Biblical Commentary and Translation in Later Medieval England: Experiments in Interpretation

Description

Drawing extensively on unpublished manuscript sources, this study uncovers the culture of experimentation that surrounded biblical exegesis in fourteenth-century England. In an area ripe for revision, Andrew Kraebel challenges the accepted theory (inherited from Reformation writers) that medieval English Bible translations represent a proto-Protestant rejection of scholastic modes of interpretation. Instead, he argues that early translators were themselves part of a larger scholastic interpretive tradition, and that they tried to make that tradition available to a broader audience. Translation was thus one among many ways that English exegetes experimented with the possibilities of commentary. With a wide scope, the book focuses on works by writers from the heretic John Wyclif to the hermit Richard Rolle, alongside a host of lesser-known authors, including Henry Cossey and Nicholas Trevet, and many anonymous texts. The study provides new insight into the ingenuity of medieval interpreters willing to develop new literary-critical methods and embrace intellectual risks. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Dedication Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction Chapter 1 Interpretive Theories and Traditions The Indifferent Conservative: Thomas Waleys Interpretive Innovation: Nicholas Trevet and Henry Cossey Chapter 2 Eclectic Hermeneutics: Biblical Commentary in Wyclif's Oxford Hermeneutic Eclecticism and the Structure of the Psalter Private Glosses Uncommon Exposition Eclectic Hermeneutics and Belated Exegesis: William Woodford on Matthew Chapter 3 Richard Rolle's Scholarly Devotion Hermit Hermeneutics The Invention of Commentary-Translation The School of Rolle Rolle in Oxford, Again Chapter 4 Moral Experiments: Middle English Matthew Commentaries ''Not of Myne Hede Nor of Myne Owne Fantasy'' ''Þis Scribeler Hadde Travelid wiþ Fals Bookis'' ''As in a Riche Mannes Schoppe'' ''Pleyn Mater'' Epilogue: John Bale's Dilemma Appendix A Subject Matter Symbols in Wyclif's Postils Appendix B The Texts and Revisions of Rolle's Latin Psalter Appendix C The Durham Matthew Prologue [Introitus ad Litteram Libri] Liber Generationis Iesu Christi: Capitulum Secundum Textual Notes Notes Introduction 1 Interpretive Theories and Traditions 2 Eclectic Hermeneutics: Biblical Commentary in Wyclif's Oxford 3 Richard Rolle's Scholarly Devotion 4 Moral Experiments: Middle English Matthew Commentaries Epilogue: John Bale's Dilemma Bibliography Printed Sources Secondary Studies Index of Manuscripts General Index