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Weather Prognostics in Anglo-Saxon England

2012; Routledge; Volume: 93; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0013838x.2012.668309

1744-4217

Marilina Cesario,

Historical and Literary Studies

Abstract Prognostics concerning the day of the week on which kalendae ianuariae and Christmas Day fall, commonly known as the Revelatio Esdrae , purport to be a set of prophecies by the Biblical Esdras. They make predictions about the weather and other natural phenomena for the year to come, and they then extend their predictions to the field of human affairs. A remarkable number of copies of the Revelatio appear in English manuscripts from the tenth to the twelfth centuries. Some of these versions have been attributed to Bede and Abbo of Fleury as part of their computus works. Both R. M. Liuzza and L. S. Chardonnens point out the frequent occurrence of the Revelatio in religious and scientific manuscripts and therefore reject the label of folklore, stressing instead the probable monastic origin of this prognostication. This study will provide the first complete collation and analysis of the surviving exemplars, to give as full an idea as possible of their circumstances of composition, their transmission, and their relationship to one another. It will consider how the Revelatio Esdrae was copied and used in Anglo-Saxon England, the audience to which it was addressed, and whether any conclusion can be drawn from its appearance in particular manuscripts, alongside certain other texts. The regular occurrence of the Revelatio along with computistical material supports the case for its monastic origin and learned nature. Such a text would have been a helpful handbook to be used by monks and priests, and was among the standard holdings of continental and Anglo-Saxon monasteries and scriptoria, giving further proof of the monks' intellectual eclecticism and their knowledge of the kinds of continental literature from which this text derives Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr Rohini Jayatilaka and Professor Hugh Magennis for their valuable suggestions. Notes 1See Bede's De natura rerum and De temporum ratione. Abbo of Fleury wrote, among other things, on computus and astronomy, see Van de Vyver. See also Juste, "Neither Observation nor Astronomical Tables," 181–222. For Byrhtferth's computistical works, see Lapidge and Baker, eds. 2As well as the kalendae ianuariae text entitled "Pronostic du prophète Esdras au sujet des sept jours," F. Nau details various prognostic texts attributed to Esdras the prophet. One of these occurs in Greek manuscripts (MSS Paris, BN, 2149; 22, 2494 and suppl. 636), and concerns lucky and unlucky days which God makes known to Esdras, so that they can be revealed to the Sons of Israel. Some days, for example, are good for buying, selling, leaving, travelling, visiting sick people or fighting. Everything which is propitious has to be done in the name of the Lord. The lucky days in September are 13, 15, 22, 28 and 30; in October they are 7, 8, 10, 25, 27 and so forth. The unlucky days are similarly listed. Such texts were widespread in Anglo-Saxon England. There are, for example, prognostics concerning lucky and unlucky days which recall the pronouncements of Hesiod. There is also a lunar calendar of the Old Testament attributed to Esdras in which the author connects the days of the moon with the birth or death of biblical figures. "On the first day of the moon," for example, "Adam was created," and this is followed by a prognostic identifying the day in question, and determining whether it is lucky or not. See Nau, 14–21. 