fol. 60v (cont.)I
AFterF.11.1: The ornamental capital is in blue with red flourishes. The scribe has run flourishes from top to bottom of the page in
a russet ink not otherwise used in the manuscript. my wakynge / it was longe after.
F.11.4KD.15.4
& summeF.11.4: The scribe's intention here is not clear. His usual form for "some" used as a collective subject is summe (cf. 1.19, 21, 31, 86, etc.), and that is consonant with Bx. However, a tilde appears over the final <e>, and the scribe perhaps intended to write sum men? lakkede my lyf / þere a-lowed it fewe.
fol. 61rI
& whan y make moone to god / my name is Memorye.F.11.25: "XI" with red flourishes is written in the top right margin to indicate the passus number.
F.11.28KD.15.25
& for þat y can y knowe[and] knowe / callyd mens y am ofte.F.11.28: In Bx, this line appears after 11.24.
Awstyn & ambrose / have brevid on here bookis.F.11.37: F's reading is unique. Bx reads "Austyn and Ysodorus eiþer of hem boþe."
A-geyn swiche Salomon spekiþ / & disputiþF.11.62: F's disputiþ is unique. Bx has despiseþ. here wittis
fol. 61vI
Þe manF.11.66: An otiose curl appears over the <m>. þat mychel hony eet / his mawe mote be engleymed.
& vertit verbaF.11.70: Alpha is responsible for the word order. Beta witnesses have "verba vertit." in opera / holly to his powher.
¶ & ryght as hony is evil to defie / & engleymeengleyme[þ]F.11.74: We have taken the error to have been the work of the immediate scribe, but the redactor possibly understood the verb to be
parallel to the infinitive form in the a-verse. þe mawe.
F.11.84KD.15.75
& þe brawnces þat burgoneþ of hem / & bryngeþF.11.84: An otiose curl appears above the <g>. men to helle
F.11.96KD.15.85
Of vsereris / of horis / &F.11.96: Alpha is responsible for &. Beta witnesses have of alone. Curiously, R has and without of, so F's reading is unique. of averous chapmen.
þat seyde to hise dissipelis / nescitis[ne sitis] acceptores personarum.F.11.99: Alpha is responsible for the word order. Beta witnesses have "personarum acceptores."
F.11.104KD.15.93
Þorghȝ leelle lyvynge men / þat goddis lawesF.11.104: Alpha is responsible for plural lawes. Beta witnesses have lawe. techen.
fol. 62rI
Þere inparfyȝt presthod ys / &F.11.106: Alpha is responsible for &. Beta witnesses lack it. prechouris & techeris
For a myschef is in þe maister roote / þat is cam of þe bowis.F.11.109: F is unique among B manuscripts. Bx has "Ther is a meschief in þe more of swiche manere bowes."
¶ For-þy wolde þe lettrede / leven leccherye & cloþyngge.F.11.114: Bx reads "Forþi wolde ye lettrede leue þe lecherie of cloþyng." The substitution of þe for ye occurred in alpha, and occurred again in the BmBoCot group. F noted the inconsistency and two lines below changed both instances
of youre to here.
F.11.116KD.15.105
& trewe of here tunge / & of here tayle-ende.F.11.116: Though Langland's reference in Bx's "and of youre tail boþe" is sexual, it seems likely that F took the reference to be to "accounts, reckonings." For the
form, cf. 6.78 above.
Of tythis of trewe þyngisF.11.118: F's a-verse is unique. Most B manuscripts have "Tiþes of vntrewe þyng." / y-tylijd or y-chaffared.
¶ For ypocrisie in latyn / ys lykned to a dongoun.F.11.122: Alpha is responsible for dongoun. Beta witnesses read dongehill. It is perhaps curious that F uniquely introduces dunk, "dung," in 11.124 and did not correct his exemplar here.
& ȝoure werkis & ȝoure wordis / þere-vndir ben al foxly.F.11.127: F's foxly is unique. R has wlueliche, and beta has unloueliche.
Sicut de templo omne bonum procedit.F.11.129: The form procedit is from alpha. Beta witnesses read progreditur.
Si sacerdocium integrum fuerit . tota floret ecclesia. Si autem coruptaF.11.131: The form corupta is from alpha. Beta witnesses read corruptum. fuerit . omni fides marcida est . Si sacerdosF.11.131: The form sacerdos is from alpha. Beta witnesses read sacerdocium. fuerit in peccatis . totus populus conuertitur ad peccatumF.11.131: Alpha is responsible for peccatum, though the reading is shared by Cr2,3. Beta and C witnesses have peccandum. . Sicut videris arborem pallidam & marcidam . Intelligis quod vicium habet in radice.F.11.131: F alone omits the following: "Ita cum videris populum indisciplinatum & irreligiosum sine dubio sacerdocium eius non est sanum."
