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PESERVED
SOURCES
OF TE
PARSON'S
TALE
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Radcliffe College Monographs
No. 12
THE SOURCES
OF
THE PARSON'S TALE
122566
BY
KATE OELZNER PETERSEN
BOSTON, U.S.A.
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
The Athenæum Press

1901
COPYRIGHT, 1901
BY RADCLIFFE COLLEGE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

9-24-3
36 ag
PREFACE
THIS investigation was begun in January, 1899, as an inquiry
into the relation between the Parson's Tale and an Italian tract
by Jacopo Passavanti, the similarity of whose material with
Chaucer's had caught my attention.
The search for Passavanti's sources led me, in the following
August, to a treatise by Raymund of Pennaforte, which, to-
gether with a tract by Guilielmus Peraldus, brings the inves-
tigation to the ultimate sources of the Parson's Tale. Its
immediate source I have still to trace.
Throughout the investigation, I have been under constant
obligation to Professor Kittredge of Harvard University.
I am
also indebted to Mr. Kiernan of the Harvard College Library;
to Dr. C. R. Gillett, by whose courtesy I have had access to
the fine collection of incunabula in the Union Theological
Library of New York city; and to Mr. G. H. Baker, formerly
of Columbia University, and his successor, Dr. J. H. Canfield,
for their kindness in extending to me the privileges of the Uni-
versity Library. I should also express my obligation to the
authorities of the British Museum, who kindly considered the
brevity of a fortnight's stay in London, and waived formality in
granting me immediate admission to the Reading Room.
K. O. P.
BROOKLYN, March, 1901.
THE
SOURCES OF THE PARSON'S TALE
PREVIOUS investigators of the source of Chaucer's Parson's Tale
have made the digression¹ on the Seven Deadly Sins the hinge of
their argument, owing to the fact that there is a general resemblance
between this digression on sin (and what follows it in the P.
T.) and the Somme des Vices et des Vertus by Frère Lorens. And
what Professor Skeat says of the source of the Parson's Tale is
probably the generally accepted theory: "It is now known that this
tale is little else than an adaptation (with alterations, omissions, and
additions, as usual with Chaucer) of a French treatise by Frère Lorens,
entitled La Somme des Vices et des Vertus, written in
1279."
11 2
1 Since this paper was written, Professor Liddell's article, A New Source of the
"Parson's Tale" (published in An English Miscellany, Presented to Dr. Furnivall,
Oxford, 1901) has appeared. In this article Professor Liddell dismisses the tract
on the Seven Deadly Sins as being a translation or adaptation of Frère Lorens's
Somme, or of some treatise like it, and devotes his attention to the body of the
Tale, i. e., to the part on Penitence proper. He then describes an English tract of
the latter part of the fourteenth century, The Clensyng of Mannes Sowle, which
furnishes us with an interesting analogue to Chaucer's tract. It does not, however,
as Professor Liddell is inclined to think, furnish the actual source of any portion
of the P. T. For Passavanti's treatise, in the first place, affords a more exten-
sive parallel than the English tract, and a number of treatises, enumerated, p. 80,
note I, below, afford a similar parallel, and finally, a more exhaustive parallel than
any of these is afforded by a work of Raymund of Pennaforte (see p. 2 below),
whose exposition of the subject seems to be the original of these various tracts on
Penitence.
2 Chaucer, III, 502 f. Cf. Mr. G. C. Macaulay's statement in his recent edition
of Gower (1899, I, xlvii): "This is obvious in the case of the first-named book
[sc. the Somme], the original, as is well known, of the Ayenbite of Inwyt and of
Chaucer's Persones Tale." Professor Liddell, however, in 1896, had called atten-
tion to a MS. of old French sermons (see Academy, 1896, pp. 447f., 509), which
contain a closer parallel than the Somme to a few of the passages supposed to be
derived from the Somme (cf. note 3, on § 90, v. 1024, p. 23, below).
I
2
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
This theory, however, is hardly justified by the resemblance upon
which it is based. For the agreements between the P. T. and the
Somme neither cover the fundamental material of the P. T. (§§ 1−23),
which precedes the digression on the Seven Deadly Sins, nor do the
agreements in the digression itself (and what follows it in the P. T.)
extend to the structure of the argument: they consist rather of scat-
tered and individual agreements in the definition of similar subjects.¹
Moreover, I believe that there is evidence to justify the conclusions:
(1) that the source of the Parson's Tale, in general, is a Latin tract
by Raymund of Pennaforte,2 written at least thirty-six years before
the Somme of Lorens, and affording not only the general structure
of the P. T., but also a considerable part of its phraseology; and
(2) that the digression on the Seven Deadly Sins is not an adaptation
of Lorens's work, but rather of the Summa seu Tractatus de Viciis of
Guilielmus Peraldus, which also was written several years before the
Somme.
3
1 Cf. notes on §§ 25-27, pp. 36 ff., below, and note 3 on § 90, v. 1024, p. 23,
below.
2 This tract is from the third book of the Summa Casuum Poenitentiae, a work
which had an extraordinary currency from 1250 to 1400. Cf. von Schulte, Die
Gesch. der Quellen und Lit. des Can. Rechts, ii, 410 f.; Danzas, Études sur les temps
prim. de l'Ordre de St. Dominique, I, 2d ser., p. 276; Wetzer et Welte, Dict. de
la Théol., art. Casuistique; AA.SS., Jan. 7th; Quétif and Échard, Script. Ord.
Pred., I, 106 f. The Summa was written at least as early as 1243 (von Schulte,
p. 412). Raymund's works were known and valued by English men of letters of
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Mr. F. S. Stevenson, in his study of
Grosseteste (p. 174), says: "As the compiler of that work [sc. the Decretals
of Gregory IX], the Dominican Raymund of Penaforte, who became general of
the order in 1238, and who was also the Pope's penitentiary, was an esteemed
correspondent of Grosseteste, it may be conjectured that a copy of Gregory's
Decretals was sent to the Bishop either by the Pope himself or by Raymund, either
out of courtesy or on account of his intimate connection with the University of
Oxford, with a view to its introduction into the curriculum." Richard Rolle of
Hampole (vv. 3940-3947) alludes to a statement from Raymund's book, which is
evidently the statement quoted after v. 1056, p. 30, below. And Nicolas Trivet
(Annales, p. 227) says of Raymund's Summa: Scripsit Summam de Casibus,
confessoribus perutilem."
8 Peraldus must have written his Summa before 1261, for Étienne de Bourbon,
who died about 1261, says (ed. Lecoy de la Marche, pp. 7 f; cf. also, pp. 23, 46,
126, 378, 380, 421): "Collegimus ... de Summis de Viciis et Virtutibus, fratris
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
3
The correspondence between the Latin tract by Raymund and the
P. T. begins with the first paragraph of the P. T. and runs on
pretty consecutively, with the exception of the break at the digression
on sin in the P. T., almost to the end of the Tale. The parallels will
speak best for themselves, and they are as follows:
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.¹
Post abyssum, et laqueos Babylonis,
de quibus superius aliqua memoravimus
ad cautelam, videlicet, ut cognoscantur,
et cognita melius evitentur; restat, ut
ad portum quietis, ac serenitatis aeternae
soliciti festinemus, inquirentes
THE PERSONES TALE.
Jer. 6: State super vias et videte et
interrogate de viis antiquis, que sit via
bona; et ambulate in ea, et inuenietis
refrigerium animabus vestris, &c.
§ 1, v. 75: Oure swete lord god 2 of
hevene, that no man wol perisse, but
wole that we comen alle to the know-
leche of him, and to blisful lyf that is
perdurable,5
vv. 76-79: amonesteth us by the pro-
phete Jeremie, that seith in this wyse :
" stondeth upon the weyes. . . ."
Willelmi de Peraldo, de ordine Predicatorum." Peraldus was a Dominican, like
his contemporaries, Raymund of Pennaforte, Étienne de Bourbon, and Frère Lorens.
He was also a Doctor of the University of Paris.
¹ Lib. III, titulus 34, pp. 415-458 of the Verona edition of 1744.
2 Cf. the opening sentence of the Summa in the version of Hostiensis: Miseri-
cors et miserator Dominus cuius misericordie non est numerus, misericorditer
semper agens ac salutem peccatorum sitiens, etc.
8 Cf. II Peter iii, 9; and Ezek., xviii, 23, 32, and xxxiii, 11.
4 Cf. I Tim. ii, 4.
5 With the Parson's introductory paragraphs, cf. the last chapter of L' Ymage du
Monde (Saint Pierre de Luxembourg): Saint Pierre dit que nous sommes tous
pelerins en ce monde cy et alons iour et nuyt sans arrester en nostre pays que est
au ciel. Et pour recreation auoir comment les pelerins qui parlent voulentiers en
alant leur chemin aussi en alant a nostre pelerinage, cest en paradis, nous parlerons
ong petit; car nous cheminons fort et nauons mais que trois iournees a cheminer :
l'une des dictes trois iournees est Contrition et l'autre Confession, et la tierce est
Satisfaction, etc.
4
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
viam rectam, necessariam,
et infallibilem,
quae quidem est poenitentia: circa quam
videndum
quid ipsa sit, et unde dicatur;
de tribus actionibus poenitentiae ;
de tribus speciebus ejusdem ;
quae sint necessaria
in vera penitentia ;
de Clavibus, de remissionibus,
de impedimentis poenitentiae ;
et aliqua alia dubitabilia interponemus
circa istam materiam.
§ I: Quid est poenitentia, et unde
dicatur.
Poenitentia est, ut ait Ambrosius
mala praeterita plangere,
et plangenda iterum non committere.
Item Augustinus:
THE PERSONES TALE.
v. 80: Of whiche weyes, ther is a ful
noble wey and a ful convenable, which
may nat faile to man ne to womman,
that thurgh sinne hath misgoon fro the
righte wey of Jerusalem celestial; ¹
v. 81 and this wey 2 is cleped Peni-
tence, of which man sholde gladly herk-
nen and enquere with al his herte;
3
v. 82: to witen what is Penitence,
and whennes it is cleped Penitence,
and in how manye maneres been the
accions or werkinges of Penitence,
v. 83: and how manye spyces ther
been of Penitence,
and which thinges apertenen and bihoven
to Penitence,
and whiche thinges destourben Penitence.
§ 2, v. 84: Seint Ambrose seith, that
"Penitence is
the pleyninge of man for the gilt that he
hath doon,
and na-more to do anything for which
him oghte to pleyne."
v. 85: And som doctour seith:
Poenitentia est quaedam dolentis vin- "Penitence is the waymentinge of man,
dicta,
quod dolet commisisse.
puniens in se,
Dicitur autem poenitentia,
quasi 4
that sorweth for his sinne and
pyneth himself
for he hath misdoon."
v. 86: Penitence,
with certeyn circumstances,
1 Cf. the quotation from Peter of Luxembourg, p. 3, note 5, and also the
Prol. to P. T., v. 49.
2 Holkot (Super Libros Sapientiae), lectio 62, in fine, quotes the Parson's text
from Jeremiah with the same application to the way of Penitence.
³ Chaucer fails to give the exposition of this topic. Cf. Raymund, opp. § 2,
v. 86, below. Again at § 16, v. 317, the Parson announces a topic which he fails to
expound. Both these topics, named but not treated by the Parson, are named and
regularly treated by Raymund.
4 Cf. § 1, v. 82, above.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
5
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE,
poenae tentio,
a puniendo, quia per illam
quis punit illicita, quae commisit.
Probantur haec.
•
Occasione illius verbi positi in auctori-
tate Ambrosii,
et plangenda iterum non committere,
dixerunt quidam, quod si aliquis vere
poenitet, nunquam postea peccabit mor-
taliter; et si contigit ipsum peccare
postea, probatur per hoc,
quod prima non fuit vera poenitentia;
muniunt se aliis auctoritatibus.
Isidorus:
Irrisor est,
non poenitens,
qui adhuc agit,
quod poenitet,
nec videtur Deum poscere subditus sed
subsanare superbus.
Item Augustinus: Inanis est poeni
tentia, quam sequens culpa coinquinat.
Item:
Nihil prosunt lamenta, si replicantur
peccata.
Ad hoc dicendum. . . . et hoc aperte
innuit
Gregorius dicens :
THE PERSONES TALE.
is verray repentance
of a man that halt him-self in sorwe
and other peyne for hise giltes.
v. 87: And for he shal be verray peni-
tent, he shal first biwailen the sinnes
that he hath doon, and stidefastly pur-
posen in his herte to have shrift of
mouthe, and to doon satisfaccioun,
:
v. 88 and never to doon thing for
which him oghte more to biwayle or to
compleyne, and to continue in good
werkes :
or elles
his repentance may nat availle ;
v. 89; For as seith
seint Isidre :
"he is a japer and a gabber, and
no verray repentant,
that eftsoone dooth
thing, for which him oghte repente."
v. 90: Wepinge, and nat for to stinte
to doon sinne, may not avaylle.
1
v. 91: But nathelees, men shal hope
that every tyme that man falleth, be it
never so ofte, that he may aryse ¹ thurgh
Penitence, if he have grace; but cer-
teinly it is greet doute.
v. 92: For as seith Seint Gregorie: 2
1 Cf. § 90, v. 1025, and § 102, v. 1073. Cf. also the Summa in the version of
Goffredus: Secunda [sc. tabula] est Penitentia, qua resurgimus post peccatum.
2 Cf. § 88, v. 1000.
6
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Poenitentiam agere est praeterita mala
plangere, et plangenda non committere.
Nam qui sic alia deplorat, ut tamen alia
committat, adhuc poenitentiam agere aut
ignorat, aut dissimulat.
•
Contrarium dixit philosophus 2 . . .
