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Fig .. 1 Tree of Jesse, Begin.Ning of SV 1 (London, British Library

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Fig .. 1 Tree of Jesse, Begin.Ning of SV 1 (London, British Library Fig.. 1 Tree ofjesse, begin.ning of SV 1 (London, British Library,Arundel44 f. 2v) Fig. 2 Tree ofVices, beginning ofS V 4 (London, British Library, Arundel 44, ( 28v) L . I n '•.'IC 11;'1'! "mOJ: f, !t' .Lori' .itrtim•imr Fig. 3 Tree ofVirtues, beginning of S V 4 {London, British Library, Arundel 44, f. 29r) fr.r,- 1 ..ftrotJ, .:Jilld.:· qd (t:\-'tl.nto~;, cbfTtnuhu i:1 1 1 mrdl\"Cttb rt.,gnu· polncrti maot.rnt · ~ p fj.naui odtf trtnt,:m !J.··'·u!u S .tdl ,, qtufvct01 .i' ~md .umq cotullro tv t~' r .lltct.l·.tfhtn.; -111t..i fitbnll" rut fimc· pfmpw cope· . ,11 '!'· •l~ omftmtccrr en.. c p.:•puc· qj; .tml.tr f.. r m r!llf -nnmf ju · t:t bptamc f J•n•r onf nr omm:l rrul1.1 ttmm.u-um tub ll~ t fub ¢ · tuml 1 ~fcttaUAnUti ·qd utdtth u1 ot.,fi-n>r (jlK dt"voflfun totU lllkfUU.qft qtubtl f~IUt JJ4bm:; qtu 1 t.tl•d m ftf.tn tn.tdt.mmru pttctpdtannr. qunulcntl.t kr mfitmtl)nf ntlnl .1lutd (' 1i qd'lmm•taaf ftmf r·r"'! mq<t.la(q fci>1l pftfli"'"' I : I, I Fig. 4 Humility conquering Pride, SV 4 (London, British Library,Arundel44, ( 34v) ""'""~rmo ~_, nuftfh dc-~dlf ,~aa~ ¥~diif~ 1\CC.~chfcnpan fl1w; 1\IU't~ ch{Qnuu- . • \! , •. 'I Fig. 5 Flesh and Spirit, beginning of S V 8 (London, British Library, Arundel 44, f. 83v) llilf • \ ..~ ,• I, II,IIHII'•)Illll.olhl.' (,IJI,klllllf,lft"\ u ,..,,.. : ""'' ·'"''1 ., 'ntl\lrrni ,1,1,,,, 11, l'·"·tf jifll.ttu .•u, •• 1•1·:·(,. 1 t trrh'rtnr .n\l•:n·d.:'mi". n""~ •n•ti~"' •~<•l•tf (!,~ .-.hti ,'t't-1,11\' liu:~•l.lll Jilll IT\lf,l,· ' " Fig. 6 T emple ofWisdom, beginning of S V 12 (London, British Library, Arundel 44, f. 114v) APPENDIX SPECULUM VIRGINUM: SELECTED EXCERPTS (translated by Barbara Newman) Note: All biblical citations refer to the Latin Vulgate. The language and num­ bering of verses, especially in the Old Testament, often differ from that found in English Bibles. Letter of Dedication; SV Epistula 1-105 From C., the least of Christ's poor, to the holy virgins N. and N.: may you attain the joy of blessed eternity! Because every human being is drawn by a certain natural order to seek her be­ ginning, that is, her Creator, she should be admonished by the guidance of nature itself to be attentive, and to hold temporal things of little worth in comparison with eternal. But this advice especially suits those who are sealed by the sacraments of the Church for the kingdom of heaven, and who have learned from the doctrines of sa­ cred law to value the temporal less than the eternal. I rejoice with you all the more sweetly, daughters vowed to Christ, because with a willing spirit you have preferred the eternal to the transient, as I now see that for the love of Christ you have tram­ pled underfoot your homeland, your family, and-what is most difficult-the beauty of your blooming youth. "Great is my confidence in you;' as Paul said;" great is my boasting on your account. I am filled with comfort, I abound with joy in all my tribulations" because of you [2 Cor. 7 .4). Therefore I continually beseech the divine mercy that your beginning may be crowned with a still happier ending, for both kinship and the double obligation of charity demand that my affection alone watch over you, although age and time and distance divide us. Nor should you think the presence of relatives or friends a thing greatly to be desired-you who bear Christ, your bridegroom and your brother, in your hearts. In him and through him you possess all things, as Paul said: "All things are yours, whether the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are 270 SPECULUM VIRGINIUM yours, but you are Christ's" [1 Cor. 3.21-23]. And in another passage: "Christ died for all, that even those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. From now on, therefore, we know no one ac­ cording to the flesh. Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him thus" [2 Cor. 5.15-16]." Therefore, daughters, possessing all things in Christ to whom you have fled, do not look back at the things you de­ spised for his love. But since love is never idle, I have sent you a little book as a kind of token of mutual love. In it you may exercise your mind, grow in the grace of the eternal bridegroom, and grieve the less at my absence. This little work is entitled The Mir­ ror of Virgins. In it a priest, Peregrinus, holds a dialogue with Theodora, a virgin of Christ, to provide Christ's studious virgins with a great incentive for the preserva­ tion of chastity, an example of disdain for the present life, and a model of desire for heavenly things. The title indicates the usefulness of the following material, so that by a kind of analogy, you may learn how to seek what is invisible. Virgins hold mirrors before their eyes to see whether their beauty has increased or diminished. For the beholder's image is reflected in the mirror, and even though the gaze and its reflection are distinct, the beholder's mind is informed about what it wishes to know. We read that Moses, God's confidant, "made a laver from the mir­ rors of the women who watched at the door of the tabernacle" [Exod. 38.8] in which "Aaron and his sons might wash" [Exod. 40.29]. Now the mirrors of the women are divine words set before the eyes of holy souls, in which they may see at all times how they either please the eternal bridegroom with the beauty of a holy conscience or displease him with the ugliness of sin. The women are said to "watch at the door of the tabernacle" because, as long as they remain in this flesh, they do not enter the holy of holies of our celestial mother Jerusalem. When the "enigma and mirror" by which we know God in part has passed away, what is now sought invisibly in the Scriptures will be seen "face to face" [1 Cor. 13.12]. So, blessed vir­ gins of Christ, wash your conscience in this laver constructed from the divine law, so that God's image in you may shine the more brightly and what is now hidden from mortals, being divine, may appear more radiant than the noonday sun. Finally, because varied reading gives pleasure while a monotonous, unbroken trea­ tise aggravates and weakens the reader's attention, I have divided this little work into twelve parts. When the virgin of Christ, eager for the divine word, browses in these sections as if in adjoining meadows, delighting in the different flowers-that is, in the mystical senses--she may boast that she has woven a multicolored crown for her head from the Word of God. The first part, then, is about the mystical flowers of paradise proceeding from the unique "flower of the field and lily of the valleys" [Cant. 2.1], that is, the sacred virgins of Christ nourishing their flower and fruit in Christ's love, and the form of paradise with its four symbolic rivers, which are the four evangelists and doctors, watering the whole Church with their word and example. The second part is about the usefulness of enclosure and the danger of straying, and it warns that cloistered virgins should keep the matter of sin away from their five senses, for by guarding themselves they shut off access to the enemy. It also tells the story of a certain cleric SPECULUM VIRGINIUM 271 who broke into a cloister of virgins and perished at once by the just judgment of God. The third part is the Holy Spirit's address to the daughter of the Church on the mystical garment of virginity, which adorns the daughters of Zion. Unless they are humbled by grace, they can easily be despoiled. The fourth contains a diagram of pride and humility, vices and virtues, and after the example ofJael and Judith­ women who conquered the enemies of Israel-the virgins of Christ rejoice in tri­ umph when pride is conquered by humility. The fifth part is about the chief of virgins, Mary, together with her Son and the two Johns [the Baptist and the Evan­ gelist], who are like a team of four horses drawing a chariot. By their example, those who seek the fruit of merit through the flower of virginity may be lifted from the depths to the heights. This section also deals with good and bad teachers of virgins. The sixth concerns the ten foolish and wise virgins, and the discretion with which they ought to keep watch [Matt. 25 .1-13]. The seventh is about the three ranks of married people, widows, and virgins, and the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold fruit. The virtue of women under paganism is also held up as an example. The eighth part concerns the fruits of flesh and spirit, their growth, and their differing qualities, and makes the point that, from the beginning of the world, those who have spiritually departed (or will depart) from their native land have been (or will be) pleasing to God. This section also correlates the works of the six days of creation with the progress of the six ages of history.
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