sauour it. Vouchsafe to receiue (a3v) it as a remembrance of an old seruant and well-willer of your familie, particularlie obliged to your worthy brother; and by spiritual generation become now Your vnworthy, but most louing brother, in Christ Iesus. Bro: Antonie Batt.

5 

Note that the ‘F’ of ‘Faithfully’ is not visible on the facsimile title page. The word is partly unreadable on the facsimile. 7  ‘Pr’ are not visible on the facsimile title page. 8  Matthew 7. 6. 6 

Batt’s Translation

(a4r) An Epigramme in Praise of the worke. Sacred religion, vertue, sanctitie, Obedience, goodnes, mercie, chastitie, Wisdome, compassion, charitie, pure loue, Thoughts most diuine (which, flowing from aboue, Enlighten the sad soule) eternal rest, These to the life, you may find heere exprest. Each chapter tenders to the willing eie Rules, how to liue, and liuing how to die. Tis not enough to know, but there must be A reall practice, faire concordancie. (a4v) Which to attaine, these precepts so diuine, The time, the meanes and manner do define. So rich a worke deserues a iust regard, Where small imployments find a great reward. Read then, peruse, obserue and vieu it well. Enlightned grace disperseth cloudes of hell.

An other to the same effect.



If you reflect on goodnes, and would be A blessed member of eternitie: You first must seeke the way, and trulie learne The meanes; whereby you rightly may discerne

(a5r)9 Both good and ill: which knowste, tis then most fit, You choose the better part, and practice it. To giue this worke perfection, vieu this carde, Which shewes the way, the meanes, and the rewarde. The heart of man at large may plainely heere Behold the iustice of his hope and feare. The Characters, deciphering good and bad, Inuite the one, the other do disuade. In such a modest, graue, and winning way, 9 

The remaining pages of this section are not paginated. Pagination has been added.

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You cannot erre: but in that glorious day, Receiue the crowne, which is prepar’d for those, With Marie who the better part haue chose. (a5v) an epigramme in praise of Virginitie.

Chast, pure, vnspotted, virgin beautie flies With sacred wings to the celestial skies: Shee conquers nature, maisters flesh and blood, A worke of worth; which rightly vnderstood, Outvies the verie Angells; since that they Haue no corporeal motiues: which do sway, And leade desire: they without flesh surviue, Which shee triumphant doth from flesh deriue

(a6r)

Her proper honour, and the glorie winne, To haue beene chast, in spite of time and sinne. Nature, youth, beautie, heat of blood, desire, Fall all to short; if treason th[e]y10 conspire, Shee like a marble rock doth firmely stand, And makes her conquest famous, hand to hand. Victorious vertue doth more purely shine, When earthly bodies equal those diuine.

(a6v) the translator to the Virgin Reader.

10 

You Virgin votresses, whose chaster vowes No fond desire, or vncleane thought allowes; You that are seated on the glorious hill, Whiles wedlock doth the lower valley fill: To you S. Bernard doth this worke bequeath, To make you fixe on heau’n and not beneath. Let married wiues the earth replenish. You, Must make heau’n fuller : tis a tribute due To that great King you serue: your actions be

The text reads ‘thy’.

Batt’s Translation

(a7r)

481

Fit Sacrifices for eternitie. The partie-colourd lambes may well deserue, The Virgin Queene the milke white Virgins serue. Gard then your lampes, prepare your selues to meet With oyle, with incence, and with odours sweet, The louely bridegroome: see the Lambe attends To bid you well-come, his deuoted friends. Heere is a pretious Magasine; then take, This his disire, that wrote it for your sake.

Bro: antonie batt.

2. (p. 90) Of the loue of God. chapt. xii OVr Lord Iesus Christ saieth in the Gospell:*If11 any man loue me, he will keepe my word, and my father will loue him, and we will come to him and will make abode with him. Likewise the Apostle S. Iohn saieth *Let vs therefore loue God, because, God first hath loued vs. (i. Io.14.)12 He that loueth God will craue pardon for his sinnes, and containe himselfe from them. Most deare sister, loue God and call vpon hi[m]13 for saluation, because loue is life and hatred is death. God will not onely haue himselfe loued with wordes, but with a pure heart, and good workes. He loueth not God, that contemneth Gods commaundements. (p. 91) The mind of a man, that loueth God, is not in earth, but in heauen: because it alwayes desireth heauenly things. I admonish you, most deare sister, that you loue God aboue all things: because he hath loued you aboue all things. We ought to loue God more then our parents. Why? Because God hath made vs and our parents with his owne handes, that is, by his owne power and puissance: as it is written, *He made vs, and not we our selues. (Psa. 99.) Christ hath giuen vs more then our parents, and for this cause we ought to loue Christ more then our parents. It is a foolishnes to loue any thing more then God: because he that loueth any creature more then the Creator, doth sinne. And he that prefereth the loue of any creature before the loue of the Creator, doth erre. God therefore ought to be loued of vs aboue all things. 11 

Batt uses asterisks to mark the beginning of biblical quotations. Batt here makes a mistake; the exact reference is i John 4. 19. 13  The text reads ‘hin’. 12 

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Say, I pray you ô honest virgin, (p. 92) with loue and affection towards Christe, *My beloued to me, and I to him, who feedeth among the lilies till the day breake and the shadowes decline. O spouse of Christ, say yet more plainely, I beseech you: let my beloued14 be linked to me in the bond of loue and charitie, and let me be conioyned, and coupled to him by the interchange of mutual amitie. Who feedeth among the lilies; that is to say, is delighted and solaced among the white and odoriferous vertues of the Saincts and amidst the quires of virgins, till the day breake, and the shadowes decline: vntill the cloudes of this present life passe and the day appeare, that is, vntill that clearenes of blisse come, which shall continue for euer. Most deare sister, it is iustice to loue God w[i]th15 our whole heart, and to adhere to him with our whole will, who is the chiefest good. To loue the chiefest good (p. 93) is the chiefest beatitude. He that loueth God, is good: if good, then likewise blessed. By how much the more a man loueth God, by so much the more he shall be blessed. Loue is the speciall and proper vertue of the Saincts. My most louing sister in Christ, I haue said this, that no loue of the world may separate you from the loue of Christ. O spouse of Christ, I yet further entreat you, that you will tell vs something of the loue of your celestial bridegroome. *A bundle of myrrhe my b[e]loued16 is to me; he shall abide betweene my breastes. The place of the heart is betweene the breastes, that is betweene the pappes: my beloued therefore shall abide betweene my breastes; that is, the memorie, affection, and loue of Christ Iesus my bridegroome, shall alwayes be betweene my breastes, that is, in my heart. So that at all times, as well in prosperitie, as in aduersitie, (p. 94) I will call to memorie all the benefits which he hath bestowed vpon me: because he hath loued me, and died for me; and hath ascended into heauen; and to the end I may come vnto him, he daily calleth me, saying, *Come from Libanus my spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou shalt be crowned. (Cant. 4.) Let the left hand of my bridegroome (Christ Iesus) be vnder my head, that is to say: let the guift of the holy Ghost, during this present life, rest in me: and let the vnderstanding of the holy scriptures be in my mind, that I may know him, and perfectly loue him: (Cant. 2.) that is to say, make me to attaine to eternal felicitie.

14 

The text reads ‘be loued’. The text reads: ‘wth’. 16  Text reads: ‘boloued’. 15 

Batt’s Translation

483

O most deare sister, desire the handmaides of Christ that are with you, and say to them: *Stay me vp with flouers, compasse me about with apples because I Languish with the loue of my beloued (p. 95) bridegroome Christ Iesus (Cant. 2.) O you my sacred sisters who alreadie loue Christ aboue all things, and preferre nothing before his loue, stay me vp with the examples of your good workes: and shew me how I may be able to find Christ my beloued, because I languish through his loue. This loue is sweete, this languishing is delightfull; this sickness is sacred; this affection is chast; this coniunction is vndefiled; this copulation is vncorrupted; this embracing is vnspotted. And you ô sacred sisters, stay me vp with flowers, that is, with the examples of your holy conuersation, because I languish through the loue of my bridegroome. Most chast virgin, you truly languish through the loue of Iesus Christ your bridegroome, if you despise and contemne all earthly things for the loue of him. Verily you lie sick in the bed of contemplation, if you loue Christ aboue all things. (p. 96) You are truly sick for the loue of Christ, if you loue heauenly things more then earthly; you truly lie sick and languishing for the loue of Christ, in the bed of internal loue and sweetnes, if you be strong in good workes, and weake in worldly businesses. My most deare and louing sister, if you loue Christ with your whole heart, and preferre nothing before the loue of him, you shall reioyce with the same Christ Iesus your bridegroome in his heauenly kindgome. If you imitate Christ sincerely and loue him vnfeined[l]y,17 you shall without all doubt reioyce with him in his heauenly countrie: and shall follow him with the holy virgins whither­soeuer he goeth. If you adhere to Christ with all deuotion, and sigh to him day and night in this present world, without doubt you shall reioyce with him in his heauenly pallace: and shall sing sweet (p. 97) hymnes vnto him among the quires of virgins as it is written:

17  18 

Thou feeding there, where lillies spring, While round about thee Virgins daunce: Thy spouses dooth to glo[r]ie18 bring, And them with high rewards aduance. The Virgins follow in thy wayes, Whithersoeuer thou dost goe: They trace thy steps with songs of praise And in sweet hymnes, thy glorie show.

The text reads: ‘vnfeinedby’. The text reads: ‘glotie’. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish ‘r’ from ‘t’.

Appendix III

484

This I haue said (most deare sister) to the end you should loue Christ aboue all things, and preferre nothing before his loue. I desire you, beloued sister, that you will admit no swetnes besides Christ, seeke no loue besides Christ, and loue no beautie besides Christ. Weepe and lament for the loue of Christ your redeemer, vntill you see him raigning at the right hand of his heauenly Father. Amen.

3. (p. 166) Of chastitie. chapt. xxii MOst deare sister, I entreat you, that with all deuotion you will listen to the wordes of my admonition. The number of thirtie is the first degree, and signifieth marriage. The number of sixtie is (p. 167) the second degree, and signifieth the continencie or chastitie of widowes. The number of an hundred is the third degree, which is assigned to virgins for the crowne of virginitie. S. Isidorus saith: Some liuing lasciuiously in their youth, will become continent in their old age, and will then obserue chastitie, when luxurie scorneth to acknowledge them as his seruants. Such haue no reward, for that they haue not felt any laborious fight. But they shall haue glorie, that haue fought couragiously. Fo[r]19 the fruit of chastitie is sweetnes. Chastitie is the vnbleamished beautie of the Saincts. Chastitie is the securitie of the mind and the health of the bodie. Luxurie doth weaken the bodie, and causeth a man to become old and decrepit on a soudaine. Long chastitie is reputed for virginitie. And therefore venerable sister, the (p. 168) beautie of chastitie ought to be loued. Those that are continent, and liue chastly, prepare in themselues a dwelling place for God almightie. W[h]ere­ vpon20 the Apostle doth affirme, that those that liue chastly are the temple of God, and that the holy Ghost dwelleth in them. (i Cor. 3.) Continencie maketh a man most neere to God. There God dwelleth, where continency remaineth. Chastitie linketh a man to heauen. Chastitie conducted a man to a kingdome. The kingdome of heauen is promised to such as liue chastly. Such as liue chastly, shall haue an inheritance in heauen. Coniugal chastitie is good: vidual continencie is better; but virginal integritie is best of all. A humble widow is better, then a proud virgin. A widow is better with humilitie, then a virgin with pride. A widow bewayling her sinnes is more (p. 169) prayse-worthy, then a virgin that vaunteth herselfe before men of her 19  20 

The text reads: ‘Fot’. The text reads: ‘Werevpon’.

Batt’s Translation

485

virginitie. A widow lamenting her iniquities, is better, then a virgin extolling her selfe of her merits. A virgin ought not to glorie before men of the guift of her virginitie: for if shee doe so, shee hath no oyle with her: her lampe is extin[g]uished,21 a virgin ought not to despise widowes. A virgin that desireth to please God, must not contemne woemen that liue chastly: for if shee doe this, shee will displease God, and hurt herselfe. A virgin that despiseth woemen that liue chastly and serue God, is abominable for her pride. Why, what is the reason? Because a humble sinner is better, then a proud iust man. Despise not therefore (venerable sister) woemen that haue come out of the world: that haue had husbands, and haue brought forth children: because if you despise them, you will be exceeding (p. 170) culpable before God. Anna the Prophetesse had beene a married woman: and yet shee prophecied of22 Christ, and deserued to see him (Luc. 5.) Marie Magdalen also was a secular woman, liuing in the world among others, and *yet shee saw Christ rising, and merited to be the Apostle of the Apostles (Marc. 16.) Honest virgin, I haue said this to this end, that by no meanes you contemne Christ hand-maides, who haue come out of the world to serue God. You ought not therefore to despise, but rather to honour honest woemen, who haue come out of the world to religion: for that it is not fitting, that you contemne such as God hath chosen. Wherefore I admonish you, venerable sister, that for the loue of Christ you serue them, and loue them as your mothers. Beloued sister in Christ, you ought to serue them as if you were their daughter (p. 171) for this reason, for that God hath conuerted them from a secular life to himselfe: you therefore doe an iniurie to God, if you hate his hande-maides. Moreouer my most louing sister in Christ, I would not haue you say: I am a drie peece of wood; I would not haue you say: I am a fruitlesse tree, because if you loue Christ your bridegroome, and feare him as you ought, you haue seuen children. The first childe is modestie or bashfullnes, the second patience, the third sobrietie, the fourth temperance, the fifth charitie, the sixth humilitie, the seuenth chastitie. Behold venerable sister, you haue, by the grace of the holy Ghost without labour or paine, brought forth seuen children to Christ in your vncorrupted wombe, that that may be fulfilled in you, which is written: Because the barren shall bring forth seuen. (p. 172) Therefore amiable sister in Christ, you ought to nourish, foster, feed, refresh, comfort, and chastise these children, which you haue brought forth to Christ Iesus your celestial bride21  22 

The text reads: ‘extinquished’. The text reads: ‘of of ’.

486

Appendix III

groome. Nourish them by good manners. Foster them in the bosome of internal contemplation. Feede them with the milke of eternal sweetnes. Refresh them with the loue of supernal beatitude, and comfort them with the bread of the celestial worde. Chastise them with the rod of God, and commaund them not to grow proud: also that they grow not light, and transgressors of Gods law, and that they neuer depart, nor be separated from you. You see deare sister, that Virgins haue the principal place in the kingdome of God, and not without iust desert. For sithence they haue contemned this present world; for this cause they haue attained to a celestial kingdome (p. 173) to which he vouchsafe to bring you, to whose seruice you haue consecrated your bodie and soule. Amen.

Appendix IV

Tyrwhitt’s Translation This is a diplomatic transcription, but paragraph divisions have been added in order to make the text more readable. Punctuation has occasionally been added, especially when it appeared missing.

1.(no pagination) Dedication1 to the

SUPERIOR of the community

OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY. OXFORD. to whose suggestion and kind encouragement this work is owing.

2. (p. 53) xii. concerning the love of god 34.2 Our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel “If any man love me he will keep my word: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”3 And the Apostle John “We love God because He first 1 

Like Paynell in his translation, Tyrwhitt does not formally entitle this section ‘Dedica­tion’. The paragraph numbers correspond to the Migne edition of the text in PL 184. 3  S. John xiv. 23 [Tyrwhitt’s note]. 2 

Appendix IV

488

loved us.”4 Dear Sister, love God, and invoke Him for thy salvation: for love is life, and hatred is death. God wills not that He should be loved with words only, but out of a pure heart, and with good works. He loves not God who despises his commandments. The mind of man which loves God, is not on earth, but in Heaven: for he always longs after heavenly things. I admonish thee dear Sister, to love God above all things, for He elected thee before all ages. We ought to love Christ more than our parents. Why? Because God made us and our parents with His own Hands, that is, out of His own goodness, as it is written, “He made us and not we ourselves.” Christ has bestowed more on us than have our parents: and therefore we ought to love Christ above our parents. It is folly to love anything more than God: for he who loves the creature more than the Creator sinneth. But he who prefers the (p. 54) love of the creature to the love of the Creator is in error. We must love God then above all things. Say, I charge thee, dear Sister in Christ with affection “My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feedeth among the lilies, until the day break and the shadows flee away.” Spouse of Christ I pray thee, say plainly “My Beloved is associated with me with the bond of charity and of love, and I am bound and united to Him by the interchange of a mutual love.”5 “Who feedeth among the lilies” that is who delights and takes his pleasure among the bright and sweet scented virtues of the saints, and among the choirs of the virgins “until the day break and the shadows flee away,” until the clouds of this present life pass away and day appears, that is the brightness of eternal happiness. 35. Dear Sister it is just to love God with the whole heart, to cleave to Him with the whole will, Who is the Highest good. To love the Highest good is the height of happiness. He who loves God is good: if he is good then is he also happy. The more a man loves God the happier will he be. Affection is the special and peculiar virtue of the Saints. My dear Sister in Christ, therefore I have told thee, that no (p. 55) love of the world should separate thee from the love of Christ. Spouse of Christ I charge thee, to tell me somewhat of the love of thy heavenly Spouse, “A bundle of myrrh is my well Beloved unto me, He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.” Tell me more plainly, dear Sister of the things which you say that I may understand. The place of the heart is between the breasts, so that the memory, the affection, and love for Jesus Christ my Spouse, shall always be between my breasts, that is, in my heart. And whether in prosperity or in adversity I will always call to mind the good things He hath bestowed on 4  5 

I S. John iv. 19 [Tyrwhitt’s note]. Tyrwhitt does not indicate the end of the speech.

Tyrwhitt’s Translation

489

me: He ascended to heaven that I might come to Him, daily He calls me saying, “Arise my love, my fair one, and come away.” The left hand of Jesus Christ my Spouse is under my head, that is may the gift of the Holy Spirit rest in me during this present life: and may the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures be in my mind, that I may know and perfectly understand them: and may His right hand embrace me that is, cause me to arrive at eternal happiness. 36. Dear Sister, intreat the handmaids of Christ who are with you and say to them “Stay me with (p. 56) flowers, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with love”6 of Jesus Christ my Spouse. O you my dear Sisters, who already love Christ above all things, and prefer nothing to His love: support me with the example of your good things, show me how I can find Christ my Beloved, because for love of Him I do languish, and do you dear Sisters support me with flowers; that is by the example of your conversation for I languish for the love of my Spouse. Dear Sister you do in truth languish and grow weak for the love of Jesus Christ thy Spouse, if you love him you despise and look down all on the things in the world. Truly for the love of Christ you grow weak, if you love heavenly more than earthly things. Truly for the love and affection of Christ you lie languid on the couch of intimate sweetness, if in holy works you are strong, in earthly you are weak. Dear Sister in Christ if you love Christ with your whole heart, and prefer nothing to His love, you shall rejoice with the same Jesus Christ thy Spouse in His Heavenly kingdom. If you will follow Christ with your whole mind, and love Him with your whole mind, without any doubt you will rejoice with Him in His heavenly (p. 57) country, and will follow Him with holy virgins wheresoever He goeth. If with all devotion you shall cling to Christ, and day and night sigh after Him in this present world, without doubt, with Him thou shalt exult in His Heavenly palace, and shalt sing amongst the choir of virgins sweet hymns as it is written, Amongst the lilies Thou dost feed, With virgin choirs accompanied: With glory decked the spotless brides With bridal gifts Thy love provides. They whereso’er thy footsteps bend, With hymns and praises still attend: In blessed troops they follow Thee With dance, and song, and melody. 6 

Cantic. ii. 5 [Tyrwhitt’s note].

490

Appendix IV

I have said this to you, dear Sister, that you may love Christ above all things and prefer nothing to His love, I entreat thee, dear Sister, to seek no love but Christ’s: and no beauty but Christ’s. Mourn for love of Christ, lament for love of Christ, until thou mayest behold Him reigning on the right Hand of His Father. Amen.

