Royal MS 8 E XVII

THEOLOGICAL TRACTS, tales and proverbs, chiefly in Latin, with some French verse and a few lines in English. From the table of contents (f. 3 b) it seems that the volume did not originally include artt. 31-37, and did contain Grosseteste's Templum Domini and other tracts now missing. Entries in another hand mention art. 31-end, together with the Testamenta Patriarcharum and other articles now lost. Contents:-

1. 'De confessione, quomodo se habebit confessor et penitens': a tract beg. 'Cum uenerit penitens ad sacerdotem proiciat se'. Ends 'iniungat ei penitentiam'. f. 1.

2. Commonplaces, including:-(a) De Recidiuis, beg. 'Si queratur an propter recidiuum'. Praepositinus, Chancellor of Paris (1206-1209), is quoted. f. 2 b;-(b) 'Hec sunt merita visionis corporis Christi et auditus misse'. f. 2 b;-(c) Nine verses on the Mass, some. times ascribed to Hildebert of Le Mans (cf. 6 E. II, art. 6 a, b). Beg. 'Sit ratio quod pars'. f. 2 b;-(d) Anatomical and other verses. f. 3;-(e) Twenty-five gnomic verses, beg. Grandtbus et stultis parcat pater utpote multis'. f. 3 b. Between (d) and (e) is the table of contents to the volume.

3. 'Liber Martini episcopi Dumensis de Gallicia Hyspanie ad.Mironem regem de formula uite honeste' (so table of contents): the work by S. Martin, Bishop of Braga in Portugal (d. 58o), cf 8 A. XXI, art. 26. Printed in Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxii. 21. Preface beg. 'Gloriosissimo atque tranquilissimo regi, &c.... Non ignoro'; text, 'Quatuor uirtutum species'. f. 4.

4. 'Liber mag. Hugonis de S. Victore de institucione nouiciorum': the work printed ib. clxxvi. 925 (cf. 5 E. XIV, art. 6, 8 F. XIV, art. 16). The problem of its true authorship is complicated by what seems to be a deliberate fraud, first pointed out by Hauréau in Notices et Extrails, xxiv, Pt. ii, p. 247. The Paris MS. Bibl. Nat. Fonds Latin 17187 contains a copy by Martène of a MS. at Merci-Dieu containing this tract with a preface in which the writer recites three other works of his, clearly shown by Hauréau to be by Gérard Ithier, Prior of Grammont. Hauréau's assumption that the fraud is on the side of the great majority of the MSS. (in which it is assigned to H. de S. Victore) seems less certain. He does not seem to have noticed that the Mazarin MS. 981 (formerly 901, mentioned by him, op. cit. p. 23) in the preface to the tract De quinque septenis, which is wanting in other MSS. and editions, alludes in to this work under the name 'de honestate disciplinae and as that tract is admitted by him as a genuine work of Hugo this preface must also on his supposition be a continuation of the fraud. Further, he was unaware of the existence in 5 E. XIV of a different preface, in which the title 'de disciplina et uita clericorum' is retained with the attribution to Hugo 'prior'. Preface beg. 'Quia largiente domino de vana conuersatione'; text, 'Primum scire debetis quod hanc'. f. 7.

5. 'Ista inquirenda sunt in confessione': the confessional formulary sometimes attributed to Robert Grossete.ste. The texts differ considerably (cf. 8 A. XV, art. 2). Beg. 'Si scienter deum offenderit, quod est magne superbie'; ends 'si clericus contraxerit'. f. 17' 6. Theological commonplaces, including:-(a) 'Tot uicia tot uirtutes', a note beg. 'Humilitas expellit superbiam'. f. 18 b.-(b) 'De illusione sompnii', beg. 'Queritur an post illusionem'. f. 19.

7. 'Quod sint octo que obseruantes monachi non nimis esse segnes sui ordinis a quoquam facile sunt iudicandi': the same tract as in 7 A. III, art. 2. f. 19.

8. 'Auctoritates collecte de diuersis auctoribus' (so table of contents): extracts of a gnomic character. The sources include Ecclesiasticus and Proverbs and the works of Seneca, S. Augustine, S. Isidore, S. Bernard, and Gilbert [de la Porrée ?] &c. (cf. artt. 10, I4 below). Beg. 'Multis indigent qui multa possident'. f. 21.

