We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2024
And þan at þe biddyng of pylate, þat he sholde be scourgete & beten.’ oure lord was despoilete, bonden to a pilere, & harde & sore scourgete, & so stant he nakede before hem alle. […] Aftere he was vnbonden fro þat pilere. þey laden him so beten & nakede about þe house sekynge after hese cloþes, þat were cast in diuerse places of hem þat despoiled him. And here haue compassion of him in so grete colde quaking & tremelyng, for as þe gospeller witnesseþ it was þanne harde colde. And when he wolde haue done on hees cloþes. sume of þoo moste wikkede wiþstoden & comene to pylate & seide, Lorde, he þis made him self a kynge. Wherefore let vs cloþe him & corone him as a kynge. And þen þei token an olde silken mantelle of redde, & kast on him, & maden a garlande of sharpe þornes, & þrist vpon his hede & putten in his hande a rede as for a sceptre, & alle he paciently suffreþ, & after when þei knelede & saluede him in scorne, seyinge heile kynge of Jewes he helde his pees & spake not.
Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.
Cited as ‘the most important literary version of the life of Christ in English before modern times’, Nicholas Love's fifteenth-century Mirrour of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ was a cornerstone of religious writing in English during the Middle Ages. Detailing Christ's Passion, the extract above describes his persecution before Pontius Pilate, a punishment in which clothing plays a key role. Christ's nakedness obviates his vulnerability as, stripped to be beaten, his mortified body is left unprotected from the ‘harde colde’. In ‘scorne’ of his claims to be the Son of God, the Romans dress him in a cruel parody of kingship's earthly trappings, draping him in red silk and crowning him with thorns and a reed sceptre. They invest Christ ironically with these tradi-tional symbols of kingship in brutal recognition of his lack of worth, marking their refusal to accept his divine status.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