3. (p. 93) xxii. concerning continency 64. Dear Sister, I beg that with all devotion you listen to these words of admonition. The first number is thirty-fold, and signifies the bonds of marriage. Sixty-fold the second step, signifies the continency of widows, a hundred-fold is the third step, and signifies the crown owning to the virgin state. The blessed Isidore says “Some in youth living luxuriously, in old age will to live continently: and they then wish to (p. 94) preserve chastity, when luxury has disdained to have them any longer as servants,” such have not a prize, since they have not the emulation of the contest. But glory awaits those to whom the contest was glorious. For the fruit of chastity is sweetness. Chastity is the unviolated beauty of the saints. Therefore dear sister the beauty of chastity is to be loved. Living chastely and continently, one prepares an habitation for God in oneself. Whence the Apostle says “those that live chastely are the temples of God, and the spirit of God dwelleth in them.”7 Continency makes man near to God. There God dwells where continency abides. Chastity joins man to heaven. The kingdom of heaven is promised to those that live chastely. Good is chaste marriage: better is the continency of widows: but best is the integrity of virgins. Yet better is the widow who is humble than the virgin who is proud. 65. Anna the prophetess had had a husband, but yet she prophesied of Christ, and merited to see Him.8 And Mary Magdalene had been a sinner, and yet she (p. 95) saw Christ on the morning of His Resurrection, and merited to become an Apostle to the Apostles.9 Dear sister for this reason have I said these things that you may in no way despise the servants of Christ who have come to serve God from a secular life, but honour those blameless women who devote their widowhood to serve God: since those whom God has deigned to choose, you should in no wise despise. 7 

1 Cor. vi. 19 & 2 Cor. vi. 16 [Tyrwhitt’s note]. S. Luke. ii. [Tyrwhitt’s note]. 9  S. John xx. [Tyrwhitt’s note]. 8 

Tyrwhitt’s Translation

491

Dear sister in Christ, if therefore good widows come to you, nourish them in good habits, cherish them in the bosom of intimate contemplation, refresh them with the love of heavenly sweetness, and comfort them with the bread of the Eternal Word. Discipline them with the rod of God’s fear, and subdue them lest they be proud: that they be not fickle, nor deserters, and depart not from thee, nor be separated from thee, but that having despised the world, they may attain to the Heavenly Kingdom: to which may He deign to bring you, who have consecrated both your body and soul to His service. Amen.

Index of Biblical Quotations

T

he list below includes quotations cited in the Liber but omitted in The Manere of Good Lyvyng. Note that the numbers in parentheses indicate the chapter in which these quotations occur. When the Liber gives two alternative references for a biblical quotation, the first only is usually listed below. Note also that references may not always indicate a whole biblical verse, but may sometimes refer to part of the verse only. This is especially the case when a given verse is glossed phrase after phrase. The majority of references identify specific verses, but at times they also refer to longer sections of the Bible, as for example, ‘Exodus 7–14 (43)’ alludes to chapters 7 to 14 of Exodus. The list below reflects multiple quotations in the same chapter of the text.

Old Testament Genesis (Genesis)

Exodus (Exodus)

1. 9 (52) 3. 15 (29); 3. 15 (67); 3. 19 (69) 6 (53) 9. 21 (25) 12 (7) 18. 27 (27); 18. 27 (46) 19 (7); 19. 32–36 (25) 28. 12 (53) 29 (53) 30. 22–24 (53) 34 (23) 35. 16–18 (53) 37 (68)

5 (6) 7–14 (43) 13–14 (7) 16 (7); 16 (28) Numbers (Numeri) 12 (19) 16 (19)

Index of Biblical Quotations

494

Deuteronomy (Deuteronomium)

Tobit (Tobias)

6. 5 (5) 11. 13 (5) 13. 1–3 (68) 16. 19 (61)

5. 11 (10); 5. 13 (10)

Joshua (Iosue) 5. 13 (67) Judges (Iudices) 14–16 (23)

i Samuel (i Regum) 1 (10) 6 (7) 15 (19); 15. 22 (19); 15. 22 (19); 15. 23 (19) 16. 14 (67)

ii Samuel (ii Regum) 11 (23) 12. 13 (10)

i Kings (iii Regum) 7 (18) 11 (51)

ii Kings (iv Regum) 5. 20–27 (48); 5. 27 (48) 20 (38)

ii Chronicles (Paralipomenon) 26 (19)

Job 1. 21 (45) 4. 18 (27) 9. 22 (71) 10. 20–22 (27) 13. 28 (69) 15. 15 (27) 25. 5 (27) 39. 5, 7 (7) Psalms (Psalmi)1 1. 1–2 (50) 2. 12 (18) 5. 7 (31); 5. 12 (4) 6. 7 (10); 6. 8 (17) 7. 10 (55); 7. 16 (14) 16. 15 (6); 16. 15 (61) 17. 8 (10); 17. 26 (60); 17. 27 (60) 18. 10 (4); 18. 10 (4) 22. 18 (4) 25. 4 (17); 25. 10 (61) 26. 3 (2) 31. 9 (6); 31. 10 (2); 31. 11 (11) 32. 1 (52); 32. 18 (4) 33. 11 (47); 33. 14 (17) 36. 3 (2) 38. 13 (46) 41. 3 (20); 41. 4 (10) 43. 25 (37) 44. 14 (9) 1 

The numbering is that of the Vulgate.

Index of Biblical Quotations

48. 7 (48) 49. 23 (52) 51. 9 (48) 52. 6 (61) 53. 3 (52) 54. 23 (48); 54. 23 (48) 55. 9 (10) 57. 5–6 (56) 61. 11 (6); 61. 11 (46) 62. 2 (24) 63. 11 (11) 64. 5 (26) 65. 13 (62) 69. 6 (46) 72. 28 (48) 75. 3 (40); 75. 12 (62) 77. 18 (47); 77. 25 (28) 83. 5 (52) 87. 16 (46) 88. 48 (27) 99. 3 (12) 100. 5 (33) 104. 3 (11); 104. 4 (20) 105. 3 (27); 105. 17 (19); 105. 18 (19); 105. 25 (47) 106. 26 (48) 110. 10 (4) 115. 15 (69) 118. 6 (50); 118. 37 (23); 118. 41 (52); 118. 105 (50) 119. 5 (65); 119. 5–6 (10) 121. 1 (65) 127. 2 (51) 129. 3 (27) 133. 1 (52) 136. 1 (10) 140. 2 (49); 140. 2 (52); 140. 3 (30); 140. 5 (56) 144. 9 (71)

495

Proverbs (Proverbia) 1. 7 (4); 1. 8–9 (18); 1. 10 (60) 3. 7 (4); 3. 12 (43); 3. 31 (60) 4. 13 (18); 4. 23 (29) 6. 16 (41); 6. 19 (41); 6. 27 (58) 8. 10 (18); 8. 33 (18); 8. 34–35 (55) 10. 17 (18); 10. 19 (30); 10. 28 (2); 10. 29 (56) 11. 3 (56); 11. 5 (56) 12. 1 (18) 13. 10 (17); 13. 18 (18); 13. 20 (60) 14. 13 (65); 14. 15 (56); 14. 21 (14); 14. 31 (37) 15. 1 (35); 15. 5 (18); 15. 13 (11); 15. 27 (44) 17. 5 (14); 17. 5 (37); 17. 10 (18); 17. 11 (17); 17. 17 (13); 17. 22 (11) 18. 17 (27) 19. 5 (31) 20. 1 (25) 21. 3 (15); 21. 28 (19) 22. 22 (14) 23. 10 (14); 23. 31–32 (25) 24. 17–18 (36) 27. 1 (69) 28. 10 (56); 28. 14 (55) 29. 10 (56) 31. 30 (23); 31. 30 (64) Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes) 1. 18 (7) 2. 2 (65) 5. 4 (62); 5. 9 (44) 7. 5 (11); 7. 5 (11); 7. 19 (4) 9. 1 (55); 9. 2 (55); 9. 10 (69) 12. 13 (4)

496

Song of Songs (Canticum canticorum) 1. 3 (3); 1. 3 (5); 1. 9 (10); 1. 9 (10); 1. 9 (61); 1. 12 (12); 1. 12 (12); 1. 12 (12); 1. 14 (9); 1. 16 (20) 2. 1 (3); 2. 1 (3); 2. 4 (5); 2. 5 (12); 2. 5 (12); 2. 6 (12); 2. 6 (12); 2. 7 (53); 2. 10 (53); 2. 10–12 (10); 2. 14 (52); 2. 14 (52); 2. 16–17 (12); 2. 16 (12); 2. 17 (12) 3. 1 (20); 3. 7–8 (19); 3. 7 (19); 3. 7 (19); 3. 8 (19); 3. 8 (19); 3. 8 (19); 3. 8 (19) 4. 7–8 (9); 4. 8 (12); 4. 10 (5); 4. 12 (66); 4. 12 (66); 4. 12 (66); 4. 12 (66); 4. 16 (67); 4. 16 (67) 5. 2 (53); 5. 5 (16); 5. 5 (16); 5. 7 (18); 5. 11 (27); 5. 12 (55) 6. 1 (69); 6. 1 (69); 6. 1 (69); 6. 3 (41); 6. 8 (56); 6. 10 (16) 7. 1 (16); 7. 4 (65); 7. 5 (29); 7. 6 (64); 7. 6 (64) 8. 6 (5); 8. 6 (51); 8. 13 (52) Wisdom (Sapientia) 1. 11 (31) 2. 24 (34) 3. 6 (43)

Index of Biblical Quotations

Ecclesiasticus (Ecclesiasticus) 1. 11–12 (4); 1. 16 (4); 1. 19 (4); 1. 28 (4); 1. 34 (4); 1. 36 (4) 2. 7–9 (4); 2. 16 (6); 2. 18–21 (4) 3. 20 (39); 3. 24 (54) 4. 36 (44) 6. 5 (35) 7. 2 (60); 7. 40 (69) 9. 22 (60) 10. 7 (37); 10. 10 (44); 10. 15 (37); 10. 28 (18) 11. 27 (55) 15. 1 (4); 15. 17 (20); 15. 18 (20); 15. 18 (20); 15. 20 (4) 18. 12 (15); 18. 15 (11); 18. 23 (49) 21. 13 (4); 21. 23 (65) 22. 28–29 (14) 25. 15 (4); 25. 17 (11) 27. 29 (14) 30. 23 (11); 30. 25 (11) 31. 35 (25); 31. 36–37 (25) 33. 1 (4); 33. 5 (47) 34. 7 (68); 34. 14 (4) 35. 4 (15) 36. 14 (4); 36. 22 (11) 38. 19 (11) 40. 28 (4) 41. 1 (70); 41. 3 (70) Isaiah (Isaias) 1. 16 (29) 5. 11 (25); 5. 22 (25) 14. 14 (37); 14. 14 (37) 32. 17 (30) 33. 15 (61); 33. 16 (61); 33. 17 (61) 55. 6 (71) 56. 4 (21); 56. 5 (21) 66. 1 (53); 66. 2 (39)

Index of Biblical Quotations

Jeremiah (Ieremias) 9. 21 (23); 9. 21 (57); 9. 21 (59) 10. 23 (3) 11. 15 (28) 15. 9 (22); 15. 19 (67) Lamentations (Threni, id est Lamentationes Ieremiae Prophetae) 3. 41 (51) 4. 1 (66); 4. 1 (66); 4. 1 (66) Ezekiel (Ezekiel) 1 (53) 3. 13 (3) Daniel (Daniel) 2. 29 (68) 3 (24); 3. 60 (52) 14 (24) Hosea (Osee) 7. 11 (56) Joel ( Joel) 1. 5 (25) Jonah (Ionas) 1–2 (19) Zephaniah (Sophonias) 1. 14 (71); 1. 15–16 (71)

497

New Testament Matthew (Evangelium secundum Matthaeum) 2 (68) 4. 1–11 (46) 5. 3 (46); 5. 3 (46); 5. 5 (10); 5. 5 (11); 5. 5 (65); 5. 7 (15); 5. 9 (40); 5. 16 (16); 5. 16 (52); 5. 24 (41); 5. 28 (23); 5. 28 (61); 5. 34–37 (32); 5. 41–42 (prol.); 5. 44–45 (5) 6. 2 (38); 6. 5 (6); 6. 25 (47); 6. 26 (47); 6. 28 (47); 6. 33 (47) 7. 7 (20); 7. 12 (14) 8. 7 (20) 10. 16 (46); 10. 10 (56); 10. 22 (6); 10. 28 (4) 11. 8 (9); 11. 29 (39) 12. 34 (30); 12. 34 (65); 12. 36 (30); 12. 36 (71) 13. 8 (22) 15. 8 (52) 16. 24 (7) 17 (7) 19. 21 (53); 19. 29 (8) 21. 22 (49) 22. 37 (5); 22. 39 (5) 23. 12 (39) 24. 13 (27); 24. 42 (55) 25. 3 (21); 25. 4 (21); 25. 6 (21); 25. 12 (21); 25. 21 (65); 25. 34 (71); 25. 41 (71) 26 (45); 26 (48); 26. 69–75 (26) 27. 3–10 (48)

498

Mark (Evangelium secundum Marcum) 9. 22 (1) 10. 18 (3); 10. 25 (46) 11. 22 (2) 13. 37 (55) Luke (Evangelium secundum Lucam) 2 (22); 2 (46) 6. 25 (11); 6. 27 (13); 6. 28 (49); 6. 36 (15); 6. 37 (28); 6. 37 (36) 7. 48 (10) 9. 62 (20) 10. 16 (19); 10. 16 (19); 10. 20 (11); 10. 42 (53); 10. 42 (53) 12. 15 (44); 12. 35 (23); 12. 43 (55) 16 (24); 16 (43) 18 (38); 18 (49) 19. 42 (10) 21. 34 (25) 22. 61–62 (10) John (Evangelium secundum Ioannem) 3. 36 (1) 6. 51 (28); 6. 57 (28) 8. 25 (53); 8. 34 (26) 11. 35 (10) 12. 35 (55) 13. 35 (13) 14. 21 (5); 14. 23 (10); 14. 23 (12) 15. 5 (3) 16. 20 (11) 20 (20); 20 (22)

Index of Biblical Quotations

Acts (Actus Apostolorum) 5 (48); 5. 5 (48); 5. 10 (48) 14. 21 (42) 20. 35 (44) Romans (Epistola B. Pauli ad Romanos) 5. 18 (19); 5. 19 (19); 5. 20–21 (3) 6. 23 (3) 8. 13 (16); 8. 13 (26); 8. 15 (4); 8. 18 (42); 8. 24–25 (2) 12. 14 (13); 12. 15 (10); 12. 15 (14); 12. 20 (13); 12. 20 (14) 13. 1–2 (19); 13. 10 (13); 13. 10 (13)

i Corinthians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Corinthios i) 1. 27–29 (28); 1. 31 (38) 2. 9 (6) 3. 3 (17); 3. 16 (22) 4. 5 (54) 5 (43); 5. 6 (47) 6. 10 (48) 7. 25–26 (21) 10. 3 (28); 10. 9 (47); 10. 9 (47); 10. 10 (47) 11. 27 (28); 11. 28 (28); 11. 29 (28) 12. 10 (3) 14. 15 (52) 15. 10 (3); 15. 19 (46); 15. 22 (19); 15. 33 (57)

Index of Biblical Quotations

499

ii Corinthians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Corinthios ii)

ii Thessalonians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Thessalonicenses ii)

6. 2 (71); 6. 10 (11) 7. 10 (11) 10. 17 (38) 11. 14 (67); 11. 27 (46); 11. 29 (10) 12 (43); 12. 10 (43)

3. 10 (51)

Galatians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Galatas) 5. 17 (67); 5. 21 (41); 5. 22 (65) Ephesians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Ephesios) 1. 4 (64) 2. 14 (41) 4. 7 (3); 4. 26 (35); 4. 30 (11); 4. 32 (15) 5. 2 (13); 5. 3 (44); 5. 5 (44); 5. 18 (25) Philippians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Philippenses) 1. 23 (65) 2. 7–8 (39); 2. 8 (37); 2. 8 (19) 3. 19 (6); 3. 20 (10) 4. 4 (11); 4. 4 (65) Colossians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Colossenses) 3. 5 (16); 3. 12 (15); 3. 25 (37)

i Thessalonians (Epistola B. Pauli ad Thessalonicenses i) 5. 3 (55); 5. 14 (14); 5. 17 (49)

i Timothy (Epistola B. Pauli ad Thimotheum i) 2. 14 (26) 3. 7 (58) 4. 8 (15) 5. 23 (25) 6. 9 (46); 6. 10 (45)

ii Timothy (Epistola B. Pauli ad Timotheum ii) 2. 5 (20) Hebrews (Epistola B. Pauli ad Hebraeos) 11. 6 (1); 11. 13 (7); 11. 33 (16) 12. 6 (43) 13. 4 (23); 13. 14 (10); 13. 17 (19) James (Epistola catholica B. Iacobi) 1. 4 (40); 1. 19 (35); 1. 20 (35); 1. 26 (17) 2. 10 (26); 2. 26 (1); 2. 26 (1) 3. 5 (17); 3. 6 (17); 3. 8 (47) 4. 4 (8); 4. 6 (37); 4. 7 (67); 4. 9 (10); 4. 9 (65); 4. 15 (69) 5. 16 (49)

500

i Peter (Epistola i B. Petri) 4. 7 (55); 4. 18 (71) 5. 6 (39)

ii Peter (Epistola ii B. Petri) 2. 21 (20); 2. 21 (72)

i John (Epistola i B. Ioannis) 2. 10–11 (13); 2. 11 (36); 2. 16 (23); 2. 16–17 (46); 2. 17 (23) 3. 15 (36) 4. 7 (5); 4. 18 (4); 4. 18 (4); 4. 19 (12); 4. 20 (5); 4. 20 (13); 4. 20 (13); 4. 21 (13) 5. 10 (1) Revelation (Apocalypsis B. Ioannis Apostoli) 3. 19 (43) 8. 1 (53)

Index of Biblical Quotations

Glossary

T

his is a selective but comprehensive Glossary. It has been compiled with a reader unfamiliar with Middle English in mind. However, words whose spelling and meaning are identical to modern English usage have not been included. The Glossary contains two categories of words: first, words whose meaning has been retained in modern English but whose spelling is different (or different enough) to necessitate clarification; second, words whose meaning has changed over the centuries, or words which have not survived into the modern era. In most cases, when a word has more than one spelling, spellings identical or very similar to Modern English have not been listed in the Glossary. For example, ‘lefull’ has also another spelling, i.e., ‘lawfull’, but the latter has been deemed too similar to Modern English to be included in the Glossary. If the only difference between the Middle English spelling and its modern equivalent are any one of the following, the word is not usually included in the Glossary. If a Middle English word presents two (or more) of these differences, the word is usually included in the Glossary. Middle English

Modern English

(final) consonant ‘aun’ ‘c’ ‘-cion’ final ‘-e’ added ‘e’ final ‘-e’ or ‘-ie’

(final) consonant doubled ‘an’ ‘t’ ‘-tion’ ‘ea’ final ‘-y’

Glossary

502

Middle English

Modern English

‘en’ final ‘-es’ final ‘es/is/ys’ ‘eth/ith/yth’ ‘ȝ’ final ‘-id/yd’ ‘or’ ‘re’ ‘s’ ‘sch’ ‘þ’ ‘ur’ ‘y’

‘n’ final ‘-ess’ ‘s’ (as mark of the plural) ‘s’ (as mark of ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.) ‘gh’ ‘-ed’ (as mark of ind. past) ‘our’ (or vice versa) ‘er’ ‘ce’ ‘sh’ ‘th’ ‘er’ ‘i’

When parentheses precede the explanation of a word, its meaning both includes and excludes the word within the parentheses: delectacion, n. s., (sensual) pleasure, spiritual enjoyement i.e., ‘delectation’ means ‘pleasure’ in general and more specifically ‘sensual pleasure’. Variants are usually listed with the first alphabetical entry, with some exceptions where verbs are concerned. Cross-references are given when variants are not in the vicinity of each other. The Latin original is sometimes added in the Glossary in order to differentiate two different meanings of the same word or when the meaning is not clear in Middle English. The singular and plural forms of nouns are listed under the lemma for the singular form of the noun. However, if singular and plural meanings differ, the singular meaning is given first: counceyle, counseil, counsell, n. s., counceyls, counselles, counsellys, pl., council, decision, advice, instruction(s), (spiritual) counsel(s), secret(s) When verbal forms are identical in spelling and meaning (although not in grammatical category) they are only noted once. For example: loke after, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., look for

Glossary

503

is the only entry listed for ‘loke after’, although ‘loke after’ is also the form the verb takes in the imperative, but the latter is not recorded. If meaning is identical for all grammatical forms of a verb, it is usually given only once: Absteyn, vb. inf., abstain, keep away (from food); Absteyneth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. Gerunds are listed either as ‘verbal nouns’ or as ‘present participles’. In the case of a gerund occurring first in the text as a verbal noun and later as a participle present (or vice versa), the first occurrence only is noted below, unless the ­spelling and/or meaning is different in the second occurrence. Verbal nouns are usually listed in the singular. The following abbreviations are used in the Glossary: abl.

ablative case

mod. aux. modal auxiliary

acc.

accusative case

n.

adj.

adjective

neut. neuter

adv.

adverb

nom.

nominative case

adv. phras. adverbial phrase

pers.

person

comp. comparative

poss. adj. possessive adjective

conj.

conjunction

pl.

plural

dat.

dative case

p. ppl.

past participle

def. art.

