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>A Dissertation
PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF BRYN MAWR COLLEGE IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
BY MARY CAROLINE SPALDING
BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA
MAY, 1914
J. H. FURST COMPANY, PRINTERS, BALTIMORE.
R & B
Mr Lambert a Justice of Peace in Kent found this on a grauestone in an Abby in Kent bearing date Ao Dni 1400 a Copie whereof was geuen to Mr Humfry Windham of Winse|combe in the county of Somerset.
Uppon the other si[de o]f the seal there was should be a P[e]l[ican picl i]ng her bloo[d] for
cor charte appensum rosei vice cerne sigilli
Spreta morte tui solus id egit amor
Matris ut hec pro|prio Stirps est sa|crata cruore Pascis item proprio Xpc cruore tue
ther vnder nethe in the corner is the olde pointed seale with|in this Charter was sett downe was a pellicane a pickinge Her brest and with bloode flowinge Her yonge one in the nest with the verses about her
vt pellicanus fit patris sanguine sanus sic nos salvati sumus omnes sanguine nati.
Legend on the Seal: De charta redemptionis humane sigillum saluatoris domini nostri Iesu christum.
factum est cor meum tanquam cera liquesu [sic] Psal 22: 13(?) [cf. Vulg. Psal. 21: 15]
Sealid & deliuered in ye presence of Mary Mother of God, Mary Cleophe, Mary Iacobi, John ye disciple. Ita fidem facimus Matthew, Marke, Luke, Iohn, Notarij publici.
Long[i]nus Centurion
Cor charte appen|sum rosei vice cerne sigilli spretâ morte, tui solus id egit amor.Mary is spelled Marie; some of the words "Sealed and delivered," etc., are missing in the rotograph. CHS appears instead of IHS, and the remainder of the writing on the strap is lack|ing. Chartae appears instead of Charte.
This line is twice written in the margin, as follows:
An imperfection in the parchment has destroyed most of the line in the text,
The following couplet written at the bottom of the page is marked for insertion between lines 162 and 163:
Sciant presentes et futuri. scilicet. omnes qui sunt celo et in terra. Quod ego Iesus Christus filius dei patris et Marie vir|ginis deus et homo pro hereditate mea Iniuste et proditiose a meis ablata diu sub manu aduersarij detenta teste toto mundo in stadio pugnaui aduersum diuici. victoriam optinui et here|ditatem meam recuperaui sesinam in parasceue cum heredibus meis accepi. habendum et tenendum seisinam in longitudinem et latitudinem in eternum. secundum dispositum est a patre meo. libere et quiete. Annuatim et continue Reddendo cor mundum deo et animam puram. In cuius rei testimonium hanc presentem cartam proprio sanguine conscripsi. legi. per totum mundum publicaui. Sigillum que mee diuinitatis appo|sui cum testomonio patris et spiritus. Nam hij tres testimonia dant in celo scripta. lecta et confirmata. et generi humano tra|dita feria. quinta. parasceues. super montem caluarie publice et aparte in eternum durature. Anno a creatione mundi. 5. 2. 3. 2. Nota quod condicio amplia est vt continue Red|damus deo cor mundum et animam puram al[i]oquin satisfaci|mus contra ius nostrum Si autem preuemus a peccato. Iusto titulo vendicare possumus regnum celorum. et interficiat et omnino et finaliter destruatur.
Variant readings from St. John's Coll. MS. D. 8, f. 174b are recorded in the footnotes. The rimes would be restored in lines 19 and 20 by transposing pedes and manus, and by reading des te instead of te des.
