Paenitentiale Ecgberhti
The Paenitentiale Ecgberhti is an early medieval penitential handbook composed around 740, possibly by Archbishop Ecgberht of York.
This work should not be confused with the vernacular works known as the Old English Penitential and the Scriftboc.
Background
Authorship
Manuscripts and Transmission
There are eleven extant manuscripts that contain the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti, dating from as early as the end of the eighth century to as late as the thirteenth, ranging geographically from southern Germany to Brittany to England. The sigla given below are based on those established by the Körntgen–Kottje Editionsprojekt for the Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, vol. 156, a project whose goal is to produce scholarly editions for all major early medieval penitentials; sigla in parentheses are those used by Reinhard Haggenmüller in his 1991 study.| Siglum | Manuscript | Contents |
| Cb2 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti as part of the of Wulfstan of York's Collectio canonum Wigorniensis | |
| Le1 | , Cod. Vul. 108 nr. 12 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti ; fragments of an unidentified penitential ; Canones Basilienses |
| Li1 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti | |
| M17 | Excarpsus Cummeani; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; unidentified canon law collection in three books ; Liber proemium veteris ac novi testamenti; De ortu et obitu patrum; Micrologus de ecclesiasticis observationibus; Admonitio synodalis | |
| O1 | Oxford, Bodleian Library, Barlow 37 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti, as part of the of Wulfstan's Collectio canonum Wigorniensis |
| O5 | Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 718 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti with Ghaerbald's Capitula episcoporum I appended; confessional ordines; Books 2–4 of the Collectio canonum quadripartita |
| P22 | A collection of chapters entitled "Incipiunt uerba pauca tam de episcopo quam de presbitero aut de omnibus ecclesię gradibus et de regibus et de mundo et terra", more commonly known as the Collectio canonum Fiscani or the Fécamp collection. The contents are as follows: Liber ex lege Moysi; notes on chronology; a brief note on Bishop Narcissus of Jerusalem ; Incipiunt remissiones peccatorum quas sanctus in collatione sua Penuffius per sanctas construxit scripturas ; more notes on chronology; Pastor Hermae cc. 4.1.4–4.4.2 ; scriptural excerpts on chastity, marriage and the oaths of one's wife; Incipiunt uirtutes quas Dominus omni die fecit ; Collectio canonum Hibernensis cc 1.22.b–c ; Collectio canonum Hibernensis ; Excerpta de libris Romanorum et Francorum ; Canones Adomnani, with an extra chapter appended ; Capitula Dacheriana; Canones Adomnani ; Incipiunt canones Anircani concilii episcoporum XXIIII de libro III ; Incipiunt iudicia conpendia de libro III ; Canones Hibernenses II, with Synodus Luci Victorie cc. 7–9 appended; Isidore, Etymologiae ; commentary on the Book of Numbers ; Isidore, Etymologiae ; Institutio ęclesiasticae auctoritatis, qua hi qui proueniendi sunt ad sacerdotium, profiteri debent se obseruaturos, et si ab his postea deuiauerint canonica auctoritate plectentur ; Collectio canonum Dionysio-Hadriana ; Quattuor synodus principales; Isidore, Etymologiae ; Hii sunt subterscripti heretici contra quos factae sunt istę synodi: Arrius... Purus, Stephanus; De ieiunio IIII temporum anni ; Libellus responsionum; Pope Gregory I, Epistula 9.219 ; Pope Gregory I, Epistula 9.214 ; De decimis et primogenitis et primitiuis in lege ; Canones Hibernenses III ; Paenitentiale Gildae; Synodus Aquilonis Britanniae; Synodus Luci Victoriae; Ex libro Davidis; Capitula Dacheriana ; Canones Adomnani ; Capitula Dacheriana ; excerpts from St Paul ; excerpts on hours and the order of prayer; De pęnitentia infirmorum ; De recitentibus aliorum peccata ; De oratione facienda etiam pro peccatoribus ; Paenitentiale Bigotianum; Theodulf, Capitulare I ; Isidore, De ecclesiasticis officiis ; Canones Hibernenses IV; excerpts on marriage ; excerpts on kings; excerpts on sons and their debts; Collectio canonum Hibernensis c. 38.17; Patricius dicit, Item synodus Hibernensis ; De iectione ęclesie graduum ab ospicio ; chapters from Exodus and Deuteronomy ; on the ordo missae ; Liber pontificalis ; De duodecim sacrificiis ; the ten commandments ; excerpts on hours and song ; a brief tract explaining the reason for the flood; De eo quod non nocet ministerium ministrantis sacerdotis contagium uitę ; Canones Hibernenses VI; Capitulare legibus addenda a. 803; Lex Salica emendata; two forged letters purporting to represent a discussion between Pope Gregory I and Bishop Felix of Messina ; Theodulf, Capitulare I ; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti ; Pseudo-Jerome, De duodecim triduanis | |
