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The De tonitruis Attributed to Bede: An Early Medieval Treatise on Divination by Thunder Translated from Irish
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 January 2016
Extract
The De tonitruis (or De tonitruis libellus ad Herefridum) attributed to Bede is a short text containing a prologue and four chapters dealing with the meaning of thunder heard (I) in each of the four cardinal directions, (II) in each of the twelve months of the year, (III) on each of the seven days of the week, and (IV) at certain hours of the day and of the night. The text was first published among Bede's works by Noviomagus in Cologne in 1537 and was subsequently reprinted in all editions of the complete works of Bede, including Migne's Patrologia Latina. Charles W. Jones, who was the first to discuss the De tonitruis in detail, convincingly dismissed the attribution to Bede and identified what he thought to be the only extant MS (and also the exemplar used by Noviomagus): Cologne, Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, 102, fols. 49r–52v, copied in Cologne in the first half of the eleventh century.
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References
1 Noviomagus, Johannes, Opuscula complura de temporum ratione, diligenter castigata atque illustrata veteribus quibusdam annotationibus … (Cologne, 1537), sig. CIr–CIIv; Hervagius, Johannes, Opera Bedae Venerabilis Omnia (Basel, 1563, repr. Cologne, 1612 and 1688); Giles, John A., Venerabilis Bedae Opera quae supersunt omnia (London, 1843), 6:343–48; Migne, Jacques-Paul, Patrologia Latina, 90 (Paris, 1850), cols. 609–14.Google Scholar David Juste is mainly responsible for the introduction and the edition and Hilbert Chiu for the translation, but both authors have worked closely on all parts of the article. We thank Charles Burnett for his helpful suggestions, especially regarding the edition and the translation.Google Scholar
2 Jones, Charles W., Bedae Pseudepigrapha: Scientific Writings Falsely Attributed to Bede (Ithaca, NY, 1939), 45–47.Google Scholar
3 On this MS, see Jaffé, Philipp and Wattenbach, Wilhelm, Ecclesiae Metropolitanae Coloniensis codices manuscripti (Berlin, 1874), 39–40; Gattermann, G., Handschriftencensus Rheinland, 3 vols. (Wiesbaden, 1993), 1:632–33 (no. 1066); Glaube und Wissen im Mittelalter: Katalogbuch zur Ausstellung; Die Kölner Dombibliothek, Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum, Köln, 7. August bis 15. November 1998 (Munich, 1998), 313–14 (description by Anton von Euw); and Borst, Arno, Der karolingische Reichskalender und seine Überlieferung bis ins 12. Jahrhundert, 3 vols., MGH, Libri Memoriales 2 (Hanover, 2001), 1:246. The MS is made of two main sections, the first of which (fols. 1–20) was copied in Reichenau or Cologne in the tenth century. The De tonitruis is found inserted between chapters 65 and 66 of Bede's, De temporum ratione (fols. 21r–94r). A digital reproduction of the whole MS is available online ( http://www.ceec.uni-koeln.de/).Google Scholar
4 Flint, Valerie I. J., The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (Oxford, 1991), passim (and 113–14 for a brief discussion on the De tonitruis).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 In the Cologne MS, the text breaks off in the middle of a sentence (see edition below, IV.3, n. 20) at the bottom of fol. 52v, which is the last folio of a quire. Jones, Bedae Pseudepigrapha, 46, believed that the scribe stopped his copy at that point because another scribe had already begun copying the following text on a new quire (fols. 53ff.), but the possibility that a quire is missing between the present fols. 52 and 53 cannot be ruled out.Google Scholar
6 Derolez, René, Runica manuscripta: The English Tradition (Bruges, 1954), 102–6 (date: s. XI/XII); Olsen, Birger Munk, L'étude des auteurs classiques latins aux XIe et XIIe siècles (Paris, 1985), 2:516 (date: s. XI); Springer, Carl P. E., The Manuscripts of Sedulius: A Provisional Handlist (Philadelphia, 1995), 101–2 (date: s. XIex); Bergmann, Rolf and Stricker, Stefanie, Katalog der althochdeutschen und altsächsischen Glossenhandschriften (Berlin, 2005), 6:1684–87 (date: s. XI, first third).Google Scholar
7 Sudhoff, Karl, “Codex medicus Hertensis (Nr. 192): Handschriftstudie,” Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin 10 (1917): 265–313, at 312–13. The MS is also described in Agusto Beccaria, I codici di medicina del periodo presalernito (secolo IX, X e XI) (Rome, 1956), 208–13 (no. 55).Google Scholar
