Paenitentiale Bedae

The Paenitentiale Bedae is an early medieval penitential handbook composed around 730, possibly by the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede.

Manuscripts and transmission

There are four extant manuscripts that contain the Paenitentiale Bedae, all dating to the ninth century, ranging geographically from northeastern France to the Main river region. The sigla given below are those introduced by Reinhard Haggenmüller.

Siglum	Manuscript	Contents
Mp₂		xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Se₂		rites for exorcism; incantations; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; Paenitentiale Bedae; Excarpsus Cummeani
T₅	Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Codex Fragm. 100 A, w, x, y and z + Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MS 895 fragm. + Donaueschingen, Hofbibliothek, MS 925 Fragm.	Epitome Hispana ; Paenitentiale Oxoniense II ; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti ; a series of penitential excerpts ; Paenitentiale Bedae
W₉	Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex lat. 2223	Paenitentiale Theodori ; Paenitentiale Bedae; Paenitentiale Cummeani ; ; Libellus responsionum; miscellaneous creedal and theological works; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti
Z₂	Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Car. C 176, fols 1–136	xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haggenmüller divided the four main surviving witnesses of the Paenitentiale Bedae into two groups, based broadly on the regions in which they were produced, the nature and arrangement of their accompanying texts, and shared readings in the Paenitentiale Bedae itself.: the 'Rhine-Main river' group consists of the oldest manuscripts, while the 'East-Frankish' group represents a slightly older tradition.
The Paenitentiale Bedae is also transmitted in somewhat altered form as part of two later penitential texts known as the Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti and the Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti, and in greatly altered form in the still later Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti.

Editions

The Paenitentiale Bedae itself has been edited twice and reprinted once:

, pp. 220–30, printing from W₉. This edition is currently standard.
*, pp. 326–34, reprinting Wasserschleben's edition of W₉.
*, pp. 556–64, printing an incomplete text of the Vorstufe from Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 12673, to which is appended a reprint of the final chapters of Wasserschleben's edition of W₉.

Much more numerous are editions of the Paenitentiale Bedae in the later modified forms mentioned above, namely the Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti, the Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti, and the Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti. These works, which present the Paenitentiale Bedae material in sometimes greatly modified form, have been edited and reprinted many times since the early modern period.
The Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited four times:

, vol. VII, cols 37–49, printing from a now lost St-Hubert manuscript.
, pp. 573–87, printing an incomplete text of the Vorstufe from Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 12673.
, pp. 556–64, printing an incomplete text of the Vorstufe from Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 12673.
, pp. 654–59, printing the Sonderrezension der Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti from , with variant readings from the W₉ text of the Paenitentiale Bedae.

The Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited three times and reprinted nine times:

J. Heerwag, ed., Opera Bedae Venerabilis... omnia in octo tomos distincta..., VIII, cols 1127–34, printing from a now lost manuscript.
*, pp. 107–19, reprinting Heerwag.
**, III, pp. 298–308, reprinting Augustín.
*, pp. 281–88, reprinting Heerwag.
**Conciliorum omnium generalium et provincialium collectio regia, 37 vols, XVII, pp. 517–29, reprinting Spelman.
***, VI, cols 1611–1619, reprinting the Collectio regia.
****, VIII, cols 359–366, reprinting Labbè–Cossart.
****, XII, cols 489–498, reprinting Labbè–Cossart.
*****, LXXXIX, cols 443–454, reprinting Mansi.
*****, XCIV, cols 567–675, reprinting ???.
, Appendix, pp. 32–6, printing from a now lost Saint-Hubert manuscript.
B. Albers, "Wann sind die Beda-Egbert’schen Bussbücher verfaßt worden, und wer ist ihr Verfasser?", Archiv für katholisches Kirchenrecht 81, pp. 393–420.

The Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited twice and reprinted twice:

, pp. 126–45, printing from .
, pp. 142–75, printing from and .
*, pp. 248–83, reprinting Kunstmann's edition of the Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti.
*, pp. 679–701, reprinting Kunstmann's edition of the Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti.