Whereas the previous chapters examined the sermon texts in terms of contents, the analysis returns now, in agreement with a discourse analysis, to the investigation of context. The media context was an essential dimension for Michel Foucault: it considers the mediality of sources with critical lenses, instead of simply using them to confirm a preconceived past. As a result, this chapter examines the manuscripts in which the relevant sermons appear. In agreement with Foucault, these are considered as archaeological artefacts: they are physical testimonies of the past; their texts existed through this media context in a specific historical context, where they likely had an impact.1 One may suppose that specific interests facilitated their production, since the penning of texts was a laborious task in the medieval period, which required certain preconditions. The analysis thus addresses the following questions: What does the text look like as physical evidence? Which paratextual framings does it offer?2 What devices for guiding orientation and use does the codex contain? How do parameters such as format, font size, or the state of survival present themselves? Which other texts or genres are present in the manuscript? In which different manuscripts does the same sermon text survive? How do different media contexts transform the purpose and meaning of the same text? Which institutional conditions may one assert concerning both compositionand transmission of the surviving codices?3
The media analysis shall demonstrate one crucial dimension: that these sources were vivid texts derived from preaching practice, which were intended to coalesce with preaching practice once more. These codices thus stand in opposition to another type of medieval manuscript: miscellanies, large-sized codices, and luxurious specimens, which indicate purposes of representation, collection, and preservation.4 Moving beyond a generic argument that sees a self-evident connection with practice in the penning of sermons, this chapter will show how such a connection can be established through the evidence. The following analysis considers only some significant examples from the pertinent corpus, whereas the manuscripts were always considered in the service of a holistic examination (see the section on methodology; the section on manuscripts in the bibliography; and table 2).5 The point of departure is thus always the specific sermon text whose crusade nature has been unearthed in the previous chapters, whereas this chapter locates it now in its media context. Texts of the 12th century often only survived as copies and not as originals or autographsâeven though some examples seem to be originals or to bring us close to such. One can distinguish, on the one hand, a copy that does not care about preserving the original appearance, partly including new texts and hence producing typical miscellanies meant for preservation. On the other hand, there are codices that copied an original faithfully, keeping the original composition, that is, media contextâperhaps because the replica still served a practical purpose.6
1 From Canterbury to Paris
The chapter on Jerusalem examined Peter of Bloisâ Sermo 39 ascribed to the feast of the Archangel Michael, which explicitly broaches the events of 1187 and the First Crusade, developing a bold eschatological reading dependent upon the entanglement of earthly and heavenly Jerusalem. This sermon survived in three copies, which betray three different media contexts: this finding suggests that it was a vivid text intertwined with preaching practice. It was put to use on different occasions, thus resulting in divergent media contexts. The sermonâs title is identical in all three copies: âIn festo sancti michaelis.â This indicates a certain stability of the textâs purpose. The feast adheres to an eschatological dimension, which the sermon fuses with the historical events of 1187âbut the textâs setting varies:7
Ms. BL Royal 8 F XVII is a collection of Peterâs works including the Conquestio (fol. 83v, part of his letter collection) and his sermon collection, including Sermo 39 (fol. 158v).8 This is obviously a clean copy aiming primarily at preservation, whereas it does not betray entanglement with preaching practice (format: c.20â¯Ãâ¯25â¯cm, 176 fols.).9 It comes from the monastery of Lesnes in London (see fol. 1r), a house established in 1178, in honor of Thomas Becket; this reveals a connection with Canterbury (on this codex, see also below regarding the Conquestio).
Ms. BL Arundel 322 presents a different case: here Sermo 39 is likewise part of Peterâs sermon collection (fol. 77r). However, the setting as well as the manuscriptâs composition are fundamentally different.10 The codex consists only of the collection, complemented by an unidentified text at the end of the codex (fol. 78v, same hand). The library catalogue characterizes it as distinctiones, that is, a preaching aid meant for preparing the delivery of a sermon.11 Sermo 39 is the final text of the collection, and it ends abruptly halfway through (while still containing all the significant arguments, as discussed in the chapter on Jerusalem). Already a quick peek at the distinctiones shows parallels with Sermo 39: in both, the Temple features prominently; the distinctiones provide further material, allowing the recipient to expand on the motif when preaching.12 The codexâs shape corroborates a practical purpose: it has a handy size (c.12â¯Ãâ¯18â¯cm, 124 fols.) with an unsteady script (instead of a clean copy meant for preservation). However, the generous font size makes it possible that such a book was even flipped open in front of the preacher while delivering a sermon.13
Ms. Paris, Sainte-Geneviève 2787, a hitherto unnoticed testimony of Peterâs sermons, also reveals significant entanglement with preaching practice; yet, the sermonâs setting (fol. 181r) as well as the institutional context deviate significantly from the other two copies. This is a typical polygraphic collection of the Parisian milieu, comprising 155 sermons of several masters and Victorines. Peter of Blois occurs most frequently with 28 identified sermons, succeeded by Alan of Lille (22 pieces), whereas others follow with around ten texts (for example, Peter Comestor, Maurice of Sully, or Walter of Saint-Victor).14 An attribution to Peter is missing; the codex may even have been his editorial work, possibly in cooperation with Alanâor he included so many of his colleagueâs sermons because he held him in high esteem. Notably, the sermons of the two often appear in an alternating pattern: in several cases, there are sermons by both on the same feastâas if the intention was to compare the preaching of the two masters. Most of the texts in this codex are presented in anonymous form, a fact demonstrating that the materialâs practical usefulness was key, rather than preserving the works of a particular author (like in the copy from Lesnes).15 The physical appearance corroborates this argument: once more a handy size (c.14â¯Ãâ¯19â¯cm, 225 fols.), including an unsteady script. Yet, the font size is quite small, therefore this copy could not have served as a direct model while preaching.
Furthermore, the Paris manuscript offers some aids to usability, once again evidence of its practical nature, in particular a complete table of contents at the collectionâs outset (entitled: hic sunt capitula sermonum), including a numbering of the sermons, and organization according to the liturgical calendar (fol. 122v). Title and number are repeated at the sermons themselves (in the form of a gloss), thus allowing a user to quickly find the texts listed in the contents. Appearance and composition suggest that these texts are reportationes penned by either an unknown scribe or Peter himself.16 Since the text of Sermo 39 is broadly identical with the other two copies (the same is true for other sermons), this substantiates the argument put forward by Nicole Bériou and Louis-Jacques Bataillon for the 13th century: there are astonishingly few deviations between model text and reportatio, that is, between template and actual preaching.17 Moreover, the codex combines the sermon collection with Peter the Chanterâs Distinctiones, another significant indication of its practical nature. The Chanterâs work offers, for example, material for expanding on the motif of Jerusalem, and the chapter on Jerusalem discussed the fact that Peter of Blois used exactly this entry in one of his sermons (Sermo 52), which is also found in this codex (fol. 189v).18 This manuscript is vivid testimony for Paris as a place of extensive preaching activities, and this already before the advent of the friars (none of the authors dates after 1200). It also shows that master Peter of Blois remained involved in this dynamic milieu despite being no longer a resident in the city.
The media contexts of Peterâs Sermo 39 demonstrate that this text is entangled with preaching practice in two of three cases, a dimension visible thanks to different parameters such as the expressive combination with distinctiones. However, the two cases stem from different institutional settings: the London manuscript seems related to Peterâs office in Canterbury (just like the copy from Lesnes), whereas the Parisian example indicates his involvement in the same city. The first fulfills the purpose of a model sermon collection, while the latter is even more strongly entangled with practice, likely holding reportationes. Both need to be placed in the historical context after 1187, since Sermo 39 explicitly refers to this yearâs events. The testimony of Ms. Sainte-Geneviève 2787 suggests that Peter was engaged in hitherto unknown activities in Paris: either directly related to the Third Crusade or in the 1190s.
The media context of Peterâs Conquestio, a well-known but never scrutinized crusade treatise, also delivers important insights. This text has been transmitted broadly; the analysis will limit itself to some meaningful examples (neglecting later copies). These point to two different institutional contexts, but also to two different purposes: the Conquestio sometimes appears as an independent text and sometimes (in the bulk of cases) as a part of Peterâs letter collectionâeven though, considering its length and contents, it certainly transcends the purpose of a letter. At its outset, it has two addressees, which one copy replaced with two others: the text was apparently distributed as a letter in the service of crusade recruitment, while it can be described as a model sermon (containing manifold elements which are rhetorical and oral in nature). These findings are strongly reminiscent of Bernard of Clairvauxâs crusade letters, likely Peterâs models.19
Ms. BL Royal 8 F XVII is a miscellany of Peterâs works that we have already encountered: here the Conquestio forms the collectionâs last letter (fol. 83v), succeeded by the Compendium in Job (fol. 88v) and his sermons (fol. 108r, entitled as exhortationes). The manuscript therefore contains manifold materials concerned with crusading, including Peterâs crusade call from 1185, which bears the title âExhortatio vie terre Ierosolimitane succurratur,â an exhortation to support the voyage to the land of Jerusalem (fol. 77r, a few folios before the Conquestio). Note the fact that the label of genre is identical with that of the sermons.
Ms. Lambeth Palace 421 also includes the Conquestio among the letters (fol. 93r); it is preceded by 1185âs crusade call entitled âExhortatio magna et pernecessaria vie terre Ierosolimitane succuraturâ (fol. 85r). The handy codex suggests a practical use (c.12â¯Ãâ¯18â¯cm, 142 fols.); and similar to the combination with distinctiones, the letters are succeeded by short commentaries on all the books of the Bible (from fol. 109r)âas if these were meant to provide further material.20
Ms. BNF lat. 2954 follows the same pattern: inclusion in the letter collection (fol. 78r) and a handy codex (c.13â¯Ãâ¯15â¯cm, 193 fols.). Its texts betray once again a strong crusade focus, encompassing a number of crusade-related letters including 1185âs call: each of these is labeled as an âexhortatio.â The codex also holds the Passio Raginaldi, here likewise included among the letters (fol. 183v). Its deviating title places it, just like the Conquestio, in the service of counteracting postponed crusade efforts: âContra principes qui differebant transfretare et de cruce eius [Christi]â (Against the princes who postpone the passage over the sea and about Christâs cross). Did Peter or other protagonists also distribute the Passio as a letter, perhaps as an extension of its original purpose? This manuscript suggests such an adaptation.21
Ms. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Lat. misc. f.14 provides extraordinary evidence: it is the only copy that contains all three of Peterâs crusade treatises, while it also indicates preaching practice. The codex consists only of his texts (another part has been added later), and it has a remarkably handy size (c.8â¯Ãâ¯12â¯cm, 60 fols.).22 It also comprises numerous glosses that repeat parts of the main text; these are obviously meant as an aid to orientation. Similarly, several subheadings within the Passio (in red ink), which only exist in this copy, structure this lengthy text, for example, âDe situ terre Ierosolimitane et destructione eiusâ (fol. 39r). The manuscriptâs early date (c.1200) makes it possible that this may even be Peterâs autograph, which directly served his preaching of the Third Crusade.23 And, just like in the case of Ms. BL Arundel 322, a generous font size makes it possible to place this book before the preacher when delivering a sermon.
