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Vita sancti Fursei‘The Life of St Fursa’

• Latin
• Irish hagiography

Life of the Irish missionary St Fursa (d. c. 649). BHL 3209.

First words (prose)

• Fuit vir vitae venerabilis

Manuscripts

There are numerous manuscript witnesses. No clear stemma has been reconstructed from them, but in an attempt to distinguish some lines of transmission, Krusch has divided the witnesses into classes A, B, C and D, with further subdivisions. He also noted the occasional cross-fertilisation where he could spot it (not fully represented below). The Vita can appear as a standalone text, or in company with either the Virtutes or the Life of his brother Foillán, Additamentum Nivialense de Fuilano. This list is not yet comprehensive:

Class A

• London, British Library, MS Harley 5041 ff. 79r-100v [s. viii^2/4/3/4]

  ff. 79–98v

  A1 (Krusch). 8th century.
• Wormsley Park, Getty Library, MS BM4149

  ff. 55–62

  A1* (Krusch). Followed by a version of the Virtutes (ff. 62v-66v) which Krusch has assigned to class C and numbered C2b.
• Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, MS Rhen. 81 6, pp. 352-379 [s. ix]

  pp. 352–378

  A1a (Krusch).
• Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, MS 641 2, ff. 82-189 [s. ix^ex/xⁱⁿ]

  ff. 97–104

  A2 (Krusch). Olim B IV 18.
• Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 1381

  ff. 133–139

  A3 (Krusch).
• Montpellier, École de Médecine, MS H 22

  ff. 119v–123v

  A3a (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 5341

  ff. 71–74

  A3b (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 5319

  ff. 119–124

  A3c (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 3788

  ff. 78–82

  A4 (Krusch).

Class B

• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 7984

  ff. 24–33

  B1a (Krusch).
• Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 32

  ff. 68r–68v

  B1b (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 9741

  pp. 223–232

  B1c (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero E i vol. 1, ff. 3-208 [s. xi²/xii^2/4]

  ff. 93r–97v context: Cotton Corpus legendary

  B2a¹ (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Royal 8 G vi

  ff. 200r–200v

  B2a¹* (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Egerton 2797

  ff. 87v–101

  B2a² (Krusch). Followed by a version of the Virtutes which Krusch has assigned to class C and numbered C4c.
• Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 1384

  ff. 135–143

  B2a³ (Krusch).
• Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 864

  ff. 100v–105r

  B2a⁴ and C4c¹ (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 865 (865 (768)) [s. x/xi]

  ff. 143r–149v

  B2a⁴* and C4c¹* (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• Chartres, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 507

  ff. 51–56

  B2b (Krusch).
• Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 1400

  ff. 42r–44v

  B2c (Krusch).
• London, Lambeth Palace Library, MS 173

  ff. 180–190

  B2d (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Royal 5 A vii

  ff. 74–84v

  B2f* (Krusch).
• London, Lambeth Palace Library, MS 94

  ff. 113–119

  B2f (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Cotton Otho A xiii

  ff. 51–70v

  B2f (Krusch). Badly burnt owing to the 1731 fire.

Class C

• Cologne, Historisches Archiv der Stadt, MS W 163

  ff. 146–151

  C1a (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11885

  f. 57v

  C1a* (Krusch).
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 5568

  ff. 145–155

  C1b (Krusch).
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 27128

  ff. 82v–92

  C1b¹ (Krusch).
• Orléans, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 331

  pp. 119–128

  C1c (Krusch).
• Grenoble, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 1171

  ff. 84v–90

  C1d (Krusch).
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 9119

  ff. 40–43

  C1e (Krusch).
• Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, MS Sessoriano 40 185r-205v [s. ix]

  ff. 185ra–199rb

  C2a (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• C2b (Krusch), Wormsley Park, Getty Library, MS BM4149. See A1*.
• The Hague, Royal Library, MS 71 H 66

  ff. 23v–66v

  C3 (Krusch). Incl. the Virtutes.
• Saint-Omer, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 715 vol. 1 [s. xi–xii]

  ff. 64v–68v

  C3a (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 17137

  ff. 56v–58v

  C3b (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes (without ch. 1-3) and the Additamentum.
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 17625

  ff. 114r–124v

  C4a (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11749

  ff. 5v–10v

  C4b (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11754

  ff. 104–v108

  C4b* (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• C4c (Krusch), Virtutes in London, British Library, MS Egerton 2797. See B2a².
• C4c¹ (Krusch): see B2a⁴, Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 864.
• C4c¹* (Krusch): see B2a⁴*, Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 865.
• Düsseldorf, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MS C 10a

  ff. 201–208

  C4d¹ (Krusch).
• Bonn, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MS S 369

  ff. 75v–83

  C4d² (Krusch).
• Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS lat. quart. 122

  f. 60

  C5 (Krusch). Followed by the Virtutes.
• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 5604

  ff. 2–34

  C6a (Krusch).
• London, British Library, MS Harley 2800

  ff. 46–50

  C6b (Krusch).
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 207

  ff. 55–59v

  C6c (Krusch).

Class D

• Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 2768A [s. x]

  ff. 61–71

  D1 (Krusch). Followed by the Additamentum.
• Melk, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 388 [s. xiii]

  ff. 108–?

