De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae ‘On the miracles of sacred Scripture’

Augustinus Hibernicus
  • Latin
  • prose
  • Irish religious texts
Latin theological treatise on the nature of miraculous phenomena in Scripture. While sometimes attributed in the manuscripts to Augustine, the text is thought to have been written in the 7th century by an anonymous Irishman who is now often referred to as Augustinus Hibernicus or the Irish Augustine.
Author
Augustinus Hibernicus
Augustinus Hibernicus
(fl. mid–7th c.)
theologian and author of the Hiberno-Latin treatise De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae, sometimes attributed to a certain Augustine, hence the use of the phrase Augustinus Hibernicus (the Irish Augustine) or Pseudo-Augustine.

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Manuscripts
The earliest manuscripts include:
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Work in progress
Shorter version
Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 191
Longer version
ff. 1r–42r
Part of the index is missing.
Rouen, Bibliothèque publique, MS 665
ff. 67r–102v
Troyes, Bibliothèque publique, MS 280
part 2
Oxford, Balliol College, MS 229
ff. 57r–79v
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS 1956
part 5
In addition, there are numerous manuscripts of later date.(1)n. 1 Mario Esposito, ‘On the Pseudo-Augustinian treatise De mirabilibus sanctae scripturae written in Ireland in the year 655’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 35 C (1918–1920).
Avignon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 228
ff. 36b–39a
Incomplete
ff. 21b–75a
Comprises index (ff. 21b-22a), Book 1 (ff. 22b-46b), Book 2 with index (ff. 46b-67b) and Book 3 with index (ff. 67b-75a)
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 154
ff. 196a–218a
Cambridge, Emmanuel College, MS 2
ff. 1a–18a
Manuscripts from Bury St Edmunds:
Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 20
ff. 28b–42b
Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 34
ff. 259a–272b
Probably dependent on the copy in Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 20
Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 87
ff. 121a–130b
Excludes prologue and index.
Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 135
ff. 123b–130a
Excludes prologue and index.
Cambridge, Peterhouse, MS 113
ff. 145b–169a
Cambridge, St John's College, MS 47
ff. 99b–116a
Complete.
Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff. 4. 8
ff. 231a–240a
Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk. 2. 14
ff. 132a–147b
Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk. 4. 11
ff. 66a–89a
Language
  • Latin
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: Cosmographia of Aethicus IsterCosmographia of Aethicus Ister

An early medieval Latin work of cosmography, geography and ethnography, datable to the first half of the eighth century, which purports to be an epitome of a work by a Scythian philosopher named Aethicus (Ister) and which spuriously attributes its redaction and running commentary to St Jerome. Aethicus is described as a pagan (gentilis) who lived before the birth of Christ and travelled the four corners of the earth, although the chronology of peoples and events is regularly disturbed.

De vindictis magnis magnorum peccatorumDe vindictis magnis magnorum peccatorum

A collection of excerpts from the Bible, focusing on a number of well-known sinners and their punishments. Some features, such as its use of the term vindicta crucis, might betray a Hiberno-Latin origin for the compilation.

Classification

Irish religious textsIrish religious texts
...

Sources

Notes

Mario Esposito, ‘On the Pseudo-Augustinian treatise De mirabilibus sanctae scripturae written in Ireland in the year 655’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 35 C (1918–1920).

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.] Migne, Jacques-Paul [gen. ed.], Sancti Aurelii Augustini, Hipponensis episcopi, opera omnia: post Lovaniensium theologorum recensionem, 12 vols, vol. 3: Opera exegetica, Patrologia Latina, 35, Paris, 1841.
Internet Archive: <link>
2149–2200 Reprint of the 17th-century edition by the Benedictines of St.-Maur.
[ed.] MacGinty, Gerard, “The treatise De mirabilibus sacrae Scripturae: critical edition, with introduction, English translation of the long recension and some notes”, 2 vols, PhD thesis (unpublished), National University of Ireland, 1971.
[tr.] Carey, John, King of Mysteries: early Irish religious writings, 2nd ed., Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
51–74 Selections in translation

Secondary sources (select)

MacGinty, Gerard, “The Irish Augustine: De mirabilibus sacrae Scripturae”, in: Próinséas Ní Chatháin, and Michael Richter (eds), Irland und die Christenheit: Bibelstudien und Mission. Ireland and Christendom: the Bible and the missions, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1987. 70–83.
Löfstedt, Bengt, “Notes on the Latin of the De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus”, in: Thomas OʼLoughlin (ed.), The Scriptures and early medieval Ireland: proceedings of the 1993 Conference of the Society for Hiberno-Latin Studies on Early Irish Exegesis and Homilectics, 31, Steenbrugge, Turnhout: In Abbatia S. Petri, Brepols, 1999. 145–150.
Simonetti, Manlio, “De mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae: un trattato irlandese sui miracoli della Sacra Scrittura”, Romanobarbarica 4 (1979): 225–251.
Gorman, Michael M., “The myth of Hiberno-Latin biblical exegesis”, Revue Bénédictine 110 (2000): 42–85.
Especially 79–84
Kenney, James F., “Chapter III: The Irish church in the ‘Celtic’ period”, in: James F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland: an introduction and guide. Volume 1: ecclesiastical, Revised ed., 11, New York: Octagon, 1966. 156–287.
275–277 [id. 104.]
Esposito, Mario, “On the Pseudo-Augustinian treatise De mirabilibus sanctae scripturae written in Ireland in the year 655”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 35 C — 1919 (1918–1920): 189–207.
Internet Archive: <link>
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
June 2012, last updated: January 2024