3"Now Christians complete in faith do not receive any other rule than that ordained for them in accordance with the statement of Esdras the prophet, the illuminator of understanding when the months come on the sixth of Tuba, i.e. Ter, which is the first month among the Franks. When the beginning of the month coincides with the first or second or third unto the end of the seven days. And they observe moreover the commencement of their months in seeking to know whether it will be lucky or unlucky. And Socrates the sage and philosopher and astronomer established this custom in Rome. And Socrates the ordained and establisher of the practice had altered among the pagans the writings of Esdras the prophet and saint. He was deceived and he deceived those who read his book by his evil device" (the translation is that of R. H. Charles, ed. and trans., 51–2). 4For the Greek manuscripts, see Boll et al., eds. The Greek texts attributed to Esdras listed in the catalogue date from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries and are similar in form to the Latin ones, although are clearly independent compositions. 5Fiensy, 601. 6Biggs, 2. See also Haelewyck, ed.; Charlesworth, ed.; and Geerard, ed. 7MSS Berlin, Staatbibliothek, Phill. 1833, fol. 35v (s. x–xi), Fleury and Dijon, BM, 448, fols. 76r–77r (s. xi), Beziers or Toules contain Abbo's computistical works, and the Revelatio texts seem to derive from the same ultimate source. 8The kalandologion attributed to Bede is as follows: Si prima feria fuerint K. Januarii, hiems bona erit, ver ventuosum, aestas sicca, vindemia bona, boves crescent, mel abundabit, vetulae morientur, abundantia et pax erit. Si secunda feria, hiems mista erit, ver bonum, aestas sicca, et ventuosa tempestas, et vindemia non bona, et valetudo hominum, apes morientur, et prodigia quae dabit hominibus Deus. Si tertia feria, hiems umbrosa erit, ver tempestuosum, et ventuosum et pluviosum, aestas sicca, vindemia laborabit, et visa erit, et mulieris morientur, naves periclitabuntur, et reges peribunt. Si quarta feria, hiems dura et aspera erit, ver malum et ventuosum, aestas bona, vindemia bona et laboriosa, et frumentum bonum, juvenes morientur, et qui navigabunt satis laborabunt. Si quinta feria, hiems bona, ver ventuosum, aestas sicca, vindemia bona; abundantia erit, et principes sive reges peribunt. Si sexta feria, hiems mutabilis, et ver bonum, aestas sicca et bona, dolor oculorum, vindemia bona, et copia magna erit, et oves peribunt. Si septima feria, hiems turbinosa, ver ventuosum, et fructus laboriosus erit: oves peribunt, homines vetuli morientur, et casae cremabuntur" (Pseudo-Bede, PL 90, 951). See Jones, 87. 9"On sait que cette habitude bizarre ne s'est pas encore perdue, et qu'on rencontre des almanachs ad usum … populi, o[ugrave] les variations de la politique et celles de l'atmosphère sont prédites avec soin, sinon avec clarté; car, dans bien des campagnes, un almanach n'a de valeur qu'autant qu'il indique, non seulement le temps de l'année, mais encore le temps de chaque jour" (Boucherie, 133). See also Mercati, 74. 10Liuzza, "Anglo-Saxon Prognostics"; and Chardonnens, ed., Anglo-Saxon Prognostics. 11Chardonnens, "Appropriating Prognostics," 147. 12A survey, collation and analysis of the Revelatio Esdrae in Latin, Old and Middle English from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries is the object of a fuller project. 13My analysis includes twenty-one Latin texts (excluding the English versions which are the focus of this article), some of which have not been printed, or previously studied (no doubt further copies await discovery). I have divided them according to their place of origin. The MSS of French provenance are: 1) London, BL, Harley 3017, fols. 63–64v (s. ix), Fleury?; 2) Montpellier, BEM, 301, fol. 1 (s. x), Fleury; 3) Montpellier, BEM, H 384, fols. 109–110 (s. x–xi), Fleury; 4) Berlin, Staatbibliothek, Phill. 