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Feasts of the Virgin in the liturgy of the Anglo-Saxon church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Mary Clayton
Mary Clayton
Affiliation:
University College, Dublin
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Extract

By the end of the Anglo-Saxon period six feasts of the Virgin were celebrated in England; this large number represents an honour granted to no other saint. The feasts in question – the Purification, Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple and Conception – did not originate in England, however. Before turning to the English evidence, therefore, it is necessary to consider the background of Marian feasts at Rome and elsewhere in the context of the development of ritual from the seventh century to the eleventh.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anglo-Saxon England , Volume 13 , December 1984 , pp. 209 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

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23 See above, p. 213.

24 Sermo CCLXXXVII: In Natali S.Joannis Baptistae (ed. Patrologia Latina 38, cols. 1301–2, at 1301).

25 Aldhelmi Opera, p. 17, note to line 60: ‘Videmus igitur de festi die Aldhelmi temporibus nondum constitisse in ecclesia.’

26 The manuscript is described by Lowe, E. A., Codices Latini Antiquiores, 12 vols. (Oxford, 1934–1972) vGoogle Scholar, no. 605; the martyrology is edited in Martyrologium Hieronymianum, ed. Rossi, G. B. and Duchesne, L., Acta Sanctorum, Nov. 11.i (Brussels, 1894)Google Scholar. See also Delehaye, H., Commentarius Perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum, Acta Sanctorum, Nov. 11.ii (Brussels, 1931).Google Scholar

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31 Ibid. p. 219.

32 The Martyrology of Tallaght, ed. Best, R. I. and Lawlor, H. J., Henry Bradshaw Soc. 68 (London, 1931)Google Scholar, and Félire Oengusso Celt Dé: the Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, ed. Stokes, W., Henry Bradshaw Soc. 29 (London, 1905).Google Scholar

33 On these texts, see Hennig, J., ‘The Irish Counterparts of the Anglo-Saxon Menologium’, Med. Stud. 14 (1952), 98–105Google Scholar; ‘Studies in the Tradition of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum in Ireland’, Studia Patristica 1 (1957), 104–11Google Scholar; and ‘Studies in the Latin Texts of the Martyrology of Tallaght, of Félire Oengusso and of Félire Hui Gorman’, Proc. of the R. Irish Acad. 69c (1970), 45–112.Google Scholar

34 Martyrology of Tallaght, ed. Best and Lawlor, p. xxiii.

35 Wilson, , Calendar of Willibrord, p. 37.Google Scholar

36 See above, p. 212.

37 Commentarius Perpetutts in Martyrologium Hieronymianum, p. 445.

38 Aldhelmi Opera, p. 16, lines 38–43: ‘During his [i.e. Ine's] reign Bugga, a humble servant of Christ, built (this) new church with its lofty structure, in which holy altars gleam in twelve-fold dedication; moreover, she dedicates the apse to the Virgin. Therefore let us all rejoicing celebrate this present day and let us chant hymns in turn to Christ the Lord!’ (transl. Lapidge and Rosier, Aldhelm: the Poetic Works).

39 Wilson, , Calendar of Willibrord, p. 19.Google Scholar

40 See Jugie, , Le Mort et l' assomption de la Sainte Vierge, pp. 200–1.Google Scholar

41 Wilson, , Calendar of Willibrord, p. 39.Google Scholar

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46 Lowe, , Codices Latini Antiquiores ixGoogle Scholar, no. 1417; Gamber, Codices Liturgici, nos. 1001 and 1101.

47 See Morin, G., ‘Le Plus Ancien Comes ou lectionnaire de l'église romaine’, RB 27 (1910), 41–74Google Scholar, and ‘Liturgie et basiliques de Rome au milieu du viic siécle d'après les Listes d'Evangiles de Würzburg’, RB 28 (1911), 296–330.Google Scholar

48 Klauser, T., Das römische Capitulare Evangeliorum, I: Typen, Liturgiegeschichtliche Quellen und Forschungen 28, 2nd ed. (Münster in Westfalen, 1971), 18.Google Scholar

49 Ibid. p. 35.

50 The text, entitled De Laude Dei in manuscripts, has not been printed, but is discussed by Constantinescu, R., ‘Alcuin et les “libelli precum” de l'époque carolingienne’, Revue d'histoire de la spiritualité 50 (1974), 17–56Google Scholar. Constantinescu knew of only one manuscript of this collection (Bamberg, Stadtbibliothek, Misc. Patr. 17 (B. 2. 10), fols. 133–62), but another, Escorial B. 4. 17, has since been found. Donald Bullough is now preparing a full edition of this important florilegium.