  D2a (Krusch). Followed by the Additamentum.
• Heiligenkreuz, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 11 [s. xii^ex]

  ff. 45vb–48ra

  D2b (Krusch). Followed by the Additamentum.
• Rein, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 51

  ff. 120v–132v

  D2b* (Krusch). Followed by the Additamentum and the Virtutes.
• Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 421

  ff. 90–96

  D2e (Krusch). Followed by the Additamentum.

Other

• Chicago, Newberry Library, MS Case 6 1, ff. 1-202 [s. xii¹]

  ff. 132v–146r

  Followed by the Additamentum.
• Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 7672-7674 (3179) = Codex Salmanticensis [s. xiii/xiv]
• Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. lat. 5772 [s. xiiⁱⁿ]

  ff. 54rb–57v

  Preceded by Bede’s version (extract from Historia ecclesiastica) and followed by the Additamentum.
• Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ott. lat. 120

  ff. 110–113

  Manuscript consulted by Ciccarese.
• Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. lat. 1201 [s. xi]

  ff. 31v–34v

  Manuscript consulted by Ciccarese.
• Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Arch. Cap. S. Pietro A.5 [s. xi^med]

  ff. 38v–43vheading: ‘Vita sancti Fursei dicta sancti Gregorii papae’

  Manuscript consulted by Ciccarese.
• Dijon, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 642 vol. 1
• (Unidentified)A copy is listed as ‘Vita sancti Fursei’, along with the Visio Baronti, in an English book-list of probable late 11th-century date and unknown provenance, perhaps from Worcester. This list was added to an 11th-century manuscript of Gregory's Dialogi, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Tanner 3, ff. 189v-190r. See Lapidge, “Surviving booklists from Anglo-Saxon England”, in Learning and literature in Anglo-Saxon England (1985).

See also results from manuscript descriptions

Language

• Latin

Date

7th century in origin

Associated items

Additamentum Nivialense de FuilanoAdditamentum Nivialense de Fuilano

Latin Life of St Foillán of Fosses, a brother of St Fursa. It was written as a supplement to Vita Fursei. BHL 3211. 

Classification

Irish hagiographyIrish hagiography
...

Subjects

FursaFursa
(fl. 7th century)
Irish monk and missionary
See more

Sources

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.] Heist, W. W. [ed.], Vitae sanctorum Hiberniae: ex codice olim Salmanticensi, nunc Bruxellensi. Lives of the saints of Ireland, from the Salamanca manuscript now of Brussels, Subsidia Hagiographica, 28, Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1965.

37–55 Based on Brussels MS 7672-7674 (Codex Salmanticensis).

[ed.] Ciccarese, Maria Pia, “Le visioni di S. Fursa”, Romanobarbarica 8 (1984–1985): 231–303.

The first two visions omitted from the MGH edition.

[add.] [corr.] Krusch, B., “Vita virtutesque Fursei abbatis Latiniacensis et de Fuilano additamentum Nivialense”, in: Bruno Krusch, and Wilhelm Levison (eds), Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici (V), 7, Hanover and Leipzig, 1920. 837–842.

Digital MGH: <link>

[ed.] Krusch, Bruno (ed.), Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici (II), MGH Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, 4, Hanover, 1902.

Digital MGH: <link>

434–440 (text); 423–434 (introduction) [‘Vita Fursei abbatis Latiniacensis’] Omits the first two visions.

[ed.] De Smedt, Charles, and Joseph De Backer, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice Salmanticensi, Edinburgh and London, 1888.

Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum – scanned copy: <link>

77–112 Earlier edition. direct link

[tr.] Rackham, Oliver [tr.], Transitus Beati Fursei: a translation of an 8th century manuscript Life of St Fursey, Norwich: Fursey Pilgrims, 2007.

Secondary sources (select)

Hamann, Stefanie, “St Fursa, the genealogy of an Irish saint—the historical person and his cult”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 112 C (2012): 147–187.  

abstract:

The Irish saint Fursa (d. 649) is renowned for his visions of the otherworld, transmitted in a near-contemporary Vita. He also appears in the Irish martyrologies and genealogies, the latter attributing to him a variety of pedigrees on his father's as well as his mother's side. This paper aims to show that by combining evidence from different types of sources; biographies, genealogies (Corpus genealogiarum sanctorum Hiberniae and Corpus genealogiarum Hiberniae), martyrologies (Félire Óengusso, Martyrology of Donegal and Martyrology of Cashel), and several Irish saints' Lives, it is possible to single out the most probable strand of tradition for the saint's origins. As it turns out, Fursa's differing genealogical affiliations mirror the subsequent shifts in political and ecclesiastical developments in Irish medieval history. Viewed from this perspective, the genealogies can supply valuable source material necessary for a biographical approach to a personality of the early Middle Ages.

Hamann, Stefanie, “Die Vita Fursei als chronologische Quelle”, Analecta Bollandiana 122 (2004): 283–298.

Ó Riain, Pádraig, “Les Vies de Saint Fursy: les sources irlandaises”, Revue du Nord 68 (1986): 405–413.

Kenney, James F., “Chapter VI: The expansion of Irish Christianity”, 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. 486–621.

501–502

Poncelet, Albert, “De magno legendario Austriaco”, Analecta Bollandiana 17 (1898): 24–96, 123–216.

Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>, <link>

41

web page identifiers

page name: Vita sancti Fursei

page url: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Vita_sancti_Fursei
redirect: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/3308
numerical alternative: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=3308
page ID: 3308
page ID tracker: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=3308

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Contributors

C. A., Dennis Groenewegen

Page created

May 2011, last updated: September 2022