1833, fol. 35v (s. x–xi), Fleury; 5) Florence, BML, Ashburnham 82, fol. 63r (s. x–xi), Orleans?; 6) Dijon, BM, 448, fols. 76r–77r (s. xi), Beziers or Toules; 7) Angers, BM, 283 (274), p. 22 (s. xi–xii), Saint Serge; and 8) Vatican Lat., 248, fol. 11v (s. xii); Belleval. MSS from Germany and Swizerland include: 9) Vatican, Palat. Lat., 1449, fols. 119v–120 (s. ix), Lorsch; 10) Munich, BS, Clm 14456, fol. 75r (s. ix), Regensburg; 11) Munich, BS, Clm 22053, fol. 21rv (s. ix), Germany; 12) Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, 321, p. 26 (s. x), Einsiedeln or Strasburg?; 13) Zurich, ZB, Car C. 176, fol. 161 (s. x–xi), Saint Gallen; 14) Munich, BS, Clm 6382, fol. 42v (s. xi), Freising; 15) Munich, BS, Clm 21557, fol. 25v (s. x–xi), Freising; and 16) Erfurt, Stadt und Regionalbibliothek, Amplon. O 62b, fol. 182v (s. xii), Germany. A single copy comes from Spain: 17) Madrid, BNE, 19, fol. 86v (s. x–xi), Catalogna? and one from Italy 18) Uppsala, Universitetbibliothek, C 664, pp. 111–113 (s. ix), Northern Italy. The origin of the following MSS is still obscure: 19) Vatican, Palat. Lat., 235, fol. 39r (s. x–xi); 20) Vienna, ÖN, 2532, fols. 130rv and 132 (s. xii) and finally 21) Vienna, ÖN, 2245, fol. 66 (s. xii). 14For a detailed discussion of Esdras as a prophetic figure, see Bensly, ed.; James, ed. and trans.; Denis, ed.; and Wahl, ed. For a summary of the prophetic and apocalyptic writings attributed to Esdras, see Robinson, ed.; Kraft, 119–36. 15James, 80. 16G. Mercati says: "Piuttosto numerosi sono gli apocrifi posti sotto il nome di Esdra, e ben lo si capisce, ripensando alla grande parte ch'egli ebbe nella storia d'Israele liberato, riguardo alle scritture sacre" (86–9). 17Tertian fever, which is also called fever of the third day, is a form of malaria. It mainly occurred in warm places, especially in spring when mosquitoes swarmed out of fens and marshes. 18See Ernout and Meillet, eds., s.v. autumnus. 19"The use of 'spelta' instead of 'frumentum' reminds us of a region where the production of this particular grain was more abundant than wheat. Similarly the interpolations of 'turbatio romanorum', on Tuesday, and 'peregrinatio magnae', refer, especially the first, to a time and place where people of a specific place were dealing with such upheavals among the Romans" (Mercati, 76). A. Boucherie discusses whether "romanorum" refers to the Romans of the Empire or to those of the Papacy. He argues that the presence in the text of "reges et principes" (rather than emperors) and "die dominico" places the prediction in Christian Rome (Boucherie, 137). 20Wickersheimer, I, s. v., malaria. 21According to D. Juste, "cette phrase est répétée, sans modification, pour chaque jour de la semaine, peut-être pour marquer la distinction entre les événements concernant le monde d'en bas, changeants, et les événements concernant le monde d'en haut, immuables, et montrer ainsi que la vie spirituelle n'est pas sujette aux vicissitudes du monde temporel. Ceci n'empêche pas que le procédé ait été destiné à des fins pratiques" ("Comput et divination chez Abbon de Fleury," 100). 22Geary, 142–9. See also Davril, 7–16. 23Van de Vyver. See also Juste, "Neither Observation nor Astronomical Tables," 181–222. 24Rose, I, no. 138, 308–15. 25The same texts and diagrams occur in Dijon MS 448. 26My transcription from MS Phill. 1833, fol. 35v. 27Cordoliani, 176. In De temporum ratione, Bede explains the role of the concurrentes in the calculation of Easter: Quae sit feria in Calendis. Simile autem huic tradunt argumentum ad inveniendam diem Calendarum promptissimus. Habet ergo regulares Januarius ii, Februarius v, martius v, Apriles i, Maius iii, Junius vi, Julius i, Augustus iiii, September vii, October ii, November v, December vii. Qui vilicet regulares hoc specialiter indicant, quota sit feria per Calendas, eo anno quo septem concurrentes adscripti sunt dies: caeteris vero annis addes concurrentes quotquot in praesenti fuerunt adnotati: ad regulares mensium singulorum, et ita diem calendarum sine errore sempre invenies. Hoc tantum memor esto, ut cum imminente anno bisextili unus concurrentium intermittendum est dies, eo tamen numero quem intermissurus es in Januario Februarioque utaris: ne in calendis primum Martiis per illum qui circulo centinetur solis computare incipias. Cum ergo diem calendarum, verbi gratia, Januarium, quaerere vis; dicis Januarius ii, adde concurrentes septimanae dies qui fuerunt anno quo computas, utpote iii, fiunt quinque; quinta feria intrant calendae Januariae. Item anno qui sex habet concurrentes, sume v regulares mensis Martiis, adde concurrentes sex, fiunt undecim, tolle septem, remanent quator, quarta feria sunt Calendae Martiae" (DTR, ch. xxi). 