definite article

pr. ppl.

present participle

dem. adj.

demonstrative adjective

prep.

preposition

gen.

genitive case

pres.

present

imp.

imperative

pron.

pronoun

impers. impersonal

refl.

reflexive

ind. indicative

rel. pron. relative pronoun

inf. infinitive

s.

int.

subj. subjunctive

interjection

noun

singular

interr. adv. interrogative adverb

sup. superlative

interr. pron. interrogative pronoun

vb.

verb

Lat. Latin

vbl. n.

verbal noun

504

Glossary

Abhomynable, adj., (morally) detestable, abominable abofe, prep., above abrode, adv., widely, far and wide absteyn, vb. inf., abstain, keep away (from food); absteyneth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. abstinens, n. s., abstinence, self-denial, abstemiousness abstracte, vb. p. ppl., withdrawn from worldly interests, lost in spiritual ecstasies, abstruse abstynent, adj., abstemious, self-denying abundans, abundaunce, abundauns, n. s., excess, intensity, fullness, generosity abusion, n. s., abuse, misuse, perversion, deception abyde, vb. inf., last, remain in force; abydeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; abydyng, pr. ppl., lasting, enduring accepte, vb. inf., accept, receive; accepteth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., receives graciously, approves; accepteth no persones, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., does not show favouritism or partiality; accepte, imp.; accept(e, p. ppl., pleasing, received, accepted acceptable, adj., pleasing, appropriate, acceptable, suitable; ~ to, worthy of, deserving of (sth) accoumpted, acompted, acounted, vb. p. ppl., regarded, considered, estimated, counted acoumpte, acounte, n. s., acountis, pl., account(s), report(s) actyfe, adj., active; ~ lyfe, the active life (in opposition to the contemplative life). See Chapter 53. addyd, vb. p. ppl., added adopcion, n. s., God’s act of receiving one as his child adourned, vb. p. ppl., adorned, decked with advayleth, see avayle adversite, adversitee, adversitie, n. s.; adversitees, pl., misfortune(s), adversity(-ies), opposition(s), hostility (-ies) advoutre, n. s., adultery, idolatry, heresy advoutrers, n. pl., adulterers, bastards, heretics advoutryce, n. s., adulteress advoyde, vb. inf., avoid advysement, n. s., consideration, advice, instruction; withoute ~, thoughtlessly, imprudently, immediately aferd(e, vb. p. ppl., frightened, terrified, apprehensive (about) affeccion, n. s., will, desire, inclination, intention afore, adv., formerly, before afore, prep., before after(e), aftir, aftyr, prep., after, for, according to agayn, ayen, adv., again, a second time, back agayn, ayenst, prep., in front of, against age, n. s., old age agre(e, vb. inf., agree, be of one mind, coincide, harmonize

Glossary

505

a-hygh, adv., on high, above, aloft al, adj., all, the whole of alake, int., alack (cry of regret or sorrow), alas all, adv., completely, all; ~ to, intensive to vb., i.e., very, very much allone, aloon, adj., alone, unaccompanied allthouȝe, alþouȝe, conj., although allway, allwey(e, alwey(e, adv., continually, always allmyȝty, almyȝty, adj., almighty almes, n. s./pl., alms, charity almesdede, n. s., almesdedis, almysdedys, pl., alms, good deed(s), works of charity aloon, adj., see allone alowde, adv., loudly, in a loud voice alowe, vb. inf., praise, commend; alowed, p. ppl. alþouȝe, see allthouȝe alwey(e, see allway alyenate, adj., aloof, secluded, foreign, not related (Lat. ‘alieni’, PL 184, 1277C) alyens, n. pl., foreigners, outsiders; ~ from, people excluded from alyke, adj., alike, similar (to), resembling, equal alyke, adv., equally, in the same manner, without distinction amendar, n. s., one who admonishes, corrects or mends amende, vb. inf., improve (spiritually), make better, save; amendyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; amendyd, p. ppl., corrected, remedied, made better amendment, n. s., correction, edification, forgiveness (of sin) amysse, adv., sinfully, wickedly, wrongfully and, conj., and, if, even if, as if, when angelles, angellis, aungelles, aungellis, aungellys, n. nom./gen. pl., (of ) angels angwysch(e, angwyssh, n. s., worry, anguish, torment anon(e, adv., at once, instantly, continually aper(e, appere, vb. inf., appear, be perceptible, occur, exist aperelled, see apparell apocalippys, apocalips, n. s., Revelations, Apocalypse (the last book of the New Testament) aposteles, n. s., female disciple apostell, apostyll, n. s., apostle ; thapostle, def. art. and n. s., thapostyllis, thapostyls, Þapostyls, def. art and n. pl. (contraction), the apostle (s) apparell, vb. subj. pres. 2nd pers. s., equip (with), endow with, adorn with, provide with clothing; aperelled, appareled, apparelled, appereld, p. ppl. apparell, n. s., dress, attire, ornament apperyd, vb. p. ppl., appeared applye, vb. imp., apply, strive, use; applyeth, ind. 3rd pers. s. appuls, n. pl., apples apte, adj., suitable, likely, inclined ar, see be

506

Glossary

aray(e, vb. inf., arrange, equip, prepare, adorn aray, n. s., clothing arayment, n. s., clothing, dress arke, n. s., chest, box; ~ of god, Ark of the Covenant, i.e., coffer containing the tablets of the law in the sanctum sanctorum of the Hebrews. arme, n. s., armys, pl., arm(s) (Lat. ‘brachium’, PL 184, 1273C, ‘brachiis’, PL 184, 1273C) armys, n. pl., arms, weapons arowe, n. s., arrow asches, aschys, asshes, asshys, n. pl., ashes ascribed, vb. p. ppl., added to a list, written down a-seyd, vb. p. ppl., said aske, vb. inf. ask; askyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. asshys, see aschys assoyle, vb. inf., absolve (sin); assoyled, p. ppl., explained, solved, answered assyned, vb. p. ppl., allocated, allotted, attributed auctoryte, n. s., authoritative writing, official consent, position of authority audyence, n. s., listening; gyve ~ , listen (to sb.), permit (sb.) to be heard aungelles, aungellis, aungellys, see angelles avarice, avaryce, adj., greedy, covetous, desirous avayle, vb. inf., help, be helpful, be profitable, be worthy; advayleth, avayleth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., it advayleth not, it is of no use, it does no good aweye, adv., away awter, n. s., altar, sacrament of the ~ , the Eucharist ayen, see agayn ayenst, see agayn bache, n. s., batch bacbyte, bakbyte, vb. inf., defame, slander, criticize; bacbited, p. ppl. bacbyter, bakbyter, n. s., slanderer, defamer, traducer bade, see byd baptyme, n. s., baptism barayn, baren, adj., sterile, childless barenes, n. s., nakedness barnys, n. pl., barns batell, n. s., battle, troup, fortress (Lat. ‘castrorum’, PL 184, 1262C) be, vb. inf., be; ys, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; ar, ind. pres. 2nd/3rd pers. pl.; ben, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; war, ind. past 2nd pers. s.; Wer, subj. past 3rd pers. s.; beeng, pr. ppl., accompanying, attending, following (Lat. ‘comitante’, PL 184, 1202A) beatytude, n. s., happiness, beatitude becom, vb. inf., go, arrive, come (Lat. ‘apparebimus’, PL 184, 1304C) bedde, bede, n. s., bed, couch beeng, see be begon, vb. p. ppl., begun

Glossary

507

begyle, vb. inf., deceive, delude, lead into error or sin behavour, n. s., behaviour beheste, n. s., lande of ~ , the Promised Land beholdyng, vbl. n., looking, gazing beleve, vb. inf., believe; beleveth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; bileveth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; belevyd, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; belevyng, pr. ppl.; byleved, p. ppl. beleve, bileve, n. s., belief, faith benefitis, benefyttis, n. pl., benefits benevolence, benevolens, n. s., affection, good will, friendship benethe, byneth(e, adv., below, beneath benignyte, n. s., good will, kindness, generosity bere, vb. inf., bear, carry; beryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. berken, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., bark; berking, berkyng, pr. ppl. berye, berrey, vb. inf., bury; burye, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; buryed, p. ppl. beryth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., bears, carries beseche, vb. ind. pres. 1st pers. s., beseech, pray, beg besemeth, besemyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., is fitting, is proper, seems to be beste, n. s., bestis, pl., beast(s) bestowe, vb. inf., give, spend, have control over (Lat. ‘expendere’, PL 184, 1210C) besy, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl. refl., concern themselves with, be busy about besyde, prep., along with, in addition to, contrary to; ~ hymself, estranged from himself, deprived of his senses (Lat. ‘alienatus a semetipso’, PL 184, 1245D) besynes, n. s., work, activity, undertaking bete, vb. inf., beat, strike; betyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., beats, overcomes; bette, p. ppl., beaten, punished betewes, bewteous, bewtewous, bewtyous, adj., beautiful, exceedingly fair, elegant, handsome betokenyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., symbolizes, is a sign of, indicates bette, see bete betwen(e, bytwen, prep., between bewte, bewty(e, n. s., beauty, goodness, courtesy, glory bewteous, bewtewous, bewtyous, see betewes bewtewosnes, bewtwesnes, bewtyousnes, n. s., beauteousness, beauty bileve, see beleve biloved, vb. p. ppl., beloved blacke, blak, adj., black, dark, colour of sorrow blamyd, vb. p. ppl., blamed, rebuked, reproached blamyngs, vbl. n. pl., blames, rebukes, reproaches blisse, vb. inf., rejoice, enjoy, be glad; blissed(e, blissid, blyssid, blyssyd, p. ppl., blessed blod(e, bloode, n. s., blood blotted, vb. ind. past 3rd pers. s., befouled, sullied (reputation) blowen, vb. p. ppl., blown, spread abroad, made widely known

508

Glossary

blyndenes, n. s., blindness blyndyd, vb. p. ppl., blinded blyssid, blyssyd, see blisse bockeler, boclar, n. s., small shield (round shaped), a means of defense bod(e)ly, adv., physically (as distinct from spiritually), corporeally, materially boldly, adv., recklessly bonde, n. s., bond, promise, duty, bondes, bondis, n. pl., obligations, duties; straps, hoops, metal bands (Lat. ‘fasciculos’, PL 184, 1253D), limits, measures, amounts (Lat. ‘mensuram’, PL 184, 1255B) bord(e, n. s., board, (dining) table, altar born, bourn, vb. p. ppl., born, given birth to boste, vb. inf., boast, brag; bostyd, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; bostyng, pr. ppl. boste, n. s., boast bostyngly, adv., boastfully bounde, bownde, vb. p. ppl., constrained, compelled, bound bredde, bred(e, n. s., bread breke, vb. inf., break, violate, destroy; breketh, brekyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; brake, ind. past 1st. pers. s.; breke, imp.; broken, p. ppl., broken down in spirit bren, vb. inf., be passionate, inflame, burn; burnyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; brennyng, pr. ppl. breste, n. s., brestys, brestis, pl., breast(s) broken, see breke brybes, brybys, n. pl., morsels, things extorted by threats, bribes brydel(l, n. s., bridle, control bryȝt(e, adj., bright bryngeth, bryngyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., brings brystel(l, n. s., a shoemaker’s needle made of bristle bud, budde, vb. inf., bud, sprout; buddyd, p. ppl. burdon, n. s., load, weight, guilt burnyth, see bren buryeng, vbl. n., burying, burial by and by, adv. phras., continually, again and again, completely byd, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., urge, ask, advise, order; bade, ind. past 3rd pers. s. bye, vb. imp., buy byȝte, byte, vb. inf., bite, sting, strike bylde, vb. inf., build (a nest), to make one’s home, dwell; byldeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; bylded, p. ppl., built, edified, established byll, n. s., beak, bill (of a bird) byneth, see benethe byrd(e, n. s., byrdes, byrdys, pl., bird(s), chick(s) byrth, n. s., birth byte, vb. inf., bite, sting, strike bytterenes, n. s., bitterness

Glossary callyde, vb. p. ppl., called callyng, vbl. n., calling, prayer, call to salvation (Lat. ‘vocatio’, PL 184, 1248B) candel, n. s., candle care, n. s., anxiety, concern, charge, responsibility caryth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., ~ not, does not worry, neglects, does not trouble himself/herself carkes, karkesse, n. s., carcass, corpse, (used contemptuously) living human body caryn, n. s., carrion, corpse caste out, vb. p. ppl., driven out castell, n. s., castle castigacion, n. s., punishment, correction ceason, ceson, n. s., a period of time, one of the four seasons certaynly, sertenly, adv., truly, unquestionably certen, sertayn, serten, serteyn, adj., certain, specific, trustworthy; for a ~ , for sure, certainly cesse, vb. inf., cease, desist, stop ; ceassed, ceassid, cesed, ind. past. 3rd pers. pl. chambre, n. s., bedroom, bridal chamber, room channon, n. s., chanons, pl., canon(s), cleric(s) chare, adj., careful, solicitous, anxious charge, vb. inf., instruct, order charges, n. pl., duties, responsibilities charitable, adj., loving, kind-hearted, benevolent charitably, adv., lovingly, kindly charite, charyte, n. s., love, loving-kindness, devotion charmar, charmere, chermar, n. s., enchanter, sorcerer charytte, n. s., chariot, cart chaste, adj., chaste, morally pure, holy chastice, chastyce, vb. inf., reprove, punish, instruct chastite, n. s., chastity cheef, adj., most important, best, greatest chek, vb. inf., take offence at, rebuke chekys, n. pl., cheeks chermar, see charmar cherysche, vb. inf., cherish, take good care of, respect chese, vb. inf., choose, elect; chesyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; chose, chosyn, p. ppl., chosen, elect, excellent, noble chydyng, vbl. n., quarreling, scolding, rebuke chylde, n. s., child; childis, gen. s., child’s, of a child chyldehode, n. s., childhood chyrch(e, n. s., church cidar, n. s., cedar of Lebanon, cedar (wood) circumspecte, adj., careful, prudent, attentive circumstance, n. s., margin, fringe, dore of ~, an outer gate

509

510

Glossary

cite, cyte, n. s., citees, cytees, pl., city (cities) clater, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., clatter, chatter, babble; clateryng, pr. ppl. clawes, n. pl., claws cleen, clene, adj., clean, pure, chaste cleen, clene, adv., cleanly, brightly, fully, entirely clenlynes, n. s., purity, chastity clennes, n. s., purity, chastity clense, vb. imp., cleanse; clensid, p. ppl. clere, adj., clear, bright, free from impurity clerke, n. s., cleric, scholar, writer cleve, vb. inf., adhere (to), be devoted (to), remain, persist; clevyng, pr. ppl. close, adj., confined, enclosed, concealed clowdes, clowdys, n. pl., clouds cloystere, n. s., cloister clyppyng, vbl. n., embrace, spiritual embrace, sexual intercourse cogitacion, n. s., thought, idea, notion colde, adj., free from excitement, unimpassioned, restrained (Lat. ‘modesta’, PL 184, 1261B) cole, n. s., coal, charcoal, ashes combys, kombes, n. pl., combs comfort, n. s., encouragement, consolation, gratification comfort(e, comfourt, vb. inf., encourage, refresh, cheer up, strengthen spiritually; comforted, comfortyd, confourted, p. ppl. comlynes, n. s., fairness, graciousness, grace commaundmentis, commaundmentys, cummaundmentis, n. pl., commandments commendacion, n. s., praise, renown, repute commende, vb. inf., commend, praise; commendyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; commendyd, p. ppl. commenly, adv., commonly, usually commeth, commyth, cummyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., comes; commyng, cummyng, pr. ppl. com(m)odites, n. pl., benefits, properties communicacion, communicacyon, n. s., discussion, conversation, deportment commyn, adj., shared, common, inferior; ~ woman, a promiscuous woman, a prostitute compellyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., compels; compellyd, p. ppl. commynaltee, n. s., fellowship, brotherhood commyned, comynde, vb. p. ppl., to be ~ , to receive Holy Communion commynyng, vbl. n., Eucharist, Holy Communion commyth, cummyth, see commeth commytte, vb. inf., commit, venture, undertake; commytteth, commyttyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; commyttid, p. ppl. compacient, adj., compassionate, indulgent

Glossary

511

company, vb. inf., join, associate, band together; companyeth with, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., is a companion to, walks with (Lat. ‘ambulat’, PL 184, 1289A); companyed, cumpanyed, p. ppl. company(e, cumpany(e, n. s., attendants, company, fellowship compas, vb. inf., ~ aboute, go about, go round, travel around; compasid, p. ppl., beset, engulfed by, envelopped in competent, adj., sufficient, adequate, suitable complyn-tyme, n. s., time of compline componable, adj., not in MED or OED (Lat. ‘vita communis sanctorum’, PL 184, 1289A , my emphasis. Presumably from the Latin verb ‘componere’, i.e., ‘put or place together’, hence combining, assembling, entering into an alliance? compulsion, n. s., coercion compunccion, n. s., compunction, i.e., ‘remorse for wrongdoing as felt and practiced as a means of attaining forgiveness of one’s sins, followed by confession and acts of penance’ (MED) compuncte, adj., overcome with remorse, contrite, devout comynde, see commyned concupiscence, concupiscens, n. s., desire (especially ardent, carnal) condicions, n. pl., dispositions, habits, manners, circumstances of life confedered, vb. p. ppl., ben ~ to, be united, be associated to confermed, vb. p. ppl., confirmed, strengthened, established confidens, n. s., confidence confounded, vb. p. ppl., confused, perplexed, harmed confourted, see comfort(e congruence, congruens, n. s., appropriateness, fitness, convenience congruent, adj., appropriate, fit, convenient conjeyled, vb. p. ppl., frozen, solidified conjoyne, vb. imp., join together, join to (in marriage), unite; coinjoined, conjoyned, p. ppl. conjunccyon, n. s., joining, combining, (sexual) union connyng, vbl. n., knowledge, understanding, awareness consent, vb. imp., ~ to, submit to, acquiesce in considered, vb. p. ppl., be ~ , be observable or seen consolacion, n. s., comfort, prosperity, salvation, pleasure constance, n. s., steadfastness (of purpose), loyalty, fortitude constrayned, vb. p. ppl., compelled (to do sth), obliged, controlled, constrained; a ~ feer, (Lat. ‘servilis timor’, PL 184, 1204C) consume, vb. inf., consume, destroy, slay; consumyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. contemplatyfe, contemplatyve, adj., contemplative; ~ lyfe, the contemplative life (in opposition to the active life). See Chapter 53. contempnyd, vb. p. ppl., slighted, spurned, disparaged contenciouse, adj., prone to strife or dispute, quarrelsome contente, adj., satisfied, not uneasy, pleased

512

Glossary

conteyneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., contains, comprises, has inside; conteyned, p. ppl. continence, continens, contynence, n. s., continence, chastity, restraint, abstemiousness contrarie, contrarye, n. s., adverse condition, the opposite, reverse contrarye, adj., contrary, opposed; ben ~ to, to be opposed, adverse, repugnant, to be antogonistic (to sb) contraryþe, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., oppose, resist, deny contrey, countre, cuntre(e, cuntrey, n. s., region, area, place, homeland contricion, n. s., contrition, i.e., ‘sorrow of heart and detestation of sin committed, with the purpose of not sinning in the future’ (MED) contynency(e, n. s., see continence contynuance, n. s., duration, time convenant, cuvenante, n. s., pact, covenant, promise, vow convenient, convenyente, adj., appropriate, pertinent, befitting, morally proper convenient, adv., appropriately, suitably, pertinently conversacion, n. s., manner of living, conduct, behaviour; holy ~, life devoted to the ideals of christianity; in holy ~ and dedys, in holy words and actions (Lat. ‘verbis sanctis, et actionibus’, PL 184, 1273C) conversaunt(e, vb. pr. ppl., be(n ~, live, dwell, reside, associate or be intimate with conversion, n. s., conversion to virtuous or holy living, life in holy orders converte, vb. imp., turn to (virtuous conduct), turn away from sin, change, convert; convertyng, pr. ppl.; converted, p. ppl. cordenars, n. pl., people who makes shoes of cordwain, cordwainers correcte, correctyd, vb. p. ppl., corrected, punished, disciplined, admonished corrupcion, n. s., moral or spiritual contamination corrupte, vb. p. ppl., corrupted, defiled counceyl(e, counseile, counseill, counseyl, vb. ind. pres. 1st s., counsel, teach, instruct, advise; counceileth, councellyth, counselleth, cownselyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; counseiled, p. ppl. counceyle, counseil, counsell, n. s., counceyls, counselles, counsellys, pl., council, decision, advice, instruction(s), (spiritual) counsel(s), secret(s) counted, countyd, vb. p. ppl., counted, considered, valued countenance, n. s., outward appearance, looks, expression coupled, cowpled, vb. p. ppl., united in marriage, joined cours, cowrse, adj., ordinary, coarse, inferior cours(e, n. s., course, direction, rapid movement; ~ of your life (Lat. ‘cursum tuum’, PL 184, 1266D) courte, n. s., court, residence covete, covett(e, covyt, vb. inf. desire (strongly), covet, yearn for; covetyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. covetous, adj., greedy, covetous, avaricious, lustful covettyse, covetyse, n. s., covetousness, greed (one of the seven deadly sins) covetyse, adj., greedy, covetous, avaricious, lustful

Glossary

513

cowd(e, vb. mod. aux. ind. past 3rd pers. s., could cownselyth, see counceyl(e cowpled, see coupled cowrse, see cours crafte, n. s., art, handicraft, trade, cleverness, trick craftely, adv., skilfully, artfully crake, vb. imp., speak loudly, boast, claim (Lat. ‘arroges’. PL 184, 1259B) credence, credens, n. s., belief, faith, trust cristen, adj., Christian croked, adj., crocked, misshapen, decrepit with age cros, crosse, n. s., cross cruelnes, n. s., fierceness, severity, cruelty crye, vb. inf., weep, wail, lament; cryeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., calls, cries out, shouts aloud (Lat. ‘clamat’, PL 184, 1265B) cryeng, vbl. n., weeping, wailing, lamentation crystenyng, vbl. n., christening culpable, adj., guilty, blameworthy, sinful culver, n. s., dove cumforte, n. s., comfort, relief, consolation cummaundmentis, see commaundmentis cummyng, vbl. n., comming cummyth, see commeth cumpany(e, see company(e cumpanyed, see companyed cuntre(e, cuntrey, see contrey curiosite, curyosite, n. s., desire of knowledge, inquisitiveness, idle or vain interest (esp. in worldly affairs) curteys, adj., courteous, polite, benevolent, respectful curyous(e, adj., fine, costly, sumptuous, inquisitive curyously, adv., carefully, inquisitively, idly custodie, n. s., custody, protection, defence custom, vb. imp., make a practice of, get into a habit custom, n. s., established usage, tradition, habit, natural way cutte, see kuttyth cuvenante, see convenant cylyce, n. s., hair-cloth, i.e., ‘a rough garment made of hair-cloth, generally worn as a penitential robe’ (OED) cyte, cytees, see cite dames, n. pl., mothers of young animals dampnable, adj., damnable, worthy of damnation dampnacion, n. s., damnation dampne, vb. inf., condemn, damn; dampned, p. ppl.

