Language(s): Latin
1. Fols. 1–5v:
Rubric: Incipit Epistola Beati IERONIMI presbiteri ad Rusticum exhortatoria super penitentem
Incipit: Qvod ignotus ad ignotum scribere audeo sancte ancille cristi edibie
Explicit: quia mandata tua non sum oblitus
Final rubric: Explicit epistola [as the opening heading]
JEROME Epistola 122 (CPL 620), ed. Isidore Hilberg, CSEL 56 (1918) 56–71.
2. Fols. 5v–8:
Rubric: Incipit Epistola fratris VENTURINI contra spiritum blasphemie
Incipit: Fratri rogero in cristo Venturinus peccator salutem et spiritus paracliti consolacione contra blasphemie spiritum roborari Scribo illi quem facie ignoro
Explicit: oracionibus te adiunabo valeas semper in cristo Amen
Final rubric: Explicit epistola VENTURINI [as the opening heading]
VENTURINUS LAURENTII OF BERGAMO,
'Litterae Rogero canonico S. Frideswyde Oxoniensi infirmitate blasphemiae laboranti' (Kaeppeli 4:427–33, no. 3952); ed. Tommaso Kaeppeli, ‘Lettera inedita di Venturino de Bergamo a un canonico de S. Frideswide, Oxford (1332–4)’, Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 24 (1954) 189–98. 3. Fols. 8–10v:
Rubric: Incipit tractatus de Temtacionibus carnis contra delectaciones carnales
Incipit: Qvia nuper interrogastis me quid mihi videretur de temptacionibus carnis vtrum delectaciones carnales
Explicit: ideo si non apponat manum per consensum voluntarium securus erit etc. deo iuuante
Bloomfield, no. 4709.
4. Fols. 10v–13v:
Rubric: Incipit tractatus ad discrete iudicandum et discernendum de pollucione nocturna
Incipit: Ad discrete iudicandum et discernendum de pollucione nocturna oportet principaliter considerare tria
Explicit: causa abstinendi fient sicut per aliquod priuatum statutum vel observanciam regularem
Final rubric: Explicit tractatus de pollucione nocturna
Unidentified; not the same as the analogous discussions, MATTHEW OF CRACOW (PS.-THOMAS AQUINAS), De modo confitendi, ch. 14 in an unpaginated edn. (Paris, pre-1501); or JEAN GERSON, ‘De praeparatione ad missam’ and ‘De cognitione castitatis’, ed. P. Glorieux, Œuvres complètes, 10 vols. (Paris, 1960–73), 9:35–50 and 50–64.
5. Fols. 13v–16:
Rubric: Incipit tractatus de vtilitate temptacionum et tribulacionum quibus deus electos suo [sic for suos] temporaliter affligi et fatigari permittit
Incipit: | [fol. 14] Fidelis deus ait apostolus qui non pacietur vos temptari supra id quod potestis
Explicit: sub flagello quia tibi reseruatur hereditas eterna quam nobis concedat qui sine fine viuit et regnat Amen
Final rubric: Explicit tractatus [as the opening heading]
Bloomfield, no. 2111, an excerpt from Speculum spiritualium 2.14 (Paris, 1510), fols. 48v–49v.
6. Fols. 16–17:
Rubric: HUGO DE SANCTO VICTORE de obliuione preteritorum malorum
Incipit: Insipientem doctus interrogas Queris quid tibi faciendum sit pro eo
Explicit: per discrecionem cohibeatur donec intus extinguatur
Final rubric: Explicit tractatus [as the opening heading]
‘Miscellanea’ 1.74 (Bloomfield, no. 2686), ed. PL 177:509–10. Our copy appears in Goy (456), although he ignores item 28 below.
7. Fols. 17–19:
Incipit: \sermo AUGUSTINI ad fratres in heremo ne Sint curiosi de diuinitate rimand⟨ ⟩ [later, margin] / Scriptum est fratres karissimi quod non debemus loqui sublimia tanquam sapientes
Explicit: templum dei et habitaculum sancti spiritus Amen
AUGUSTINE,
‘Ad fratres in eremo’, sermo 15 ed. PL 40:1259–62. 8. Fols. 19–20:
Rubric: [heading in text ink] Admonicio sancti AUGUSTINI Episcopi qua ostenditur quam bonum sit leccionem diuinam legere et quam malum sit ab ea desinere
Incipit: Propicio cristo fratres karissimi ita leccionem diuinam auido et scienti corde
Explicit: fulgebunt sicut stelle in perpetuas eternitates quod ipse prestare dignetur qui cum [form ending] Amen
AUGUSTINE,
‘Ad fratres in eremo’, sermo 56,
ed. PL 40:1339–41.
