Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The Middle English charters of Christ ...

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."]
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Title
The Middle English charters of Christ ...
Author
Spalding, Mary Caroline, 1877-
Canvas
Page 99
Publication
[Baltimore,: J. H. Furst company, printers,
1914]
Subject terms
English poetry

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"The Middle English charters of Christ ..." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afw1075.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 22, 2025.
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