514

Glossary

darke, derke, adj., wicked, evil, malicious, obscure, unclear, dark darknes, derkenes, derknes, n. s., darkness, obscurity, sinfulness, evil dartis, n. pl., darts, spears, arrows daunger, n. s., dominion, power, harm, danger debate, n. s., quarrel, dispute, fight, war, be at ~, quarrel, be fighting decrese, vb. inf., decrease, diminish, weaken ded, dedd(e, adj., dead dede, n. s., dedis, dedys, pl., deed(s), action(s); in very ~, in fact, in reality, really dedely, adj., deadly, mortal, destructive to the soul, grievous defawte, n. s., defauȝtis, defautis, defawtis, n. pl., fault(s), error(s), misdeed(s), sin(s) deformyte, n. s., moral or spiritual ugliness, difformity defyle, vb. imp., pollute spiritually, infect with heresy; defyled, p. ppl. degre(e, n. s., step, stage, rank, state, kind delectable, adj., pleasurable, delightful delectacion, n. s., (sensual) pleasure, spiritual enjoyement deliberacion, n. s., consideration, thinking; with ~, deliberately, intentionally delte with, vb. p. ppl., dealt with, treated delycatly, adv., in luxuries delycatys, n. pl., delights delyte, vb. inf., delight, enjoy, please, have spiritual pleasure; deliteth, delyteth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. departyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., distributes, divides, portions out; departed, departyd, p. ppl., gone away from, been removed from depnes, n. s., depth, abyss dere, adj., dear derke, see darke derkenes, derknes, see darknes deservyng, vbl. n., meritorious conduct, merit, worthiness desperacion, n. s., lack of faith in God’s mercy, despair despyce, dispyce, dispyse, dyspyce, dyspyse, vb. inf. despise ; dispiseth, dispyseth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; dispised, dispysed, p. ppl. desyre, vb. inf., desire, request, invite, entreat; desyrist, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s. desyreous, desyrous, adj., filled with desire, eager, devoted, desirable desyrfull, adj., desirable, good, wished for detecte, vb. p. ppl., disclosed, revealed, demonstrated deth, n. s., death detraccion, n. s., defaming, reproach, slander detracte, vb. inf., disparage, defame, slander; detracteth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. dettar, n. s., debtor develles, see devyll devocion, n. s., profound religious emotion of awe, reverence, adoration

Glossary

515

devyde, dyvyd(e, vb. inf., separate (sth. into parts), divide, sever; devided, dyvyded, p. ppl., separated, removed, withheld from, taken away devyl(l, n. s., develles, pl., devil (s); develles, gen. pl., of devils dewe, n. s., dew, mist, vapour dewe, adj., proper, just, appropriate, deserved dewly(e, dulye, adv., dutifully, appropriately, justly, rightfully, lawfully deyed, see dye1 deyntees, deyntes, n. pl., pleasures, delights, dainties didd, see doe differre, vb. inf., differ, delay, postpone; differde, ind. past 1st pers. s. diggyd, vb. ind. past. 3rd pers. s., digged dignite, n. s., high rank or office, worthiness, excellence, dignity dileccion, dileccyon, n. s., divine or spiritual love diligens, dyligence, dyligens, dylygence, n. s., persistent effort, diligence, eagerness diligent, adj., persevering, careful, diligent discension, n. s., disagreement, dispute, dissent discessyd, vb. p. ppl., deceased, dead discomforted, vb. p. ppl., disheartened, discouraged, hurt, saddened discommodites, n. pl., disadvantages, inconveniences discrecion, n. s., decision, moral discernment, moderation disdaynyng, vbl. n., contempt, disdain, scorn diseasis, n. pl., tribulations, anxieties, sufferings, diseases (Lat. ‘adversa’, PL 184, 1264D) dispeyre, vb. inf., despair; dispeyreth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; dispayr(e, imp. dispose, vb. imp., arrange, prepare disposicion, n. s., frame of mind, attitude, inclination disprayse, vb. inf., criticize, blame disprayse, n. s., criticism, blame, censure dispyce, dispyse, dyspyce, dyspyse, dispiseth, dispyseth, dispised, dispysed, see despyce dispysyng, vbl. n., despising disseyt(e, dysseyte, n. s., disseytis, pl., treachery, hypocrisy, deceit(s), deception(s) disseytfull, adj. deceitful disseyvable, adj., deceitful, unreliable, misleading, illusory disseyve, vb. inf., deceive; disseyveth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; disseyvyng, pr. ppl.; disseyved, p. ppl. dissolucion, n. s., dissoluteness, frivolity, laxity in observance of religious rites dissolute, adj., fickle, capricious, unreliable, false (Lat. ‘levis’, PL 184, 1261B) dissymul, vb. inf., dissemble, conceal, disregard; dissymulyng, pr. ppl., ignoring, pretending not to see distracte, vb. p. ppl., distracted distroye, vb. inf., destroy; distroyeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; distroyed, ind. past 3rd pers. s.

516

Glossary

distruccion, n. s., destruction division, n. s., allotment, sharing, (sub)division doen, doo, vb. inf., do, perform, give (alms), used as a substitute for a specific verb; doeth(e, doith, doth, doyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; doe, doen, doo, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; didd, ind. past. 3rd pers. s.; doyeng, pr. ppl. doo away, imp., take away doo for, inf., take care of, help doo from, imp., drive out, banish doo upon, inf., put on (clothes) doggis, doggys, n. pl., dogs dore, n. s., dores, pl., door(s), entrance(s), gate(s) doth, see doe double-chambred, adj., made of two compartments doublenes, dowblenes, n. s., duplicity, deceitfulness, faithlessness dought, douȝte, doute, dowȝte, dowte, n. s., doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, fear doughter, douȝter, dowȝter, n. s., daughter doun, adv., down, downward doune, adj., downcast, dejected, drooping doute, see dought dowble, adv., twice, in two ways dowblenes, see doublenes down, n. s., soft under-feathers of birds used for pillows or cushions douwȝt, dowȝte, vb. inf., doubt, fear be afraid; dowȝt, imp. dowȝte, dowte, n., see dought dowȝter, see doughter dowtfull, adj., hesitant, irresolute, wavering. dowtfulnes, n. s., doubtfulness, instability, ambiguity doyeng, doyth, see doe draw(e, vb. inf., ~ to, come, approach, enter into a union with (sb); draweth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; drawen, p. ppl., drawn, pulled; drawne oute of, p. ppl., translated from drede, vb. inf., dread, fear greatly, hold in awe; dredyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; dredyng, pr. ppl. dreme, vb. inf., dream dremes, dremys, n. pl., dreams dresse, vb. subj. pres. 2nd pers. s., adorn, dress, arrange dronke, drounken, vb. p. ppl., drunk, inebriated, swallowed dronkennes, n. s., drunkenness dropesye, n. s., dropsy, an insatiable vice drowneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; drowned, p. ppl., smothered, destroyed, plunged into drye, adj., dry

Glossary

517

dryveth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., ~ water, diverts water (Lat. ‘aquam deducit’, PL 184, 1299A) duellyd, see dwellyth dulcet(e, dulcett, adj., beloved, pleasurable, delicious, (sound) sweet or pleasant dull, adj., slow, sluggish, dispirited (Lat. ‘tepidi’, PL 184, 1202B) dulnes, n. s., idleness, inactivity dulye, see dewly(e duryng, vb. pr. ppl., continuing, (long-)lasting dwellyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., live, dwell, remain, stay; duellyd, dwellyd, p. ppl. dyche, n. s., ditch dye1, vb. inf., die; dyeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; deyed, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; dyeng, pr. ppl. dye2, vb. inf. dye, colour; dyeng, pr. ppl. dyligens, dylygence, see diligens dymynucion, n. s., lessening, reduction, decrease, loss dymynusche, dymynushe, vb. inf., lessen, reduce in magnitude dyrecte, vb. inf., direct, guide dysdayne, vb. inf., disdain, scorn dyspyce, see dispyce dysseyte, see disseyt dyvers(e, adj., different, distinct, vicious, hostile dyversite, n. s., difference, distinction dyvyd(e, dyvyded, see devyde easely, easly, eesly(e, adv., leisurely, easily, softly, quietly easlyer, comp. adv., more easily easy, adj., luxurious edifyeng, vbl. n., edification eer, n. s., eeres, eeris, eerys, erys, pl., ear(s) eesly(e, see easely eet, ette, vb. inf., eat (up), devour; etyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; etyn, p. ppl. effecte, n. s., substance, fulfilment effectually, adv., diligently, sincerely, truly, egle, n. s., eagle elacion, n. s., arrogance, vainglory, inordinate self-esteem electe, vb. inf., choose; electe, p. ppl., chosen (for some special dignity or position), ~ persons, people chosen by God for some special status or favour. ellys, els, adv., else, otherwise encrease, vb. inf., increase; incresith, incressyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; incresyng, pr. ppl.; increced, p. ppl. endyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., ends enfourme, informe, vb. inf., teach, advise, instruct; infourmeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., informs, describes, gives form to; informed, p. ppl., educated, instructed, guided

518

Glossary

entent(e, intent, n. s., intention, frame of mind, will; thentent, def. art. and n. s. (contraction) the intention entre, vb. inf.; entryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; enter, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; entyr, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s/pl.; entred, p. ppl. entryng, vbl. n., entering, approach, entry equalls, n. pl., people equal to each other in rank, power or age er, or, conj., before, until erre, vb. inf., sin, do wrong, wander erth, n. s., earth erthly(e, yerthly, adj., earthly, worldly erys, see eer ette, etyn, etyth, see eet evangely(e, n. s., gospel evel, evyl(l, n. s., evil thing, evil word evel(l, adj., evil, sinful evencrysten, n. pl., fellow Christians evesong-tyme, n. s., time of even-song, vespers exalte, vb. inf., raise someone in honour, praise, glorify examyn, vb. inf., examine, weigh, test examynacion, n. s., examination, investigation, consideration excellent, adv., surpassingly, magnificently excepte, conj., unless exchued, exchwed, vb. p. ppl., avoided, shun, refrained from execute, vb. inf., carry out, perform, execute exerciseth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., employs, makes use of (Lat. ‘utitur’, PL 184, 1276D); exercise, imp., practise, busy yourself with (Lat. ‘exerce’, PL 184, 1274A); exercised, p. ppl., trained, devoted, studious (Lat. ‘studiosis’, PL 184, 1273D) eyer, n. s., air (as habitat of birds) eyghsiȝt, n. s., eyesight fabulacions, n. pl., conversations, discussions, chats fabulles, n. pl., fables, falsehoods, lies fader(e, fadre, fadyr, n. s., fadres, pl., father(s); fadyrs, gen. s., father’s, of a father fallace, n. s., deceit, deception, falsehood falle, fallyn, vb. p. ppl., fallen, descended, come fallys, n. pl., falls fals, adj., untrue, deceitful, treacherous, wicked falshed(e, n. s., deceitfulness, dishonesty, fraud, lie fame, n. s., reputation (good or bad), notoriety famyliarite, famyliaryte, famylyaryte, n. s., intimacy, friendship famylyar, adj., intimate, close fare, vb. inf., travel, depart, continue, live; ~ wele, do well, feel well, prosper

Glossary

519

fasteneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., fixes, strengthens; fastened, p. ppl. fastyng, vbl. n., fasting, fast fastyngs, fastyngis, vbl. n. pl., fasts fatte, adj., fat favour, n. s., favour, applause fawtis, n. pl., faults, sins fayle, vb. inf., be lacking, come to an end, be incomplete; faylyng, pr. ppl., waning, failing, growing feeble (Lat. ‘caduca’, PL 184, 1301C) fayn, adj., happy, pleased, satisfied, willing, eager faynengs, vbl. n. pl., pretenses, dissimulations, hypocrisy faynt, vb. p. ppl., sluggish, faint-hearted, timid, spiritless fayntely, adv., dispiritedly, half-heartedly, slothfully faynyng, vb. pr. ppl., dissembling, making false pretences fayr(e, feyr, adj., appropriate, beautiful, elegant, right, just, excellent fayr(e, adv., handsomely, pleasantly, well fayrnes, n. s., beauty, courtesy, fairness faythfull, feythfull, adj., faithfull feble, adj., weak, powerless, inneffectual febylnes, n. s., weakness (of flesh), feeblenes, infirmity fede, vb. inf., feed; fedyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; fedde, p. ppl. feer, fere, vb. inf., fear; fereth(e, feryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; feere, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s. feer, n. s., feerys, pl., fear(s) feerfull, fereful(l, adj., fearful, frightened, frightful, dreadful feete, feett, fete, see fote felawship, felowship, felowshyp, felyschip, felyschyp, felyship, felyshyp, n. s., company, fellowship, monastic community felde, n. s., field fele, vb. inf., feel, experience, perceive; felyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. felicite, felicyte, n. s., happiness, joy, pleasure, prosperity felyschip, felyschyp, felyship, felyshyp, see felawship felyth, see fele fendys, n. pl., fiends fere, fereth(e, feryth, see feer fereful(l, see feerfull ferr, adv., far, at a distance festys, n. pl., feasts, banquets fete, see fote fetherbede, n. s., feather-bed feyr, see fayr(e feyth, n. s., faith feythfull, see faythfull figure, fygure, n. s., comparison, metaphor, foreshadowing, example

520

Glossary

flateryng, vbl. n., flattering, blandishment, allurement fle, flye, vb. inf., flee; fleeth, flyeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; flyeng, pr. ppl.; fledd(e, p. ppl. fle(e, vb. inf., fly floddys, flodes, n. pl., rivers, streams flok, n. s., flock, (monastic) family, congregation floryschyng, vb. pr. ppl., blooming, prospering, thriving flour, vb. inf., flourish, thrive; flouryd, p. ppl. floure, n. s., floures, flowres, pl., flower(s) flye, flyeng, flyeth, see fle folde, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pl., unfold (as a scroll), repeat (Lat. ‘replicant’, PL 184, 1302B) fole, n. s., fooles, foolys, pl., fool(s) folow(e, vb. inf., follow, observe, accept; foloweth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. folysch(e, adj., foolish, stupid folysche-hardye, adj., foolhardy, daring without judgement, rashly aventuresome folyschnes, n. s., foolishness, a foolish practice, absurdity fooles, foolys, see fole forbeddyth, forbedyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., forbids; forbede, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s.; forbode, forbydden, p. ppl. forfadres, forfathirs, n. pl., forefathers forgefenes, n. s., forgiveness forgeve, forgeven, vb. p. ppl., forgiven, pardoned, absolved forhedde, forhede, n. s., forhead forsake, vb. inf., abandon, renounce, give up, reject; forsakyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; forsake, p. ppl. forsworn(e, vb. p. ppl., guilty of breaking an oath, perjured fortune, vb. inf., occur by chance, happen, control (someone’s destiny); fortuneth, fortunyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. fote, n. s., feete, feett, fete, pl., foot (feet) foule, fowle, adj., evil, defiled, shameful, miserable, ugly, dirty; fowler, comp. fower, fowr(e, adj., four fowles, n. pl., birds fowlnes, n. s., foulness fowrth, adj., fourth fraternyte, n. s., a religious order, membership in a religious order, brotherliness frayle, adj., weak, sinful, easily overcome fraylte, freylte, n. s., physical weakness, infirmity, sinfulness frely, adv., freely, without restraint, gladly frendes, frendis, frendys, n. pl., friends fresche, adj., unfaded, clean, unsoiled, gay, new frese, vb. inf., freeze, be severely cold, perish from cold frete, vb. inf., devour, eat freylte, see fraylte

Glossary

521

frowarde, adj., disobedient, wicked frowardnes, n. s., willfulnes, disobedience, obstinacy, malice frute, n. s., frutys, pl., produce, spiritual profit, result, fruit(s) fulfyll, vb. inf., carry out, accomplish, satisfy; fulfyllyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. fulnes, n. s., fulness, repletion, satiety furth, adv., forth, onwards, forwards fyer, fyre, n. s., fire (of hell) fyfte, adj., fifth fyȝt(e, vb. inf., fight; fyȝt(e, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; fyȝtyng, pr. ppl. fygure, see figure fygured, vb. p. ppl., signifyed, represented fylled, vb. p. ppl., filled, full fynall, adj., final, ultimate; ~ jugement, the Last Jugement fyndyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., finds fyngyrs, n. pl., fingers fynysched, vb. p. ppl., finished fyre, see fyer fysche, n. s., fish gadre, vb. inf., gather, collect, assemble; gadreth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; gadred, p. ppl. gall, n. s., gall (Lat. ‘fel’, PL 184, 1284C) garden, gardeyn, n. s., gardens, gardeyns, gardyns, pl., garden(s) gate, see gete gayly, adv., beautifully, joyously gendreth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., brings forth, produces; gendre, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl. generall, adj., general, universal; ~ resurreccion, Doomsday gentyl(l, adj., kindly, kind, courteous, graceful gentylnes, n. s., mildness, gentleness (Lat. ‘mansuetudo’, PL 184, 1268C) gere, n. s., clothes, garment, behaviour gestes, gestis, n. pl., actions, doings gestur, n. s., deportment, bearing, gesture gete, gette, vb. inf., get, receive, succeed, obtain (Lat. ‘obtinere’, PL 184, 1306B); getyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; gate, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; goten, p. ppl. geve, gyve, vb. inf., give; gevyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; geven, gyven, p. ppl. glad(de, adj., glad, joyful, happy gladdlye, adj., bright, beautiful, pleasurable glasse, n. s., glass, mirror, looking-glass glorious(e, gloryous, adj., worthy of spiritual glory, beautiful, magnificent gloryous, adv., gloriously, magnificently, famously gloteny, glotony(e, n. s., gluttony (one of the seven deadly sins) gloton, n. s., glutton gluyd, vb. p. ppl., joined to God with the power of love

