Manuscripts and transmission
There are four extant manuscripts that contain the Paenitentiale Bedae, all dating to the ninth century, ranging geographically from northeastern France to the Main river region. The sigla given below (W9, Z2, etc.) are those introduced by Reinhard Haggenmüller.
| Siglum | Manuscript | Contents |
|---|
| Mp2 | Montpellier, Bibliothèque universitaire (Faculté de Médecine), MS 387, fols 1–80 (written middle of ninth century northeastern Francia) | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx |
| Se2 | Sélestat, Bibliothèque humaniste, MS 132 (written middle of ninth century, possibly in Mainz) | rites for exorcism; incantations; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti ; Paenitentiale Bedae; Excarpsus Cummeani |
| T5 | Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Codex Fragm. 100 A, w, x, y and z + Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, MS 895 fragm. + Donaueschingen, Hofbibliothek, MS 925 Fragm. [1] (written about 800 probably in northern Italy) | Epitome Hispana (fragmentary; excerpts); [2] Paenitentiale Oxoniense II (fragmentary); Paenitentiale Ecgberhti (prologue and c. 4.15 only, possibly once followed by further Paenitentiale Ecgberhti material); a series of penitential excerpts [3] (fragmentary; including excerpts from Paenitentiale Umbrense book I, Paenitentiale Cummeani , and Paenitentiale Burgundense); Paenitentiale Bedae [4] (first preface and first sentence of second preface [5] only, possibly once followed by further Paenitentiale Bedae material) |
| W9 | Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex lat. 2223 (written beginning of ninth century in the Main river region) | Paenitentiale Theodori (U version); Paenitentiale Bedae; Paenitentiale Cummeani (excerpt); Capitula iudiciorum (previously known as the Poenitentiale XXXV capitulorum); Libellus responsionum ; miscellaneous creedal and theological works; Paenitentiale Ecgberhti |
| Z2 | Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Car. C 176 (D 64), fols 1–136 (written ca 850×875 in eastern Francia) | xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
|
Haggenmüller divided the four main surviving witnesses of the Paenitentiale Bedae into two groups, based broadly on the regions in which they were produced, the nature and arrangement of their accompanying texts, and shared readings in the Paenitentiale Bedae itself.: [6] the 'Rhine-Main river' group consists of the oldest manuscripts (W9 and Se1), while the 'East-Frankish' group (Mp2 and Z2) represents a slightly older tradition.
The Paenitentiale Bedae is also transmitted in somewhat altered form as part of two later penitential texts known as the Vorstufe des Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Preliminary Stage of the Unified Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential, in which the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti is affixed to the end of the Paenitentiale Bedae) and the Paenitentiale additivum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Unified Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential; like the Preliminary Stage, but the whole is now preceded by the prefaces of both the Paenitentiale Bedae and the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti), and in greatly altered form in the still later Paenitentiale mixtum Pseudo-Bedae–Ecgberhti (or Merged Bedan-Ecgberhtine Penitential, in which the chapters of both the Paenitentiale Bedae and the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti are mixed together and arranged by topic).
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