Saints' Legends in Medieval Sarum Breviaries: Catalogue and Studies

This book is the first comprehensive examination of the hagiographical lessons in Sarum breviaries, providing a catalogue of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions. It identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition. The author's findings offer an introduction to the rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 20 August 2021
Publisher: York Medieval Press

Sarum use was the most prevalent liturgy in late medieval England, yet its service books were significantly less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly evident in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary greatly from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of these lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalog of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions, offering brief descriptions of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously relied. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Sarum use was the most prevalent liturgy in late medieval England, yet its service books were significantly less standardized than their modern counterparts. The lack of uniformity is particularly evident in Sarum breviaries' lessons on saints, which can vary greatly from copy to copy. This book is the first comprehensive examination of these lessons and the manuscripts that preserve them. It provides a catalog of over 80 manuscripts and 12 early printed versions, offering brief descriptions of each one, sometimes correcting previous views of its date and provenance, and identifying each copy's divergences from the standard Sarum roster of saints. The book also identifies the textual families into which the manuscripts fall and the extent of their divergence from the lessons in both the early printed versions and the inadequate nineteenth-century edition on which modern scholars have previously relied. The author's findings offer an introduction to the unexpectedly rich variety of hagiographical lessons that survive, identify some of the sources behind them, and shed new light on the ways in which the Sarum breviary developed and was disseminated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Weight: 766g
Dimension: 176 x 246 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781903153994