9. Fols. 20–1v:
Rubric: Sermo sancti AUGUSTINI Qualiter vera et perfecta dileccio debeat custodiri
Incipit: Qualiter uos inuicem diligere debeamus fratres karissimi et sanitate vel infirmitate
Explicit: nosmetipsos amantes cum ipso apparere mereamur in gloria amen
AUGUSTINE,
Sermones (CPL 268) app., sermo 105,
ed. PL 39:1949–51.
10. Fols. 21v–3v:
Incipit: \Item sermo eiusdem de dileccione caritatis et odio cupiditatis [later, margin]/ Beatus paulus apostolus fratres karissimi vt nobis vere et perfecte caritatis dulcedinem
Explicit: in eterna beatitudine remunerante domino capietis Quod ipse prestare dignetur qui cum [form ending] Amen
AUGUSTINE,
Sermones app., sermo 270,
ed. PL 39:2247–50.
11. Fols. 23v–7v:
Incipit: Prima leccio que hodie nobis recitata est apostoli iacobi oblate
Explicit: magno bono abundatis si tam magno malo carebitis
Final rubric: Explicit sermo AUGUSTINI de periurio
AUGUSTINE,
sermo 180,
ed. PL 38:972–9.
12. Fols. 27v–30v:
Rubric: Incipit sermo eiusdem ad fratres in heremo de misericordia et pia oracione
Incipit: Fratres karissimi ne recordor me legisse mala morte perisse qui libenter in hac vita
Explicit: merebimur deum videre facie ad faciem Quod nobis concedat ille qui est omnium sanctorum uirtus et salus amen
AUGUSTINE,
‘Ad fratres in eremo’, sermo 44,
ed. PL 40:1319–23.
13. Fols. 30v–3v:
Incipit: Demorantibus vobis in heremo fratres dilectissimi murmuratores detractores uel susurratores
Explicit: ad perseuerandum in omnibus bonis qui cum [form ending] Amen
AUGUSTINE,
‘Ad fratres in eremo’, sermo 26,
ed. PL 40:1277–80.
14. Fols. 33v–4v:
Rubric: Sermo eiusdem de kalendis ianuarij
Incipit: Dies kalendarum istarum quas ianuarias vocant a quodam Iano homine perdito
Explicit: proficient duplicia vobis a domino premia repensentur
PS.-AUGUSTINE, in fact CAESARIUS OF ARLES, sermo 192, ed. Germaine Morin, CC 104 (1953) 779–82.
15. Fols. 34v–6:
Rubric: Item sermo eiusdem ad parochianos notabilis
Incipit: Rogo vos fratres karissimi vt attencius cogitemus quare cristiani sumus
Explicit: faciatis gaudium et vos feliciter peruenietis ad regnum Amen
AUGUSTINE,
Sermones app., sermo 265,
ed. PL 39:2237–40
16. Fols. 36v–46:
Incipit: Qvam vtilis et neccesaria sit penitencie medicina facillime homines intelligent
Explicit: ego nescio dimitte itaque incertum et tene certum
Final rubric: Explicit sermo siue tractatus beati AUGUSTINI Ipponensis Episcopi de Penitencia
AUGUSTINE,
Sermo 351,
ed. PL 39:1535–49, followed without a break by PS.-AUGUSTINE, sermo 393 (CPL 284), now ascribed to GEOFFREY OF BABIO, ed. PL 39:1713–15. The same combination appears in Oxford, Christ Church MS 91, fols. 219ra–2ra.
17. Fols. 46v–8:
Incipit: Quotquot spiritu dei aguntur hi filij sunt dei Non sunt filij dei si
Explicit: De nullo enim iacente desperandum est sub tali suscitatore etc
Final rubric: Explicit sermo sancti AUGUSTINI de pentiiencia anime
AUGUSTINE,
Sermo 78.9–14,
ed. PL 38:714–20.
18. Fols. 48–54v:
Rubric: Incipit sermo beati AUGUSTINI episcopi de humilitate agende penitencie et de psalmo lmo. scilicet Miserere mei deus
Incipit: Uox penitentis agnoscitur in verbis quibus psallenti respondimus Auerte faciem tuam
Explicit: Rursus ne sperando augeamus datus est dies mortis incertus
AUGUSTINE,
Sermo 352,
ed. PL 39:1549–60.
