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ARCHANGEL IN THE MARGINS: ST. MICHAEL IN THE HOMILIES OF CAMBRIDGE, CORPUS

CHRISTI COLLEGE 41

Author(s): RICHARD F. JOHNSON

Source: Traditio , Vol. 53 (1998), pp. 63-91

Published by: Fordham UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27831960

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ARCHANGEL IN THE MARGINS: ST. MICHAEL IN THE

HOMILIES OF CAMBRIDGE, CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE 41

By RICHARD F. JOHNSON

In the preface to his edition of the ninth-century Book of Cerne (Cambridge,

University Library, MS LI. 1.10), A. B. Kuypers notes "two great currents of

influence, two distinct spirits, Irish and Roman" at work in the composition of

the prayers in this private devotional book. Moreover, Kuypers asserts that "these

influences are traceable through the whole range of the strictly devotional lit

erature of the period."1 Since it is generally acknowledged that the two great

forces shaping the early Anglo-Saxon church were the Roman missionaries in

the south and Irish monks in the north,2 it is reasonable to suspect that the Anglo

Saxon devotional practices to St. Michael the Archangel were also influenced

by both traditions.

1 A. . Kuypers, The Prayer Book of Aedeluald the Bishop, Commonly Called the Book of

Cerne (Cambridge, 1902), v-vi. An important new study of this prayerbook has appeared, by

Michelle P. Brown, The Book of Cerne: Prayer, Patronage, and Power in Ninth-Century Eng

land (Toronto, 1996). In his book, The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature (Cambridge,

1993), 3-7, Charles Wright provides a cogent discussion of the pitfalls of "impressionistic

characterizations" of Irish and Roman devotional expression based on tempermental differ

ences in style. Ultimately, Wright concludes that "the traditional contrast between 'Roman'

and 'Irish' piety and stylistic expression can still be useful," but warns that "such impression

istic criteria as 'sobriety' and 'imagination' as tests of national origin" should be abandoned

(7). In this essay, I hope to indicate a few more examples of the Irish influence on Anglo

Saxon culture and literature.

1 wish to thank Raymond J. S. Grant of the University of Alberta, Thomas N. Hall of the

University of Illinois-Chicago, Phillip Pulsiano of Villanova University, and E. Gordon What

ley of Queen's College for their constructive criticisms at various stages of this essay. I should

also like to thank Timothy Graham of the Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University,

specifically for his aid in clarifying manuscript readings and other technical matters, and more

generally for his friendly support of my research. Finally, I should like to thank Mildred O.

Budny, Director of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence, for her patience with and

unfailing encouragement of my work on the marginalia of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College

41. Versions of this essay were presented as a paper for the Research Group on Manuscript

Evidence Seminar concerning CCCC 41, held at the Parker Library on December 11, 1993;

the Medieval Studies Division of the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science,

Arts & Letters held at Ferris State University on March 10, 1995; and a session of the 31st

International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University on May 12, 1996.

2 See Kuypers, The Book of Cerne, xxix-xxx. Although there are exceptions to this paradigm

(e.g., according to Bede [Historia ecclesiastica, Book 2, ch. 9-14], Paulinus, the Roman com

panion of Augustine, first evangelized Northumbria), its general parameters hold true. On the

early history of the cult in England, see H. P. R. Finberg, "The Archangel Michael in Britain,"

in Mill?naire monastique du Mont Saint-Michel, vol. 3, ed. M. Baudot (Paris, 1971), 459-69;

and O. Rojdestvensky, Le culte de Saint Michel au Moyen ?ge latin (Paris, 1922), 18-28.



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The two traditions of devotion differ not so much in their appreciation of the

universal qualities of St. Michael as a saint (intercessor and patron), but in the

emphasis of their representations of the Archangel and his cultic power. Aside

from those characteristics universally associated with a saint, Christian tradition

in the West has assigned St. Michael four offices. These offices are based largely

on the Archangel's roles in the scriptural and apocryphal literature of the Old

and New Testment eras. The first is to do battle against Satan and his minions,

as in Rev. 12:7-9. The second is to be the untiring champion of God's chosen

people, namely the Jews in the Old Testament and the Christians in the New.

The third office is to protect the souls of the faithful from the influence of the

devil, especially at the moment of death. And the fourth office is to call away

men's souls from their earthly life and bring them to judgment, as is suggested

by the offertory chant of the Mass of the Dead ("sed signifer sanctus Michaelis

representet eas in lucem sanctam quam olim Abraham promisisti et semini

ejus ).3

In general, Roman devotions to St. Michael stressed the first two offices:

Michael as warrior-angel against the forces of evil and as guardian angel of the

faithful. Thus, in Roman tradition, Michael was venerated in his military capacity

as the commander of the angelic host and as protector and patron of the church.

The Irish tradition, however, was preoccupied with the events of the Last Days

and naturally stressed the third and fourth offices: Michael in his roles at death

and judgment. In the liturgical and paraliturgical works of the Celtic church,

Michael is most often represented in his capacity as psychopomp and weigher

of souls at judgment.4

In Old English literature, the character of the representations of St. Michael

was determined by the syncretic union of the two forces which forged the Anglo

Saxon church, the Roman missionaries in the south and the Irish monastics in

the north. Considered individually, however, the evidence suggests a more com

plex process of accretion, conflation, and occasional original invention.5 The

literary evidence falls into six thematic or textual groupings: earthly visits and

heavenly roles; scenes of judgment and intercession; the vision of St. Paul; the

narratives of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary; the anonymous homily in

praise of the Archangel in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41; and the Old

3On the non-Roman, possibly Irish, provenance of the offertory, see . M. Serpilli,

L'Offertorio della Messa dei Defunti (Rome, 1946), 21-30, and Brian Grogan, "Eschatological

Teaching in the Early Irish Church," in Martin McNamara, Biblical Studies: The Medieval

Irish Contribution (Dublin, 1976), 52-55.

4For a full treatment of Irish representations of St. Michael, see Chapter Two, "The Genesis

and Migration of the Archangel's Cult," of my Ph.D. dissertation, "The Cult of Saint Michael

the Archangel in Anglo-Saxon England" (Northwestern University, 1998).

5 For a discussion of representations of the Archangel in Old English literature, see Chapter

Four, "Representations of St. Michael in Old English Literature," of my dissertation.



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ARCHANGEL IN THE MARGINS 65

English and Anglo-Latin versions of BHL 5948 (the legendary account of the

Archangel's apparitions on Monte Gargano, Italy). Although in the descriptions

of St. Michael's earthly roles the Archangel is generally represented in his

traditional Roman capacity as guardian angel, in the scenes of judgment and

intercession he is characterized as a powerful intercessor whose intercession is

capable even of mitigating judgment, a representation corroborated in Irish hom

iletic texts. Most often in Old English texts, however, St. Michael is depicted

in such a way as to reflect a blend of the Irish and Roman traditions of repre

sentation. In the narratives of the Assumption of the Virgin and the vision of

St. Paul, for example, the heterdox character of St. Michael's roles suggests the

conflation of these dual influences.

Such a conflation does not seem to have taken place in the homilies written

in the margins of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41, a manuscript whose

Irish connections have been discussed by Raymond J. S. Grant.6 Using Kuypers's

and Grant's observations as points of departure, this essay will consider the

extent and nature of the Irish influence on the character of Anglo-Saxon rep

resentations of St. Michael in the marginal homilies of Corpus 41, providing

further evidence of an Irish literary milieu for the non-liturgical marginalia of

the manuscript.

The principal text of Corpus 41 is an Old English translation of Bede's Historia

ecclesiastica.1 In addition to the Bede text, the manuscript contains material in

both Old English and Latin written in the margins and open spaces. N. R. Ker

dates this marginal material a little later than the Bede text, roughly the middle

of the eleventh century.8 In Old English, there are three charms, one lorica,9 one

6 Raymond J. S. Grant, Three Homilies from Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41 (Ottawa,

1982), 26 and passim.

7 Detailed descriptions of the manuscript can be found in H. Wanley, Librorum Veterum

Septentrionalium Catalogus, vol. 2 of G. Hickes, Thesaurus Grammatico-Criticus et Archaeo

logicus (Oxford, 1705, repr. New York, 1970), 114-15; J. Schipper, K?nig Alfreds ?bersetzung

von Bedas Kirchengeschichte, Bibliothek der angels?chsischen Prosa 4 (Leipzig, 1897-99), 1,

xxv-xxviii; T. Miller, The Old English Version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English

People, EETS o.s. 95, 96, 110, 111 (London, 1890 and 1898, repr. New York 1976); N. Ker,

Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford, 1957), 43-45; M. R. James, A

Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cam

bridge, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1912), 1, 81-85; and the "Introduction" to Grant, Three Homilies

(1-12). Grant has also published much of the marginal material in Cambridge, Corpus Christi

College 41: The Loricas and the Missal (Amsterdam, 1979).