8 Kristeller, Paul O., Latin Manuscript books Before 1600 , 4th ed. (New York, 1993), 475.Google Scholar
9 Fiess, Mathieu and Grandjean, Mathieu, Bibliothèque de l'Université de Liège: Catalogue des manuscrits (Liège, 1875), 264–67. Fols. 62r–70v, which also contain excerpts from Bede's, De natura rerum and other prognostica, have been studied and partially edited by Isabelle Draelants, “Astrologie et divination dans le MS 77 Bibl. Univ. Liège, ff. 62r–70v,” in Actes du XLIXe Congrès de la Fédération des cercles d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de Belgique, 18–21 aoÛt 1988 (Namur, 1990), 319–35 (at 321–27 for the De tonitruis).Google Scholar
10 Podlaha, Antonin, Soupis Rukopisu Knihovny Metropolitní Kapitoly Pražské (Prague, 1922), 2:279–80. The colophon (fol. 195r) reads: “Explicit liber de iudicio tonitrui per manus (sic) Petri de Dwekaczowicz, scriptus anno domini MoCCCCoXXIo feria secunda carnisprivii in festo Sancti Blasii, benedicatur trinitas gloriosa.” Petrus of Dwekaczowicz was rector of the Tyn Church in Prague in 1423.Google Scholar
11 Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum Medii Aevi Latinorum qui in Bibliotheca Jagellonica Cracoviae asservantur (Wroclaw, 1996), 6:242–53. The name “Kyramidis” is obviously a derivative from the title of the hermetic work Kyranides, which is also preserved in the Cracow MS (for a discussion on this attribution, see Láng, Benedek, Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe [University Park, PA, 2008], 63). We are grateful to Benedek Láng for providing information about the MS.Google Scholar
12 Jones, So, Bedae Pseudepigrapha (n. 2 above), 45; Draelants, , “Astrologie et divination,” 322–23; and Flint, , Rise of Magic, 113–14. Jones himself followed an earlier claim made by Fabricius, Johann Albert (1668–1736) in his Bibliotheca Latina mediae et intimae Aetatis, and reported by Migne in a note to his edition of the De tonitruis (PL 90: 609n): “‘Libellus de Tonitruis, ad Herefridum, quem Patrem venerandum appellat, translatus ex Graeco, fortasse Joan. Laurentii Philadelphiensis Lydi…. Sic Fabricius in sua bibliotheca mediae et intimae aetatis….” Lydus's Greek text is printed, with an introduction and a Latin translation by Hase, C. B., in Bekker, Immanuel, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae 21 (Bonn, 1837), 273–402, and was more recently edited by Wachsmuth, Curt, Ioannis Laurentii Lydi liber de ostentis (Leipzig, 1897, orig. publ. 1863), 54–62. Hase, and Wachsmuth, also believed that the De tonitruis was a translation of the De ostentis (see n. 15 below).Google Scholar
13 Liuzza, Roy M., “What the Thunder Said: Anglo-Saxon Brontologies and the Problem of Sources,” Review of English Studies , n.s. 55 (2004): 1–23, at 9. The De ostentis contains three brontologia based on (1) the twelve months, i.e., the position of the sun in the twelve signs of the zodiac (chaps. 21–26); (2) the thirty lunar days of each month (chaps. 27–38); and (3) the position of the moon in the twelve signs (chaps. 39–41). No parallel in content can be found with the De tonitruis. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14 Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 14.Google Scholar
15 The editor of the printed version (or its model) remarked that something was missing in both places: cf. “aliquid utrobique deesse constat” added immediately after the first “sermone” (see apparatus of the prologue, n. 7 below). Hase, alluding to the De tonitruis in his introduction to the edition of Johannes Lydus (see n. 12 above), did not hesitate to fill in the gap by saying (p. xiii): “quo in loco pro verbis ex sermone scribe ex Graeco, sive ex Graeco sermone,” which prompted Wachsmuth (Ioannis Laurentii Lydi, p. xl) to go even one step further: “Libellus de tonitruis … translatus, ut scriptor ipse ait in praefatione, ex sermone Graeco in Latinum.” Google Scholar
16 Sudhoff, , “Codex medicus Hertensis,” 312, transcribed only §§1–2 of the prologue.Google Scholar