522

Glossary

go, goo, vb. inf., go, walk; goost, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s.; goyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; gon, p. ppl.; goo þurgh, inf., penetrate, make one’s way into (Lat. ‘penetrare’, PL 184, 1262C) goddis, n. gen. s., God’s, of God godly, adj., divine; ~ redyng, reading Holy Scriptures (Lat. ‘lectio divina’, PL 184, 1272B) goodes, goodis, goodys, n. pl., goods, possessions goodly, adv., properly, rightly, gladly goodly, adv., divinely goodnes, n. s., good quality, virtue, goodness, kindness goost, see gon gostely, adj., spiritual goten, see gete governance, n. s., authority, rule, control goyeng, goyng, vbl. n., manner of walking, demeanour, way of life goyth, see gon graciously, adv., by God’s grace, happily, beautifully graffyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., grafts, inserts, plants; graffyng, pr. ppl. gravite, gravyte, n. s., solemnity, seriousness, authority, sobriety gredy, adj., greedy, avaricious gredynes, n. s., greediness, avarice grene, adj., green, vigorous; ~ tyle-stone, an undried, unfired tile (Lat. ‘laterem crudum’, PL 184, 1247D) grete, adj., great, excellent; grettere, comp.; grettyst, sup. gretely, gretly, adv., greatly greve, vb. inf., grieve, cause pain, distress, insult; greved, grevyd, p. ppl., injured, oppressed grevous, adv., seriously, grievously grevous(e, adj., burdensome, tedious, grave, serious grewel, n. s., thin porridge, soup containing meal greweth, groweth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., grows grone, vb. inf., groan, bewail, mutter, complain grounded, vb. p. ppl., is on firm foundations, established, set, learned (Lat. ‘fundata’. PL 184, 1260C) grownde, n. s., ground, earth, land gruge, vb. inf., complain, bear a grudge against; grugeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; gruge, imp. gruge, grugge, n. s., complaint, murmur, grumbling gruggeng, gruggyng, vbl. n., grumbling, murmuring gyde, vb. inf., guide, counsel, protect, (refl.) conduct oneself gyftes, gyftis, gyftys, n. pl., gifts, presents gyle, n. s., guile, lie, dishonesty, treachery; gyles, gylys, pl., wiles, deceptions, treacheries

Glossary

523

gylty, adj., guilty gyrded, gyrdyd, vb. p. ppl., girded, restrained (from sin), endowed (with virtue); ~ about, equipped with a sword, having a sword fastened about the waist gyrdyll, n. s., gyrdylles, pl., belt(s), necklace(s), baldric(s) ȝe, pron. 2nd pers. s./pl. nom., you habilyte, n. s., ability, power habitacion, n. s., residence, abode habite, habyt(e, habytte, n. s., garment, monastic habit; ~ of religion, robe of a friar, monk or nun halow, vb. inf., hallow, consecrate; halowed, p. ppl., holy, sanctified, consecrated halsyngs, vbl. n. pl., embraces, sexual intercourse hangyd with, vb. p. ppl., adorned with hangings hap(e, vb. inf., happen, occur, come to pass; hapneth, happeneth, hapynth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; happyn, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl. happyngs, vbl. n., happenings, events hard, see her(e harde-harted, adj., unfeeling, lacking in sympathy hardly, adv., sharply, firmly hardnes, n. s., austerity, strictness harkyn, vb. inf., take heed, listen to, hear harmeles, adj., immune from, sinless, unharmed hart(e, hert(e, n. s., hartis, pl., heart(s) hartly, hertly(e, adv., heartily, sincerely, devoutly, faithfully haste, see have haste, vb. imp., hasten, hurry hastynes, n. s., impatience, anger, violence hate, n. s., hate, hatred hatyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., hates have, vb. inf., have; haste, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s.; hath, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; hadd(e, p. ppl. havyn, n. s., harbour, port, refuge hed, hedd(e, n. s., hedes, hedys, pl., mind, head(s), leader(s) hede, n. s., heed, attention hedye, adj., hasty, impetuous, headstrong heer, here, herr, n. s., hair, hairs, fur heete, hete, n. s., heat, lust hegged, vb. p. ppl., ~ hyrself aboute, surrounded herself with a hedge hele, n. s., heel heled, helyd, vb. p. ppl., healed helth, n. s., health hens(e, adv., hence, from here, hereafter hensfurth, adv., henceforth, hereafter, from this point on

524

Glossary

her, adv., here, in this place, in this life, now here, vb. inf., hear, listen to, understand, comprehend; hereth, heryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; her(e, imp.; herd(e, hard, p. ppl. here, n., see heer heremyte, n. s., hermit heritage, n. s., (spiritual) inheritance, an allotted place in heaven or hell herr, see heer hert(e, see hart hertlye, see hartly heryng, vbl. n., hearing heryth, see her(e hete, see heete hevy(e, adj., heavy, sorrowful, dejected, annoyed, troubled hevyn, n. s., heven hevynes, n. s., sorrow, sadness, sluggishness hevyth up, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., lifts up, exalts spiritually heyr, n. s., heir hidde, see hyde hir, hyr(r, pers. pron. 3rd s. fem. acc./dat., her hit, hyt, hytte, yt, pron. 3rd pers. s. neut. nom., it ho, hoo, rel. pron., who hold up, vb. inf., stretch out, extend hole, hool(e, adj., healthy, safe, whole, complete holesom, holsom, adj., healthful, spiritually beneficial holp, vb. p. ppl., helped, encouraged holys, n. pl., holes homelynes, n. s., meekness, gentleness, friendliness homly, adj., meek, gentle honest, adj., respectable, suitable, seemly honestee, honestye, n. s., honour, propriety, decorum hoo, see ho hoo, interr. pron., who? hoo, interj., stop, hold; sayth ~, ceases, says stop hool(e, see hole hool(e, adv., fully, completely, steadfastly hop(e, n. s., hope hopyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., hopes hourely, adv., every hour, at all times howre, n. s., hour howsis, n. pl., houses howsomevere, adv., in whatever manner, although, no matter how humours, n. pl., humours, one of the four fluids (blood, phlegm, choler, melancholy) which form and nourish the body, bodily fluids

Glossary

525

hundreth, n./adj., hundred hungur(e, n. s., hunger hungure, adj., hungry, starving, greedy hurde, n. s., coarse part of flax, tow hurte, n. s., hurtis, pl., hurt(s), wound(s), injury(-ries), harm(s) hurtyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., hurts, harms, injures; hurten, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl. hyde, vb. inf., hide; hydeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; hydyng, pr. ppl.; hidde, hydde, p. ppl. hye, vb. imp., hurry, apply oneself to hye, hygh, hyȝe, adj., high, noble, great, admirable, (of God) divine; hyest, sup. hygh, vb. inf., hasten, hurry; hyghyest, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s. hygh-mynded, adj., characterized by a haughty or arrogant spirit hylde, vb. ind. past 3rd s., ~ his peace, was quiet, remained silent hympnes, ympnes, ympnys, n. pl., hymns hyr(r, see hir hyssyng, vbl. n., hissing hyt, hytte, see hit idell, ydel(l, ydyl(l, adj., worthless, vain, foolish, sinful idolatre, idolatrye, ydolatrye, n. s., idolatry, disobedience to God ignorance, n. s., ~ of slouth, dulness, indolence of sloth (Lat. ‘pigritiae inertia’, PL 184, 1210A) ignorante, adj., ignorant, not known impedymentis, n. pl., obstacles, difficulties, interferences impugne, vb. inf., fight against, oppose inconvenient, adj., unseemly, incongruous incorrupcion, n. s., incorruptibility increced, incresith, incressyth, incresyng, see encrease indefynently, adv., without limit, indefinitely indwyng, vb. pr. ppl., providing, furnishing, endowing ineffable, adj., indescribable, beyond expression infirmite, infirmyte, n. s., want of strength, weakness, frail condition (Lat. ‘infirmitate’, PL 184, 1278A) informacion, n. s., instruction, teaching, advice informe, informed, infourmeth, see enfourme inhabitte, vb. inf., inhabit, live in innocencie, innocency(e, n. s., freedom from sin or guilt, purity innocent, adj., simple, artless, innocent inobedience, inobediens, n. s., disobedience inordynate, adj., immoral, rebellious, uncontrolled inperfite, adj., imperfect instructe, vb. p. ppl., instructed in, having knowledge of, learned intent, see entent

526

Glossary

intereste, n. s., have ~ , have an interest or legal claim or right inviolate, invyolate, adj., virginal, inviolate inward, ynwarde, adj., inner, interior ire, yre, n. s., anger, wrath (i.e., one of the seven deadly sins) janguler, n. s., idle talker, professional entertainer jeopardy(e, jobardye, jopardye, n. s., danger, risk, harm, uncertainty jocunde, adj., joyful, gay jolyte, n. s., impudence, insolence, revelry jopartous, adj., fraught with danger, perilous, unsafe joye, vb. inf., be happy, rejoice, glory; joyeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., feels gladness or pleasure, enjoys joyne, vb. ind. 3rd pers. pl., (refl.) join (mankind, soul) to God, attach themselves to; joyned, p. ppl., united with, combined, connected to joyne togyder, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., come together, meet joynyng, vbl. n., joining, alliance jugementis, jugementys, n. pl., judgements juggeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., judges; juged, p. ppl. just, adv., fittingly, justly justice, n. s., righteousness, law, judge, ruler justifyed, vb. p. ppl., found, proved karkesse, see carkes karyeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., carries kauȝt, vb. p. ppl., caught, entrapped, captured kendeled, kyndeled, kyndled, vb. p. ppl., kindled, inflamed, burning keper, n. s., keeper (Lat. ‘custos’, PL 184, 1249C) kepith, kepiþ, kepyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., keeps, preserves, protects knewist, see knoweth knoulege, knowlege, n. s., knowledge knoulegyng, see knowlege, vb. knoweth, knowyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., knows; knewist, ind. past. 2nd pers. s. knowlege, vb. ind. pres. 1st pers. s., declare, acknowledge, confess; knowlegid, ind. past. 3rd pers. s.; knoulegyng, pr. ppl. knytte, vb. p. ppl., joined, drawn together, bound up kombes, see combys korn, n. s., grain, seed kunnyng, vb. pr. ppl., skilfull, expert, wise; ~ in, versed in (sth) kunnyng, vbl. n., knowledge, understanding, wisdom, prudence kuttyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., cuts off, severs, opens; cutte, imp., cutte, kutte, p. ppl. kynde, adj., kind, proper, natural

Glossary

527

kyndeled, kyndled, see kendeled kyndely, adv., naturally, kindly, benevolently kyndenes, n. s., kindness, good will; shew ~ to, do good to kyndis, n. pl., kinds, sorts, manners kyngis, kyngys, n. gen. s./pl., king’s, kings’ kynnes-folke, kynnys-folke, n. s., (blood) relation, kinsfolk kynred, n. s., kindred, family, kinship laboryous, adj., toilsome, difficult, hard-working labour, vb. inf., work, make an effort, take pains; laboryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; laboryng, pr. ppl. labour, n. s., hardship, task, manual work lacys, n. pl., headbands, brooches, girdles lacke, vb. inf., lack, miss, be inadequate; lackyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. lak(e, n. s., lack, want large, adj., generous, munificent, prodigal late, adj., recent laudable, adj., praiseworthy, excellent laude, lawd(e, n. s., laudes, laudys, pl., fame, praise(s), commendation(s) lawd(e, vb. inf., praise, laud, commend; laudyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; laud, imp.; lawdyng, pr. ppl.; lawded, lawdyd, p. ppl. lawe, n. s., law, justice lawgh(e, vb. inf., laugh; lawȝeth, lawhyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. lawghers, n. pl., those who laugh, such as laugh lawghyng, lawhyng, lawȝhyng, lawȝyng, vbl. n., laughing, laughter, merrymaking laye with, see lyeth laye, adj., lay, not in orders, not a priest ledyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., leads, brings, takes; lede, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; ledde, p. ppl. leed(e, n. s., lead; ledes, leedes, leedis, pl., lead pipes (Lat. ‘canalibus’, PL 184, 1253D) leen, adj., lean, emaciated lees, les, lesse, conj., lest, for fear that, in case that lefft(e, vb. p. ppl., left, given up, abandoned leffte, adj., left (opposite of right) lefull, adj., allowed, lawful, right, just lefully, adv., lawfully, rightly lepry, n. s., leprosy lerne, vb. inf., learn, teach; lerned, p. ppl., learned, well-instructed les, lesse, see lees lese, lesse, vb. inf., lose, destroy; lesyth, losyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., sets free, releases from, unties; lese, loose, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s., set free; losyng, pr. ppl., losing, being deprived of

528

Glossary

lesse, adv., less lesyngs, vbl. n. pl., falsehoods, fictions, idle tales, deceptions lette1, vb. inf., let, allow, permit; lettyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; let(e, lett(e, imp.; lett, p. ppl. lette2, vb. inf., hinder, delay, prevent, stop; lett(e, p. ppl. lettis, lettys, n. pl., obstructions, hindrances, interruptions leve, vb. inf., leave, abandon, desist from, give up, stop; leveth, levyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; lefft, p. ppl. leven, levyn, n. s., leaven, dough levere, comp. adv., have ~ than, would rather have or do than lewde, adj., wicked, evil, idle lewdly(e, adv., wrongfully, wickedly lewdnes, n. s., wickedness, idleness, ignorance leye, vb. inf., lay, place; leyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; leyde, p. ppl. leye asyde, imp., abandon leye wayte, inf. be in hiding in order to attack liberalite, n. s., generosity, liberality, abundance liberall, adj., generous, magnanimous, selfless licence, lycens, n. s., (official) permission, approval, freedom (of action) liftyth, see lyft(e light, lyght, lyȝt(e, adj., light in weight, easy to bear, frivolous, lewd litell, lytel(l, adj., little, small, insignificant loke, vb. inf., look; loketh, lokyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; lokyd, past 3rd pers. s. loke after, inf. look for londys, n. pl., lands, landed properties losyth, loose, losyng, see lese lotte, n. s., fortune, destiny, lot lowe, adj., low, humble lowly, adv., humbly lucre, n. s., profit, money, wealth luste, n. s., lustes, lustis, lustys, pl., bodily appetite(s), (sexual) desire(s) lwnes, lwnys, n. pl., loins lyars, see lyer lycens, see licence lye, vb. inf., lie, deceive lye, n. s., lie lye under/undir, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s., be subject to lyef, n. s., (this present) life, lifetime, future life; lyvys, n. gen. s., life’s, of a life lyeng, vbl. n., lying, lies lyer, n. s., lyars, pl., liar(s), hypocrite(s), perjurer(s) lyeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., lies, reclines; laye with, vb. ind. past 3rd pers. s., had sexual relationships with; lye, subj. pres. 2nd/3rd pers. s., lie down, be cast down

Glossary

529

lyffte, lyft(e, vb. inf., lift up, raise up; liftyth, lyfttyth, lyftyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; lyffte, past. 3rd pers. pl.; lyftyng, pr. ppl.; lyft(e, p. ppl. lyght, vb. inf., relieve, cheer, gladden lyght, lyȝt(e, n. s., lyghtis, pl., luminary, light(s) lyght, adj., alight, burning, bright lyght, lyȝte, adj., see light lyghtly, lyȝthlye, lyȝtly(e, adv., easily, quickly, gladly lyȝted, vb. p. ppl., lit, shining, illuminating lyȝtned, vb. p. ppl., cheered, given light lyke, vb. subj. pres. 3rd pers. s., it ~ hym, it please him, he like lyke, adj., similar, identical, appropriate lykenyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., compares, likens lyknes, n. s., likeness, resemblance lyly(e, n. s., lily lyppes, lyppys, n. pl., lips lyrk, vb. inf., hide, keep out of sight lytel(l, see litell lyve, vb. inf., live; lyveth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. lyver(e, n. s., person who lives lyvyng, vbl. n., living lyvys, see lyef mageste, n. s., majesty makyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., makes malice, malyce, malys, n. s., hatred, malice, ill will, wickedness maner(e, n. s., manere, maners, pl., regulation, rule, way(s), manner(s) manna, n. s., manna, i.e., food provided by God for the Israelites during their forty years in the desert (Exodus 16) mannys, n. gen. s., man’s, of a man; mennys, n. gen. pl., of men, men’s marke, markyng, marked, see merke marke, n. s., mark, seal (Lat. ‘signaculum’, PL 184, 1273C) marmayd(e, mermayde, n. s., mermaid, siren, one who misleads or deceives marye, vb. inf., marry, get married masse, n. s., mass maunger, n. s., manger, feeding trough may(e, vb. mod. aux. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., may, is able, have the ability; myght, myȝte, ind. past 3rd pers. s., was/were able, could mayde, n. s., woman servant, unmarried woman mean(e, n. s., meanes, meanys, meenys, pl., method, moderation, measure, way(s), means, devices meane, adj., moderate, average, ordinary meanly, meenly, adv., with moderation, moderately meanyse, n. s., threat, menace

530

Glossary

medelyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., deals with, engages oneself in medicyn, n. s., medecine, remedy meditacyon, n. s., meditation (as a religious exercise), devotions, prayer (Lat. ‘meditacio’) medyl(l with, vb. inf., be concerned with, engage oneself in, deal with meen, vb. inf., mean, intend meen, adj., inferior, second rate, unremarkable meenly, see meanly meenys, see mean(e meete, adj., suitable, appropriate, worthy meke, adj., meek, humble, gentle meked, vb. p. ppl., humbled, subdued, contrite mekely, mekly, adv., humbly, obediently, gently mekenes, n. s., meekness, humility membre, membur, membyr, n. s., membres, membris, membrys, pl., member(s), limb(s), part(s), divisions memorye, n. s., memory, awareness, consciousness menglyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., mingles (sth with sth else); mengyll, imp. mennys, see mannys meritis, see meryte merke, vb. inf., take note of, give heed to, observe; marke, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s., markyng, pr. ppl.; marked, p. ppl., stamped, described, destined merkir, n. s., inspector, examiner (Lat. ‘inspector’, PL 184, 1283D) mermayde, see marmayd(e mervel, merveyle, vb. ind. pres. 1st pers. s., marvel, wonder; mervelyd, p. ppl. mervelous, adj., marvelous, astonishing mery(e, adj., merry, cheerful meryte, n. s., meritis, merytis, pl., merit(s), spiritual credit mesur, vb. inf., exercise moderation, control, regulate mesur(e, n. s., moderation, discretion, prudence mete, vb. inf., meet, find, oppose mete, n. s., metis, pl., food(s), nourishment(s), meal(s) milytant, mylitant, mylitaunt, adj., ~ church, Church Militant, the community of living Christians mockars, n. pl., mockers mocyons, n. pl., impulses, desires, emotions moder, modir, modre, modur, modyr, n. s., mother mollifyed, vb. ind. past 3rd pl., softened, weakened monkis, monkys, n. pl., monks monyscheth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., reminds, exorts, admonishes; monysched, p. ppl., warned, taught, instructed moorn, mourne, vb. inf., regret, lament, grieve, mourn, feel sorrow for one’s sins; mornyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; morned, ind. past 3rd pers. pl.; morning, mornyng, pr. ppl.; mournyd, p. ppl.

