The Middle English charters of Christ ...

APPENDIX II
ADDITIONAL TEXTS

1. CARTA DOMINI NOSTRI IESU CHRISTI
Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 21253, f. 186a.

Sciant presentes et futuri. scilicet. omnes qui sunt celo et in terra. Quod ego Iesus Christus filius dei patris et Marie vir|ginis deus et homo pro hereditate mea Iniuste et proditiose a meis ablata diu sub manu aduersarij detenta teste toto mundo in stadio pugnaui aduersum diuici. victoriam optinui et here|ditatem meam recuperaui sesinam in parasceue cum heredibus meis accepi. habendum et tenendum seisinam in longitudinem et latitudinem in eternum. secundum dispositum est a patre meo. libere et quiete. Annuatim et continue Reddendo cor mundum deo et animam puram. In cuius rei testimonium hanc presentem cartam proprio sanguine conscripsi. legi. per totum mundum publicaui. Sigillum que mee diuinitatis appo|sui cum testomonio patris et spiritus. Nam hij tres testimonia dant in celo scripta. lecta et confirmata. et generi humano tra|dita feria. quinta. parasceues. super montem caluarie publice et aparte in eternum durature. Anno a creatione mundi. 5. 2. 3. 2. Nota quod condicio amplia est vt continue Red|damus deo cor mundum et animam puram al[i]oquin satisfaci|mus contra ius nostrum Si autem preuemus a peccato. Iusto titulo vendicare possumus regnum celorum. [folio 186b] Dicunt enim Iura ciuilia quod filius habens patrem suum interfectum non potest vendicare hereditatem patris sui nisi prosequatur interfectorem patris sui Pater noster Christus est interfectus. Quis eum interfecit. Certe peccatum. quia peccatum erat causa quare captus est. flagellatus. et occisus. Si ergo vis esse heres eius oportet quod prosequeris. peccatum quod eum interfecit. sicut filius prosequitur interfectorem patris sui. non desistens eum damnare et alios ad eius odium aluere. Age quod illud iudi|cetur. exulet. et interficiat et omnino et finaliter destruatur.

Numquam patiaris quam in te est quod peccatum fauorem hab|eat et quod omnes illud odiant. que interfecit patrem tuum Christum. Et sic poteris iuste vindicare eius hereditatem. scilicet Regnum celorum.

2. CARTA LIBERA
St. John's Coll. Camb. MS. E. 24, f. 22a.

Variant readings from St. John's Coll. MS. D. 8, f. 174^b are recorded in the footnotes. The rimes would be restored in lines 19 and 20 by transposing pedes and manus, and by reading des te instead of te des.

Hic incipit carta libera domini nostri Ihesu Christi

Hec quicunque sciant presentes atque futuri Et memores fiant nisi sint sensus sibi duri Quod uir ego ihesus bethlem de uirgine natus Ierusalem lesus crucifixus ludificatus Dando concessi cunctis nec ab inde recessi Line 5 Regnum celeste si semper uiuant honeste Aut si quando tamen faciant quocunque grauamen Non ita delebor si peniteant miserebor Nec quicquam [quicquid.] cupio reddi nisi cordis amorem Hoc homo iam sicio [sitis.] pro quo tibi fundo cruorem Line 10 Ergo pro feodo cor tuum redde [redde tuum (correctly).] mihi gratum Taliter ecce modo tibi trado meum laceratum Inspice deuote precor inspice mente serena Ostendo pro te que quanta sunt mea pena Hic sunt transfossa caro uene cor cutis ossa Line 15 Ac mea premunda te lauit sanguis et unda Nam qui per pomum fueras sine fine peremptus Nec es abinde demum sub tale [tali.] sorte redemptus Ecce cor ecce pedes capud ecce manus ego sanus Sum mihi si te des tibi do me fac ita pro me Line 20 Traditus a iuda sum captus et inde [Omits inde.] ligatus