17 Insular brontologia have been studied in detail and edited by Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said” and, more recently, by Chardonnens, László S., Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 900–1100: Study and Texts (Leiden, 2007), 247–69. Earlier studies (with partial editions) include Förster, Max, “Die Kleinliteratur des Aberglaubens im Altenglischen,” Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 110 (1903): 346–58, at 347–52; and idem, “Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen Volkskunde,” Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 120 (1908): 43–52.Google Scholar
18
All these versions are edited by Liuzza and Chardonnens (see previous note), with the exception of Vatican, BAV, Pal. lat. 235. This MS is of unknown origin, but it bears clear Insular connections: it is a composite MS, of which fols. 36–41 form a quire containing, inter alia, a collection of eight prognostics, all of which are also found in London, BL, Cott. Tib. A.III (as well as in London, BL, Cott. Tit. D.XXVI, for seven of them), and a fragment of Aldhelm of Malmesbury's De laudibus uirginitatis (see also
Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,”
14
n. 47). The brontologion contained in this MS (=II2) reads as follows: “Mense Ian<uarii> si tonitru (sic) fuerit uel sonuerit, uentos ualidos et habundantiam frugum et bellum eo anno significat. Feb<ruarii>, multorum hominum maxime diuitum morbum sig<nificat>. Mart<ii>, uentos ualidos, frugum habundantiam et lites in populo sig<nificat>. Apr<ilis>, iocundum et fructiferum annum et iniquorum mortem sig<nificat>. Mai, frugum inopiam et famem in eo anno sig<nificat>. Iun<ii>, habundantiam frugum et uarias infirmitates sig<nificat>. Iul<ii>, in eo anno bona erit annona, sed peccorum foetus peribunt. Aug<usti>, rei publ<ice> prospera sig<nificat> et multi homines egrotabunt. Sept<embris>, habundantiam frugum et occisionem potentum sig<nificat>. Oct<obris>, uentum ualidum, annone in agris et fructuum in arboribus inopiam sig<nificat>. Nou<embris>, abundantiam frugum et iocunditatem eo anno sig<nificat>. Decemb<ris>, annonae habundantiam, pacem et concordiam in populo sign<ificat>.” This text was to become the most popular brontologion in the Middle Ages; see, for further MSS, Draelants, , “Astrologie et divination,” 324–25 and
Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 13; and, for editions from later MSS, Förster, , “Die Kleinliteratur,” 351, and
Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 12–14. si tonitru (sic) fuerit uel sonuerit, uentos ualidos et habundantiam frugum et bellum eo anno significat. Feb
19 See Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 8–12, with edition and translation of II1, p. 8 and n. 28. II1 is also edited in Chardonnens, , Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 265.Google Scholar
20 Canonical hours are privileged. The De tonitruis gives predictions for eleven hours, starting with the hours of the day (the first, third, sixth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth), then of the night (dusk, first vigil, middle of the night, twilight, and dawn). IV1 lists fourteen hours, first of the night (dusk, first, third, and fifth hours, cockcrow, daybreak) and then of the day (sunrise, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth hours, followed by an additional prediction for the “middle of the night”). IV2 gives eight hours only, of the night (dusk, midnight, daybreak) and of the day (third, sixth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth hours). Google Scholar
21 For the Insular versions, we quote the English translations of Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 17 n. 55 (IV1) and 19 n. 62 (IV2). The Latin and Old English texts are edited ibid., 16–17 (IV1) and 18–19 (IV2), and in Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 252 (IV2) and 254–56 (IV1).Google Scholar
22 In IV1, thunder at the ninth hour of the day means “changes in nations and clashing of arms and new encounters of people,” but it should be noted that this version includes the additional seventh and eighth hours, both indicating abundance: “fruitfulness and great abundance” (seventh hour) and “abundance of bread and oil and destruction among herds and four-footed animals” (eighth hour).Google Scholar
