Proicept Grigóir ‘The precepts of Gregory’
- Late Middle Irish
- prose
Middle Irish homily on Gregory the Great, containing a series of miracle-stories connected with Gregory, framed between a prologue and epilogue.
Manuscripts
Versions without par. 14
pp. 164a–166b cols 858–863
rubric: ‘Proigept Grigoir Rōma’
beg. ‘Tunc dicet rex his qui a dextris eius sunt’
A narrative break is suggested by the use of Finit at the end of col. 859 (p. 164b). Omits par. 14.
pp. 423b.23–428
rubric: ‘Praecept Grigoir andso sis’
beg. ‘Tunc dicet rex his qui a dextris [eius] sunt’
Omits par. 14. Many of the individual episodes conclude with Finit or Finit. Amen.
f. 5ra.1 ff
beg. ‘Dia mbui Grigoir Roma oc imtecht feruind na Poinnti feacht ann’
The beginning (the first three paragraphs as numbered in Vendryes' edition) is wanting.
Versions with par. 14
This paragraph claims an Irish descent for St Gregory through the Corca Dhuibne.
f. 41r–42v
rubric: ‘Betha Grighora and so’
beg. ‘Tunc dicet rex his qui a dexstris eius sunt’
f. 30c
beg. ‘Tunc dicet rex his qui a dexstris eius erunt’
There is a copy of this version in one of the O'Curry MSS in Maynooth.
Language
- Late Middle Irish
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Many of the individual episodes are ultimately based on the Life of St Gregory by Paul the Deacon (fl. 8th c.) (PL 75). A number of these episodes were also included in the more substantial Life, in four books, written by John the Deacon at the behest of Pope John VIII (PL 75). It is unknown what the direct source would have been. Máire Herbert has posited a “now-lost Latin original” from Armagh on which both the Irish homily was based and which also informed a series of notes added to the Book of Armagh.(1)n. 1 “The retention of Latin at several points in the text identifies its source language. Moreover, on stylistic, linguistic, and, to a degree, codicological, grounds, the Gregory homily fits the pattern of texts assigned to an Irish homiletic compilation, initiated in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, and assigned to Armagh. The sermon material of this collection is most likely to have been drawn from the resources of Armagh’s library, resources largely accumulated in the pre-Viking era, but mediated anew in bilingual or vernacular form as scholarship and ecclesiastical life revived around the eleventh century”. Herbert: 185.
Related: Danklied einer erlösten SeeleDanklied einer erlösten Seele
Prose anecdote about a soul released from hell through the mediation of prayer by an anonymous holy man (maybe St Gregory), including by a poem (8 qq) uttered by the soul in gratitude for his release.
Sources
Notes
“The retention of Latin at several points in the text identifies its source language. Moreover, on stylistic, linguistic, and, to a degree, codicological, grounds, the Gregory homily fits the pattern of texts assigned to an Irish homiletic compilation, initiated in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, and assigned to Armagh. The sermon material of this collection is most likely to have been drawn from the resources of Armagh’s library, resources largely accumulated in the pre-Viking era, but mediated anew in bilingual or vernacular form as scholarship and ecclesiastical life revived around the eleventh century”. Herbert: 185.
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] Grosjean, Paul, “Quelques textes irlandais sur saint Grégoire le Grand”, Revue Celtique 46 (1929): 223–251.
Gallica: <link>
Text edited from (I) the Edinburgh MS, (II) TCD 1319, and (III) Egerton 91. Also incl. an edition of the episode of § 11.
[ed.] [tr.] Vendryes, J., “Betha Grighora”, Revue Celtique 42 (1925): 119–153.
Gallica: <link>
Edited from the Paris MS, with variants from YBL in notes, with introduction and notes.
Secondary sources (select)
Herbert, Máire, “Representation of Gregory the Great in Irish sources of the pre-Viking era”, in: Elizabeth Mullins, and Diarmuid Scully (eds), Listen, o Isles, unto me: studies in medieval word and image in honour of Jennifer O'Reilly, Cork: Cork University Press, 2011. 181–190.
185–186
Flower, Robin, Catalogue of Irish manuscripts in the [British Library, formerly the] British Museum, vol. 2, London: British Museum, 1926.
Plummer, Charles, “A tentative catalogue of Irish hagiography”, in: Charles Plummer, Miscellanea hagiographica Hibernica: vitae adhuc ineditae sanctorum Mac Creiche, Naile, Cranat, 15, Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1925. 171–285.
web page identifiers
page name: Betha Grighora
page url: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Betha_Grighora
redirect: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/51092
numerical alternative: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=51092
page ID: 51092
page ID tracker: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=51092
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
January 2021, last updated: July 2023