§ II: De tribus actionibus poenitentiae.
Actiones autem poenitentiae, ut
Augustinus, sunt tres:
una est,
ait
THE PERSONES TALE.
"unnethe aryseth he out of sinne, that is
charged with the charge of yvel usage."
v. 93: And therefore repentant folk,
that stinte for to sinne, and forlete
sinne er that sinne forlete hem,¹
holy chirche holdeth hem siker of hir sa-
vacioun.
v. 94: And he that sinneth, and ver-
raily repenteth him in his laste ende.
$ 3, v. 95: And now, sith I have de-
clared yow what thing is Penitence,
now shul ye understonde that ther been
three accions of Penitence.
v. 96: the firste accion of Penitence is,
quae novum hominem parturit, et fit ante that a man be baptized after that he hath
Baptismum;
nisi enim baptizandus poeniteat
vitae veteris,
novam vitam inchoare non potest;
sed si baptizetur,
recipit caracterem,
sed non gratiam
et peccatorum remissionem,
donec recedat fictio de corde suo. . .
Altera vero poenitentia est,
sive actio poenitentiae, quam quis
post baptismum facit de mortalibus
peccatis.
Tertia est,
quae fit de peccatis venialibus
quotidianis.
De hac Augustinus:
1 Cf. The Phisiciens Tale, v. 286.
sinned.
v. 97: Seint Augustin seith:
"but he be penitent
for his olde sinful lyf,
he may nat biginne the newe clene lif."
v. 98: For certes, if he be baptized
withouten penitence of his olde gilt,
he receiveth the mark of baptisme,
but nat the grace
ne the remission of his sinnes,
til he have repentance verray.
v. 99: Another defaute is this,
that men
doon deedly sinne after that they
have received baptisme.
V. 100: The thrid de defaute is,
that men fallen in venial sinnes
after hir baptisme,
fro day to day.
v. 101: Ther-of seith Seint Augustin,
2 Raymund continues this discussion for five folio columns.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
7
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Poenitentia
humilium et bonorum fidelium,
poena quotidiana.
Probantur haec omnia, de poenit.,
dist. i, cap.: Tres sunt Actiones, de
Consecr.
•
1
§ III: De tribus poenitentiae speciebus.
Species poenitentiae sunt
tres: nam alia est solemnis,
alia publica,
alia privata.
Solemnis est,
quae fit in capite
quadragesimae cum solemnitate,
quae est dist. 50, c., In capite.2
Dicitur etiam, Solemnis,
licet non ita proprie,
THE PERSONES TALE.
that "penitence
of goode and humble folk
is the penitence of every day."
§4, v. 102: The spyces of Penitence
been
three. That oon of hem is solempne,
another is commune,
and the thridde is privee.
v. 103: Thilke penance that is sol-
empne, is in two maneres:
as to be put out of holy chirche in
lente,
for slaughtre of children, and swich maner
thing.
V. 104: Another is,
quando aliquis invitus ad poenitentiam whan a man
¹ Raymund then quotes these passages in full, and the following selection from
the "Tres sunt " quotation is important for §21, 362 f., below: “Est etiam poeni-
tentia humilium et bonorum fidelium poena quotidiana, in qua pectora contundi-
mus, dicentes: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, etc. Neque enim ea dimitti nobis
volumus, quae dimissa in baptismo non dubitamus; sed illa utique, quae humanae
fragilitati, quamvis parva, tamen crebra subrepunt; quae si collecta contra nos
fuerint, ita nos gravabunt, et oppriment, sicut unum aliquid grande peccatum.
Quid enim interest ad naufragium, utrum uno grandi fluctu navis operiatur, et
obruatur, an paullatim subrepens aqua in sentinam, et per negligentium culpam
derelicta, atque contemta impleat navem, atque submergat" (cf. Migne, 33, col.
1089). This figure occurs more than once in Augustine. Another form of it
gives the proverb of v. 362: Levia multa faciunt unum grande; multae guttae
implent flumen; multa grana faciunt massam (Migne, 35, col. 1982). Cf. also
other forms, Migne, ibid., 1491 f., and 36, col. 810. Cf. also (p. 34, n. 2, below) the
form of this figure quoted in Comp. Theol. Verit., in connection with another illus-
tration of venial sin (§22, 383 f.), and in The Pricke of Conscience, vv. 3412–3422.
2 Marg. gloss: v. pag. 306. The reference on p. 306 is as follows: "In capite
quadragesimae omnes poenitentes, qui publicam suscipiunt, aut susceperunt poeni-
tentiam, ante fores Ecclesiae se repraesentent Episcopo civitatis sacco induti,
nudis pedibus, vultibus in terram dimissis, reos se esse ipsos habitu et vultu
protestantes.
8
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
agendam mittitur in monasterium, dist.
50, cap., Si ille.
Haec debet imponi
pro crimine publico, et
vulgarissimo, quod totam
commoverit urbem.
Item non debet imponi
Dicitur quandoque, quae supra dicta est,
Solemnis, ideo quia
publice fit; propie tamen dicitur illa,
quae fit in facie Ecclesiae,
non cum praedicta solemnitate,
sed quum injungitur
peregrinatio per mundum.
Privata dicitur illa poenitentia,
quae singulariter fit quotidie,
THE PERSONES TALE.
hath sinned openly, of which sinne the
fame is openly spoken
in the contree ;
and thanne holy chirche by jugement
destreineth him for to do open penaunce.
v. 105: Commune penaunce is
that preestes enjoinen men
in certeyn caas; as for
to goon, peraventure, naked in pilgrim-
ages or bare-foot.
v. 106: Privee penaunce is thilke
that men doon alday for privee sinnes,
et quum quis peccata sua secrete Sacer- of which we shryve us prively and
doti confitetur.
§ IV: Quae sint necessaria in vera
poenitentia.
Sequitur videre quae sint
necessaria in
poenitentia vera, et perfecta:
Et quidem tria, videlicet :
cordis contritio,
oris confessio, operis satisfactio.
Joannes
receyve privee penaunce.
§ 5, v. 107: Now shaltow understande
what is
bihovely and necessarie to
verray parfit Penitence.
And this stant on three thinges;
v. 108: Contricioun of herte,
Confession of Mouth, and Satisfaccioun.
V. 109: For which seith Seint John
os aureum : Perfecta poenitentia cogit Crisostom : "Penitence destreyneth a
peccatorem libenter sufferre
omnia:
in corde enim contritio,
in ore confessio,
in opere tota humilitas.
Haec est fructuosa poenitentia,
de poenit., dist. i, c. Perfecta.
Quia enim
in tribus modis
Deum offendimus,
man to accepte benignely
every peyne that him is enjoyned,
with contricion of herte, and
shrift of mouth, with satisfaccion; and
in werkinge of alle maner humilitee."1
V. IIO: And this is fruitful Penitence
agayns three things in whiche
we wratthe oure lord Jesu Crist;
1 The quotation really extends through the next sentence.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
9
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
cogitationis, scilicet, delectatione,
impudentia locutionis,
et superbia operis.
De Contritione. Prima dieta est
Contritio,
circa quam
quattuor sunt consideranda,
scilicet, quid ipsa sit,
quae sint caussae
inductivae ipsius,
qualis debeat esse, et
quis ejus effectus.
Contritio est dolor
pro peccatis assumtus,
cum proposito confitendi,
et satisfaciendi.
Hoc praecipitur a Domino per Pro-
phetam, ubi dicitur: Scindite corda ves-
tra, etc.
THE PERSONES TALE.
V. III: this is to seyn, by delyt in
thinkinge,
by recchelessnesse in spekinge,
and by wikked sinful werkinge.
v. 112: And agayns thise wikkede
giltes is Penitence, that may be lykned
unto a tree.1
§ 6, v. 113: The rote of this tree is
Contricion.
•
V. 114: Of the rote of Contricion
springeth a stalke, that bereth braunches
and leves of Confession, and fruit of
Satisfaccion.
2
vv. 115-116: For which Crist seith ..
V. 117: Of this rote eek springeth a
seed of grace, the which seed is moder
of sikernesse, and this seed is egre and
hoot.
vv. 118-127.
§ 7, v. 128: In this Penitence or Con-
tricion man shal understande foure
thinges, that is to seyn, what is Contri-
cion; and
whiche been the causes
that moeven a man to Contricion; and
how he sholde be contrit: and
what Contricion availleth to the soule.
v. 129: Thanne is it thus: that
Contricion is the verray sorwe that a
man receiveth in his herte
for his sinnes,
with sad purpos to shryve him,
and to do penaunce, and nevermore to
do sinne.
1 Not in Raymund. Cf. Bonaventura (De Dieta Salutis, titulus ii, De Poeni-
tentia): Comparatur autem Penitens Arbori, cuius radix est Contritio; frondes,
Confessio; et flores, sancta Devotio; fructus, bona Opera; humor, Gratie diffusio.
2 In v. 115 the Parson apparently confounds the words of John the Baptist
(Matt. iii, 8) with the words of Christ (Matt. iv, 17). Cf. Raymund, quoted p. 17,
below, after v. 320.
Uor M
IO
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Iste dolor debet esse
triplex, ut ait Bernardus,
acer, acrior, acerrimus.
Acer, quia offendimus Dominum,
et creatorem omnium,
acrior,
quia
patrem nostrum Caelestem,
qui nos pascit multipliciter.
Acerrimus,
quia
THE PERSONES TALE.
v. 130: And this sorwe shal been in
this manere, as seith seint Bernard: "it
shal been hevy and grevous, and ful
sharpe and poinant in herte."
v. 131: First, for man hath agilt his lord
and his creatour;
and more sharpe and poinant,
for he hath agilt
his fader celestial;
v. 132: and yet more sharpe and poinant,
for he hath wrathed and agilt
redemtorem nostrum, qui nos liberavit him that boghte him; which with his
proprio sanguine
a vinculis peccatorum,
a crudelitate daemonum, et
acerbitate gehennae.
Caussae inductivae
contritionis sunt sex,
Cogitatio, et ex ea
Pudor de peccatis commissis.
Detestatio vilitatis ipsius peccati.
Timor judicii et poenae gehennae.
Dolor de amissione patriae caelestis
et multiplici offensa creatoris,
et Spes triplex, veniae, gratiae, et gloriae.
Veniae, qua remittuntur peccata.
Gratiae, qua bene operabitur.
Gloriae, qua pro bono opere adhuc
remunerabitur.
De primo,
scilicet, de cogitatione,
[Cf. "De secundo," below.]
Ezechias: 2
Recogitabo tibi omnes annos
meos in amaritudine animae meae.
precious blood hath delivered us
fro the bondes of sinne, and
fro the crueltee of the devel and
fro the peynes of helle.
§8, v. 133: The causes that oghte
moeve
a man to Contricion been six.
First,
a man shal remembre him of hise sinnes;
v. 134: but loke he that thilke remem-
brance ne be to him no delyt by no wey,
but greet shame and sorwe for his gilt.
For Job seith: "sinful men doon werkes
worthy of Confession." 1
v. 135: And therfore seith Ezechie: 2
"I wol remembre me alle the yeres
of my lyf, in bitternesse of myn herte."
1 The Parson has "confession " for Raymund's "confusione."
2 Marg. gloss: Ezech. 38 [Isaiah, xxxviii, 15]. Cf. also, § 87, v. 983, below.
Maou
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
II
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
De secundo, scilicet, de pudore,
Job: Res dignas confusione agunt.
Nahum,3: Revelabo... Hierem...
De tertio, scilicet,
THE PERSONES TALE.
[See v. 134, above.]
v. 136: And god seith in the Apoca-
lips: "remembreth yow fro whennes that
ye been falle; " for biforn that tyme that
ye sinned, ye were the children of god,
and limes of the regne of god;
vv. 137-141:
§ 9, 142: The seconde cause that oghte
make a man to have desdeyn of sinne is
detestatione peccati, propter cujus vilita- this :
tem peccator vilis factus est.
Hierem.: Quam vilis facta es nimis
iterans vias tuas.
Petrus 1 in Can.:
Qui facit peccatum, servus
est peccati.
Augustinus: Appende te ex pretio, ne
tibi vilescas.
Philosophus :
Major sum, et ad majora natus,
quam ut fiam mancipium corporis mei.
Seneca: Si scirem
[Cf. vv. 137–141, above.]
that, as seith seint Peter,
"who so that doth sinne is thral
of sinne;
"}
and sinne put a man in greet thraldom.
v. 143: And therfore seith the prophete
Ezechiel: "I wente sorweful in desdayn
of myself." And certes, wel oghte a
man have desdayn of sinne, and with-
drawe him from that thraldom and
vileinye.
[See v. 151, below.]
v. 144 And lo, what seith Seneca in
this matere. He seith thus:
[See v. 145, below.]
"though I wiste that
Deos ignoscituros, homines ignoraturos; neither god ne man sholde nevere knowe
tamen abhorrerem
peccatum.
[See opp. v. 144, above.]
it, yet wolde I have desdayn
for to do sinne.”
v. 145 And the same Seneca also
seith: "I am born to gretter thinges
than to be thral to my body, or than for
to maken of my body a thral."
vv. 146-149:
v. 150: And therfore seyth Seint Au-
gustin: "if thou hast desdayn of thy
1 Marg, gloss: Joan. 8.
12
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
1
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
[See opp. v. 143, above.]
De quarto, scilicet,
timore de die judicii,
et poenarum inferni,
Hieron.: 2
THE PERSONES TALE.
servant, if he agilte or sinne, have thou
thanne desdayn that thou thy-self shold-
est do sinne.”