23 The Old English texts are edited in Liuzza, , “What the Thunder Said,” 15 (III) and 18–19 (I and III) — both with a modern English translation in footnotes — and Chardonnens, , Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 260–61 (III) and 269 (I). Texts I and III are also found in Latin in the later MS Cambridge, Univ. Lib., Gg.I.i (ca. 1400), fol. 394v (ed. Förster, “Beiträge,” 47 and 48), as well as in two early continental MSS (see n. 31 below). It should be noted that a shorter version of De tonitruis, III, is extant in a MS copied in England in the fourteenth century: London, BL, Royal 12.C.XII, fol. 86v (ed. Förster, , “Beiträge,” 46–47). The text does not have the lengthy introduction of each paragraph, but the prognostics themselves are literally identical to those of the De tonitruis. For example, the first two paragraphs read: “Si tonitrus sonuerit die dominica, clericorum atque peruersorum et sanctimonialium ingentem mortalitatem significat. Si die Lune tonitrus sonuerit, turmas mulierum esse morituras et eclipsim passures significat” (compare with De tonitruis, III. 1–2). The fact that this MS is a late copy makes it difficult to determine its exact relationship with the De tonitruis. Google Scholar
24 E.g., Labat, René, Un calendrier babylonien des travaux des signes et des mois: Séries Iqqur îpuš (Paris, 1965), 172–83 (edition and translation of seven brontologia).Google Scholar
25 De ostentis , 27–38 (ed. Bekker, , Corpus Scriptorum [n. 12 above], 306–31). See Pigagnol, André, “Sur le calendrier brontoscopique de Nigidius Figulus,” in Studies in Roman Economics and Social History in Honor of A. C. Johnson (Princeton, 1951), 79–87; and Turfa, Jean MacIntosh, “The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar,” in The Religion of the Etruscans , ed. de Grummond, Nancy Thomson and Simon, Erik (Austin, 2006), 173–90 (with an English translation).Google Scholar
26 In a fragment found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from the first century BC or AD. See study, edition, and translation in Wise, Michael O., “Thunder in Gemini: An Aramaic Brontologion (4Q318) from Qumran,” in Thunder in Gemini, and Other Essays on the History, Language and Literature of Second Temple Palestine (Sheffield, 1994), 13–50; and Greenfield, Jonas C. and Sokoloff, Michael, “An Astrological Text from Qumran (4Q318) and Reflections on Some Zodiacal Names,” Revue de Qumran 16 (1995): 507–27.Google Scholar
27 Besides Johannes Lydus's text, numerous versions are noted or edited in Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum (hereafter CCAG), ed. Cumont, Franz et al., 20 vols. (Brussels, 1898–1953), 3:25–29 and 50–52; 4:41, 128–31, and 170–73; 7:163–67 and 226–30; 8.3:123–25, 166–71, and 193–97; 9.2:120–26; 10:58–62, 129–32, and 140–42; 11.1:145–46, and 155–57; 12:10 and 53.Google Scholar
28 Furlani, Giuseppe, “Di una raccolta di trattati astrologici in lingua siriaca,” Rivista degli Studi Orientali 7 (1916): 885–89, at 888. See also following note.Google Scholar
29 Furlani, Giuseppe, “Eine Sammlung astrologischer Abhandlungen in arabischer Sprache,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 33 (1921): 157–68 (three versions noted on p. 161 and one on p. 167, all of them translated from Syriac); ben Choaïb, Abdesselam Bekr, Abou, “La divination par le tonnerre d'après le ms. marocain intitulé Er-Ra'adiya,” Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie 4 (1913): 90–99.Google Scholar
30 Leicht, Reimund, Astrologumena Judaica: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der astrologischen Literatur der Juden (Tübingen, 2006), esp. 77–78, 112, 115, 120, 122, 124, 136, 140, 154, 156, 166, 170, 171, and 174 (see also index, under “Brontologien” and “Donner”).Google Scholar
31 “Vox tonitrui ab oriente mortem regis uel bellum ostendit. Vox tonitrui a dexteram morte<m> ouium et uitulorum et uirorum et iuuenum ostendit…. De tonitruo in diebus. Si fuerit tonitruus in dominico die, mors principis magni uel episcopi <si> semel discentur; si fuerit tonitruus bis, multi peribunt cum principe. Si fuerit tonit<ruus> in secunda feria — Si in VII die, principis laicos peribunt” (Florence, BML, Ashburnham 82). The text is very close to that of Cambridge, Univ. Lib., Gg.I.i, edited by Förster, (see n. 23 above).+ouium+et+uitulorum+et+uirorum+et+iuuenum+ostendit….+De+tonitruo+in+diebus.+Si+fuerit+tonitruus+in+dominico+die,+mors+principis+magni+uel+episcopi++semel+discentur;+si+fuerit+tonitruus+bis,+multi+peribunt+cum+principe.+Si+fuerit+tonit+in+secunda+feria+—+Si+in+VII+die,+principis+laicos+peribunt”+(Florence,+BML,+Ashburnham+82).+The+text+is+very+close+to+that+of+Cambridge,+Univ.+Lib.,+Gg.I.i,+edited+by+Förster,+(see+n.+23+above).>Google Scholar
