Paenitentiale Bedae

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Also known asPaenitentiale Pseudo-Bedae
AudienceCatholic clergy
Dateca. 730?
Paenitentiale Bedae
Folio 96v from the Sélestat manuscript (Cod. 132), showing the beginning of the Paenitentiale Bedae
Also known asPaenitentiale Pseudo-Bedae
AudienceCatholic clergy
Languagemedieval Latin
Dateca. 730?
Authenticityquestionable
Manuscript(s)four, plus fragments
Genrepenitential, canon law collection
Subjectecclesiastical and lay discipline; ecclesiastical and lay penance

The Paenitentiale Bedae (also known as the Paenitentiale Pseudo-Bedae, or more commonly as either Bede's penitential or the Bedan penitential) is an early medieval penitential handbook composed around 730, possibly by the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede.

There are four extant manuscripts that contain the Paenitentiale Bedae, all dating to the ninth century, ranging geographically from northeastern France to the Main river region. The sigla given below (W9, Z2, etc.) are those introduced by Reinhard Haggenmüller.

Siglum Manuscript Contents
Mp2 Montpellier, Bibliothèque universitaire (Faculté de Médecine), MS 387, fols 1–80 (written middle of ninth century northeastern Francia) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Se2 Sélestat, Bibliothèque humaniste, MS 132 (written middle of ninth century, possibly in Mainz) rites for exorcism; incantations; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti; Paenitentiale Bedae; Excarpsus Cummeani
T5 Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Codex Fragm. 100 A, w, x, y and z + Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MS 895 fragm. + Donaueschingen, Hofbibliothek, MS 925 Fragm.[1] (written about 800 probably in northern Italy) Epitome Hispana (fragmentary; excerpts);[2] Paenitentiale Oxoniense II (fragmentary); Paenitentiale Ecgberhti (prologue and c. 4.15 only, possibly once followed by further Paenitentiale Ecgberhti material); a series of penitential excerpts[3] (fragmentary; including excerpts from Paenitentiale Umbrense book I, Paenitentiale Cummeani, and Paenitentiale Burgundense); Paenitentiale Bedae[4] (first preface and first sentence of second preface[5] only, possibly once followed by further Paenitentiale Bedae material)
W9 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex lat. 2223 (written beginning of ninth century in the Main river region) Paenitentiale Theodori (U version); Paenitentiale Bedae; Paenitentiale Cummeani (excerpt); Capitula iudiciorum (previously known as the Poenitentiale XXXV capitulorum); Libellus responsionum; miscellaneous creedal and theological works; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti
Z2 Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Car. C 176 (D 64), fols 1–136 (written ca 850×875 in eastern Francia) xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haggenmüller divided the four main surviving witnesses of the Paenitentiale Bedae into two groups, based broadly on the regions in which they were produced, the nature and arrangement of their accompanying texts, and shared readings in the Paenitentiale Bedae itself.:[6] the 'Rhine-Main river' group consists of the oldest manuscripts (W9 and Se1), while the 'East-Frankish' group (Mp2 and Z2) represents a slightly older tradition.

The Paenitentiale Bedae is also transmitted in somewhat altered form as part of two later penitential texts known as the Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Preliminary Stage of the Unified Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential, in which the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti is affixed to the end of the Paenitentiale Bedae) and the Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Unified Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential; like the Preliminary Stage, but the whole is now preceded by the prefaces of both the Paenitentiale Bedae and the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti), and in greatly altered form in the still later Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Merged Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential, in which the chapters of both the Paenitentiale Bedae and the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti are mixed together and arranged by topic).

Editions

The Paenitentiale Bedae itself has been edited twice and reprinted once:

Much more numerous are editions of the Paenitentiale Bedae in the later modified forms mentioned above, namely the Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti, the Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti, and the Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti. These works, which present the Paenitentiale Bedae material in sometimes greatly modified form, have been edited and reprinted many times since the early modern period.

The Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited four times:

The Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited three times and reprinted nine times:

The Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti has been edited twice and reprinted twice:

Notes

Bibliography

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