Liturgical traditions for Palm Sunday and their dissemination in Old English prose

A. Lees, C. (1985) Liturgical traditions for Palm Sunday and their dissemination in Old English prose. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

This thesis examinesthe dissemination of liturgical traditions for Palm Sundayin seven Old l!hglish homilies: Blickling HomilyVI and its variant, Blickling HomilyVIa; &l.fric's In DominicaPalmarum from the First Series of the Catholic Homilies, his SecondSeries, De Passione Domini,and its variant found in MS.Cotton Tiberius A. iii; together with two anonymousPassion Story homilies, Dominicain Ramis Palmarumand De Passione Domini. These homilies form a group on the basis of their connections to PalmSunday, and include examplesof anonymoushomilies (both before and after the Benedictine Reform)as well as homilies by Jafric. The intention is to provide contexts for these homilies based on their contents and sources, together with their relationship with the li turgical traditions for the day. To this end, Chapter I examines the evidence for liturgical traditions associated with Palm Sun~ in the early Medievalperiod, and identifies the liturgical pericopes. Idturgical lections are comparedwith the lections used by latin patristic writers to establish any divergence betweenthe two traditions. Concentration on the pericope helps to define a probable area of patristic material that Old English homiletic writers were likely to consult. EVidencefor the use of liturgical traditions for PalmSundayby Old English homilists is also examined. Detailed consideration of each Old English PalmSundayhomily is provided in Chapter II. Themanuscript history of the homily is briefly discussed and is followed by an examination of its pericopes, contents and sources. Chapter II, therefore, seeks to recover homiletic traditions for Palm Sunday, and examines the differences in approach taken by the various writers. !lnphasis on the contents of these homilies provides insights into the nature of their composition, and some general remarks about the form of Old English homilies concludes the chapter. Chapter III presents editions of those Old English homilies for Palm Sunday as yet unpublished: Blickling Homily VIa, Dominica in Ramis Palmarumand De Passione Domini. Since I amconcerned primarily with the contents ot these homilies, they are edited conservatively with the minimumof textual apparatus. Textual notes, where supplied, are also concerned with the contents rather than the language of the texts. The final Chapter, Chapter IV, examines Palm Sunday homilies in relation to the liturgical traditions (services and vernacular homilies) for the rest of Holy Week. The Chapter examines in detail the so-called 'silent days', and compares homilies written by .nfric for Easter ~ with those found in the anonymoustradition. Differences between these homilies sets in relief the Palm Sunday group, and two traditions of Old English homiletic composition - alfrician and anonymous - are clearly delineated. Two Appendices are also supplied; the first presents an edition and commentary of one Old English anonymous homily for Easter ~t and the second traces the dissemination of one particular theme (the so-called Sunday List) in early Medieval literature.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	20 Oct 2023 18:30
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2023 18:36
DOI:	10.17638/03175440
Copyright Statement:	Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and any accompanying data (where applicable) are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge.
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3175440