COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS New York Columbia University Press New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 1938, 1990 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Medieval handbooks of penance : a translation of the principal “libri poenitentiales” and selections from related documents / by John T. McNeill and Helena M. Gamer, p. cm.—(Records of western civilization) Reprint, with new introd. Previously published: New York : Octagon Books, 1965. Previously published in series: Records of civilization, sources and studies ; no. 29. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-231-00889-9.—ISBN 0-231-09629-1 (pbk.) 1. Penitentials—History—Sources. I. McNeill, John Thomas, 188jf— II. Gamer, Helena M. (Helena Margaret), 1900-1965. III. Series. BX2262. M43 1990 264'.020862—dc20 90-37583 CIP Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America c 10 98765432 1 p 10 9 RECORDS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION The Art of Courtly Love, by Andreas Capellanus. Translated with an introduction and notes by John Jay Parry The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Selected Letters from the Registrum Translated with an introduction by Ephraim Emerton Selections from Related Documents Translated by John T. McNeill and Helena M. Gamer Macrobius: Commentary on The Dream of Scipio Translated with an introduction by William Harris Stahl Translated with introductions and notes by Robert S. Lopez and Irving W. Raymond, with a foreword and bibliography by Olivia Remie Constable The Cosmographia of Bernardus Silvestris Translated with an introduction by Winthrop Wetherbee Heresies of the High Middle Ages Translated and annotated by Walker L. Wakefield and Austin P. Evans The Didascalicon of Hugh of Saint Victor: A Medieval Guide to the Arts Translated with an introduction by Jerome Taylor Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts Vol. I: The Quadrivium of Martianus Capella: Latin Traditions in the Mathematical Sciences, by William Harris Stahl with Richard Johnson and E. L. Burge Vol. II: The Marriage of Philology and Mercury, by Martianus Capella. Translated by William Harris Stahl and Richard Johnson with E. L. Burge The See of Peter, by James T. Shotwell and Louise Ropes Loomis Two Renaissance Book Hunters: The Letters of Poggius Bracciolini to Nicolaus de Niccolis Translated and annotated by Phyllis Walter Goodhart Gordan Guillaume d'Orange: Four Twelfth-Century Epics Translated with an introduction by Joan M. Ferrante Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages, by Bernard McGinn, with a new preface and expanded bibliography The Letters of Saint Boniface Translated by Ephraim Emerton, with a new introduction and bibliography by Thomas F. X. Noble Imperial Lives and Letters of the Eleventh Century Translated by Theodor E. Mommsen and Karl F. Morrison, with a historical introduction and new suggested readings by Karl F. Morrison An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades: Memoirs of Us amah ibn-Munqidh Translated by Philip K. Hitti, with a new foreword by Richard W. Bulliet De expugnatione Lyxbonensi (The Conquest of Lisbon) Edited and translated by Charles Wendell David, with a new foreword and bibliography by Jonathan Phillips Defensor pads Translated with an introduction by Alan Gewirth, with an afterword and updated bibliography by Cary J. Nederman History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen Translated with an introduction and notes by Francis J. Tschan, with a new introduction and bibliography by Timothy Reuter The Two Cities: A Chronicle of Universal History to the Year 1146, by Otto, Bishop of Freising Translated in full with an introduction and notes by Charles Christopher Mierow, with a foreword and updated bibliography by Karl F. Morrison The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, by Henricus Lettus Translated and with a new introduction and notes by James A. Brundage Lanzelet, by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven Translated with a new introduction by Thomas Kerth, with additional notes by Kenneth G. T. Webster and Roger Sherman Loomis The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, by Otto of Freising Translated and annotated with an introduction by Charles Christopher Mierow with the collaboration of Richard Emery Giles of Rome's On Ecclesiastical Power: A Medieval Theory of World Government A Critical editon and translation by R. W. Dyson The Conquest of Constantinople, by Robert of Clari. Translated with introduction and notes by Edgar Holmes McNeal The Murder of Charles the Good, by Galbert of Bruges. Translated and edited by James Bruce Ross BLANK PAGE Preface IT IS doubtful whether any part of the source literature of medieval social history comparable in importance to the peni- tentials has been so generally neglected by translators. The difficulty of the texts and an unjust contempt on the part of some historians for the materials have probably contributed to this neglect. A number of recent studies have revealed the high histori¬ cal importance of these booklets. A direct knowledge of their contents is here for the first time made possible to students who have not the time or the equipment to make use of the Latin documents. The first two sections of the Introduction are designed to meet the needs of readers who are uninitiated in the field of the history of penance. These sections incorporate without indication a few sentences from my dissertation, The Celtic Penitentials and Their Influence on Continental Christianity, published in 1923. In order to avoid more extensive repetition numerous citations to that essay have been made in the notes. But the present statement represents an extensive re¬ working of the sources in the light of the more recent literature, and no pretense of total and detailed agreement with the earlier study is implied. In order to give a true impression of these penitential books it seemed incumbent upon the translator to present the earlier and more influential documents of the series in their entirety, even though this involved some repetition of materials. Indeed, where repetition in substance occurs it often serves to clarify obscure provisions. It is not implied that “earlier” penitentials were in all cases “more influential” than those of later date. But certainly the earliest Welsh and Irish examples, even those of a fragmentary sort, were influential in the highest degree. Most of their contents were poured into the larger and more formal books of the seventh century. The interest of these foundation documents is enhanced for us by the fact that they exhibit the primitive stage of the evolving type. Some of the subsequent documents were decisively influential both with respect * 4 • Vlll Preface to their own circulation and use and for the contribution they made to the still later literary development of the series. But in addition to the recognition of their influence, such penitentials as those of Cummean and Theodore and the Pseudo-Romanum seemed to call for unabridged inclusion in this book, as revealing the character of typical penitential handbooks of a time when the type had come to full development. The later and more dependent documents are represented by their more original sections only. Some penitentials which have been printed and discussed by editors have here been omitted entirely. Appendix IV furnishes brief characterizations of the noteworthy works of the series which have been excluded, and the information there given will in each case indicate why the omission has seemed justified. It is hoped that the separate introductions to the several documents will help materially to make the work serviceable. For a work of translation the volume contains an unusual amount of technical data. The justification of this lies in the fact that the published sources are in a state so defective that any translation based solely upon them would be unsatisfactory and of doubtful value. It was necessary, therefore, to go carefully into the manuscript materials, to attempt many emendations, and to give reasons for these and for the renderings derived from them. Because the paleo- graphical problems were beyond my skill, the cooperation of an expert paleographer was at once seen to be necessary, and that of Dr. Gamer was fortunately secured. Miss Gamer’s part in the volume consists of: Section III of the Introduction; Appendix V; the determination of doubtful readings by detailed examination of the manuscripts, of which many were studied directly in European libraries and others from photostats; and a large share in the solution of the lexicographical problems pre¬ sented by the numerous rare and obscure words and expressions. Where the structure of the text was particularly baffling her advice has often been sought with advantage to the translation. All defects in the latter should, however, belaid to my charge. With the exception of some choicely-phrased prayers, the originals are nowhere marked by literary distinction. Indeed, many sentences do violence to grammatical usage, and any attempt to render their disjointed Latin into strictly formal English would be misleading. The translation has been made with the primary aim of faithfulness Preface ix to the intention of the original and is in general literal, or nearly so. In many instances mere translation did not completely clarify a dark passage, and footnotes had to be employed. The notes serve chiefly to indicate the manuscript readings adopted and to shed light on other linguistic