Cam/Corpus/357
NAME
357.
DESCRIPTION
Paper (Volume I) and parchment (Volume II); iv + 268 + i (Volume I) + i + 13 + i (Volume II); 270 x 190; fifteenth century (late) or sixteenth century (early) (Volume I) fourteenth century (late) (Volume II).
CONTENTS
Volume I: ff. 1–256v: John Skelton's Diodori Siculi Historiarum Priscarum, a translation of Poggio Bracciolini's partial Latin translation of Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca historica (IPMEP 457), ending imperfectly (f. 7: Blank); f. 257r: Latin note in a seventeenth-century hand; f. 257v: Blank; ff. 258–268: Blank. Volume II: ff. 1r–13v: Thomas Wimbledon's sermon, Redde racionem villicationis tue (IPMEP 560); f. ii (at the beginning of I) and endleaf i (at the end of II): Part of a thirteenth-century Latin concordance.
PARALLEL TRADITIONS
This well-known sermon, preached by Thomas Wimbledon, apparently composed in 1387 and delivered at Paul's Cross in 1387 and/or 1388 and 1389, perhaps at Quinquagesima, survives in nineteen manuscripts and twenty-two early printed texts from 1540? to 1731–32. There are four Latin versions of the sermon: Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College 334, ff. 10v–18r; Cambridge University Library Ii.3.8, ff. 147r–151r, with omissions according to Knight 1967:20; London, British Library, Harley 331, ff. 15r–18r; Oxford, Trinity College 42, ff. 47r–56r.
For other texts of the sermon, either full or partial, see the individual entries for the following: Cam/Magd/Pepys 2125; Cam/SidSus/74; Cam/Trinity/B.14.38; Dub/Trinity/155; Dur/Hunter 15/2; Glouc/22; Helmingham/LJ.II.2; Huntington/HM 502; Leeds/BC 501; Linc/50; BL/Add 37677; BL/Harl 2398; BL/Royal 18.A.xvii; BL/Royal 18.B.xxiii; Bodl/Eng th f.39; Bodl/Hatton 57; Bodl/Laud 524; Oxf/Univ/97.
COMMENTS
The manuscript comprises two volumes bound together: the first volume dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, and the second, containing Wimbledon, from the late fourteenth. According to Salter and Edwards 1956–57:I, ix, the ownership inscription of the first volume that occurs on ff. 1r, 13r, 82v, and 225r is that of Robert Pen, a Gentleman of the Chapel under Henry VII and Henry VIII, who died in 1538.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
James 1912:II, 190–91; Salter and Edwards 1956–57:I, ix–xv.
Sermon Description: Cam/Corpus/357/001
AUTHOR
Thomas Wimbledon.
THEME
Redde racionem villicacionis [Lc 16:2].
LENGTH
Vol. II, 1r–13v.
INCIPIT
Redde racionem villicacionis tue, Luce sextem decimo. My dere ferendis, 3e schullen vndirstonde țat Crist Ihesus, auctour and doctour of trewțe, in his book of țe gospel liknyng țe kyngdom of heuene to an householdere, seiț on țis manere, 'Lik is țe kyngdom of heuene to an housholdynge man țat wente out first on țe morwe to hire werkemen into his vine. Also aboute țe țridde, sixte, nyențe, and eleuene houris he wente out and fond men stondynge ydel and sey to hem, "Go 3ee into my vyne and țat ri3t is I wole 3eue 3ow." Whanne țe day was ago, he cleped his styward [and heet hym] to 3eue eche man a peny.'
EXPLICIT
But ioye and ioye and ioye to hem țat beț saued: ioye in God, ioye in hemself, ioye in oțre țat beț saued. Also ioye for her trauayle is brou3t to so gracious an ende; ioye for țey beț scaped peyne of helle; ioye for țe endeles blisse țat țey haue in sy3t of God. Cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen.
SUMMARY
[The gospel of Mt 20:1–9, the parable of the workers in the vineyard, is given in an abbreviated English version.] The householder is Christ and he calls people at different times of the world: in the time of nature, of the old law, and of grace; he calls people at different ages: childhood, manhood, and old age. [In each case examples are given of biblical figures called at different times and ages.] As the vine needs to be tended in different ways, so it is with the Church where there are three different offices: priests cut away the empty branches of sin with the sword of their tongues; knights prevent wrong-doing, defend God's law and the teachers of God's law, and preserve the land from enemies; and labourers toil physically for themselves and others. These estates are mutually dependent. [1v] As Avicenna says, while one horse or one sheep could survive alone in the world, one person could not because he is not self-sufficient. And therefore, says this clerk, it is necessary that some are ploughmen, some bakers [and so on], and that one craft should never despise another. He who neither prays nor preaches like a priest, fights like a knight nor works like a labourer will not be rewarded with a penny (the joy of heaven), [2r] but will be sent to hell. [An extensive list of biblical quotations in English from the Old Testament and the New Testament follows specifying how the various members of the estates should behave.]