32 Sudhoff, , “Codex medicus Hertensis” (n. 7 above), 311–12, gives the following transcription: “De tonitruis. Dum fuerint tonitrua in unoquoque mense et uis agnoscere quid erit in eodem anno, lege in his XII capitulis que denominaui in istis XII mensibus et sicut ibidem scriptum est ita erit in ipso anno. De mense Octobre. In prima die mensis Octobris si fuerit uox tonitrui audita erit mortalitas magna in ipso anno. Et si in secunda die erit occisio magna — De Septembre … si stella ceciderit … si magnus strepitus … si flauerit uentus cum puluere … si Solis splendor sit roseus … si terre motus … Si stella ceciderit in die in quacumque parte laetitiam habebit rex et uistoriam [sic] super inimicos et si glacies fuerit grando erit.” Google Scholar
33 Furlani, , “Eine Sammlung,” 161 (corresponds to the first of the three brontologia noted there).Google Scholar
34 Fols. 89v–92r, under the title “Excerptio de dialogo quem habuit Nemroth Chaldeus cum Ioanton discipulo suo” (Sudhoff, , “Codex medicus Hertensis,” 309). On the Liber Nemroth, see Juste, David, “On the Date of the Liber Nemroth,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 67 (2004): 255–57 and bibliography cited there.Google Scholar
35 “Dicta cuiusdam. Si in A<riete> intonauerit, Luna flagellabitur et herbae habundabunt et angustia erit filiis hominum — Si in Aquarium pluuiae magnae erunt et error erit in filiis hominum et uentus qui eo anno uenerit portabit tussim filiis hominum et scabiem et una pars hominum incipiunt contendere et illa contentio magna erit in seculo” (see Sudhoff, , “Codex medicus Hertensis,” 313).+intonauerit,+Luna+flagellabitur+et+herbae+habundabunt+et+angustia+erit+filiis+hominum+—+Si+in+Aquarium+pluuiae+magnae+erunt+et+error+erit+in+filiis+hominum+et+uentus+qui+eo+anno+uenerit+portabit+tussim+filiis+hominum+et+scabiem+et+una+pars+hominum+incipiunt+contendere+et+illa+contentio+magna+erit+in+seculo”+(see+Sudhoff,+,+“Codex+medicus+Hertensis,”+313).>Google Scholar
36 “Transitus Lunae per signa. In Ariete si tonitruum fuerit, Luna laborabit, herbe multe….” The MS dates from the ninth or tenth century, but our text was copied by a scribe who added (in the margins and blank spaces) various notes, including other prognostics and the annals of Sens for the years 937–48. For Greek brontologia based upon the position of the moon in the signs, see n. 13 above (Johannes Lydus) and CCAG (n. 27 above), 7:163–65; 8.3:166–67 and 169–71; 10:60–62.Google Scholar
37 Hermetis Trismegisti De sex rerum principiis , ed. Lucentini, Paolo and Delp, Mark D., CCM 142 (Turnhout, 2006), 183–84.Google Scholar
38 “Incipit tonitruale. Si in Arietem tonuerit, sicut Egiptii scribunt, magna loca impedita circa negotium erunt, unumquemque fugere circa [?] terras suas significat, frumenti uilitas erit; sicut Babilonii scribunt, hoc ipsum significat, turbari aliquos per prouincias ut fugae presidium mandent et post aliquantum etiam post reuerti significat; sicut Eudoxius scribit, turba aliqua hominum a Barbaris peribit circa orientem fames erit …” (Vatican, BAV, Reg. lat. 567, fol. 18r). The Greek text is edited in CCAG (n. 27 above), 8.3:195–97.Google Scholar
39 For the Herten MS, see Beccaria, , I codici (n. 7 above), 209; and for the Trier MS, Derolez, , Runica manuscripta (n. 6 above), 103.Google Scholar
40 The only known Irish prognostic text is the Somniale Danielis (dream interpretation) extant in a fourteenth-century MS, see Best, Richard I., “An Irish Version of the Somniale Danielis,” in Féil-sgribhinn Eóin Mhic Néill: Essays and Studies Presented to Professor Eoin MacNeill , ed. Ryan, John (Dublin, 1940), 3–17.Google Scholar
41 See apparatus of that chapter, nn. 10, 13, 18, 20, 27, 34, 42, 58, 64, 69, 76, 86. Those additions may be compared to the text of Vatican, BAV, Pal. lat. 235 (n. 18 above).Google Scholar Title: om. CLT Bede H Incipit liber Kyramidis de iudiciis tonitruorum Y De tonitruis libellus ad Herefridum Z .Google Scholar Prologue: C[H]YZ om. LT 1 Incipit prologus] om. Z 2 uestrae] corr. ex nostrae C 3 Herenfride] Herrenfride H Heremfride Y Herefride Z 4 latratibus] HYZ latrantibus C 5 inbutum] imbutum Z 6 Scotticho] H om. CZ Scotico Y 7 sermone] aliquid utrobique deesse constat add. Z 8 uerterem] HY uertere CZ 9 studui] corr. ex perstudui C 10 floccipendi] Z floccipendere C uilipendere Y 11 corrodere] YZ corrodare C 12 rabido] YZ rabidi C 13 clippeos] clipeos Z 14 Scotticho] Y (Scotico) om. CZ 15 illaesum] YZ ill. C 16 carissime] charissime Z Google Scholar