But euery prest sholde bere / for here broode baselardis.F.11.134: F's line is unique, revised in the light of a probably confused exemplar. Most beta witnesses have "But if many a preest
beere for hir baselardes and hir broches," where the alliterative pattern suggests that Bx was already corrupt. R reads "But if many preste bere for here broches and for here baselardes." The R scribe's placement
of a punctus elevatus after bere shows that he did not take "and for here baselardes" to have constituted the b-verse, though that is possible.
A peyre of bedis in here hond / orF.11.135: Alpha is responsible for or. Beta witnesses have and. a book to bydde on.
fol. 62vI
F.11.140KD.15.126-127
If he hadde no seruyse ne syluer / with evil wille he wille synge.F.11.140: F is unique. Beta witnesses have "Hadde he neuere seruice to saue siluer þerto seiþ it with ydel wille." R is similar to
beta, though its b-verse ("seith it with euel wille") suggests that alpha is responsible for evil.
Wolde neuere wit / of witty god / but vn-witty men hem made.F.11.143: Made is alpha's reading. Beta manuscripts read hadde.
& ben seketoures of sowlis good / & sumnowris with here feeris.F.11.145: F is unique. Bx has "Executours (or sectours) and Sodenes Somonours and hir lemmannes."
F.11.148KD.15.135
ButF.11.148: Alpha is responsible for But. (R has Ac.) Beta witnesses have And. goddis folk for defawte / for-faren & spyllyn.
¶ Of curatoures of holy cherche / &F.11.149: Alpha and C have &. Beta witnesses have as. clerkis þat ben auerous.
Þat þey sparen lyghtlyF.11.150: F's a-verse is unique. Bx has "Lightliche þat þei leuen." / loselys it habbeþ.
F.11.168KD.15.154
For men be not mercyable / to mendynauntis ne to poore.F.11.168: F's reading is unique. Other B manuscripts read: "Men beþ merciable to mendinauntz and to poore."
Of þyng þat hym needidF.11.174: Alpha is responsible for this word order. Beta witnesses have "neded hym." nowht / & nyme it if he myghte.
fol. 63rI
He beleviþF.11.185: Alpha and Y have He for beta's And. F uniquely has beleviþ for Bx's leneþ (or leueþ). & loveþ alle þo / þat oure lord god made.
F.11.196KD.15.181
He can portreyȝe wel þe Pater noster / & peynte it with ave.F.11.196: Alpha has the singular form. Beta and C witnesses have Aues.
But pers plowhman / parseyveþ more deppere.F.11.214: The comparative form here reflects normal shortening of the vowel before a doubled consonant.
fol. 63vI
Þat is why & wherfore / for many whyȝt y-knoweþ.F.11.215: Bx reads "What is þe wille and wherfore þat many wight suffreþ." Alpha had omitted þe before wille, and L agrees with alpha in reading Þat in place of What, but the remaining differences are attributable to F.
Fy on þo faytoures / & on factoresF.11.231: F alone reads factores. Other B manuscripts have fautores. suos.
& þe meriest of mowþ / at mete where he syttyþ.F.11.233: F omits the following line from Bx "The loue þat liþ in his herte makeþ hym liȝt of speche."
F.11.248KD.15.232
& in þat seutF.11.248: Curiously, the <u> is corrected from <n>, though in general the scribe does not distinguish the two graphies. sytthen / selden haþ he be knowe.
fol. 64rI
For here lawe dureþ longe / but if þey lacche syluer.F.11.257: F omits the following line from Bx "And matrimoyne for moneie maken and vnmaken." A large drypoint "X" appears in the right margin, probably an unheeded corrector's
mark to indicate the skipped line.
F.11.260KD.15.244
¶ With BisshopisF.11.260: An otiose curl appears over the <B>. & abbotys / & prelatis of holy chirche. These five lines appear only in alpha.
& cristis parsymonyeF.11.262: This is the first appearance we have found in the language of "parsimony." MED has no entry, and the earliest citation in the OED is 1432. Bx reads patrymonye. to þe pore / parcel-mel þey deltyn.
& god graunte vs grace / þat charite may vs folwe.F.11.266: The a-verse is written over an erasure, and a small hole follows god, but no text is lost.