Omnia sunt nuda que plebs fecit atque pilatus [After line 22 MS. D 8 (perhaps correctly) places lines 27-28.] Scilicet in fine probra sputa flagellaque plura Crux claui spine fel lancea passio dura Et sique pacior uideantur non satis arta Line 25 Post hec en morior hec mors homo fit [sit.] tua carta Nemo potest iure priuare quin [quod.] ista tenebunt En quot secure warantizare ualebunt Testibus hiis factis tenebris velo quoque scisso Petris confractis terremotu sub abysso Line 30 Si plures uultis testante Johanne que matre Ac aliis multis cum sacro neupmate patre In cuius rei testimonium requiei ut stet tranquillum cor [proprium cor (correctly).] proprium pono sigillum In caluarie summo sunt hec data gratis Line 35 Sanguine scripta die quo iam morior valeatis Sanguine tamen puro cartam frater tibi scripsi Et pro securo proprium cor penditur ipsi, amen. [These two lines occur only in MS. D 8.] Line 38

3. CARTA DEI
Bod. MS. Kent Charter 233.

Knowyn alle men that are & schuln ben That I Jhc' of Nazaren Wyt myn wyl and herte good For myn handwerk and for my blod Have grantyd, ȝovyn and confermyd is Line 5 To christenemen in erthe I wys Thourch my charte that the mon se, My body that heng on the tre, A mes housyd fayir and fre, It is hevene blysse I telle the, Line 10 Betwen est and west, north and south, To hem her dwellyn it is wel couth,

To havyn and heldyn that swete place Wel gud in pes thourch my grace, To crystene man that synne wyl fle, Line 15 Heritable and in fee, For the servise that lyt therinne, That is, to kepyn man fro synne, Of the chel [read chef] lord of that fee Every synne flede hee. Line 20 And I Jhc' of Nazaren And my eyris qwat so he ben In warantyse we schuln us bynde To crystene man wythoutyn hende In wytnesse of thys thing Line 25 My syde was opned in selyng. To thys charte trewe and good I have set my seal, myn herthe blod, These am the wytnesses trewe and god; The garlond of thorn on myn hed stode, Line 30 The schorges and the naylis long, And the spere my herte stong, The stoppe ful of eysil and galle, And Hely ely that I gan calle, My blody terys me ronnyn fro, Line 35 My bondys, my peynis and othir mo. ȝovyn and garantyd be my wyl At Calvarie on that held [read hyl] The friday befor the paske day, Therof I may noȝt seyn nay, Line 40 The ȝer of my regne her Thretty wyntyr and thredde half ȝer. Hec est carta Dei.

4. CARTA CELESTIS HEREDITATIS (A Prose Tract, related to the Charter of Christ.) [Cambridge University MS. Ff. 6. 34.]

This treatise, entitled variously, Carta Celestis Hereditatis, Chartre of Heuene, Charter of oure heuenli Eritage, Chartre of