This treatise, entitled variously, Carta Celestis Hereditatis, Chartre of Heuene, Charter of oure heuenli Eritage, Chartre of
Heven Blisse, Diploma Caeli, forms part of the Poor Caitiff, a work comprising a series of tracts, which has been ascribed to Richard Rolle,Cat. of Camb. Univ. MSS., Vol. III (1858) under the description of MS. Ii. 6. 40, where this treatise is recorded with the title, A Charter of remission, and ascribed to Richard Rolle.Cat. Harl. MSS. of Brit. Mus. 1808, under MS. 1706. I do not know where Mr. Wharton makes this state|ment. This is ascribed to Wycliffe also by Robert Vaughan (John de Wycliffe, D. D., 1853, Appendix, p. 533). See also Cat. of Ash. MSS. under MS. 1286, and Report Hist. MSS. Com. VIII (London, 1881) App. part III, 101, under Ashburnham MS. Add. 27d. Compare with these, Shirley, Fasciculi Zizanorum, Rolls Series (London, 1858), p. xiii, note 3 (referred to in this connection by ed. of Cat. of Stowe MSS., 1895, Vol. I, 23).d (See Report Hist. MSS. Com. VIII. App. part III, 101) of the fourteenth century. The others are MS. Bod. 4 (of which I do not know the date); MSS. Ashmole 1286 (about 1400); Douce 13, 288, 322; Rawl. C. 751; Bod. 938 (See Horstman, Richard Rolle I, 3), all of the fifteenth century; MSS. Harl. 1706, 2322, 2335, 2336, 4012, of which I do not know the dates; MS. Add. (Brit. Mus.) 30897, MS. Stowe 38, both of the fifteenth century; Camb. Univ. MSS. Ff. 5. 45, Ff. 6. 34, Ii. 6. 40, Hh. l. 12, all of the fifteenth century; Bibl. Nat. Paris, MS. angl. 41, fol. 95a ff.Dixit Episcopus Cicestrensis quod Frater Mi|nor compilavit hunc librum in suo Defensorio. The compiler of the Harleian Catalogue from which I obtained this informa|tion, adds: "I doubt not but that this Bishop of Chichester was Reginald Pecok, who was thought to favor the Lollards, and was openly persecuted and deprived, as guilty of Heresy." It will be seen that the Carta of the Poor Caitiff is not a charter, in spite of its name, but a tract which discusses the Charter of Christ, its component parts, etc., and urges man to be mindful of it and to study it. Its relation to the Charter of Christ has been discussed in Chapter II.Cartam coelestis hereditatis, li. 1. 'Quisquis sapiens heredi|tatem vendi.' [authority] Ex domo Michaelis Hobley." Index Brit. Script. ed. R. L. Poole, Oxf. 1902, pp. 49-50; and Script. Illus. . . . . Catalogus (post. pars), Basileae, 1559, p. 236. Concerning this work, Dr. Gustav Schirmer (Zur Brendanus Legende, Leipzig, 1888, pp. 10-11) expresses the opinion that the Carta coelestis hereditatis can not be attributed to St. Brendan. I have no means of arriving at a knowledge of the contents of this charter; but it would seem to me probable that it is a version of the Carta Coelestis hereditatis. The initial sentence of the Carta of Brendanus and that in the Poor Caitiff suggest a common origin, the Poor Caitiff Charter beginning, in one version. "Euery wise man þat cleymeþ his eritage," and in another (MS. Douce 13) "Everie wise man that deynieth his heritage."
Euery wise man þat cleymeþ his eritage. eiþir askeþ gret pardoun: kepiþ bisili & haþ ofte mynde vpon þe chartre of his calenge | & þerfore eche man lerne to liue vertuously: & kepe & haue mynde vppon þe chartre of heuene blisse | & stodie stidfastli þe witte of þis bille: for þe pardoun þerof schal dure wiþouten ende | vndirstonde wel þat þe chartre of his eritage, & þe bulle of his euerlastinge pardoun: is oure lord ihesu crist. writen wiþ al þe myȝt & vertu of god | þe parchemyn of þis heuenli chartre. is neiþir of scheep ne of calf: but it is þe bodi & þe blessid skyn of oure lord ihesu loomb þat neuere was spot|tid wiþ wem of synne | & was þere neuere skyn of scheep neiþir of calfe so sore & so hard streined on þe teynture eiþir harewe of eny parchemyn makere as was þe blessid bodi and skynprince.