8 Ker states that the Bede text was written "in two parts simultaneously by two scribes" and

that the marginalia were written "probably all in one unusual angular hand" {Catalogue of

Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon [Oxford, 1957], 45).

9 By "charm," I refer to any solemn ritual utterance, generally sung or intoned, in a metrical



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TRADITIO

medicinal recipe, selections from a martyrology, a version of the poem Solomon

and Saturn (of which only the first 91 lines were copied into this manuscript),

six homilies, rubrics for Latin masses and for three Latin charms and one Latin

lorica, and the translation of the Latin record of the gift of the manuscript to

Exeter. In Latin, there are three charms, three loricas, church offices, rubrics for

two of the Old English homilies, and the record of the gift to Exeter. The

manuscript seems to have been a working copy of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica,

which later had added to it a seemingly odd assortment of liturgical and poetical

texts.

Sarah Keefer has studied the marginalia of the manuscript closely, in particular

the liturgical material.10 In a meticulous study comparing the liturgical material

in the margins of pages 2 through 17 of Corpus 41 with that in several other

manuscripts,11 Keefer finds evidence to suggest that "the CCCC 41 liturgical

marginalia stand as an understandably late provincial witness, hitherto unseen,

to a very early stage of the contextualization process: disparate texts brought

together on whatever vellum was best available, and awaiting the next stage of

reorganization and recopying into a volume where they would form at least part

of the main liturgical text."12 Keefer's argument for a coherent, albeit idiosyn

cratic, plan governing the collection of the liturgical marginalia suggests the

possibility of an equally intentional impulse behind the copying of the non

liturgical marginalia.

With regard to the non-liturgical material, Raymond Grant has argued that

"the selection of the marginalia ... is to a great extent determined by a unity

of interests in texts with Irish connections and dealing with what Willard has

form. As with the connotations of Latin carmen and Middle English charme, my use of the

word "charm" indicates that the incantation works by means of the recitation of words, rather

than by the application of some medicinal concoction. I denote the use of herbal remedies by

the term "medicinal recipe," of which there is one among the eleven incantatory verses. From

the Irish l?irech (corselet or breast-plate), a lorica is a subset of charms that offers general

protection for the body and soul, as opposed to the protection of animals and material goods

against theft. According to L. Gougaud ("Etude sur les loric celtiques et sur les pri?res qui

s'en rapprochent," Bulletin d'ancienne litt?rature et d'arch?ologie chr?tiennes 1 [1911]: 265

81 and 2 [1912]: 33-41, 101-27), a lorica is "une pri?re de forme litanique, g?n?ralement

prolixe, ?crite soit en latin soit en langue celtique, dans laquelle on r?clame en termes pressants

la protection des trois personnes divines, des anges, et des saints contre les maux et les dangers

spirituels ou mat?riels, surtout contre ces derniers." Although only one of the Corpus 41 loricas

includes an invocation of the Trinity, as a whole they call variously upon angels and saints.

For a discussion of the tradition of loricas in Old English, see Thomas D. Hill, "Invocation of

the Trinity and the Tradition of the Lorica in Old English Poetry," Speculum 56 (1981): 259

6 7.

10Sarah Larratt Keefer, "Margin as Archive: The Liturgical Marginalia of a Manuscript of

the Old English Bede," Traditio 51 (1996): 147-77.

11 In addition to her analysis of the liturgical material on pages 2 through 17 of the manu

script, Keefer provides a full list of all the other liturgical marginalia (ibid., 148, . 6).

12lbid., 151.



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ARCHANGEL IN THE MARGINS

67

aptly termed 'ecclesiastical fiction.' "13 The Irish influence Grant notices is man

ifest in the incantatory verses (the charms and the loricas), the poetical dialogue

of Solomon and Saturn, and the homilies.

Although it is impossible to know the reasons for their inclusion in this manu

script, it is likely that the selection of charms, loricas, and the portion of Solomon

and Saturn was further determined by a prevailing interest in texts which offer

protection, both material and spiritual. It is in this larger context of protection

that St. Michael finds his place. Although neither the incantatory verses nor

Solomon and Saturn mentions St. Michael by name, his abiding presence as

protector of the people of the Lord and of their material, physical, and spiritual

well-being seems to pervade these texts. For example, considered as a unit the

three Old English charms against the theft or loss of property suggest a concern

on the part of the compiler of the marginalia for the protection of material goods,

presumably those goods belonging to his monastic establishment.14

Angelology even seems to have been a concern of the compiler with regard

to certain charms. The three charms against physical illness are rubricated in

Old English but written in Latin. They are significant not only for the fact that

they are meant to be invoked to protect the body from sickness, but also as they

comprise a catalogue of familiar and unfamiliar angels. In the charm against

sore ears ("t>i sarum earum"), Raphael (whose name means "God has healed")

is appealed to as the archangel responsible for healing the faithful.15 His power

is also hinted at in the charm against sore eyes ("t)i? sarum ea3um"), which

alludes to the healing of Tobit's blindness in Tobit 11:7-9.16 In the charm against

a great sickness ("{)i? ma3an seocnesse"), two uncommon angels are mentioned.17

13 Grant, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 41, 26; and Rudolph Willard, Two Apoc

rypha in Old English Homilies, Beitr?ge zur englischen Philologie (Leipzig, 1935), 2.

14 The first of these charms is the Old English Bee Charm found on page 186 of the manuscript

and printed by O. Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft in Early England, 1 (Lon

don, 1864), 384; G. Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic (The Hague, 1948), no. 1, 132; and E. V. K.

Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems, Anglo-Saxon Poetical Records 6 (New York, 1942),

125. The charm beginning, "Ne forstolen ne forholen nanuht i>aes ?e ic age," is found on p. 206

of the manuscript and has been printed by Cockayne, Leechdoms 1, 384; Storms, Anglo-Saxon

Magic, no. 15, 208-11; and Dobbie, Minor Poems, 125. The third charm, "Dis mon sceal

cwe an," is also found on p. 206 of the manuscript and has been printed by Cockayne, Leechdoms

1, 392; Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, no. 13, 206-7; and Dobbie, Minor Poems, 126.

15The charm is found on p. 326 of the manuscript and has been printed by Cockayne, Leech

doms 1, 387; and Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, Appendix no. 5, 315.


doms 1, 387; Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, Appendix no. 4, 314. A virtually identical charm

is found in the Anglo-Saxon leechbook known as Lacnunga, and is printed in J. H. Grattan

and Charles Singer, Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine (Oxford, 1952), 182-85.


doms 1, 387; Storms, Anglo-Saxon Magic, Appendix no. 6, 315; and M. R. James, Descriptive

Catalogue (Cambridge, 1912), 84.



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An evil angel named "Lanielum"18 is blamed for causing stomach aches, and a

benevolent angel, "Dormielo," is invoked to restore the patient to health. Another

unknown but clearly evil angel, "Fandorohel," appears in the charm against sore

ears as the angel responsible for causing earaches. Although none of these names

appears in any Insular list of angels, the names are similar by one letter or two

to the names of several archangels found in Irish sources.19 The three charms

against various bodily ailments find their place alongside the loricas designed

for protection of the body and soul.

The prevailing concern for the protection of body and soul against spiritual

assault reflected in the loricas suggests an eschatological fear of the ultimate

fate of the soul, an outcome, as the homilies will show, in which St. Michael

often plays a decisive role.20 Thus, protection seems to have played a role in

the choice of charms and loricas for inclusion in this manuscript, and the compiler

seems to have aimed not only at protecting material goods but more importantly

at protecting the body and soul against physical and spiritual assault. Although

he is not mentioned explicitly in these charms, St. Michael's prominence in this

manuscript has to do with the overall tenor of the choices the compiler made

in putting this commonplace book together. Michael is the protector par excel

lence and leader of the celestial troops. With his lieutenant Raphael, mentioned

in the charm against sore ears ("J)i? sarum earum"), Michael is a powerful

guardian and healer of the faithful.

Among the poetical pieces, there is finally the inclusion of the poetic dialogue

of Solomon and Saturn among the marginalia of Corpus 41 to consider.21 Of the

18 M. R. James reads "Sanielem" in the manuscript. Cockayne reads "Lanielum" in Corpus

41 and Storms reads "Lanielem" from the same charm found in Cambridge, Gonville and Caius

College MS 379 (f. 49r). Timothy Graham of the Medieval Institute (Western Michigan Uni

versity) has looked at this passage in the manuscript under cold fiber-optic light and has com

municated to me that he is "pretty confident that the correct reading is 'lanielum' " (private

correspondence, dated August 29, 1995). Graham writes, "It was possible clearly to see a

curved stroke towards the right at the bottom of the letter, such as would be appropriate for

the foot of this scribe's .' By contrast, I could see no trace of a curved stroke towards the

right at the top of the letter, such as would be necessary for this scribe's tall 's' ('/'). I also

examined the area under ultra-violet light, but this did not add anything further."

