Texts

Apocrypha Priscillianistica

  • Latin
  • prose

Early medieval compilation of six homiletic pieces in Latin, including an early version of the so-called ‘Seven Heavens’ apocryphon. It is known for having Irish connections and may represent a Hiberno-Latin adaptation of material that goes back to Visigothic Spain.

Manuscripts
ff. 153r–172v
rubric: ‘Incipit collectario de diuersis sententiis’
The second item is incomplete.
Charles D. Wright has observed that extracts from many items (but not no. 4) occur in Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 199/pp. 431-526, pp. 434-439.
Language
  • Latin
  • Dumville and Carey have remarked on the poor or corrupt quality of the Latin with regards to case endings. Carey suggests the possibility that the scribe had attempted to expand a heavily abbreviated source text but lacked the required proficiency. Carey also notes that a second hand corrected some errors at the beginning but soon gave up on the exercise.
Form
prose (primary)
Associated items
Canon in EbreicaCanon in EbreicaExegetical text datable to the 8th century and thought to be of Hiberno-Latin provenance.Homilia de die iudiciiHomilia de die iudiciiReichenau Seven Heavens homilyReichenau Seven Heavens homilyA Latin version of the Seven Heavens apocryphon.

Classification

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.] De Bruyne, Donatien, “Fragments retrouvés d’apocryphes priscillianistes”, Revue Bénédictine 24:3 (1907): 318–335.
Editio princeps.
[ed.] [tr.] Carey, John, “The Reichenau Seven Heavens homily”, in: John Carey, Emma Nic Cárthaigh, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh (eds), The end and beyond: medieval Irish eschatology, vol. 1, 17.1, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2014. 189–195.
Edition and translation of the second item (ff. 156r-157r), which offers a version of the Seven Heavens apocryphon.

Secondary sources (select)

Touati, Charlotte, “The ‘Apocalypse of the Seven Heavens’: from Egypt to Ireland”, in: John Carey, Emma Nic Cárthaigh, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh (eds), The end and beyond: medieval Irish eschatology, vol. 1, 17.1, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2014. 171–187.
esp. 185–186
Carey, John, “The Reichenau Seven Heavens homily”, in: John Carey, Emma Nic Cárthaigh, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh (eds), The end and beyond: medieval Irish eschatology, vol. 1, 17.1, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2014. 189–195.
Wright, Charles D., The Irish tradition in Old English literature, Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England, 6, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.  

Based on the author's dissertation.

e.g. 64–68; 216
Wright, Charles D., “[Multiple contributions]”, in: Frederick M. Biggs, Thomas D. Hill, Paul E. Szarmach, and Karen Hammond [ass.] (eds), Sources of Anglo-Saxon literary culture: a trial version, 74, Binghamton, New York, 1990. 34–36, 48–65, 68–70, 87–123.
69–70 [‘Apolypha Priscillianistica’]
Wright, Charles D., “Apocryphal lore and insular tradition in St. Gall, Stiftsbibliothek MS 908”, 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. 124–145.
135–136
Lapidge, Michael, and Richard Sharpe, A bibliography of Celtic-Latin literature, 400-1200, Royal Irish Academy Dictionary of Medieval Latin from Celtic Sources, Ancillary Publications, 1, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1985.
[id. 1252.]
Dumville, David N., “Towards an interpretation of Fís Adomnáin”, Studia Celtica 12–13 (1977–1978): 62–77.
Dumville, David N., “Biblical apocrypha and the early Irish: a preliminary investigation”, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 73 C (1973): 299–338.
Williard, Rudolph, Two apocrypha in Old English homilies., Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie, Leipzig: B. Tauchnitz, 1935.
James, M. R., “Irish apocrypha”, The Journal of Theological Studies 20:77 (October, 1918): 9–16.
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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
January 2020, last updated: June 2023