F-w36h: Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda aurea in the Southern Middle Dutch translation (Gulden legende), chapter on the dedication of a church
The leaf is identified with high confidence as part of the Southern Middle Dutch translation of the Legenda aurea, the collection of saints' lives and feast-day expositions compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the thirteenth century. The translation was made about 1357, is attributed to the Carthusian Petrus Naghel, and is known as the Gulden legende. The leaf carries part of its last chapter, on the feast of the dedication of a church ("Vander wiinghen der kerken"): the end of the passage on the canonical hours, the list of sacraments, and the explanation of the rite by which an altar is consecrated, as far as the seven sprinklings with holy water. The catalogue suggested a translation of Guillelmus Duranti's Rationale divinorum officiorum; the subject is the same, but the wording and order are those of the Legenda aurea chapter.
The Fragmentarium record describes Leuven, KU Leuven Bibliotheken Bijzondere Collecties, Ms. 1268: one trimmed parchment leaf, fol. 179, 230 x 160 mm, Low Countries, in a hybrid script with red decoration, dated 1451-1500, under the title "Van der kerken" (taken from the red running title). Its summary reads: "A yet unidentified Middle Dutch text about the church and its rites. The text is possibly a translation of Guillelmus Duranti senior, Rationale divinorum officiorum." The physical description fits. The text is not Duranti's. The catalogue date has not been reassessed.
- Identification: identified, high. Three separate stretches of text, in both columns of the recto and in both columns of the verso, agree in wording and in sequence with the Gulden legende as edited from Brussels, KBR, 15140, including the announcement of the second part of the chapter ("Ten anderen sal men besien hoemense consacreert"), the six acts of the altar consecration in order, the four kinds of charity with the citation of Genesis 28, and the seven "ways" of Christ. Duranti's Rationale was considered because the catalogue proposed it and because its first book also explains the consecration of an altar. It is not the containing work: on the leaf the altar rite follows directly on the canonical hours with a quotation from Bernard and on a list of the sacraments ending in marriage, which is the order of the Legenda aurea chapter, and the Dutch agrees sentence by sentence with the Dutch Legenda aurea. A search of the Corpus Corporum Latin library for the passage on fourfold charity and the four corners of the altar returned the Legenda aurea and a later compiler who copies it, not Duranti; the Rationale itself was not collated at length. The leaf differs from the Brussels manuscript in dialect (western, Flemish spellings) and in a few single words, listed below. The other Middle Dutch works with a section on the church, and the separate Northern Middle Dutch translation of the Legenda aurea, were not compared.
- Transcription: image-only first reading and source-assisted reading. A research reader reread, with the edition at hand, recto column b (all legible lines), the upper twelve lines of recto column a, the last four lines of verso column a and the upper strip of verso column b. The first reading already had most of recto column b; the source corrected a handful of words (for example "weghe" for its "uutghi.."). The lower part of recto column a, the lower strip of verso column b and the last lines of verso column b rest on the first reading and are not used as evidence. The dark central area of the verso is unread. Accuracy has not been measured.
- Verification: a research reader compared the manuscript images with the text of W. Kuiper's online pre-publication of the critical edition, which is a transcription of one manuscript (Brussels, KBR, 15140) with notes; no images of that or any other manuscript of the translation were seen, and the printed Brepols edition was not consulted. The coordinating model read the first nine lines of recto column b on the manuscript image (native box 1480,780,3750,2800, from "daermense met uerdriuen en sal" to "want eerst maect de bisscop .iiij. crucen uan wijnwatere") and compared them with the research reader's quotation of the edition text (printed page 775, Brussels ff. 398vb-399ra), not with the edition file itself. Gaps: most of the verso is too dark to read; three lines on the fold of recto column b were not read; the comparison is with one manuscript's text only. No human review.
