79 leaves, missing altogether probably 10 or 11 leaves in particular between ff. 69v-70 (i10,ii16, iii8, iv10 [10-1+1], v8, vi8, vii6 [8-2], viii5 [10 - 5], ix8, x2 [4-2]), written on 24 to 37 long lines (justification:115 x 90 and 95 x 125), text block frame ruled only, pages unruled, in a highly abbreviated Gothic cursive script in black-brown ink, by at least 5 different hands (scrbe no. 1: ff. 1-37 / ff. 39-42 ; scribe no. 2: ff. 37v-38v; scribe no. 3: ff. 43-58v; scribe no. 4: ff. 59-69v; scribe no. 5: ff. 70-79v), rubricated with red underlining, headings and marginalia, numerous multiline Lombard initials in red with blackish brown calligraphic penwork, six leaves in smaller format or cut. Brown leather binding of the eighteenth century, on the spine "Homilia in Evange[...]," worm eaten, in good condition. Dimensions 148 x 113 mm.Modest roving preacher's manual–or perhaps a compilation for a parish priest--containing two groups of unedited sermons, both rare, one by the famous Maurice de Sully and the other by the Dominican, Antonius de Azaro Parmensis. Probably transcribed and decorated in southern France, the manuscript may date within Antonius's lifetime and could be one of the earlier versions of his text.
Provenance
1. Given the penwork and the colored initials, the present manuscript was probably made in southern France, possibly as a sort of vade-mecum for a parish priest. Among the 41 manuscripts listed by Longère (1988), most are of French origin.
2. Unidentified shelfmark from an Augustinian convent.
Text
ff. 1-42v, Sermons [35 in all] by Mauritius de Sulliaco (died 1196):
Sermones de Tempore; incipit, Postquam consumati sunt dies octo [Luke 2, 21], middle of line 3, ..."Hodiernus karissimi fratres dies primus est in diebus anni..." (Schneyer, vol. 4, p. 170) as follow:
ff. 1-1v, Sermo in circumcisione Domini; incipit: "Hodiernus karissimi fratres dies primus est in diebus anni..."; ff. 1v-3v, Sermo in epiphania Domini; incipit: "Cum natus est Ihesus in Bethleem..."; ff. 3v-4, Sermo in dominica post epiphaniam; incipit: "Nupcie fratre sunt..."; ff. 4v-5v, Sermo in prima dominica in septaugesima; incipit: "Similem regem colorem..."; ff. 5v-6v, Sermo in dominica in sexagesima; incipit: "Cum verba plurima..."; ff. 6v-7v, Sermo in dominica in quinquagesima; incipit: "Assumpsit Ihesus .xii. discipulos..."; ff. 7v-9, Sermo in dominica prima in quadragesima; incipit: "Ductus Ihesus in desertum..."; ff. 9-10, Sermo in dominica secunda in quadragesima; incipit: "In illo tempore secessit Ihesus..."; ff. 10-10v, Sermo in dominica tertia in quadrageima; incipit: "In illo tempore erat Ihesus..."; ff. 10v-11v, Sermo in dominica quarta in quadrageima; incipit: "Cum [...] oculos Ihesus..."; ff. 11v-12, Sermo in dominica quinta in quadrageima; incipit: "Qui est ex Deo verba Dei..."; ff. 12v-13v, Sermo in dominica in Palmis [Palm Sunday]; incipit: "Cum appropinquasset..."; ff. 13v-14, Sermo in Pascha; incipit: "Hodie dilectum nobis in die paschalis..."; ff. 14-15, Sermo in dominica in octava paschae; incipit: "Quia vidisti me..."; ff. 15-15v, Sermo in dominica tertia post pascha; incipit: "Ego sum pastor bonus..."; ff. 15v-16v, Sermo in dominica quarta post pascha; incipit: "Amen, Amen dico vobis..."; ff. 16v-17, [Lacks rubric] [Sermo in dominica quarta post pascha]; incipit: "Vado ad Deum qui me misit..."; ff. 17-18, [Lacks rubric] [Sermo in vigilia ascensionis Domini]; incipit: "Amen, Amen dico vobis. Siquis perieritis patrem..."; ff. 18-18v, Sermo in ascensione; incipit: "Dominus quidem Ihesus postquam..."; ff. 19-19v, Sermo in dominica post ascensionem; incipit: "Cum venitur..."; ff. 19v-21, Sermo in die sancto pentecostes; incipit: "Si quis diliget..."; ff. 21-21v,