V. 151: Take reward of thy value, that
thou ne be to foul to thy-self.¹
vv. 152-157:
§ 10, v. 158: The thridde cause that
oghte moeve a man to Contricion, is
drede of the day of dome,
and of the horrible peynes of helle.
v. 159: For as seint Jerome seith:
Quotiens diem illum considero, toto corde "at every tyme that me remembreth of
contremisco.
Idem: Sive comedo, sive bibo, sive ali-
quid aliud facio, semper videtur
in auribus meis illa tuba terribilis, etc.
the day of dome, I quake;
v. 160: For whan I ete, or drinke, or
what-so that I do, evere semeth me that
the trompe sowneth in myn ere:
v. 161 riseth up, ye that been dede,
and cometh to the jugement."
vv. 162-165: 8
v. 166: And as seith Seint Bernard:
"ther ne shal no pledinge availle, ne no
sleighte; we shullen yeven rekeninge of
everich ydel word.” 4
vv. 167-168:5
v. 169: Wherfore, as seith Seint
Anselm: "ful greet angwissh shul the
sinful folk have at that tyme;
v. 170: ther shal the sterne and wrothe
juge sitte above, and under him the horri-
ble put of helle open to destroyen him
that moot biknowen hise sinnes, whiche
sinnes openly been shewed biforn god
and biforn every creature.
v. 171: And on the left syde, mo develes
than herte may bithinke, for to harie and
1 V. 151 seems to be part of the quotation.
2 Marg. gloss: Hieron., ad cap. 7, Oseae. Cf. The Pricke of Conscience, vv. 4668–
4680, and Peraldus, Summa Virtutum et Vitiorum, I, 4 (De Donis), iv, 4.
8 With the quotation from Romans, xiv, 10, in v. 162, cf. Peraldus, ibid.
4 Cf. § II, vv. 253 f., below, and The Pricke of Conscience, vv. 5653-5665, and
Peraldus, ibid.
5 Cf. Peraldus, ibid.: Octavo judicis inflexibilitas. . . . Prover., vi: Zelus et
furor viri non parcet in die vindicte; non acquiescet cujusquam precibus; nec
suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
13
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Augustinus: Ascendat homo.
De quinto, scilicet,
de amissione caelestis gloriae.
Et require supra eodem, § circa princ.
in auctoritate Bernardi.8
THE PERSONES TALE.
drawe the sinful soules to the pyne of
helle.¹
v. 172: And with-inne the hertes of
folk shal be the bytinge conscience, and
with-oute-forth shal be the world al
brenninge.
v. 173: Whider shal thanne the wrec-
ched sinful man flee to hyden him?
Certes, he may nat hyden him; he
moste come forth and shewen him."
v. 174:
vv. 175-230:2
§ 11, v. 231: The fourthe point, that
oghte maken a man to have contricion,
is the sorweful remembrance of the good
that he hath left to doon here on erthe;
and eek
the good that he hath lorn.
vv. 232-248:4
v. 249: For certes, sinne bireveth a
man bothe goodnesse of nature ad eek
the goodnesse of grace.5
1 Cf. with vv. 170-173, The Pricke of Conscience, vv. 5395 ff., and Peraldus, ibid. :
Quartodecimo, angustia reproborum. Gregorius: O quam anguste erunt undique
reprobus vie. Superius erit judex iratus; subtus, horrendum chaos inferni; a dex-
tris, peccata accusantia; a sinistris, infinita demonia ad supplicium trahentia; intus,
conscientia urens; foris, mundus ardens. Miser peccator sic deprehensus, quo
effugiet? Latere erit impossibile; apparere intolerabile.
2 The account of the Day of Doom (vv. 159-174) is followed by the description
of the pains of Hell (vv. 175-230). Some of the verses describing the pains of
Hell are taken primarily from Gregory's Moralia, ix, ca. 63-66; cf. vv. (from Job,
x, 20–22) 176, 177, 217, 223; 181, 182, 184, 214, 215. And the Parson's account of
the subject has the following parallels with the account in The Pricke of Conscience
(vv. 6552 ff.): vv. 176 f. (Job), 191 (Job, xx, 25, Vadent et venient super eum
horribiles), 194, 195 (Deut. xxxii, 24), 198 (Isaiah, xiv, 11), 210 (Isaiah, lxvi, 24),
216 (Apoc. ix, 6), 217 (Job), 227 (Prov. xi, 7). And the following parallels with the
account in Peraldus (ibid., De Penis Infernis): vv. 176 f. (Job), 191 (Job), 210
(Isaiah), 214–215 (Gregory), 216 (Apoc.), 217 ( Job), 223 ( Job).
& Chaucer also quotes Bernard as an authority in the exposition of this topic.
Cf. vv. 253 f., below.
4 With v. 248, cf. Chaucer's poem, Fortune, v. 7.
5 Cf. § 27, v. 450, below.
14
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
De sexto,
scilicet,
de spe,³
ipsemet Dominus: Ecce ego sto ad ost-
ium et pulso.
Si quis audierit me, et aperuerit mihi
januam,
introibo ad illum,
et coenabo cum illo,
et ille mecum.
Qui vicerit, dabo ei . . .
Poenitentiam agite, et statim sub-
jungunt de praemio, dicentes:
Appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum.
Item...
Qualis debeat contritio, et quis
ejus effectus.
THE PERSONES TALE.
vv. 250-254.¹
§ 12, 255: The fifthe thing that oghte
moeve a man to contricion, is remem-
brance of the passion that oure lord Jesu
Crist suffred for our sinnes.2
vv. 256–282.
§ 13, v. 283: The sixte thing that
oghte moeve a man to contricion, is the
hope of three thynges; that is to seyn,
foryifnesse of sinne, and the yifte of
grace wel for to do, and the glorie of
hevene, with which god shal guerdone
a man for his gode dedes.
vv. 284-288:4
v. 289: "I was atte dore of thyn herte,"
seith Jesus, "and cleped for to entre;
he that openeth to me shal have foryif-
nesse of sinne.
v. 290: I wol entre in-to him by my
grace
and soupe with him,"
by the goode werkes that he shal doon;
whiche werkes been the foode of god;
"and he shal soupe with me," by the
grete Joye that I shal yéven him.
v. 291: Thus shall man hope, for hise
werkes
of penaunce, that god shal
yeven him his regne; as he bihoteth him
in the gospel.
1 Cf. The Pricke of Conscience, 5652-5662 (Bernard). And cf. § 10, v. 166,
above.
2 Cf. § 102, v. 1072, below.
3 In Raymund's introductory enumeration of the six causes of contrition (see
p. 10, above), he says of the last: . . . spes triplex, veniae, gratiae, et gloriae.
Veniae, qua remittuntur peccata; gratiae, qua bene operabitur; gloriae, qua pro
bono opere adhuc remunerabitur.
4 With v. 288: Nazarenus is as muche for to seye as "florisshinge," cf. Ayenbite,
p. 118 f.: Vor nazareth: is ase moche worth ase flour.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
15
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Sequitur
qualis debeat esse
contritio,
scilicet, quod sit
universalis, et
continua, habens
propositum confitendi, et
satisfaciendi. . . .
Sequitur
quis sit ejus effectus.
Patet autem effectus ejus in parte
Active, quia
•
conterit congeriem peccatorum.
[See note on v. 313, below.]
[See
below.]
•
Qualiter autem," after v. 313,
THE PERSONES TALE.
§ 14, v. 292: Now shal a man under-
stonde, in which manere shal been
his contricion.
I seye, that it shal been
universal and
total;¹ this is to seyn, a man shal be
verray repentant for alle sinnes that he
hath doon in delyt of his thoght; for
delyt is ful perilous.
v. 293: For ther been two manere of
consentinges.2
vv. 294-300:
•
•
v. 301: For certes, god almighty is al
good and ther-fore he foryeveth al, or
elles right noght.3
vv. 302-304:
v. 305: Forther-over, contricion moste
be
continuel, and that man have
stedefast purpos to shryven him, and
for to amenden of his lyf.
vv. 306-307:
§ 15, v. 308: The laste thing that man
shal
understonde in contricion is this:
wher-of avayleth contricion.
I seye, that som tyme contricion
delivereth a man fro sinne;
v. 309: of which that David seith: "I
seye," quod David, that is to seyn, "I
purposed fermely to shryve me; and
thow, Lord, relesedest my sinne."
v. 310: And right so as contricion
availeth noght, with-outen sad purpos of
shrifte, if man have oportunitee, right
1 Cf. § 88, v. 1006, below.
2 Cf. §§ 18–20, and especially § 20, v. 357, below. Cf. also Comp. Theol. Verit.,
iii (De Corruptela Peccati), ca. 10 (De primis Motibus), and ca. 11 (De morosa delec-
tatione et Consensu in peccato): verumetiam iste Consensus in illecebram
duplex est.
8 Cf. § 88, v. 1007, below.
16
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Item hoc destruit
carcerem infernalem . .
et vires daemonum enervat.
Unde Samson
• •
sic peccator quum
reparaverit capillos, id est,
dona Spiritus Sancti per contriti-
onem, vires sibi restituuntur.
·
•
Et breviter ista mundat animam
a reatu culpae, et liberat a
poena gehennae,
THE PERSONES TALE.
so litel worth is shrift or satisfaccion
with-outen contricion.
v. 311: And more-over contricion
destroyeth
the prison of helle,
and maketh wayk and feble alle the
strengthes of the develes and
restoreth the yiftes of the holy goost
and of alle gode vertues;
v. 312: and it clenseth the soule
of sinne, and delivereth the soule fro
the peyne of helle, and
ab horrenda daemonum societate, et a fro the companye of the devel, and fro
vilissima peccati servitute;
restituit bona spiritualia, quae
amiserat per peccatum,
et societatem, et spiritualem commun-
ionem Ecclesiae.
de filio irae
•
filium gratiae. . . .
Qualiter autem hoc sit intelligendum,
utrum, scilicet, sola contritio sine
confessione tollat peccata, an
contritio cum confessione, variae
sunt opiniones.2..
Item.
Confessio est signum tantum, scilicet,
contritionis.
•
1 Cf. §18, v. 335, below.
the servage of sinne, and
restoreth it to all godes espirituels,
and to the companye and communion
of holy chirche.
v. 313: And forther-over, it maketh
him that whylom was sone of ire¹ to be
sone of grace; and alle thise thinges
been preved by holy writ.
[See v. 309, above.]
vv. 314-315:
§ 16, v. 316: The seconde partie of
Penitence is Confession, that is signe of
contricion.
2 Here follows a column and a half of quotations from these various authorities.
Raymund quotes Augustine (Enchiridion, c. 70, and Exponens Psal. 31: Dixi con-
fitebor, etc.), and makes the following gloss: Psalm. 31, Dixi confitebor et tu
remisisti impietatem peccati mei. "Dixi," id est, firmiter in animo proposui (see
v. 309, above). The Parson's remark (v. 313), “and alle thise thinges been preved
by holy writ,” seems to indicate a series of quotations in his original at this point,
like that of the Summa.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
17
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
De Confessione.
Secunda dieta est confessio,
circa quam sunt 7 consideranda,
videlicet, quid ipsa sit,
an necessaria sit facienda,
et
cui;
THE PERSONES TALE.
v. 317: Now shul ye understonde
what is Confession, and
whether ¹ it oghte nedes be doon or noon,
and
quae sint necessaria ad veram contri- whiche thinges been covenable to ver
tionem ;
utrum, et de quibus, et qualiter sint
interrogationes faciendae, et de poena
Sacerdotis revelantis confessionem.
I.
ray Confession.
§ 17, v. 318: First, shaltow under-
Confessio est coram sacerdote legitima stonde that Confession is verray shew-
peccatorum declaratio.
et dicitur confessio,
quasi simul, vel ex toto, vel undique fas-
sio. Nam ille confitetur, qui totum fate-
tur. Undique, id est, de omnibus peccatis,
quae occurrunt memoriae, et
de circumstantiis eorumdem,
si tales sunt, quod multum aggravant
peccata, vel ponunt illa in alio genere;
ut cum.
II. Tenetur poenitens necessario pec-
cata sua confiteri. . . . Contritio praeci-
pitur in Joel 30: Scindite corda vestra.
Confessio, in Thren.: Effunde sicut
aquam cor tuum. Satisfactio in Jo-
anne : Facite dignos fructus poenitentiae.
Item omnia haec praecipiuntur a Domino,
quum dicit: Poenitentiam agite. . . .2
• •
•
III. Debet quilibet regulariter confiteri
Sacerdoti....3
inge of sinnes to the preest;
v. 319: this is to seyn “verray,"
for he moste confessen him of alle
the condiciouns that bilongen to his
sinne, as ferforth as he can.
v. 320: Al moot be seyd. . . .
[See v. 317, above]
v. 321: And forther over it is neces-
sarie to understonde whennes that sinnes
1 "The exposition is wanting: instead of this is a guide to confession " (Eilers,
Dissertation on the Parson's Tale, Chaucer Society Pub., p. 507, n. 2). Cf. § 1, V.
81, above.
2 Marg. gloss: Matt. iv. Cf. § 5, v. 115, above.
8 Then follow nine columns in exposition of this topic.
2
18
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
THE PERSONES TALE.
springen, and how they encresen, ¹ and
Si autem quaeras, quae peccata sint whiche they been.
mortalia et quae venialia.
Multa etiam enumerat Augustinus
mortalia et venialia, dist. 25, cap.
Unum orarium, et supra in singulis
tractibus poteris invenire.2 . . .
Quae sint necessaria ad veram
Confessionem.
[See below, after § 90.]
Sequitur,
quae sint necessaria
ad veram confessionem.
Ad hoc dicas, quod quattuor,
videlicet, quod sit
amara, festina, integra, et frequens.
[See § 22, vv. 371–381.]