[The theme is translated.] God warns everyone by way of a parable that they will have to give a reckoning at the last judgement; [the preacher will show how God's vengeance is to be avoided.]
For 'oure proces of țis first partie of țis sermoun' it should be known that there are three bailiffs who will be called to judgement: priests, temporal lords, [2v] and individual Christians. Each will answer three questions: (1) how have you entered into your office?; (2) how have you ruled?; (3) how have you lived? [These form the divisions and subdivisions of the sermon.]
(1) (1)The first question addressed to a prelate will be: how have you entered into your office? — by truth or simony, God or the devil, grace or money, the flesh or the spirit? Priests should examine their consciences: did they take orders to work for God's law or to be rich? [3r] Men direct their sons to civil law or the king's court rather than to philosophy or divinity because they trust that such occupations will mean worldly esteem. As St John Chrysostom says, mothers love their children's bodies but despise their souls. It is clear that priests enter the Church for the sake of worldly wealth. When were pride, envy, wrath, and covetousness as great as they are now? [3v] Those who cannot rule themselves or others should therefore be careful when told to give a reckoning of how they have entered. (2) Prelates will then be asked: how have you ruled — as a shepherd or a hired man, a father or a wolf? 'Trowest țu not țanne țat țu ne shalt be disalowid [overlooked] of God țat țu hast dispendid in fedynge of fatte palfreies, of hondes, of hawkes, and, 3if it so be țat is worst of alle, on lecherous wommen?' [4r] (3) The third question is: how have you lived — as a priest or a layman, a man or a beast? A hard judgement [4v] will befall those who have not entered properly, a harder one for those who have not ruled properly, and the hardest for those who have not lived properly.
(2) The second bailiff who will be asked to account for himself are kings, princes, mayors, sheriffs, and justices; and they will be asked the same three questions. First (1) how have you entered — to help people destroy falsehood or for the desire of gain or worldly honour? [5r] It is good that communities are not led by fools or rumour-mongers because, no matter how high they are, they will have to give account to someone higher. (2) The second question is: how have you ruled? What abuse there is among law officers nowadays! If a great man pleads a case against a poor man to get what he has, every officer will see to it that the rich man gets what he wants, but if it is the other way around, there will be so many delays that for lack of money the poor man will have to abandon his plea. Sheriffs and bailiffs will return poor men's writs with 'tarde venit', unless they are bribed. (3) The third question is: how have you lived. [5v] A man asked Socrates why he laughed. He said it was because he saw great thieves lead a little thief towards the gallows. Is he the greater thief who steals a man's house and land or he who steals a sheep or a calf out of genuine need? Whoever has to judge will also have to make their own reckoning at the time of judgement.
(3) The third bailiff will be every Christian who will have to give an account. (1) The first question will be: how have you entered? Those who have gained worldly goods by extortion, plunder, usury or deceit will need to beware. The punishment for covetousness may be seen in a story from Zechariah [Zach 5:5–11]. The angel showed Zechariah a pot with a woman sitting in the middle of it. He then covered the mouth of the pot with a lead weight. The prophet then saw two women [6r] flying out and they lifted the pot between heaven and earth. The pot is covetousness; the lead is the sin of obstinacy; the woman sitting in the pot is impiety that follows avarice. The pot is stoppered by the piece of lead when impiety is stoppered by the sin of obstinacy enclosed in covetousness. The two women who carry the pot are pride and lust. Pride has two wings: spiritual grace such as knowledge, wisdom, and counsel; and physical grace such as strength, fairness, and gentility. The wings of carnal desire are gluttony and sloth. [There follow various patristic citations in English on gluttony, sloth, and covetousness.] [6v] If a rich man has a field and a poor man has an acre in the middle or at the side of it, or if a rich man has a street on which a poor man has one house, the rich man never ceases until he obtains what the poor man has, as Ahab coveted Naboth's vineyard and obtained it through his wife's plotting [III Rg 21]. Commenting on this Ambrose says that nature makes no distinction between rich and poor. [7r] [This is followed by other biblical and patristic citations.] One should take care not to be linked with this pot or the woman therein; those who are wedded to her (covetousness) will endure God's vengeance at the day of judgement. 'Here endiț țe <first> partie of țis sermoun.' [This occurs almost exactly at the half-way point of the sermon.] [7v]
'Here bygynneț țe secunde part.' In the second part will be shown who will be called to the reckoning, before which judge, and what the punishment will be. For the first there will be two judgements: a particular one and a general one. [These form the main divisions of the second part of the sermon, though the preacher also deals very briefly with the second and third items, the judge and the punishment, which he turns into a third and a fourth division.] To the first, people will be called by three summoners: sickness, age, and death [subdivisions].