Glossary

531

mornyng, mournyng, vbl. n., sorrow, sadness, lamentation mortiferous, adj., deadly, causing physical or spiritual death mortifie, vb. inf., bring into submission of the divine will through asceticism and the practice of virtue, subdue mothe, n. s., mothys, pl., moth(s), parasites mounte, mownte, n. s., mountain, hill mourne, mournyd, see moorn mournyng, see mornyng moveth, movyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., incites, guides, prompts movyng, vbl. n., movement, emotion mownte, see mounte murmuracion, n. s., grumbling, complaining, complaint murther, n. s., murder murtherer, n. s., murderer myche, adv., much, greatly myddyl, n. s., middle mydwyves, n. pl., midwives myght, myȝte, see may(e myȝtly, adv., mightily, strongly, greatly myȝty, adj., great, mighty mylde, adj., merciful, gentle, mild myle, n. s./pl., mile(s) mylitant, mylitaunt, see milytant mylstone, n. s., millstone mynde, vb. inf., attend to, care for myndes, myndis, myndys, n. pl., minds, thoughts mynystracion, n. s., agency, mediation, dispensation myre, n. s., dirt, mud, what is unclean, impure (Lat. ‘immundum’, PL 184, 1289A) myrr(e, n. s., myrrh myrth, n. s., delight, spiritual joy, eternal bliss myserie, n. s., misery myslyvyng, vbl. n., evil or sinful life, sinful living mystis, n. pl., mists, clouds of smoke, vapours mytigate, vb. imp., placate, appease, check myxte, vb. p. ppl., mixed, mingled, blended Nakydnes, n. s., nakedness nay(e, interj., no nayle, n. s., nail necessite, n. s., necessity, want, poverty necligens, neclygence, neclygens, see negligence necligently, adv., negligently, heedlessly, slothfully

532

Glossary

nede, vb. inf., need; nedyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. impers., is needed, is the need of nedy(e, adj., needy, poor, ignorant nedyl, n. s., needle negligence, necligens, neclygence, neclygens, negligens, n. s., neglygencys, pl., negligence(s) nekkys, n. pl., necks ner, conj., nor, neither newe, adv., newly, for the first time, recently newelte, n. s., new fashion, novelty, that which is unusual or remarkable neybour, neyghbour, neyȝbour, n. s., neighbour noo, adv., no, not noon, n. s., the ninth hour, the canonical hour of none, the office of none (3 pm) noon, adj., not any, no kind of nooþinge, n. s., nothing norisch, norysche, vb. inf., nourish, bring up, sustain; noryscheth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. nother … nor, noþere … ner, adv. and conj., neither … nor noþere, n., nothing, nothingness notyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., notes; notyd, p. ppl. nouȝt, n. s., nothing nouȝt, adj., evil, immoral, useless noumbure, n. s., noumbres, pl., number(s) novys, n. s., novees, novicis, novyces, pl., novice(s), beginner(s) noysom, adj., harmful, troublesome nye, nygh, adv., near, close to nygh, nyȝe, prep., close to, near to nyghtis, n. gen. s., in ~ ceason, during the night, at nights Oblacion, n. s., offering, money or gifts given to a church, bread offered in the sacrament of the Eucharist obprobryous, adj., reproachful, shameful observance, n. s., performing of prescribed rites, common practice obstinate, adj., obstinate, impertinent, refractory obteyn, opteyn(e, vb. inf., obtain, acquire, gain, receive occupyed, vb. ind. past 3rd pers. s., occupied, took possession of; occupyed, p. ppl., busy with, preoccupied occupyeng, vbl. n., works, business, deeds (Lat. ‘opera’, PL 184, 1296D) odoriferous, adj., fragrant offens, n. s., offencys, offensis, pl., offence(s), transgression(s), harm(s) offeryng, vbl. n., offering (at mass) offre, vb. inf., make an offering (religious), offer ofte(n, adj., frequent

Glossary

533

oftenere, comp. adv., the more often oftentymes, adv., many times, frequently, often oold, adj., old, ancient oon, n. s., oneness, unity (Lat. ‘unitas’, PL 184, 1283D) oon, adj., one oon whyle … anoþere whyle, adv. phras., one time … another time oones, oons, adv., one day, once operacion, n. s., work, deed oppressid, vb. p. ppl., put down, subdued, overcome opteyn(e, see obteyn opyn, adj., open, public, manifest order, vb. imp., ~ yourself, prepare yourself, organize yourself; ordred, p. ppl., ordered, arranged, arrayed, commanded order, n. s., order, religious order, natural course; orders, ordres, pl., conditions of life, customs ordeyneth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., prepares, devises, commands; ordeynde, ordeyned, ind. past. 3rd pers. s.; ordeyn, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s.; ordeynd(e, ordeyned, p. ppl., ordained, prepared, brought about, commanded, designated, appointed ordinate, ordynate, adj., regulated, (well-) ordered; ~ charity, (of love) properly directed and of proper intensity (Lat. ‘ordinata charitas’, PL 184, 1206D) ordred, see order, vb. ordres, see order, n. ordynately, adv., properly, in an orderly manner ordynaunce, n. s., decree, order, law, judgement ornat(e, adj., seemly, decorous othe, n. s., oath otherwhyles, oþerewhiles, oþerewhyle(s, adv., at times, sometimes, now and then, at one time or another otherwyse, adv., differently, otherwise ouȝte, vb. mod. aux., past 3rd pers., ought to, should outeward, adj., secular, worldly, temporal outewarde, adv., publicly, outside overblowen, vb. p. ppl., puffed up, swollen overcom, overecom, vb. inf., overcome, defeat, conquer; overcomyth, overecummeth, overecummyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; overecom, p. ppl. overecaste, vb. inf., overcome, defeat, vanquish; overecaste, p. ppl., overthrown, overcome, knocked down overeleyd, vb. p. ppl., overburdened, oppressed, smothered overesyght, n. s., failure to notice something, negligence, mistake (made through inadvertence) oyle, n. s., oil oyntementis, n. pl., ointments, perfumes

534

Glossary

paciens, pacyence, pacyens, n. s., patience, long-suffering (one of the virtues opposed to wrath) palmes, n. pl., palm trees parell, perell, n. s., perelles, perellis, perellys, pl., sin, (spiritual) peril(s), danger(s) partis, partys, n. pl., parts partner, n. s., sharer, partaker of, spiritual associate passe, vb. inf., pass, go beyond, neglect; passith, passyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., goes beyond, surpasses, excells passe overe, inf., cross (water), overcome passion, n. s., passion, sufferance, martyrdom patriarkis, n. pl., patriarchs paye, vb. inf., satisfy, discharge (debt), fulfil payne, peyn, n. s., paynes, peynes, pl., pain(s), torment(s) peasable, peasible, peesable, adj., peace-loving, peace-making, peaceful peasably, adv., peacefully, gently, peaceably pecys, n. pl., pieces pees, n. s., peace, quiet, calm peesable, see peasable penaunce, penauns, n. s., penance (for sin), suffering, misery pensyfe, adj., sorrowful, dejected, anxious pensyfnes, n. s., sadness, melancholy, anxiety penytentis, n. pl., repentant sinners peple, pepyle, pepyll, n. s., people peraventer, peraventour, peraventur, adv., perhaps, as it happens perell, perelles, perellis, perellys, see parell perfight, perfite, perfitte, perfytte, adj., perfect, incorrupt, flawless, whole perfitely, perfitlye, perfittely, perfittly, perfyghtly, perfytly, adv., perfectly, righteously, completely performe, perfourme, vb. inf., put into effect, carry out, fulfil, complete; performyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; perfourmed, p. ppl. perfytte, see perfight permytte, vb. subj. pres. 3rd pers. s., permit, allow, give leave perpetuall, adv., perpetually persevere, vb. inf., persevere, remain constant, continue faithfully, endure; perseveryng, pr. ppl. persued, see pursew perswadid, vb. p. ppl., persuaded perteyneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., has reference to, is relevant to, concerns perysch, peryssh, vb. inf., perish, die (spiritually); perysched, p. ppl. pestiferous, adj., noxious, deadly, pestilential peticion, n. s., request, supplication, entreaty peyn, peynes, see payne plagys, n. pl., plagues

Glossary

535

playn, adj., simple, sincere, unadorned playnes, n. s., simplicity, plainness, candour please, plees, plese, vb. inf., please, satisfy; plesith, plesyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. pleasour, plesur, n. s., pleasure plentee, n. s., plenty, abundance plowhe, n. s., plough plucketh, pluckyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., pulls, draws, separates, tempts (from); plucked, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; pluk, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s.; pluck(e, imp. podell, n. s., puddle, muddy or miry area policye, n. s., practical wisdom, prudent conduct of life pollucion, n. s., spiritual impurity, discharge of semen (other than during sexual intercourse) pomegranattis, n. pl., pomegranates pondere, vb. inf., weigh, judge, consider, estimate; pondreth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; ponder, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s.; pondered, p. ppl. ponysch(e, vb. inf., punish; ponyscheth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; ponysched, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; ponysched, ponysshed, p. ppl. ponyschmentis, n. pl., punishments ponyschyng, vbl. n., punishing, punishment pore, adj., poor possessonars, n. pl., holders, occupiers postys, n. pl., posts, pillars poverete, poverte, n. s., poverty poynte, n. s., point, subject poysen, n. s., poison praye, n. s., prey, catch, spoil, victim prayeng, vb. pr. ppl., praying prayseng, praysyng, vbl. n., expression or song of praise or thanksgiving, worship, flattery preche, vb. inf., preach prechers, prechours, prechyours, n. pl., preachers prechyng, vbl. n., preaching preferr, vb. inf., prefer, put before, esteem more highly; preferryth(e, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; preferred, preferryd, p. ppl., put or set before, preferred prentyse, n. s., apprentice, student, beginner preserve, vb. inf., maintain, protect, preserve prest, n. s., priest presumeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., undertakes, has the temerity (to do sth); presume, imp., rely on, take for granted presumpcion, n. s., arrogance, impertinence prevayleth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., overcomes, wins a victory; ~ in, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., is efficacious in (sth), succeeds in (sth)

536

Glossary

prevent, vb. inf., anticipate, precede, forestall; preventyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; prevente, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s.; preventyng, pr. ppl., coming before, guiding, intervening in favour of; prevented, p. ppl. prevision, n. s., foresight, prior knowledge, provision principallye, adv., first of all, primarily, especially prively, pryvely, adv., secretely privetyes, n. pl., (divine) secrets, mysteries privy(e, pryvy(e, adj., individual, private, secret, hidden, familiar, privy to; ~ membres, private parts, sexual members procure, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., procure, bring about, cause profe, prove, n. s., test, demonstration, trial profession, n. s., religious profession, a religious order profetable, adj., profitable, helpful, efficacious profetably, adv., beneficially, profitably profete, n. s., prophetis, pl., prophet(s) profetyng, vbl. n., advance, benefiting, spiritual progress profite, profitte, profytte, vb. inf., thrive, make progress (morally or spiritually), be beneficial or useful; profetyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. profitte, profyte, profytte, n. s., profetis, pl., profit(s), advantage(s), good(s) prolongyng, vbl. n., delay promocion, n. s., advancement (status or rank), benefit, advantage promote, vb. inf., advance, further, elevate promys(e, n. s., promise promyse, vb. inf., promise; promyseth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; promysede, ind. past 3rd pers. s. properte(e, propurte, n. s., quality, nature, characteristic, property, possession prophetis, see profete propryetaryes, n. pl., owners, religious who hold goods as private property in violation of the vow of poverty propur, propyr, adj., own, peculiar, excellent propurte, see propertee prove, see profe proved, provyd, vb. p. ppl., proved, demonstrated (Lat. ‘comprobatur’, PL 184, 1255A); esteemed, excellent, agreable (Lat. ‘probatissima’, PL 184, 1227A) providence, provydens, n. s., foresight, prudence, plan, divine foreknowledge provisyon, n. s., prudence, power of faith provoketh, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., incites, stirs up, occasions, causes provyde, vb. inf., foresee and provide for, undertake pryncys, n. gen. s., prince’s, of a prince pryvely, see prively pryvy, see privy(e psalmody(e, n. s., psalms, Psalter, singing of psalms psalmys, n. pl., psalms

Glossary

537

psalmystere, n. s., the Psalmist, King David purgacion, n. s., cleansing, purification from sin purpose, vb. inf., intend, set forth, propose, plan (to do); purposyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. purpur, n. s., purple fabric (esp. associated with royalty), raiment of royal purple, purple dye purpur, adj., purple pursew, vb. inf., attack, persecute; purseweth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., attack, persecute; persued, past 1st. pers. s., pursued, took vengeance on puryte, n. s., purity put(t, putte, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., put; putte, ind. past 3rd pers. pl.; puttyng, pr. ppl.; put(te, p. ppl. putteth awey, puttyth away/awey(e, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., lays aside, rejects renounces; putte aweye, ind. pres. 1st pers. pl.; putte awaye/awey, p. ppl. puttyth from, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., separates; put(te fro(m, imp., expel, drive out, banish putt furth, inf., exercise, bring sth out; putte furth, p. ppl., putte of, p. ppl., thwarted, hindered putte oute, inf., destroy, extinguish, expel; puttyth oute, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; put(te oute, p. ppl. pylgrym, n. s., pylgrymes, pl., pilgrim(s) pypes, n. pl., pipes, conduits, tubes pyte, pytye, n. s., pity pytte, n. s., pit pytyous, adj., merciful, compassionate quenche, vb. inf., extinguish, eliminate, destroy; quenched, qwenched, p. ppl. quere, n. s., choir, that part of the church in which the choir assembles quiettnes, quyetnes, n. s., peace, calmness, serenity quycknes, n. s., life, understanding, alacrity (Lat. ‘acie’, PL 184, 1278A) quyete, quyett(e, adj., quiet, at peace (spiritually), undisturbed qwenched, see quenched qwyck(e, qwyk, adj., alive, active, fervent, swift qwycken, vb. inf., revive, give life, invigorate radd, see rede rape, n. s., plundering, pillage, booty (Lat. ‘rapinam’, PL 184, 1223C) ravenars, raveners, n. pl., thieves, robbers rayment, n. s., clothing receyve, resseyve, vb. inf., receive; receyveth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; receyved, p. ppl. reconsyle, vb. imp., reconcile recorde, n. s., testimony, witness, reputation rede, vb. inf., read; redde, radd, p. ppl., read, taught, told redeme, vb. inf., free (sb.) by paying a ransom, redeem; redemyd, p. ppl.

538

Glossary

redemere, n. s., redeemer, i.e., Jesus Christ reduce, vb. inf., lead (sb.) back to virtue, restore (soul) to God; ~ to your memorye, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s., recall (sth) to (your) mind redy(e, adj., ready redyng, vbl. n., reading refeccion, n. s., nourishment, sustenance, refreshment (spiritual or intellectual) referr(e, vb. inf., refer, ascribe reformacion, n. s., correction, punishment reformar, reformer, n. s., corrector, redresser reforme, vb. inf., restore to health, correct, rebuke refrayn(e, refreyn(e, vb. inf., restrain, hold back, exercise control over refresch, vb. inf., restore, revive, refresh; refresche, ind. 1st pers. pl.; refreschyth, ind. pres. 3rd pres. s. refreschyng, vbl. n., relief, comfort, restoration regeneracion, n. s., the process or fact of being born again (in a spiritual sense), resurrection before the Last Judgement regenerate, vb. p. ppl., (spiritually) reborn, reformed regular, adj., belonging to a religious or monastic rule rehersed, vb. p. ppl., told, narrated reighne, reygne, reyne, vb. inf., reign, rule, be present, persist; reighneþ, reyneth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; reyghnyng, reynyng, pr. ppl. rejoyse, vb. inf., rejoice rekyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., takes (sth.) into account, takes heed, considers religion, relygion, n. s., a religious order, the religious life, contemplative life, monastery religyosite, n. s., reverence for God, piety, monastic life remayneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., remains, continues to be remembraunce, n. s., memory remembre, remembure, vb. imp., remember, remind remevyd, vb. p. ppl., removed renewed, vb. p. ppl., revived, restored, replenished rennyth, see rune renowns, vb. inf., renounce rent, vb. inf., tear, rend, tear; rentyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. repared, vb. p. ppl., repaired, restored, renewed repe, vb. inf., reap reperacions, n. pl., spiritual restorations, salvations repreve, vb. inf., reprove, punish, condemn; reproved, p. ppl., reproved, blameworthy, reprobate (Lat. ‘reprobi’, PL 184, 1275C) reprobate, vb. p. ppl., condemned, damned reputacion, n. s., esteem, respect; of no ~, of no importance or value, worthless required, vb. p. ppl., asked, needed, required reserve, vb. inf., keep, retain, assign (punishment); reserved, p. ppl., kept (back), reserved

Glossary

539

resolvyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., softens, releases (again), opens (Lat. ‘resolvit’, PL 184, 1209D); resolve, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., break (fast) (Lat. ‘resolvunt’, PL 184, 1274D) reson, n. s., reason, judgement, argument resonable, adj., capable of reasoning, intelligent resorte, n. s., place of refuge, assembly, company resseyve, see receyve reste, vb. inf., remain in a place, dwell, rest restrayneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., restrains, controls; restrayned, p. ppl., stopped, kept in check, limited retourne, vb. inf., return, come back revele, vb. inf., reveal, unveil, uncover reverence, n. s., respect, religious veneration, submissiveness reverent, adj., worthy of respect, honourable, in titles (referring to a member of a religious order) revers, ryvers, n. pl., rivers, banks of a river, rivers where the sport of hawking is carried out revoke, vb. inf., call back (to a place or state, from death or sin), restrain rewlars, rewlers, n. pl., rulers, superiors rewle, n. s., rule rewled, vb. ind. past 3rd pers. s., ruled reygne, reyghnyng, reyne, reynyng, see reighne righteous, riȝtwous, ryghtwous, ryȝtwous, ryȝtyouse, adj., (of God) holy, virtuous, just rodde, n. s., roddys, pl., rod(s) romthe, n. s., office, function, jurisdiction roose, vb. past 3rd pers. s., rose rootyd, roted, vb. p. ppl., rooted rote, roote, n. s., rootis, pl., foundation, origin, source, root(s) rottyn, rotyn, adj., putrid, rotted, rotten rovys, n. pl., beams, roofs rune, vb. inf., run, cause (a liquid) to flow; rennyth, runnyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. ryall, adj., royal, fit for a king, expensive rybondis, n. pl., ribbons rycche, ryche, adj., rich rycches, ryches, n. pl., riches ryght, ryȝte, adj., orthodox, true, right ryght, adv., truely, religiously, piously, sincerely ryghtwous, ryȝtwous, ryȝtyouse, see righteous ryȝt(e, adj., right (opposite of left) ryȝtwosnes, ryȝtyousnes, n. s., righteousness, justice rysyng, vb. pr. ppl., rising, arising rysyngs, vbl. n. pl., acts of rising (from sin to a perfect state) ryvers, see revers

540

Glossary

sadde, adj., serious, steadfast, trustworthy salette, n. s., a light helmet (bowl-shaped, flaring and extended in the back, sometimes incorporating a visor) sanctuarye, n. s., place dedicated to God, sanctuary sapyent, adj., wise sate, see sytte satisfaccion, n. s., atonement, restitution, penance save, adj., safe, secure savour, n. s., flavour, taste, smell savyd, vb. p. ppl., saved saye, seye, vb. inf., say; saith, sayeth, sayth, seith, seyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; sayest, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s.; sayeng, sayng, seyeng, pr. ppl.; sayd, p. ppl. sayeng, sayng, seyeng, vbl. n., statement, words saynctis, sayntis, seyntis, n. pl., saints scape, vb. inf., slip away from through inadvertence sciens, n. s., knowledge, skill, trade sclaunder(e, vb. inf., slander, calumniate, offend (sb’s conscience); sclaundere, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s.; sclaundred, p. ppl. scorge, scourge, n. s., whip, punishment, correction scorner, n. s., one who disdains, one who acts contemptuously scourged, vb. p. ppl., scourged with whips, flogged scriptur(e, n. s., the Bible, the Holy Scripture se, vb. inf., see, observe, look, take care; seeth, sethe, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., sees, looks on; seeng, pr. ppl.; seen, sen(e, p. ppl. secrete, n. s., secretis, pl., solitude, secrecy, secret retreat(s), secret(s) secrete, adj., secluded, remote; in the ~ religyon, in the solitude of the monastery (Lat. ‘secreto monasterii’, PL 184, 1297A) secretenes, n. s., secrecy secular, seculer, adj., of this world, outside the monastery see, n. s., sea seeng, see se seet(e, n. s., chair, stool, home; ~ of god, throne of God, chief residence of God (Lat. ‘sedes Dei’, PL 184, 1256A) seeth, see se seith, see saye seke, vb. inf., look for, search, study, strive for; seketh, sekyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; seke, seken, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; sekyng, pr. ppl. seke, syk(e, adj., sick, distressed emotionally by grief sekely, adj., ill, sick, invalid, infirm sekenes, seknes, syknes, n. s., sickness seme, vb. inf., seem, appear; semeth, semyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. semeblynes, n. s., attractiveness, beauty, elegance

Glossary

541

semyng, vbl. n., to hys ~, in his opinion, judgement, mind sendyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., sends sen(e, see se sensible, adj., sensitive, carnal sensual, adj., physical, sexual sensualite, sensualyte, n. s., physical desire, lust, sinful nature, body sentence, n. s., doctrine, precept, utterance, saying; in ~, truly senyour, n. s., ruler, lord sepulcure, n. s., sepulchre serch(e, vb. inf., search (out), inquire into, examine; sercheth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; serched, p. ppl. sercher, n. s., examiner, investigator sertayn, serten, serteyn see certen sertenly, see certaynly sertente, n. s., certainty, assurance, trust servitute, n. s., servitude, subjugation (to devil, sin, world) sethe, see se sette, vb. inf., set, put, establish; settyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; sette, p. ppl., (of phrases) elaborately composed in due form, deliberately composed sette by, inf., care about, regard with esteem, value; sette by, p. ppl. sette nouȝt by, inf., consider worthless settyng, vbl. n., disposing, adorning, bedecking (Lat. ‘compositione’, PL 184, 1294B) sewed, vb. p. ppl., sewn sewer, suer(e, sure, swer, adj., (spiritually) safe, sure, secure (Lat. ‘securi’, PL 184, 1281B), confident, strong sewerly, suerely, suerly, adv., indeed, surely, truly, thoroughly, completely sewerte, sewrte, suerte, swerty, n. s., certitude, safety, sense of security, confidence seye, seyeng, seyth, see saye seyeng, vbl. n., see seynt, adj., saint seyntis, see saynctis shaketh, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., ~ from, shakes off, gets rid of, discards; shakyd, p. ppl., shaken, beaten, stricken shamefastnes, shamfastnes, n. s., shyness, bashfulness, modesty shamfast, adj., shy, timid sharply, adv., severely, harshly sharpnes, n. s., sharpness, austerity, severity shedyng, vbl. n., shedding, pouring shepe, n. pl., sheep shew(e, vb. inf., show, reveal, display; sheweth, shewith, shewyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; shewed, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; shewd(e, shewed, p. ppl., revealed, bestowed, provided shewyng, vbl. n., show, demonstration