§§ 18-83, vv. 322-955:
§ 84, vv. 956-957.
3
De Confessione, § 85, 958-959:
§§ 85-86, vv. 960-981.4
§ 87, v. 982: Thanne shal man looke
and considere, if he wole maken
a trewe and a profitable confessioun,
ther moste be foure condiciouns.
1 Cf. § 20, below, and Raymund, De Gradibus Peccatorum, quoted p. 30, below.
2 Marg. gloss: v. pag. 98 et 214. The enumeration of venial sins (vv. 371-381)
really appears on p. 99 of the Summa.
3 These paragraphs contain the disgression on Sin, for the discussion of which,
see pp. 34 ff., below.
4 Chaucer's Parson departs here (§§ 85-86) from the order of topics which he
established in the introductory paragraph (§ 16). According to that order, the
Parson intended to discuss three topics in the course of his exposition of Confes-
sion. He carries out his purpose with regard to the first topic, and in this agrees
with Raymund. But he fails to mention the second after the introduction, thus de-
parting from Raymund; and he defers the discussion of the third by introducing
two new subjects not mentioned in his introduction, thus again interrupting the
correspondence with Raymund. These two digressions, which interfere with his
exposition as proposed in the preface, and which occasion his departure from
Raymund, are: (1) the discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins (§§ 23-83), and (2) the
description of the circumstances which aggravate Sin (§§ 85-86), a topic which
Raymund proposed to discuss under the heading, De quibus sint interrogationes
faciendae, but which Chaucer's Parson did not propose to discuss at all.
The first digression in the P. T. is marked at the beginning by the rubric:
Explicit secunda pars Penitentie, an announcement of the formal conclusion of
the exposition of Confession, before the third topic proposed for discussion is
treated at all. This announcement, moreover, is nullified by the insertion of the
same rubric, Explicit secunda pars Penitentie in its proper place, that is, after
§ 90, the conclusion of the third topic.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
19
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
De primo, scilicet,
de amaritudine.1
•
Signa hujus amaritudinis sunt quinque,
verecundia, humilitas, lacrymae, fortitudo
vincens pudorem, et pronitas obedientiae.
De primo signo, scilicet,
verecundia,
Augustin.
Laborat mens patiendo erubescentiam ;
et quoniam verecundia est magna
poena, qui erubescit pro Christo,
fit dignus misericordia.
[See the second sign, below.]
De secundo, scilicet, de humilitate,
Apostolus: Humiliamini sub
potenti manu Dei, etc.
Unde Publicanus non audebat ad
caelum levare oculos.
De tertio, scilicet,
de lacrymis
•
De quarto, scilicet,
fortitudine,
exemplum Mariae Magdalenae, Luc. 8, .
quae adeo fortis erat in confitendo
propter amaram interius compunctionem,
quod nullo pudore obstante, publice fuit
confessa turpitudinem peccatorum.
De quinto, scilicet, pronitate
obedientiae,
THE PERSONES TALE.
v. 983: First, it moot been
in sorweful bitternesse of herte,
as seyde the king Ezekias to god:
"I wol remembre me .
•
v. 984: This condicioun of bitternesse
hath five signes.
The firste is, that confessioun moste be
shamefast.
•
v. 985: And her-of seith seint Augus-
tin: "the herte travailleth for shame of
his sinne;" and for he hath greet shame-
fastnesse,
he is digne to have greet mercy of god.2
v. 986: Swich was the confession of
the publican, that wolde nat heven up
hise eyen to hevene. . .
v. 987:
v. 988: Another signe is humilitee
in confessioun; of which seith
seint Peter, "Humbleth yow under
the might of god." . .
vv. 989-992:
[See v. 986, above.]
v. 993: The thridde signe is, how that
thy shrift sholde be ful of teres, if man
may..
v. 994:
v. 995: The fourthe signe is,
that he ne lette nat for shame to shewen
his confessioun.
v. 996: Swich was the confessioun of
the Magdalene, that ne spared, for no
shame of hem that weren atte feste, for
to go to oure lord Jesu Crist and bi-
knowe to him hir sinnes.
v. 997: The fifthe signe is,
that a man or womman be obeisant to
1 Cf. § 8, v. 135, above.
* The quotation seems to extend through this sentence.
20
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
THE PERSONES TALE.
receyven the penaunce that him is en-
joyned for hise sinnes; for certes,
exemplum Domini, qui factus est pro Jesu Crist, for the giltes of a man, was
nobis obediens usque ad mortem .
Item
debet esse festina confessio . .
[See opp. § 86, v. 969, below.]
Debet ergo festinare
propter quinque.
Primum,
propter incertitudinem horae mortis,
Luc. 12: Veniet Dominus servi illius in
die, qua non sperat, et hora, qua
nescit ...
Secundum est
•
•
obedient to the deeth.
§88, v. 998: The seconde condicion of
verray confession is,
that it be hastily doon ;
for certes, if a man hadde a deedly
wounde, evere the lenger that he taried
to warisshe him-self, the more wolde
it corrupte and haste him to his deeth:
and eek the wounde wolde be the wors
for to hele.1
v. 999:
V. 1000: Certes, a man oghte hastily
shewen hise sinnes for manye causes;
as
for drede of deeth,
that cometh ofte sodeynly, and is in
no certeyn what tyme it shal be, ne in
what place;
And eek
Gregorius: Peccatum, quod per poeni- the drecchinge 2 of o sinne
tentiam non diluitur,
mox pondere suo ad aliud trahitur.
Tertium est,
quod quanto majorem moram fecerit
in peccato,
tanto magis elongabitur a Domino,
et .
Quartum, quia
in extrema aegritudine vix potest ali-
quis poenitere, vel etiam cogitare. Hier
onymus: Cum aegritudine opprimeris,
vix potes aliud cogitare, quam quod
sentis . . .
Quintum, quia
nisi in vita praesenti exaudierit
draweth in another;
V. IOOI and eek
the lenger that he tarieth,
the ferther he is fro Crist.
And if
he abyde to his laste day, scarsly may he
shryven him or remembre him of his
sinnes, or repente him, for the grevous
maladie of his deeth.
v. 1002: And for-as-muche as
he ne hath not in his lyf herkned
1 Cf. Libellus de Modo Conf.: Debet esse velox, id est, statim postquam homo
peccaverit, quia quanto diutius vulnus manet sine remedio tanto magis fit putridum;
Textus Sacramentorum (J. Chanesius): Quo mora major inest, tanto magis vulnera
putrent.
2 Cf. § 2, v. 92, above.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
21
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Dominus clamantem,
clamabit ipse postea ad Dominum,
et non audietur .
•
IV. Item debet confessio esse
frequens : 2
quod dupliciter est intelligendum.
Uno modo, ut si frequenter ceciderit
per peccatum, etiam mortale,
THE PERSONES TALE.
Jesu Crist, whanne he hath spoken,
he shal crye to Jesu Crist at his laste day,
and scarsly wol he herkne him.
vv. 1003-1005:1
[v. 1025: And generally, shryve thee
ofte.
If thou ofte falle,
frequenter resurgat per poenitentiam. ofte thou aryse by confessioun.
Require supra eodem, § Species, vers.
Item solemnis.
Alio modo,
ut etiam eadem peccata frequenter con-
fiteatur; non tamen tenetur quis nisi in
casibus, quos require inf.,
§ Sed numquid peccata.
Augustinus:
Quando pluribus confitebitur quis sub spe
veniae turpitudinem criminis,
tanto facilius consequetur
gratiam remissionis. .
Item nota Constitutionem emanasse con-
tra necgligentes confiteri peccata, scilicet,
quod saltem semel in anno tenetur quili-
bet postquam ad annos discretionis per-
venerit, confiteri omnia peccata sua.
Item, debet confessio esse
integra, scilicet, ut peccata omnia
•
•
•
v. 1026: And
thogh thou shryve thee ofte than ones
of sinne, of which thou hast be shriven,
it is the more merite.
And as seith seint Augustin,
thou shalt have the more lightly
relesing and grace of god, bothe of sinne
and of peyne.
V. 1027: And certes,
ones a yere atte leeste wey it is laweful
for to been housled;
for certes, ones a yere alle thinges
renovellen.]
v. 1006: Also thou shalt shryve thee
of alle thy sinnes
dicat integra, non dividendo etiam ea to o man, and nat a parcel to o man and
inter diversos Sacerdotes, sed uni :
Dominus enim
•
a parcel to another: that is
v. 1007: For certes, Jesu Crist
summe bonus opus imperfectionis non is entierly al good; in him nis noon im-
novit, aut
totum hominem sanat, aut nihil.
perfeccioun; and therfore outher
he foryeveth al parfitly or never a deel.¹
1 With v. 1003, cf. § 90, v. 1024, below, and Melibeus, § 13, 2244; and with v. 1004,
cf. § 86, v. 963, above, and § 102, v. 1071, below.
2 Raymund treats "frequens" before “integra," contrary to the order of his
introduction (see opp. § 87, v. 982, above).
8 Cf. § 2, v. 91, above, and § 102, v. 1073, below. 4 Cf. § 14, v. 301, above.
22
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Augustinus
Ad hoc autem, ut integra sit ista con-
fessio novem exiguntur,
scilicet, quod sit voluntaria, fidelis,
propria, accusatoria, vera, nuda, discreta,
pura, morosa.
Voluntaria debet esse. . . .
Fidelis,
scilicet,
ut tam ipse confitens,
. . .
quam Sacerdos, cui confitetur,
sint in fide Catholica, et fiat confessio
secundum doctrinam Ecclesiae. .
Propria,
ut seipsum tantum accuset,
et non alium.
• • •
THE PERSONES TALE.
VV. 1008–1011:
§ 89, v. 1012: Also the verray shrifte
axeth certeine condiciouns.
First, that thou shryve thee
by thy free wil, noght constreyned, ne for
shame of folk, ne for maladie, ne swiche
thinges; for it is resoun that he that
trespasseth by his free wil, that by his
free wil he confesse his trespas; 1
v. 1013:
V. 1014: The seconde condicioun is,
that thy shrift be laweful;
that is to seyn,
that thou that shryvest thee,
and eek the preest that hereth thy con-
fessioun,
been verraily in the feith of holy chirche;
V. 1015:
v. 1016: And eek
a man moot accusen him-self of his owene
trespas, and nat another;
Accusatoria, ut dicat se comisisse pecca- but he shal blame and wyten him-self
tum ex propria malitia. . . .
and his owene malice of his sinne,
non praetendens excusationes in peccatis, and noon other;
sicut primi parentes . .
Vera, id est,
non tacens verum, nec
admiscens falsum,
etiam humilitatis caussa.
Augustinus:
Cum humilitatis caussa mentiris, si non
eras peccator antequam mentireris, men-
tiendo efficeris, quod devitaveras.
Item. Non est veritas. . .
vv. 1017-1018:
§ 90, 1. 1019: Thou shalt nat eek
make no lesinges in thy confessioun ;
for humilitee, per-aventure. . . .
v. 1020: For seint Augustin seith:
if thou, by cause of thyn humilitee, mak-
est lesinges on thy-self, though thou ne
were nat in sinne biforn, yet artow thanne
in sinne thurgh thy lesinges.
1 Cf. nuda, § 90, v. 1021, and § 100, v. 1061, below.
.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
23
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Nuda,
quia
non debet confiteri per nuncium,
nec per epistolam, sed viva voce,
et ore proprio, et praesentialiter,
ut qui per se peccavit,
per seipsum erubescat.
•
Discreta similiter debet esse confessio,
scilicet, ut distincte, ac separatim con-
fiteatur singula peccata, non confuse,
juxta illud: Lavabo . . .
Item ut eligat peritum judicem.
Augustinus: Sacerdotem quaere, qui te
sciat ligare, et solvere. . .
Pura, quoad intentionem, ut non
ad vanam gloriam, vel hypocrisim,
vel timore servili,
sed filiali fiat, et sine omni fictione. .
Item, morosa,
ut non dicantur peccata in transcursu,
THE PERSONES TALE,
V. 1021 Thou most eek shewe thy
sinne by thyn owene propre mouth,
but thou wexe doumb,
and nat by no lettre;
for thou that hast doon the sinne,
thou shalt have the shame therfore.¹
V. 1022:
v. 1023:
Thou shalt eek shryve thee to a preest
that is discreet to conseille thee,
and eek thou shalt not shryve thee
for veyne glorie, ne for ypocrisye,
ne for no cause,
but only for the doute of Jesu Crist
and the hele of thy soule.
v. 1024:
Thou shalt nat eek renne to the preest
sodeynly, to tellen him lightly thy sinne,
sicut camsores, vel computatores compu- as who-so telleth a jape or a tale,
tant nummos,
sed cum mora, et deliberatione, ut.
but avysely 2 and with greet devocioun.8
1 Cf. § 89, v. 1012, above, and § 100, v. 1061, below. Cf. also, Augustine, Migne,
39, col. 2223, ca. 4: Non erubescat poenitentiam agere, qui non erubuit poenitenda
committere.
2 Cf. § 88, v. 1003, above.
• • •
• •
De
8 For vv. 1025-1027, see after v. 1005, above. With the conditions of true con-
fession in these paragraphs (§§ 88-90), cf. the account in Bod. 90 (Acad., p. 509) :
Dont home, quant il se confesser deit parler en grant amertume de quor
ceste amertume de confession trouoms nus cinc signes. Li une signe e li primeres
est, quant li home en ad grant virgoigne de son peche. Li secund signe est
humilitez, quant li hom vmblement se agenoille deuant soen confessor: Li tierz
signe, si sunt les lermes du pecchor. Li quinte signe est quant home ne lest pur
nul honte ke il ne die tut hors son peche apertement en sa confession. Li quart
signe est quant home est prest de receiure quele penance ke son confessor li vout
eniondre. Cf. also, the account in Lorens's Somme (Eilers, p. 586-591): Ore enten
bien ci coment l'en se doit confessier a ceo que la confession vaille au salut de
l'alme, il i covient VI condicions . . . k'ele soit sagement . tost e hastivement
24
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
An sint faciendae interrogationes
in Confessione a Sacerdote,
et de quibus et qualiter?...
