Hali meidenhad: An Alliterative Homily of the Thirteenth Century

Description

This (in?)famous 12th-13th century work ( *a* 1230 AD) is cited and quoted frequently in Bugge's [*Virginitas*](https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=7932) and the [*OED*](https://oed.com/search?f_0=Quotation+Title&scope=QUOTATION&q_0=Hali%20Meid.).An objection I could find is the claim that "[Maidenhood] Tis a virtue above all virtues, and to Christ þe most acceptable of all." Does the author mean *in genere castitatis* ([II-II q. 152 a. 5](https://isidore.co/aquinas/summa/SS/SS152.html#SSQ152A5THEP1) co.) only?The author doesn't seem Albigensian dualist or Montanist here (as the editor alleges):> Our flesh is our foe, and debases and harmeð us as it defileð us. But if it keep itself wiðout offence, pure, it is our very good friend and help, out of true servicePDF p. 17 (p. 34) seems problematic, though; the author, paraphrasing 1 Cor. 6:17, seems to think there is no difference between fornication and the marriage act, but perhaps he's only speaking *materialiter*. [In the marriage act, the goods of marriage excuse it.](https://isidore.co/aquinas/summa/XP/XP049.html#XPQ49A4THEP1)PDF is just the modernized English pages.