17 Vale … Explicit prologus] om. YZ 18 Incipiunt capitula … Expliciunt capitula] De tonitruo quatuor climatum terre, De duodecim mensium tonitruum, De tonitru sex feriarum septimane, De tonitru horarum diei ac noctis Y om. Z .Google Scholar I. C[H]LYZ om. T 1 De tonitru IIIIor climatum terrae] L ΓNKΓΠΓT NAPPATγω ΔH ΠPHCAΓΓΓC KAΓMA (= “Incipit narratio de presagiis clima”) C om. Y I. De tonitruis in quatuor orbis partes Z 2 Capitulum I] om. LZ 3 Anatholeois] L om. CY Ab Oriente Z 4 plaga] caeli tractus plaga L 5 fuerint tonitrua] LYZ fuerit in tonitrua C 6 humani sanguinis] LYZ humanis C 7 tonitrua praesignant] praesignant tonitrua Z 8 Capitulum II: De Disin tonitru] Desin L om. Y Ab Occidente Z 9 subtilitatem corr. ex sublimitatem C 10 rerumque praesagia agiliter] praesagialiterque L 11 Adae] LZ Adhe C Ade Y 12 Dissis] Desis L dysis Y om. Z 13 dixerunt] dixere L 14 Capitulum III: De tonitru Mesembrian] Messenbrian L om. Y A Meridie Z 15 sagacis] sagacis argumentum L 16 aiunt] ut aiunt L 17 pelagi] plagae illius L 18 anni] in anni L 19 praefigurant] significant add. supra lineam L 20 Capitulum IIII: De tonitru Arctois] Artogiis L om. Y A Septentrione Z 21 causas] Z hominum C omnia LY 22 peccatorum] om. L Google Scholar
23 Explicit … terrae] om. LYZ .Google Scholar II. C[H]LTYZ 1 Incipiunt praesagia tonitruum XII mensium] CT Incipiunt praesagia tonitruorum de duodecim mensibus L om. Y II. Praesagia pro mensibus Z 2 De tonitru Ianuarii mensis] LT om. CY De Ianuario Z 3 Si] om. LTY (v. n. 5 infra) 4 repperit] reperit Z 5 tonitrua] si tonitrua L tonitrua si T 6 peccora] pecora LZ 7 esse] maxime esse LTY 8 morituros] morituras L 9 siluarumque] syluarumque Z 10 infructuositatemue] uel uentos ualidos et habundantiam frugum et bellum eo tempore uenturum add. L vel infructuositatem Z 11 De tonitru Februarii mensis] LT (mensis om. L) om. CY De Februario Z 12 aurem pertinent quia ipsam] conj. aurum pertinent qui ipsum C auram pertinent quia ipsam L aerem nocent et pertinent quia ipsum T aurum uel aurium pertinent quia ipsum Y aurem pertinent qui ipsam Z 13 perturbant] uel multorum hominum mortem et maxime diuitum significant add. L 14 De tonitru Martii mensis] LT (mensis om. L) om. CY De Martio Z 15 designant praesagia] praesagia designant L 16 dicunt] dicitur L 17 tremendi iudicii] iudicii tremendi T 18 iudicii] uel uentos ualidos et frugum copiam et lites in proelio add. L 19 De tonitru Aprilis mensis] LT (Aprili T mensis om. L) om. CY De Aprili Z 20 periculosum] uel etiam huuidum (?) et fructiferum annum et iniquorum mortem add. L 21 De tonitru Maii mensis] LT (Mai T mensis om. L) om. CY De Maio Z 22 tonuerint] intonuerint LTY 23 illi] sicut illi T 24 rerum praesagia subtiliter] rerum subtiliter praesagia LY subtiliter rerum praesagia T 25 notauerunt] notuerunt L Google Scholar
26 anno in ipso] in ipso anno L 27 esse uenturam significare dixerunt] aliquando frugum inopiam et famen eo anno significare dixerunt L uenturam esse declarant T 28 De tonitru Iunii mensis] LT (Iuni T mensis om. L) om. CY De Iunio Z 29 in] om. T 30 in] om. T 31 alicuius] illius Z 32 glauciconas] glaucicomas LT 33 uenturam] uenturas Z 34 tonitrua] habundantiam quoque frugum et uarias infirmitates add. L 35 De tonitru Iulii mensis] LT (tonitruo L) om. CY De Iulio Z 36 Iulii mensis] Iulio in mense L 37 quocumque] quocumque intonant LTY quocunque Z 38 anni in illius curriculo] om. T 39 in illius] illius in L 40 imminere mortis] mortis imminere L 41 mortis periculum] periculum mortis T 42 infructuositatem] influctuositatem T sed et eo anno bona annona erit et pecorum saetus perituros add. L 43 De tonitru Augusti mensis] LT (tonitruo L) om. CY De Augusto Z 44 Reppertores] Repertores T 45 quoque magnarum] magnarum quoque T 46 auctores] om. L 47 philosophiae] philosophicae LT 48 pertranctandis] LTYZ pertracdistandis C 49 spectaculi] Z spectuculi C pectusculi L om. T spectibus Y 50 latibulis] om. T cubilatibus Y 51 cuiuslibet] quibuslibet T 52 intonuerint] tonuerint T 53 atque] et L 54 anno in ipso] ipso in anno L 55 esse] om. T 56 fortiter] om. L 57 morituros] moriturum L 58 dixerunt] assesunt LT sed et rei publicae prospera significant et multi homines egrotabunt add. L 59 De tonitru Septembris mensis] LT (mensis Septembris T) om. CY De Septembri Z 60 inuestigauerunt] inuestigarunt L 61 Septembri] Septembrio L 62 in ipsius curriculo] TYZ in ipsius circulo C illius in curriculo L 63 mystice] mistice T 64 designant] habundantiam quoque frugum et occisionem potentum significant add. L Google Scholar