Circumstantias autem istas, quas praeci-
pue debet attendere, nota in his versi-
culis :
Quis, quid, ubi, per quos, quotiens, cur,
•
•
THE PERSONES TALE.
v. 960: Now is it good to understonde
that that agreggeth muchel every sinne.
apertement . . . enterinement . . .
enterinement . . . humblement
172-180.
sovent: Ayenbite, pp.
These quotations from the Somme may fairly be taken, I think, as illustrative of
the nature of the correspondence between the work of Lorens and that of the Par-
son. Lorens, like the Parson, here treats a stock subject of theology according
to a familiar argument (cf. Passavanti, I, 241-252; Floretus; Libellus de Modo
Confitendi et Penitendi; Textus Sacramentorum (J. Chanesius); Speculum Spiritu-
alium; Lo Specchio dei Peccati, etc.). But the structure of his exposition is so fun-
damentally different from the divisions and subdivisions of the Parson's, that Dr.
Eilers finds it impossible to make the two lines of argument coincide. Dr. Eilers,
therefore, suspects that the Parson's arrangement is a hopelessly confused adap-
tation of the exposition of Lorens, and he says (p. 591) of these paragraphs in
the P. T.: "He [sc. the author] announces four conditions in the first part, but
only gives three. Instead of the fourth he suddenly begins the second part with a
fresh enumeration, dropping as early as the second 'condicioun' the orderly
arrangement of 'condiciouns' with their dependent 'signes,' and giving instead a
miscellaneous collection of instructions in confession, the greater part of which
have already appeared. This is only another instance of the confusion and
thoughtlessness of the author, and quite in keeping with the many defects and ab-
surdities which we have already had occasion to notice in the first parts of this
treatise. In any case, however, the author's mistake is here made evident by the
French text. He gives up the arrangement under four conditions, apparently be-
cause he cannot bring all his matter under the four heads. Accordingly he begins
a new section and a new enumeration. Even so, however, he only gets as far as
two points, and he adds everything else that he considers necessary without any
classification.”
This is surely not just to the Parson's exposition, for the structure of his argu-
ment, though seemingly confused, stands out pretty clearly when it is put in
comparison with Raymund's four Conditions, with their subdivisions: the first Con-
dition with five Signs; the second, with five Reasons; the third, with nine Reasons;
the fourth, with two interpretations. Indeed, the Parson's divergences from Ray-
mund's quite coherent exposition of this topic are but two: in the second Condi-
tion, after naming the causes with Raymund, the Parson adds (vv. 1003–1005) four
thinges " to the Condition; and in the third Condition between the introductory
remark and the nine reasons which the Parson gives with Raymund, the Parson
explains (vv. 1008–1011) certain licenses under this Condition.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
25
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
THE PERSONES TALE.
quomodo, quando,
Quilibet observet, animae medicamina
dando.
Quis,
v. 961: Thou shalt considere
what thou art that doost the sinne,
scilicet peccator, utrum ipse peccator whether thou be
fuerit
masculus, vel femina,
juvenis, vel senex ;
nobilis, aut ignobilis ;
liber, vel servus.
•
sanae mentis, vel insanus;
sciens, vel ignorans ;
solutus, vel conjugatus;
male or female,
yong or old,
gentil or thral,
free or servant,
hool or syk,
[See "wys or fool," below.]
wedded or sengle,
ordred or unordred,
Claustralis, Clericus, vel Laicus ;
extran-
consanguineus, an affinis, an
eus
•
[See above, "sciens."]
[Cf. above, "consanguineus."]
Quid,
wys or fol, clerk or seculer;
v. 962: if she be of thy kinrede, bodily
or goostly, or noon.
•
§86, v. 963: Another circumstaunce is
si commisit adulterium, vel fornicationem, this: whether it be doon in fornicacioun,
vel homicidium, et similia.
Item utrum peccatum, quod perpetravit,
sit enorme, mediocre, vel parvum.
Item utrum sit manifestum, vel occul-
tum. Item utrum
quatriduanum et foetens,
an recens, et similia.
or in avoutrie, or noon; in manere of
homicyde or noon;
horrible grete sinnes, or smale;
Ubi, scilicet
utrum
in loco sacro, an in profano; in
domo dominorum, aut alibi.
Per Quos, scilicet,
mediatores, et
internuncios ;
quia omnes tales
and how longe thou hast continued in
sinne.1
v. 964: The thridde circumstaunce is
the place ther thou hast do sinne ;
whether in other mennes hous or in thyn
owene; in feeld or in chirche, or in
chirche-hawe;
in chirche dedicat, or noon.
vv. 965-966:
v. 967: The fourthe circumstaunce is,
by whiche mediatours or by whiche
messagers.
v. 968: Wher-fore they that eggen or
1 Cf. § 88, v. 1004, and § 102, v. 1071, below.
26
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
sunt participes criminis,
et damnationis.
•
Quoties: debet enim peccator, si potest,
confiteri, et Sacerdos interrogare, non
solum ipsa peccata, sed et vices, et itera-
tiones, ut dicat, quoties..
Quia vulnus iteratum tardius sanatur.
Cur, scilicet,
quali tentatione hoc fecerit;
et utrum praevenit ipsam tentationem,
vel fuit praeventus ab ea;
utrum sponte, vel coacte,
aut quasi, coactione conditionali,
videlicet, an absoluta.
Item utrum cupiditate, an paupertate;
utrum ludo, an nocendi animo,
et similia.
Quomodo, scilicet,
de modo agendi,
vel patiendi,
et melius actu, quam lectione scitur.
Quando, utrum
in tempore sacro, puta festis,
quadragesima, et aliis jejuniis ;
aut in non sacro, ut in aliis diebus
profestis.
*
THE PERSONES TALE.
consenten to the sinne
been parteners of the sinne,
and of the dampnacioun of the sinner.
v. 969: The fifthe circumstaunce is,
how manye tymes that he hath sinned,
if it be in his minde, and
how ofte that he hath falle.
[Cf. § 88, v. 998, below.]
vv. 970-972:
v. 973: The sixte circumstaunce is, why
that a man sinneth, as
by whiche temptacioun ;
and if him-self procure thilke tempta-
cioun, or by the excytinge of other folk ;
or if he sinne with a womman
by force, or by hir owene assent;
v. 974: or if the womman, maugree hir
heed, hath been afforced, or noon; this
shal she telle;
for coveitise, or for poverte, and if
it was hir procuringe, or noon;
and swiche manere harneys.
v. 975: The seventhe circumstaunce is,
in what manere he hath doon his sinne,
or how that she hath suffred that folk
han doon to hir.
v. 976:
v. 977: or doon his sinne
in holy tymes, or noon;
in fasting-tymes, or noon;
Item, utrum ante acceptam peniten- or biforn his shrifte,
tiam, vel etiam post,
frangendo
ipsam penitentiam . .
• •
Ad tertium, scilicet, qualiter faciendae
sint interrogationes.. et secundum
hoc potest procedere interrogatio in quo-
libet crimine capitali. Sunt autem ista
septem crimina capitalia. . Radix to-
•
•
or after his latter shrifte;
v. 978: and hath, per-aventure, broken
ther-fore his penance enjoyned. . . .
vv. 979-981 :
tius mali est Superbia, etc. quod de hac [Cf. § 23, v. 388.]
radice, scilicet, Superbia, septem princi-
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
27
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
THE PERSONES TALE.
palia vitia oriuntur, scilicet, Inanis
Gloria, Invidia, Ira, Tristitia, Avaritia,
Ventris Ingluvies, et Luxuria. . .
Nam
de Inani Gloria oriuntur haec septem
vitia, scilicet, Inobedientia, Jactantia, [Cf. § 24, v. 391.]
Hypocrisis, Contentio, Pertinacia, Dis-
cordia, Novitatum Presumptio. De In- [Cf. § 30, vv. 491 ff.]
vidia nascuntur haec quinque, Odium,
Susurratio, Detractio, Exultatio in ad- [See § 30, vv. 491 f.]
versis, Afflictio in prosperis proximi.
De Ira pullulant ista sex, Rixae, Tumor [Cf. §§ 35 f.]
Mentis, Contumeliae, Clamor, Indignatio,
Blasphemiae.
De Tristitia procedunt [Cf. §§ 54 ff.]
similiter sex, Malitia, Rancor, Pusillani-
mitas, Desperatio, Torpor erga praecepta,
Negatio mentis circa illicita. De Avaritia [Cf. §67.]
nascuntur sex, Proditio, Fraus, Fallacia,
Perjurium, Inquietudo, et circa miseros
cordis Obduratio. De Ventris Ingluvie [Cf. §§ 70 f.]
propagantur quinque, Inepta Laetitia,
Scurrilitas, Immunditia, Multiloquium,
Hebetudo sensuum circa intelligentiam.
De Luxuria generantur octo, Caecitas
mentis, Inconsideratio, Inconstantia, [Cf. § 76.]
Praecipitatio, Amor sui, Odium Dei,
Affectus praesentis saeculi, Horror, vel
Desperatio futuri saeculi.
Restat, ut de
Satisfactione.
§91, v. 1028: Now have I tolde you
of verray Confessioun, that is the
seconde partie of Penitence.
V. 1029: The thridde partie of Peni-
tence is Satisfaccioun ;
Consistit Satisfactio in tribus . . . ut iste
ternarius contra nefarium diaboli terna- [Cf. § 20, v. 336.]
rium opponatur: oratio contra superbiam,
jejunium contra carnis concupiscentiam,
eleemosyna contra avaritiam. Aliter...
Satisfactio
consistit in duobus, scilicet,
in largitione eleemosynae,
et carnis maceratione.
Eleemosyna autem est
triplex. Prima consistit in
cordis contritione,
and that stant most generally
in almesse
and in bodily peyne.
V. 1030: Now been ther
three manere of almesses;
contricion of herte,
28
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
quando aliquis se offert Deo..
•
Secunda consistit in compassione
proximi . .
Tertia consistit in largitione
manuali, advocatione, cura corporali,
et spirituali, et breviter
THE PERSONES TALE.
where a man offreth himself to god;
another is, to han pitee of defaute
of hise neighbores ;
and the thridde is,
in quocumque consilio, et subsidio, quod in yeving of good conseil goostly and
impendimus proximo
• •
[See below, after v. 1034.]
unde oportet eleemosynam dari
de propriis . . .
Debet etiam fieri ex necessariis :
et hoc dicitur dupliciter: uno modo est
necessarium secundum arctitudinem
vitae.
•
Carnis autem maceratio consistit in
quattuor, scilicet,
orationibus, vigiliis, jejuniis, et
flagellis.
De primo.
•
Est autem oratio
pius
affectus mentis in Deum tendens,
plerumque, ne animus pigritetur, in vocem
prorumpens
Item non debent peti in oratione
temporalia, saltem principaliter, sed
aeterna supernaturalia, et ad salutem
pertinentia.
•
Conclusit autem ista, quae petenda
sunt, ipse Dominus et Magister, in 7
petitionibus quum docuit nos orare
dicens.
·
Item exiguntur in oratione ista 13:
scilicet, quod sit fidelis, secura,
humilis,
bodily, where men han nede, and namely
in sustenaunce of mannes fode.
vv. 1031-1033:
§92, vv. 1034-1037: Thise almesses
shaltow doon
of thyne owene propre thinges. . .
[Cf. v. 1031.]
§ 93, v. 1038: Now as to speken of
bodily peyne, it stant in
preyeres, in wakinges, in fastinges, in
vertuouse techinges of orisouns.
v. 1939:
And ye shul understonde, that orisouns
or preyeres is for to seyn a pitous
wil of herte, that redresseth it in god
and expresseth it by word outward,
to remoeven harmes and to
han thinges espirituel and durable.
•
of whiche orisouns, certes, in the
orisoun of the Pater-noster, hath Jesu
Crist enclosed most thinges.
vv. 1040-1044:1
§ 94, v. 1045: This preyere moste be
trewely seyd and in verray feith,
and that men preye to god ordinatly
1 With vv. 1040-1042, cf. Speculum Ecclesiae, ca. 17, and the English translation,
Mirror of Edmund (ed. Horstman, I, 232), Speculum Spiritualium, quarta pars,
fol. 72, verso, Lorens's Somme, and The Ayenbite (p. 99).
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
29
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
discreta, devota,
verecunda,
[See humilis, above.]
pura, lacrymosa, secreta, attenta,
operosa, foecunda, et assidua, quae non
prosequor ultra, quia trita sunt.
Valet autem oratio praecipue
contra vitia spiritualia.
Unde Hieronymus super illum locum :
in jejunio sanantur pestes
corporis; oratione vero sanantur
pestes mentis.
De secundo, scilicet,
de vigiliis; Dominus in Evangelio,
Matt. 26: Vigilate, et orate, ne intretis
in tentationem.
•
•
De tertio, scilicet, de jejuniis, nota
quod est triplex jejunium.
Primum est corporis a cibo materiali;
secundum, affectus a gaudio temporali;
tertium, spirituale a peccato mortali....
Item, nota,
quod Dominus instituit primo jejunium
in Paradiso.
•
Item semper jejunium debent
haec quattuor concomitari, scilicet,
largitas, laetitia, hora, et mensura.