In conclusion, the Conquestio presents itself with two different purposes: on the one hand, the labeling as a letter; on the other, the absence of a specific paratext in the Oxford copy, while including it among Peterâs other crusade treatises, which are clearly related to recruiting and preaching. In agreement, Ms. BNF lat. 2954 identifies the Conquestio as a sermonâdespite including it among the letters: âExhortatio ad subsidium terre sancte, et lamentationes et fletus ad bona opera,â an exhortation to come to the help of the Holy Land (fol. 78r). The work represents, therefore, sermon material sent to several addressees, in order to promote crusade recruitment. Its title in some copies indicates the specific point in time when these efforts unfolded: âConquestio super nimia dilatione itineris Ierosolimisâ or âConquestio de dilatione vie Ierosolimitaneâ (The lament about delaying the voyage to Jerusalem). Just like Henry of Albanoâs treatise, this text reacted to the delays and internal Christian conflicts that obstructed the crusade endeavor as the year 1188 advanced. Peter used the medium of the letter to encourage mobilization after the great preaching tours and events: the erudite master provided others with material that is rhetorically elaborate and exegetically sound. The Conquestio thus provides evidence for how such a textâs purpose, and hence its media transmission, may have developed. The institutional contexts (even though the exact origins of these codices are unclear) seem to agree with Peterâs sermons, pointing on the one hand to Canterbury, especially the copy from Lambeth Palace, and on the other to Paris, where his treatise was likewise circulating (with further copies besides the example discussed, for example, Ms. BNF lat. 2605).
The next case remains within the institutional context of the archbishopric of Canterbury: Ms. Lambeth Palace 144 is likely the earliest copy of Peterâs reform treatise, the Compendium in Iob. Several factors suggest that it may even have been his working copy: the codex seems to date to the 12th century;24 an authorial attribution is absent; the workâs prologue is missing, while all other manuscripts include it; and throughout the text, one finds glosses with textual elements that are otherwise part of the main text (in both the PL and other copies). This codex sheds light on the workâs genesis: it needs to be placed at the top of a stemma, whereas the version circulating already included all these glosses in the main text.25 Peterâs Compendium can be aligned with the reform movement, and it is telling that the same codex contains Gregory the Greatâs Liber pastoralis (from fol. 1r), an essential cornerstone of this movement. Similarly, the treatise Summa qui bene presunt by Richard of Wetheringsett (from fol. 35r) is not only evidence for reform efforts, but also an essential milestone in putting these into practice via preaching activities.26 The explanation of peccatis nostris exigentibus refocused attention on moral reform; this was vitally fueled at the time thanks to recurring failure in the Holy Land. We might assume that this codex was solely concerned with reform efforts (the Compendium dates to the late 1170s), were it not for the fact that it contains another significant and hitherto unnoticed text. Immediately after the Compendium, one finds the âCerta relatio de situ Ierusalemâ (fol. 117r), which I only found in this manuscript. It offers not only a description of the Holy Landâs places, but also broaches the event of 1187, referring to the losses of both the Cross and Jerusalem (especially fol. 118v). It is possible that Peter authored it, drawing on his experiences during the Third Crusadeâat least, it seems to belong to the Canterbury circle, the codexâs institutional setting.27 The inclusion of this treatise demonstrates that one needs to place the codexâs reform-oriented texts within the situation after 1187, probably the ongoing efforts after the Third Crusadeâs failure. There is thus a logic as to why these texts are combined: the state of the Holy Land represented cause and incentive for these reform efforts; the media context points directly to the historical context of its composition. The existence of this archaeological artefact can be explained by specific interests that occupied the Canterbury circle at the time, interests that were closely aligned with crusading.28
The Angevin context is also pertinent to the next example: the chapter on the Holy Land discussed Ralph Ardensâ In exaltatione sancte crucis (De tempore, Sermo 36) and the chapter on the Cross relic one of his sermons In festo omnium sanctorum (De tempore, Sermo 41). The first delivers an exegesis of John 12:31â32, a tandem of two verses that evokes the impending Last Judgment and calls the audience to swarm to Jerusalem, the Judgmentâs venue, while demanding they follow Christâs example (for example, via 1â¯Pet. 2:21). It outlines repeatedly a via that should lead the audience to the lumen, a motif naturally located in the East, in order to become filii lucis. The second sermon develops an exegesis for Rev. 7:2â4, an equivalent of Ez. 9:4 (which is also cited in the text); it calls on the listeners to sign themselves with the signum crucis (Ralph also speaks of the signati). He embeds this discussion in a salvific topography, underlining a salutary East, and including several allusions to crusading such as the hint at the existence of Christians beyond the Latin orbit. He also emphasizes that they must assist God in holding Judgment, a deeply apocalyptic idea. The two sermons thus share a number of themesâalbeit their motifs and biblical references vary: these are two complementary texts within the same spectrum of ideas. How do they appear in their media context? Three manuscripts are pertinent, belonging to two different contexts:
Ms. Paris, Sainte-Geneviève 2786 is by far the earliest copy of Ralphâs sermons (13th cen.), and it consists solely of his collection. Only a few folios separate the two texts, and both are entitled by their opening verses: âSecundum Iohannemâ (Sermo 36, fol. 77r) and âIohannis apostoli, omnium sanctorumâ (Sermo 41, fol. 80v). Such titles are common throughout the codex, which is organized according to the liturgical calendar and agrees overall with the order in the PL.29 This is a typical Parisian manuscript: handy size (c.12â¯Ãâ¯20â¯cm, 104 fols.) and an incomplete table of contents at the outset, including the incipit of each sermon as an aid to orientation. Similarly, the lack of authorial attribution indicates the materialâs practical nature. It also shows signs of wear: several pages have been ripped out, mostly corresponding to a particular textâas if a preacher used these pages to deliver a sermon.30
The two copies Ms. Oxford, Lincoln College 112 and Lincoln College 116 reveal another context; the two are broadly identical in both contents and composition: one was likely copied from the other. Both are part of the phenomenon that all copies of Ralphâs collectionâsave for the Parisian codex discussedâbelong to late medieval England (late 14th to late 15th cen.), in particular four copies from Oxford.31 Comparing these two with the Parisian codex, one can conclude that the original composition has been maintained. The two Lincoln College manuscripts are of little interest in codicological terms, being large-sized and probably aimed at preservation, perhaps for the purposes of studying at the university. However, their composition is noteworthy: both contain Ralphâs prologue at the outset that indicates the collectionâs historical context as well as the impetus of popular preaching.32 And in both copies, Sermo 41 immediately follows Sermo 36 (unlike in the PL): first, Sermo 36 entitled âIn festo exaltationis sancte crucis ewangelium secundum Iohannem xiiâ (Lincoln 112: fol. 108v; see also Lincoln 116: fol. 195r); and then Sermo 41 entitled âIn die omnium sanctorum epistola Apocalypsis viiâ (Lincoln 112: fol. 112v; see also Lincoln 116: fol. 202r). The sequence is indebted to the liturgical calendar, but it also agrees very well with their contents, since the two harmonize so perfectly. Ralph drafted two sermons with varying nuances, but belonging to the same spectrum of ideas. One could thus have preached the two to the same audience without being repetitiveâand both show high crusade potential. Like with Peter of Blois, the codices indicate two different contexts stemming from the preacherâs biography: on the one hand, the codex in Paris where Ralph was a master and whose media setting demonstrates the vivid Parisian milieu; on the other, the Oxford group which likely stems from an earlier, now lost copy. Both are thus entangled with the institutional context of the university, yet embedded in different spatial and historical contexts, once more evidence for the materialâs vivid nature and use.
2 From Clairvaux to Paris
The example of Garnerius of Clairvaux leads into a different setting: he represents a Cistercian well integrated into the monastic milieu, yet his worksâ media contexts shed light on the entanglement of university and monastery. The existence and broad transmission of a collection of Distinctiones from his pen is significant evidence for this; but first, an example from his sermon collection is worth considering. The chapter on the Holy Land examined his Sermoâ¯28 ascribed to the Assumption of Mary (15 Aug.), which survived in two copies from Clairvaux. Ms. Troyes, Bibliothèque Municipale 1301 offers the same attribution: âItem in assumptione, sermo IIâ (fol. 98r); whereas Ms. Troyes, Bibliothèque Municipale 970 lacks a title (space is left blank, fol. 62v). However, the feast does not seem essential when considering its contents: Mary is only discussed in one paragraph regarding the wordplay of virgo and virga.33 The textâs preeminent concern is the Exodus from Egypt facilitated by Mosesâ virga, which divides the sea and paves thus the way to the Holy Land (opening with Ex. 14:16). As is common, Garnerius identifies the virga with the cross, pointing multiple times to its localization in the Holy Land; he also emphasizes its materiality, and connects it with the eschatological vision of John 12:31 (a parallel with Ralph). These are all strong indications of the specific Cross relic, while he understands the Exodus as a typological exemplum for contemporary events in the Holy Land. The two manuscripts in which Sermo 28 appears belong to the same institutional context, that is, Clairvaux, and date around the same time (early 13th cen.). They are of minor interest in codicological terms, being large-sized (both c.20â¯Ãâ¯25â¯cm) and primarily meant for preservation. Practice-related indications are largely absent; this suggests another mode of production dependent on a monastic scriptorium. Yet, both copiesâ composition and contents suggest entanglement with matters beyond the abbeyâs walls: the two were likely copied from an original closer to practice. Troyes 970 in particular must stem from another copy due to its largely incomplete state, for example, sermonsâ titles are often missing, but this cannot have been Troyes 1301: their composition is vastly different.
Ms. Troyes 970 only contains some sermons from Garneriusâ collection; overall it is in an incomplete and unpolished state. Sermo 28 forms the collectionâs last text, ending abruptly after a few lines (fol. 62v).34 An unidentified text in a different but contemporary hand follows thereafter (from fol. 63r): a quick peek reveals significant parallels with Sermo 28; the unidentified text is concerned with Ex. 12 at its outset. As the chapter on the Holy Land discussed, this is an important reference in the Third Crusadeâs preaching. This juxtaposition in the manuscript evidence is thus expressive, and we have already encountered such a pattern: in Ms. BL Arundel 322, Peter of Bloisâ Sermo 39 ended some lines before its actual conclusion and was succeeded by a text that reveals parallels with the sermon and hence offers further material. Yet, the incomplete state of Ms. Troyes 970 meant that this purpose was only rudimentarily achieved.
Ms. Troyes 1301 offers an extensive collection of Garneriusâ sermons, complemented by his treatise Contra Amaurianos, which is intriguingly placed in between the sermons (fols. 141râ154r).35 The codex consists of his works only: content, titles, and order broadly agree with the PL. Yet, one finds eight sermons, including one Contra Iudaeos, that are absent from the PL; this suggests that the PLâs version stems from another copy (it contains sermons that do not exist in any of the two surviving manuscripts). Sermo 28 is embedded in the liturgical calendar (fol. 98r), succeeded by a sermon on Bernard of Clairvauxâs feast.36 The combination with Contra Amaurianos is expressive: this text addresses the heretical group of the Amalricians. Its setting in the midst of the sermon collection indicates that the treatise was also meant as preaching material and that the codex was not intended for intra-monastic purposes. The treatise is succeeded by his Sermo 19 (separated by a simple line break), an Easter sermon that has been discussed in this study and certainly holds high crusade potential. The sermon drafts a strongly militant vision and presents the loss of the Ark as an exemplum to the audience âfor resisting the enemiesâ (exemplo nostris hostibus viriliter resistamus)âthe loss of the Cross relic suggests itself.37 Unlike the rest of the collection, it is deprived of its place in the liturgical calendar, in order to be aligned with the treatise, whereas the corresponding place in the collection (fol. 71v) offers another piece on Easter absent from the PL.
