Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 178: Old English Homilies. Benedictine Rule in Latin and Old English

IIIF Drag-n-drop purl.stanford.edu/pm669yz1553
Title:
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 178: Old English Homilies. Benedictine Rule in Latin and Old English
Alternate Title:
Anglo-Saxon Homilies (II). Rule of St Benedict (Lat.-Sax.)
Language:
English, Old (ca. 450-1100) and Latin
Extent:
ff. 1 + 134 + 86
Dimensions:
285 Height (mm) and 190 Width (mm)
Approximate Date:
[ca. 1000 - 1099]
Provenance:
On the flyleaf (f. iir) is a list (xii ?) of the Homilies, in Latin, in a hand which has glossed both volumes. It is the same tremulous hand which occurs in MS 12 and MS 198. Its presence shows that the two portions of this MS. have been long bound together, and also that they belonged anciently to Worcester Priory. See on MS 12.
Table of contents:
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, De initio creaturae
  • Hexameron
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Feria III de Dominica oratione
  • Sermo ad populum in octauis Pentecosten dicendus
  • Composite homily drawing on works by Ælfric OSB including 'The Prayer of Moses' and 'Memory of the Saints' from 'Lives of Saints', and 'De duodecim abusiuis'
  • Composite homily drawing on works by Ælfric OSB including 'On Auguries' and 'Saint Swithun' from 'Lives of Saints', and the additional sermon 'De Auguriis'
  • Sermo de die iudicii
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, with extracts from Ælfric's 'Dominica XVI Post Pentecosten' and 'De Virginitate'
  • Homily for the Common of a Confessor
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, English Preface (adapted; = extract from First Series, First Sunday in Advent)
  • De sanguine
  • Lives of Saints, The Maccabees
  • Homily 'De infantibus non baptizandis'
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, Virgins (extract with additions)
  • Homily 'De auaritia'
  • De falsis diis Directions to the reader
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Annunciation
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Christmas
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Circumcision
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, Epiphany
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Purification
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, First Sunday in Lent
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, Palm Sunday
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Palm Sunday (extract) and Cyrclice þeawas
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Easter
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, First Sunday after Easter
  • Catholic Homilies, Second Series, Feria IV in Letania maiore with additions
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Ascension
  • Catholic Homilies, First Series, Pentecost
  • Benedictine Rule in Latin and Old English
  • The Six Ages of the World
Description:
CCCC MS 178 consists of two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts bound together. The first is a collection of Old English homilies, mostly by Ælfric OSB (d. c. 1010) but with some anonymous and composite material. It was written in the first half of the eleventh century, probably towards the end of that period. A colophon lays out the compiler's intentions: twelve sermons are given which may be preached at any time, and another twelve for specific occasions; twenty-two of these are taken exactly from an exemplar but two have been augmented; the sermons for specific days are by Ælfric. This colophon seems more or less accurate when compared to the manuscript as it survives. It was at Worcester by the end of the eleventh century, when it was annotated by the scribe Coleman, probably the chaplain of Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester (d. 1095). Parker removed some leaves of this part of MS 178 into CCCC MS 162. The second Anglo-Saxon manuscript is a copy of the bilingual Benedictine Rule, with each chapter in Latin followed by its translation into Old English. It contains some feminine forms but seems to represent a stage in the transmission of the text where it was being changed from nuns' to monks' use. It was written in the first half of the eleventh century. It was certainly at Worcester, and probably already associated with the homily manuscript, in the thirteenth century when both were annotated by the famous 'Worcester Tremulous Hand'.
More details »