Vita brevior sancti Winwaloei ‘The shorter life of Winwaloeus’
- Latin
- prose, verse
Shorter version of the Latin Life of Winwaloeus (Gwenolé), abridged from the longer version written by Wrdisten. BHL suppl. 8956d. In addition to being generally shorter, it also adds to it by borrowing an episode from the vita of St Ethbin, in which Christ appears to Gwenolé and Ethbin as a leper.
- Britannia insula de qua stirpis nostre origo olim, ut vulgo refertur, processit, [...]
- Latin
See more BelgiumBelgium
See more Montreuil-sur-Mer, abbey of Saint-Saulve
Abbey founded as the abbey of Saint-Walloy (‘Saint Gwenolé’), following the arrival of monks from Landévennec who had fled Norman attackers and brought with them relics of their founding saint. It was refounded in the early 12th century and dedicated to Salvius of Amiens.
See more On the assumption that the author must have had access to both Wrdisten’s life of the saint and a life of St Ethbin, Amy Varin has made the case for Montreuil-sur-Mer, or perhaps a monastery in Flanders, as the likely place of composition. See Vita sancti Ethbini.
Short, anonymous vita of St Ethbin, al. Idiunet/Idunet (in the Quimper MS), a fellow monk of Winwaloe. BHL 2621.
A short redaction of the vita of St Winwaloe, based on an abridged, homiletic redaction (BHL 8962, called Sermunculus de vita s. Winwaloei by J.-C. Poulin). BHL 8953. A distinct feature of the present version is that it also borrows an episode relating to St Ethbin from the Vita brevior, with a unique conclusion in which both saints travel to Ireland.
A redaction of the vita of St Winwaloe of Landévennec, which is attested in two medieval manuscripts of English provenance. BHL 8964b.
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.
Contents: Introduction (1-2) -- La vie de saint Guénolé (3-39) -- La vie de saint Idunet (41-46) -- Le cartulaire de Landevenec (47-77) -- Conclusion (79-82) -- Appendice I: les possessions territoriales de l'abbaye d Landevenec aux XIe siècle (83-90) -- Appendice II: la vie de saint Ronan (91-95) -- Appendice III: la plus ancienne vie de saint Guénolé (97-112) -- [plate].
Secondary sources (select)
A shorter version of the VSW, generally thought to be Wrdisten's source, is actually an abridgement of his text, probably written at Montreuil-sur-Mer in Normandy. This text, which contains an episode borrowed from the Life of St. Ethbin, has been reduced to a string of miracles for the edification of a less sophisticated audience than the readers of the longer VSW. Condensed even further by John of Tynemouth, the short version has been incorporated into the Nova Legenda Angliae.
Wrdisten also wrote a verse life of Gwénolé as a companion piece to his long prose life, a sermon for the feast of St. Gwénolé designed to instruct those who could not read the VSW, and a letter, based primarily on the sermon, to enclose with a gift of relics sent to Bishop John of Arezzo.
Closely related to Wrdisten's works are three hymns, one by Clement of Landévennec, Wrdisten's contemporary, the others anonymous, recalling Gwénolé's miracles and asking his protection, and a number of charters composed in the eleventh century to document Landévennec's earliest acquisitions of land. Apart from one which makes Gwénolé contemporary with Charlemagne rather than with the Breton migration, these charters agree with Wrdisten's official biography.
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In earlier scholarship (e.g. Le Jollec, Latouche, De Smedt), it is often suggested that the shorter vita was the original on which Wrdisten’s vita is based. Current scholarship, however, prefers to view this relationship as going in the other direction.