While the media context of Garneriusâ sermons is largely indebted to a classic monastic production, their contents reveal extra-monastic activities; and as we know, he was involved in such. This makes it likely that the surviving manuscripts stem from a non-monastic specimen. As has already been seen with other examples, the media context can help in anchoring an authorâs activities in the historical context. Garneriusâ collection of Distinctiones allows us to do the same: it shows that he was not only involved in a historical context beyond the monastery (the crusade), but also in another institutional context, the university. The distinctiones have been transmitted broadly, a fact that demonstrates how useful and widely disseminated this work was.38 This study has already reviewed the question of attribution: two early manuscripts from Clairvaux identify Garnerius as the author, and many copies come from Cistercian monasteries.39 However, many preserve it in anonymous form, a fact that indicates its practical nature. Other parameters encourage this, thus relating the work more to Parisian practices than to monastic ones: many copies have a handy size (such as Ms. Oxford, Laud Misc. 504; Oxford, Merton College 200; BNF lat. 588; Troyes 1697), and many consist only of the collection (such as Ms. BNF lat. 599; Troyes 32; Troyes 539; Troyes 392). These codicological patterns are likewise observable in other preaching aids such as Alan of Lilleâs Ars praedicandi or Peter the Chanterâs Distinctiones.40 The exceptions are the six copies from Clairvaux itself: even though these contain often only Garneriusâ collection, many of them are large-sized, for example, Ms. Troyes 392 (c.35â¯Ãâ¯25â¯cm). They betray a media context dependent on monastic production and likely meant for internal monastic use (reading, exegesis, but also preaching).41 Ms. Troyes 392 contains a note saying that Garnerius himself presented it to the monastery in 1220 (fol. 169r); this was obviously not his personal copy meant for practical implementation, but a luxurious copy meant as a gift.42
The codicological evidence thus reveals two different purposes: the copies from Clairvaux seem to belong to an intra-monastic arena, whereas the non-monastic manuscripts reveal strong resemblances with the Parisian production of such materials. The latter are thus entangled with a more dynamic practice. Considering their places of origin and institutional contexts corroborates the workâs double purpose, since one finds some early copies beyond Clairvaux. This includes Ms. BNF lat. 588 dating to around 1200 and coming from Saint-Nicolas dâHermières, a Premonstratensian abbey near Paris, or Ms. Oxford, Merton College 200 dating to the early 13th century and, as a dedication shows, belonging to the early university milieu in Oxford.43 Garneriusâ work circulated early. Ms. BNF lat. 588 combines the distinctiones (here anonymous) with the texts of Johnâs Revelation (from fol. 49r) as well as some of Paulâs letters (from fol. 87r), including commentary on them in the form of the Glossa ordinaria. The combination that it offers thus moves in the other direction: from preaching aid to exegesis (a similar ensemble was visible in Ms. Lambeth Palace 421). Nonetheless, the distinctiones blend with preaching practice: at the collectionâs conclusion, separated by a simple line break, one finds an âOratio ante predicationem dicens devoteâ (fol. 48v), a prayer meant to precede preaching. The copyâs early date is significant and may suggest a distribution from Paris; the example also shows how flexibly recipients used such a work. Another noteworthy specimen is Ms. Troyes 868, which combines the distinctiones with two sermon collections, those of Aelred of Rievaulx and Gilbert of Hoyland, two Cistercian colleagues. Dating to the late 12th century, it is the earliest copy (but incomplete).44 It is possible that this was Garneriusâ editorial work or composed under his patronage as abbot of Clairvaux. The combination of sermon collection and preaching aid as well as the inclusion of several preachers, exceptional for the monastic context, reveals clear resemblances with the Parisian production of such materials. The Cistercian apparently attempted to implement the Parisian methods in the monastic context, likely to provide his monks with preaching material (just as Henry of Albano did with his work). It would be worth investigating if the sermons of Aelred and Gilbert deliver crusade-fit textsâa task that I leave to other scholars.
3 The Epicenter of Paris and Its Emanation
The chapter on Jerusalem examined one of Prevostin of Cremonaâs sermons In adventu domini, which drafts meaningful connections between the different senses of Scripture. He emphasizes twice that Christ approached the heavenly Jerusalem temporaliter (reference is to Lk. 19:41 and Palm Sunday), an argument that engenders a concurrence between earthly and heavenly city. He concludes that Jerusalem now lies in ruins (a parallel with Peter of Blois and Gerald of Wales): this strongly indicates the events of 1187. Furthermore, the sermon underlines a blending of Corpus Christi and Holy Land (specifically the Mount of Olives), ending with the example of martyrs who received their palm branches in Jerusalemâthe audience should follow suit. I only found this piece in one manuscript, Ms. BL Add 18335: it contains a collection of Prevostinâs sermons that has not received any scholarly attention; its texts are entirely unpublished. The sermon appears therein with the title âDe adventu dominiâ (fol. 11r), embedded in other sermons that form a smorgasbord rather than a clear liturgical organization. The codex is divided in three parts, all penned by the same hand, consequently representing a purposeful composition. The text at stake belongs to the first part, a collection of 19 sermons, which is preceded by a prologue entitled âSermones Prepositini accessus ad populumâ (fol. 2v), indicating that these materials were intended for popular preaching.45 The prologue declares the goal of preaching against idolatria and impii, related to an eschatological vision: the purpose of crusading surfaces thus significantly. Since the prologue represents a paratext, this suggests that this purpose was essential for the entire codex.46 Whereas the relevant sermon focuses on Jerusalem, one finds some folios later another pertinent text with the title âMiraculum de sancta cruceâ (fol. 24r); it belongs to the genre De sancta cruce, which developed as a result of scrutinizing the relicâs loss.
The manuscriptâs second part comprises Prevostinâs treatise De ecclesiasticis officiis (fols. 26râ65v), a work devoted to expounding the meaning of liturgical feasts, for example, Palm Sunday: a strong entanglement with preaching practice. The inclusion of De officiis thus mirrors the combination with distinctiones in other manuscripts; and Jessalynn Bird argued that such treatises were resources for crusade preachers.47 The codexâs third part offers further sermons (14 pieces, from fol. 66r), including three entitled âQuando voluerisâ (Whenever you want), three texts figuring as ultimate preaching models (fols. 81v; 82v; 84v). The first among these displays bold militant notes, using Eph. 6 and Job 7:1; it could well have served for crusade-related preaching. The codexâs physical form corroborates a practical purpose: a handy size (c.12â¯Ãâ¯18â¯cm, 167 fols.) and a composition clearly devoted to preaching activities. Yet, we do not know much about its (institutional) origins: neither the library catalogue nor the codex itself provide any information.48 The fact that this specific composition only survived here makes it possible that Prevostin himself drafted it (in which case, this would be a faithful 13th-century copy).
The last example is represented by Alan of Lille, an eminent master, whose sermons are those with the broadest transmission among the authors investigated. As the chapter on immediate context delineated, one may divide them into three groups. The following two examples come from the largest group, whose transmission is most complex and multifarious, and it reveals a dynamic practice most compellingly. The chapter on the Cross relic discussed inter alia the text published in the PL and here always cited as âDe sancta cruce (I).â It develops an argument about the Cross relic (and not only the cross generically, as discussed), departing from Cant. 7:9 and underlining the relicâs materiality. It needs to be placed in the context after 1187, even though it does not broach the loss explicitlyâunlike one of Alanâs other Holy Cross sermons. As already seen with other examples, one observes complementary material that avoids being redundant.49 The chapter on the Holy Land investigated his sermon with the incipit âO fugite de terra aquilonis,â which drafts an elaborate salvific topography, including the sea as a milestone. This text tackles requisite movements within this landscape, especially escaping the evil North, a call stemming from Zach. 2:10. It evokes the events of 1187 when asserting that they were cast out of Jerusalem because of their sins, just as it broaches the hardships of the Jerusalem pilgrimage. Both sermons survived in a number of copies, among them four that hold both:
Ms. Paris, Sainte-Geneviève 2787 is a codex we have encountered already with Peter of Blois, an essential testimony of Parisian preaching activities in the late 12th century. It indicates a hitherto unknown relationship between Peter and Alan. Since this conjunction exists only in this codex, it likely stems from a personal relationship, belonging to a specific context or occasion. Considering the contents of relevant sermons (and further material may be waiting in this vast collection), this was cooperation in the course of the Third Crusade: several texts either broach the events of 1187 explicitly or seem fundamentally informed by their shadow. The codex thus betrays a specific historical context: its sermons offer a reaction to these devastating events, that is, material related to crusade mobilization. Alanâs sermon on the cross is therein entitled âIn parasceve,â that is, Good Friday (fol. 147r), preceded by a similar sermon from Peterâs pen (fol. 145v, his Sermo 17).50 The deviating title offers the same focus as âDe sancta cruce,â but, instead of the extraordinary genre, it applies a common liturgical label. The sermon on escaping the North bears the title âSermo communisâ (fol. 222r), an expressive indication that it was meant for a broad audience; this agrees with its crusade focus.51 The manuscript contains further texts envisaging such a broad audience (or perhaps recording it in the form of a reportatio), among them a sermon âDe communi exhortationeâ (fol. 207r) that deals with the destruction of Gaza and Ascalon.52
Ms. Paris, BNF lat. 14859 is another example of Parisian preaching activities in the late 12th century. It also comprises sermons by Prevostin of Cremona (a combination of the two authors exists in several manuscripts). It represents a typical polygraphic collection of the Parisian milieu, likely even reportationes, but the composition suggests that these materials were prepared for future use.53 Alanâs sermon on the cross is entitled âIn resurrectione dominicaâ (fol. 230r), in functional agreement with the former copy.54 The sequence in which it appears is illuminating: immediately after follows a Palm Sunday sermon by Stephen Langton (fol. 231r), which Jessalynn Bird assessed as having high crusade potential.55 Thereafter comes the well-known anti-heretical sermon (fol. 233r) that Alan heard in southern France, as its elaborate title records. It is characterized both here and in the table of contents (fol. 178r) as âcommunis,â just like many other sermons in the collection.56 A few folios later, one finds his piece on escaping the North, here as âItem sermo magistri alanis sumptus ex ezechielâ (fol. 238v), to which the collectionâs table of contents adds the attribute of âcommunisâ (fol. 178r). Alanâs militant sermon on Job 7:1 appears slightly before (fol. 235r); and the surrounding texts offer further sermons entitled Ad populum (for example, fol. 236r) or Sermo communis (for example, fol. 251v). A broad audience is envisagedâa parallel with the previous codex.57 As a result, five crusade-related sermons gather here within eight folios (fols. 230râ238v): this is a noteworthy cluster of crusade materials. At the same time, the material avoids being redundant, an already familiar strategy: one sermon focuses on the cross, another on sacred topography, and another on militant imagery (the one on Job 7:1). These texts deliver different materials within the same spectrum of ideas, and the brace holding this spectrum together is clearly identifiable as the crusade.
The codex consists of two parts that were assembled later; the first is not relevant (Augustineâs commentary on Genesis); both bear the mark of ownership of Saint-Victor in Paris, its institutional setting. Bird demonstrated how important the abbey was for the production of crusade-related materials. It interacted closely with the cityâs other institutions.58 The relevant corpus offers further manuscripts from Saint-Victorâeven though their authors were not canons of the abbey.59 The codex in question betrays proximity to practice via its handy size (c.15â¯Ãâ¯22â¯cm, 162 fols.) and an unsteady script.60 It also offers numerous aids to usability and orientation, beginning with a short introduction listing its authors. The same page presents an extensive table of contents (fol. 178r) cataloguing 75 sermons including title, number, and short incipit. Title and number are also found at the sermons themselves, often repeated in the form of a gloss, to procure visibility, and meant for quickly finding the texts listed in the table of contents (a parallel with Ms. Sainte-Geneviève 2787). The table is succeeded by a short collection of distinctiones (fols. 178vâ187v) and a treatise (fols. 188râ205r) attributed partly to Hugh and partly to Richard of Saint-Victor, which fuses into the sermon collection (simple line break; from fol. 205r). As already visible with other examples, such combinations are expressive. This codex thus unites several aspects examined in this chapter, while being permeated by crusade-related materials (which may be complemented in future beyond the texts identified here).
