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Continental Associations for the Ancrene Riwle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

John H. Fisher*
Affiliation:
New York University New York 3

Extract

In 1940 Miss Hope Emily Allen called attention to the relationship between The Tretyse of Loue and the Ancrene Riwle.1 The Tretyse of Loue, one of the six books printed at Caxton's press between the time of Caxton's death (c. 1491) and his successor Wynkyn de Worde's first book under his own name (Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection, 1494),2 is a compilation of ten devotional tracts, from the first and longest of which it takes its name. This first piece, (1) The Tretyse of Loue proper, is an expansion and adaptation of Part vil of the Riwle,3 dealing with the nature and virtue of spiritual love. The (2) Meditation on the Hours of the Cross and (3) Remedies Against the Seven Deadly Sins belong with the Tretyse by virtue of their similar dedication to a very wealthy lady4 and by the borrowings from the Riwle found in the latter. After an intermediate conclusion which may mark the end of the original compilation, there follow seven shorter tracts on various subjects. They are (4) The Three Signs of True Love and Friendship, three pages of meditations on Christ's love; (5) The Branches of the Appletree, a mystical treatise which, because of its significance in connection with the origin and provenance of the compilation, is the particular subject of this discussion; (6) The Seven Signs of Jesus' Love; (7) An Exhortation by Faith, five pages of moral exhortation; (8) Nine Articles of Master Albert of Cologne; (9) Diverse Sayings of Saint Paul and Others; and (10) The Six Masters on Tribulation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1949

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References

1 “Wynkyn de Worde and a Second French Compilation from the ‘Ancren Riwle’ with a Description of the First”, Essays and Studies in Honor of Carleton Brown (New York), pp. 182–219. I am now engaged in preparing an edition of the Tretyse of Loue for the Early English Text Society, and all references to the text are to the page proof of this forthcoming edition.

2 On de Worde's relation to Caxton's press and the publication of these interim works, including the Tretyse, see H. R. Plomer, Wynkyn de Worde and His Contemporaries (London 1925), esp. pp. 45–47.

3 James Morton, ed. The Ancren Riwle, Camden Society Publications no. 57 (London, 1853), “Of Luue”, pp. 384–411. A new transcription of Nero A. xiv, correcting many errors in Morton's edition, has been made for the EETS by J. A. Herbert.

4 The lady, whose identification would offer valuable evidence as to the date and provenance of the source of the Tretyse, cannot be identified from the vague references in the text. For Miss Allen's speculations see loc. cit., p. 189.

5 For discussions of the MSS and textual traditions of the Nine Articles and Six Masters see Miss Allen's Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle (New York, 1927), pp. 317 ff.; W. Dolch, Die Verbreilung oberlandischer Mystikerwerke im Niederldndischen (Leipzig diss., 1909), pp. 13 ff.

6 Allen, “Wynkyn de Worde, etc.”, p. 189.

7 As G. C. Macaulay in the only close textual study of the Riwle MSS—“The Ancren Riwle”, MLR, ix (1914), 149—pointed out, the Nero text shows considerable French influence when compared with other English versions. The vocabulary of the borrowings from the Riwle in the Tretyse shows an even more marked French influence. A brief survey of this linguistic evidence will be included in my introduction to the edition.

8 All of the MSS of the Ancrene Riwle are Insular, and none of the borrowings noted by Miss Allen are of Continental origin—“Some Fourteenth Century Borrowings from ‘Ancren Riwle’”, MLR, xvm (1923), 1–8; “Further Borrowings from'Ancren Riwle'”, MLR xxiv (1929), 1–15.

9 Allen, “Wynkyn de Worde, etc.”, p. 187. Since 1940 Miss Allen has been led by her further study of the influence of the Riwle as well as by the Continental associations here described to qualify this statement in discussion and correspondence.

10 G. Doutrepont, La Littérature Française à la cour des Ducs de Bourgogne (Paris, 1909), p. 234; H. L. D. Ward, Catalogue of Romances in the British Museum (London, 1883), I, 377

11 Allen, “Wynkyn de Worde, etc.”, p. 189.

12 The MS. is described by J. Van Den Gheyn, Catalogue des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale Belgique (Brussels, 1903), iii, 401–402. Through kindness of the MLA Committee on Photographic Reproductions I have been able to secure a film of the MS., and my transcription of the parallel materials will appear as an appendix to the edition of the Tretyse.