28My transcription from MS Phill. 1833, fol. 35v. 29M. Förster printed the Old English versions of the kalendae ianuariae which survive in MS London, BL, Cotton Tiberius A. iii, on fols. 36rv and 41v–2r, and compared them with versions in German from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. See Förster. See also Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 494–5. Förster and Chardonenns provide no detailed discussion of the Tiberius texts. I am aware that a new transcription of the Tiberius texts has just been published by R. Liuzza (ed. and trans.) in Anglo-Saxon Prognostics. However, I could not take it into account because the present article had already been submitted for publication when his book appeared. 30Warner, ed., 66; Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 495–6. 31Cockayne, ed., III:163–5; Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 496. 32Chardonnens, "Appropriating Prognostics," 250. 33Chardonnens, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 499–500. There exists a Latin version of the Revelatio in London, BL, Harley 3017, fols. 63–4v, s. ix, which has been omitted from this study because of its disputed provenance. M. Lapidge and P. S. Baker doubt that Harley 3017 was produced in Fleury. The evidence against such a provenance is a calendar which is more concerned with reporting the commemorations of SS. Medard, Columba and Quintin, who were venerated in areas in the centre of France, than with the translation of St Benedict on 11 July. See Lapidge and Baker, xlii. For a description of Harley 3017, see Derolez, 212–17. See also Jones, 122; and Mostert, The Library of Fleury. 34 Incipit Subputatio quam supputauit hesdras precedes the text, and propheta in templo Salomon in hierusalem seems to have been added later, by the same hand, along the right margin of the folio. The addition of the second part of the incipit could be an attempt to make clear to which biblical Esdras the text refers. A similar incipit appears in MSS Vatican, Palat. Lat. 235, fols. 119v–120 (s. x–xi), and Angers, BM, 283 (274), p. 22 (s. xi–xii), Saint Serge. 35The initial of each sentence is in capitals and red ink only in those texts which have an Old English interlinear gloss. 36 Tb is the only version which begins the week on Monday; however, its predictions are similar to those of the other manuscripts. 37A later hand added [pro]gnosticon Anni on the left margin. The initial "Đ" is in red and green and is in the shape of a cross. The other initials alternate in red and green. 38The scribe adds "i" after "æ" in "dæig" (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday). The other days of the week have "dæg." A related form is "læincten" (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday). According to E. Treharne, "dæig" and "læincten" are examples of late West Saxon spelling (238), but these alternative forms could be the result of the late composition of the manuscript, and the inconsistent spelling of the scribe. Elsewhere in the manuscript there are other spellings of "læncten": "lænctetid," "læincten" and "læinten." 39For uindemia. 40 Wingeard has not been added above the equivalent uindemia in the Latin gloss, but above estas, and on the same day, the Latin version has words for spring and summer but the Old English version does not. It is not fully clear whether these two texts come from different redactions, or whether these are merely inadvertent omissions made during transcription. The Latin and Old English versions correspond closely and seem to have been thoughtfully rather than mechanically combined. 41It seems likely that sweap is an error for sceap (sheep), and the subject of weaxað. 42For hunig. 43The manuscript is slightly damaged here. 44Did the scribe intend to write iusta or mixta? Given the similarities with other versions, the second is more likely. 45The MS is slightly damaged between eri and t. 46For cwæld. 