Ne craueþ ne coueytiþ / ne criȝeþ after moore.F.11.270: Alpha omitted the following line attested by beta witnesses: "In pace in idipsum dormiam &c."
F.11.280KD.15.264
Sholde neuere Iudas þatF.11.280: Alpha has þat (F) or þe (R). Most beta witnesses have ne. Iew / have Iesu doon on roode.
& seyde to swiche þat suffre wolde / þat Pacientes vincunt.F.11.283: The scribe left a full line for rubrication, wrote Verbi gracia and then scraped it out, leaving one empty line. The reading is archetypal.
fol. 64vI
In Caues & in spelunsesF.11.291: Cf. OF espelunce, cited by MED, s. v. spelunkes. / & seelde spoke to-gydres.
But of þeF.11.294: Alpha has þe, which is omitted in beta. fowlis þat fleyȝ / þus is fownde in bookis.
F.11.296KD.15.280
& be þe melk of þeF.11.296: F is unique. R has "þat meke." Beta witnesses have "þat mylde." beeste/ þe man was susteyned.
But seelden & sundry tymeF.11.298: Alpha is responsible for singular tyme. / as seyþ þe book & techiþ.
¶ Seynt Antonye on a dayF.11.299: Alpha is responsible for "on a day." Beta witnesses have adayes. / A-bowte noon tyme.
F.11.300KD.15.284
He hadde a brid þat browte hym to / breed to his lyfloode.F.11.300: F's line is unique. Most B witnesses have "Hadde a brid þat brouȝte hym breed þat he by lyuede."
& þey þat goome hadde a gest / god feddeF.11.301: Alpha is responsible for fedde. Beta manuscripts have fond. hem boþe.
¶ Powl primus heremyta / hadde parokkid inF.11.302: Alpha is responsible for in, which is absent in beta. hym-selue.
Tyl þat he was fowndoure of frerys / of frauncesF.11.305: F alone reads fraunces, and Bx has Austynes. The verse in C is rewritten. ordre.
& summe þei solden & summe þei eetynF.11.309: Alpha's eetyn replaces soden, "seethed," which appears in beta manuscripts. / & so lyveden boþe.
¶ & also Marie Magdeleyn / be mores & byF.11.310: Alpha omitted lyuede before the & and added by after it. dewis.
Þat lyvedyn þus for oure lordis love / a-mongis wyȝlde beestis.F.11.313: The b-verse reading occurred in alpha; beta witnesses read "many longe yeres."
¶ But god sent hem foode by folis / & by no wyȝldeF.11.321: FG alone have wyȝlde. Bx has "fierse." beestys.
fol. 65rI
As who-so seyþ religious / ryght-ful men sholde feede.F.11.323: FW alone read feede. All other B witnesses have fynde. A drypoint "X" in the right margin may have been intended to call attention to the error.
& taken of here tenauntis / moore þan trewþe wolde.F.11.326: A drypoint "X" appears in the right margin, but the reason for its appearance is not apparent.
Ȝee hadde ryght y-now ȝee religious / & so ȝoure ordreF.11.333: Beta witnesses have correctly alliterating rule against alpha's ordre. techiþ.
Numquid dicit Iob . Rugiet onager cum habuerit herbam aut mugiet bos cum ante plenum presepe steteritF.11.334: Alpha omitted the following words from the middle of the Latin quotation: "brutorum animalium natura te condempnat quia cum eis pabulum commune sufficiat." ex adipe prodijt iniquitas tua.
Dispersit dedit pauperibus Iusticia eius manet in seculum seculi.F.11.343: F alone adds "Iusticia . . . seculi."
F.11.352KD.15.336
¶ Ryght so ȝee ryche / ȝee robbe þem / þat be not ryche. These lines are botched in alpha and in several beta manuscripts with roben, "to give a robe," confused with robben, "to rob, steal." Bx probably read:
Right so ye riche ye robeþ þat ben riche
And helpeþ hem þat helpeþ yow and ȝyueþ þer no nede is.
Right so ye riche ye robeþ þat ben riche
And helpeþ hem þat helpeþ yow and ȝyueþ þer no nede is.
As who-so fellyþ a tunne / ful of a ryver.F.11.354: F is unique. Beta witnesses have "As whoso filled a tonne of a fressh ryuer." R has a similar a-verse. Note that beta
lacks alpha's ful at the beginning of the b-verse, but R perhaps reflects an error in alpha when it replaces fressh with a second ful.