13 See further discussion of the mystical element with a note listing various Latin and vernacular schemes making use of seven steps in the introduction to Karl Christ's edition of the French text, “Le Livre du Paumier”, Mittelallerliche Handschriften, Festgabe Hermann Degering (Leipzig, 1928), pp. 57–82, esp. p. 58.

14 See the summary and analysis of the Latin and Germanic MSS in Philip Strauch, “Palma Contemplationis”, Beitrage zur Geschicle der Deutschen Sprache und Literature, XLVIII (1923–24), 338–342.1 designate by the general terms “German and Netherlandish” versions in which Strauch distinguishes some twelve dialects of the Saar, Rhineland, and Low Countries. The incunabula versions are 12 and 27 in Strauch's list.

15 The following list of MSS is fuller than those of Christ, pp. 59–60, and Paul Meyer, Bulletin de la société des Anciens Textes (1885), p. 70; (1886), p. 43. Asterisks indicate those which are not found in the other lists. The letters are arbitrarily assigned for convenience in future reference.

A—MS. Français 2292, Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, f. 236 (see above).

*B—MS. Bib. Nat. fr. 17115, f. clxxxv, “Des vii. brainches de contemplation” (contains perhaps only the second part of the allegory); 13 cent., Cat. Bib. Nat. St. Germain, H. Omont (Paris, 1898), ii, 15.

*C—MS. Bib. du Roi 974, iii, f. 123–127; attached to Friar Laurence's La Somme le Roi; 15 cent., MSS Bib. du Roi, P. Paris (Paris, 1848), vn, 295.

D—MS. Bib. Nat. fr. 940,3, f. 123; attached to Friar Laurence; 15 cent., Bib. Impériale, Bib. Nat. (Paris, 1868), i, 161.

*E—MS. Arsenal 2109, 10, f. 152–154; 15 cent., MSS Bib. Arsenal, Series 1, H. Martin (Paris, 1886), II, 415.

F—MS. Arsenal 937, f. 117 (.incipit does not appear to be our text, but Meyer, loc. cit. [1886], p. 43, indicates that it is) 13 cent., MSS Arsenal, Series 1, ii, 181.

G—MS. Bib. Nat. fr. 1802,12, f. 112; 14cent.,Bib. Imp. (Paris, 1868), 1,316.

H—MS. Metz 535, f. 1 (MS. is fragmentary at beginning and commences with second part of the allegory); end 13 or beginning 14 cent. See description with incipit and explicit in Meyer, loc. cit. (1886), pp. 43 ff.

I—MS. Lyon 722, f. 114; end 13 cent. See description with incipit and explicit, Meyer, loc. cit. (1885), p. 70.

J—MS. Arsenal 21111, f. 41v; in a collection of sermons attributed to Maurice de Sully; 13 cent., MSS Arsenal, Series 1, II, 417.

*K—MS. Royal E. xii, 12, f. 139b; 14 cent., Brit. Mus. Royal MSS, Warner and Gilson (London, 1921), ii, 198.

L—MS. Bib. Nat. fr., 6447, f. 362°; c. 1275. See P. Meyer, Notices et Extraits, xxxv, pt. 2, 507.

M—MS. Arsenal 2058,2, f. 67–69; 13 cent., MSS Arsenal, Series 1, ii, 390–391. N—MS. Arsenal 3167,3, f. 52–55; 14 cent., MSS Arsenal, Series l,iii,274–275. O—MS. Mazarine 788 (1088), f. 189v; 13 cent., MSS Bib. Mazarine, A. Moliner (Paris, 1885), i, 381.

P—MS. Berlin Lat. Oct. 264, f. 82v-85v; 13 cent. This is the basis for Christ's edition; see note 13.

16 The first part of the Erfurt Amploniana (see below) is printed by Christ, pp. 80–81, and the second by Strauch, pp. 367–373. Strauch also prints another Latin version of the second part of the allegory (pp. 373–375).

17 See the references in Strauch's list. Those which I have examined are noted below.

18 Christ, op. cit. This is an excellent edition of one of the earliest MSS (P in note 15). However, Christ collated his text only with the Erfurt Amploniana Latin, and a definitive edition is still needed.