19 Lists of archangels in Irish sources include the Liber de numeris (R. E. McNally, Der

irische Liber de numeris [Munich, 1957], 126-27), the Leiden Lorica (M. Herren, The His

perica Famina: II. Related Poems [Toronto, 1987], 90, lines 26-28); "A Prayer to the Arch

angels for Each Day of the Week" (T. P. O'Nowlan, ?riu 2 [1905]: 92-94); "Imchl?d Aingel"

(T. P. O'Nowlan, in Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer, ed. O. Bergin and C. Marstrander

[Halle, 1912], 253-57); the Saltair na Rann (W. Stokes, Saltair na Rann [Oxford, 1883], 12,

lines 793-804); Recension 3 of the Tenga Bithnua (G. Dottin, "Une r?daction moderne du

Teanga Bithnua," Revue Celtique 28 [1907]: 277-307 at 298). See also J. Cary, "Angelology

in Saltair na Rann," Celtica 19 (1987): 1-8; and P. Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in

Western England 600-800 (Cambridge, 1990), 286, with more references at . 57.

20The loricas of Corpus 41 have been studied by Grant, Cambridge, 1-26.

21 The poem begins "Saturnus cwae?: Hwast, ic ?3landa eallra haebbe boca on byr3ed" on

p. 196 of the manuscript and continues for some ninety odd lines to the bottom of p. 198. It



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various forms of this dialogue extant in Old English,22 the poetical version in

Corpus 41 is partial, containing only lines 1 through 94 of Poem I. Although

one editor of the poem concedes that there is not sufficient evidence to determine

whether the two extant poetical versions derive from a common exemplar, Grant

has persuasively shown that the two versions must have been independently

copied, ruling out the possibility that either was copied from the other.23

In keeping with his analysis of the marginalia and its Irish influence, Grant

concludes from this fact that "the scribe of Corpus 41 chose to transcribe only

a part of the poem of Solomon and Saturn that was available to him, a part he

considered important for his own purpose in assembling the marginalia."24 The

portion of the poem copied in Corpus 41 comprises a conversation between

Solomon, representing Judaeo-Christian wisdom, and Saturn, representing pagan

knowledge, concerning the use and efficacy of the Paternoster. Solomon enu

merates the powers of the Paternoster letter by letter in a manner reminiscent

in theme, tone, and alphabetic technique of the Old English charm which includes

a portion of the Hymn to St. Patrick of Sechnall in Latin and the Latin charm

which includes the "sator" formula.25 The scribe of this manuscript then chose

to transcribe the portion of his exemplar that took as its subject matter the

supernatural power of the Paternoster. The portion of the poem Solomon and

Saturn that appears here must also join the growing list of loricas assembled in

the margins of Corpus 41.

Thus, the tenor of the charms and the loricas (including the portion of the

poetical Solomon and Saturn) suggests a degree of continuity in the compiler's

selections of texts: both the verses and the homilies reflect a concern for the

fate of the body and soul in this life and the next.

2

Although the manuscript itself has been dated to the first half of the eleventh

century, Rudolph Willard has argued that the composition of the homilies belongs

is printed by R. J. Menner, The Poetical Dialogues of Solomon and Saturn, MLA Monograph

Series 13 (New York and London, 1941), 80-86, and Dobbie, Minor Poems, 30-48.

22There are extant four dialogues between Solomon and Saturn in Old English: two are in

verse and two are in prose. The two verse versions are found in Cambridge, Corpus Christi

College MS 422, which also includes one of the prose versions, and Cambridge, Corpus Christi

College MS 41, which includes only the first 91 lines of the verse dialogue and none of the

prose dialogue. The other prose version is found in Cotton Vittelius A. xv.

23 Although Menner argues that it is impossible to determine whether both poetical versions

derive from a common exemplar, he does allow that neither manuscript was copied directly

from the original (Solomon and Saturn, 3-8). Raymond J. S. Grant is in general agreement

with Menner but is willing to consider the likelihood that the poems were copied from a

common exemplar (Grant, Cambridge, 24).

24Ibid., 24.

25This charm is found on p. 329 of the manuscript and has been printed by Storms, Anglo

Saxon Magic, no. 43, 281; and Grant, Cambridge, 18-19.



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to an earlier period, what he calls the "unreformed, or pre-^lfric, period," i.e.,

before the middle of the tenth century.26 As Willard and Grant have both noted,

these homilies abound in apocryphal and apocalyptic material; it is natural then

that St. Michael should appear in these homilies. Of the six homilies copied into

the manuscript, St. Michael plays a role in four.27 The first of these is a homily

on the Assumption of the Virgin, a unique version in Old English of a Transitus

Mariae text.

Homily on the Assumption

Although the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary has no warrant

in scripture, a group of apocryphal works concerning the final fate of Mary,

perhaps originating in Egypt, began to circulate from about the fourth century

in several different languages (principally Syriac, Coptic, Greek, and Latin).28

While the Syriac form of the legends influenced the Irish tradition of Assumption

apocrypha, the Latin versions of this apocryphon are the most important for the

legends of the Assumption that made their way to Anglo-Saxon England.29 The

principal Latin versions of the Assumption thought to have been known in Anglo

Saxon England are Transitus Mari 1, Transitus Mari 2, Transitus Mari

C, and Transitus Mari E.30

Of the Latin versions of the Assumption legends which were known in Anglo

Saxon England, the vernacular Corpus 41 homily on the Assumption has been

26 Willard, Two Apocrypha, 2.

27 For a list and description of these six homilies, see Grant, Three Homilies, 5-9.

28 For a summary of the complicated textual history of the Assumption apocrypha, see Mary

Clayton, The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge, 1990), 8-10; and

Simon Claude Mimouni, Dormition et Assomption de Marie: Histoire des traditions anciennes

(Paris, 1996).

29 For a succinct discussion of the Latin versions relevant to the study of Anglo-Saxon knowl

edge of Assumption apocrypha, see Mary Clayton, "De Transitu Mariae," Sources of Anglo

Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial Version, ed. F. Biggs et al. (Binghamton, New York, 1990),

41-43.

30Transitus Mari 1 has been edited by Constantin Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae

Mosis, Esdr , Pauli, Iohannis item Mari Dormitio (Leipzig, 1866), 124-36. Following Tis

chendorf, I will refer to alternate B1 readings as "MB" variants. Transitus Mari 2 has been

edited by Monika Haibach-Reinisch, Ein neuer 'Transitus Mari ' des Pseudo-Melito (Rome,

1962), 63-87. Both B1 and B2 are versions of the so-called Gospel of Pseudo-Melito, which

has recently been translated in J. K. Elliott, Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1993), 708

14. Transitus Mari C has been edited by Andr? Wilmart, Analecta Reginensia (Rome, 1933),

325-57. Transitus E is a variant of Transitus and is found in Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana,

MS Lat. 58. Tischendorf has printed excerpts from it in the prolegomena to his Apocalypses

Apocryphae (xliii-xlvi). Rudolph Willard first designated this text Transitus Mari E

("On B?ckling Homily XIII: 'The Assumption of the Virgin,' " Review of English Studies 12

[1936]: 4).



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shown by several critics31 to depend, albeit loosely, on Transitus Mari 1.

Recently, however, Mary Clayton has argued convincingly that the Old English

homily corresponds much more closely with Transitus Mari 2.32 Despite the

close correspondence of many aspects of the Assumption homily in Corpus 41

and the Transitus B2 version of Pseudo-Melito, however, an examination of the

role of St. Michael in the Old English homily reveals an anomaly between the

two texts.33

The Corpus 41 homily on the Assumption of the Virgin presents Michael in

the role of guardian and conveyor to heaven of the Virgin's soul, a role he

performs in some of the Coptic and Syriac accounts of the Assumption and in

the two versions of the Gospel of Pseudo-Melito (B and B2). In the third year

after Christ's ascension,34 an angel of the Lord appears to Mary. The angel

informs her that her death is imminent and gives her a palm branch to be placed

on her bier. Mary beseeches the angel to have the apostles gather beside her.

The angel declares that they will come to her "from the glory of Paradise,"35

31 Principal among these is Rudolph Willard in Two Apocrypha, 3 and "The Two Accounts

of the Assumption in B?ckling Homily XIII," Review of English Studies 12 (1936): 2; H. L.

C. Tristram, Vier altenglische Predigten aus der heterodoxen Tradition, mit Kommentar, ?ber

setzung und Glossar sowie drei weiteren Texten im Anhang (Freiburg, 1970), who points out

that the Old English of the Corpus 41 homily and the Latin of Tischendorf 's Transitus text

do not always correspond; and Grant, Three Homilies, who edits and translates the homily

(18-31).

