Death and purgatory in Middle English didactic poetry

580 Pages·1997·2.24 MB·English

by  Takami Matsuda

Death and Purgatory in Middle English
title:
Didactic Poetry
author: Matsuda, Takami.
publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
isbn10 | asin: 0859915077
print isbn13: 9780859915076
ebook isbn13: 9780585180182
language: English
Didactic poetry, English (Middle)--History
and criticism, Death--Religious aspects--
Christianity--History of doctrines--Middle
subject
Ages, 600-1500, Christian poetry, English
(Middle)--History and criticism, Purgatory--
History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-150
publication date: 1997
lcc: PR317.D4M38 1997eb
ddc: 821/.05093548/0902
Didactic poetry, English (Middle)--History
and criticism, Death--Religious aspects--
Christianity--History of doctrines--Middle
subject:
Ages, 600-1500, Christian poetry, English
(Middle)--History and criticism, Purgatory--
History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-150
Page i
Death and Purgatory in Middle English Didactic Poetry
Purgatory has been the focus of much literary and historical attention
since Jacques Le Goff's important Naissance du Purgatoire (1981),
but this is the first book-length study to trace its development,
reception and influence in Middle English literature from the twelfth
to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Following a survey of the
doctrine of Purgatory and its cultural reception, the book explores the
two major Middle English genres in which it is discussed: visions of
the afterlife, and didactic and homiletic treatises on death. In a
detailed examination of these, along with sermons and lyrics, the
author argues that such writings tend to be structured around the
dualism of salvation and damnation, heaven and hell, with no
intermediary alternative. Descriptions of Purgatory are often
'infernalised' as a warning against excessive hope, but at the same
time the efficacy of intercession in the alleviation of suffering is
repeatedly stressed. The book suggests that the influence of Purgatory
was to provide a more pragmatic attitude towards death and the
afterlife through the acquisition and application of worldly wisdom
and prudence. This attitude, reflected in such poems as the Vernon
lyrics and writings on the ages of man, contributed optimism and
pragmatism to the otherwise predominantly homiletic character of
Middle English poems and treatises on death.
TAKAMI MATSUDA is Associate Professor in the Department of
English and American Literature at Keio University. His degrees
include D.Phil. from the University of York.
Page iii
Death and Purgatory in Middle English Didactic
Poetry
Takami Matsuda
Page iv
© Takami Matsuda 1997
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 1997
D. S. Brewer, Cambridge
ISBN 0 85991 507 7
D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 146044126, USA
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Matsuda, Takami, 1958`
Death and purgatory in Middle English didactic poetry / Takami
Matsuda.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-85991-507-7 (acid-free paper)
1. Didactic poetry, English (Middle) History and criticism.
2. Death Religious aspects Christianity History of doctrines
Middle Ages, 600`1500. 3. Christian poetry, English (Middle)
History and criticism. 4. Purgatory History of doctrines Middle
Ages, 600`1500. 5. Civilization, Medieval, in literature.
6. Purgatory in literature. 7. Death in literature. I. Title.
PR317.D4M38 1997
821 '.05093548'0902-dc21 97-18534
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Great Britain by
St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Page v
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 5
The Doctrine of Purgatory and Late Medieval Attitudes
Towards Death and the Afterlife
2 34
The Reception of Purgatory in Late Medieval Didactic
Literature and Art
The Twelfth-and Thirteenth-Century Latin Visions of 34
Purgatory
The English Visionary Texts on Purgatory in the 60
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
The Discussion of Purgatory in Middle English 78
Didactic and Homiletic Treatises
The Iconography of Purgatory in Late Medieval Art 94
The Didacticism of Middle English Religious Writings 108
on Death
3 112
The Middle English Homiletic Poems on Death
The Homiletic Structure of the Middle English Lyrics 112
on Death and Their Manuscript Context
The Body and Soul Dialogue in Middle English 132
4 147
The Presence of Purgatory in the Middle English
Religious Poems
References to Purgatory among the Middle English 147
Lyrics on Death
Purgatory in British Library, MS Additional 37049 151
Purgatory in the Poems of John Audelay 167
5 174
Literature of Pragmatic Prudence Before Death
The Medieval Concept of Prudence 174
Middle English Aphoristic Writings on Prudence before182
Death
The Ars Moriendi 187
The Poems on the Ages of Man 192
Page vi
The Vernon and Digby 102 Poems 206
Ecclesiastes and the Vernon Poems on Death and 217
Transience
Conclusion 234
Appendix: Unpublished Related Texts 238
Bibliography 245
Index 272
List of Illustrations
Plate 1. A Soul in Purgatory: London, British Library, MS 95
Egerton 615, fol. 40.
Plate 2. The Angels Bringing Balm to the Souls in 95
Purgatory: London, British Library, MS Egerton 615, fol.
38.
Plate 3. The Punishment in Purgatory for Excessive 96
Physical Comfort: London, British Library, MS Egerton
615, fol. 42v.
Plate 4. Funeral Mass with Souls in Purgatory: Baltimore, 99
The Walters Art Gallery, MS W.274, fol. 118.
Plate 5. Souls in Purgatory: Baltimore, The Walters Art 101
Gallery, MS W.203, fol. 128v.
Plate 6. The Last Judgement: Baltimore, The Walters Art 104
Gallery, MS W.300, fol. 3.
Plate 7. 'Of e Relefyng of Saules in Purgatory': London, 155
British Library, MS Additional 37049, fol. 24v.