Ms. Dijon, Bibliothèque Municipale 219 leads into a different setting; it was composed in 1214 in the monastery of Cîteaux, as a note at the beginning reveals (fol. 2v; see also fols. 4r; 93r).61 It evidences Alanâs relationship with the Cistercians (whom he joined shortly before his death), but also entanglement with Parisian preaching practice and other matters beyond the abbey. It also contains Richard of Saint-Victorâs Liber exceptionum and a biblical commentary by Walter of Saint-Victor, thus entwining three institutional contexts: the University of Paris, Saint-Victor, and the Cistercians. As a result, one can determine a Cistercian interest in the Parisian milieu. Alanâs sermon on the cross appears therein as âItem sermo eiusdem de sancta cruceâ (fol. 86r); his sermon on escaping the North a few folios before, separated by a single text, as âItem sermo magistri Alaniâ and complemented by the gloss âEzechielâ (fol. 82v). The sequence in which the sermons appear is once again expressive: the Holy Cross sermon is succeeded by a text with the title âDe anticristoâ (fol. 87v), which is absent from Marie-Thérèse dâAlvernyâs list of Alanâs sermons.62 This text holds high crusade potential, speaking inter alia of the armies of the Antichrist assembling in Jerusalem.63 The codex offers further relevant texts such as Alanâs well-known anti-heretical sermon (fol. 73v), his militant sermon on Job 7:1 (fol. 76r), and several sermons entitled âad populumâ (for example, fol. 78v).64 It offers 20 sermons from his pen altogether (fols. 72vâ92v), a smorgasbord rather than a liturgical organization.65 The texts transmitted here usually appear in polygraphic Parisian collections (often as reportationes); the two previous codices were two significant examples. However, this manuscript organizes them in a monographic manner, perhaps offering a âBest ofâ of Alanâs preaching, and the numerous notes on audiences likely document past use. Despite having been produced in the monastery, it likely stems from another copy that Alan himself brought when entering Cîteaux, a codex that was likely unsuitable for preservation because of its diligent use in the service of preaching.
Alanâs sermons are found in the midst of the manuscript, embedded in Richard of Saint-Victorâs Liber exceptionum, which fuses without break into Alanâs texts (fol. 72v), before being continued at the end of the same (fol. 93r). Richardâs opus delivers a kind of handbook for using the Bible; such was certainly a valuable preaching aid, while Alanâs texts provide ready to use sermons, including a strong crusade focus.66 Similar to the combination with distinctiones, Richardâs work makes it possible to find further material; and, just like with Garneriusâ Distinctiones, this was an attempt to transfer Parisian methods to the monastic context.67 Furthermore, the beginning of the codex (fols. 2vâ3v) delivers an illuminating anchoring in the historical context; it offers an annals-like list of historical events, many of them crusade-related, including Jerusalemâs loss in 1187 (a capta Ierusalem a sarracenis). The manuscript conveys a historical frame to which its sermon material belongs and to which it reactsâAlanâs sermons corroborate precisely this; they demonstrate how such may have been informed by historical events.
Ms. Amiens, Bibliothèque Municipale 301 contains Alanâs Holy Cross sermon without a title (fol. 93r), but its setting within the liturgical calendar suggests that it was here intended for In exaltatione sancte crucis (14 Sept.).68 Whereas the focus on the cross remains, the liturgical ascription differs from the copies that aligned it with Easter. Only a few folios later, one finds the piece on escaping the North, also without a title (fol. 98v). The codex comes from the important Benedictine house of Corbie (early 13th cen.) and evidences the wide circulation of Alanâs materials.69 Just like with the Cistercians, it reveals echoes of Parisian methods: a handy size (c.14â¯Ãâ¯20â¯cm, 113 fols.); containing solely preaching material; anonymous transmission of the texts; and a clear font in a generous sizeâonce more a codex that could have been flipped open before the preacher. It consists of two works: Alanâs Ars praedicandi and his sermons, another example of the significant blending of preaching aid and sermon textsâbut this is not the Liber sermonum, which is usually aligned with the Ars. The fact that the treatise is combined here with sermons that appear mostly in polygraphic Parisian collections reveals in this case more proximity to practice than is usually the case with the overall generic Liber sermonum.70
The four codices each contain both of Alanâs sermons, thereby delivering complementary material: the one sermon focuses on the cross, the other develops a broader salvific landscape. At the same time, these codices comprise much further material devoted to the crusading purpose, therefore one can conclude that the crusade was an important subject in these media contextsâand hence in the corresponding institutional and historical contexts. It has become clear how much these manuscripts are indebted to a vivid preaching practice, and how strongly they are dedicated to offering guidance and resources for such. These dimensions have surfaced even more strongly in Alanâs case thanks to the multifarious transmission, likely because he was the one who spent most time in Paris among the relevant authors. The media contexts also revealed connections with several institutions (the university, Saint-Victor, the Cistercians): his sermons were widely disseminated and thus put to use. Concluding the examination, the two sermons will each be considered in another copy:
Ms. BNF lat. 3818 represents another polygraphic and practice-related codex of the Parisian milieu: handy size (c.17â¯Ãâ¯23â¯cm, 64 fols.); the manuscript consists solely of the collection; and all sermons are transmitted anonymously. Furthermore, it frequently offers glosses in red ink (usually several per page) that provide keywords to the main text; this delivers an excellent aid to orientation meant for finding material quickly.71 Alanâs cross sermon appears therein as âSermo de passione dominiâ (fol. 53r), without authorial attribution. One also encounters his sermon on Job 7:1 (fol. 60v),72 and his âSermo de cruce dominiâ (fol. 41v), that is, his second Holy Cross sermon, which explicitly discusses the events of 1187 and has been published by dâAlverny.73 Juxtaposing the two sermons De sancta cruce makes perfect sense: they complement each other without being repetitive, a familiar pattern. The manuscript comprises further crusade-related texts, including a âSermo de beato petro apostoloâ (fol. 33r) lamenting that Saracens and heretics are prevalent âin our timesâ (temporibus nostris prevaleant, videntur enim tam sarraceni quam heretici prevalere ecclesie dei) (fol. 34v).74 The codex has 43 sermons altogether, of which only Alanâs two pieces on the cross have been published. The rest also poses the question of attribution: I could only attribute one to Prevostin of Cremona thanks to another manuscript. Nothing seems to be known about the codexâs origins, yet the early date (early 13th cen.) suggests that it was assembled either by Alan himself or someone close to him.75 Whereas I considered only some of its texts, it certainly holds further intriguing material on both the crusades and late 12th-century preaching in general.
Ms. Toulouse, Bibliothèque Municipale 195 represents an exceptional testimony that allows us to grasp Alan in a specific historical context.76 It contains another copy of his sermon on Fugite de terra aquilonis, here without a title (fol. 116v), and probably its earliest version (c.1200); which is embedded here in a monographic collection. Yet, an organization according to the liturgical calendar is not discernable, and sermonsâ titles are often missing. Only a few folios away, one finds Alanâs sermon on Job 7:1 (fol. 112v) as well as his âSermo de clericis ad theologiam non accedentibusâ (fol. 101v), which hints at the events of 1187 and only survived here.77 Furthermore, a hitherto unnoticed crusade-related sermon is presented with the incipit âOriens splendor lucis eterne et sol iustitieâ (fol. 96v, without a title), likewise only surviving in this copy.78 The manuscript has a handy size (c.12â¯Ãâ¯20â¯cm, 122 fols.) with a clear and generously large script (once more, lying before the preacher seems very much possible). It consists of two parts that were assembled later; the second part is not relevant (from fol. 127r).79 The first (fols. 1râ122v) contains a collection of Alanâs works. This miscellany, however, does not seem intended for preservation, but delivers a handbook for preaching activities, so suggests the codexâs physical shape as well as its composition and contents. The works contained are: Alanâs Liber poenitentialis (fol. 1r), his Ars praedicandi (fol. 18v), and a vast collection of his sermons. These total 51 pieces that one may divide into three groups: (a) the eight sermons ad status attached to his Ars (fols. 63râ68r), appearing here without titles, a fact that renders the ad status purpose ad absurdum; (b) a first section of 25 sermons, succeeding the former part with a simple line break (fols. 68râ92v); and (c) a second section with 18 pieces, separated from the former by a page break (but the same hand seems to continue). The last section is introduced with âIncipiunt sermones magistri alaniâ (fols. 93râ122v). Parts (b) and (c) contain 12 sermons from Alanâs Liber sermonum as well as ten that have only survived in this copy.
Origin and contents suggest that this specimen stems directly from Alanâs anti-heretical activities in southern France (1190s): one can determine a specific historical context for the development of this media context. The early date (c.1200) makes it possible either that this was his autograph serving his activities in the region or that he prepared therein material for others, drawing on his experiences (likely the latter). The correlation between historical context and manuscript is substantiated by the fact that the codex contains ten sermons that do not exist in any other copy: these did not circulate in the Parisian milieu. This agrees with the fact that this is a monographic collection with a loose organizationâa parallel with Ms. Dijon 219, where we likewise came into contact with Alanâs biography. Texts from his Liber sermonum and others of his sermons are mixed freely in the Toulouse copy, whereas the two groups are otherwise firmly separated in the transmissionâsave for Ms. Sainte-Geneviève 2787 for which the same practice-related argument has been formulated. These findings suggest that the author himself drew on his pool flexibly here, in order to assemble materials appropriate for the occasion.
The rich transmission of Alanâs sermons makes it possible to substantiate several traits pursued in this chapter: the media contexts reveal a vivid historical practice permeated by crusade-related materials. Similarly, they point to various geographical and institutional contexts (University of Paris, Saint-Victor, Corbie, Cîteaux, southern France), demonstrating that his sermons were successfully disseminated, but they also bring us into contact with his biography, especially the copies from Cîteaux and Toulouse. The media contexts revealed how the same material can be organized differently, a fact that indicates different purposes or interestsâfrom a monastic and classic liturgical organization to freely assembled repositories that reflect practice and specific historical contexts. However, it is a noteworthy result that the monastic copies tried to implement Parisian methods, probably because the copies were related to preaching efforts beyond the monasteryâs walls. The broad transmission conveys the fact that the texts also served others. The sermons being model-like but also crusade-specific demonstrate how an eminent master shaped the Third Crusadeâs agenda and supplied others with material that could well have found application beyond the specific expeditionâand so it did, as the rich manuscript evidence shows.