Heven Blisse, Diploma Caeli, forms part of the Poor Caitiff, a work comprising a series of tracts, which has been ascribed to Richard Rolle, [See Cat. of Camb. Univ. MSS., Vol. III (1858) under the description of MS. Ii. 6. 40, where this treatise is recorded with the title, A Charter of remission, and ascribed to Richard Rolle.] to Wycliff, [By Mr. Wharton, according to Cat. Harl. MSS. of Brit. Mus. 1808, under MS. 1706. I do not know where Mr. Wharton makes this state|ment. This is ascribed to Wycliffe also by Robert Vaughan (John de Wycliffe, D. D., 1853, Appendix, p. 533). See also Cat. of Ash. MSS. under MS. 1286, and Report Hist. MSS. Com. VIII (London, 1881) App. part III, 101, under Ashburnham MS. Add. 27d. Compare with these, Shirley, Fasciculi Zizanorum, Rolls Series (London, 1858), p. xiii, note 3 (referred to in this connection by ed. of Cat. of Stowe MSS., 1895, Vol. I, 23).] and to an unknown friar. So far as I know, the earliest MSS. date from the fourteenth century, and there are several of the fifteenth century. [The two oldest of which I have record are: MS. Ashburnham Add. 27d (See Report Hist. MSS. Com. VIII. App. part III, 101) of the fourteenth century. The others are MS. Bod. 4 (of which I do not know the date); MSS. Ashmole 1286 (about 1400); Douce 13, 288, 322; Rawl. C. 751; Bod. 938 (See Horstman, Richard Rolle I, 3), all of the fifteenth century; MSS. Harl. 1706, 2322, 2335, 2336, 4012, of which I do not know the dates; MS. Add. (Brit. Mus.) 30897, MS. Stowe 38, both of the fifteenth century; Camb. Univ. MSS. Ff. 5. 45, Ff. 6. 34, Ii. 6. 40, Hh. l. 12, all of the fifteenth century; Bibl. Nat. Paris, MS. angl. 41, [folio 95a] ff.] On a "spare page" at the beginning of one of the manuscripts, Harl. 2336, is the following: Dixit Episcopus Cicestrensis quod Frater Mi|nor compilavit hunc librum in suo Defensorio. The compiler of the Harleian Catalogue from which I obtained this informa|tion, adds: "I doubt not but that this Bishop of Chichester was Reginald Pecok, who was thought to favor the Lollards, and was openly persecuted and deprived, as guilty of Heresy." It will be seen that the Carta of the Poor Caitiff is not a charter, in spite of its name, but a tract which discusses the Charter of Christ, its component parts, etc., and urges man to be mindful of it and to study it. Its relation to the Charter of Christ has been discussed in Chapter II. [John Bale has the following entry concerning another charter of the fourteenth century: "Brendanus monachus et abbas Hibernus, scrip|sit . . . . .Cartam coelestis hereditatis, li. 1. 'Quisquis sapiens heredi|tatem vendi.' [authority] Ex domo Michaelis Hobley." Index Brit. Script. ed. R. L. Poole, Oxf. 1902, pp. 49-50; and Script. Illus. . . . . Catalogus (post. pars), Basileae, 1559, p. 236. Concerning this work, Dr. Gustav Schirmer (Zur Brendanus Legende, Leipzig, 1888, pp. 10-11) expresses the opinion that the Carta coelestis hereditatis can not be attributed to St. Brendan. I have no means of arriving at a knowledge of the contents of this charter; but it would seem to me probable that it is a version of the Carta Coelestis hereditatis. The initial sentence of the Carta of Brendanus and that in the Poor Caitiff suggest a common origin, the Poor Caitiff Charter beginning, in one version. "Euery wise man þat cleymeþ his eritage," and in another (MS. Douce 13) "Everie wise man that deynieth his heritage."]

[folio 72] A good tretys of a notable chartour of pardoun of oure lorde Ihesu crist &c. [in a different and later hand].

Euery wise man þat cleymeþ his eritage. eiþir askeþ gret pardoun: kepiþ bisili & haþ ofte mynde vpon þe chartre of his calenge | & þerfore eche man lerne to liue vertuously: & kepe & haue mynde vppon þe chartre of heuene blisse | & stodie stidfastli þe witte of þis bille: for þe pardoun þerof schal dure wiþouten ende | vndirstonde wel þat þe chartre of his eritage, & þe bulle of his euerlastinge pardoun: is oure lord ihesu crist. writen wiþ al þe myȝt & vertu of god | þe parchemyn of þis heuenli chartre. is neiþir of scheep ne of calf: but it is þe bodi & þe blessid skyn of oure lord ihesu loomb þat neuere was spot|tid wiþ wem of synne | & was þere neuere skyn of scheep neiþir of calfe so sore & so hard streined on þe teynture eiþir harewe of eny parchemyn makere as was þe blessid bodi and skyn [folio 72b] of oure lord ihesu crist. for oure loue streined & drawen vppon þe iebat of þe cros herde neuer man fro þe biginnyng of þe world til to now. neþir schal hens to domesdai: þat euere writere wroot vppon schepis skin eiþir on calues wiþ so hard & hidouse pennes. so bittirli so sore & so depe as writen þe cursid Iewis vppon þe blessid bodi & swete skin of oure lord ihesu crist. wiþ harde nailes. scharpe spere & sore prickinge þornes instide of here pennes | thei writen so sore & so depe. þat þei perciden hise hondes & feet wiþ harde nailes: þei openeden his herte wiþ a scharpe spere | þei perssiden vppon his heed a corowne of