32Mary Clayton, "The Assumption Homily in CCCC 41," Notes & Queries n.s. 36 (1989):

293-95. In this article (293), Clayton also points out that Transitus B2 is the older of the two

versions of the Pseudo-Melito and was known in England from at least the first half of the

eighth century, as Bede quotes from it in his Retractatio in Acta Apostolorum (ed. M. L. W.

Laistner, CCL 121 [Turnhout, 1983], 134-35).

33 Clayton discusses three anomalies: the year of Mary's death, the angel's assurance to Mary

that the apostles will be brought from Paradise to her bedside, and Michael's roles ("The

Assumption Homily in CCCC 41," 294).

^Transitus B2 puts the Virgin's death in the second year after Christ's ascension. Clayton

remarks that the Corpus homily is unique in assigning it to the third year and that the date

"must stem from a misreading of .iii. for .ii." (ibid., 294).

35The angel's assurance in the Corpus homily reads, "Nu toda^e hi beo? 3enumene of Neo

rhxna[)on3es 3efean 7 her to ?e cuma " (This very day they will be taken from the glory of

Paradise and will come hither to thee) (Grant, Three Homilies, 18). The Transitus B2 text reads,

"Ecce hodie omnes apostoli per virtutem Domini assumpti hue venient" (ed. Haibach-Reinisch,

67). This anomaly is discussed by Clayton, who reviews Tristram's conjecture that the Corpus

text may rely at this point on a parallel passage in the Greek "Discourse of St. John the Divine

concerning the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God," in which Mary requests that all

the apostles, "both those who have already come to dwell with you and those who are in this

present world" (trans. J. K. Elliot, Apocryphal New Testament, 701) be brought to her side.

Clayton concludes that Tristram's argument is ultimately unsatisfactory as it relies both on the

"loss of part of a sentence and . . . the knowledge of a detail which does not otherwise appear

in any version of Transitus or, indeed, in any known Latin apocryphon" ("The Assumption

Homily in CCCC 41," 294).



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TRADITIO

and they are miraculously transported to her side. Once the apostles have as

sembled and the vigil begun, Christ and a great host of angels come to Mary,

who is fearful of an encounter with dark spirits after her death. Christ comforts

her by telling her that although she will likely encounter the prince of darkness,

she will have nothing to fear as she will be escorted to paradise by the heavenly

host. Mary then gives thanks to God and sends forth her spirit. Her soul rises

from her body shining, and Christ passes it into the protection of St. Michael

who is acknowledged as "Neorxnaj3on3es hyrde, ealdormon, Ebrea ?eoden" (a

guardian of Paradise, chieftain and prince of the Hebrews).36 In keeping with

his traditional roles as psychopomp and guardian of souls of the living and the

dead, St. Michael is entrusted with the protection and conveyance of Mary's

soul. In the Latin Transitus B1, but not Transitus B2, the archangel Gabriel

accompanies Michael and the soul of the Virgin Mary to paradise (see Table 1).

The identification of these two archangels and their roles is significant because

the two are later confused in the Old English text.

After Mary's soul is entrusted to St. Michael, Christ assigns the body of the

Virgin to St. Peter for burial with the injunction that the body should be buried

for three days, at which point He will return. Christ then departs amid the singing

and rejoicing of the heavenly host. Mary's body is transported to a sepulcher

"in Pa swi?ran healfe Paere ceastre" (on the right-hand side of the city).37 At the

third hour of the third day, Christ and the angels return. In a scene prefiguring

the role the apostles will play at Judgment, Christ asks the apostles what they

would have Him do with Mary's body. Peter and the apostles reply that it is

just that Mary's body should be raised into heaven.38 It is at this point that the

Old English text confuses the names and roles of the archangels.

In Tischendorf's principal text, Transitus B1, St. Michael returns with Mary's

soul and is commanded to move the stone from in front of the sepulcher (see

Table 2). Christ then raises the body of Mary. In this version, however, St.

Michael does not receive the reunited soul and body of Mary for conveyance

to heaven; the host of angels carries her into paradise. Among Tischendorf' s

variants, it is interesting to note that MB depicts Gabriel as removing the stone

from the sepulcher, an anomaly which the Old English follows.39 In most man

uscripts of Transitus B2, Michael returns with Mary's soul, but there is no mention

of either the removal of the stone in front of the sepulcher or the archangel

36 Grant, Three Homilies, 24.

37 Ibid.

38 In her book, The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Saxon England, Mary Clayton argues

that the justification for the corporal assumption of Mary lies in her "virginal maternity: that

the body which had given birth without corruption should not suffer corruption in death" (8).

39Citing Haibach-Reinisch {Ein neuer 'Transitus Mariae,' 122-24), Mary Clayton notes that

this anomaly was also copied into some versions of Transitus B2 ("The Assumption Homily

in CCCC41," 294).



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73

Table 1. Summary of Michael's Roles in the Latin

Transitus Marije Tradition

Transitus Mari B1

Transitus Mari 2

Chapter 8:

Michael receives Mary's soul from

Christ. Gabriel accompanies Michael

and Mary's soul to heaven.

Chapter 16:

Michael retrieves Mary's soul from

heaven and rolls the stone away from

before the sepulcher in which her

earthly body lies.

MB variants:

Michael brings Mary's soul from

heaven, but Gabriel is introduced to

roll away the stone from before the

sepulcher.

Chapter 17:

Mary's risen body is entrusted to the

angelic host for conveyance to

heaven.

Chapter 8:

Michael receives Mary's soul from

Christ. There is no mention of Gabriel.

Chapter 16:

Michael returns with Mary's soul.

There is no mention of either the

stone or the archangel Gabriel.

V ariants:

1. Gabriel is commanded to remove

the stone from before the sepulcher,

and Michael presents the soul of

Mary before the Lord (Haibach

Reinisch manuscripts: T, F, O1, O2,

and V).

2. Michael and Gabriel together

present the soul of Mary before the

Lord. There is no mention of the

stone (manuscripts: 2, P3).

3. Michael is commanded to bring

Mary's soul from heaven, and

Gabriel is commanded to remove

the stone from before the sepulcher

(manuscripts: P1, D, P4).

Chapter 17:

Michael receives Mary's body and

conveys it to heaven, accompanied by

the angelic host.



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TRADITIO

Table 2. Summary of Anomalous Archangel Roles

in the Assumption Narratives

Texts Angel who rolls stone Psychopomp

Transitus B1 Michael Michael

MB Variants of B1 Gabriel Michael

Transitus B2 (MSS T,

F, O1, O2 and V) Gabriel Michael

Transitus E No mention of stone Michael

CCCC 41 Gabriel Gabriel presents the soul

of Mary before the Lord,

but Michael conveys her

body to heaven.

Gabriel. In this text, St. Michael is also restored to his role of psychopomp; the

Archangel conveys the reunited body and soul of Mary to paradise. Thus, despite

several anomalies, St. Michael is the only angel to play a significant role in the

principal texts of both Latin versions (B1 and B2) of the Transitus apocryphon.

In the Old English homily, however, the various roles of the two angels are

confused. In the principal Transitus B1 text, its MB variants, and the B2 text,

St. Michael returns with Mary's soul so that it may be reunited with her body.

Although St. Michael receives Mary's soul from Christ to be conveyed to heaven

in the Corpus homily, he is not charged with bringing her soul back to be reunited

with her body. As in the MB variants of Transitus B1, the archangel Gabriel is

first introduced to remove the stone from Mary's sepulcher. In the Old English,

it is Gabriel who also brings Mary's soul back for its reunion with her body.

Furthermore, he makes the speech that in all the Latin sources is made by Christ

and effects the corporeal reunification.40 Once reunited, Mary's body and soul

are entrusted by Christ to St. Michael, who immediately takes her up to heaven

surrounded by the host of angels.

Thus, despite the anomalies of the Corpus text, the principal role assigned to

St. Michael is that of psychopomp. Given the preponderance of apocryphal

40This is in pointed contrast to Gabriel's role in the Assumption homily found in the anon

ymous B?ckling collection (R. Morris, The B?ckling Homilies, EETS 58, 63, 73 [London,

1874-80]; repr. as one volume, 1967). There Gabriel is only introduced to remove the stone

from before the Virgin's tomb (ibid., 156-57).



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75

material in these homilies and Michael's role as protector and conveyor of souls,

it would seem likely that the representation of the Archangel in this homily is

Irish in spirit, if not by direct influence. The evidence of direct influence is

tentative, since the Corpus text and the two Irish vernacular accounts of the

Transitas Mari differ considerably at various significant stages of their nar

ratives.41 Nevertheless, the points of correspondence between the Irish versions

and the Corpus text, and particularly their representation of St. Michael's roles,

suggest that they both derive from a literary milieu in which the Archangel's

apotropaic powers are stressed. Since an exact duplication of textual details is

not necessarily needed to assert influence, such a conclusion is not entirely

u nwarranted.

Homily on the Last Judgment

The second Corpus 41 homily in which St. Michael appears is the homily on

the Last Judgment, in which he guards the door to the first heaven and ushers

souls before the throne of the Lord in the seventh heaven.42 The homily is

concerned generally with the fate of the soul and contains a vivid description

of Doom which is based largely on the apocryphal Apocalypse of Thomas. More

important for the study of St. Michael, however, is the inclusion in this homily

of the apocryphon of the Seven Heavens, a theme common in Irish vernacular

texts.43

The doctrine of the Seven Heavens,44 which describes the journey and trials

of purgation of souls after death, can be found in many Jewish and early Christian

41 Charles Donahue, The Testament of Mary: The Gaelic Version of the Dormitio Mariae

together with an Irish Latin Version (New York, 1942). For example, the Old English text does

not contain the apostolic controversy, an episode central to the Irish versions of this apocry

phon. Neither does the Old English text include a tour of Hell and a successful intercession

by the Virgin Mary and Michael.

42 This homily is found on pp. 287-95 of the manuscript. The text has been printed in part

by M. F?rster, "A New Version of the Apocalypse of Thomas in Old English," Anglia 73

(1955): 17-27, who prints the equivalent of manuscript pages 287-92 of the homily, and by

R. Willard, Two Apocrypha (3-6), who picks up where F?rster leaves off and prints all but a

final portion of the homily. This final section of the homily contains a full account of the pains

of hell and a brief comparison of these pains with the joys of heaven.

43 For a general discussion of the knowledge of this apocryphon among the Irish, see Martin

McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church (Dublin, 1975), no. 108, pp. 141-43; R. E.

McNally, The Bible in the Early Middle Ages (Westminster, Md., 1959); and Brian Grogan,

"The Eschatological Doctrines of the Early Irish Church" (Ph.D. Diss., Fordham University,

1973), 185-91.

44The doctrine is discussed in terms of its relation to Greek, Oriental, Jewish, and Christian

literature in the preface (xxx-xlvii) to R. H. Charles and W. R. Morfill's edition of The Book

of the Secrets of Enoch (Oxford, 1896).



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TRADITIO

sources.45 From the Middle Ages, the apocryphon of the Seven Heavens is pre

served in several versions: a Latin epitome, three Irish versions, and in the Corpus

41 homily on the Last Judgment.46 Among Irish sources, lists that enumerate

the seven heavens and their respective doors can be found in the Liber de numeris

and the late-eighth-century Hiberno-Latin commentary on the Bible known as

the Reference Bible.47 References to the seven heavens also occur in the Mar

45 Principal among the Jewish sources are The Book of the Secrets of Enoch (2 Enoch or

Slavonic Enoch) and the Testament of Levi. In the apocrypha of the early Christian era, the

doctrine can be found in the Ascension of Isaiah and the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch. Among

the Church Fathers, Irenaeus, Ambrose, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen each refer to the

doctrine of the Seven Heavens in their writings. For a discussion of the views of the Church

Fathers with regard to the doctrine of the Seven Heavens, see D. de Bruyne, "Fragments

retrouv?s d'apocryphes priscillianistes," Revue B?n?dictine 24 (1907): 318-35 at 319-20,

where a full bibliography can be found.

46 As will be evident from my notes, I am indebted to Charles D. Wright's discussion of this

apocryphon in his book, The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature (218-20) and in his

entry on the Apocrypha Priscillianistica in Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial

Version (ed. F. Biggs et al., Binghamton, 1990, 69-70).

The Latin epitome of the apocryphon is among the Apocrypha Priscillianistica from a flor

ilegium in Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek Aug. CCLIV, published by D. de Bruyne,

"Fragments retrouv?s," 318-35. The three Irish versions of the apocryphon are found in sec

tions 15-20 of the Fis Adamn?n , Recension 3 of the Tenga Bithnua, and in the Liber Flavus

Fergusiorum.

In his study of the Seven Heavens apocryphon, Rudolph Willard (Two Apocrypha, 3, n. 113)

notes that there is an allusion to the doctrine of the seven heavens in an unpublished Easter

homily in CCCC 162 (384). Willard prints the relevant passage in his note. Since Willard's

study appeared, however, the homily has been edited several times, most recently by Clare

Lees, "Theme and Echo in an Anonymous Old English Homily for Easter," Traditio 42 (1986):

115-42. The passage in question occurs at lines 35-38 (118) of Lees's edition. Willard also

points out that the Seven Heaven apocryphon must have influenced another Old English hom

ily, "Be heofonwarum 7 be helwarum," which describes hell in terms closely resembling the

Latin and Old English versions of the apocryphon. Willard prints the passage (24) and analyzes

its significance in relation to the other versions of the Seven Heavens apocryphon (25-28).

Wright discusses this homily in several places as an Old English homily influenced by Irish

sources (31, 149-51, 159, 219-20, 229 and passim). The entire homily is printed in T. C.

Callison, "An Edition of Previously Unpublished Anglo-Saxon Homilies in MSS C.C.C.C. 302

and Cotton Faustina A. ix" (Ph.D. Diss., University of Wisconsin, 1973). Wright also notes

that Vercelli 4 refers to the seventh heaven in terms identical to those found in the Old English

version of the apocryphon, in Irish lists of the seven heavens, and in the Easter homily pub

lished by Lees (Wright, Irish Tradition, 265). There occur several references to the seventh

heaven in two homilies of Pseudo-Wulfstan: Homily 43 and 44 (ed. A. Napier, Wulfstan.

Sammlung der ihm zugeschriebenen Homilien nebst Untersuchungen ?ber ihre Echtheit [Ber

lin, 1883], 207, line 2; 213, line 13; and 217, line 16). Yet another reference to the doctrine

of the Seven Heavens occurs in a Rogationtide homily edited by J. Bazire and J. E. Cross,

Eleven Old English Rogationtide Homilies, King's College London Medieval Studies 4 (Lon

don, 1990), 64, line 90.

47 Wright, Irish Tradition, 218. The Liber de numeris has been edited by R. E. McNally, Der

irische Liber de numeris (Munich, 1957), who argues for the Irish composition of the text. For

bibliography on the Reference Bible, see Charles D. Wright, "Hiberno-Latin: Biblical Com



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tyrology of Oengus and in the "Poem to Our Lady," by Blathmac.48 In his study

of the Irish influence on Old English literature, Charles Wright points out that

the presence of the Latin homily "among the Apocrypha Priscillianistica and

its dissemination in Irish and Old English vernacular versions suggests that its

circulation in the West was concentrated in the British Isles and in Insular centres

on the Continent."49 Although the Latin homily appears to be closely related to

the vernacular versions of the apocryphon, Jane Stevenson has argued that it

cannot be said to be the direct source of any of these versions.50 The Irish versions

include sections 15-20 of Fis Adamn?n (Vision of Adamnan), a recension of

the Tenga Bithnua (Ever-New Tongue), and a text in the Liber Flavus Fergu

siorum.51 In each of these versions, St. Michael plays a dual role. The Archangel

guards the door of the first heaven and presents the souls before the throne of

the Lord in the seventh heaven (see Table 3).

In the Corpus 41 homily, St. Michael performs these same functions. The first

heaven is the "lyftlic" (air-like or aery) heaven, which is entered through the

door "Abyssus."52 Another door is mentioned in connection with this heaven: it

is called "Sabaoth, Pxt is, weoroda duru, for I>on englas ?ider inga and manna

sawla" (Sabaoth, that is, the Door of the Host, because angels and the souls of

men enter thither).53 St. Michael guards these doors, accompanied by two at

mentaries ? Old and New Testament" 1, Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial

Version (Binghamton, 1990), 90-92.

48 These references are pointed out by Martin McNamara in his useful discussion of the

Seven Heavens apocryphon in The Apocrypha in the Irish Church (Dublin, 1975), no. 108,

pp. 141-43. Blathmac's poem has been published by James Carney, The Poems of Blathmac

Son of C? Brettan together with the Irish Gospel of Thomas and a Poem on the Virgin Mary,

Irish Text Society 47 (Dublin, 1964), 84-87.

49Wright, Irish Tradition, 218.

50Jane Stevenson, "Ascent through the Heavens, from Egypt to Ireland," Cambridge Me

dieval Celtic Studies 5 (1983): 21-35 (quoted in Wright, Irish Tradition, 218). M. R. James

has argued that the Latin text in the Karlsruhe manuscript is a fragment of a lost apocryphon

from which the Irish versions derive ("Irish Apocrypha," Journal of Theological Studies 20

[1918-19]: 9-16 at 16).

