LEGENDARY

MRJ number
28
College classmark
B.6

    Paper,  11.5 x 8.5, ff. 84, 44 lines to a page.  Late 14th cent.?, clearly written.

    Modern binding.

    Donor T. C. S.

    Collation: 124 - 324 416 (wants 13 - 16).

    This, according to Dr C. Horstmann (Early South English Legendary, E. E. T. S., old series, 87, 1887, p. xxiv), is the only manuscript which contains the Temporale of the S.-E. Legendary complete.  He divides the contents thus: 

 

     1.  Old Testament from Adam to Abacuc.

     2.  a.  Advent and Christmas series:  Joachim and Anna, etc., to the incident of

                   Jesus and the doctors.

          b.  Subsequent life of Christ, according to the Gospels and Sunday lessons.

          c.  Passion, etc., to Pentecost.

               Life of St Longinus, and of Pilate.

               Descensus ad inferos.  Destruction of Jerusalem.

     3.   Movable Feasts.  Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, Holy Thursday.  Letania.

    Dr Horstmann also gives a very full account of the MS. in Altenglische Legenden,  N. F., Heilbronn 1881, pp. li-lvi.

   

    Contents:

        1.  De creacione mundi           .         .         .         .         .         .         .         f.  1

             Bible History from the Creation, ending with Elijah, and

                 Bel and the Dragon.

             Whan it comy{th} in my {th}ou{gh}t. {th}e meche sorwe and synne

             {th}e sorynesse and {th}e wrecchidhede. {th}t  folwith al man kynne.

             Ends f. 21b:

             Wol sone hadde {th}e lyounnys . for drawen hem euerychon

             and {th}us oure lord euere a mong . wrechi{th} hym of his foon.

                          {th}us meche for ward quod R p s f (=Rose).

             ff. 22-24 blank.

        2.  Headed, Isakar Joachym et anna          .          .        .         .         .      f. 25

             Life of the Virgin and of Christ.

             The prophetys tolden sumtyme in here prophessye.

             Ending with the trial of the Apostles before the High Priest.

                  now Ihesus for {th}i swete croys {th}t  {th}u were on do

                  bryng us to {th}e ioyze of heuene. {th}t {th}u bou{gh}ttyst us to.

             Followed by:

             The Legend of Longinus.  Seynt Longius was a blynd kny{gh}t       .      69b

             The Story of Pilate.  Pilat was a lu{th}er man     .         .         .         .        70

             Ending f. 73:  fro {th}t  cursede cas

                                             Amen quod Rose.

        3.  The Harrowing of Hell         .         .         .         .         .         .         .          73

             {th}o oure lord ihesu crist ded was up on {th}e rode.

              Ending f. 79:

              and Ihesu for {th}i grete grace.  hem {th}erto sone sende.  Amen.

              Expl. temporale in Anglicis quod Rose.

              Scribbles: Nostis (or Rosa) mul al.

              79b  blank.

        4.   On the movable Feasts          .         .         .         .         .         .         .      80

              Festis {th}er ben cleped fyue in {th}e yere

              Ending f. 83b:

              {th}e feste of holy {th}rusday. and eke of witsoneday

              in {th}e gospel ho so loki{th} . per hem fynden he may.

             Colophon : five or six words inked over: the last is 'of.'

                Then, not erased,

              Joachym and Anne.

              Below, in red, 'Rose': the words 'is Faire' added later in black.

Manuscript extra information

Negative microfilm in St John's College Library.

O. S. Pickering, 'The temporale narrative of the South English Legendary', Anglia 91 (1973), 425-55.

O. S. Pickering (ed.), The South English ministry and passion, Middle English Texts, 16 (Heidelberg, 1984).

Thomas Liszka, 'The first 'A' redaction of the South English Legendary', Modern Philology 82:4 (1986).

Manfred Görlach, The textual tradition of the South English Legendary (Leeds, 1974), pp. 85-6.

A. McIntosh, Michael Louis Samuels, and Michael Benskin (eds), A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English, vol. 1 (Aberdeen, 1986), p. 117.

Notes and Queries, new series, 19 (1972), 445-8.

3.  C. W. Marx (ed.), The devils Parliament and The harrowing of hell and destruction of Jerusalem, Middle English Texts Series, 25 (Heidelberg, 1993).

Quire 1 (fols. 1-24, with fols. 22-24 blank) contains a poem entitled ' De Creacione Mundi'.  It has been suggested that another (incomplete) copy of this biblical poem is in the Bodleian Library MS Laud. Misc. 62, (last quire in the MS. wrongly bound, as it should come first in the quires arrangement).  The fragment in the Laud MS. starts at a place corresponding to St John's fol. 7v, verse 23.