Textual evidence
Manuscript images: fol. 179r (canvas 0) and fol. 179v (canvas 1), each 4012 x 5652. Native-pixel boxes: recto column a, upper part, 100,780,1300,2800; recto column b, 1480,780,3750,2800 (upper half) and 1480,2900,3750,5652 (lower half); verso column a, last four lines, 500,4900,2600,5652; verso column b, upper strip, 3350,250,4012,2800. In the manuscript column a slash marks a line break, parentheses a resolved abbreviation, two dots text lost, square brackets letters supplied, a question mark an uncertain reading.
| Ms. 1268 | Gulden legende, Brussels 15140 (ed. Kuiper) |
|---|---|
| recto a: ..h zweet [e]nde sijn graf / ..en te wa[c]htene . ende / ..esen wa[s] so boodscepte / ..gheren pays / ..me so lou.. wi gode te / .. Hoe wi [de] loue sijn scul/..ldene sei[t] bernaert / ..als wi off[er]en sullen off.. / ..s loofs .. | so sweette Cristus bloedech sweet, ende sijn graf was bevolen te wachtenne, ende doe Hi verresen was, so boodscaepte Hi te deser uren sinen jongheren pais. Ende hieromme so loven wi Gode in deser uren. Hoe wi de love sijn sculdech te gheldenne seit Bernaert: «Bruedere, als wi offeren selen offerande des loofs |
| recto b, 1-2: daermense met uerdriuen en sal . en(de) / dat doet men bi huwelike | om dat mense niet verdriven en sal. Ende dat doet men in huweleke. |
| 2-7: Ten an/deren sal men besien hoemense con/sacreert . maer eerst sullen wijt sie(n) / uanden outare . ende ten anderen / uander kerke(n) . In deser consecratie(n) / uande(n) outare . so sijn vele dinghen | Ten anderen sal men besien hoe mense consacreert. Maer ierst selen wijt sien vanden outare ende ten anderen vander kerken. In deser consacracien vanden outare so sijn vele dinghen eens. |
| 8-15: want eerst maect de bisscop .iiij. / crucen uan wijnwat(er)e ten .iiij. ho../..en uande(n) outare . Ende ten an/dere(n) so gaet hi .vij. waerf om den / outare . ten derden bespeit me(n)ne(?) / met wijnwat(er)e mette(n) quispele . ten / vierde(n) so bernent hi daer up wie/rooc . ten vijfsten so besalft hine .. | Want irst maect de bisscop IIII crucen van wijnwatere ten IIII horecken vanden outaere. Ende ten anderen so gaet hi VII werf omden outaer. Ten derden besprait menne met wijnwatere VII werven metten quispele. Ten vierden so berrent hi daer op wieroec. Ten vijfsten so besalft hine met kersme. |
| lower half: ..uoudighe(?) caritate . dats dat [si] / gode minne(n) en(de) hem selue(n) en(de) ha/re vriende . ende hare viande . en(de) / dit beteekenen de .iiij. crucen die / de bisscop in maect met wijnwa/t(er)e ten .iiij. houcke(n) uande(n) outare . / Ende uan desen .iiij. houcke(n) uan / caritaten so lese(n) wi(?) in genesi / .xxviij. cap(itu)lo(?) . Du sils wer/den ghespreedt ten oosten ten wes/ten ten noorde(n) ende te(n) zuden . | viervoudeghe caritate, dats dat si Gode minnen ende hen selven ende hare vriende ende hare viande. Ende dit beteeckenen de IIII crucen die de bisscop maect met wijnwatere ten IIII horecken vanden outare. Ende van desen IIII horecken van caritaten so leest men in Genesi XXVIII: «Du sels werden ghespreit ten oosten, ten westen, ten noorden ende ten zuden.» |
| last lines: mette(n) cruce . Jof om te beteeken.. / dat wi in .iiij. maniere(n) xpc cruce / sijn sculdich te draghene dats in / therte bi ghepeinse inde(n) mont | verlooste metten cruce. Oft om te beteeckenne dat wi in IIII manieren Cristus cruce sijn sculdech te draghenne, dats in therte bi ghepeise, inden mont bi biechten |
| verso a, end: diene cruuste(n) . Jof biden .vij. om/ganghe(n) sijn beteekent xpc .vij. / weghe . Deerste was uande(n) heme/le in marie(n) lichame . Dand.. | diene cruusten. Oft biden VII omganghen sijn beteeckent Cristus VII weghe. Dierste was vanden hemele in Marien lichame. Dander |
