Preaching scripture and apocrypha

Description

This thesis identifies the Latin homilies of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 343 as a witness to the Homiliary of Angers, and also reveals the first independently circulating Latin translation of pseudo-Eusebius' De Christi passione, a fifth- or sixth-century Greek homily which depicts a unique version of Christ's descent into hell. Bodley 343 has long been recognized as an important twelfth-century witness to English works originally composed before the Norman Conquest, and as a key to understanding the transformation from Old to Middle English. This study of the sixty-seven Latin expositions forces a re-examination of long-held notions about the use and composition of the manuscript, as well as the role of the Old English homily in the twelfth-century, and explores the manner in which medieval preachers were able to manipulate the universal typology of the Church to suit and cater to their individual audiences.Chapter 2 attends to the technical details of the manuscript, calling into question often-repeated assumptions regarding its composition. The chapter also examines the unique arrangement of the Homiliary of Angers in Bodley 343. A useful survey of the contents is provided to demonstrate the range of commonplace exegetical topoi employed therein.The thesis concludes by demonstrating the emphasis placed on preaching in the Latin expositions of Bodley 343, and by suggesting further areas of inquiry.Chapter 1 assesses the cultural and historical background of the manuscript and its additions. In doing so, the chapter outlines the importance of the structure and contents of sermons to literary study, and provides an introduction to the Homiliary of Angers.Chapter 4 explores the Latin translation of De Christi passione through a close analysis of the Latin and Greek texts, providing insight into the state of the archetypal translation and its technique. The discovery of this independently circulating translation offers evidence of new version of Christ's descent into hell circulating in the West.Chapter 3 examines the way in which the Angers homily for Lent refashions commonplace material towards exhortatory ends by examining common elements in contemporaneous Old English material and in Latin precedents that were available in Anglo-Saxon England.

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