47For mens. 48 Istig is unique to the H version. Treharne (231) points out that istig occurs in the Paris Psalter (MS Paris, BN, lat. 8824). 49 B and Tb are the only versions which have hominis/es instead of hominum. 50For hominum. 51O. Cockayne prints ifag and interprets it as yfel, "evil." Ifag is not a documented word. Ifig means "ivy," but is not plausible in the context. A form of the adjective ge-fagen, "glad, joyful," is a remote possibility. In the other Old English texts for Tuesday the adjectives which refer to winter are different in each version: æpelust (T), dreorig (Tb) and wæt (V). Another possibility is that the word in the scribe's copy-text was the adjective isig, "icy, covered with ice." In the twelfth century, in a period when Old English was falling out of use, the scribe may have confused "f" with "s" and "a" with "i." 52For periclitantur. 53For monig. 54Cockayne translates scip as "sheep" (III:165). I prefer to understand "ships," from Old English scypu, since Ta and Tb have scypu in their predictions for Tuesday. 55For mercurii. 56For uindemia. 57 Quinta goes with feria. 58The scribe probably forgot to add a punctuation mark. 59There is a tiny hole between princip and es. 60Probably a copyist's mistake for snaw. 61 Sfap is another misspelling of "sheep." 62Does laboriosus refer to uernus, or has fructus been omitted? 63Another misspelling of genipful. 64The "a" is above the line. OE ealle does not coincide with Lat ueterani. It is likely that the word the scribe meant to transcribe while glossing the Latin text was ealde. 65There had always been difficulty in determining when New Year's Day fell, since the beginning of the year was calculated differently by different civilisations in different periods. 1 January, Christmas Day, the first day of Advent and 25 March were all common dates. By about the end of the fourth century, the Church had set its celebration of the Nativity as 25 December, in solstitio brumali, which was the time of the winter solstice, the feast of the sun in heathen religions. The octave of this commemoration lasted until 1 January. After the Conversion the festivities originally timed for the winter solstice were postponed for a week in order to avoid the day celebrated as Christ's birthday, and this made them coincide with the New Year celebration of the Roman calendar. However, for a long time the difference between 1 January and Christmas remained vague. See Pollard. 66The XV Vercelli Homily, Alia omelia de die iudicii, which relates the events which will precede Judgment Day, is another rare example which begins the week on Monday: 7 þæt is þonne þy ærestan dæge [þæt] bið þæt æreste foretacn ær ðam domes dæge. Þæt is þæt þær bið, æt ðære þriddan tide dæges on Monandæge, swiðe mycel geomrung, 7 þær bið mycel wanung 7 granung 7 murnung 7 sworetung, 7 swiðe stranglicu word on heofenes roderum. 7 swiðe mycel blodig wolcn astigeð fram norðweardum of heofone, 7 bioð þonne swiðe mycele þunerrade 7 mycle ligitta. 7 þam folgað sum swiðe mycel wolcenn, 7 þæt wolcen bewrygð ealne heofon. 7 þanon cymeð swiðe mycel blodig regn of ðam wolcne ofer ealle eorðan. Þis syndon þæs Monandæges foretacnu (Scragg, ed., The Vercelli Homilies, 256). 67Old English lencten and haerfest acquired more than one meaning. Lencten was used with the sense of "Lent," Lat. quadragesima, the forty-day penitential observance preceding Easter in the Church calendar. 68 Haerfest originally meant "harvest," and referred to an agricultural period when crops are gathered, rather than to a season. Under the influence of the Roman four-season system, haeferst was reinterpreted as a season-name, although the earlier sense of "harvest" continued as well. 69See Ta, v. day. 70Even sheep's eyes were of great importance: sceapa eagan tedriað on þam geare. See Tb, v. day. 71Vollmann and Rauner. The kalendae ianuariae text on fol. 25v is not mentioned in the catalogue. 72See Matter. 73This version has never been published. 74Meier, no. 97. 75Mohlberg, no. 346. 76Clayton and Magennis, 86. 