51 Ibid. p. 55.

52 Ibid. p. 42.

53 See above, p. 212.

54 Ed. Wilmart, A., ‘Un Témoin anglo-saxon du Calendrier Métrique d'York’, RB 46 (1934), 41–69Google Scholar. The lines quoted are 9, 17, 47–8 and 51–2 of Wilmart's edition. See also Quentin, , Les Martyrologes historiques, pp. 120–30.Google Scholar

55 Æthelwulf ‘De Abbatibus’, ed. Campbell, A. (Oxford, 1967).Google Scholar

56 Ibid. p. 39, lines 468–9.

57 Ibid. p. 37, lines 460–4.

58 Ibid. p. 36, n. 5.

59 Mayr-Harting, , Coming of Christianity, p. 308Google Scholar, n. 70.

60 Das altenglische Martyrologium, ed. Kotzor, G., 2 vols., Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse n.s. 88 (Munich, 1981)Google Scholar. For the date, see the discussion by Cross, J. E., ‘Legimus in Ecclesiasticis Historiis: a Sermon for All Saints and its Use in Old English Prose’, Traditio 33 (1977), 101–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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62 Medii Ævi Kalendarium, ed. Hampson, R. T., 2 vols. (London, 1841) 1, 397–420Google Scholar: see also Hennig, J., ‘A Critical Study of Hampson's Edition of the Metrical Calendar in Galba A. xviii and Parallels’, Scriptorium 8 (1954), 61–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and McGurk, P., ‘The Metrical Calendar’, An Eleventh-Century Anglo-Saxon Illustrated Miscellany, ed. McGurk, P. et al. , EEMF 20 (Copenhagen, 1983), 44–50.Google Scholar

63 Martyrology of Tallaght, ed. Best and Lawlor, pp. 39–40.

64 Félire Oengusso, ed. Stokes, p. 122.

65 Grosjean, P., ‘Notes d'hagiographie celtique, I: La prétendue fête de la conception de la Sainte Vierge dans les églises celtiques’, AB 61 (1943), 91–5.Google Scholar

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67 English Calendars before A.D. 1100, passim.

68 On these feasts, see Gasquet, F. A. and Bishop, E., The Bosworth Psalter (London, 1908), pp. 43–53Google Scholar; Bishop, E., ‘On the Origins of the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, Liturgica Historica (Oxford, 1918), pp. 238–59Google Scholar; Mildner, F. M., ‘The Immaculate Conception in England up to the Time of John Duns Scotus’, Marianum 1 (1939), 86–99Google Scholar; Davis, H. F., ‘The Origins of Devotion to Our Lady's Immaculate Conception’, Dublin Rev. 228 (1954). 375–92Google Scholar; and S. J. D. Van Dijk, ‘The Origin of the Latin Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, Ibid. pp. 251–67 and 428–42.

69 London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius E. xviii is described by N. R. Ker, Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford, 1957), pp. 298–301; the calendar is printed by Wormald, English Kalendars, no. 12. BL Titus D. xxvii is described Ker, Catalogue, pp. 264–6 and its calendar is ptd Wormald, English Kalendars, no. 9. CCCC 391 is described Ker, Catalogue, pp. 113–15 and its calendar is ptd Wormald, English Kalendars, no. 17.

70 Liturgica Historica, p. 239, n. 1.

71 For the similarity of hands, see Bishop, T. A. M., English Caroline Minuscule (Oxford, 1971), p. 23.Google Scholar

72 Bishop, E., Liturgica Historica, p. 239Google Scholar, and Wormald, , English Kalendars, p. 155.Google Scholar

73 Ker, , Catalogue, p. 298.Google Scholar

74 The Portiforium of St Wuhtan, ed. Hughes, A., Henry Bradshaw Soc. 90 (London, 1960).Google Scholar

75 Davis, ‘The Origins of Devotion’, pp. 377–8.

76 Thurston, H., ‘The Irish Origins of Our Lady's Conception Feast’, The Month n.s. 89 (1904), 449–65Google Scholar; Mildner, ‘The Immaculate Conception’, p. 92; and Southern, R. W., St Anselm and his Biographer (Cambridge, 1963), p. 293Google Scholar. Southern argued that ‘it seems quite possible that the original justification was simply the incongruity of giving John the Baptist, whose conception was widely celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon Church, a liturgical honour denied the Virgin’, but, while this may have been the reason for the introduction of the feast in the East, it is very unlikely to have been true of Anglo-Saxon England.

77 Bishop, , Liturgica Historica, p. 258.Google Scholar

78 MVasiliev, A. A., ‘The Opening Stage of the Anglo-Saxon Immigration to Byzantium in the Eleventh Century’, Annales de l' Institut Kondakov (Seminarium Kondakovianum) 9 (1937), 39–70.Google Scholar

79 Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, ed. Hamilton, N. E. S. A., Rolls Ser. (London, 1870), pp. 415–16.Google Scholar