4 Archaeological Artefacts of a Historical Practice
The questions formulated at the outset of the chapter are now resumed in order to conclude on the patterns observable in the pertinent corpus of sources: the texts present themselves throughout as part of sermon collections, whether monographic or polygraphic, with the latter phenomenon largely limited to Paris. These codices, in which four of the nine preachers make an appearance, are overall closer to practice and thus likely closer to preaching events.80 It is common scholarly assumption that such contain reportationes; this likely includes the copies investigatedâyet, one sees that the texts are prepared for future usage.81 The paratextual framings vary, but they betray throughout that this is preaching material, that is, models for oral communication beyond the clerical milieu. The collections often follow the liturgical calendar, but how many sermons they contain can vary widely. The codices sometimes offer several pieces on the same feast, whereby one observes that those with high crusade potential are combined with those with little or no crusade potential. The aim was clearly to provide diverse materials for the same feast, that is, for different occasions and audiences.82 On the other hand, we have also encountered several codices with clusters of crusade material; these usually offer different but complementary material (for example, one sermon focuses on the cross, another on Jerusalem).83 The thematic range covered by such clusters is certainly not coincidental: the crusade represents the brace holding them together; this makes it into the materialâs most plausible context of application.84 In many cases, one finds practical aids to usability that allowed a recipient a quick way of operating: tables of contents, glosses, the numbering of the sermons, and organization according to the liturgical year.85 Moreover, sermons often survived in anonymous form; this sometimes pertains to entire collections. The materialâs usability was essential here; the question of who penned it originally was of little interest.86 The chapter frequently hinted at further crusade-related materials in the manuscripts (some has flown into this studyâs footnotes), including anonymous sermons, which often survived in a single copy (according to In principio).87 This study focused on sermons attributable to an author; this provides us with better possibilities regarding historical anchoring, but anonymous texts are a vast and untrodden field that would complement the evidence on crusade preaching.88 In the manuscripts under discussion, these reinforce the occurrence of crusade clusters, a dimension easily overlooked if only the texts of a specific author are considered.
The manuscriptsâ state of elaboration varies: sometimes, the titles of sermons are missing; sometimes, it is incomplete overall; sometimes, one detects traces of use such as the ripped-out folios in the Parisian codex with Ralph Ardensâ sermons.89 Completing such a manuscript was likely not a priority, since it worked in tandem with preaching (thus, time was perhaps lacking, in particular considering crusade mobilization), and could already have served its purpose in an incomplete state. The pertinent corpus does not offer clean copies with embellishing features and meant for preservation, but throughout one observes the practical nature of these books: these derived from practice and were intended to merge back into such practice. This is corroborated by their physical shape: one frequently encounters convenient sizes (both in terms of the size and number of pages) that a preacher could easily carry as his personal handbook.90 Several examples have been discussed (examples of the opposite exist as well) where the font size is generous enough to allow a preacher to directly use the material during the delivery of a sermon.91 These codices are archaeological artefacts of a past discourse practice, in line with Foucaultâs understanding: each codex was likely the personal book of a specific preacher. These may have been the authors themselves, but in the bulk of cases, these were figures that we cannot identify today, yet they used these resources and thus disseminated the preaching agenda developed in these materials. Some codices were perhaps tied to a specific institution and hence available to more than one user (this is easy to imagine as a secondary adaptation, after a preacherâs death).
Regarding the compilation with other texts, one can distinguish two types: some cases represent later copies mixing sermons with other genres and stemming from an interest in preserving an authorâs works.92 In the bulk of cases, however, that is, in those where this chapter asserted a proximity to practice and author, sermons are usually only aligned with other preaching material. This significantly includes distinctiones, as visible in several cases, a genre that delivers further resources on specific motifs.93 Some manuscripts even consist only of a sermon collection.94 Such a media context is even more remarkable with later copies: even these do not blend sermons with genres removed from preachingâtheir transmission usually remains related to preaching activities, instead of freezing into a librarian act of copying.
It is worth pondering on the genres that are not combined with sermons: neither chronicles nor liturgical materials are present.95 In those few cases that include other genres, these are either exegetical texts or reform treatises, that is, works also interwoven with preaching and its goals, at least in a wider sense.96 Chronicles and liturgical texts, on the other hand, belonged to other registers, stemming from other interests and modes of production. Chronicles were literary products, even if they were subsequently used somehow. This is critically apparent in the case of later crusade chronicles such as those of the three Benedictines, which formulated the explicit goal of rhetorically and theologically refining earlier reports of the First Crusade.97 A chronicleâs form, its perception and selection of facts, and an individualâs very decision to pen one were arbitrary acts. Their purpose was fundamentally different from the sermons, including the point in time when they were penned and the corresponding interests. Thus, it is not surprising that sermons and chronicles were not combined in the manuscripts, just as one must underline the essential distinction between practical and artificial texts.98 The fact that not even earlier chronicles, especially those of the First Crusade, were assembled with sermons demonstrates that those reports did not serve as immediate sources for preachers. Consequently, one needs to discard such scholarly ideas, at least for the late 12th century.99 These results corroborate the textual hierarchy, as discussed in the chapter on institutional context: the Bible, harvested in different genres, and not actual information from the East, served in drafting the vision of the Holy Land.
Considering the same sermon text in different manuscripts yielded two essential results: first, the text remains broadly stable; deviations are minor or even non-existent. This is especially remarkable for cases where we have both model sermon and reportatio.100 The concurrence of the two versions substantiates the argument already developed for the 13th century: one stuck closely to the text; deviations in preaching were less common than one might assume.101 Second, however, the manuscripts reveal essential deviations when it comes to paratext and media context: all codices under discussion are unique in their composition (see also below). This observation refutes the argument that the texts may have been stable because they were distributed in a standardized form and thus say little about practice. The manifold media contexts show adaptations by users (whoever they may have been), occasionally betraying varying purposes in different manuscripts. The case of Peter of Bloisâ Conquestio in particular revealed this: sometimes a model text for preaching, sometimes a letter.102
It is another significant phenomenon that a sermonâs title occasionally changes from copy to copy despite the fact that its text remains stable: the same text has been used on different occasions and feasts. The manuscripts sometimes also contain notes on audiences.103 Such adaptations may have been even quicker with the crusade endeavor, where historical events were dictating the pace: one had perhaps a suitable text, but ascribed to a distant feast, therefore one now used it for another feast, that is, the one offering the next occasion. Divergent titles can thus be read as evidence for the materialâs use; and it was especially historical events that made such adaptation necessary. The texts remain largely stable despite different implementations, probably because it would have been laborious (and unnecessary) to alter these elaborate models. If one intended to preach something else, one could simply use another model text. At the same time, however, the physical evidence shows that the materials were adapted for varying contexts. This may have included shifts from a crusade-specific use to another purpose, in particular in cases of generic model texts that this study labeled as âsermons with possible crusade potential.â104 The codicesâ places of origin and transmission include (institutional) contexts that point beyond the immediate sphere of the authors: this reveals an entanglement of several institutions, especially between university and monastery, but also an entanglement of institutions and historical events. It reveals specifically how one distributed crusade-related materials after 1187: the surviving manuscripts, even if later copies, are the outcome of these processes.105 This invites us to reflect on the intentions behind copying: this was not a matter of replicating works for oneâs own library, but of preparing preaching materials for specific purposes, since interests existed in contemporary societyâcrusading, the war on heresy, reform ambitionsâthat generated a growing demand for such. The physical evidence thus substantiates the assumption that these texts reflect a vivid preaching agenda.
One detects two large categories of media contexts that indicate two institutional contexts: the Paris masters and the Cistercians. The examples of Peter of Blois, Ralph Ardens, Prevostin of Cremona, and Alan of Lille unearthed media settings multifariously entangled with a vivid preaching practice. Their texts are transmitted in varying form, precisely because they were agile and found application on different occasions. On the other hand, the Cistercian media contexts, even though they also deliver interesting results, are less dynamic; they conform to a more traditional production. As a result, some Cistercians such as Hélinand of Froidmont were entirely absent from this chapterâeven though the contents of their texts are highly pertinent. The monks were more conservative in their approach, the masters more experimental.106 The divergent institutional contexts between university and monastery produced different media contextsâbut when analysing the texts, one observes numerous parallels in ideas and imagery. There are not any noticeable differences between the two groups, since these protagonists left their institutions when engaging in the crusades, taking available texts with them. One observes meaningful entanglements between university and monastery that should warn us about seeing two separate worlds.107 Apart from the fact that we know about the involvement of specific monks in Paris, the manuscripts reveal permeability in a twofold manner: on the one hand, some monastic copies with sermons of Paris masters have survived (see the codices from Amiens and Cîteaux). On the other, one observes active attempts to implement the new Parisian methods, likely to provide the monks with sermon material, in particular Garnerius as the abbot of Clairvaux seems to have pursued such ambitions. This thus represents a distribution from the center of Paris to the monasteries; monastic preachers, however, were hardly received in the city.108
Remarkably, all codices under discussion are unique: there are no two copies with the same composition. These are not model sermon collections as the Parisian book trade of the 13th century would know them.109 Even though many of them have the character of models, the media context reveals agility and proximity to practice. This proximity is sometimes that of the author himself (as visible in some cases), but the phenomenon of the manifold, yet heterogeneous transmission betrays that many anonymous preachers and editors were active in assembling the works of the well-known masters. The unique media contexts reveal situational adaptation and editorial work. Each manuscript thus represents evidence for putting the texts it contains to use. The phenomenon of the polygraphic collection is evidence for a venue where preachers assembled, to hear each otherâs sermons and to exchange material. Such activities must have been even more copious in the preparation period of the Third Crusade, considering the Parisian crusade council on Laetare Jerusalem (March 1188) or the visits of several preachers (Peter of Blois, Henry of Albano). Consequently, these sermon collections manifest historical change in physical form; following Mary Rouse, they survived so abundantly because they were answering a demand, but, as she emphasizes, this was not a demand for exegesis but for popular preaching.110