77Evidence for this assumption is an early-twelfth-century list of contents on fol. 117, and an entry in a fourteenth-century catalogue of the library of Christ Church. See Gneuss, "Origin and Provenance of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts," 15. 78Clayton, 76. H. Gneuss points out that the Examinatio Episcopi would have been of interest only to an archbishop and his assistants (15). 79Ker, Catalogue, no. 186, 240. 80D. Dumville asks: "does the presence of heavily glossed texts imply use in a monastic schoolroom? On the other hand, high-status decoration may point in a quite different direction" (137). 81Ker, Catalogue, nos. 186, 248. 82B. Günzel (ed.) has identified eleven different hands in the manuscript, although most of the copying was done by A and B. The contents of Ælfwine's Prayerbook are examined by Günzel. 83Ælfwine is mentioned as the owner of the manuscript in a note in cryptographic writing (Txxvii, fol. 13v), which also gives the name of the main scribe as Ælsinus or Æfsige. A miniature which depicts the Crucifixion (Txxvii, fol. 65v) contains an inscription with a blessing for Ælfwine, and there is also a prayer (Txxvi, fols. 57r–79v) which includes Ælfwine's name as a supplicant (Günzel, 2). 84Henel, ed., xx–xxi. 85Günzel points out that Txxvi–Txxvii share many similarities with CCCC 391: 1) Txxvii, fol. 2v, "Ratio calculandi de duodecim mensibus" (CCCC 391, p. 2); 2) Txxvii, fol. 2v, "Solar regulars, concurrents, lunar regulars, and epacts" (CCCC 391, p. 2); 3) Txxvii, fol. 9rv, "Two tables on the age of the moon" (CCCC 391, pp. 20–1); 4) Txxvii, fol. 10r, another "Table on the age of the moon" (CCCC 391, p. 18); 5) Txxvii, fols. 10v–11r, "Verses for the limits of Quadragesima and of Easter" (CCCC 391, pp. 16–17); 6) Txxvii, fol. 13r, "The calculation of the feast limits" (CCCC 391, pp. 1 and 17); 7) Txxvii, fol. 13v, "The four ember days" (CCCC 391, p. 15); 8) Txxvii, fols. 14v–21r, "Easter table" (CCCC 391, pp. 22–3); 9) Txxvii, fols. 66v–73v, "Devotions to the Holy Cross" (CCCC 391, p. 482, and T, fols. 59v–60v); 10) Txxvii, fols. 76r–80r, "Office of the Trinity" (CCCC 391, p. 409); and 11) Txxvii, fols. 81v–5v, "Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (CCCC 391, p. 610). 86See Richards, 31–5; Handley, 243–50; and Ker, Catalogue, nos. 209–10, 277–8. 87For a description of the eleventh-century Hatton 115, see Scragg, "An Unpublished Vernacular Exhortation," 511–24. See also Ker, "The Date of the 'Tremulous'," 28–9; Franzen, The Tremulous Hand of Worcester, 40; and Franzen, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, 44–54. 88[1] Birth by the days of the week (T, fol. 65r and H, fols. 148v–9r); [2] Brontology, days of the week (T, fol. 40rv and H, fol. 150v); [3] Dreambook (T, fols. 27v–32v, 38r–9v, and 42rv, and H, fols. 150v–2v); [4] Lunar Specific Agenda (T, fols. 39v–40r and H, fols. 152v–3v); [5] Lunar Birth (T, fols. 36v, 41rv and 65rv and H, fol. 148v); [6] Lunary Dreams (T, fols. 35v–6r, 37v–8v and H, fol. 148r); [7] Revelatio Esdrae (T, fols. 36rv and 41v–2r and H, fol. 149rv). 89Knowles and Brooke, eds., 50. There was a connection between Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury when Dunstan was the Archbishop of Canterbury. See Mason, 17. 90Mason, 113. 91Gneuss, 17. 92For a description of the manuscript, see Wallis. 93Liuzza, "Anglo-Saxon Prognostics," 225. 94See Ker, Catalogue, nos. 298, 355–6; and Gneuss, no. 541, p. 25. 95Lendinara, 13. 96See Rella, 107–16. 97See Grémont and Hourlier, 253–64; and Mostert, The Library of Fleury. 98A late tenth-century manuscript of Ramsey origin was subsequently combined at Fleury with a copy of a text of Macrobius, thus demonstrating the intellectual link between the two monasteries. Lapidge and Baker, xv. 99See Mostert, The Political Theology of Abbo of Fleury, 40–64. 100 For a detailed analysis of "Discretio" in the classroom in St Gall, see Grotans. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMarilina Cesario Marilina Cesario is Lecturer in the School of English, Queen's University Belfast, UK.