19. Fols. 54v–6v:
Rubric: Item sermo \eiusdem/ de hoc versu eusdem psalmi Cor mundum crea in me deus
Incipit: Uoce consona et corde concordi pro ipso corde nostro dominum deprecantes
Explicit: Proloquendum ergo nobis fuit ex more et vos facite ex amore
Final rubric: Explicit sermo super versu Cor mundum […] Beati AUGUSTINI
AUGUSTINE,
Sermo 20 PL 38:137–41
20. Fols. 57–69v:
Incipit: \Hic incipit sermo beati CRISOSTOMI probantis et pro themate sermonis habentis Neminem posse ledi ab ⟨......⟩ alio nisi a seipso [in the upper margin, in John Dygon’s hand; see ‘Provenance’] / Eccio [but guide letter ‘s’] quod crassioribus quibusque et presentis vite illecebris inhiantibus Explicit: poterunt ei nocere quia a semetipso non leditur
Final rubric: leditur Explicit liber beati IOHANNIS CRISOSTOMI Neminem [as in the added initial heading]
Quod nemo laeditur CPG 4400, in the Latin translation ascribed to ANNIANUS CELEDENIS, ed. A.-M. Malingrey, ‘Une ancienne version latine du texte de Jean Chrysostome “Quod nemo laeditur…”’, Sacris Erudiri 16 (1965), 320–54.
21. Fols. 70–88:
Incipit: Pictores imitantur arte naturam et colores coloribus permiscentes visibiles corporum depingunt ymagines
Explicit: exhibeamus in hac vita quo possimus invenire requiem sempiternam cum sanctis eius per dominum [form ending]
PS.-CHRYSOSTOM,
'super psalmum 50 diuiditur in duos libros',
[the contents table] (CPG 4544–5), ed. Sigismund Gelenius, Opera D. Joannis Chrysostomi (Basel, 1547), 1:723–51.
22. Fols. 88–91v:
Rubric: Incipit libellus de medicinis spiritualibus contra temptaciones spirituales
Incipit: Sicut ait apostolus sine fide impossibile est placere deo hinc est
Explicit: Quia multe tribulaciones iustorum et de omnibus hijs liberabit eos dominus
Final rubric: Expliciunt remedia que dicuntur contra spirituales temptaciones valde bona
WILLIAM FLETE OESA,
Tractatus de remediis contra temptaciones (Sharpe, no. 2053 [769–70]), unpublished and most easily available in the Middle English translation, first printed by de Worde in 1508 (STC 20875.5) and ed. C. Horstman, Yorkshire Writers, 2 vols. (London, 1895–6), 2:106–23. The text, in its various versions, is described and discussed in Benedict Hackett, Eric Colledge, and Noel Chadwick, ‘William Flete’s “De remediis…”, Mediaeval Studies 26 (1964), 210–30, with references to past studies. Our copy and its peculiarities – it lacks the last chapter of the textus receptus – are discussed at 211, 217–18. 23. Fols. 91v–4v
Rubric: Incipit scala claustralium
Incipit: Cum die quadam corporali manuum labore ocuparer et spiritualis hominis excercicia
Explicit: delicatus est sponsus iste et nobilis
GUIGO II OF GRANDE CHARTREUSE,
Scala paradisi,
ending in ch. 9, ed. PL 40:997–1001.
24. Fols. 94v–6:
Incipit: Mulierem fortem quis inveniet Quanto aurum argerto [sic] est preciosius tanto contemplatiua vita quam actiua
Explicit: querens nullis prosperis nullisque aduersis a recta vite via variatur
Final rubric: Explicit Mulierem fortem Expositum per RICARDUM HAMPOL
ROLLE,
Commentary on 'Mulierum fortem' (Sharpe, no. 1370 [501–3]); for the other four MSS and citation of a sample passage, see Allen, 159–61. 25. Fols. 96–7v:
Incipit: Pater noster O inmensa clemencia o ineffabilis benignitas vilissimum lutum nequissima creatura
Explicit: totaliter te fruar in vita eterna Quod nobis concedat qui [form ending] Amen
‘Brevis exposicio super Pater noster’ ,
[the contents table] (Bloomfield, no. 8637), ed., as PS.-ANSELM OF LUCCA, PL 149:569–76.
26. Fols. 97v–8v:
Rubric: Incipit bonum notabile secundum RICARDUM HAMPOL heremitam quod temptaciones spirituales multum prosunt anime peccatrici
Incipit: Sicut tenebre eius ita et lumen eius hoc est dicere Sicut lux cognicionis
Explicit: non potest in sensacione al \i/ ter reformari
In fact THOMAS FISHLAKE OCarm (Sharpe, no. 1748 [656–7]), translation into Latin of WALTER HILTON, Scala perfeccionis, 2.9, unpublished, with the next item a unique pair of excerpts; see Allen, Writings Ascribed, 351–2. For a full list of MSS, see A Manual of the Writings in Middle English 1050–1500 9 (1993), 3431.