Table 2a
Manuscripts
|
Origin of manuscript |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paris |
Clairvaux |
Canterbury / Southern England |
Cîteaux |
Corbie |
Southern France |
Southern German regions |
|
|
Baldwin of Canterbury |
BNF lat. 14932; BNF lat. 1252; BNF lat. 2601 |
Troyes 433; Troyes 876 |
Cambridge, Pembroke 159 |
||||
|
Peter of Blois |
St.Gen. 2787 |
BL Royal 8 FÂ XVII; BL Arundel 322; Bodl. Libr., Lat. misc. f.14; Lambeth Palace 144; Oxford, Magd. Coll. 168 |
|||||
|
Ralph Ardens |
St.Gen. 2786 |
Oxford, Lincoln Coll. 112 and 116 |
|||||
|
Garnerius of Clairvaux |
BNF lat. 588 |
Troyes 1301; Troyes 970; Troyes 392; Troyes 868; Troyes 32; Troyes 1697 |
Oxford, Merton Coll. 200 |
||||
|
Henry of Albano |
Troyes 509 |
||||||
|
Alan of Lille |
St.Gen. 2787; BNF lat. 14859; BNF lat. 3818; BNF lat. 18172 |
BL Sloane 1580; Bodley 409 |
Dijon 211; Dijon 219 |
Amiens 301 |
Toulouse 195; Turin D.V.2 |
BL Add 19767; Würzburg M.ch. q.158 |
|
|
Prevostin of Cremona |
Arsenal 543; BNF lat. 14859; BNF lat. 18172 |
BL Add 18335 |
Turin D.V.2 |
Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32 |
|||
|
Hélinand of Froidmont |
Maz. 1041; BNF lat. 14591 |
||||||
|
Martin of León |
|||||||
Table 2b
Manuscripts
|
Nature codex / Proximity to practice |
Historical context / Crusade nature |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Monographic collection |
Polygraphic collection |
Combination with Distinctiones |
Practical aids to usability |
Entangled with biography preacher |
Entangled with historical context |
Cluster of crusade-related material |
Indication crusade via prologue or other paratext |
|
|
Baldwin of Canterbury |
Troyes 876; BNF lat. 2601; Cambridge, Pembroke 159 |
BNF lat. 14932; BNF lat. 1252 |
BNF lat. 14932; BNF lat. 1252 |
BNF lat. 2601 |
BNF lat. 2601 |
|||
|
Peter of Blois |
BL Royal 8 F XVII; BL Arundel 322 |
St.Gen. 2787; Oxford, Magd. Coll. 168 |
BL Arundel 322; St.Gen. 2787 |
BL Arundel 322; St.Gen. 2787; Bodl. Libr., Lat. misc. f.14; Oxford, Magd. Coll. 168 |
St.Gen. 2787 |
Lambeth Palace 144 |
St.Gen. 2787 |
Bodl. Libr., Lat. misc. f.14; Lambeth Palace 144 |
|
Ralph Ardens |
St.Gen. 2786; Oxford, Lincoln Coll. 112 and 116 |
St.Gen. 2786 |
Oxford, Lincoln Coll. 112 and 116 |
Oxford, Lincoln Coll. 112 and 116 |
||||
|
Garnerius of Clairvaux |
Troyes 1301; Troyes 970 |
Troyes 868 |
Troyes 392; BNF lat. 588; Troyes 868; Oxford, Merton Coll. 200; Troyes 32; Troyes 1697 |
Troyes 392; BNF lat. 588; Oxford, Merton Coll. 200; Troyes 32; Troyes 1697 |
Troyes 868; Troyes 392 |
Troyes 1301; Troyes 392 |
Troyes 1301 |
|
|
Henry of Albano |
Troyes 509 |
|||||||
|
Alan of Lille |
Dijon 219; Amiens 301; Toulouse 195; BL Add 19767; Turin D.V.2; Dijon 211; Bodley 409 |
St.Gen. 2787; BNF lat. 14859; BNF lat. 3818; BL Sloane 1580; BNF lat. 18172 |
St.Gen. 2787; BNF lat. 14859 |
St.Gen. 2787; BNF lat. 14859; Dijon 219; BNF lat. 3818; Amiens 301; Toulouse 195; BL Add 19767; BNF lat. 18172; Turin D.V.2; Dijon 211; Bodley 409 |
St.Gen. 2787; Dijon 219; Toulouse 195; Dijon 211 |
Dijon 219; Toulouse 195; Turin D.V.2 |
St.Gen. 2787; BNF lat. 3818; BNF lat. 14859; Toulouse 195; Dijon 219 |
Dijon 219; BL Add 19767; Turin D.V.2 |
|
Prevostin of Cremona |
BL Add 18335; Arsenal 543; Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32 |
BNF lat. 14859; BNF lat. 18172 |
BNF lat. 14859 |
BL Add 18335; BNF lat. 14859; Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32; BNF lat. 18172 |
BL Add 18335; BNF lat. 14859 |
BL Add 18335; Arsenal 543; Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32 |
||
|
Hélinand of Froidmont |
Maz. 1041; BNF lat. 14591 |
|||||||
|
Martin of León |
León, San Isidoro 11 |
León, San Isidoro 11 |
León, San Isidoro 11 |
León, San Isidoro 11 |
León, San Isidoro 11 |
|||
See Richard Hunter Rouse and Mary A. Rouse, âIntroduction,â in: Authentic Witnesses (Notre Dame, Ind. 1991), 1â4; David dâAvray, The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300 (Oxford 1985), 57â60; Giles Constable, The Reformation of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge, UK 1996), 216. On liturgical manuscripts, see Cecilia Gaposchkin, Invisible Weapons: Liturgy and the Making of Crusade Ideology (Ithaca, NY 2017); Gaposchkin, âThe Echoes of Victory: Liturgical and Paraliturgical Commemorations of the Capture of Jerusalem in the West,â Journal of Medieval History 40/3 (2014), 237â259.
See Mary A. Rouse, ââ¯âStatim invenireâ: Schools, Preachers, and New Attitudes to the Page,â in: Authentic Witnesses (Notre Dame, Ind. 1991), 192â197. On the concept of paratext, see Seraina Plotke, Die Stimme des Erzählens: Mittelalterliche Buchkultur und moderne Narratologie (Göttingen 2017), 63â65.
On the challenges of institutional attribution, see, e.g., Christoph Egger, âDie Suche nach dem archimedischen Punkt. Methodische Probleme der Erforschung von Scriptorien und Buchproduktion im 12. Jahrhundert am Beispiel von Admont,â in: Scriptorium, ed. Andreas Nievergelt and Rudolf Gamper (Munich 2015), 375â390.
See, e.g., Erik Kwakkel and Rodney Thomson, âCodicology,â in: The European Book in the Twelfth Century, ed. Kwakkel and Thomson (Cambridge, UK 2018), 11â14; Constant J. Mews, âScholars and Their Books,â in: The European Book in the Twelfth Century, ed. Kwakkel and Thomson, 87â88.
The examples chosen depend of course on transmission. Some works survived only in a few or later copies such as Henry of Albanoâs treatise (Ms. Troyes 509, fols. 93vâ177v)âeven though it is highly pertinent in terms of contents.
The observations discussed in this chapter stem from two sources: on the one hand, data provided by library catalogues and other publications (specific publications are cited in the notes; for the digital library catalogues, see the bibliography); on the other, my own observations when handling the codices, which sometimes modified existing data. There may remain potential for refinement, a task that I leave to those scholars with more profound expertise in codicology and paleography.
On the feast of the Archangel Michael and its eschatological dimension, see Nicole Bériou, Religion et communication: un autre regard sur la prédication au Moyen Age (Paris 2018), 417â433.
The codex also contains the examined texts of Sermo 17 (fol. 129v); 19 (fol. 132v); 32 (fol. 147v); and 52 (fol. 169v).
Yet, the codex seems to have been a vivid artefact; glosses frequently accompany Peterâs letters, partly contemporary, partly later (e.g., fols. 19r; 53v).
The codex also contains Sermo 17 (fol. 28r); 19 (fol. 31v); 32 (fol. 63v); and 52 (fol. 54r).
âBritish Library: Catalogue Archives and Manuscriptsâ; see the bibliography. On the nature of Distinctiones, see Rouse, âStatim invenire,â 206; Emmanuelle Kuhry, âDictionnaires, distinctions, recueils de propriétés en milieu cistercien: outils pour la prédication, sources pour lâétude de la nature,â in: Les Cisterciens et la transmission des textes (XIIeâXVIIIe siècles), ed. Anne-Marie Turcan-Verkerk and Dominique Stutzmann (Turnhout 2018), 289â293.
Moreover, a quotation of Job 9:24 follows (fol. 79r) aligned with the ecclesia militans; this reference is also present in the Sermo 39 as well as in many other Third Crusade texts; see the chapter on the failure of crusades.
Furthermore, this manuscript contains many notes on audiences (more than in the PL), in particular ad claustrales. These notes may record the materialâs past use, whereas such notes are generally absent in Ms. BL Royal 8 FÂ XVII, a codex meant for preservation (only two cases).
Likewise included are Peterâs Sermo 17 (fol. 145v); 19 (fol. 158r); and 52 (fol. 189v). On the manuscript, see also Marie-Thérèse dâAlverny, Alain de Lille: textes inédits (Paris 1965), 122â123; Stephen A. Barney, âIntroduction,â in: Petri Cantoris distinctiones Abel, CCCM 288 (Turnhout 2020), 220â222.
See Nicole Bériou, Lâavènement des maîtres de la Parole: la prédication à Paris au XIIIe siècle (Paris 1998), 1:91.
The codex often offers several sermons on the same feast; this may record sermons preached consecutively on the same day. On identifying reportationes, see Bériou, LâAvènement, 1:92â97.
Bériou, LâAvènement, 1:108; Louis-Jacques Bataillon, âApproaches to the Study of Medieval Sermons,â in: La prédication au XIIIe siècle en France et Italie (Aldershot 1993), 21â22; Bataillon, âSermons rédigés, sermons réportés (XIIIe siècle),â in: La prédication au XIIIe siècle, 75â77.
For the entry on Jerusalem, see Ms. BL Royal 10 A XVI, fol. 82râv and Ms. BNF lat. 10633, fols. 95vâ96r as well as Petrus Cantor, Distinctiones, 529â534. Sermon collection and Distinctiones are penned in two distinct hands. However, harmonizing so well in terms of contents, the two parts seem to reflect an original composition, in which the collection has been replaced with a slightly later copy, likely due to avid use.
See Alexander Marx, âThe Passio Raginaldi of Peter of Blois. Martyrdom and Eschatology in the Preaching of the Third Crusade,â Viator 50/3 (2019), 204â205; Michael Markowski, Peter of Blois, Writer and Reformer (PhD thesis, Syracuse University 1988), 307. For deviating addressees, see, e.g., Ms. BL Arundel 227, fol. 98r. On Bernardâs letters, see Christopher J. Tyerman, Godâs War: A New History of the Crusades (Cambridge, Mass. 2006), 280â281; Kristin Skottki, ââ¯âUntil the Full Number of Gentiles Has Come inâ: Exegesis and Prophecy in St Bernardâs Crusade-Related Writings,â in: The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources, ed. Elizabeth Lapina and Nicholas Morton (Leiden 2017), 252â256.
The question of attribution is unresolved and insignificant for my argument: other copies suggest a Cistercian origin (Ms. Troyes 959, fols. 31râ63r; Troyes 854, fols. 1vâ53v; Dijon 109). However, I did not consult these codices; the first also contains Alan of Lilleâs Contra haereticos (fols. 3râ30v).
Both crusade treatises identify themselves as epistola (Peter of Blois, Passio Raginaldi, 46; Conquestio, 84). On the manuscript, see also Robert B.C. Huygens, âEinleitung,â in: Petri Blesensis Tractatvs Dvo, CCCM 194 (Turnhout 2002), 10.
The relevant part: 60 fols.; altogether 93 fols. The order is: Dialogus (fols. 1râ15v); Conquestio (fols. 15vâ27v); Passio Raginaldi (fols. 27vâ60r). On the manuscript, see also Huygens, âEinleitung,â 8â9; Richard W. Southern, âPeter of Blois and the Third Crusade,â in: Studies in Medieval History Presented to R.H.C. Davis, ed. Henry Mayr-Harting (London 1985), 208.
Huygens noted that several passages of the Conquestio are missing in this manuscript; he concluded that a scribe eliminated these from an original version (Huygens, âEinleitung,â 9). However, due to the codexâs early date and its idiosyncratic media context, I suspect that the process was the other way round: this was Peterâs early version. This is corroborated when considering the missing passages; these focus on (a) the virtue of poverty and (b) place the text in the historical context of autumn 1188, that is, the delay of crusade preparations (see Peter of Blois, Conquestio, 94). The fact that the latter is absent from the early version indicates that the Conquestio originated already earlier in 1188, after Peter became aware of Jerusalemâs lossâhe adapted the text then into a letter, adding the note about the occasion. This agrees with the extended focus on poverty, since the delayed (and then failing) crusade efforts pushed moral reform to the fore.
The date requires discussion: the catalogue also notes a date in the 14th century; this, however, seems to refer to the part beginning with fol. 121r (clearly separated from the former part; fol. 120râv is blank, and the two hands are fundamentally different). In the pertinent part (fols. 1râ119v), the latest texts come from Innocent III (De misera humane conditionis, mid-1190s) and Richard of Wetheringsett (Summa qui bene presunt) who is usually located in the early 13th century (see Joseph Ward Goering, William de Montibus (c.1140â1213): The Schools and the Literature of Pastoral Care (Toronto 1992), 87; Franco Morenzoni, Des écoles aux paroisses. Thomas de Chobham et la promotion de la prédication au début du XIIIe siècle (Paris 1995), 178â182). Thus, the pertinent part may date to the early 13th century, but it seems to represent a copy faithful to an original.