9. Seneca ad Lucilium per alphabetum' (so table of contents): the collection knowm as Proverbia Senecae (so in colophon), consisting of part (A-N) of the Sententiae of Publilius Syrus completed by a selection of prose aphorisms (N-Z). from Pseudo-Seneca de Moribus (CL 7 A. iii, art. 7). In the present MS. the collection is further augmented by (a) Aphorisms, chiefly in prose (cf. Harley MS.2659, ff. 3-4 b). Beg. 'Auida est periculi uirtus et quo tendit, non quid passura sit, cogitat'.-(b) An alphabetical collection (A-C only) of the Proverbs of Solomon. Beg. 'Astutus omnia agit cum consilio'. The whole collection beg. 'Alienum est [omitting 'omne'] quicquid optando euenit'; ends 'non habet vnde cadat. Expliciunt prouerbia Senece'. f. 26.

10. 'Auctoritates autorum' (so table of contents, an insertion) : a continuation of the excerpts as in art. 8, chiefly extracts from Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus and from the Apophthegmata Patrum (cf art. 11). Beg. 'Nunquam sine dolore amittitur nisi quod sine amore possidetur'. f. 34.

11. 'In nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi incipiunt adhortationes sanctorum patrum perfectionesque monachorum': the Apophthegmata Patrum or Verba Seniorum printed by Rosweyd as De Vitis Patrum Liber V (Migne, lxxiii. 855; cf. 8 C. vi, art. 1). Incomplete, including libelli i-iv, and v, capp. 1-8, 12, 13. With the latter part is interpolated later matter, extracts from S. Bernard, &c. For a further selection from the same work see art. 21. Beg. 'Interrogauit quidam abbatem Antonium dicens Quid custodiens'. f. 40.

12. 'In phylosophia monachortim': extracts from books ii and iii of a work bearing that title, including a long extract from S. Anselm (meditatio ii, ib. clviii.

722). Beg. 'Dicis cito nimis renuntiaui'. f. 51.

13. 'Ici comence vn bon prouerbe': French gnomic verse, viz.:-(a) Ten lines assigned to 'philosophus', beg. 'Ky ben e mal a vn pris prent'.-(b) Six lines assigned to Merlin, beg. 'Bone est force, engin plus vaut'. f. 62b.

14. Extracts like those in artt. 8, 10. Beg. 'Credenti totus mundus diuiciarum plenus est'. f. 62b.

15. 'Tractatus in Romanis de s. Iuliano episcopo et clerico suo' (so table of contents): a theological dialogue in French verse (about 1970 lines) based on the Prognostica Futuri Saeculi (ib. xcvi. 453) of S. Julian, Bishop of Toledo (680-690). Some extracts are printed by P. Meyer, Romania, xxix, p. 21. Rubric, 'Ici commence vn estoire / de scin Julien la memoire'. Beg. 'Si cum ie ai en liure apris / vn arceueske fu iadis'; ends 'ou reen ni a de obscurte. amen'. f. 64 b.

16. 'Tractatus in Romanis de Antichristo' (so table of contents): the version in French verse [by Henri d'Arci, cf. P. Meyer, in Notices el Exrtaits, XXXV, p. 151] of the Liber de Antichristo of Adso, Abbot of Montieren-Der (cf. 8 F. VIII, art. 9). About 31O lines. Rubric, 'Ici commence vn estoyre / de Antecrist la memoyre'. Beg. 'Si de Antecrist veus oyr la memoire, / ici vus dirai la verite del estayre'; ends with the same quatrain as art. 15. f. 80 b.

17. French proverbs, &c., viz..-(a) Rubric, 'Si tu veus estre ame, / moustrez teimeimes amiable'.-(b) Latin distich version of the same, beg. 'Si sociare uelis';-(c) Rubric, 'Si tu ueus estre amiable, / retien ces treis moz sanz fable';-(d) Eight lines beg. 'Fay ce cum te dit';-(e) Six lines beg. 'Tant cum poez aleyne treire'; repeated below in art. 2.5;-(f) Six lines beg. 'Chescun fet grant folye / ke se deserite en sa uie'. f. 83;-(g) Four more lines on the same subject, referring to a tale in John Bromyard's Summa Predicantiurn (cf. 7 F. IV, f. 45 b), beg. 'De vn tiel mael seit il feru'. Tale and verses are printed in T. Wright's Latin Stories (Percy Soc. 1842), pp. 28, 22i. f. 83 b.

18. A version in English verse of the quatrain above, art. I7 (g). Beg. 'Wyht suylc a betel be he smyten' (pr. Wright, l. c.). f. 83 b.