65 De tonitru Octobris mensis] LT (mensis Octobris T) om. CY De Octobri Z 66 praesignent] L presignant C designent T om. Y significent Z 67 ipsius] illius Z 68 circulum] curriculum T 69 significare] annonae insuper et fructus arborum significare aiunt L 70 De tonitru mensis Nouembris] LT (mensis om. L) om. CY De Nouembri Z 71 si] conj. om. CLTYZ 72 quocumque] quocunque Z 73 resonuerint] intonuerint L sonuerint TY tonuerint Z 74 fissicam] phisicam LT om. Y physicam Z 75 ouium] omnium Z 76 sterilitatemque] atque habundantiam frugum et iocunditatem add. L 77 inminere] imminere LZ 78 De tonitru mensis Decembris] LT (tonitruo L) om. CY De Decembri Z 79 rerum] om. T 80 spirituali] spiritualium L spiritali T 81 tonitrua] LTY tonitruum CZ 82 nihil] nichil L 83 nociuum malumue] nocii maliue L 84 ab illis] om. L 85 uidentur esse] esse uidentur L 86 esse] utpote annonae habundantiam, pacem et concordiam in proelio significantia add. L 87 Expliciunt … mensium] om. LYZ 88 mensium] XII mensium T. .Google Scholar III. C[H]LTYZ 1 Exordiuntur uero praefigurationes tonitruum feriarum] Incipiunt praefigurationes tonitruorum L om. Y III. De septem feriis Z 2 feriarum] VI feriarum T 3 De tonitruo I feriae] Prima feria L om. TY De Dominico die Z 4 dominica] in die Dominico Z 5 tonuerint] intonuerint L 6 inuestigauerunt] inuestigarunt LT 7 asserunt] asserunt quod T 8 feminarum] feminarumque T 9 mortalitatem] LTYZ mortaliter C 10 imminere] inminere T11 ipsa tonitrua] om. L 12 designant] designent T Google Scholar
13 De tonitru II feriae] T om. CY Secunda feria L De Lunae die Z 14 intellegentiae] intelligentiae LZ 15 omnia ac praefigurationes rerum] praefigurationes rerum ac omnia mistica L praefigurationes rerum T 16 ea cognoscere] LT eam cognoscere C agnoscere Y eam agnoscere Z 17 in] om. L 18 morituros] morituras LTY 19 frugesque eclipsin passuras] TYZ (eclipsim Z) frugesque eclipsin passuros C frugumque eclipsin homines passuros L 20 ipsa tonitrua] om. T 21 De tonitru III feriae] T om. CY Feria III L De Martis die Z 22 nimiae] LTYZ minimae C 23 fisica] phisica LT physica Z 24 mystice] mystica L mistice T 25 significent] LTZ significant CY 26 sic] sic quoque L 27 in] om. L 28 cuiuslibet] quilibet T 29 circulo] in curriculo L 30 copiosamque] copiosissimamque Z 31 superficiei] om. L 32 esse uenturam] uenturam esse L 33 mistice tonitrua] tonitrua ipsa mystice L mystice tonitrua Z 34 IIII Feriae] T om. CY Feria IIII L De Mercurii die Z 35 sollerti] sollertis T solerti Z 36 cura] om. T 37 subducti de tonitruum diei Mercurii] subductis tonitruorum L de tonitruum die Mercurii T 38 ac] et L 39 nam ut dicunt] om. L 40 eleuent] LTZ eleuant CY 41 scortas] scorta L 42 praesignare] significare T 43 nulli est dubitandum] om. L nemo dubitet T 44 V feriae] T om. CY Feria V L De Iouis die Z 45 in] om. Z 46 indesinenter sanctae in thesauris] in thesauris sanctae L indesinenter sanctae Z 47 philosophiae] LTYZ philosophicae C 48 rimare ac] indesinenter rimantes L rimari ac T .Google Scholar
49 tonitruum] om. L 50 asserunt] om. L 51 namque] quia L namque quia T 52 quotiescumque] quotiescunque Z 53 in die intonat] intonat in die T 54 multiplicem] multiplice T 55 habundantiam] abundantiam Z 56 et superbam] T superbam CYZ superbamque L 57 cuneos ac turmas suas alueos] TY cunctos ac turmas suas alueos C cuneos ac turmas suas L cunctos alueos ac turmas suas Z 58 fluminum] fluminis T 59 tonitrua] tonitruat T 60 De tonitru VI feriae] T om. C Feria VI L De Veneris die Z 61 didascalorum] LT didasculorum CYZ 62 matris] corr. ex maris C 63 ubera sunt] sinus L 64 lactati] laetati T 65 accutissima] accuratissimo T 66 philosophicae] philosophicaeque Z 67 ornata ingenia de praesagis tonitruum die Veneris ita nancti sunt] de praesagiis tonitruorum investigare conati sunt ornata ingenia L 68 nancti sunt] conati sunt L (v. var. antec.) nancta sunt Y statuunt Z 69 etenim] om. L 70 contigerint] LTYZ contigerit C 71 regis] regum L 72 stragem ociter] occisionem L ociter T 73 peccora multa] pecora multa L multa pecora Z 74 esse] om. T 75 praesignant] praefigurant L 76 De tonitru VII feriae] T om. CY Feria septima L De Sabbati die Z 77 rerum naturas atque praesagia intellectuali speculatione subtiliter cernere] intellectualique speculatione rerum naturas atque praesagia subtiliter L 78 naturas] LTYZ naturasque C 79 sagacissimi eorum] sagacissimarum T 80 conati] cernere conati L 81 Saturni diei tonitruum omnibus praefigurationibus quae] tonitruorum praefigurationibus Saturni diei L 82 tonitruum omnibus praefigurationibus] tonitru hominibus praefigurauerunt quod T 83 taliter] quae taliter CLTYZ 84 si enim ut aiunt] aiunt enim si L 85 tonuerintque] om. L tonueritque T 86 haud] LZ haut TY aut C 87 aut] TYZ haud C om. L .Google Scholar