(1) (1) First, one is called by sickness. This is twofold: some sorts of sickness affects all and some are found only in particular people. The first kind affects body and soul. Although one may shut out of one's heart's house all sorts of worldly thoughts, one can scarcely think of God for the space of a Pater noster before a trivial thought enters one's head. [8r] As one cannot look long at the sun not because there is anything wrong with the sun but because of the feebleness of one's sight, so the human soul is afflicted. The second sickness common to all is feebleness of the body: hunger, thirst, cold, heat, sorrow, weariness, and many others. Some people also suffer from other sicknesses: leprosy, palsy, fever, dropsy, blindness, and so on. God sends such sickness to the good and at other times to the wicked for two reasons: [to the good] to show that only God is perfect and to provide an example of patience; [8v] and [to the wicked] because they should instead fear God and leave sin, and to frighten others, as God did with the sickness of Antiochus [II Mcc 9]. [9r] (2) The second summoner to particular judgement is age. There are many who take no heed of this summoner: 'He seeț his hed hory, his bak crokeț, his breț stynkeț, his teeț falleț, his ei3en derkeț, his visage reueliț, his eren wexeț heuy to here. What meneț al țis but țat elde sommouneț țe to țe dom?' Those who are distracted by a litle mirth and forget where they are going will be damned, as will those, smitten with age, who focus on the false world's wealth. The holy doctor [St Augustine] says that among all the abuses of the world an obstinate old man is the worst. He is bound with the threefold cord of idle thought, dishonest speech, and wicked deeds; thus Isaiah says [58:6] that the bonds of sin should be broken. (3) The third summoner is death who spares none, [9v] fears no threats, accepts no prayer or gift, nor grants no respite [supported by patristic and biblical citations].
(2) There will also be a general judgement and people will be summoned by three callers: worldly sickness, feebleness, and the end [subdivisions]. (1) First, worldly sickness will be recognised by the cooling of charity. Natural history commentators say that a body is sick when its natural heat is too little or too much. When humanity's love for God and neighbour is too little and for worldly goods too great, then the first summoner is warning that judgement is coming [supported by biblical citations]. [10r] (2) The second summoner is age and feebleness, which will be shown by the fulfilment of signs. The exact date of the last day is not known but it is coming soon. [There follow various pronouncements, both particular and general, by St Paul, John Chrysostom, Joachim of Fiore, and Hildegard of Bingen on the timing of the last day.] [10v] The disciples asked Christ [Mt 24:3] when Jerusalem would be destroyed, what the signs of his coming would be, and what would signal the end of the world. Christ gave no definite answer but gave various signs in answer to the three questions. A doctor, [11r] building on the words of Daniel [referred to in Mt 24:15], answers the last query. 'So it semeț to țis clerk țat țe grete antichrist schulde come in țe fourtențe hundred 3eer fro țe birțe of Crist, țe whiche noumbre of 3eeris is now fulfillid not fully twelue 3eer and an half lackynge. Țis resoun put I not as to schewe any certeyn tyme of his comynge, siț Y haue not țat knowlechynge, but to schewe țat he is ny3, but how ny3 I wote neuere'.
The opening of the seals in the Apocalypse [Apc 6–8] shows the state of the Church. The opening of the first seal shows the state of the Church when Christ and his apostles were preaching: the white horse symbolises the pure life and conversation of these preachers and the bow their true teaching. [11v] The opening of the second seal shows the state of the Church during the time of martyrs as symbolised by the red horse. This state began with the time of Nero and lasted until that of Constantine. The opening of the third seal shows the state of the Church in the time of heretics that is symbolised by the black horse. The opening of the fourth seal shows the state of the Church in the time of hypocrites that is signified by the pale horse. [12r] This is the last state before the coming of antichrist. The opening of the fifth seal shows the state of the Church that will follow, and how lovers of God's law will want to be delivered from such misery. The opening of the sixth seal shows the state of the Church in antichrist's time. The four angels are the devil's ministers who will stop the four winds that are the four gospels to be preached. There is nothing left but the seventh seal when Christ himself will come. And this will be the third warning that the world will have to come to judgement.