19. 'Sermo beati Bede presbiteri de dominica xvi': a brief extract from the spurious homily no. xv of lib. iii in Migne, xciv. 299. Beg. 'Qui enim seminat'. f. 83 b.

20. Another proverb in French verse (five lines). Beg. Ne creez pas kanke tu orras'. f. 83 b.

21. 'In uitas patrum. De negatione dei et baptismi': further extracts from the Apophthegmata Patrum (cf, art. 11), including libelli v. capp. 38, 39, ix. capp. 8-12, x. capp. 1-3. Beg. 'Frater quidam impugnabatur'. f. 83 b.

22. 'Tractatus dom. Roberti Grosteste Lincoln. episc. de confessione' : the tract on confession (also called sermon xvii) as in 7 A. IX, art. 26. Beg. 'Quoniam cogitatio hominis, &c. [Ps. lxxv. ii]: Confitendum est quia interioris'. f. 86.

23. Four sermons, attributed as follows:-(a) 'Sermo b. Maximi episc. super omeliam dominice prime quadragesime Ductus est Iesus in desertum': the latter portion of hom. xxxvii of S. Maximus, Bishop of Turin circ.

415-466 (Migne, lvii. 307). Beg. 'Fratres mei karissimi, quia ieiunatis'. f. 92 b;-(b) 'Sermo b. Iohannis Crisostomi super omeliam dominice secunde quadragesime Egressus dominus Iesus secessit', &c.; not printed under 'that title in Patr. Graeca. Beg. 'Confitemini domino, &c.: Spiritus sanctus medelam purgandi facinoris'. f. 93;-(c) 'Sermo Leonis Pape secunda quadragesime vnde supra': only in part corresponds with the sermon of Leo the Great in Migne, liv. 263. Beg. 'Hebreorum quondam populus et omnes Israelitice tribus'. f. 93 b;-

(d) 'Sermo Leonis pape vnde supra': apparently not included in Migne. Beg. 'Moyses quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus'. f. 94.

24. Extracts from the Sententiae of Petrus Lombardus, lib. iv, distt. xix, xx, xvi, the Gemma Animae (here called Gemma Ecclesiae) of Honorius of Autun (cf 6 A. XI, art. 1, &c.), lib. ii, cap. 63, &c., and other sources. Beg. 'Maledicam benedictionibus, &c.: Premisse vero sententie'. f. 95.

25. 'Ici comence prouerbe de bon enseignement': a collection in French verse (mostly quatrains) of about 130 proverbs of Biblical origin or from Seneca' and a few other authors. The original Latin is given in a parallel column and the author!? names in the margin. Attributed by M. Paul Meyer in Romania, xiii, p. 539, to Nicholas Bozon, on the authority of an Qxford MS. (Selden, supra 74), which gives the name in the form Bown. Three other copies in Arundel MS. 567, f. 95, Harley MS. 957, f. 28, Add. MS. 22283, f. 118 b (all imperfect), and the text printed from the Vernon MS. by Dr. Furnivall, Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., vol. ii, E. E. Text Soc., 1901, p. 522, all represent a different recension of the text. Preface (14 lines) beg. 'Cher ami, receuez de moy / vh bel present ke vus enuoy'; text,. 'Li sage dist en son liure / ke commencement de benviure'. f. 99. An appendix ('Ici comence la derreine partie des prouerbes'), containing seven proverbs, is placed after artt. 26, 27, f. 109. In the margin are a few English proverbs, viz. 'Er þu do eny þing þenk one þe ending', f. 107; 'Betere his red pan, res', f. 107; 'Riche and pouere zong and eld / þere whiles þou hauest þi wil a weld / Sek þi sowle bote / Ofte wan man weneþ best / Lif and hale þo and rest / Deþ is at his 'fate', f. 109.

26. 'Ici comence la pleinte nostre dame': poem on the sorrows of the Virgin, in French verse, 42 x 4 lines, printed from Cotton MS. Julius A. V, f. 174 b, by T. Wright in Pierre de Langtoft (Rolls Series), ii, p. 438 (cf. i, p. xv), and partly printed from Phillipps MS. 8336 by P. Meyer in Romania, xiii, p 520. Beg. 'Reine de gloire, flur de Parays, / de hautt. chose enprendre me sui entremis'. f. 107 b.

27. 'Ici comence la geste des dames': an extract from the poem called Le Char d'Orgueil probably by Nicholas Bozon, a Franciscan (see P. Meyer in Romant'a, ib., p. 514). The author's name is in Phillipps MS. 8336. 16 x 4 lines. Printed by Wright, Reliquiae Antiquae,' i, p. 162. Beg. 'Quei diroms des dames kaunt vienent a festes / les vnes des autres auisent les testes'. f. 108 b.