80 Harley 2892 is ed. Woolley, R. M., The Canterbury Benedictional, Henry Bradshaw Soc. 51 (London, 1917)Google Scholar, and contains benedictions for the feasts of the Presentation and the Conception of Mary (see pp. 116 and 118–19). Le Havre 330 is ed. Turner, D. H., The Missal of the New Minster, Winchester, Henry Bradshaw Soc. 93 (London, 1962)Google Scholar and contains a mass for the feast of the Conception of Mary (see p. 190). This manuscript has not hitherto been regarded as evidence for the introduction of the feast of the Conception, as it was dated by Delisle to 1120 and was, therefore, used as a witness to the re-introduction of the feast in twelfth-century England. Bodley 579 is ed Warren, F. E., The Leofric Missal (Oxford, 1883)Google Scholar and contains a mass for the feast of the Conception (see p. 268). BL Add. 28188 is dated Ker, , Catalogue, p. lviiGoogle Scholar, and Drage, E., ‘Bishop Leofric and the Exeter Cathedral Chapter (1050–1072): a Re-Assessment of the Manuscript Evidence’ (unpubl. D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford Univ., 1978), p. 81Google Scholar. It contains benedictions for the feast of the Conception of Mary, as quoted by Bishop, , Liturgica Historica, p. 240.Google Scholar

81 Drage, ‘Bishop Leofric and the Exeter Cathedral Chapter’, p. 81.

82 Bishop, (Liturgica Historica, p. 239)Google Scholar argues that the Exeter benedictional follows pre-Conquest Winchester usage; see also Hohler, C., ‘Some Service-Books of the later Saxon Church’, Tenth-Century Studies, ed. Parsons, D. (London and Chichester, 1975), pp. 60–83, at 73, and 224Google Scholar, n. 56.

83 See Barlow, F., The English Church 1000–1066, 2nd ed. (London and New York, 1979), pp. 209–10Google Scholar, and Korhammer, P. M., ‘The Origin of the Bosworth Psalter’, ASE 2 (1973), 173–87.Google Scholar

84 ‘The Origin of the Latin Feast of the Conception’, p. 259.

85 Ibid. p. 254.

86 Liturgica Historica, p. 239.

87 Ibid. p. 240.

88 Bishop, , The Bosworth Psalter, p. 64Google Scholar, n. 3.

89 Freeman, E. A., The Norman Conquest, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1867–1879) iv749–52Google Scholar (Appendix P), and Southern, R. W., ‘The English Origins of the “Miracles of the Virgin”’, Med. and Renaissance Stud. 4 (1958), 176–216.Google Scholar

90 Miracula Sanctae Virginis Marine, ed. Dexter, E. F., Univ. of Wisconsin Stud. in the Social Stud. and Histories 12 (Madison, Wisc., 1927), 37–8Google Scholar: ‘At the time when the Normans invaded England, there was a certain abbot, Ælfsige by name, installed in the church of St Augustine, the apostle of the English, in which he himself is buried and the rest of his successors. However, the Danes, hearing that England was subject to the Normans, prepare arms in order to unite to throw them out of England. And when William the mighty duke of the Normans heard this, he summoned the aforementioned abbot Ælfsige and sent him to Denmark, to find out if the report of this event was true or false. And he [the abbot] came in haste to Denmark, in order to carry out the commands of the king and presented himself before the king, bringing to him gifts sent by King William, and he was detained there for some time. After he had spent much time there, he asked and received permission from the king to return home, and setting out on the sea with his companions he flew swiftly over the smooth surface of the sea. And when he was sailing calmly in this way, suddenly a violent storm rose in the sea and, when hope of safety or getting away or escaping disappeared, they turned to God and thus called for help: “O Almighty God, have pity on us in this ordeal lest, devoured by the sea, we are united in eternal punishment.” When they had finished speaking this and many similar prayers, suddenly they saw a person, decorated with episcopal insignia, near the ship. He called Abbot Ælfsige to him and addressed him in these words: “If you wish to escape from the danger of the sea, if you wish to return to your native country safely, promise me in the presence of God that you will solemnly celebrate and observe the feast-day of the conception of the mother of Christ.” Then the abbot said: “How am I to do this or on what day?” The messenger said: “You will celebrate it on the eighth day of December, and will preach wherever you can, that it may be celebrated by everybody.” Ælfsige said: “And what sort of divine service do you command us to use on this feast?” He replied to him: “Let every service which is said at her nativity be said also at her conception. Thus, when her birthday is mentioned at her nativity, let her conception be mentioned in this other celebration.” After the abbot heard this, he reached the English shore with a favourable wind blowing. Soon he made known everything he had seen or heard to whomever he could, and he ordered in the church of Ramsey, over which he had presided, that this feast be solemnly celebrated on 8 December.’

91 Decreta Lanfranci (The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc), ed. Knowles, D. (London, 1951).Google Scholar

92 See Fournée, J., ‘L'Abbaye de Fécamp et les origines du culte de l'Immaculée Conception en Normandie’, L'Abbaye bénédictine de Fécamp, ouvrage scientifique du xiiie centenaire, 3 vols. (Fécamp, 1960) 11, 165–70.Google Scholar

93 On the cult of the Virgin in Anglo-Saxon England, see my ‘The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Saxon England, with Special Reference to the Vernacular Texts’ (unpubl. D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford Univ., 1983).Google Scholar

94 On the Winchester prayers to Mary, see Barré, H., Prieres anciennes de l' Occident a la mère du Sauveur (Paris, 1963), pp. 130–43.Google Scholar

95 I should like to thank Dr Malcolm Godden, Mr Malcolm Parkes, Mr Terry Dolan and Dr Michael Lapidge for their help with this paper.