De secundo, scilicet, de laetitia,
Dominus in Matth.: Cum jejunatis,
nolite fieri sicut hypocritae, tristes.
tertio, scilicet, hora. .
De
THE PERSONES TALE.
and discreetly and devoutly ;
and alwey a man shal putten his wil to
be subget to the wille of god.
V. 1046: This orisoun moste eek been
seyd with greet humblesse and
ful pure; honestly, and nat to the anoy-
aunce of any man or womman.
It moste eek been continued
with the werkes of charitee.
v. 1047: It avayleth eek
agayn the vyces of the soule ;
for, as seith seint Jerome,
By fastinge been saved the vyces
of the flesh, and by preyere
the vyces of the soule."
§ 95, v. 1048: After this, thou shalt
understonde, that bodily peyne stant
in wakinge; for Jesu Crist seith,
"waketh, and preyeth that ye ne entre
in wikked temptacioun.”
v. 1049: Ye shul understonden also,
that fastinge stant in three thinges;
in forberinge of bodily mete and drinke,
and in forberinge of worldly jolitee, and
in forberinge of deedly sinne. . . .
§ 96. v. 1050: And thou shalt under-
stonden eek,
that god ordeyned fastinge;
and to fastinge appertenen
foure thinges.
v. 1051 Largenesse to povre folk,
gladnesse of herte espirituel, nat to
been angry ne anoyed, ne grucche for he
fasteth;
and also resonable houre
De quarto, scilicet, mensura.
De quarto, et ultimo, scilicet,
•
for to ete by mesure.
1
•
§ 97, 1052: Thanne shaltow under-
stonde,
de flagellis, nota, quod quadripartita that bodily peyne
sunt.
Primum consistit in
stant in
1 Cf. § 71, vv. 828 f.
30
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
armis poenitentialibus, scilicet,
in cinere, cilicio, et lacrymis.
Secundum
in pectoris tunsione,
jugi genuflexione, et disciplinis.
Tertium, in
afflictione peregrinationis.
Quartum, in tribulatione, et
cujuslibet aegritudinis afflictione,
qualia flagella sustinuit Job. . . .
Nunc videndum est qualiter debeat pro-
cedere Sacerdos circa impositionem satis-
factionis. Unde primo inquiramus de
falsa satisfactione. Secundo de gradibus
peccatorum. Tertio de mensura poe-
narum. De gradibus peccatorum.
Augustinus: Sicut tribus gradibus ad
• • •
•
THE PERSONES TALE.
disciplyne or techinge, by word or by
wrytinge, or in ensample.
Also in weringe of heyres or of stamin,
or of haubergeons.
vv. 1053-1054:
·
$ 98, v. 1055: Thanne is disciplyne
eek in knokkinge of thy brest,
in scourginge with yerdes,
in knelinges, in tribulacions;
v. 1056: in suffringe paciently wronges
that been doon to thee,
and eek in pacient suffraunce of
maladies, or lesinge of worldly catel,
or of wyf, or of child, or othere
freendes.
peccatum pervenitur, suggestione, delec- [Cf. § 20, above.]
tatione, et consensu, ita . . . De Mensura
poenarum.
Quaesita, Utrum ea, quae fiunt a
vivis,1 prosint defunctis, et quibus.
Item quibus suffragiis, seu beneficiis
deleantur venialia inter vivos. . . .
Ad illud, vero, quod tertio quaerebatur.
respondeo quod venialia delentur sex [Cf. § 22, vv. 385–386.]
modis, scilicet, per dignam Eucharistae
sumtionem
• • •
Item, delentur venialia
·
per aquae benedictae aspersionem.
Item delentur venialia per eleemosynarum
erogationem. ... Item delentur venialia
per orationem, praecipue Dominicam,
scilicet, Paternoster.... Item delentur per
generalem confessionem. . . . Item de-
lentur peccata venialia per Episcopalem,
1 Cf. Pricke of Conscience (vv. 3940–3947).
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
31
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
sive per Sacerdotalem benedictionem. . .
Item videtur, quod non solum per ista
specialiter numerata; sed etiam per
quodlibet bonum opus deleantur peccata
venialia. . .
§ V, fol. 451-457: De Clavibus et Remis-
sionibus.
VI. De Impedimentis Poenitentiae. . . .
Sunt enim quattuor praecipua impedi-
menta, scilicet, timor, pudor, spes, et
desperatio :
de singulis per ordinem videndum.
Pudor, scilicet, confitendi :
hic quidem pudor retrahit multos a
poenitentia, sed praecipue
hypocritas, et superbos, qui vellent
apparere hominibus sani, et pulchri
quum tamen infirmi.
•
Contra hoc impedimentum opponitur
triplex remedium, scilicet, consideratio
rationis, virtus divinae intuitionis, com-
paratio futurae confusionis.
Consideratio rationis :
quia rationabile est,
ut propter pudorem non differas
confiteri peccata tua; quod est
honestum, et utile, qui propter pudorem
non dubitasti ea committere, quod in-
honestum, et inutile, immo et perniciosum
est.
De secundo,
THE PERSONES TALE.
§ 99, v. 1057: Thanne shaltow under-
stonde, whiche thinges destourben pen-
aunce; and this is in four maneres,¹
that is, drede, shame, hope,
and wanhope, that is, desperacion.
vv. 1058-1059: see after v. 1064, below.
§ 100, v. 1060: Now again the shame
that a man hath to shryven him,
and namely,
thise ypocrites that wolden
been holden so parfite that they han
no nede to shryven hem; 2
v. 1061: agayns that shame,
sholde a man thinke,
that, by wey of resoun,
that he that hath nat been ashamed to
doon
foule thinges, certes, him oghte nat
been ashamed to do faire thinges, and
that is confessiouns.8
v. 1062: A man sholde eek thinke, that
Apostolus: Omnia nuda sunt, et aperta god seeth and woot alle hise thoghtes
1 Cf. Lorens (Eilers, p. 601): Ore dois savoir que V choses especiauement
empeeschent vraie confession . . . honte . . . mauvaise
paour . . . mauvaise
amour esperance . . . desperance. Alanus de Insulis, Liber de Penitentia,
also names five things which arcent a confessione."
•
• •
2 The Parson and Raymund agree in naming "Timor " first, and "Pudor" sec-
ond; Lorens, The Ayenbite, and Passavanti transpose this order, and in the special
description of each impediment, Raymund too transposes the order of his introduc-
tion. The Parson, therefore, alone maintains the order of his introduction.
• Cf. § 90, v. 1021, § 89, v. 1012, above.
A
32
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
oculis ejus, ad quem nobis sermo. Non
ergo te pudeat confiteri Sacerdoti, immo
potius Deo, cujus vicarius est.
De tertio, . . . Augustinus:
•
Est confusio temporalis . . . tali con-
fusione volo confundi, non aeterna, a
qua peccator cupio liberari. . . .
Timor, scilicet, satisfaciendi :
cogitandi enim, quod
THE PERSONES TALE.
and alle hise werkes; to him may no
thing been hid ne covered.
v. 1063: Men sholden eek remembren
hem of the shame that is to come at the
day of dome, to hem that been nat pen-
itent and shriven in this present lyf.
v. 1064:
[v. 1058: And for to speke first of
drede;
for which he weneth that he
non possent ferre poenitentiam, quae eis may suffre no penaunce;
imponeretur.
Ad tollendum hoc impedimentum tria
similiter adhibentur, scilicet,
v. 1059: ther-agayns is remedie for to
thinke,
praesentis poenae modicitas, levitas, et that bodily penaunce is but short and
momentanea brevitas :
ex opposito vero futurae poenae
incomparabilis magnitudo, intolerabilis
acerbitas, et
infinalis aeternitas.
Spes, scilicet,
triplex,
diu vivendi,
•
acquirendi temporales divitias, in
quibus quiescat;
et de nimia Dei misericordia, quae
neminem velit damnare.
Contra primum
opponit remedium Jac., c. 4:
Quae est enim vita vestra?
•
Contra secundum dat remedium ipse
Dominus, Luc., 12: Hominis cujusdam
divitis. . .
litel
at regard of the peyne of helle,
that is so cruel and so long, that
it lasteth with-outen ende.]
§ 101, v. 1065: Now for to speken of
the hope of hem that been necligent
and slowe to shryven hem,
that stant in two maneres.
v. 1066: That oon is, that he hopeth
for to live longe and for to purchacen
muche richesse for his delyt, and
thanne he wol shryven him; and, as he
seith, him semeth thanne tymely y-nough
to come to shrifte.
v. 1067: Another is, surquidrie that
he hath in Cristes mercy.
v. 1068: Agayns the firste vyce,
he shal thinke,
that oure lyf is in no sikernesse ;
and eek that
Job, 27: Dives cum dormierit, nihil secum alle the richesses in this world ben in
auferet.
aventure, and
passen as a shadwe on the wal.1
1 Cf. The Shipman's Tale, v. 8, and The Marchantes Tale, v. 71.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
33
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
Contra tertium, Gregorius:
Ad magnam justitiam judicantis pertinet,
ut nunquam careant supplicio,
qui in hac vita numquam voluerunt
carere peccato.
Desperatio est duplex,
prima veniae,
secunda
perseverandi post veniam obtentam.
Primam inducunt tria, scilicet,
peccati quantitas,
frequentia,
et diuturnitas.
Contra primum
opponitur Passio Christi, quae
fortior est ad dissolvendum, quam
peccatum aliquod ad ligandum. .
Contra secundum,
Hieronymus, de poen., dist. 3:.
Septies in die cadit justus,
et resurgit .
Contra tertium,
si convertatur ad poenitentiam.
Psalm.:
THE PERSONES TALE.
V. 1069: And as seith seint Gregorie,
that it aperteneth to the grete rightwis
nesse of god, that nevere shal the peyne
stinte of hem
that nevere wolde withdrawen hem fro
sinne, hir thankes.
•
§ 102, v. 1070: Wanhope is in two
maneres :
the firste wanhope is in the mercy of
Crist; 1
that other is that they thinken, that
they ne mighte nat longe persevere in
goodnesse.
v. 1071: The firste wanhope comth of
that he demeth that he hath sinned
so greetly
and so ofte,
and so longe leyn in sinne,2
that he shal nat be saved.
7. 1072: certes,
agayns that cursed wanhope sholde he
thinke, that the passion of Jesu Crist
is more strong for to unbinde than
sinne is strong for to binde.³
v. 1073: Agayns the seconde wanhope,
he shal thinke, that
4
as ofte as he falleth
he may aryse agayn
by penitence.
And thogh he never so longe have leyn
in sinne,
Misericordia Domini ab aeterno usque the mercy of Christ is alwey redy to
•
in aeternum super timentes eum
Item circa secundam desperationem,
scilicet, perseverandi post veniam
obtentam, apponuntur tria remedia.
De primo, debilis est hostis,
qui non potest vincere nisi
em
•
•
receiven him to mercy.
v. 1074: Agayns the wanhope, that he
demeth that he sholde not longe per-
severe in goodnesse, he shal thinke,
that the feblesse of the devel
volent- may nothing doon but-if men wol suffren
him;
De secundo, scilicet, de vigore, patet
Item quia primo inermis, modo armatus
1 Cf. § 89, v. 1015, above.
8 Cf. § 12, above.
v. 1075: and eek he shal han strengthe
2 Cf. § 86, v. 963, § 88, v. 1004, above.
4 Cf. § 2, v. 91, above.
3
34
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
SUMMA CASUUM POENITENTIAE.
armatura Dei ...
Item.
•
associatus exercitui omnium
justorum, qui sunt in Ecclesia,
et omnium sanctorum, et Angelorum. .
THE PERSONES TALE.
of the help of god,
and of al holy chirche, and of the pro-
teccioun of aungels, if him list.
§ 103, V. 1076–1080.1
The correspondences just quoted really prove without further argu-
ment, I think, the Parson's indebtedness to Raymund, both with regard
to structure and to phraseology. I may then proceed to my second
theme, the Sin Tract of the P. T.
At § 17, v. 321, where the Parson fails to expound his second topic
of Confession, and in connection with this second topic of Confession
in Raymund, the subject of Sin is introduced. The treatment of this
topic in Raymund is brief, and hardly interrupts the transition to the
third topic of Confession. In the P. T., on the contrary, the exposi
tion of Sin is so full as almost to assume the proportions of a separate
treatise. Moreover, from its length and elaboration, the digression
interrupts the regular course of the argument, and becomes, as it were,
an interpolation between the beginning and the main part of Con-
fession.
This Sin Tract of the P. T. may be divided into three sections:
(i) Sin in general [§§ 18-22, vv. 321-386]: for this section Ray-
mund's tract has important corre. pondences with the P. T., although
they are not brought together as in the P. T2
1 The Peroration (§ 103, vv. 1076–1080) on the Fruit of Penitence, that is, the
endless bliss of heaven, is not mentioned in the Parson's introductory outline
(§ 1, 81-83), or in Raymund's, and it appears here as if added in conclusion.
1
2 These correspondences are as follows: § 18, v. 321, the sentence introducing
Sin corresponds in a general way with Raymund's; v. 331 (Augustine), cf. § 20, v.
357, below; v. 336, cf. Raymund, "ternarius . . . avaritiam," quoted p. 27, above,
and cf. I John, ii, 16; § 20, v. 357 (Augustine), cf. Raymund, quoted p. 30, above;
§ 21, vv. 362–364 (Augustine on venial sin), cf. Raymund, quoted p. 7, note ¹ above;
vv. 371-381 (an almost literal translation from Augustine) cited by Raymund (see
p. 18, above) with a cross-reference to the page of the Summa where the quota-
tion is given in full. It is quoted in full also by several imitators of Raymund
in their versions of this tract (cf. Hostiensis, J. Chappuis, etc.); vv. 385-386, cf.