| Se2 | rites for exorcism; incantations; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; Paenitentiale Bedae; Excarpsus Cummeani | |
| Sg10 | episcopal capitularies of Theodulf and Haito of Mainz; prayers for penitents; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; excerpts from Isidore, Ambrose, etc.; canons of the council of Nicaea ; Alcuin's De virtutibus et vitiis; Letter of Charlemagne to Alcuin; Caesarius's Sermo de paenitentia; Charlemagne's Admonitio generalis | |
| V4 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti ; Sonderrezension der Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti; canonical and creedal statements | |
| V5 | lections, prayers, a Gregorian sacramentary, canonical excerpts, a calendar, a necrology, and tracts on miscellaneous subjects, including weights and measures, confession, and astronomy; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; excerpts from the Excarpsus Cummeani; episcopal capitularies of Theodulf, Ghaerbald and Waltcaud; Sonderrezension der Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti; Paenitentiale Cummeani; Paenitentiale Theodori | |
| V6 | Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; excerpts from the Excarpsus Cummeani ; Admonitio Pseudo-Bedae | |
| W9 | Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex lat. 2223 | Paenitentiale Theodori ; Paenitentiale Bedae; Paenitentiale Cummeani ; ; Libellus responsionum; miscellaneous creedal and theological works; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti |
Haggenmüller divided these eleven surviving witnesses of the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti into three 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 Ecgberhti itself. The 'Norman' group consists of some of the youngest manuscripts, most of which originated in regions under Norman influence or control, namely tenth-century Brittany and eleventh to twelfth-century England; only O5 originates in a non-Norman context. The 'South-German' group represents a textual tradition emanating from a region in southern Germany, even though only one constituent witness originates in a South-German centre. Haggenmüller's third group, the 'Lorsch' group, includes three manuscripts, two of which are the oldest extant witnesses to the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti tradition. Of the three manuscripts in this group, however, only one is known with certainty to have been produced at Lorsch. It is currently unknown where the two earliest witnesses of the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti originate from, though it was likely not in the same place since they present rather different versions of the text.
In addition to the eleven main witnesses listed above, the prologue to the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti is also transmitted in the following manuscripts:
- , at fols 88r–90r as part of a series of penitential and canonical texts that perhaps once stood as an appendix to the Collectio canonum vetus Gallica.
- , at fols 3r–6v as the introductory text to the Pontificale Pseudo-Ecgberhti.
- , at fols 147v–149r as part of the so-called ‘Dunstan’ pontifical.
- Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 368 ], at fols 176v–178v as part of the so-called the ‘Lanalet’ pontifical.
- Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 1382, fols 173r–198v, at fols 196v–198v as the final text in the R recension of Wulfstan's Collectio canonum Wigorniensis
Reception
Editions
The Paenitentiale Ecgberhti itself has been edited twice and reprinted once:- , pp. 231–46, printing from W9.
- *, pp. 416–31, reprinting Wasserschleben's edition of W9, with variant readings from O5 and from as printed by .
- , pp. 661–74, printing from V5, with variant readings from V6 and W9. This edition is currently standard.
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, with variant readings from the V6 text of the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti.
- , 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 V4.
- 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.
- , 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.