51 These three texts are summarized and discussed by St. John Seymour, "The Seven Heavens

in Irish Literature," Zeitschrift f?r celtische Philologie 14 (1923): 18-30. Each of these texts

is also discussed by Martin McNamara, The Apocrypha in the Irish Church (Dublin, 1975).

See also Brian Grogan, "The Eschatological Doctrines of the Early Irish Church" (Ph.D. Diss.,

Fordham University, 1973), 185-91. Fis Adamn?n has been published by H. Windisch in his

Irische Texte 1 (Leipzig, 1880), 180-84 (McNamara, no. 100). Recension 3 of the Tenga

Bithnua has been printed by G. Dottin, "Une r?daction moderne du Teanga Bithnua," Revue

Celtique 28 (1907): 277-307 (McNamara, no. 94). The Liber Flavus Fergusiorum text has

been printed by Gear?id Mac Niocaill, "Na Seacht Neamha," ?igse 8 (1956): 239-41 (McNa

mara, no. 108).

52The Seven Heavens portion of this homily is printed by Willard, Two Apocrypha, 4-6.

53Ibid., 4, lines 7-9. In his study, Willard compares eleven versions of this apocryphon and

notes a close correspondence between the Latin, Irish, and Old English texts in the names of

the seven heavens, the doors of the heavens, and the guardian angels, except in the instance



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Table 3. Summary of Seven Heavens Apocrypha

CCCC 41 Vision of Liber Flavus Ever New

Adamnan Fergusiorum Tongue

First heaven lyftlic (airy) No name Aer Air

door Abyssus and No name Abistum Abisus

Sabaoth

angel Michael Michael Michael Michael

attendants Equitas and 2 unnamed Continentia 2 unnamed

Estimado spirits and Fortitudo spirits

punishment Burning rods Iron rods Iron rods No punishment

mentioned

Second heaven oferlyftlic No name Ether Ether

(over-airy)

door Elioth No name Elioth Illisiom

angel

attendants

Uriel_

Continentia

and Contenda

Ariel

2 unnamed

spirits

Ariel

Continentia

and Fortitudo

Uriel

2 unnamed

spirits

punishments Fiery rods

which strike

eyes

Fiery rods

which strike

face and eyes

Fiery rods

which strike

face and eyes

Three springs

in which souls

are washed

river

Fiery river

Abiersetus

No name of

river, but an

angel

Abersetus

River:

Atueritas

Angel:

Aprosetor

Three springs

are not named

Sixth heaven Engla (of No name Caelum Hesperium

Angels Angelorum

door Ieru No name Erictus

angel

description

No angel

m entioned

No angel

m entioned

No angel

mentioned

punishments No torments No torments No torments

Place of Light

of Precious

Stones

Place of Light

as of Precious

Stones

Place of Light

from Precious

Stones

Seventh heaven Drinnisse

(Trinity)

No name

Sedes

Trinitatum

Caelum

Trinitatum

door

No name

No name

Amma

No name

Michael brings

souls from 6th

heaven before

the throne of

the Lord

Michael and

Angel of the

Trinity bring

souls before

throne of the

Lord

Michael and

Ang el of the

Trinity bring

souls before

throne of the

Lord

Michael brings

souls to 7th

heaven and

presents them

to the Lord



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79

tendants, Equitas and Estimatio, who bear in their hands burning rods. Evidently

the souls are to be disciplined at the hands of these personified cardinal virtues

before proceeding to the next heaven.54 In each succeeding heaven, souls are

punished according to the severity of their sins until they reach the seventh

heaven, the heaven of the Holy Trinity. In the seventh heaven, "Sanctus Michael

agife? ?>a sawla t>aera so faestra and Paera sinfulra" (St. Michael delivers the

souls of the truth-fast and the sinful) before the throne of the Lord so that they

may be judged.55

Although the conception of Seven Heavens seems to have been commonplace

in apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature, many of the details in the Corpus

homily are unique. Furthermore, in the Jewish and early Christian apocalypses

a system of doors and guardian angels for each heaven is lacking. The doors

must have been added at a later date and were probably associated with guardian

angels after that doctrine was affirmed in the writings of the Fathers of the

Church.56

The close correspondence of the Corpus 41 homily with the Irish versions,

as indicated in Table 3, suggests a strong degree of influence. Although Jane

Stevenson has cautioned that "the dependence of the 'seven heavens' text on an

Irish model cannot be proved," she ultimately concludes that the "apocryphon

was known in Ireland first."57 Her conclusion is supported by the fact that the

Corpus version of the apocryphon is unique in Old English,58 and that it is found

in a manuscript with other material partly derived from Irish sources. In addition

to these facts, the striking similarity of detail outlined in Table 3 suggests that

the influence is likely to have been from the direction of Ireland rather than vice

versa.

of this second door in the first heaven. Here the Old English is unique in mentioning a second

door.

54In each of the first two heavens, there are two attendants assisting the guardian angel. In

the Corpus homily, these attendants are named as four cardinal virtues: Equitas and Estimatio

are found in the first heaven, Continentia and Contenda in the second. The Liber Flavus Fer

gusiorum text names only the pair found in the second heaven. All accounts refer to these

attendants as "youths" or "virgins."

55 Willard, Two Apocrypha, 5, lines 50-51.

56For an overview of the subject of guardian angels in the Old Testament, see William G.

Heidt, Angelology of the Old Testament (Washington, D.C., 1949), 40-50; and in the writings

of the Fathers of the Church, see Jean Dani?lou, Les Anges et leur Mission (Chevetogne,

Belgium, 1953); The Angels and their Mission, trans. David Heimann (Westminster, Md.,

1957), 68-82.

57 Stevenson, "Ascent through the Heavens," 22 and 34.

58 Although the anonymous homily "Be heofonwarum 7 be helwarum" is clearly related to

the Corpus version of the apocryphon, it differs in significant details, particularly in its virtual

neglect of St. Michael. For an edition of this homily, see T. C. Callison, "An Edition of Pre

viously Unpublished Anglo-Saxon Homilies in MSS C.C.C.C. 302 and Cotton Faustina A ix,"

(Ph.D. Diss., University of Wisconsin, 1973), 243-48.



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TRADITIO

Homily for Easter

The third Corpus 41 homily in which St. Michael is mentioned is a homily

for Easter.59 Much of the material in this homily is taken from the Gospel of

Nicodemus and other non-biblical sources for the life of Christ.60 Structurally,

this homily falls into three sections: the Harrowing of Hell; the Last Judgment;

and the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and St. Peter on behalf of

sinners. The first section consists of an account of Christ's Descent into Hell

and a description of the signs of Doomsday. The homilist then treats the Judgment

scene, in which he employs a dramatic first-person address by Christ as Judge

to the assembled sinners.

The most unusual feature of this homily, however, is the final section in which

the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and St. Peter each intercede with Christ for a

portion of humankind and gain salvation for many.61 As has been noted by several

scholars, ?Elfric dismissed as heretical the view that the Virgin Mary and other

saints could successfully intercede to rescue some of the sinners condemned to

hell at the Last Judgment.62 The Corpus homily is unique and problematic,

however, in representing just this view. After relating Christ's Judgment of the

sinful,63 the homilist warns that the condemned souls are to be led off to hell.

At the beginning of the intercession scene, the Virgin Mary rises, approaches

the Lord, and asks him to grant her a third portion of the sinful souls. He does

59This homily is found on pp. 295-301 of the manuscript and has been printed by W. H.

Hulme, "The Old English Gospel of Nicodemus," Modem Philology 1 (1904): 32-36 (610

14). Virtually the same text for Easter appears in CCCC 303 (fols. 72-75), where the inter

cession scene is lacking.

60For an exhaustive study of the influence of the Gospel of Nicodemus in Anglo-Saxon

England, see Jackson J. Campbell, "To Hell and Back: Latin Tradition and Literary Use of the

'Descensus ad Inferos' in Old English," Viator 13 (1982): 107-58. For the most recent con

sideration of this apocryphon, see Thomas N. Hall, "The Euangelium Nichodemi and Vindicta

Saluatoris in Anglo-Saxon England," in Two Old English Apocrypha and Their Manuscript

Source: The Gospel ofNichodemus and the Avenging of the Saviour, ed. J. E. Cross, Cambridge

Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 19 (Cambridge, 1997), 36-81.

61 Mary Clayton has treated this scene in her article, "Delivering the Damned: A Motif in

Old English Homiletic Prose," Medium JEvum 55 (1986): 92-102. The following discussion

of this motif is indebted to her many insights.

62 Mary Clayton, "Delivering the Damned," 92 and Thomas D. Hill, "Delivering the Damned

in Old English Anonymous Homilies and J?n Arason's Lj?mur," Medium JEvum 61 (1992):

75-82 at 75. ^Elfric's condemnation is found in his homily "In Natale Sanctorum Virginum"

in JElfric's Catholic Homilies: The Second Series, ed. M. Godden, EETS s.s. 5 (London, 1979),

333.