Raymund, quoted p. 30, above. Other quotations from Augustine in this section
of the exposition of Sin, I find in the same connection in other penitential tracts
which apparently are under obligation to Raymund. Cf. § 21, v. 368, with Comp.

The Sources of the Parson's Tale
35
(ii) The Circumstances which aggravate Sin [§§ 85–86, vv. 960–
981] this section is expounded by Raymund as the fifth topic of Con-
fession. It is also given substantially in Lorens and in many other
authors (cf. Libellus de modo Conf., Articuli Fidei and Floretus,
Passavanti, Cavalca da Pisa, de Chaimis, Thomas de Cabaham, The
Ancren Riwle, etc.).
(iii) The Seven Deadly Sins [§§ 23-83, vv. 387-955]: these and
their "spyces" Raymund enumerates (see p. 27, above). But with this
enumeration, he dismisses the subject which is so fully elaborated by
the Parson. The subject is also treated with varying fulness in different.
adaptations of the Summa (cf. Hostiensis, J. Chappuis, etc.; cf. also the
compilations, Pisanella, Angelica, etc.), and in other compilations
which show obligation to Raymund (cf. Libellus de modo Conf.,
Articuli Fidei and Floretus, Lo Specchio della vera Penitenzia, Speculum
Spiritualium, etc.).
The Seven Deadly Sins are also treated at length by Lorens in his
Somme, and this exposition contains a considerable number of passages
which are similar to passages in the P. T. But the similarity for the
most part concerns phrases and detached statements which, though like
statements of the P. T., are usually far from identical with them.
On the other hand, the agreements already mentioned between the
•
Theol. Verit., iii (De corruptela peccati), ca. 2 (De peccati diffinitione): . . . ab Aug. :
Peccare est spreto incommutabili bono, rebus mutabilibus adherere. And with
Libellus de modo Conf. (from the exposition of the third text): Peccatum, sec.
Aug., sic describitur: Peccatum est voluntas retinendi vel consequendi quod
justicia vetat; vel sec. eundem : Peccatum est spreto naturali bono et immutabili
rebus mutabilibus adherere; vel sec. eundem : Peccatum est omne dictum vel
factum vel concupitum contra legem Dei (cf. P. T., § 85, vv. 958 f.); and cf. § 22,
383 f. with Comp. Theol. Verit., iii, ca. 12 (De peccato veniali): sicut videtur
beatus Augustinus dicere de beata Virgine. . . . Istud patet per exempla quia
nauta potest singula foramina navis in numero obstruere ne aqua intret. Sed non
potest anima simul obstruere ut aqua nusquam intret. Unde etiam caritas perfecta
non facit quod peccatum veniale non adveniat sed facit quod non duret quemad-
modum caminus ignis non facit ut gutta aque sibi non apponatur, sed facit ut
apposita cicius extinguatur. Perfecta enim caritas statim inflammat hominem ut de
peccato veniali doleat et peniteat quod non facit caritas imperfecta. Cf. also, § 85,
vv. 958 f., with Libellus de modo Conf., quoted above in connection with § 21, v. 368;
Comp. Theol. Verit., iii, ca. 2, fol. 43; Speculum Aureum, etc. With § 20, v. 356.
cf. Maunciples Tale, vv. 340 f.
36
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
Sin Tract of the Parson and that of Peraldus are more or less consecu-
tive, and at the same time the statements in question are often not
only similar but really identical. These correspondences are as follows:
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.¹
II, 6, ii, 2: Notandum ergo quod
vitium superbie quasi rex vitiorum
Unde Ecci. x: Initium omnis pec-
cati est superbia.
[Cf. De appetitu proprie excellentie,
quoted after v. 409, below.]
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
§ 23, v. 387.
v. 388: Of the roote of thise sevene
sinnes thanne is Pryde,
the general rote of alle harmes.
v. 389:
§ 24, 2 vv. 390-406:3

§ 25, v. 407: And yet is ther a privee
spece of Pryde.ª . . . and eek he waiteth
or desyreth to sitte, or elles to goon
above him in the wey. 5
•
•
1 The Tractatus de Viciis exists in an independent edition (Typis M. Wenssler,
Basileae [1470-1475?]). My references, however, are to the edition in which the
book on the Vices is preceded by a book on the Virtues. This compilation is en-
titled, like Lorens's Somme, Summa Virtutum et Vitiorum [Basilee, 1497].
2 With v. 401, cf. § 30, v. 487.
8 These verses contain a list of the various branches of Pride, together with the
definitions of each. For similar lists and definitions, cf. Bod. 90, the Somme of
Lorens, Articuli Fidei, Speculum Ecclesiae and the Mirror of Edmund, Passavanti,
etc. Professor Liddell says (Acad., p. 509) of the similarity between Bod. 90 and
the P. T. with regard to their more than sevenfold division of Pride: "the simi-
larity is the more striking from the fact that most of the mediaeval treatises on the
subject make a sevenfold division of Pride, as Lorens does." This sevenfold divi-
sion is given also by Gregory, Moral., lib. xxxi, c. 45; Migne, LXXVI; Speculum
Ecclesiae and Mirror of Edmund, and by Raymund (cf. p. 27, above, Inanis Gloria).
St. Eutropius makes the number eight (Migne, LXXX, 10); cf. also Alcuin (Migne,
CI, col. 632), and other authors cited by H. C. Lea, A History of Confession, II,
235 f. Libellus de modo Conf. has nine branches; Art. Fidei, six; Speculum Spirit-
ualium, four and five; Mirour de l'Omme, five; Peraldus (ii, 6, iii, ca. 36) says:
De quibusdam vitiis que procedunt ex Superbia. ... Dicemus autem tantummodo
de quinque illorum, licet sint multo plura.
4 The remarks and illustrations from Lorens which I quote from Dr. Eilers,
with regard to this first sin, together with the parallels already quoted in connection
with §§ 88-90 (see p. 23, note 3, above), will be sufficient to give an idea of the kind
of similarity which exists between the treatise of Lorens and that of the Parson.
Of this paragraph Dr. Eilers says (p. 515): "The next section on 'privee spice of
pride' has nothing corresponding to it in F" [that is, the Somme].
5 Cf. Gen. Prol., vv. 449 ff.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
37
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
[Cf. De superbia affectus, quoted after v.
409, below.]
II, 6, iii, 1: Et notandum quod superbia
primo dividitur in superbiam interiorem
et exteriorem.
Interior autem dividitur in superbiam
intellectus et superbiam affectus. Su-
perbia intellectus quattuor habet species.
Prima est quando aliquis credit sua bona
habere a se. Secunda est: cum aliquis
credit a Deo sua bona habere sed suis
meritis. Tertia, quando credit se habere
quod non habet.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 408: and swiche semblable thinges;
agayns his duetee, per-aventure, but that
he hath his herte and his entente in
swich a proud desyr to be magnifyed and
honoured biforn the peple.¹
§ 26, v. 409: Now been ther two
maneres of Pryde: that oon of hem is
with-inne the herte of man, and that other
is with-oute.

Quarta, quando in opinione sua prefert [Cf. § 25, v. 408, above.]
se aliis.
Ibid., 5-6: Sequitur de superbia affectus,
que dividitur in presumptionem et appe-
titum proprie excellentie . . . De appe-
titu proprie excellentie que in tres species
distinguitur . . . excellentia dominii, ex-
cellentia magisterii et excellentia sim-
plicis excessus. . . Unde Ecci. vii: Noli
querere ab homine ducatum neque a rege [Cf. § 25. v. 407, above.]
cathedram honoris.
[Cf. ibid., 12, fol. 89: Quare
circulus est ante domum,
si ibi non est vinum venale?]
Ibid., 9: Dictum est de superbia interiori,
consequenter dicendum est de superbia
exteriori. Vocatur autem superbia ex-
terior aliquid extrinsecum quod a super-
bia interiore procedit et eam ostendit.
Et potest distingui ista superbia secun-
dum diversitatem rerum in quibus super-
v. 410:
v. 411: But natheles that oon of these
speces of pryde is signe of that other,
right as the gaye leefsel atte taverne
is signe of the wyn that is in the celer.
v. 412:
And this is
¹ Dr. Eilers says (ibid.): "Upon this [sc. § 25] follows an exposition of a gen-
eral nature, viz., of the two principal kinds of pride, of which the one comprehends
the 16 twigges, already treated: this whole exposition is therefore out of place."
38
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
bia hominum potest apparere. Potest in manye thinges;
autem apparere superbia hominum vel
in ipso corpore, vel in lectis, vel in equis,
vel ornatu, vel amplitudine familie, in
conviviis, in edificiis, in deauratis libris,
et in cantu.
Ibid., 14: Notandum ergo quod superbus
habitus potest esse culpabilis multis de
causis. Prima causa est Preciositas.
Unde super Luc. xvi, de divite qui indue-
batur purpura et bysso, dicit Glo. :
Si culpa preciosarum vestium culpa
non esset, sermo Dei non ita vigil-
anter exprimeret quod dives purpura
et bysso indutus apud inferos torqueretur.
Gregorius
Nemo preciosa vestimenta nisi ad
inanem gloriam querit. . . .
Secunda causa est Mollicies vestium
•
•
. Gregorius: Nemo estimet.
Tertia causa est Extraneitas, quando
scilicet, aliquis vult habere vestes aliis
dissimiles.
•
Quarta causa -est
as in speche and contenaunce, and in
outrageous array of clothing;1
v. 413 for certes,
if ther ne hadde be no sinne in clothing,
Crist wolde nat have noted and spoken
of the clothing of thilke riche man in
the gospel.
v. 414: And, as seith Seint Gregorie,
that precious clothing is coupable for
the derthe of it,
and for his softenesse,

and for his strangenesse and degysi-
nesse,
Superfluitas. Potest autem ista super- and for the superfluitee,
fluitas esse duplex: vel quoad multitu-
dinem vel quoad magnitudinem.
Primo modo est superfluitas
in illis qui volunt habere vestes
longas ut majores esse videantur. Quod
vitium multum abundat in quibusdam
prelatis..
Ibid. Octavo potest esse reprehensibilis
habitus vel ornatus propter formam vel
compositionem. In forma vero repre-
hensibilia sunt ista: Incisio ex parte
inferiori, sicut fit in vestibus joculato-
rum; Corrugatio ex parte superiori.
or for the inordinat scantnesse of it.
v. 415:
§ 27, v. 416: As to the first sinne, that
is in superfluitee of clothinge.
[Cf. v. 419, below.]
·
v. 417: nat only the cost of embroud-
inge, the degyse endentinge or barringe,
oundinge, palinge, windinge, or bendinge,
and semblable wast of clooth in vanitee;
v. 418: but ther is also costelewe fur-
ringe in hir gounes, so much pounson-
""
1 "The points treated under the second kind of pride are also found in F.:
Highnes of herte in speche and contienaunce " are frequently brought forward in
F." (Eilers, ibid.) Cf. also: plente des beles robes (Ibid., p. 513).

The Sources of the Parson's Tale
39
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Perforatio etiam in sotularibus
magna videtur fatuitas; cum sotulares
integri meliores sint quam perforati.
Ibid. De caudis mulierum. Hoc vitio
laborant domine que longas caudas
trahunt post se,
[Cf. opp. v. 416, above.]
terram preciosis vestibus induentes et
de nuditate Christi in pauperibus non
curantes; caudis suis pulices colligunt
et pulverem movent hominibus; Chris-
tum vero quem in tot pauperibus nudum
respiciunt et non operiunt.
[Cf. opp. vv. 417 f.]
Ibid., 19: Sequitur de superbia que
apparet in
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955-
inge of chisels to maken holes, so muche
dagginge of sheres.
v. 419: forth-with the superfluitee in
lengthe of the forseide gounes,
trailinge.
•
as wel of man as of womman, that al
thilke trailing is verraily as in effect
wasted, consumed, thredbare, and roten
with donge, rather than it is yeven to
the povre; to greet damage of the for-
seyde povre folk.
420-421:
v. 422: Upon that other syde, to
speken of the horrible disordinat scant-
nesse of clothing, as been thise cutted
sloppes or hainselins. . .
vv. 423-431: :1
v. 432: Also the sinne of aornement or
of apparaille is in thinges that apertenen
Equitaturis: que quadrupliciter apparet. to rydinge,
Primo in multiplicatione
equorum . . secundo in non necessario
usu equorum . Tertio in
•
nimia exquisitione equorum, sicut
accidit illis qui equos volunt
habere impinguatos ad pascendum
oculos hominum.
Quarto in superbo ornatu equorum,
sicut accidit illis qui Christum
dimittunt in pauperibus nudum et
as in to manye delicat
horses that been holden for delyt,
that been so faire,
fatte, and costelewe; 2
v. 433 : . . . in to curious harneys, as in
sadeles, in crouperes, peytrels, and brydles
covered with precious clothing and riche,
1 Professor Liddell, after showing the likeness between Bod. 90 and the P. T.,
with regard to the sixteen or seventeen-fold division of Pride, says (Acad., p. 509):
'If the rest of MS. Bodley 90 were as similar to the Tale, we should have no diffi-
culty in deciding the relation between the two; but this is unfortunately not the
The likeness, as pointed out in my former letter, is rather in the method of
treatment than verbal, though here and there similar forms of expression are found
in both. In discussing Pride, as manifested in extravagant clothing, the French
Sermon, unlike Lorens's Somme, goes into detail, and the Preacher presents his
bill of particulars with the same vindictiveness that is found in Chaucer.”
case.
2 Cf. Lorens (Eilers, p. 513): beles chevauchures.
AT
40
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
famelicum et equos suos phaleris
deauratis et deargentatis ornant.