| verso b, line beginnings: ..e seuend.. / ..mel [paraph] T.. / ..ebbene t.. / ..n . ende d.. / ..sprecne(?) / de .vij. b.. / ..n de .vij. / Deers.. / ..s Dand.. / ..assie . D.. / was D.. / ..nt met | De sevende vanden voorboeghe inden hemel. Ten derden es hi sculdech te hebbenne therdincken van Cristus passien. Ende dats beteeckent biden bespaersenne vanden wijnwatere. Want de VII besparsenne vanden watere sijn de VII uutstortinghen van Cristus bloede. Dierste was doe Hi besneden was. Dander doe Hi beedde vore sine passie. De derde doe Hi ghegheselt was. De vierde doe Hi ghecroont wert met dorennen. |
Differences. The leaf is written in a western form of Middle Dutch (up, houcken, Jof, sullen, eerst) where the Brussels manuscript has Brabantine forms (op, horecken, Oft, selen, irst). In wording: "daermense met uerdriuen en sal" against "om dat mense niet verdriven en sal"; "bi huwelike" against "in huweleke"; no "eens" after "vele dinghen" as far as the line end can be read; the third act of the consecration appears to lack "VII werven"; "in maect" against "maect"; "lesen wi" (uncertain) against "leest men", with "capitulo" after the chapter number. One sentence before the fold of recto column b, beginning with a word followed by "maect .iiij. crucen", seems to be worded differently from the edition's "Oft men maect IIII crucen inden IIII horecken daeromme" but is too rubbed to state. These are the variants of a copy; they do not show how the leaf relates to the other manuscripts of the translation.
The Latin behind the passage, in the Corpus Corporum text of the Legenda aurea: "Secundo uidendum est qualiter consecratur, sed primo de altari, secundo de ipsa ecclesia. Ad consecrationem autem altaris plura concurrunt. Primo enim quatuor cruces de aqua benedicta in quatuor cornibus altaris configurantur, secundo ipsum altare septies circuitur, tertio aqua benedicta cum ysopo septies aspergitur".
Source. W. Kuiper, pre-publication of the critical edition of the summer part ("Zomerstuk") of the Middle Dutch Legenda aurea from Brussels, KBR, 15140, PDF in the University of Amsterdam repository (record), chapter "Vander wiinghen der kerken" [175], printed pages 774-776, Brussels ff. 398vb-399va; read as the text of the PDF. Its notes cite the Latin from Maggioni's edition. The printed edition is A. Berteloot, G. Claassens and W. Kuiper, Petrus Naghel, Gulden legende. De Middelnederlandse vertaling van de 'Legenda aurea' door Petrus Naghel, uitgegeven naar handschrift Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 15140, Turnhout: Brepols, of which volume II contains this chapter; it was not seen. The attribution of the translation to Petrus Naghel is that of the edition's title and of current scholarship and is not tested here; "Southern Middle Dutch translation of about 1357" is the neutral description.
The leaf, other items in the images, and limits
The leaf has two columns. It was reused as a cover or wrapper: turn-ins, mitred corners with cut-outs and a horizontal fold are visible, and the verso, which was the outside, is darkened. On the recto, column a survives as its right-hand part and a narrow strip, which join to give continuous text, and column b is nearly complete. On the verso, column a is legible only in the bottom turn-in and column b survives as strips. The text runs recto a, recto b, verso a, verso b in the order of the chapter, so the catalogue's recto and verso are correct.
The red running title reads "der kerken" on the recto and "Van" and "der .." on the verso; the rest is faded. A red number at the upper right of the recto reads ".C.l..viij." with a hole in the middle. Whether it is an old folio number or a chapter number, and how it relates to the catalogue's "fol. 179", is not settled. Two or three lines in a darker, more cursive ink at the top of the verso strip were not read.
It is not established whether this leaf is already recorded among the witnesses of the translation: the Bibliotheca Neerlandica Manuscripta could not be queried and the introduction to the printed edition was not seen. No claim is made about the date or origin of the leaf, about its place among the manuscripts of the translation, about other leaves from the same book, or about its value as a witness.