De caritate [?]; incipit: "Karitas dicitur plenitudo..."; ff. 22-23v, [Sermo in vigilia ascensionis Domini]: "Ascundit iter..."; [misbound ? should usually come before ff. 18-18v ?]; ff. 23v-24v, Sermo in dominica prima post penthecostem; incipit: "Homo quidamm erat..."; ff. 24v-25, Sermo in dominica secunda post octavum penthecostem; incipit: "Homo quidam fecit cenam..."; ff. 25-26, Sermo in dominica tertia post penthecostem; incipit: "In illo tempore erant appropinquas [?] res ..."; ff. 26-26v, Sermo in dominica quarta post penthecostem; incipit: "[...] Ihesus Christus qui est..."; ff. 26v-38v, Sermons for the 5th to 25th sundays following Pentecost; f. 39, Sermo in dominica in adventu Domini; incipit: "Hodie karissimi adventus dominici tempus ingreditur..."; f. 39-39v, Sermo in dominica secunda in adventu Domini; incipit: "Erunt signa in sole et luna..."; ff. 39v-40, Sermo in dominica tertia in adventu; incipit: "Quid existis in deserto..."; ff. 40-40v, Sermo in dominica quarta in adventu; incipit: "Miserunt in Dei ab Ierosolimis..."; ff. 40v-42, Sermo in nativitate Domini; incipit: "Gloria in excelsis Deo..."; explicit: "...ante oculos Dei usque ad terminum vire regat [?]".
ff. 43-79, Sermons of Antonius de Azaro Parmensis O.P. (mid-thirteenth, beginning of the fourteenth century),[
Sermones de tempore et de quadragesima], starting with the Sermon for Advent, incipit: "Spiritus Sanctus hodierna die ut sacra actuum restatur hystoria in apostolos [...] Circa eius missionem..."; explicit: "...quae fit in confessione"(Schneyer, I, p. 296 / T 39); ff. 48v-52, Sermon for the Advent; incipit: "Adventus Domini pro quattuor septimanas..." (Schneyer, I, p. 294 [?]); ff. 52-52v, Sermon [feast unidentified]; incipit: "Universum tempus..."; ff. 53-56, Sermon for the Epiphany; incipit: "Epyphania Domini quadruplici decoratur miraculo..." (Schneyer, I, p. 291 / T 12 [?]); ff. 56-63, Sermon for the Passion [?]; incipit: "Passio Christi ex dolore ..."; ff. 63-64v, Sermon on Fasting; rubric:
De jejunio quattuor [temporum]; incipit: "Jejunia quattuor temporum a Calixto papa instituta sunt..." (Schneyer, I, p. 291 / T 18/4 [?]); ff. 65v-68, Litany; rubric:
Letanie in anno bis fiunt; incipit: "Letanie in anno bis fiunt primo in festo Marci quod dicitur letania major..."; explicit: "...miserere nobis"(Schneyer, I, p. 295 / T 34); ff. 68-69v, Sermon for the Ascension; rubric:
De ascensione; incipit: "Ascensio Domini quadragesima die resurrectione facta est..."; explicit: "...spacium quia in [monumento] [?]" (Schneyer, I, p. 295 / T 36; lacking end of text);
ff. 70-70v, Sermons for the sanctoral [by Antonius Azaro de Parma?], Sermon for the Feast of saint John [?]; incipit: "Multi in nativitate [...] in beatissimo Johannem hodie..."; ff. 70v-71v, Sermon for the Feast of Joab [?]; incipit: "Inter festis Joab duos viros justos"; ff. 71v-72v, 72v-75, 75-76v, 76v-77v, 78-79, various unidentified sermons.