F.11.356KD.15.340
RichR[yght]F.11.356: The erroneous reading Rich is the only instance in this manuscript of the word spelled with <i>. The remaining 80 instances all are spelled with <y>
and a final <e>. The scribe has perhaps misread the common East Anglian form rith, "right," confusing <t> with <c>. so ȝee ryche men / ȝee robbenF.11.356: The same confusion of robben with roben noted at line F11.352 continues here. & feedyn.
fol. 65vI
But religious þat ryche been / shulde rathere feedeF.11.358: Alpha is responsible for feede. Beta witnesses have feeste. beggeris.
& many a prisoner fram purgatorie / þorghȝ prayere ben dylyuered.F.11.365: Alpha is responsible for a form of be plus the past participle. Beta witnesses have (he) deliuereþ.
F.11.372KD.15.353
But þe metal / þat is mannys soule / with synne is so a-layed.F.11.372: F and manuscripts BCG omit the following line from Bx: "Boþe lettred and lewed beþ alayed now wiþ synne."
F.11.376KD.15.358
Þey have no be-leeve to cristF.11.376: F's crist is unique. Bx has þe lifte. / ne to þe loore of philosofres.
Schipmen with schippis / & schepperdis with scheep wentyn.F.11.379: F's line is unique. Most B manuscripts have "Shipmen and shepherdes þat wiþ ship and sheep wenten."
Of þat was calkuled of clementF.11.389: This passage caused B scribes some confusion. Beta witnesses read þe element. Alpha's clement along with C's clymat reveals the probable reading. / þe contrarie nou þey fynde.
fol. 66rI
Ne redeF.11.394: An otiose curl appears above the first <e>. a lettre in ony langage / but in latyn or englyschȝ.
F.11.396KD.15.379, 378
& flaterrere his felawe / to formen his speche.F.11.396: F's b-verse is unique, and Bx is corrupt, reading "vnder hym to fourmen."
But þey oon hippe as y hope do nowht / oure be-leve sufficitF.11.405: Alpha is responsible for sufficit. Beta manuscripts have suffiseþ.
& so cristene / & vncristne / in oon god ben be-leven.F.11.414: This line is attested only in alpha.
F.11.420KD.15.402
& þe corn þat sche croppede / he cast it in his eere.F.11.420: Alpha omitted two lines attested by beta witnesses:
And if he among þe peple preched or in places come
Thanne wolde þe coluere come to þe clerkes ere.
And if he among þe peple preched or in places come
Thanne wolde þe coluere come to þe clerkes ere.
Menynge as after mete / þus machameþ hire chawnteþ.F.11.421: F's chawnteþ is unique. Bx has the preterite form, though alpha is responsible for apheretic chaunted in place of beta's enchauntede.
F.11.424KD.15.408
&F.11.424: Alpha is responsible for &. Beta witnesses have As. Messager to makameþ / men for to techen.
fol. 66vI
F.11.428KD.15.412
& sytthyn oure savioure suffrede / so / þe sarsynes to by gylid.F.11.428: The erasure, the additional solidus, and the inserted to suggest some confusion on the part of the scribe. Bx reads for the b-verse "þe Sarzens so bigiled."
But doon as seynt Antonye dyde / or dominik orF.11.437: Alpha is responsible for or. Beta witnesses have and. F is alone in beginning the b-verse with or. Frances.
Or benyȝt orF.11.438: Alpha is responsible for this or. Beta witnesses have and. F is alone in beginning the verse with Or. bernard / þe wheche hem fyrst tawhte.
To lyve be lytyl in lowe howses / be leele mennys fyndyng.F.11.439: Beta witnesses read almesse in place of alpha's fyndyng.
F.11.440KD.15.424
Grace sholde growe & be grene / þorghȝ here leelF.11.440: The error appears in alpha. Beta witnesses have correctly alliterating goode. lyvynge.
& here prayeres & here penaunces / to pees sholde hemF.11.443: An alpha reading. Beta witnesses omit hem. brynge.
Petite & accipietis . querite & inuenietis . pulsate.F.11.445: F alone among B manuscripts reads "querite . . . pulsate."
/ [¶] Salt saveþ þe Catelle / as seyn sadde wyves.F.11.446: F omits the following 68 lines, reflecting the contents either of a single leaf or (more likely) opening from his exemplar.