28. 'Prouerbia in uersibus' (so table of contents, in an addition): proverbs in Latin hexameters or elegiacs) many leonine or rhyming, 230 lines. Beg. 'Si paribus uel disparibus constent elementis'. f. 109 b.

29. 'Medicina in Romanis' (so addition to table of contents, but really in Latin): a treatise on diet in 116 leonine or rhyming hexameters. Beg. 'Edere decreui tractatum crimine leui'; ends 'Hac ratione quod est laudabile fine locamus'. f. 110.

30. 'Liber Reimundi de penitenciis et remissionibus': the last chapter of book in (the table of contents calls it 'liber quartus') of the Summa de Paenitentia of S. Raymund de Pennaforti (cf 8 A. II). Imperfect, breaking off at the foot of f. 120 b, 'prolixior debet esse penitencia' (ed. 1603, p. 473). Reg. 'Post abissum et laqueos Babilonis'. f. 111.

31. 'De morte Ade pdmi patris nostri' (so addition to table of contents) : the legend of the Oil of Mercy and Wood of the Cross (cf. 8 D. IV, art. 5). This MS. was used by H. Suchier as the basis of his text. Beg. 'Post peccatum Ade expulso eodem'. f. 121.

32. The Vision of S. Paul (see Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 397, and cf. 8 B. x, hrt.2). Beg. 'Dies dominicut dies []letus in quo gaudent' (the brackets represent an erased letter f). f. 122 b.

33. lncipit ewangelium Nichodemi. quomodo vindicta facta fuit pro morte domini', &c. (title a later insertion) : a version of the legend called Vindicta Salvatoris which differs materially from the text printed by Tischendorf, Evangelia Apoctypha (Leipzig, 1876), p. 471. It concludes with the suicide of Pilate and ultimate reception of his body by a rock on the banks of the Rhone. For another copy see 9 A. XIV, art. 25 (b) Beg. 'In diebus imperii Tiberii Cesaris sub Poncio Pilato'; ends 'ne propter iniquitatem Pilati mergantur, Explicit sermo vindicacionis Christi'. fI23i Artt. 34, 35, 36 are probably taken from.the Legenda Aurea of Iacobus de, Voragine (ed. Graesse, capp. liii, xlv, c), since they coincide not only in the tales them., selves but in the comments appended at the end.

34. 'De origine et de pena Pilat', corresponding with part of the lection De Passione Domini. The latter part of the legend, representing Pilate as buried in a mountain lake near Lausanne, is also nearly, identical with the text printed as Mors Pilati by Tischendorf, op. cit. P. 4,58. For other copies see 9 A. XIV, art, 20 (c), 20 A. XI, f. 145 b, and a French version in 16 G. III, ff. 196 b-201 b. Beg. 'In quadam hystoria licet apocripha sic legitur. Fuit quidam rex nomine Atus'; ends 'propria se manu peremit. f. 125.

35. 'De ortu et origine Iude traditoris', corresponding with part of the lection for S. Matthias. Cf. 9 A. XIV, art. 20 (d). A similar form in French is in 16 G. III, ff. 194-196. Beg. 'Legitur enim in quadam hystoria licet apocripha quod fuit quidam uir in Ierusalem nomine Ruben'; ends 'cum demonibus sociaretur'. f. 126.

36. 'De sancto Cristoforo' (so addition to table of contents), corresponding with part of the lection for S. Christopher. Beg. 'Christoforus genere Chananeus procerissime stature'; ends 'continuo gladio ptiniretur', followed by the couplet 'Inter chi (X) cima (C) ro (P) scribas XPC habetur. / Inter iota (l) ceta (C) fac heta (H) IHC perhibetur'. f. 127.

37. 'De sancto Brandano' (so addition to table of contents) : the Voyage of S. Brendan (see Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 533). Beg. 'Sanctus Brendanus filius Finlotha nepotis Alti'; ends 'gloriose migrauit addominum'. f. 128 b. Vellum; ff. 138. 9 in x 63/4 in. End of XIII or beg. of XIV cent. Gatherings irregular. Double columns. Sec. fol. 'indulgeat tibi' or 'solutum'. Initials in red and blue. Old Royal pressmark 'no. 1202'; cat. of 1666, f. 16 b ; CMA, 8201-8203.