542

Glossary

shittyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., shut, close shoe, vb. inf., put on shoes; shoed, p. ppl., wearing shoes shrewd(e, adj., wicked, evil, malicious shrewdly, adv., wickedly, maliciously, harshly shyfte, vb. inf., go, move, depart, separate shynyng, vb. pr. ppl., shining shyp(e, shyppe, n. s., ship, boat; ~ of noe, ark of Noah sight, siȝte, syght, syȝt(e, n. s., looking, look, glance, sight signe, syne, n. s., sign, meaning, testimony, indication signett, n. s., seal similitude, simylitude, n. s., comparison, analogy, appearance, form sithe(n, sythe(n, conj., since, when, inasmuch sithen, adv., afterwards, since slak, adj., indolent, lazy, negligent, slow slayne, see sleye slepe, vb. inf., sleep; slepyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; slepyng, pr. ppl. slepe, n. s., sleep sleye, vb. inf., slay, destroy, ruin, strike; slee, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s.; sleyeth, sleyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; slayne, p. ppl. slouggyschnes, slugguschnes, sluggushnes, sluggyshnes, n. s., indolence, slothfulness slouth, slowth, n. s., sloth (one of the seven deadly sins), idleness, laziness slouthfull, adj., indolent, sluggish, neglectful slowe, adj., slothful, lazy slugguschnes, sluggushnes, sluggyshnes, see slouggyschnes sluggysche, adj., lazy, indolent, negligent (through slothfulness) slyp(p, vb. inf., slip, fall (into error), allow to fall slypper, adj., deceitful, treacherous, vile smyteth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., smites, strikes, hits hard; smyte, imp.; smyten, p. ppl. snaryth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., ensnares, catches; snared, p. ppl. soberly, adv., temperately, modestly, gently sobernes, sobyrnes, n. s., temperance in drinking, sobriety sobre, sobyr, adj., moderate, appropriate, sober, gentle socour, vb. inf., provide help, support, maintain; succure, imp., hasten to the aid of, help, succour soden, adj., sudden, unforeseen softe, adj., fine, soft, restrained, gentle softly, adv., quietly, silently (Lat. ‘tacite’, PL 184, 1295B) softnes, n. s., compassion, mildness, affability solace, n. s., (spiritual) joy, pleasure, consolation, comfort son, n. s., sun sonbeme, n. s., sunbeam

Glossary

543

sone, adv., soon, immediately, quickly; sonere, sonner(e, comp. adv., sooner, more quickly, more readily song, see synge songys, n. pl., songs, hymns soor, sore, sour, sowre adj., sharp, bitter, grievous, sore, (of dough) fermented soor, sore, adv., severely, keenly, harshly, painfully sory, adj., sad, contrite, wretched, sinful, wicked sorys, n. pl., pains, illnesses, wounds sotel, sottel, sotyl, adj., cunning, deceitful sotelty, sotylte, n. s., subtelty, trick, craftiness, trickery, guile sothly, adv., truly, indeed soth-sayers, n. pl., those who tell the truth sottel, sotyl, see sotel soule, n. s., ~ helth, health of the soul, salvation soule, adj., alone, single, one and only sour, see soor sovereyn, adj., most excellent, supreme, sovereign sovereyns, n. pl., masters, superiors, one’s betters sownde, vb. inf., sound, resound sowre, see soor space, n. s., time, opportunity spare, vb. inf., spare, leave unhurt; sparyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; sparyng, pr. ppl. sparkeled, sparkled, sperkled, vb. p. ppl., separated, scattered, dispersed speche, n. s., (manner of ) speech, talk, conversation speciall, adv., particularly, especially, individually speculacion, n. s., sight, contemplation, meditation (Lat. ‘speculatio’, PL 184, 1276C–D) speke, vb. imp., speak; spekith, spekyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. spekyng, vbl. n., speaking, conversation spended, vb. p. ppl., spent; spente, p. ppl., consumed, passed spere, n. s., spear, lance sperkell, n. s., sparkle, flash sperkled, see sparkeled spirite, spyrite, spyryte, n. s., spiritis, spyritis, pl., spirit(s) sporte, n. s., sportis, pl., fun, joking, amusement(s), game(s) spotte, n. s., spottys, pl., stain(s), blot(s), blemish(es), vice(s) spotteth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., corrupts, spiritually disfigures, sullies spoused, vb. p. ppl., having a spouse, married spouses, n. s., spousess, female spouse spoyle, vb. inf., bereave, snatch; spoyled, p. ppl., stripped of clothes, deprived spredyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., spreads, expands spruse, n. s., ~ tre, spruce wood, fir tree spryngys, n. pl., springs, twigs, branches, shoots spycis, n. pl., spices

544

Glossary

spyrite, spyryte, spyritis, see spirite stabilyte, n. s., steadfastness of character, firmness of resolve stable, adj., steadfast, steady (Lat. ‘stabiles’ PL 184, 1249D) stalled, vb. p. ppl., installed, placed, enthroned state, n. s., estate, state, condition stede, n. s., place stedefast, adv., steadfastly stedefast(e, adj., steadfast steel, vb. inf., steal, creep, go quietly, take by surprise steppe, n. s., steppes, steppys, pl., rung, step(s) stere, styr(r, vb. inf., prompt, stir, incite, move (spiritually); steryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; stere, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; styr, imp.; steryd, p. ppl. steryng, vbl. n., guidance, encouragement, urging stoburn, adj., obstinate, refractory, inflexible stodye, studie, n. s., study, earnest effort, busying oneself with stodyed, vb. ind. past 3rd pers. pl., endeavoured, strove; stodye, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s. stok, n. s., tree, tree stump stole, n. s., footstool, footrest stomake, n. s., stomackis, pl., stomack(s) stonde, vb. inf., stand; stondyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., is placed, stands; stondyng, pr. ppl. stonys, n. pl., stones stoppe, vb. inf., block, plug strange, straunge, adj., foreign, unknown, unfamiliar, alienated from straungers, n. pl., strangers, foreigners strayte, streyȝt, streyte, adj., severe, sharp, firm, strict straytely, adv., strictly, sternly, severely. stretys, n. pl., streets strompete, n. s., prostitute, concubine, adulteress strongar, adj. comp., stronger strycketh, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. strikes, gives a blow; strykyng, pr. ppl.; striken, stryken, p. ppl. stryf, stryve, n. s., stryves, pl., strife(s), debate(s), dissension(s), travails of daily life stryveth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., strives, quarrels, contends, vies; stryvyng, pr. ppl. studie, see stodye, n. s. stuffe, n. s., equipment, provisions of foodstuffs styll, adv., still, yet stylled, vb. p. ppl., dripped, trickled, distilled (Lat. ‘stillaverunt’ PL 184, 1226D) stylnes, n. s., silence, a state of tranquillity, freedom from care stynte, vb. inf., stop, cease styr(r, see stere subdew, vb. imp., subdue subjectis, n. pl., subjects, subordinates

Glossary

545

submytte, vb. inf., yield, surrender, subject oneself to substance, substaunce, substauns, n. s., material wealth, property, goods, things succure, see socour sudaryes, n. pl., handkerchiefs, kerchiefs, napkins suer(e, adj., see sewer suere, adv., surely, sure, with steadiness, strongly (Lat. ‘firmiter’, PL 184, 1275A) suerly, see sewerly suerte, see sewerte suffer, suffre, suffyr, vb. inf. suffer, endure, allow, permit; sufferyng, pr. ppl.; sufferyd, suffred, p. ppl. sufferaunce, n. s., suffering, permission, forbearance, patient endurance suk, n. s., suck summe, n. s., summary, chief points sumwhat, adv., in some respects, to some degree, in some way sumwhat, pron., a part of, some amount of (sth) superfluite, n. s., extravagance, excess, superfluity superfluous, adj., excessing what is necessary, vain, useless suppe up, vb. inf., drink or swallow completely sure, see sewer surfette, n. s., excess, gluttony suspecte, vb. inf., expect (esp. with dread and apprehension), take note of, doubt; suspecte, p. ppl., mistrustful, suspicious, uncertain, in doubt suster(e, sustyr, n. s., sustern, susters, sustren, sustres, pl., sister(s) susteyned, vb. p. ppl., sustained, encouraged, nourished swaloed, vb. p. ppl., swallowed swer, adj., see sewer swerde, n. s., swerdis, pl., sword(s) swere, vb. inf., swear; sweryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. swerty, see sewerte sweryng, vbl. n., swearing swete, adj., dear, beloved, sweet, precious, delightful, harmonious swetely, adv., sweetly, pleasantly, gently swetnes, swettnes, n. s., gentleness, benevolence, tenderness, pity swollyn, swolne, vb. p. ppl., swollen, grown syght, syȝt(e, n. s., see sight syk(e, see seke, adj. sykernes, n. s., certainty, confidence, security syknes, see sekenes sylke, n. s., silk sylvere, n. s., silver symplenes, sympylnes, n. s., innocence, humility, modesty symulacion, n. s., insincerity, deceit, deception syn, synne, n. s., synnes, synnys, pl., sin(s)

546

Glossary

syne, see signe syng, vb. inf., sing; syngyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; synge, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl.; song, p. ppl. syngler, adj., particular, single, special, excellent syngler, adv., uniquely, singly synnar, synner(e, n. s., sinner synnes, see syn synneth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., sins; synned, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; synne, subj. pres. 3rd pers. pl. sythe(n, see sithe sythen þat, conj., since that, because, inasmuch sytte, vb. inf., sit; sytteth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; sate, ind. past 1st pers. pl.; sitte, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s. tabernaclys, n. pl., tents take, vb. inf., take, catch, lay hold of, grasp (Lat. ‘apprehendere’, PL 184, 1301A); taketh, takyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., takes, brings, strikes; toke, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; take, p. ppl., seized, arrrested, captured takyth to the watere, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., dives into the water (Lat. ‘immergat’, PL 184, 1284C) tame, adj., docile, meek, compliant tamyd, p. ppl. subdued, overcome tarye, vb. inf., delay, tarry, abide, dwell taryeng, vbl. n., tarrying, delay tauȝt, tawȝt, see teche tayle, n. s., tail teche, vb. inf. teach; techith, techyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; tauȝt, tawȝt, ind. past 3rd pers. s. techyng, vbl. n., teaching, instruction tedyousnes, n. s., weariness, boredom, sloth temperall, temporall, adj., transitory, worldly, earthly temptyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., tempts tempyr, vb. inf., soften, temper tere, vb. inf., tear; teryth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. teres, teerys, n. pl., tears testament, n. s., arke of the ~, the Ark of the Covenant testymonye, n. s., testimony, evidence, witness tethe, n. pl., teeth thabbes, def. art. and n. s. (contraction), the abbess thadversitie, def. art. and n. s. (contraction), the misfortune, the adversity, the opposition, the hostility than, adv., then thappetyte, def. art. and n. s. (contraction), the appetite

Glossary

547

thapostle, thapostyllis, thapostyls, Þapostyls, see Apostell the, pron. 2nd pers. s. acc./dat., you their, ther, theyr, Þeir, adv., there thende, def. art. and n. s. (contraction) the end thes, dem. adj., these theves, thevys, n. pl., thieves thexamples, thexaumples, def. art. and n. pl. (contraction), the examples theyr, see their thoos, tho, thoo, thos, dem. adj., those, these thorne, n. pl., thorns thorogh, thurgh(e, prep., through, throughout, by means of thouȝt(e, n. s., thoughtis, thoughtys, thouȝtis, þouȝtis, pl., thought(s) thouȝe, Þouȝe, conj., though, although threde, n. s., thredys, pl., thread(s), lengths of thread with which cloth is woven thrysty, adj., thirsty thurgh(e, see thorogh thurst, n. s., thirst thyder, adv., thither, there thyne, poss. pron., thine thyngis, thyngys, þingis, þingys, n. pl., things thynke, vb. inf., think, consider, believe, imagine; thenkyth, thynketh, thynkith, thynkyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; thouȝt, ind. past. 3rd pers. s.; thenke, thynk, imp.; thynkyng, pr. ppl.; thouȝte, p. ppl. thyrde, adj., third thyrsted, vb. p. ppl., thirsted to, adv., too, excessively, extremely, also togyder(e, togydre, adv., together toke, see take tokyn, n. s., token, love token tong(e, tunge, n. s., tungys, pl., tongue(s) toppe, n. s., top towchyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., touches; towchyd, ind. past 3rd pers. s.; towch, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s. towe, n. s., unworked flax, hemp, rope traspas, trespace, trespas, n. s., trespaces, trespases, trespasys, pl., wickedness, (original) sin, transgression(s), sins travayle, travell, traveyl, vb. inf., work, exhort oneself, labour in the service of God, walk (Lat. ‘curramus’, PL 184, 1282C), travel travayle, n. s., travels, pl., work, exertion, effort(s), toil(s), sufferings traytour, n. s., traitor tremyll, vb. inf., shudder, tremble; tremeled, p. ppl. trespace, trespase, vb. inf., transgress, commit sins; trespasid, p. ppl. trespace, trespas, trespaces, trespases, trespasys, n., see traspas

548

Glossary

tretes, tretyse, n. s., treatise, book tretyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., discusses, tells, treats trew(e, adj., true, faithful trewly, adv., truly, indeed troble, vb. inf., trouble, perturb, confuse, afflict; trobleth, troblyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; trobled, p. ppl. trompes, n. pl., horns, trumpets trone, n. s., throne troublous, adj., troublesome, unsettled, calamitous trouth, trowth, n. s., truth, truthfulness, honesty, fidelity trust(e, vb. inf., hope, believe, trust; trustyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. truste, n. s., religious belief, faith, devotion tryed, vb. p. ppl., tried, tested tryfyllys, n. pl., nonsense, trifling matters tunge, see tong(e turn, n. s., act, deed turn(e, vb. inf., turn; turnyth, ind. 3rd pers. s.; turnyd, ind. past 3rd pers. s. turtyl(l, n. s., turtledove twyes, adv., two times, for the second time tyl, conj., until tyle-stone, n. s., tile tylleth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl., plough, produce crops, strive, toil tymerous, adj., full of fear, modest tymeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. sings or plays (air/instrument) in (good/bad) time; sounds or moves in harmony with Þat, pron., that which, what Þeir, see their Þen, conj., than Þerby, adv., by that means Þingis, þingys, n. pl., things Þouȝe, see thouȝe Uncerten, uncerteyn, unserten, adj., uncertain, doubtful, unpredictable, unclear unclennes, n. s., sin, sinfulness, impurity undirstand, undurstande, undurstond(e, vb. inf., understand; undirstand, undurstond, undyrstond, p. ppl. undiscretely, undiscretly, adv., improperly, rashly, without discretion undoeth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., destroys undur, adv., below, beneath undurstande, undurstond(e, undyrstond, see undirstand unfrutefull, adj., unfruitful ungracious, ungracyous, adj., wicked, harmful, wretched unhable, adj., incapable, unable

Glossary

549

unhaplye, unhappyly, adv., unfortunately, wretchedly, foolishly universall, adj., ~ chyrch, the catholic Church, the Church universal unleful, adj., unlawful, wicked, sinful unlefully, adv., unlawfully, wickedly, sinfully unlerned, vb. p. ppl., ignorant, inexperienced, not guarded against (Lat. ‘incautum’, PL 184, 1300D) unmanerely, adj., impolite, uncourteous unmesurably, adv., unmeasurably, without measure unmyndfull, adj., unmindful, forgetful, heedless unneth(e, adv., with difficulty, hardly, barely unperfite, adj., imperfect unprofetable, unprofetabyll, adj., unprofitable, useless, harmful unprovided, unprovydid, vb. p. ppl., unprepared, unexpected, unforeseen unredye, adj., unready unrewled, vb. p. ppl., ungoverned, uncontrolled, unrestrained unriȝtwosnes, n. s., wickedness, sinfulness unserten, see uncerten unthriftynes, unthryftynes, n. s., lack of virtue, wickedness, viciousness, wantonness unthryfty, adj., wicked, sinful, wanton untowchyd, vb. p. ppl., virginal, sexually pure unworthely(e, unworthyly, adv., unworthily unworthy, adv., unworthily unyte, n. s., unity, oneness, uniformity usars, n. pl., those who commit a sin or submit to sin use, n. s., practice, custom usyth, vb. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., uses utturly, adv., utterly, completely vacabundis, vagabundis, n. pl., vagabonds, good-for-nothing valeyes, n. pl., valleys vanitees, vanytees, vanytes, n. pl., vanities, worthless things vanysch, vb. inf., vanish, disappear; vanyscheth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. vayle, veyle, n. s., veil vayn(e, n. s., in ~, idly, in vain vayn(e, adj., empty, useless, idle, foolish vayneglorye, vaynglorye, veynglorie, n. s., vainglory, empty pride varye, vb. inf., vary, differ; varyeth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s. venerable, adj., worthy of worship and reverence, deserving respect and esteem venomys, adj., venomous, deadly, vicious veray, verey, adj., true, absolute verely, adv., truly verey, adv., very, fully vertue, n. s., virtue, moral excellence, power, strength

550

Glossary

vertuous(e, adj., morally good, righteous, possessing moral excellence vesselles, vessellis, n. pl., vessels, dishes vestur(e, n. s., garment, attire vexe, vb. inf., subject (sb) to hardship, afflict, upset; vexed, p. ppl. veyle, see vayle veynglorie, see VAYNEGLORYE vile, vyle, adj., worthless, despicable, poor virginite, virgynyte, n. s., virginity visage, n. s., face vision, n. s., sight, vision visitacion, n. s., ecclesiastical visitation; divine ~ / ~ of god, for the purpose of bestowing grace or meting out a judgement visite, visytte, vysytte, vb. inf., visit, examine, punish, comfort; vysitte, vysytt, p. ppl., afflicted with vouchesafe, vouchsafe, vb. subj. pres. 3rd pers. s., confer, bestow, grant, agree vowe, n. s., solemn promise made to God binding one to a religious life vowyng, vb. pr. ppl., vowing, promising solemnly vyle, see vile vyolate, vb. p. ppl., defiled, desecrated vysour, n. s., face, countenance, outward appearance vysytte, see visite vysyttyng, vbl. n., visitation, divine retribution wacche, wache, wake, vb. inf., remain awake and in prayer or devotion, be vigilant; wakyng, pr. ppl., keeping a vigil, praying or meditating all night; wacched, p. ppl., guarded, protected wacche, wache, n. s., watch, vigil, concern, care wacchyng, wakyng, vbl. n., keeping of a vigil, devotion, contemplation wake, see wacche wakened, vb. p. ppl., waked up, roused from sloth wakyng, see wacche, vb., wacchyng, vbl. n. wallys, n. pl., walls wantonly, adv., recklessly, wildly, extravagantly wantonnes, n. s., lasciviousness, immorality, affectation wantt, vb. inf., lack war, see be wardes, wardis, n. pl., lines of soldiers, formation, major divisions of an army (Lat. ‘acies castrorum’, PL 184, 1262C) war(e, adj., watchful, prudent, aware; be ~ , be on one’s guard, take care, guard against warely, adv., prudently, wisely warkis, warkys, see werke warres, n. pl., wars, fighting water-sydes, n. pl., banks of a river or a lake

Glossary

551

waveryng, vb. pr. ppl., wandering, straying, flowing to and fro wayght, n. s., weight, importance wayle, vb. inf., express regret or sorrow (for one’s sins), lament, bewail; wayled, p. ppl. wayte, vb. inf., wait (Lat. ‘expectamus’, PL 184, 1201A); wayte, subj. pres. 2nd pers. s., wait and watch for (Lat. ‘vigilaveris’, PL 184, 1283A) waytyng upon, pr. ppl., waiting upon, being in attendance on wayte, n. s., waytis, pl., watch, surveillance, ambush(es), trap(s) webbe, n. s., web, woven fabric, garment weete, vb. inf., suffuse with tears, made wet with tears, wash wekenes, n. s., weakness, feebleness well, n. s., well, spring, source welth, n. s., happiness, wealth, salvation, (spiritual) well-being wemen, n. pl., women; religiouse ~ , nuns, anchoresses, and other women following some sort of religious vocation in the world wepe, vb. inf., weep; wepyth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; wepe, wepen, imp.; wepyng, pr. ppl.; wepte, p. ppl. wepyn, n. s., weapon wepyng, vbl. n., weeping wer, see be were, vb. inf., be clad or dressed, wear wered, vb. p. ppl., wasted away, worn out, exhausted werk(e, vb. inf., work; werkyng, workyng, pr. ppl. werk(e, worke, n. s., warkis, warkys, werkes, werkis, werkys, pl., work(s), deeds, actions werkyng, vbl. n., working wers, adj. comp., worse wery, vb. imp., weary, tire, exhaust wery, adj., weary, tired, unwilling werynes, n. s., disdain, lack of patience wether, n. s., weather wethyrd, see wyther wey(e, n. s., way, path, road what, interr. adv., why? whatsomevere, whatsumevere, pron., whatever, anything that, everything that whel, n. s., wheel whens, adv., from where, from which place whensomevere, conj., at whatsoever time, at any time, whenever, when wheras, rel. adv., where whether, pron., which, whichever whisteryngs, vbl. n. pl., sounds of whispering, whispers whithersoevere, adv., wherever, to whatever place whosoevere, whosomevere, whosumevere, pron. nom., whoever, the one (s) who, whosoever, anyone who; whomsomevere, acc./dat.