Maurice de Sully was born beginning of the twelfth century, at Sully-sur-Loire, and he died in Paris, 11 September 1196. Arriving in Paris c. 1140, he became an able professor theology and an eloquent preacher. In 1159, he was Archdeacon of Paris and on 12 October 1160, he was elected Bishop of Paris, succeeding Peter Lombard. The Cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris was constructed during his administration, begun in 1163, when Alexander III laid the cornerstone, and in 1185, the Patriarch of Jerusalem officiated in the completed sanctuary. He rebuilt the episcopal palace and enjoyed a high degree of confidence of Philip Augustus and Louis VII. He retired late in life to the monastery of St.-Victor where he died. He is the author of a treatise on the Canon of the Mass, preserved in Bourges (CGM, t. IV, Bourges, MS. 116).
The Latin sermons of Maurice de Sully are unedited. There are 41 other known manuscripts, of which Longère's important study of the manuscript tradition (1988)distinguishes 8 separate manuscript groups (
DSAM, Grégoire, col. 835, lists only 17 manuscripts of the complete sermons). Longère's study reveals that close to 60 sermons or homilies are attributed to Maurice de Sully. However, the question of authenticity has puzzled a number of scholars, because both a Latin and a French version survive but they are quite different from each other. The Latin sermons seem to have been composed by the famed preacher himself as a manual or textbook for parish priests. The French version is an adaptation of Maurice de Sully's sermons attributed instead to a number of other preachers. The French translation of the sermons has been edited by Robson in 1952 (see below).
Little known, Antonius de Azaro Parmensis was a Dominican active between the middle of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century. His
Postilla super evangelia dominicalia were published in Cologne by Johann Koelhoff the Elder in 1482 (see Goff A-914) ; his
Medula sermonum super singulas dominicas… was published in Paris, 1500 and 1515 (see Moreau,
Inventaire chronologique des éditions parisiennes du XVIe s., vol. II, n°1009). Evidently, there is no modern edition.
Literature
Aigrain, R. "Antoine d'Azaro ou d'Azario," in Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie écclésiastique, Paris, Letouzey, vol. III, col. 755-756 [DHGE].
Antonius de Parma. Postilla super evangelia dominicalia per circulum anni cum quadragesimali, Cologne, Johann Koelhoff, 1482.
Antonio di Parma. Medula Sermonum, super singulas dominicas totius anni, necnon et singulas ferias et dominicas totius Quadragesime exquisitos sermones cotinens ([sic])... magistri Anthonii de Perma,... Venales habentur in vico divi Jacobi ad intersignium Hominis silvestris, in officina Reginaldi Chaudier, Parisiis [Paris], [Regnault Chaudière], 1515.
Grégoire, R. "Maurice de Sully," in Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et morale, Paris, Beauchesne, vol. 13, col. 834-836 [DSAM].
Longère, Jean. Les Sermons latins de Maurice de Sully, évêque de Paris (+1196): contributions à l'histoire de la tradition manuscrite (Instrumenta Patristica, XVI), Turnhout, Brepols, 1988.
Longère, Jean. "Maurice de Sully", in Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. Le Moyen Age, Paris, Fayard, 1992, p. 1005.
Mauritius de Sulliaco. Sermones in dominicis diebus et in solemnitatibus sanctorum. Les expositions des evvangilles en romant [Latin and French], Chambéry, Antoine Neyret, 1484 [Goff, Suppl. M-378a].
Mauritius de Sulliaco. Sermones in dominicis diebus et in solemnitatibus sanctorum, Chablis, Guillaume le Rouge, 1489.
Meersemann, G. "Le opere di fra Antonio Azaro Parmense OP nella Biblioteca Nazionale di Monaco di Baviera," in Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 1940, pp. 20-47.
Meyer, P., "Les manuscrits des sermons français de Maurice de Sully," in Romania, 22 (1894).
Moreau, B. Inventaire chronologique des éditions parisiennes du XVIe siècle, d'après les manuscrits de P. Renouard, Paris et Abbeville, 1972-1992.
Quétif, J. and Echard, J. Scriptores ordinis praedicorum, Paris, Ballard, 1719-1721, vol. I, p. 479 and 529-531.
Robson, C. A. Maurice de Sully and the Medieval Vernacular Homily, Oxford, Blackwell,1952.
Schneyer, Johannes Baptist, Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters, Munster,1974-1991, vol. 4, 170; and vol. 1, 296.
Online resources
Biography of Maurice de Sully
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14329c.htm
Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