63 le cwe?e nu to eow, gewita? ge awirgede fram me in Paet ecce fyr; and ic eow betyne to

daeg heofona rices duru to geanes, swa ge betyndon eowra dura togenes ?earfum ?[e] an mine

naman to eow cigdon. Nelle ic gehiran to daeg eowre stefne Pe ma ?e ge woldon gehiran ?>aes

earman stefne. (William H. Hulme, "The Old English Gospel of Nicodemus," Modern Philo

logy 1 [1904]: 35.)



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81

so, and Mary transfers her saved souls to Christ's right side. Sts. Michael and

Peter next intercede each for another third of the souls, transferring in turn their

company to Christ's right side. Devils carry off the remainder to hell,64 as St.

Peter locks the doors of hell behind them and throws the keys on the ground,

"Pa naefre si an gode angeminde ne cuma " (so that never thereafter might the

good-minded come there).65 The homily ends with Christ's address to the good

souls (a paraphrase of Matt. 25:35-40), and the Ascension of Christ and the

good souls into heaven.

Versions of the intercession motif are found in Vercelli homily 15; two ver

sions of the "Sunday Letter," Pseudo-Wulfstan 45 and a homily in CCCC 140,

edited by Priebsch; and a Last Judgment homily in Oxford, Bodleian Library,

Hatton MS 114.66 The fullest account of the motif is found in Vercelli 15, where

Mary, Michael, and Peter each fall at Christ's feet to utter an appeal which is

reported in direct speech. Mary bases her intercession on her humble maternity

of Christ; Michael bases his on his mighty dominion over heaven; and Peter

does so on his possession of the keys of heaven and hell. After the intercessions,

Christ calls the blessed souls on his right side to receive the kingdom of the

Lord (Matt. 25:34). He then turns to the sinful band on his left side and banishes

them to the eternal punishments of hell (Matt. 25:41). As devils drive the last

of the sinful souls into hell, St. Peter locks the door of hell and tosses the key

over his back into hell. Although there exist differences between the intercession

scenes in Vercelli 15 and Corpus 41, the most significant of which is in the

sequence of events, the scenes are clearly related. Donald Scragg has argued

that despite the differences, the source for the intercession motif in both homilies

is "undoubtedly the same."67 While Mary Clayton concedes that the homilies

must indeed be related, she argues that the theologically problematic order of

64The mathematics of this passage has troubled several critics (e.g. Clayton and Hill) as it

seems illogical that there should remain any souls after the three intercessions of one third

each. Given the identical rhetorical structure of each intercessory appeal, however, it is possible

that the third portion which each saint acquires is not a third of the total number of sinners at

the beginning of the scene, but rather a third of the sinners left after each successful interces

sion. This accounting scheme ensures that some souls would remain to be damned.

65Hulme, "The Old English Gospel of Nicodemus," 35.

66Mary Clayton has considered the complex relationships between these various texts in her

article "Delivering the Damned" (100-101). Vercelli 15 has been printed by Donald Scragg,

The Vercelli Homilies, EETS 300 (Oxford, 1992), 253-65. Pseudo-Wulfstan 45 appears in

Napier, Wulf start, 226-32. The "Sunday Letter" homily in CCCC MS 140 is printed in R.

Priebsch, "The Chief Sources of Some Anglo-Saxon Homilies," Otia Merseiana 1 (1899):

135-38. The Last Judgment homily in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton MS 114 is printed in

A. M. L. Fadda, Nuove omelie anglosassoni della rinascenza benedettina (Florence, 1977),

42-53.

67Donald Scragg, The Vercelli Homilies, 251. See also Scragg, "Vernacular Homilies and

Prose Saints' Lives before jElfric," Anglo-Saxon England 8 (1979): 223-77, at 231.



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82

TRADITIO

events in the Corpus homily rules out the possibility that the two homilies were

translated independently from the same source.68

A similar intercession scene occurs in two Old English homilies based on the

"Sunday Letter" tradition.69 Robert Priebsch has published the Latin source for

both these homilies, Pseudo-Wulfstan 45 and a homily in CCCC MS 140.70 In

the Latin and Old English homilies, the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and Sts. Peter

and Paul intercede to avert the imminent destruction of the world. Thus, while

it can be seen that the motif of the intercession, and even most of the characters

involved, are related to those found in Corpus 41, the ultimate aim of the in

tercessions differs and therefore rules out any direct realtionship between the

scenes.

The third episode occurs in a Last Judgment homily under the rubric, "Dom

inica II ebdomadae Quadragesime," in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hatton

114. As in the Corpus and Vercelli scenes, the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and

St. Peter are present at the Last Judgment. First, St. Michael ushers a good soul

before the Lord, and the soul is blessed. Then the Archangel brings a sinful soul

before the Lord, who condemns the soul to hell. The Virgin Mary intercedes on

behalf of the sinful soul, but the outcome of her intercession is never reported.

Clearly, the motif of an intercession by the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and St.

Peter (and occasionally some number of the other apostles) at the Last Judgment

captured the popular imagination and found its way into the homiletic prose of

the ninth century.

The intercession scene in the Corpus 41 homily has recently received attention

from three astute critics. Mary Clayton has argued that the scene ultimately

derives from a similar motif which occurs as an appendix to some versions of

the Apocalypse of Mary.71 This Apocalypse exists in two forms, one of which

derives from Greek, with versions in Armenian, Ethiopie, Slavonian, Syriac,

Latin, and Old Irish, while the other is found only in an Ethiopie witness.72

68 Clayton, "Delivering the Damned," 96.

69For a summary of the Sunday Letter tradition in Anglo-Saxon England, see Clare Lees's

entry under "Sunday Letter," Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial Version (Bing

hamton, 1990), 38-40.

70Robert Priebsch, "The Chief Sources of Some Anglo-Saxon Homilies," Otia Merseiana 1

(1899): 129-47.

71 Clayton, "Delivering the Damned," 97.

72 For the purposes of this study the most important versions of the Greek form are the Greek,

Syriac, and Old Irish. The Greek Apocalypse is printed in M. R. James, Apocrypha Anecdota,

vol. 1 (Cambridge, 1893), 109-26, and has been translated as, "The Apocalypse of the Virgin,

or the Apocalypse of the Holy Mother of God concerning the Chastisements," by R. Rutherford

in Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 9, ed. A. Menzies (Edinburgh, 1897), 167-74. The

Syriac version is printed in W. Wright, Contributions to the Apocryphal Literature of the New

Testament (London, 1865), 42-51. The Old Irish version is printed in Charles Donahue, The

Testament of Mary: The Gaelic Version of the Dormitio Mariae together with an Irish Latin



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ARCHANGEL IN THE MARGINS 83

In the Apocalypse of Mary, the Virgin Mary, St. Michael, and the apostles

view the torments of hell immediately after Mary's bodily Assumption. The

tortured souls of hell plead with each of the saints, who in turn intercede on

their behalf with Christ. After accusing the dreadful souls of forgetfulness, Christ

grants them a respite of three hours because of the intercession of Mary, Michael,

and the apostles.73 Although it is clear that the Apocalypse of Mary is dependent

on the Apocalypse of Paul, Mary Clayton argues that "the dependence of the

Old English motif on the Apocalypse of Mary rather than on the better-known

Apocalypse of Paul is clear from the non-appearance of Paul and the prominence

of Mary in the Anglo-Saxon."74

Thomas D. Hill has noted that the motif of delivering the damned was current

in the early Christian world, as St. Augustine condemns the view that the damned

can be delivered in De civitate dei (Book xxi, Chapter 18), but concedes that

"there are no patristic or apocryphal texts which could have served as a model

to the Old English homilists who fashioned the narrative in the form in which

it is preserved in Anglo-Saxon England."75 Hill draws attention instead to a late

medieval Icelandic poem which contains "an exact parallel to the Old English

apocryphal motif as condemned by ?Elfric."76 Although St. Michael is not men

tioned in J?n ?rason's poem, Lj?mur, Mary and the apostle John are portrayed

as interceding successfully on behalf of sinners at Judgment. Unlike its Old

English counterpart, in which a portion of sinners is left unsaved after the in

tercession, however, the intercession in the Icelandic poem saves all of human

kind, the evil and the good. Noting the common convention of citing Old Norse

Icelandic parallels to Old English texts, Hill discounts the view that a lost Latin

text may have been the source of the intercession scene in both the Old English

homilies and Arason's poem in favor of "the possibility that this motif was

disseminated in the vernacular form from Anglo-Saxon England to Iceland,

where it was preserved in mediaeval Icelandic religious tradition."77

In the most recent article on the currency of this motif, Sarah Cutforth explores

Version (New York, 1942). The sole Ethiopie witness has been edited by M. Cha?ne, "Apo

calypsis seu Visio Mariae Virginis," in Apocrypha de Beata Maria Virgine: Scriptores Aethiop

ici, series 1, vol. 7 (Rome, 1909), 43-68. For a succinct discussion of both forms of the

Apocalypse with full bibliography, see R. Bauckham, "Virgin, Apocalypses of the," in the

Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D. N. Freedman, vol. 6 (New York, 1992), 854-56.

