Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies
Comprehensive catalogue of the hagiographical lessons in Sarum breviaries, with key studies of the most crucial elements.

Sarum Use was the most widely used form of the liturgy in late medieval England, but its service books were much less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly marked in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary enormously from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of those lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalogue of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions, giving a brief description of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously depended. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
"1139518346"
Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies
Comprehensive catalogue of the hagiographical lessons in Sarum breviaries, with key studies of the most crucial elements.

Sarum Use was the most widely used form of the liturgy in late medieval England, but its service books were much less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly marked in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary enormously from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of those lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalogue of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions, giving a brief description of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously depended. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
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Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies

Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies

by Sherry L Reames
Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies

Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies

by Sherry L Reames

Hardcover

$185.00 
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Overview

Comprehensive catalogue of the hagiographical lessons in Sarum breviaries, with key studies of the most crucial elements.

Sarum Use was the most widely used form of the liturgy in late medieval England, but its service books were much less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly marked in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary enormously from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of those lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalogue of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions, giving a brief description of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously depended. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781903153994
Publisher: BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date: 08/20/2021
Series: York Manuscript and Early Print Studies , #2
Pages: 376
Product dimensions: 6.69(w) x 9.45(h) x (d)

About the Author

SHERRY L. REAMES is Professor Emerita of English and Medieval Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part One. Catalogue of the manuscripts and early printed editions
Part Two. Three studies
A. Key findings on the major textual families
B. 'Extra' texts for saints in some manuscripts
C. Key findings on liturgical regulation and the dating of these manuscripts
Conclusion
Appendix I Normal saint-related contents of Sarum breviary T and S, c.1400
Appendix II Extent and kinds of variation in Sarum lessons: The case of St Silvester
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