(3) 'I seyde also in my secunde principal' that we should know before which judge an account will be given. This judge will be God himself. [12v] The books [cf. Apc 20:12] are people's consciences and the book of life is Christ's doctrine. In the first book all that has been done will be written down and in the second book all that should have been done. All should look to see what is written in the book of their consciences while they are here, and if contrary to Christ or his teaching, it should be scraped away with the knife of penance and repentance.
(4) It should also be known what verdict will be given in that judgement to wise and good servants, and to false and wicked servants. Christ will come to judgement showing his wounds. He will ask for a reckoning of all deeds of mercy; the wicked will go with the devil and the good to everlasting life. Woe shall befall the pagan, the Jew, the false Christian, and those who have shut out the household of God, that is, remembrance of his passion, contemplation of his goodness, and the memory of his benefits; there shall be woe also for the sins of speech (cursing, fraud, deceit, lies, scorn, [13r] and backbiting) and the deadly sins. [The penalty, doom, resulting from each deadly sin is outlined in a biblical quotation.] [13v] The damned will say what is written in the 'Booke of Mornynge' [Lam 5:15–16 as Verse 1] but there shall be joy to those who will be saved.
BIBLICAL CITATIONS
Lc 16:2 (L); cf. Mt 20:1–9; Col 1:18; Iob 10:22; I Cor 7:20; II Tim 4:5; I Ptr 2:18; I Thes 4:6; Ps 81:4; Prv 4:27; II Tim 4:2; I Cor 3:8; Mt 12:36; Mt 22:12; Mt 22:13; Lam 1:10; Os 4:6; Iob 21:13; Is 22:16; Ier 32:23; Sap 6:6; Os 8:4; cf. II Par 10:4–14; Lv 19:15; Prv 17:23; Mt 7:2; Rom 2:21; Dn 13:9; Zach 5:5–11; Ecl 5:9; Iob 20:22; Prv 30:15; Ps 54:11; Iob 24:6–7; Is 3:24; Apc 18:3; Apc 18:8–10; Apc 18:16–17; Sap 5:6–9, 13; Rom 7:23; Ez 18:2; Iob 14:1; Dt 28:58–59; II Cor 12:7–9; Tob 2:10–14; Ps 15:4; II Mcc 9:9–18; Is 58:6; Mt 24:12; I Io 2:17; II Tim 3:1–5; Act 1:7; Lc 12:45; I Cor 10:11; Mt 24:3; Lc 21:20; Mt 24:7 et al.; Mt 24:15; Apc 6:2; Apc 6:8; Apc 7:1; II Thes 2:8; Apc 20:12; I Thes 4:17; Apc 8:13; Apc 4:8 (L); Is 14:15; Sap 2:24–25; Mt 5:22; Prv 6:11; Eph 5:5; Ps 10:7; Lam 5:15–16.
PROPER NAMES
Abel; Enoch; Noah; Abraham; Moses; David; Isaiah; Jeremiah; St John the Baptist; St John; St Peter; St Andrew; Gamaliel; Joseph of Arimathea; Satan; St Paul; St Thomas, apostle; St Martin; Judas Iscariot; Simon Magus; Rehoboam; Solomon; Susanna; Socrates; Zechariah; Balaam; Achan; Gehazi; Ananias; Sapphira; Ahab; Naboth; Adam; Job; Tobit; Antiochus; Augustine; Bede; Orosius; Daniel; Titus, Roman emperor; Vespasian, Roman emperor; Nero, Roman emperor; Constantine I, Roman emperor; Sylvester I, pope; Diocletian, Roman emperor; Mary.
PLACE NAMES
Egypt; Shinar; Sodom; Jerusalem; Athens; Rome.
CONCEPTS
Sin; Priesthood; Three Estates; Christians; Last Judgement; The Church; God as Judge.
VERSE
Țe ioye of oure herte is ago, / oure wele is turned into woo, / țe coroune of oure heued is falle vs fro, / alas, for sinne țat we haue doo. (NIMEV 3397).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Knight 1967: 61–128.