27. Fols. 98v–100v:
Rubric: Aliud notabile dictum per eundem RICARDUM de cautelis diaboli contra timidam conscienciam
Incipit: Paue tu qui timide es consciencie quia spiritus inumundi soliciti sunt
Explicit: [fol. 100] Quia licet impediat | te in vno tempore in alio promouebit
From FISHLAKE’s translation of HILTON, 2.4.
29. Fol. 105v:
Incipit: Notandum quod dubitacio circa articulos fidei que fit pertinaciter et animo deliberato
Explicit: Willielmus in clementinis de summa trinitate et finali causa fere in principio
‘Nota de debilitate proprie ymaginacionis’ (marginal heading),
a single paragraph, unidentified.
30. Fols. 105v–7v:
Rubric: Nota optime CRISOSTOMI 4. libro sentenciarum distinctio 14. de Tarda penitencia et sera
Incipit: Michi crede talis erga homines est pietas dei quod nunquam spreuit penitenciam
Explicit: quanto comunis tanto melius Ideo elemosina melior est ieiuniis
In fact an excerpt from the next item, ‘De reparatione lapsi’ (CPG 4305), in the Latin translation ascribed to ANNIANUS CELEDENSIS, ed. Jean Dumortier, A Theodore, SC 117 (1966), 269/17–275/60. The incipit alludes to the Lombard’s citation, ed. cit. 4.14.5 (2:323/ 21). There are only live lines of text on fol. 107v; fols. 108–12v are blank, 108–9 and 112v bounded.
31. Fols. 113–31
Rubric: [heading in the upper margin, in John Dygon’s hand] Hic incipit liber sancti IOHANNIS CRISOSTOMI de Penitencia De Reparacione lapsi Incipit: Qvis dabit capiti meo aquam et oculis meis fontem lacrimarum
Explicit: si hec libenter relegas ultra medicamenta alia non queras Explicit liber sancti IOHANNIS CRISOSTOMI de penitencia
'De reparatione lapsi' CPG 4305 (as the previous), ed. Dumortier, 257–322.
32. Fols. 131–2v:
Rubric: Incipit sermo beau IOHANNIS CRISOSTOMI de muliere Mala
Incipit: Heu me quid agam Vnde sermonis exordium faciam Quid dicam
Explicit: de muliere mala sermo habitus hic habet finem
Final rubric: Explicit de muliere mala
PS.-CHRYSOSTOM, as in PAUL THE DEACON, Homiliarium, homilia 40, ed. PL 95:1508–14.
33. Fol. 133rv:
Rubric: Incipit epistola sancti MACHARIJ monachi ad filios
Incipit: ⟨I⟩n primis quidem si ceperit homo semetipsum agnoscere cur creatus sit
Explicit: lucrum non potent precepta seruare spiritus sancti
Final rubric: Explicit epistola sancti MACHARIJ monachi
PSEUDO-MACHARIUS,
‘Epistola ad filios Dei’,
ed. PG 34:405–10. A new scribe copies these final three texts, found in the same order in a volume written at Sheen, BodL, MS Lat. th. d.27.
34. Fols. 133v–4:
Incipit: Silencium teneas quia secundum ysodorum est custos omnium virtutum Cum tibi licet loqui
Explicit: a te repellas et studeas benignum et obsequiosum in omnibus exhibere etc
Final rubric: Explicit epistola Aurea
PS.-PETER OF BLOIS,
'Regula aurea’ (Sharpe, no. 1171 [418–23 at 423]), ed. A. I. Doyle, ‘The European Circulation of Three Latin Spiritual Texts’, in Minnis, 129–46 at 142 (replacing PL 207:1125–8), with an important discussion, including references to our MS, 129–33. 35. Fol. 134:
Rubric: Incipiunt secreta IERONIMI
Incipit: Pensandum quippe est cum iam anima peccatrix vinculo carnis incipit absolui
Explicit: motus solumque adipiscende perfeccionis propositum indeclinabiliter custodire Explicit [erased]
Bloomfield, no. 3881, cited from six MSS; in fact PETER DAMIAN, ‘Institutio monialis’, opusculum 50.6, ed. PL 145:737–8. Fol. 134v and the following fol. iii are blank.
Added text:
fol. 134, lower margin:
‘Cum omnes artes et discipline humane sint ingenio reparate et licet manibus palpari queant et oculis preuideri recte tamen a quoquam sine instituentis doctrina nequeant comprehendi […] ’ In John Dygon’s hand 2, cited in full.