E. Talbot Donaldson noted this fact in "MSS R and F in the B-Tradition of Piers Plowman," Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (1955): 185 n. 19, rightly attributing the error to a copyist between F and alpha. More recently Sean Taylor, "The F Scribe
and the R Manuscript of Piers Plowman B," English Studies 77 (1996): 530-48, reminds us that this lacuna coincides with the opening of fols. 78v-79r in R and argues, we think unconvincingly, that F was copied directly from R. The omitted lines follow:
Vos estis sal terre &c.
The heuedes of holy chirche and þei holy were
Crist calleþ hem salt for cristene soules
Et si sal euanuerit in quo salietur
Ac fressh flessh ouþer fissh whan it salt failleþ
It is vnsauory forsoþe ysoden or ybake
So is mannes soule sooþly þat seeþ no good ensample
Of hem of holi chirche þat þe heighe wey sholde teche
And be gide and go bifore as a good Banyer
And hardie hem þat bihynde ben and ȝyue hem good euidence
Elleuene holy men al þe world tornede
Into lele bileue þe lightloker me þinkeþ
Sholde alle maner men we han so manye maistres
Preestes and prechours and a pope aboue
That goddes salt sholde be to saue mannes soule
Al was hethynesse som-tyme Engelond and Walis
Til Gregory garte clerkes to go here and preche
Austyn at Caunterbury cristnede þe kyng
And þoruȝ miracles as men mow rede al þat marche he tornede
To crist and to cristendom and cros to honoure
And follede folk faste and þe feiþ tauȝte
Moore þoruȝ miracles þan þoruȝ muche prechyng
As wel þoruȝ hise werkes as wiþ hise holy wordes
And seide hem what fullynge and feiþ was to mene
Clooþ þat comeþ fro þe weuyng is noȝt comly to were
Til it is fulled vnder foot or in fullyng stokkes
Wasshen wel wiþ water and wiþ taseles cracched
Ytouked and yteynted and vnder taillours hande
And so it fareþ by a barn þat born is of wombe
Til it be cristned in cristes name and confermed of þe bisshop
It is heþene as to heueneward and helplees to þe soule
Heþen is to mene after heeþ and vntiled erþe
As in wilde wildernesse wexeþ wilde beestes
Rude and vnresonable rennynge wiþ-outen cropers (or keperes)
Ye mynnen wel how Mathew seiþ how a man made a feste
He fedde hem wiþ no venyson ne fesauntz ybake
But wiþ foweles þat fram hym nolde but folwede his whistlyng
Ecce altilia mea & omnia parata sunt &c.
And wiþ calues flessh he fedde þe folk þat he louede
The calf bitokneþ clennesse in hem þat kepeþ lawes
For as þe Cow þoruȝ kynde mylk þe calf norisseþ til an Oxe
So loue and leaute lele men susteneþ
And maidenes and mylde men mercy desiren
Right as þe cow calf coueiteþ swete melke
So doon riȝtfulle men mercy and truþeThe text for the next fourteen lines is from R, though without its pointing or indication of abbreviations. Beta witnesses lack this passage.
And by þe hande fedde foules his folk vnderstonde
Þat loth ben to louye with-outen lernynge of ensaumples
Riȝt as capones in a court cometh to mennes whistlynge
In menynge after mete folweth men þat whistlen
Riȝt so rude men þat litel reson cunneth
Louen and byleuen by lettred mennes doynges
And by here wordes and werkes wenen and trowen
And as tho foules to fynde fode after whistlynge
So hope þei to haue heuene þoruȝ her whistlynge
And by þe man þat made þe feste þe mageste bymeneth
That is god of his grace gyueth al men blisse
With wederes and with wondres he warneth vs with a whistlere
Where þat his wille is to worschipen vs alle
And feden vs and festen vs for euere more at ones
Ac who beþ þat excuseþ hem þat arn persons and preestes
That heuedes of holy chirche ben þat han hir wil here
Wiþ-outen trauaille þe tiþe deel þat trewe men biswynken
They wol be wrooþ for I write þus ac to witnesse I take
Boþe Mathew and Marc and Memento domine dauid
Ecce audiuimus eam in effrata &c.
What pope or prelat now parfourneþ þat crist highte
Ite in vniuersum mundum & predicate &c.
Allas þat men so longe on Makometh sholde bileue
Vos estis sal terre &c.