Only one other copy betrays parallels: Ms. Paris, Mazarine 677. It also lacks the prologue and contains the same glosses; it has obviously been copied from the Canterbury codexâbut the Parisian copy offers additional passages at the end of the work (which I have not investigated). This codexâs dating in the 13th century provides a terminus ante quem for dating the Canterbury codex.
See Goering, William de Montibus, 86â91.
In principio does not deliver further hits for the text. It is penned in a generic form, often formulating in the passive mode, instead of a pilgrimâs personal vantage point.
An interesting comparison is provided by Ms. Oxford, Bodley 409, where the Compendium in Iob is combined with Alan of Lilleâs Ars praedicandi and sermon texts of several authors including Innocent III. Subsequent to Alanâs treatise, one finds model sermons different from the usual texts ad status, including his third sermon De sancta cruce (fol. 148v). See the chapter on the Cross relic.
The manuscript also contains the examined texts of Pars (I), Section 2, Sermo 23 (fol. 53r) and Sermo 48 (fol. 67r).
This is the case at: fols. 67vâ68r, 71vâ72r, 79vâ80r, 99vâ100r; discussed by Ronald James Stansbury, âA Preliminary Manuscript Catalogue of the Sermon Collection by Ralph Ardent,â Studi Medievali 42 (2001), 879. On the manuscript, see also Stansbury, Preaching before the Friars: The Sermons of Ralph Ardent (c.1130âc.1215) (PhD thesis, Ohio State University 2001), 121â123.
On all these codices, see Stansbury, Before the Friars, 124â143; Stansbury, âManuscript,â 875â895. Lincoln 112 also contains the examined texts of Pars (I), Section 2, Sermo 23 (fol. 66v); Sermo 48 (fol. 82r); and Pars (II), De tempore, Sermo 18 (fol. 95r); Sermo 19 (fol. 95v). And Lincoln 116: Pars (I), Section 2, Sermo 23 (fol. 121r); Sermo 48 (fol. 148r); and Pars (II), De tempore, Sermo 18 (fol. 171v); Sermo 19 (fol. 172v).
See the chapter on immediate context.
Notably, Urban II originally planned the First Crusadeâs departure for this feast day (see Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Philadelphia 1986), 49).
The manuscript also contains the examined texts of Sermo 4 (fol. 8v) and Sermo 37 (fol. 34v).
On the manuscript, see Paolo Lucentini, âIntroduzione,â in: Garnerius of Clairvaux, Contra Amavrianos, CCCM 232 (Turnhout 2010), vâvi; Clemens Baeumker, âEinleitung,â in: Garnerius of Clairvaux, Contra Amaurianos (Münster 1926), ixâxvi.
Likewise comprised are the Sermo 4 (fol. 11v); 17 (fol. 138v); 18 (fol. 67v); 19 (fol. 154r); 31 (fol. 125r); and 37 (fol. 116r).
Garnerius of Clairvaux, Sermo 19, 697. See the similar argument in: Hélinand of Froidmont, Sermo 10, 566. See the chapter on the Cross relic.
See Kuhry, âDictionnaires,â 335â337, listing 53 copies, 13 of them early (late 12th to early 13th cen.), among these, at least four seem to have originated outside of Cistercian monasteries.
See the chapter on immediate context. I thus disagree with: Kuhry, âDictionnaires,â 323â326; and Tuija Ainonen, âMaking New from Old: Distinction Collections and Textual Communities at the Turn of the Thirteenth Century,â in: From Learning to Love, ed. Tristan Sharp (Toronto 2017), 51â53. Both discussed the fact that the two copies naming Garnerius contain additional material, primarily from Peter the Chanterâs Distinctiones. Both argued thus that Garnerius was the editor of these two codices but not necessarily the workâs author. However, I do not see why one should doubt his authorship.
For Alan see, e.g., Ms. BL Add 10393 (likely the earliest copy of the Ars, late 12th cen.) or Ms. BNF NAL 335. For Peter see, e.g., Ms. BL Royal 10 A XVI or Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2787. On further copies, see Barney, âIntroduction,â 132â134, 220â222, listing 14 codices in Paris (today); ten seem to have originally come from Paris. Twelve of the 14 date early (late 12th to early 13th cen.). For other examples, see Bériou, LâAvènement, 2:671, 676; Jean Longère, La prédication médiévale (Paris 1983), 141.
See, e.g., Kwakkel and Thomson, âCodicology,â 14, asserting clear correlations between genre and a codexâs size (but without considering sermons).
He commissioned the manuscriptâs illumination in Paris by the same artists who produced the first Bibles moralisées (see Patricia Danz Stirnemann, âSome Champenois Vernacular Manuscripts and the Manerius Style of Illumination,â in: Les Manuscrits de Chrétien de Troyes, ed. Keith Busby (Amsterdam 1993), 1:206). See also Kuhry, âDictionnaires,â 323â326, 336; Barney, âIntroduction,â 252â255. Garnerius also gave a Bible codex to Clairvaux on this occasion: Ms. Troyes 577, fol. 326v, where the dedication is noted. See André Vernet, La bibliothèque de lâAbbaye de Clairvaux du XIIe au XVIIIe siècle: manuscrits bibliques, patristiques et théologiques (Paris 1997), 2:66â67.
On the first, see Kuhry, âDictionnaires,â 336; Anne Bondéelle-Souchier, Bibliothèques de lâOrdre de Prémontré dans la France dâancien régime: répertoire des abbayes (Paris 2000), 1:154. On the second, see Barney, âIntroduction,â 175â176; Rodney Malcolm Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford: With a Description of the Greek Manuscripts (Woodbridge 2009), 144. Noteworthy is also Ms. Lisbon, Alcobaca 410, coming from a Portuguese Cistercian monastery and dating to the early 13th century (see Barney, âIntroduction,â 123â126). On Premonstratensian involvement in the Third Crusade, see Stephen Bennett, Elite Participation in the Third Crusade (Woodbridge 2021), 36â38. The reader may recall that Ralph Ardens joined this order at some point (see Stansbury, Before the Friars, 98â101).
On the codex, see Kuhry, âDictionnaires,â 324â325, 336; Vernet, Bibliothèque, 2:533â535. Similar is Ms. Oxford, Laud Misc. 504, where Garneriusâ collection is combined with sermons of Hugh of Saint Cher and Nicolas Byard (both 13th cen.): his collection was still considered a useful tool. Similar in Ms. Troyes 1697, where the Distinctiones are combined with an anonymous Summa de vitiis.
On the manuscript, see Georges Lacombe, La vie et les oeuvres de Prévostin (Kain 1927), 183â184. The prologue is also present in: Ms. Paris, Arsenal 543, fol. 235r; Ms. Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32, fol. 51r.
See the chapter on immediate context. The prologue of Martinâs collection likewise betrays the purpose of crusade preaching (Martin of León, Liber sermonum, Prologus, 31â32 and Ms. León, San Isidoro 11/1, fols. 1râ2r).
Jessalynn L. Bird, âThe Victorines, Peter the Chanterâs Circle, and the Crusade: Two Unpublished Crusading Appeals in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Latin 14470,â Medieval Sermon Studies 48 (2004), 13; Bird, âRogations, Litanies, and Crusade Preaching: The Liturgical Front in the Late Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries,â in: Papacy, Crusade, and Christian-Muslim Relations, ed. Bird (Amsterdam 2018), 156; see also Longère, Prédication, 242â243. On Prevostinâs treatise, see Lacombe, Prevostin, 73â103. It survived in two further copies: Ms. BL Add 18325 and Ms. Salzburg, St.Peter VI 32. The first also contains several of Alan of Lilleâs works including the Ars praedicandi. The latter also comprises sermons by Prevostin (fols. 51râ62v), thus offering the same combination as the copy investigated, partly with the same sermons, but none of those pertinent to this study. Lacombe asserted that both codices contain sermons dating before 1198 (Lacombe, Prevostin, 185â188, 199â200).
âBritish Library: Catalogue Archives and Manuscriptsâ; see the bibliography.
The other is: Alan of Lille, De cruce domini, ed. dâAlverny, 279â283.
Peterâs sermon is also crusade-related; see the chapter on the Cross relic.
The codex also contains several texts from his Liber sermonum such as a strongly militant sermon De omnibus sanctis (fol. 187r), which shows crusade potential (yet, it is a generic model by nature): it broaches the Cross relic (vexillum christiane religionis) and cites Deut. 32:30. For other copies, see, e.g., Ms. BL Add 19767, fol. 97r; Ms. BNF NAL 335, fol. 118r.
According to In principio, this sermon exists only here.
See dâAlverny, Textes, 121â122; Phyllis Barzillay Roberts, Studies in the Sermons of Stephen Langton (Toronto 1968), 58. A highly pertinent sermon by Prevostin (fol. 215râv) that discusses the events of 1187 has been considered on more than one occasion in this study. See the chapter on exemplary descriptions for the full text.
It is here attributed to Peter of Poitiers, an attribution clearly refuted by the other copies. Or did Peter use one of Alanâs sermons that a listener recorded as a reportatio? Such a scenario is likewise possible.
Jessalynn L. Bird, âPreaching the Crusades and the Liturgical Year: The Palm Sunday Sermons,â Essays in Medieval Studies 30 (2014), 23.
See dâAlverny, Textes, 14â15; Beverly Mayne Kienzle, âPreaching the Cross: Liturgy and Crusade Propaganda,â in: Preaching and Political Society, ed. Franco Morenzoni (Turnhout 2013), 23â25.
The sermon on Job 7:1 is also entitled âcommunisâ in the table of contents.
See Bird, âVictorines,â 5â28; Bird, Heresy, Crusade and Reform in the Circle of Peter the Chanter, c.1187âc.1240 (PhD thesis, University of Oxford 2001), 13â14, 121. On manuscript production in Saint-Victor, see also Richard Hunter Rouse and Mary A. Rouse, Illitterati et uxorati: Manuscripts and Their Makers in Medieval Paris, 1200â1500 (London 2000), 1:26â27.
See, e.g., Ms. BNF lat. 14591 (Hélinand); BNF lat. 14804 (Prevostin); BNF lat. 14937 (Maurice of Sully). The role of Victorine preachers in the late 12th century is still in need of investigation, for example, many of the authors in Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2787 are Victorinesâeven though this codex does not seem to come from Saint-Victor.
The relevant part: 162 fols.; altogether 339 fols. On the manuscript, see also dâAlverny, Textes, 121â122; Gilbert Ouy, Les Manuscrits de lâabbaye de Saint-Victor: catalogue établi sur la base du répertoire de Claude de Grandrue (1514) (Turnhout 1999), 2:388.
On the codex, see dâAlverny, Textes, 120â121; Yolanta Zaluska, Manuscrits enluminés de Dijon (Paris 1991), 181â182; Jean Châtillon, âIntroduction,â in: Liber exceptionum / Richard de Saint-Victor (Paris 1958), 16â17.
See dâAlverny, Textes, 109â140.
The passage reads: â[â¦] venit Antichristus in Ierusalem cum exercitu suo, Goth et Magoth, et arma sua arripit, et eos interficit, sicut in apochalipsi legitur [â¦]â (fols. 87vâ88r)ânote the present tense. The sermonâs first lines are taken from: Adso of Montier-en-Der, De Antichristo, 1131.
