Cam/StJo/G.19
NAME
G.19.
DESCRIPTION
Paper; i + 166 + i; 290 x 195; sixteenth century (early).
CONTENTS
f. i verso: Contents plate in a seventeenth-century hand (see below); ff. 1r–131r: Copy of the Rouen edition of 1499 (STC 17966) of John Mirk's Festial (IPMEP 734), beginning with the Prayer and Prologue and in Group B order, finishing with the Dedication of the Church, and with the extra sermons printed by William Caxton, the Visitation, Transfiguration, Holy Name, and Hamus caritatis, interwoven through the Festial (the Visitation is added after Sts Peter and Paul, the Transfiguration and Holy Name after St Anne, and the Hamus caritatis at the very end following the Dedication); ff. 131v–132v: Tabula, set out in temporale and sanctorale order; ff. 132v–164r: Copy of the printed Quattour sermones in the Rouen edition of 1499 (STC 17966); f. 164v: Late sixteenth-century note; endleaf recto: Accounts and the date 1578; ff. 165r–166v: Blank, apart from a little scribbling.
PARALLEL TRADITIONS
See BL/Claudius A.ii.
COMMENTS
The manuscript is not paginated but foliation occurs occasionally. There is periodic late sixteenth-century annotation of the text and the occasional use of the word 'mentiris' (for example, when signifying disagreement with the institution of the feast of the Purification where it is noted that it was first established in Constantinople in 541). On the last page the name 'Oliuer Sinclar off Rosling knight [?]' is found. A bookplate inside the front cover records that this manuscript (among other books) was owned by William Crashaw (1572–1626), the father of the poet and fellow of St John's, was subsequently bought by Thomas Wriothesley, the fourth earl of Southampton, and given to the College in 1635; the contents list on f. i verso is in Crashaw's hand.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
James 1913:224; Powell (forthcoming).
Sermon Description: BL/Claudius A.ii/001
AUTHOR
John Mirk.
OCCASION
First Sunday in Advent.
LENGTH
4r–6r.
INCIPIT
Thys day ys kalled že furst Sonday yn že Aduent, žat ys, Sonday in Crystes comyng. Wherfore že day holy chyrch makyth mencyon of tw comynges of Crist. Že furst comyng of Cristes [sic] sone of heuen, was to bye monkynd out of že deles bondage and to bryng alle gode doeres into že blysse žat euer schal last. And hys ožur comyng: žat schal ben at že day of dome for to deme wykked doeres into že put of helle for euermore. But že furst comyng of Crist into žys world brogh ioy and blysse wyth hym.
EXPLICIT
And in že lame žerof he segth soules bulmen vp and doun, crying and waylyng for woo and sorwe, and horybul noyse of fyndus crying, 'Sle, sle, sle, sle, sle, sle! Put on <že> broch, rost hote, kast into že cawdren, seth fast in pych and kode [sic] and brenston and hote led!' Žus žen žey žat ben dampned to helle ste[n]ton neuer to crye and 3elle. Woe ys hym žat žydur schal g[o].
SUMMARY
The Church speaks of two comings of Christ: the first was to bring the good to bliss and the second will be to condemn the wicked to hell. The joy of the first coming is celebrated with Alleluias; the cruelty of the second cannot be expressed so the Church ordains the Te deum and Gloria. In his first coming Christ was born, worked, and died to bring humankind to everlasting life. To avoid the terrors of the second coming, sinners must humble themselves. [4v] They must do good works and regularly confess their sins. As knights are honoured for their wounds, so sinners will be honoured for their penances.
The second coming will be announced by fifteen signs on the days preceding it, as Jerome states: the sea will (1) rise and (2) fall and (3) all its creatures will rise to the surface and cry out; (5) [sic] plants will sweat blood and all birds will gather together; [5r] (4) [sic] the sea will burn; (6) all buildings will fall down and (7) the stones will bang together with a terrible noise; (8) the earth will shake and (9) all hills will be levelled; (10) people will go mad and (11) the bones of the dead will rise; (12) stars will fall from heaven and (13) all living people will die so that they can rise again; (14) heaven and earth will burn and then (15) be remade; all people will then rise up for judgement. Christ will come, accompanied by angels and the instruments of his passion. He will invite the merciful to heaven [5v] and curse the wicked. They will have accusers on all sides: Christ above, their consciences within, angels on the right, devils on the left, and hell below.
On that day the poor will sit with Christ in judgement on the rich. Therefore they must make amends in this life and make friends with those who will judge them. [An exemplum is given from Bede concerning a vision of hell.] [Ex 1] [6r] [Verse 1]
BIBLICAL CITATIONS
Mt 25:34–35; Mt 25:40; Mt 25:41–42; Rom 12:19.
PROPER NAMES
Adam.
PLACE NAMES
England.
CONCEPTS
Te deum; Gloria; Last Judgement.
EXEMPLA
[Ex 1] A sick man gave a third of his wealth to the poor and entered a monastery. Every night he stood in a cold river telling people he suffered pain on earth to avoid greater pain later. He told how an angel had led him to a place with great heat on one side and great cold on the other and he saw souls being tossed between the two.
VERSE
Žus žen žey žat ben dampned to helle / ste[n]ton neuer to crye and 3elle. / Woe ys hym žat žydur schal g[o].
NOTES
The text is preceded by an incipit, 'Assit principio sancta Maria meo'.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erbe 1905:1–5.