88 humani generis] humano generi L 89 designant] finiunt praefigurationes tonitruum VII feriarum add. T. .Google Scholar IV. C[H]LYT om. Z 1 Inchoant praedemonstrationes tonitruum horarum] T om. CY Inchoant praedemonstrationes tonitruorum per diuersas horas L 2 praeceptorum] om. L 3 temporis ipsius curriculo] HTY temporibus ipsius articulo C curriculo ipsius temporis L 4 hominem] LTY homine C 5 sacris] HLTY sanctis C 6 perseuerabit] HTY perseuerabat C perseuerauerit L 7 esse] om. L 8 praemonstrant] praemonstrent T 9 Tertiae horae] T om. CY De hora III L 10 sudore] stridore T 11 naturasue] naturae suae L natura suae T 12 intellegere] intelligere L 13 igniti ingenii] ignitam L igniti T ingenii igniti Y 14 si] sub T 15 surrexerint] HLTY sonuerint C 16 septiformem sancti spiritus gratiam triquadri telluris orbem] sancti spirite (!) gratiam quadrifidi orbis tellurem L septiformem sancti spiritus gratiam tripliciter quadrifidum telluris orbem T 17 benedicturam sanctificaturam] benedicturum sanctificaturum T 18 Sextae horae] T om. CY De VI hora L 19 Si] Si in L 20 doctorum] finis textus in C 21 in] om. L 22 philosophicorum … conati sunt] L doctoris (ill. T) philosophiae multiformem diversorum scematum floribus comptam cepere doctrinam ac (om. Y) intellectuali rationabilique consideratione TY 23 repperit] T reperit L respexerit Y 24 tonitrua] L si tonitrua TY 25 fore uenturam] T seuituram fore L fore Y 26 significant] L significare dixerunt TY Google Scholar
27 Nonae horae] T De hora nona L om. Y 28 Praeclarorum sublimiumque] T Praeclara sublimium L Preclarum sublimiumque Y 29 intellectualis] TY intellectualisque L 30 tonitru] TY tonitruo L 31 conicere est conata] Y concinit L conicere sunt conati T 32 tonitrua] LY tonuerit uel si tonitrua T 33 mistice] T mystice L misce Y 34 Decimae horae] T De hora X L om. Y 35 tonitru] TY tonitruo L 36 inter cetera hominibus stupenda miracula ita prolocuntur dicentes: hora decima si tonitrua] TY (undecima T) sic aiunt si tonitrua horae decimae L 37 tempestatemque surrexerint] TY (tempestatem Y) eruperint L 38 populi furoris pauorisque a Deo demontrant] L populi praefigurare furoris pauorisque missi a Deo T furoris pauorisque a Deo Y 39 De ultima hora diei] L om. TY 40 ingentem tempestatem] LY ingentes tempestates T 41 regis] uel mortalitatem add. L 42 diluculi] HLY diluculo T 43 regis natiuitatem] HT natiuitatem regis LY .Google Scholar
42 We have adopted as literal a translation as possible, as we are keen to reflect the rather convoluted nature of the author's Latin and his choice of words. Some subordinate clauses have been translated into English within brackets rather than commas where there is some risk that the meaning could be misunderstood. If a Latin word is repeatedly used, we have translated it consistently into the same English word except where this renders the translation meaningless or misleading.Google Scholar
43 We translate “agiliter” (and likewise “agilitas” and “agilis”) as “with agility,” although the English word does not have exactly the same connotation.Google Scholar
44 “Incolas pelagi”: it is unclear whether this refers to the people living by the sea (as the scribe of L understood it; see I.3, n. 17) or literally the inhabitants of the sea, i.e., fish (compare with II.8 and III.5 below).Google Scholar
45 The meaning of this sentence is unclear and the many variants in the MSS suggest that the scribes had difficulties with it (see II.2, n. 12).Google Scholar
46 “In spectaculi latibulis” = lit. “in the hidden places of the spectacle,” but the Latin is problematic here as well (see II.8, n. 49).Google Scholar
47 As with before (see n. 44 above), it is unclear if “incolarum pelagi” refers to the people living by the sea or literally the inhabitants of the sea, i.e., fish.Google Scholar
48 I.e., the earth. This is a possible reference to a tripartite world map.Google Scholar