The heuedes of holy chirche and þei holy were
Crist calleþ hem salt for cristene soules
Et si sal euanuerit in quo salietur
Ac fressh flessh ouþer fissh whan it salt failleþ
It is vnsauory forsoþe ysoden or ybake
So is mannes soule sooþly þat seeþ no good ensample
Of hem of holi chirche þat þe heighe wey sholde teche
And be gide and go bifore as a good Banyer
And hardie hem þat bihynde ben and ȝyue hem good euidence
Elleuene holy men al þe world tornede
Into lele bileue þe lightloker me þinkeþ
Sholde alle maner men we han so manye maistres
Preestes and prechours and a pope aboue
That goddes salt sholde be to saue mannes soule
Al was hethynesse som-tyme Engelond and Walis
Til Gregory garte clerkes to go here and preche
Austyn at Caunterbury cristnede þe kyng
And þoruȝ miracles as men mow rede al þat marche he tornede
To crist and to cristendom and cros to honoure
And follede folk faste and þe feiþ tauȝte
Moore þoruȝ miracles þan þoruȝ muche prechyng
As wel þoruȝ hise werkes as wiþ hise holy wordes
And seide hem what fullynge and feiþ was to mene
Clooþ þat comeþ fro þe weuyng is noȝt comly to were
Til it is fulled vnder foot or in fullyng stokkes
Wasshen wel wiþ water and wiþ taseles cracched
Ytouked and yteynted and vnder taillours hande
And so it fareþ by a barn þat born is of wombe
Til it be cristned in cristes name and confermed of þe bisshop
It is heþene as to heueneward and helplees to þe soule
Heþen is to mene after heeþ and vntiled erþe
As in wilde wildernesse wexeþ wilde beestes
Rude and vnresonable rennynge wiþ-outen cropers (or keperes)
Ye mynnen wel how Mathew seiþ how a man made a feste
He fedde hem wiþ no venyson ne fesauntz ybake
But wiþ foweles þat fram hym nolde but folwede his whistlyng
Ecce altilia mea & omnia parata sunt &c.
And wiþ calues flessh he fedde þe folk þat he louede
The calf bitokneþ clennesse in hem þat kepeþ lawes
For as þe Cow þoruȝ kynde mylk þe calf norisseþ til an Oxe
So loue and leaute lele men susteneþ
And maidenes and mylde men mercy desiren
Right as þe cow calf coueiteþ swete melke
So doon riȝtfulle men mercy and truþeThe text for the next fourteen lines is from R, though without its pointing or indication of abbreviations. Beta witnesses lack this passage.
And by þe hande fedde foules his folk vnderstonde
Þat loth ben to louye with-outen lernynge of ensaumples
Riȝt as capones in a court cometh to mennes whistlynge
In menynge after mete folweth men þat whistlen
Riȝt so rude men þat litel reson cunneth
Louen and byleuen by lettred mennes doynges
And by here wordes and werkes wenen and trowen
And as tho foules to fynde fode after whistlynge
So hope þei to haue heuene þoruȝ her whistlynge
And by þe man þat made þe feste þe mageste bymeneth
That is god of his grace gyueth al men blisse
With wederes and with wondres he warneth vs with a whistlere
Where þat his wille is to worschipen vs alle
And feden vs and festen vs for euere more at ones
Ac who beþ þat excuseþ hem þat arn persons and preestes
That heuedes of holy chirche ben þat han hir wil here
Wiþ-outen trauaille þe tiþe deel þat trewe men biswynken
They wol be wrooþ for I write þus ac to witnesse I take
Boþe Mathew and Marc and Memento domine dauid
Ecce audiuimus eam in effrata &c.
What pope or prelat now parfourneþ þat crist highte
Ite in vniuersum mundum & predicate &c.
Allas þat men so longe on Makometh sholde bileue
So manye prelatis ben to preche / as þe bibleF.11.447: The scribe first wrote peple and corrected it with a cross above the line and added bible in the margin. The Bx reading is pope, which is doubtless correct. makþ meende.
& as hym-selue seyde / to lyve / & dyȝe for oþire.F.11.451: F omits the following line from Bx: "Bonus pastor animam suam ponit &c."
& to cristene & to vncristeneF.11.453: Beta's a-verse reads "For cristene and vncristene." Alpha is responsible for to in place of for before cristene and for adding to before vncristene, but F alone begins the line with &. / crist seyde on þis wyse.
F.11.456KD.15.502
Haven a lyppe of oure be-leve / þe lyghtlokere it semeþ.F.11.456: Alpha is responsible for "it semeþ." Beta witnesses have "me þynkeþ."
For alle paynymes prayen / to oon persone of helpe.F.11.459: The b-verse is owed to alpha. Beta witnesses read as follows: "and parfitly bileueþ."
