The Apocryphal Gospels of Mary in Anglo-Saxon England

by Mary Clayton

• ISBN13: 9780521581684
• ISBN10: 0521581680
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-02-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book provides an edition, with a facing translation and detailed commentary, of the three apocryphal gospels of Mary written in Old English. The gospels, which deal with Mary's birth, childhood, death and assumption, are found in manuscripts in Oxford and Cambridge, but have rarely been treated as a group before and in fact have been almost totally neglected by English scholars. An extensive introduction explains the origins and development of the apocrypha from the second to the eleventh century, discussing the Syriac, Greek, Coptic and Latin evidence. Clayton goes on to consider in detail the influence of these apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England by placing the Old English texts in a very broad context. Editions of Latin analogues from eleventh-century English manuscripts are also included in appendices.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
List of sigla and abbreviations	x
Editorial conventions	xi
Introduction	1	(5)
The birth and childhood of Mary: the development of a tradition	6	(18)
The death and assumption of Mary: the Syriac and Greek traditions	24	(42)
The death and assumption of Mary: the Latin tradition	66	(35)
The apocrypha of the Virgin in Anglo-Saxon England	101	(16)
The manuscripts	117	(14)
The Old English texts	131	(184)
The Old English Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew	151	(60)
The Old English assumption homily in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 41	211	(26)
The Old English assumption homily in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 198 (Blickling XIII)	237	(78)
Appendix 1 Latin apocryphal texts from Anglo-Saxon England: the Latin Proteuangelium in Cambridge, Pembroke College, 25; the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew in London, British Library, Cotton Nero E. i; and the Latin Trarnsitus W in Cambridge, Pembroke College, 25	315	(19)
Appendix 2 The Transitus of Pseudo-Melito (Transitus B2), ed. M. Haibach-Reinisch	334	(10)
Bibliography	344	(7)
Index	351