The last sermon is also present in: Ms. BNF lat. 14932, fol. 13r and Ms. Reims 465, fol. 131v. Both cases represent Parisian sermon collections that contain the text in anonymous form. The first also contains a sermon by Baldwin of Canterbury and betrays, therefore, that this Cistercian was also involved in Paris; it even identifies him as a magister (fol. 185r). On this manuscript, see David N. Bell, âIntroduction,â in: Baldvini de Forda opera, CCCM 99 (Turnhout 1991), x.
DâAlverny states that only nine can safely be said to come from Alanâs pen (dâAlverny, Textes, 120â121)âbut Alan was perhaps reusing material that others had originally penned.
On Richardâs work, see Châtillon, âIntroduction,â 7â96; Ineke vanât Spijker, âThe Literal and the Spiritual. Richard of Saint-Victor and the Multiple Meaning of Scripture,â in: The Multiple Meaning of Scripture, ed. Spijker (Leiden 2008), 225â231; and on a similar work by Hugh of Saint-Victor: Grover A. Zinn, âHugh of St. Victorâs De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris as an accessus Treatise for the Study of the Bible,â Traditio 52 (1997), 111â134. Alanâs sermons are preceded by five of Richardâs sermons (fols. 68vâ72v); I have not considered these, but one shows a focus on Jerusalem (fol. 70r).
Such transmissions towards monasteries also happened with the Glossa; see Lesley Janette Smith, The âGlossa ordinariaâ: The Making of a Medieval Bible Commentary (Leiden 2009), 171.
See dâAlverny, Textes, 143; Jean Longère, âLâÃcriture sainte dans les Sermones uarii dâAlain de Lille,â in: Alain de Lille, le docteur universel, ed. Jean-Luc Solère (Turnhout 2005), 450.
On the manuscript, see dâAlverny, Textes, 116â117. On other crusade texts in Corbie around 1200, see Massimiliano Gaggero, âWestern Eyes on the Latin East: The Chronique dâErnoul et de Bernard le Trésorier and Robert of Clariâs Conquête de Constantinople,â in: The French of Outremer, ed. Laura K. Morreale and Nicholas L. Paul (New York 2018), 93â94. The broad dissemination of Alanâs sermons is likewise evidenced by Ms. BL Sloane 1580, which contains another copy of the sermon Fugite de terra aquilonis (fol. 106v) including some interesting variants (see the chapter on the Holy Land).
A similar case is Ms. BL Add 19767, a clean copy and collection of Alanâs works meant for preservation, penned in the 1230s in the Bavarian monastery of Ottobeuren (see fol. 216r). Yet, its composition is telling and perhaps based on a copy closer to practice: (a) Ars praedicandi (fol. 1r) including the eight sermons ad status; (b) Liber sermonum (fol. 52r) including the sermon Feria II intrante ieiunio (fol. 72r), which discusses the events of 1187 and is otherwise not part of the Liber (see the chapter on exemplary descriptions for the full text); (c) Contra haereticos (fol. 99r); and (d) Peter the Chanterâs Verbum abbreviatum, here entitled Viaticum tendentis Iherusalem (fol. 153r). On the codex, see dâAlverny, Textes, 114â115.
See also Ms. BNF lat. 18172; this polygraphic collection comprises inter alia sermons by Alan and Prevostin; it comes from Notre-Dame in Paris (early 13th cen.) and also offers glosses with keywords to the main text.
A gloss betrays that the text encompasses more than spiritual warfare: âde diversis bellorum generibusâ (fol. 61v).
The sequence of sermons is once again noteworthy: a piece on De sancto michaele follows (fol. 43r), which drafts a bold militant and eschatological vision, while having a holistic understanding of warfare that encompasses both the spiritual and physical (corresponding gloss: âde triplici bello et triplici bellatoreâ). According to In principio, this is the only surviving copy of the sermon.
The same passage notes as a gloss de diversis portis identifying the heretics as porte inferni. On the motif of the gates, see the chapter on Jerusalem. According to In principio, this is the only copy.
On the manuscript, see dâAlverny, Textes, 123, who asserts a Parisian origin (paleographical indications).
On the codex, see dâAlverny, Textes, 114, 119â120.
See the sermonâs examination in the chapter on institutional context.
Another copy may exist in Ms. Turin D.V.2, fols. 97râ98râbut I have not consulted this codex. See dâAlverny, Textes, 124; Joseph N. Garvin, âIntroduction,â in: Prevostin of Cremona, The Summa contra haereticos: Ascribed to Praepositinus of Cremona (Notre Dame, Ind. 1958), xxiiâxxiv. This codex likewise originated in southern France (also early 13th cen.) and combines Alanâs sermons with Prevostinâs Contra haereticos (fols. 65râ78v), a significant juxtaposition.
See dâAlverny, Textes, 239. The relevant part: 122 fols.; altogether 192 fols.
Those four preachers are Peter of Blois, Baldwin of Canterbury, Prevostin of Cremona, and Alan of Lille. Furthermore, Hélinand of Froidmont and Ralph Ardens appear in monographic Parisian collections.
See, e.g., Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2787; BNF lat. 14859.
See, e.g., Ms. Troyes 1301; Paris, Mazarine 1041.
See, e.g., Ms. BNF lat. 3818; lat. 14859; Toulouse 195; Oxford, Lincoln Coll. 112 and 116.
Important approaches have already been developed as to Ms. BNF NAL 999 (see Bériou, LâAvènement, 1:58â70, 2:676; Jessalynn L. Bird, âCrusade and Reform: The Sermons of Bibliothèque Nationale, MS nouv. acq. lat. 999,â in: The Fifth Crusade in Context, ed. Elizabeth Jane Mylod and Guy Perry (London 2017), 92â113).
See, e.g., Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2787; BNF lat. 3818; lat. 14859; Oxford, Lat. misc. f.14.
See, e.g., Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2786 and 2787; BNF lat. 3818; BL Sloane 1580; Amiens 301.
See, e.g., Ms. BNF lat. 3818.
On already identified sermons, anonymous and crusade-related, see Bird, âVictorines,â 5â28; Bériou, LâAvènement, 2:681â682; Constantinos Georgiou, Preaching the Crusades to the Eastern Mediterranean: Propaganda, Liturgy, and Diplomacy, 1305â1352 (New York 2018), 195.
Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2786; see also, e.g., Troyes 970; Toulouse 195.
See, e.g., Oxford, Lat. misc. f.14; BL Sloane 1580; BL Add 18335; Paris, St.Geneviève 2786; BNF lat. 3818.
See, e.g., Ms. BL Arundel 322; Amiens 301; Oxford, Lat. misc. f.14.
See Ms. BL Royal 8 FÂ XVII; BL Add 19767.
See, e.g., Ms. BL Arundel 322; Paris, St.Geneviève 2787; BNF lat. 14859; Troyes 868.
See, e.g., Ms. Paris, St.Geneviève 2786; BNF lat. 3818.
With a single exception: one codex combines Baldwin of Canterburyâs sermon collection, including his De sancta cruce, with the Historia Albigensium of Peter of Vaux-de-Cernay (Ms. BNF lat. 2601; see Bell, âIntroduction,â ixâx). This case refers us to a specific historical context and, thus, to a potential application of the sermon material (by other users, since the chronicle dates after Baldwinâs death).
See Ms. Dijon 219; Troyes 1301; BNF lat. 588; Toulouse 195.
See Riley-Smith, First Crusade, 135â152. As Rubenstein discussed, chronicles often appear in combination with mythical texts, for example, on Troy or Alexander the Great, a fact that corroborates their literary nature and the register to which they belong (Jay Rubenstein, Nebuchadnezzarâs Dream: The Crusades, Apocalyptic Prophecy, and the End of History (Oxford 2019), 61, 235; see also Kristin Skottki, Christen, Muslime und der Erste Kreuzzug: Die Macht der Beschreibung in der mittelalterlichen und modernen Historiographie (Münster 2015), 240).
On the media context of chronicles, see Skottki, Beschreibung, 231â242; Jay Rubenstein, âPutting History to Use: Three Crusade Chronicles in Context,â Viator 35 (2004), 131â168; Damien Kempf, âTowards a Textual Archaeology of the First Crusade,â in: Writing the Early Crusades, ed. Kempf and Marcus Bull (Woodbridge 2014), 116â126; Stephen Spencer, âTwo Unexamined Witnesses to Ralph of Coggeshallâs Chronicon anglicanum in London, Lambeth Palace Library, MSÂ 371,â Manuscripta 62 (2018), 279â286.
See, e.g., Jessalynn L. Bird, âPreaching and Narrating the Fifth Crusade: Bible, Sermons and the History of a Campaign,â in: The Uses of the Bible in Crusader Sources, ed. Elizabeth Lapina and Nicholas Morton (Leiden 2017), 340. The same applies to pilgrim reports and Chanson de geste.
See, e.g., for Peter of Blois: Ms. BL Arundel 322 (model texts) and Paris, St.Geneviève 2787 (reportationes); or for Alan of Lille: Ms. Amiens 301 (model texts) and BNF lat. 14859 (reportationes).
See Bataillon, âApproaches,â 21â22; Bataillon, âSermons rédigés,â 75â77; Bériou, LâAvènement, 1:108.
See Oxford, Lat. misc. f.14 (model text) and, e.g., BNF lat. 2954 (letter).
For divergent liturgical titles, see, e.g., Paris, St.Geneviève 2787 and Dijon 219 (Alan of Lille); or Ms. BL Royal 8 F XVII and Arundel 322 (Peter of Blois); for notes on audiences, see, e.g., Ms. BL Arundel 322; Dijon 219; BNF lat. 14859.
See the section on methodology.
In agreement, it belonged to a deaconâs duties (an office that, for example, Peter of Blois held) to assist their bishops in supervising the diocese, for example, by inspecting local clericsâ preaching skills and offering corresponding support, that is, preaching material (see Morenzoni, Ãcoles, 144â163; Matthew Anthony Doyle, Peter Lombard and His Students (Toronto 2016), 103).
See Rouse, âIntroduction,â 2. Notably, both copies of Hélinandâs sermons come from Saint-Victor (Ms. BNF lat. 14591 and Mazarine 1041; both with a note of ownership). This shows that he was likewise involved in the Parisian milieu. On the two copies, see Ouy, Manuscrits, 2:377â379.
This is corroborated, for example, by the fact that the Cistercians used the Glossa (see Hendrik Breuer, ââ¯âQuia salus ex iudeis estâ (Joh 4,22). Ein Textzeugnis der rheinischen Kreuzzugspredigt des Heiligen Bernhard von Clairvaux in der Glossa ordinaria des Codex 23 der Kölner Dombibliothek,â Mittelalterliche Handschriften der Kölner Dombibliothek 4 (2012), 115â174, esp. 123; Constance Brittain Bouchard, âThe Cistercians and the Glossa ordinaria,â The Catholic Historical Review 86 (2000), 183â192).
On the distribution of texts from Paris, see, e.g., Christopher de Hamel, Glossed Books of the Bible and the Origins of the Paris Book Trade (Woodbridge 1984); Peter H. Tibber, The Origins of the Scholastic Sermon, c.1130âc.1210 (PhD thesis, University of Oxford 1983).
On the early Parisian book trade, see Rouse, Manuscripts, 1:21â33.
Rouse, âStatim invenire,â 205â206; Rouse, âIntroduction,â 4.