552

Glossary

whyles, whyls, conj., while whyȝt, adj., white whynyng, vbl. n., whining widoue, n. s., wydoes, wydowes, pl., widow(s) wilfull, wylful, adj., voluntary, wilful wilfully, wylfully, adv., gladly, spontaneously, voluntarily withall, adv. withal, indeed, also, moreover withall, prep., (only used post positively) by means of, by the agency of withoute, conj., without that (French: ‘sans que’) withoute, adv., outside withoutefurth, adv., (on the) outside, in outward appearance wittnes, wytnes, wyttnes, n. s., witness, testimony wittnesyng, see wyttnes, vb. wode, n. s., wood wodenes, n. s., madness, bewilderment, violence wold(e, woll, see wyl(l woo, n. s., woe, pain, sorrow woo, interj., woe!, alas! wood, adj., mad, frantic wormes, n. gen. pl., of worms, worms’ worshypp, vb. inf., worship; worshype, ind. pres. 3rd pers. pl. worthely, adv., worthily, honourably, deservedly wortis, n. pl., prepared greens, a dish of cooked cabbage wounde, vb. imp., wound, distress, grieve, afflict wrapped, vb. ind. past. 3rd pers. s., entrapped, entangled, wrapped; wrapped, wrappyd, p. ppl.; be(n ~ , be plunged, be beset, be surrounded wrath, wreth, n. s., anger, wrath, hostility (one of the seven deadly sins) wrecche, wreche, n. s., wrecchys, pl., wretch(es), miserable person(s) wrecched, wrecchid, wrecchyd, adj., wretched, miserable wrecchidnes, wrecchydnes, wrechednes, wrechidnes, wrechydnes, n. s., wretchedness, misery wrecchydly, adv., wretchedly, miserably wrestelyng, vbl. n., spiritual struggle wreth, see wrath wrethfull, adj., wrathful wryȝte, wryte, vb. inf., write; wryteth, ind. pres. 3rd pers. s.; writen, wryten, p. ppl. wrytyng, vbl. n., writing wull, see wyl(l wychcrafte, n. s., witchcraft, divination, soothsaying (Lat. ‘auguriis’, PL 184, 1301A) wyckydnes, n. s., wickedness, evil deeds wydow, wydoes, wydowes, see widoue wydowhode, n. s., widowhood wyldenes, n. s., wantonness, rashness, brutishness

Glossary

553

wyles, n. pl., guiles, stratagems, deceptions wylfully, see wilfully wyl(l, wull, vb. mod. aux. ind. pres. 3rd pers. s., will, wishes, likes, wants, must; wylt, ind. pres. 2nd pers. s.; wold(e, ind. past 1st pers. s.; woll, subj. pres. 3rd pers. s.; wyllyng, pr. ppl. wyllys, n. pl., wills, desires, minds wyly, adj., crafty, shrewd, clever wyn(e, vb. inf., win, conquer, obtain wyndoes, n. pl., windows wyne, n. s., wine wyngis, wyngys, n. pl., wings wysche, vb. inf., desire fervently, to be anxious for (sth to occur), wish; wyschyd, p. ppl. wyse, n. s., manner, way wyse, adj., wise, prudent wysedom, n. s., wisdom wyther, wythyr, vb. inf., shrivel, dry up, decay, wither; wethyrd, p. ppl. wytnes, wyttnes see wittnes, n. s. wytte, n. s., mind, understanding, judgement, knowledge; wyttys, pl., ~ of þe bodye, senses of the body wyttnes, vb. inf., testify to, prove; wittnesyng, wytnesyng, wyttnesyng, pr. ppl., witnessing, providing evidence wyttyngly, adv., knowingly, with full awareness, purposefully y, pron. 1st pers. s. nom., I yche, pron., each ydel(l, ydyl(l, see idell ydelnes, ydilnes, ydylnes, n. s., idleness, leisure, vacant time (Lat. ‘otium’, PL 184, 1273B) ydolatrye, see idolatre ydolles, n. pl., idols ydyl(l, see idell ye(e, interj., yes yerthly, see erthly(e yit, adv., yet yll, adj., evil, bad yll, adv., badly, evilly ymagynacions, n. pl., fancies, fantasies, imaginations ympnes, ympnys, see hympnes ynough, ynowhe, adv., enough, sufficiently ynward(e, adv., in, inwards, within ynwarde, adj., see inward ynyquite, n. s., evil, wickedness, hostility, misfortune yong, n. s./pl., young animal(s), offspring(s)

554

yong, adj., young yowe, pron. 2nd pers. s., you; you, refl., yourself yowth, n. s., youth yre, see ire ys, see be yt, see hit

Glossary

Glossary of Proper Names

The list below only includes proper names whose spelling is unusual or whose meaning may not be immediately clear to a twenty-first century audience. The biblical references are to the King James’s Bible, unless otherwise stated. This Glossary of proper names has been compiled with the help of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Catholic Encyclopaedia. aaron, brother of Moses. Both Aaron and Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. See Exodus in the Old Testament.

abraham, biblical patriarch. Father of Isaac, the first Israelite to establish himself in the Land of Canaan. See Genesis 11–25.

abyron, chore, and dathan, the three sons of Eliab. With others they rose against Moses and were swallowed up by the earth. See Numbers 16. 1–40; 26. 9–11.

ambrose, St  Ambrose (c.  340–397). Bishop of Milan and patristic writer. He was famous for his eloquence and remembered for his hymns.

ananya and saphira, Ananias and his wife Sapphira. They kept some money for

themselves instead of handing it over to the incipient Christian community. They both fell dead when found out. See Acts 5. 1–11. anna, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, Israelite priest and prophet. See Book of Samuel I. 1–2. anne, Anna, the prophetess. She recognized baby Jesus as the Messiah. See Luke 2. 36–38. athanasius (c. 295–373), bishop of Alexandria. He fought against the Arian heresy. He is best known for his Life of Antony. It describes the life of St Anthony who went to the desert and founded Christian monasticism. austen, St Augustine of Hippo (354–430). ‘Bishop, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church whose thought molded the Western theological tradition […] [and one] of the most influential figures in the history of the Church’ (Augustine, Selected Writings, trans. by Clark, back cover) babylon, Babylon. In Antiquity, a well-known city in Mesopotamia, the capital of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

556

Glossary of Proper Names

bernarde, St Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090–1153). Spiritual author of a number of

influential writings, Bernard of Clairvaux played an important role in the expansion of the Cistercian Order. He famously opposed Peter Abelard. bethsames, Beth-shemes. Place to which the kine took the Ark of the Lord. See i Samuel 6. caldeys, n. pl., the Chaldeans. In biblical times people living on the costal area near the Persian Golf. canticis, n. pl. abl. (Latin) (in the) Song of Songs. cassiodour, Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus (c.  480–575). As a collector of manuscripts he was instrumental in the preservation of many Christian and pagan texts. His own works deal with politics, history, theology and grammar. cesarius, Caesarius of Arles (469/470–542). As Bishop of Arles he espoused a programme of reform and founded a monastery for which he composed a rule. He also showed a particular interest in the lives of religious women, as is clear in the letters of advice he sent his own sister, the abbess Caesaria. chore. See Abyron above. criste, cryste, Jesus Christ; cristis, crystis, n. gen. s., Christ’s, of Christ danyel, biblical prophet. He interpreted dreams for Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King who kept Israel in exil. He was cast in a den of lions by order of Darius, but escaped unhurt. See The Book of Daniel. dathan. See Abyron above. david, King David. Son of Jesse anointed King by Samuel. He killed the giant Goliath. For the biblical account of David’s life, see i Samuel 16–31, ii Samuel, i Kings 1–2. dyna, Dinah. Daughter of Leah and Jacob. Shechem, son of Hamor, Hivite prince, fell in love with her and ‘defiled her’. He was deceived by Jacob’s sons and killed. See Genesis 34. egipcyons, n. pl., the ancient Egyptians (biblical time). esebon, Heshbon. Territory seized by the Israelites when they entered the Promised Land. It was renowned for its fish-pools. ezechie, King Hezekiah. See ii Kings 18–20. ezechiel, biblical prophet among the captives in Babylon. See Book of Ezechiel. giezi, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. After his master cured Naaman from leprosy, Gehazi asked Naaman for a reward without the knowledge of his master. He was punished for his greed with leprosy. See ii Kings 5. gregory, Pope Gregory the Great (c.  540–604). One of the four Fathers of the Church, he was also a great administrator. He is often considered as the ‘founder’ of the papacy in the Middle Ages. helisei, helysie, Elishah, biblical prophet. See ii Kings 2–13. isider, isidor, isidour, Isidore of Seville (c.  560–636), bishop of Seville. He is regarded as the ‘last of the ancient Christian Philosophers’ as well as the ‘last of the great Latin Fathers’ (New Catholic Encyclopedia, ed. by Carson and Cerrito, vii, pp. 602–05.)

Glossary of Proper Names

557

jacob, biblical patriarch, son of Isaac and brother of Esau. He had to marry Leah, before

he could wed her younger sister Rachel. For the biblical account of his life, see Genesis 25–50. jamys, St  James the apostle. One of the twelve apostles and son of Zebedee, alleged author of the Epistle of James. jeremye, Jeremiah, biblical prophet and author of The Book of Jeremiah and The Lamentations of Jeremiah. jerom(e, St Jerome (c. 345–420). He is responsible for the best known Latin translation of the Old Testament and is also the author of many works, especially greatly influential letters of morals to women. job, biblical patriarch. He is renowned for his patience, as he lost all his belongings and all members of his family but refused to curse God. See the Book of Job. joel, biblical prophet. One of the minor prophets in the Old Testament. See the Book of Joel. john, St John the Evangelist. There are five texts attributed to John in the New Testament: the Gospel of St John, the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. Although present scholarship doubts that all these texts are from the same author, it was believed to be the case in the Middle Ages. jonas, Jonah, biblical prophet. He was famously swallowed by a whale for three days but survived the experience. The latter is often allegorically compared to Christ’s death and resurrection after three days. See the Book of Jonah. joseph, son of Jacob. He was sold into Egypt by his brothers and there came to prominence. The wife of the Egyptian officer, Potiphar, tried to seduce him. When he refused her advances, she accused him of improper behaviour and he was thrown into prison. For the biblical account of his life, see Genesis 35–50. joseph, husband of Mary, the mother of Christ. josue, Joshua, biblical patriarch. After the death of Moses, he led the people of Israel into the Promised Land. See the Book of Joshua. judas scaryoth, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples. He sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver and then committed suicide. See Matthew 26. 20–27. 8. lazar, Lazarus, the sick beggar who eats crumbs from the table of the rich man in the parable of Dives and Lazarus. See Luke 16. 19–31. lazar, Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha whom Jesus resurrected from the dead. See John 11. 1–45. libany, lybany(e, Lebanon. loth, Abraham’s cousin who came with him to the land of Canaan. His wife was turned into a salt pillar. Under the influence of alcohol he committed incest with his own daughters. For the biblical account of his life, see Genesis 11. 31–19. 38; lottys, gen. s., of Lot, Lot’s lya, Leah, Jacob’s first wife. See Genesis 29. 16 –33. 7. mary mawdlene, marye maudlen, marye mawdelen, Mary Magdalen, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. See Luke 10. 38–42. She is also understood to be the repentant sinner who pours perfume on Christ’s feet. See Luke 7. 37–50.

558

Glossary of Proper Names

marye, Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moyses. She rebelled against Moses and was turned into a leper. See Numbers 12. 1–15.

marye, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ. moyses, Moses, biblical patriarch who led Israel out of Egypt and gave them the Ten Commandments. See Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

nathan, biblical prophet in the time of King David. See ii Samuel 7–12. noe, Noah, biblical patriarch who built the ark and was thus saved from the Flood. For the biblical account of his life, see Genesis 6–9.

ozias, King Uzziah. He went into the temple to burn incense, a task reserved only for priests, and was punished for his trespass with leprosy. See ii Chronicles 26. 1–23.

paul, St Paul the apostle. Under the name of Saul he persecuted Christians until he saw

the light on the road to Damascus. He wrote several of the epistles of the New Testa­ ment. For the biblical account of his conversion and life as an apostle, see Acts 9–28. petre, petyr, St  Peter the apostle, one of the twelve apostles. He famously denied Christ three times on the night of his arrest. See Matthew 26. 69–75. Two epistles are attributed to him in the New Testament. pharisy, n. s., Pharisee. In biblical times a member of a religious party. philistens, philisteons, n. pl., Philistines. People who were in conflict with the Israelites and were defeated by King David. psalmiste, psalmyste, n. s., the alleged author of the Psalms, King David. rachel, the second wife of the biblical patriarch Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. See Genesis 29. 9–35. 20. raphael, the angel Raphael. He visited Tobias and his blind father Tobit and promised the latter he would be cured of his blindness. He then accompanies Tobias to Media. See the Book of Tobit 5. 4–12. 22 in the Old Testament, Jerusalem Bible. salomon, King Solomon, son of King David. Renowned for his wisdom, he is believed to have written the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. He is often referred to as the ‘wise man’ in Middle English texts. samuel, biblical prophet. See i Samuel 1–25. 1. saphira, see ananya above. saul, King Saul. He rebelled against the word of God and was deprived of his kingdom. See i Samuel 15. sichem, Shechem. See Dyna above. sodoma, Sodom. A famously sinful city destroyed by the Lord. See Genesis 18. 20–19. 28. syon, Zion. Originally some hill in Jerusalem, it usually refers to the city itself in poetical texts. It is often charged with emotional and religious feelings. thobie, thobye, Tobit. He became blind and his sight was restored to him through the agency of the angel Raphael. See the Book of Tobit, 2. 9–10. 15 in the Jerusalem Bible. tymothe, Tymothy. Disciple of the apostle Paul to whom the latter wrote the First and Second Epistles to Timothy in the New Testament. ysaac, Isaac, biblical patriarch and son of Abraham. See Genesis 18. 10–35. 29. ysaie, ysay, Isaiah, biblical prophet. See the Book of Isaiah.

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The Text Early Editions (mentioned in the Introduction or the Commentary) Bernard of Clairvaux, Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem: modus bene uiuendi in Chris­ti­ anam religionem (Venezia: De Benaliis, 1491) —— , Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem: modus bene uiuendi in Christianam religionem (Venezia: De Benalijs, 1494) —— , Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem modus bene viuendi (Paris: Rosse, 1507) —— , Diui Bernardi abbatis ad sororem modus bene viuendi (Bernardus de contemptu mundi) (Paris: Petit, 1514) —— , Liber de modo bene vivendi ad sororem, in Patrologiae cursus completus: series lati­na, ed. by Jacques-Paul Migne, 221 vols (Paris: Migne, 1844–64), 184 (1859), cols 1199–1306 —— , Sermoni deuotissimi del deuotissimo sancto Bernardo a vna sorella monacha: necessarii a tutti quelli che voleno viuere in questo seculo, in gratia del signore (Venezia: De Quarengi, 1508)

Middle English Manere of Good Lyvyng, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud misc. 517

Modern English Editions A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse of Well Liuynge, Contaynyng the Hole Summe and Effect of Al Vertue, trans. by Thomas Paynell (London: Petyt, [1545?]) A Compendius and a Moche Fruytefull Treatyse of Well Liuynge, Contaynyng the Hole Summe and Effect of Al Vertue, trans. by Thomas Paynell (London, Petyt, [1545?]), in Early English Books Online [accessed 10 November 2011] How to Live Well, attrib. to St Bernard, trans. by Cecil Booth Tyrwhitt (Oxford: The Convent, St Giles’ Road West, 1886) A Rule of Good Life Written by the Mellifluous Doctor S. Bernard (Monke and Abbot of Holie Order of S. Ben [...] Translated by the R. Father Antonie Batt, Monke of the Holie

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Medieval Women: Texts and Contexts All volumes in this series are evaluated by an Editorial Board, strictly on academic grounds, based on reports prepared by referees who have been commissioned by virtue of their specialism in the appropriate field. The Board ensures that the screening is done independently and without conflicts of interest. The definitive texts supplied by authors are also subject to review by the Board before being approved for publication. Further, the volumes are copyedited to conform to the publisher’s stylebook and to the best international academic standards in the field. Titles in Series Jutta and Hildegard: the Biographical Sources, trans. and introduced by Anna Silvas (1999) New Trends in Feminine Spirituality: The Holy Women of Liège and their Impact, ed. by Juliette D’Or, Lesley Johnson and Jocelyn Wogan-Browne (1999) Medieval Women – Texts and Contexts in Late Medieval Britain: Essays in Honour of Felicity Riddy, ed. by Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Rosalynn Voaden, Arlyn Diamond, Ann Hutchinson, Carol M. Meale, and Lesley Johnson (2000) The Knowing of Woman’s Kind in Childing: A Middle English Version of Material Derived from the Trotula and other Sources, ed. by Alexandra Barratt (2002) St Katherine of Alexandria: Texts and Contexts in Western Medieval Europe, ed. by Jacqueline Jenkins and Katherine J. Lewis (2003) Send Me God: The Lives of Ida the Compassionate of Nivelles, Nun of La Ramée, Arnulf, Lay Brother of Villers, and Abundus, Monk of Villers, by Goswin of Bossut, trans. by and with an introduction by Martinus Cawley OCSO and with a preface by Barbara Newman (2003) Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200–1550, ed. by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (2004) Writing the Wilton Women: Goscelin’s Legend of Edith and Liber confortatorius, ed. by Stephanie Hollis with W. R. Barnes, Rebecca Hayward, Kathleen Loncar, and Michael Wright (2004) Household, Women, and Christianities in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, ed. by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker and Jocelyn Wogan-Browne (2006)

The Writings of Julian of Norwich: ‘A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman’ and ‘A Revelation of Love’, ed. by Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins (2006) Les Cantiques Salemon: The Song of Songs in MS Paris BNF fr. 14966, ed. by Tony Hunt (2006) Carolyn P. Collette, Performing Polity: Women and Agency in the Anglo-French Tradition, 1385–1620 (2006) Mary of Oignies: Mother of Salvation, ed. by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker (2007) Anna M. Silvas, Macrina the Younger: Philosopher of God (2008) Thomas of Cantimpré: The Collected Saints’ Lives: Abbot John of Cantimpré, Christina the Astonishing, Margaret of Ypres, and Lutgard of Aywières, ed. by Barbara Newman, trans. by Margot H. King and Barbara Newman (2008) Claire M. Waters, Virgins and Scholars: A Fifteenth-Century Compilation of the Lives of John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Jerome, and Katherine of Alexandria (2008) Jennifer N. Brown, Three Women of Liège: A Critical Edition of and Commentary on the Mid­ dle English Lives of Elizabeth of Spalbeek, Christina Mirabilis, and Marie d’Oignies (2009) Suzanne Kocher, Allegories of Love in Marguerite Porete’s ‘Mirror of Simple Souls’ (2009) Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Hildegard of Bingen and her Gospel Homilies: Speaking New Mysteries (2009) Mary Dockray-Miller, Saints Edith and Æthelthryth: Princesses, Miracle Workers, and their Late Medieval Audience: The Wilton Chronicle and the Wilton Life of St Æthelthryth (2009) Living Saints of the Thirteenth Century: The Lives of Yvette, Anchoress of Huy; Juliana of Cornillon, Author of the Corpus Christi Feast; and Margaret the Lame, Anchoress of Magde­ burg, ed. by Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, trans. by Jo Ann McNamara, Barbara Newman, and Gertrude Jaron Lewis and Tilman Lewis (2012) Nuns’ Literacies in Medieval Europe: The Hull Dialogue, ed. by Virginia Blanton, Veronica O’Mara, and Patricia Stoop (2013)

In Preparation June L. Mecham, Sacred Communities, Shared Devotions: Gender, Material Culture, and Monasticism in Late Medieval Germany, ed. by Alison I. Beach, Constance Berman, and Lisa Bitel Partners in Spirit: Women, Men, and Religious Life in Germany, 1100–1500, ed. by Fiona J. Griffiths and Julie Hotchin