The Grammar of Good Friday: Macaronic Sermons of Late Medieval England

518 Pages·2012·6.573 MB·English

by  Holly Johnson

The Grammar of
Good Friday
SERMO: STUDIES ON PATRISTIC, MEDIEVAL,
AND REFORMATION SERMONS AND PREACHING
Editor
Roger Andersson Stockholm University
Editorial Board
Jussi Hanska Tamperen Yliopisto (University of Tampere)
Riccardo Quinto Università degli Studi di Padova
Veronica O’Mara University of Hull
Thom Mertens Universiteit Antwerpen
Regina D. Schiewer Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Previously published volumes in this series are listed at the back of this book.
Volume 8
The Grammar of Good Friday
Macaronic Sermons
of Late Medieval England
by
Holly Johnson
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Johnson, Holly.
The grammar of Good Friday : macaronic sermons of late medieval England. -- (Sermo ; v. 8)
1. Good Friday sermons--England--History and criticism.
2. Preaching--England--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
3. Sermons, Medieval--England--History and criticism.
4. Sermons, English (Middle)--History and criticism.
5. Sermons, Latin--England--History and criticism.
6. Macaronic literature--History and criticism.
I. Title II. Series
251'.00942'09023-dc23

ISBN-13: 9782503533391
© 2012, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
D/2012/0095/154
ISBN: 978-2-503-53339-1
Printed on acid-free paper
For Tim

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations of Biblical Books xi
Selected Macaronic Good Friday Sermons xiii
Introduction xv
Part 1. Preaching on Good Friday
Chapter 1. Good Friday: Liturgical and Homiletic Contexts 3
Chapter 2. Preaching the Passion in Late Medieval England 45
Part 2. Sermons for Good Friday
General Editorial Principles 139
Chapter 3. Dilexit nos et lauit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo 141
Chapter 4. Christus passus est pro nobis 241
Chapter 5. Quare rubrum est indumentum tuum 343
Chapter 6. Ve michi mater mea 375
Chapter 7. Agnus qui in medio troni est reget eos 405
Bibliography 451
Index of Biblical Quotations 465
General Index 471

Acknowledgements
I am greatly indebted to many people who have given me support, encourage-
ment, and guidance throughout my work on this book. I would especially
like to thank Professor Siegfried Wenzel, who offered me this fascinating
project, patiently corrected my transcriptions in the early stages, led me to sourc-
es I might never have found, and took a genuine interest in my progress. He
introduced me to the world of medieval preaching which promises so much rich,
uncharted territory. I am also grateful to Professor Joseph Wittig for his careful
reading of this book when it was in the dissertation stage and his suggestions for
revisions. Drs John Black and Thomas Anderson gave me substantial feedback
at different stages of this project. A National Endowment for the Humanities
seminar conducted by Richard Newhauser in Cambridge, England, fostered my
thinking on many aspects of Good Friday preaching and gave me further access
to manuscripts and resources. I would like to thank my department head, Dr
Richard Raymond, who helped secure funds for research. An award from the
J.W. Criss Fund sponsored by Mississippi State University allowed me to travel to
England to visit several libraries. I am grateful to the librarians and staff who made
available to me the manuscripts in which these sermons appear, especially the
staff at Balliol College, Oxford; the Bodleian Library; Christ Church College,
Oxford; Jesus College, Cambridge; the Lambeth Palace Library, London; and
the Worcester Cathedral Library. I am also grateful to the two anonymous read-
ers for their excellent suggestions and corrections, and especially to Dr Roger
Andersson for his expertise and careful reading of the volume at various stages.
I thank my mother and father for their love and support. And for his love, en-
couragement, and incisive reading of everything I write, I thank my husband
Tim Johnson, to whom I dedicate this book, who knows more about medieval
sermons than any physicist should.