Texts
Prophetia Merlini (John of Cornwall)
Incoming data
Latin poem (139 hexametric lines) on Merlin and his prophecies, written by John of Cornwall in the middle of the 12th century, or somewhat later, in response to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account of the same subject. In the introduction, John dedicates his work to his patron, Robert Warelwast (d. 1155), bishop of Exeter, or his succcessor Robert of Chichester (d. 1160?), and puts forward the claim that he is drawing on an independent Cornish source for his text. The text is accompanied by a prose commentary, notably including glosses in a variety of Brittonic, possibly Cornish, the origin and nature of which has been subject to some debate.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ott. lat. 1474/ff. 1-4
rubric: Johannis Cornubiensis Prophetia Merlini incipit: Venerabilis R(oberte) Presul Exoniensis [preface] … Eure, tuum nostris extyrpat germen ab hortis [poem] … Eure et cetera [commentary] Unique copy of the text, with marginal and interlinear glosses.
f. 1r-4r
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.] Curley, Michael J., “A new edition of John of Cornwall’s Prophetia Merlini”, Speculum 57 (1982): 217–249.
[ed.] Greith, Carl Johann, Spicilegium Vaticanum: Beiträge zur nähern Kenntniss der Vatikanischen Bibliothek für deutsche Poesie des Mittelalters, Frauenfeld: C. Beyel, 1838.
Digitale-sammlungen.de: <link> Digitale-sammlungen.de: View in Mirador
99–106 (transcription), 92–99 (discussion)
Secondary sources (select)
Faletra, Michael A., “Merlin in Cornwall: the source and contexts of John of Cornwall’s Prophetia Merlini”, The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 111:3 (July, 2012): 304–338.
Padel, O. J., “Geoffrey of Monmouth and the development of the Merlin legend”, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 51 (Summer, 2006): 37–65.
Crick, Julia C., “Geoffrey of Monmouth, prophecy and history”, Journal of Medieval History 18:4 (1992): 357–371.
abstract:
Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain is widely considered to have transgressed the historiographical canons of his time. The work provides a lengthy and detailed account of a prehistoric period for which no history in any currently accepted sense can be written. Among Geoffrey's greater departures from historical credibility is his championship of two mythical figures, Arthur and Merlin, both of whom are given a central place in his History. In this article, the author considers the evidence for the reception of Merlin's Prophecies and its implications for the reception of the history in which they were located. Besides reviewing the testimony of twelfth-century authors who used or criticised the Prophecies, she looks at commentaries on the Prophecies, both published and unpublished, written by contemporaries. She concludes that the Prophecies were attacked not because of any perceived historical inaccuracy but primarily because of political considerations. Indeed, the presence of Merlin's Prophecies at the heart of the History served to enhance its credibility and validity.
Fleuriot, Léon, “Les fragments du texte brittonique de la Prophetia Merlini”, Études Celtiques 14 (1974): 43–56.