scharpe þornes þat licli perciden to his brayn panne | þe woundis vppon þat blessid bodi and swete skyn of crist: weren instide of lettris | & as clerkis seyn & specialli seint anselme. þere weren vppon þe blessid bodi of crist open woundis bi noumbre fyue þousend foure hundrid seuenti & fyue | þis is þe noumbre of lettris: wiþ whiche oure chartre was written | bi which we moun cleyme oure eritage. if we liven [folio 73] riȝtli: & kepe þis chartre stidfastly in mynde | þe sentence & vndir|stonding writen wiþinne & wiþoute þis blessid chartre & bodi of ihesu crist: is oure bileue | for he is þe cofre in whom is closid & loken: al þe tresoure of witte & wisdom of god | vppon þis blessid chartre. was writen weilinge. eiþir mournynge. song & sorwe | weilinge eiþir mornynge; for sorwe of oure synnes | for þe whiche to ben helid & waschen awey: crist god and man must suffre so hard & peyneful woundis | vppon cristis bodi þat is oure heuenli charter: was writen singinge to alle þilke þat parfiteli forsaken here synnes | for þei han ful medicine & helpe: þorouȝ vertu of the bittir woundis & precios blood of ihesu | & vppon þe woundis of ihesu mai be red sorwe. to alle hem þat for false likinge & lust þat duriþ but a while. bynden hem-self to synne & seruage of þe fend | & lesen þe help of þe heuenli chartre & so here heritage; & wenden blyndli to sorwe þat duriþ for euere | þe laces of þis heuenli chartre: is þe biheeste of god & þat god mai not lie. for he is souereyn treuþe | þe firste laas is his [folio 73b] biheeste; þat was dai eiþer oure a synful man eiþir woman leueþ here synne hooli & hertli wiþ bittir sorwe & turneþ hem to him; he schal receiue hem to his mercy | but eche man be war þat he tarie not longe; lest for his owne vnkyndenesse grace be taken fro him | þe secounde laas is þe ful trist þat we han þat god may not lie neþir be false of his biheefte | hereinne hangiþ sikirli; oure trist of oure eritage | & bi þese two lacis hangiþ þe seel of oure chartre; selid wiþ þe blood of þe lomb crist | þat is cristis flessche taken of the clennest dropes of blood in þe swettest virgine marie; more craftili & merueylousli. þan euere ony bee. bi craft of kynde gadriþ þe wax of floures of þe feeld | þe printe [Transcript reads prince.] of þis

seel; is þe schap of oure lord ihesu crist hanginge for oure synne on þe cros. as we moun se bi þe ymage of þe crucifix | he haþ his heed bowid don; redi to kisse alle þilke þat verili turnen to him he haþ hise armes spred abrood; redi to biclippe hem | he is nailed faste foot & honde to þe crosse; for he wole duelle wiþ [folio 74] hem & neuere wende awey fro man; but if man forsake him first þorouȝ synne | he haþ al his bodi spred abrood: to ȝeue himself hoolly to vs cleuynge to him | vtterli he haþ his side opened; & his herte cloue for or oure sake | so þat wiþoute lettinge we moun crepe in to cristis herte & reste þere þorouȝ stidfast bileue & herti loue | þis chartre may not fiyr brenne ne watir drenche; neiþir þeef robbe neiþir ony crea|ture distroie | for þis scripture þe fadir of heuene haaþ halewid eiþir maad stidfast | & sente it into þe world; þe whiche scrip|ture mai not be vndo as þe gospel witnessiþ | þis scripture is oure lord Ihesu crist; chartre & bulle of oure eritage of heuene | locke not þis chartre in þi coffre; but sette it eiþir write it in þin herte | & alle þe creatures in heuene neiþir in erþe neiþir in helle moun not robbe it neiþir bireue it fro þe. but if þou wolt þi self assentinge to synne | & if þou kepist weel þis chartre in þe coffre of þin herte wiþ good liuynge & deuote loue lastingli to þin ende | as tristeli & treuli as he is trewe [folio 74b] god; þoroouȝ vertu of hise chartre þou schalt haue þin eritage of blisse duringe wiþouten ende. . . . .