73 The efficacy of the intercession of Mary and Michael is also a popular motif in Coptic

homiletic literature where they are often associated with natural phenomena. See below for a

discusssion of several Coptic homilies in which the Virgin Mary and St. Michael are depicted

as intercessors whose advocacy before the Lord guarantees the rising and setting of the sun

and other such natural phenomena as keep the world functioning properly.

74Clayton, "Delivering the Damned," 96.

75Hill, "Delivering the Damned," 83.

76Ibid., 79.

77 Ibid.



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84

TRADITIO

the relationship between the two manuscript texts of the Easter homily in CCCC

41 and CCCC 303 (fols. 72-75).78 Cutforth points out that the Easter homily in

CCCC 303, which is virtually identical in wording to the Corpus 41 homily,

lacks entirely the Intercession scene of Mary, Michael, and Peter. The passage

omitted occurs in Corpus 41 between two sentences that repeat the same idea,

namely, that the devil will seize the souls left and lead them to hell. Cutforth

concludes that although the omission could have been the result of an eyeskip,

it is more likely that "the omission reflects conscious scribal intervention de

signed to improve a passage which was theologically problematic."79 Following

Clayton, Cutforth underscores the theological significance of the successful in

tercession after the assembled sinners have been judged (i.e., after the Discedite

passage): "the intercession of the saints occurs after Christ has condemned them

to hell's eternity, providing the truly wicked with a further chance of redemption:

theologically this is seen to undermine Christ's powers as Judge."80

Despite the apocalyptic nature of this homily, the homilist does not mention

St. Michael's usual role as slayer of Antichrist at the end of time. Instead he

stresses the efficacy of the Archangel's intercession on behalf of sinners at

Judgment. St. Michael's importance as intercessor is well attested in apocryphal

and pseudepigraphal sources of both the Old and New Testaments.81 So too, in

Anglo-Saxon sources, Michael is acknowledged as a powerful advocate of hu

mankind. In his homily for St. Michael's feast day, ^Elfric describes angels in

general as " ening-gastum" (ministering spirits), and Michael in particular as

an "fingere on heofonum to am ^lmihtigan Gode" (intercessor in heaven with

78Sarah Cutforth, "Delivering the Damned in Old English Homilies: An Additional Note,"

Notes & Queries, n.s. 40 (1993): 435-37. Ker dates the marginalia of Corpus 41 to the same

date as the Bede text or a little later. He dates CCCC 303 about a century later than the Bede

(i.e., first half of the twelfth century) (Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon

[Oxford, 1957], 45 and 105).

79Cutforth, "Delivering the Damned," 436.

80Ibid., 437, and Clayton, "Delivering the Damned," 95-96.

81 In Old Testament apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, Michael is most commonly understood

as the protector of Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21 and 12:1; 1 Enoch 20:5; 2 Enoch 22:6 and 33:10).

In the Testament of Levi 5:6-7, Michael is the angel who intercedes for Israel and all the

righteous. He is a mediator between God and man in the Testament of Dan 6:2. In the Testament

of Abraham 14, Michael and Abraham intercede successfully on behalf of a sinful soul. In the

Latin and Slavonic versions of the Ascension of Isaiah 9:23, Michael is the "magnus angelus

deprecans semper pro humanitate." Although the New Testament generally seems to oppose

the doctrine of the mediation of angels, in New Testament apocrypha Michael is often regarded

as a powerful protector of Christians. Thus, in the Oil of Mercy exempla in the Latin A version

of Christ's "Descent into Hell," Michael tells Seth that he is set over the human race as pro

tector. In the Apocalypse of Paul, in a speech to sinful souls who beg him to intercede on their

behalf, Michael acknowledges his role as intercessor before the Lord. As has been shown

above, Michael is also regarded as a powerful intercessor in many versions of the Assumption

narrative.



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85

Almighty God).82 In the homily for St. Michael's feast found in the anonymous

B?ckling collection, St. Michael is portrayed in his role as an intercessor on

behalf of the Sepontans in their battle with the pagan Neapolitans. The Archangel

is also invoked in numerous prayers in Latin and Old English alike as a powerful

intercessor on behalf of humankind.83 The unique aspect of this homily's rep

resentation of St. Michael as an intercessor, then, lies in its transference of the

scene of intercession to the Last Judgment. As has been discussed, the effec

tiveness of any intercession after Christ's judgment is theologically troubling.

It has even been suggested that ?Elfric's condemnation may have been in reaction

to a Corpus-like text.84 Although it seems unlikely that the depiction of St.

Michael in this homily is directly influenced by Irish representations of the

Archangel, the transference of the scene to the Last Judgment suggests a concern

with the ultimate fate of individual souls in those Last Days, a concern often

repeated in Irish homiletic texts and a theme common to the charms and loricas

found in Corpus 41.

Homily in Praise of the Archangel

The fourth and final homily which makes explicit mention of the Archangel

is a unique homily in praise of St. Michael.85 The text of the praise-homily falls

into twenty-eight sections of varying length and is written in a rhythmic prose

style much like a hymn, or as Raymond Grant has described it, like an "incan

tation."86 In the prefatory remarks to his edition of this homily, Grant cites the

apocryphal content and stylistic extravagance of this homily as evidence for his

suspicion of Irish and possibly eastern influence.87 The first two verse-paragraphs

82Benjamin Thorpe, The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church. The First Part, Containing

the Sermones Catholici or Homilies of Ail)rie, vol. 1 (London, 1844), 510.

83 These prayers are too numerous to provide a full accounting of here. The sheer volume of

prayers invoking St. Michael as an intercessor suggests the wide currency of this belief through

the Anglo-Saxon age. For a selection of such prayers, see A. B. Kuypers, The Prayer Book of

Aedeluald (Cambridge, 1902), passim. For a discussion of St. Michael in the liturgy of the

Anglo-Saxon church, see Chapter Three, "St. Michael in Anglo-Saxon Liturgy," of my dis

sertation ("The Cult of Saint Michael").

84 Mary Clayton remarks that vElfric may have been referring to a Corpus-like text, "as he

specifies that no one can rescue a soul 'f>e crist Pus to ewe?: Discedite . ..' " (Clayton, "De

livering the Damned," 96).

85The homily is found on pp. 402-17 of the manuscript and has been edited by Grant, Three

Homilies, 56-67.

86Grant, Three Homilies, 7. It should be noted, however, that in the manuscript the homily

is written continuously in the margins and appears only in sections when modern editorial

conventions are applied.

87 Grant, Three Homilies, 52.



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86

TRADITIO

introduce the text as a homily in honor of St. Michael on his feast day,88 des

ignating him by a series of epithets as the "eallra hali3ra fultum" (helper of all

the holy), "reccend eallra hali3ra saula" (guide of the holy souls), "ner3ende

3odes folces" (preserver of God's people).89 His role at the end of time, as the

"stron3 on 3efeohte \>i6 ?ane mielan dracan" (strong fighter against the great

serpent), is also mentioned.90 These opening sections close with an appeal for

Christians to pray to the Archangel for help in danger: "On Pisne heahen3el {)e

sculon 3elyfan 7 biddan us on fultom on ae3h|)ilcere frecennesse Pam cristenum

folce" (In this Archangel, we must trust and [to him] pray for help in every

danger to Christian people).91

The next twenty-five sections of the homily comprise an extended litanie

sequence, each enumerating several of St. Michael's roles in salvation history

and beginning, "Dis is se hal3a heahen3el sanctus michael" (This is the holy

archangel St. Michael).92 In these praise-paragraphs, Michael is cast in a wide

range of unfamiliar and often extravagant roles: he is said to have received the

soul of Abel when Cain slew him (? 3); saved Noah, his three sons, and their

wives in the great flood (?4); protected Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in hostile

lands (?5); slain the firstborn of Egypt at the Passover (?6); led the Israelites

into the promised land at the hands of Joshua (? 8); and helped in the construction

of Solomon's temple (?9).

Charles Wright has noted the similarity between the form of the praises to

Michael in the Corpus 41 homily and that of a sequence of praises to Michael

found in the Irish Liber Flavus Fergusiorum.93 Structurally the Irish praise poem

is similar to the Corpus 41 homily in that it is "a sequence of eleven sentences

each beginning Ts ? Michel.' "94 It is worth noting that a quatrain depicting St.

Michael as the slayer of Antichrist in the poem to th

margins archangel.pdf

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Transcript of margins archangel.pdf