19 Dolch, p. 33; Strauch, p. 345.

20 By Strauch, pp. 346 ff.; esp. p. 359. 21 Ibid., pp. 346–348; 359.

22 The best examples are the versions in the St. George Sermons—Reider, Der sogennan-ten St. Georgener Prediger (Berlin, 1908), pp. 260 ff.—and in MS. Zurich c76/290—W. Wackerna.ge.l,AltdeutschePredigtenu,ndGebete (Basel, 1876), pp. 134–149. In these the whole tree grows from the root of steadfast faith, “rehte vnd vest globe”, and the trunk is willing poverty, “willecliche armvot”—Wackernagel, pp. 134–135.

23 See Strauch, pp. 360–363, for detailed comparisons of the names of the branches, birds, and flowers in the various versions.

24 Ibid., pp. 349–359.

25 Printed by Bormann, “Konrad von Wessenburg”, Neues Jahrbuch der berlinische Gesellschaft fur deutsche Sprache und Althertumskunde (Hagens Germania), ii (1837), 303–308.

26 Dolch, p. 33, n. 2.

27 Strauch, p. 346.

28 Christ, p. 67. The fact that Christ did not make a general study of the French versions makes it impossible to draw any final conclusions on this point. For instance, the opening lines of MS. Lyon 722 (I in note 15) have the seven fruits gathered on the tree of the cross and omit any mention of a tree of penance. The passage with which the extant portion of MS. Metz 535 (H) begins lacks two lines also omitted in the Erfurt and Berlin texts, and it has a slightly different conclusion after the Ego flos campi verse. Others of the French versions end, like the Erfurt, with Benedictusfructus. As it happens, none of these variations, gleaned from a study of the MS catalogs and descriptions, affects Christ's general conclusions as to the superiority of the Latin text, but a close study of the versions might well produce such evidence. Certainly the complete version is much more widespread and uniform in French than in either Latin or Germanic.

29 See Strauch, p. 342, n. 1.

30 First identified by Strauch, p. 344, n. 1. Most of the borrowings and parallels are recorded in the notes to Christ's edition, and I shall record a few more in my notes to the Tretyse of Loue. A passage somewhat like this on the four fruits of the body, but probably indebted to the same source, is to be found in “pe Spore of Loue” (a free translation of St. Edmund's Speculum), Hortsmann, Minor Poems of the Vernon Manuscript, EETS, OS, 98, p. 286.

31 The Vitis is printed among Bernard's works in Migne's Palrologia Lalina (this passage, 184, col. 673 ff.), and among Bonaventura's on the basis of later research in his Opera Omnia (Quaracchi, 1898), vii.

32 Christ, p. 68.

33 These variants are taken from the glossary in Karl Bartsch's Chrestomathie de l'Ancien Français (Leipzig, 1927).

MS.LatinFrench
Cpalmampaulmier
Epalmampalmier
Ipalmampaumier
Jpalmampaumier
Lpalmampalmier

MS.LatinFrench
N—-palme
0—-paumier
A—-pommier

The Latin but not the French is given in the descriptions of MSS. D, F, G, and K. The description of B does not have the incipit. H is fragmentary at the beginning, but Meyer's notice has the word spelled paumiers in the text. M presents a special problem. Its incipit reads, “Ascendant in palmam… Je prendrai le paume…” Since the Latin is included, there should be no confusion, but the French suggests pomme. Perhaps it means a palm leaf or frond, as in the “victor's palm.”

36 Tretyse of Loue, pp. 114,115,118; MS. 2292, ff., 240,240', 242v

37 Strauch, p. 372: “calidorem partem aeris…” Christ, p. 78: “la plus caude partie de l'air …” MS. 2292, f. 242: “la plus chaulde partie de tout la terre…” Tretyse of Loue, p. 117:“themoosthotepartof althelonde…”

38 Tretyse of Loue, p. 110; MS. 2292, f. 237v. Christ's French translates nardus, violete, p. 72.

39 Internal evidence would seem to indicate that (4) The Three Signs of True Love and Friendship might be related to the original compilation of the Tretyse proper.

40 As an example of such an “agency” Miss Allen suggests the Greenwich house of the Observant Friars founded in 1482 by Edward IV apparently at the instigation of his sister, Margaret of York—Allen, “Wynkyn de Worde, etc.”, p. 188 and n. 11.