F.11.460KD.15.505
& on .o. god þey gredyn / & his grace asken.F.11.460: Alpha is responsible for the line, though R lacks line-initial &. Beta witnesses have "In þe holy grete god and his grace þei asken."
Þus in a feyþ lyveþF.11.462: The manuscripts are divided between leue(þ), "believes," (most beta witnesses) and some form of liven (alpha and CrL). þat folk / & in fals meene.
& þat is rewthe for ryght-ful men / þat in þe rewme dwelle.F.11.463: F omits the following line from Bx: "And a peril to þe pope and prelates þat he makeþ."
fol. 67rI
Whan þe hyȝe kyng of heuene / sente his sone to erþe. These lines are attested only in alpha. For further discussion, see Ralph Hanna, III, Pursuing History: Middle English Manuscripts and Their Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), pp. 215-29. Some corroborative evidence for Hanna's position is provided by
Stephen Justice, "Introduction: Authorial Work and Literary Ideology," in Written Work: Langland, Labor, and Authorship, eds. Stephen Justice and Kathryn Kerby-Fulton (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), pp. 5-9.
& nowht to hoppe here & þeere / for halwen awteris.F.11.483: The scribe originally wrote nawteris and corrected it to awteris.F.11.483: F's reading is unique. R reads "And nauȝt to huppe aboute here in englande for to halwe autres." Beta witnesses have "That
huppe aboute in Engelond to halwe mennes Auteres."
Er cristendom were knowe þere / or ony cros honowred.F.11.487: Alpha omitted the following lines, attested by beta manuscripts. For the ordering in Bx see the discussion in Kane-Donaldson, p. 176.
It is ruþe to rede how riȝtwise men lyuede
How þei defouled hir flessh forsoke hir owene wille
Fer fro kyth and fro kyn yuele ycloþed yeden
Baddely ybedded no book but conscience
Ne no richesse but þe roode to reioisse hem Inne
Absit nobis gloriari nisi in cruce domini nostri &c.
And þo was plentee and pees amonges poore and riche
And now is rouþe to rede how þe rede noble
Is reuerenced er þe Roode receyued for þe worþier
Than cristes cros þat ouercam deeþ and dedly synne
And now is werre and wo and who-so why askeþ
For coueitise after cros þe croune stant in golde
Boþe riche and Religious þat roode þei honoure
That in grotes is ygraue and in gold nobles
For coueitise of þat cros men of holy kirke
Shul torne as templers dide þe tyme approcheþ faste
Wite ye noȝt yeThe Bx reading here is uncertain, since good manuscripts from beta both omit (BCC2LMOY) and include (CrGHmW) ye. wise men how þo men honoured
Moore tresor þan trouþe I dar noȝt telle þe soþe
Reson and rightful doom þo Religiouse demede
Right so ye clerkes for youre coueitise er longe
Shal þei demen dos ecclesie and youre pride depose
Deposuit potentes de sede &c.
If knyghthod and kynde wit and commune by conscience
Togideres loue leelly leueþ it wel ye bisshopes
The lordshipe of londes for euere shul ye lese
And lyuen as Leuitici as oure lord yow techeþ
Per primicias & decimas &c.
Whan Costantyn of curteisie holy kirke dowed
Wiþ londes and ledes lordshipes and rentes
An Aungel men herden an heigh at Rome crye
Dos ecclesie þis day haþ ydronke venym
And þo þat han Petres power arn apoisoned alle
A medicyne moot þer-to þat may amende prelates
That sholden preie for þe pees possession hem letteþ
Takeþ hire landes ye lordes and leteþ hem lyue by dymes
If possession be poison and inparfite hem make
Good were to deschargen hem for holy chirches sake
And purgen hem of poison er moore peril falle
If preesthode were parfit þe peple sholde amende
That contrarien cristes lawe and cristendom dispise.
F.11.487: A large drypoint <X> appears in the right margin, perhaps noting the omission of this passage, though the loss had occurred in alpha and therefore could not have been in the immediate scribe's exemplar.
It is ruþe to rede how riȝtwise men lyuede
How þei defouled hir flessh forsoke hir owene wille
Fer fro kyth and fro kyn yuele ycloþed yeden
Baddely ybedded no book but conscience
Ne no richesse but þe roode to reioisse hem Inne
Absit nobis gloriari nisi in cruce domini nostri &c.
And þo was plentee and pees amonges poore and riche
And now is rouþe to rede how þe rede noble
Is reuerenced er þe Roode receyued for þe worþier
Than cristes cros þat ouercam deeþ and dedly synne
And now is werre and wo and who-so why askeþ
For coueitise after cros þe croune stant in golde
Boþe riche and Religious þat roode þei honoure
That in grotes is ygraue and in gold nobles
For coueitise of þat cros men of holy kirke
Shul torne as templers dide þe tyme approcheþ faste
Wite ye noȝt yeThe Bx reading here is uncertain, since good manuscripts from beta both omit (BCC2LMOY) and include (CrGHmW) ye. wise men how þo men honoured
Moore tresor þan trouþe I dar noȝt telle þe soþe
Reson and rightful doom þo Religiouse demede
Right so ye clerkes for youre coueitise er longe
Shal þei demen dos ecclesie and youre pride depose
Deposuit potentes de sede &c.
If knyghthod and kynde wit and commune by conscience
Togideres loue leelly leueþ it wel ye bisshopes
The lordshipe of londes for euere shul ye lese
And lyuen as Leuitici as oure lord yow techeþ
Per primicias & decimas &c.
Whan Costantyn of curteisie holy kirke dowed
Wiþ londes and ledes lordshipes and rentes
An Aungel men herden an heigh at Rome crye
Dos ecclesie þis day haþ ydronke venym
And þo þat han Petres power arn apoisoned alle
A medicyne moot þer-to þat may amende prelates
That sholden preie for þe pees possession hem letteþ
Takeþ hire landes ye lordes and leteþ hem lyue by dymes
If possession be poison and inparfite hem make
Good were to deschargen hem for holy chirches sake
And purgen hem of poison er moore peril falle
If preesthode were parfit þe peple sholde amende
That contrarien cristes lawe and cristendom dispise.
F.11.487: A large drypoint <X> appears in the right margin, perhaps noting the omission of this passage, though the loss had occurred in alpha and therefore could not have been in the immediate scribe's exemplar.
To tellyn & schevenF.11.489: Though <v> can be written for <w> in East Anglian dialects (see Richard Jordan, Handbook of Middle English Grammar: Phonology, trans. and rev. Eugene J. Crook (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1974), § 300), it is rarely done in this manuscript after
front vowels. However, since schewen is clearly the (erroneous) reading of alpha, it must have been what the scribe intended. Beta manuscripts have techen. / on þe trinnyte to be-leeve.F.11.489: In relation to Bx this line and the next are transposed.
& feedenF.11.491: The <d> is written over an erasure, possible a long <s>. hem with goostly foode / & nedy folk to feedenf[yn]den. These lines are attested only in alpha, probably because of eye-skip in beta on goostly foode. F omits foode after the second goostly.
Þat no man shold be bisschop / but if he hadde boþe.F.11.493: A drypoint <X> appears in the right margin.
In domo mea non est panis . neque vestimentum.
& ideo nolite constituere me regem. ysa. 3o.F.11.495: Alpha and L alone cite the source.
& ideo nolite constituere me regem. ysa. 3o.F.11.495: Alpha and L alone cite the source.
Are formedF.11.499: Alpha is likely to have been responsible for forme, if not the preterite form. R has for me. Beta witnesses have ferme. as in þe feyþ / goddis forbode ellys.
¶ Þe Iewes be-levenF.11.501: F's be-leven is unique. Most other B witnesses have lyuen. in leel lawe / oure lord wrot it hym-selue.
fol. 67vI
F.11.504KD.15.585
& took it Moyse to teche it hemF.11.504: Alpha is responsible for hem. Beta witnesses have correctly alliterating men. / tyl messias come.
& by þat mangery þeyF.11.511: Alpha has þey in place of beta's men. myghte seen / þat messias he were.
F.11.520KD.15.599
¶ But Danyel of here doengeF.11.520: FCrM alone have doenge. Most B manuscripts have vndoynge. / dyvynede & seyde.
Cum veniat sanctus sanctorum. F.11.521: The reading is owed to alpha. Beta witnesses read "Cum sanctus sanctorum veniat cessabit vnxio vestra."
Kunne þe firste clawse / of oure beleeve.F.11.529: F makes two lines of Bx's one. Bx reads "Konne þe firste clause of oure bileue Credo in deum patrem omnipotentem."
Tyl þey cowden speken & spellyn / CredoF.11.533: F alone reads Credo. Beta witnesses have et, and R has and. in spiritum sanctum.
fol. 68rI
Explicit
Passus .xius. "XII" with red flourishes
appears in the top right margin to indicate the passus number.