Ibid.: Unde Zach. x:
Confundentur
ascensores equorum. Et xii ejusdem :
In die illa dicit Dominus: Percutiam
omnem equum in stupore et ascensorem
ejus in amentia.
Ibid.
Christi
Secundum est exemplum
qui non legitur equitasse
sed semel etiam asinasse.
Ibid. 20: Sequitur de illa specie superbie
que in familia apparet. Et notandum
quod tria possunt esse reprehensibilia in
familia alicuius potentis.
multitudo...
secundum est vita inhonesta
tertium est inutilitas.
[Cf. after v. 441, below.]
Primum est
•
Ibid.: Tali fatuitate laborant quali labo-
rat ille qui deferens mel, gauderet eo
quod multe musce sequerentur eum.
Sen. Multi aliquem comitantur ;
mel musce sequuntur ;
cadavera lupi; frumenta formice;
predam sequitur turba ista non homines.
Quanquam familia quam credit superbus
esse suam potius est familia diaboli, cus-
todiens eam diabolo.
Vendit etiam eam diabolo.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
barres and plates
of gold and of silver.¹
v. 434: For which God seith by Zach-
arie the prophete, "I wol confounde
the ryderes of swiche horses."
v. 435: This folk taken litel reward of
the rydinge of goddes sone of hevene,
and of his harneys whan
he rood up-on the asse, and ne hadde
noon other harneys but the povre clothes
of hise disciples;
ne we ne rede nat that
evere he rood on other beest.

v. 436:
v. 437: And forther, certes pryde is
greetly notified in holdinge of greet
meinee,2
whan they be of litel profit or
of right no profit.
v. 438:
v. 439: For certes, swiche lordes sellen
thanne hir lordshipe to the devel of
helle, whanne they sustenen the wikked-
nesse of hir meinee.
v. 440:
v. 441 Thilke manere of folk been the
flyes that folwen the hony, or elles the
houndes that folwen the careyne.
Swiche forseyde folk
stranglen spiritually hir lordshipes;
[Cf. v. 439, above.]
1 Lorens (ibid.): l'appareil de son ostel et autre maniere de hernois.
2 Cf. Lorens (ibid.): bele maisnie.

The Sources of the Parson's Tale
4I
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid., 21: Superbia conviviorum apparet,
primo in hoc quod
magni et divites invitantur qui non
indigent et pauperes relinquuntur.
Ibid.: Tertio apparet superbia
in varietate ferculorum;
et deauratione et splendore eorundem
ad vanam gloriam.
Ibid.: Quarto apparet superbia in
vasis aureis et argenteis
•
Quinto apparet superbia in multitudine
musicorum instrumentorum.
Ibid., 25: Notandum ergo quod su-
perbia
quandoque oritur ex bonis
nature, quandoque ex bonis
fortune, quandoque ex bonis
gratie. 8
Ibid.: Bona vero nature
quedam sunt corporis,
quedam anime.
Ibid.: Corporis sunt ista: sanitas,
fortitudo, agilitas,
pulchritudo, nobilitas, libertas.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
vv. 442-443:
v. 444: Pryde of the table appereth eek
ful ofte; for certes,
riche men been cleped to festes,
and povre folk been put awey and rebuked.¹
v. 445: Also in excesse of
diversemetes and drinkes; and namely..
v. 446: And eek in to greet precious-
nesse of vessel and
curiositee of minstralcie,
by whiche a man is stired the more to
delyces of luxurie.2
vv. 447-449:
v. 450: Now mighte men axe wher-of
that
Pryde sourdeth and springeth, and I seye:
somtyme it springeth of the goodes
of nature, and som-tyme of the goodes
of fortune, and som-tyme of the goodes
of grace.
v. 451 Certes, the goodes of nature
stonden outher in goodes of body or in
goodes of soule.4
v. 452: Certes goodes of body been
hele of body, as strengthe, delivernesse,
beautee, gentrye, franchise.5
1 Dr. Eilers says (p. 515): “'apparaile of the table' corresponds to 'appareil
de son ostel.' But in F. all these points are enumerated together with others,
whilst in E. they are, with the exception of the first, 'speche and contienaunce,'
independently and very fully treated.”
2 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 151–154.
8 Dr. Eilers says (ibid.) of this section: "The following passage 'the spices
that sourdren,' etc., which may be considered to conclude this section, has nothing
corresponding to it in this chapter, but the same idea is often to be found in other
parts of F." Cf. (p. 512 f.): Vaine gloire is divided into rainciaus according to the
three kinds of divine gifts: 1. Li bien de nature (only mentioned) 2. Li bien de
fortune (only mentioned) 3. Li bien de grace.
* Cf. Lorens (Eilers, p. 512): Li bien de nature (A) devers le cors, (B) devers
l'ame.
5 Cf. Lorens (ibid.): (a) Sainteté, (b) Biauté, (c) Force, (d) Proesce, (e) Noblesce,
(f) Bone Langue, (g) Bone Voix.
42
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid.: Bona vero anime naturalia
sunt ista: rectitudo ingenii, et
velocitas,
memorie bonitas,
potestas tolerandi
exercitium spirituale, naturalis
dispositio ad virtutes seu
virtus naturalis.
Ibid.: Bona vero fortune sunt bona exte-
riora que sunt in potestate hominum,
que ab hominibus possunt auferri, ut sunt
divitie, delicie,
dignitates,
laus seu gloria et gratia humana.
Ibid.: Bona vero gratie sunt
scientia et virtutes.
Ibid., 26: Notandum tamen quod cum
fatuus sit impius qui de bonis suis
superbit, valde fatuus est qui
de bonis predictis superbit.
Ibid., 27: Quia fatuum sit de bonis cor-
poris sui superbire
• •
Ibid. Specialiter vero fatuum est
superbire de sanitate corporis.
Primo quia ista sanitas momentanea
est ... [See "Tertio," below.]
secundo quia
corpus hostis familiaris est et
ideo multum nocivus. .
In majori enim periculo est hom
cum hostis ejus sanus sit.
Tertio... cum ipsa sanitas ut
frequentius occasio sit infirmitatis
anime... Homo sanus corpore, infirmus
mente.
Ibid. :
De fortitudine etiam corporis
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
v. 453: Goodes of nature of the soule
been good wit, sharp understondynge,
subtil engin, vertu naturel,
good memorie.¹
[Cf. v. 455, below.]
[vertu naturel, above.]
v. 454: Goodes of fortune been
richesses,
highe degrees of lordshipes,
preisinges of the peple.2
v. 455: Goodes of grace been
science, power to suffer spiritual tra-
vaille ..8
•
v. 456: Of whiche forseyde goodes,
certes
it is a ful greet folye a man
to pryden him in any of hem alle.
v. 457: Now as for to speken of goodes
of nature.

v. 458:
As, for to speken of hele of body; certes,
it passeth ful lightly,
and eek it is ful ofte encheson of the
siknesse of oure soule; for god woot,
the flesh is a ful greet enemy to the
soule; and therfore,
the more that the body is hool,
the more be we in peril to falle.
[See above.]
v. 459: Eke for to pryde him
in his strengthe of body,
1 Cf. Lorens (ibid.): (B) devers l'ame, (a) cler sens, (b) soutil engin, (c) bone
memoire, (d) les vertuz naturels.
2 Cf. Lorens (ibid.): Li bien de fortune, (a) Hautesces, (b) Honors, (c) Rich-
esces, (d) Delices, (e) Prosperitez.
3 Cf. Lorens (p. 513): Li bien de grace, (a) Vertuz, (b) Bones oevres.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
43
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
fatuum est superbire, cum scriptum
sit... Et cum continua lucta sit inter
spiritum et corpus: Caro enim
concupiscit adversus spiritum et
spiritus adversus carnem.
Unde quanto corpus fortius,
tanto magis spiritui timendum est.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955-
it is an heigh folye ;
for certes, the flesh
coveiteth agayn the spirit,
and ay the more strong that the flesh is,
the sorier may the soule be;
v. 460: And, over al this,
strengthe of body and
Cf. Ibid.: Et ad litteram hanc, videmus
frequenter quod fortiores corpore infirmi-
ores sunt mente. Minus enim resistere
possunt ire et luxurie et ceteris vitiis.
Fatuum etiam est superbire de corporis
velocitate; cum corpus sit velut equus worldly hardinesse
quidam in quo hostes infernales ut fre-
quenter ducunt spiritum ad mortem ip-
sius; ut frequentius quanto iste equus
velocior est, tanto facilius spiritus ab
hostibus suis capitur.
Ibid., 28: De nobilitate etiam carnis
fatuum est superbire . . .
Primo contemnenda est quia ut
frequenter nobilitas carnis meliorem
nobilitatem aufert, scilicet, mentis nobili-
tatem
Secundo, contemnenda est quia
omnes sumus ex eodem patre et ex
eadem matre.
•
Quinto vero contemnenda est nobilitas
carnis quia materia, quam
causeth ful ofte many a man
to peril and meschaunce.
v. 461: Eek for to pryde him of his
gentrye is ful greet folye;
for
ofte tyme the gentrye of the body
binimeth the gentrye of the soule ;
and eek
we ben alle of o fader and of
.o moder;
and
a parentibus contrahit aliquis ratione alle we been of o nature
cujus nobilem se credit,
vile quid est et immundum et erubes- roten and corrupt,
cibile.
Ibid.: 29: Animi vero nobilitas
duplex est: quedam naturalis, de qua
Sen. : Quis est generosus ad virtutem
bene a natura compositus ;
alia nobilitas est gratuita,
quando aliquis gratiam Dei habet
qua Dei filius est que custodit eum
ut nulli turpitudini serviat.
both riche and povre.
v. 462: For sothe, oo maner gentrye is
for to preise,
that apparailleth mannes corage with
vertues and moralitees,
and maketh him Cristes child.
1 Cf. this theme in the Wife of Bath's Tale, vv. 253–320.
:
44
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Tullius: Liber estimandus est qui nulli
turpitudini servit.
:
Ibid. Tunc ille nobilitatem suam inte-
gram servare se putet si dedignetur
servire vitiis et ab illis superari.
A quo enim quis superatur ejus et servus
est. Bern.: An non servus cui domina-
tur iniquitas?
Ibid.: Et notandum est quod sex sunt
signa vere nobilitatis.
•
Ibid.: Primum est liberalitas
Ibid.: Secundum signum nobilitatis est
gratitudo seu recognitio beneficii.
Ibid.: Tertium signum nobilitatis est
mansuetudo et misericordia in ea que
sunt ejus subjecta. Et hoc est unum
quod valde decens est in his qui potesta-
tem habent.
Unde Sen.:
Nullum ex omnibus magis clementia
quam regem et principem decet.
Ibid. Idem: Iracundissime ac pro captu
pugnacissime sunt apes, et aculeum in
vulnere relinquunt. Sed ipse rex sine
aculeo est: noluit ipsum natura nec se-
vum esse; nec ultionem que magno con-
staret petere; telumque detraxit et iram
ejus inermem reliquit, exemplar hoc
omnibus regibus linquens.
Ibid.: Sextum signum nobilitatis est
cordis magnitudo qua quis modica con-
temnit,
et magna appetit.
Ibid., 31: Viso quod fatuum sit super-
bire de nobilitate carnis; consequens est
videre quod fatuum sit superbire de aliis
bonis que prius nominata sunt . . .
Fatuum etiam est de virtutibus super-
bire.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 463:
For truste wel, that over what man sinne
hath maistrie, he is a verray cherl to
sinne.1
§ 28, v. 464: Now been ther generale
signes of gentilesse . . .
v. 465: . . . and to be liberal
v. 466: Another is, to remembre him
of bountee that he of other folk hath
receyved.
v. 467: Another is, to be benigne to
hise
goode subgetis;
wherfore, as seith Senek,
"ther is no-thing more covenable to a
man of heigh estaat than debonairetee
and pitee.
v. 468: And therfore thise flyes that
men clepeth bees, whan they maken hir
king,
they chesen oon that hath no prikke
wherwith he may stinge."
v. 469: Another is,
a man to have a noble herte and a dili-
gent,
to attayne to heighe vertuouse thinges.
v. 470:
Now certes, a man to pryde him in the
goodes of grace is eek an outrageous
Hoc enim est de medicamine vulnerari. folye; for thilke yiftes of grace that
1 Cf. § 9, v. 142, above, and § 66, v. 763, below.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
45
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Gregorius: Qui de virtutibus habitis
extollitur, quasi de medicamento vul-
neratur.
Ibid.: Fatuum est etiam de potestate
Et Aug. dicit quod quanto quis in
loco superiori, tanto in periculo majori
versatur.
Ibid.: Fatuum est etiam superbire de
divitiis. Hoc enim est superbire de hoc
quod habet majorem molam ad collum
quam alii.
Fatuum est etiam superbire
de gratia humana, cum scriptum sit,
Prover., ult., quod fallax gratia, etc.
II, 6, iv: De octo Remediis contra
Superbiam.
II, 7, i: Post peccatum superbie
dicendum est de Invidia,
quia ipsa est filia superbie . .
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
sholde have turned him to goodnesse
and to medicine, turneth him to venim
and to confusion, as seith seint Gregorie.
v. 471: Certes also, who-so prydeth
him in the goodes of fortune, he is a
ful greet fool; for som-tyme is a man a
greet lord by the morwe, that is a caitif
and a wrecche er it be night.¹
v. 472: and somtyme the richesse of a
man is cause of his deeth.
v. 473: Certes,
•
the commendacion of the peple is som-
tyme ful fals and ful brotel for to triste;
this day they preyse, tomorwe they
blame.2
v. 474:
§ 29, vv. 475-483: Remedium contra
peccatum Superbie.
§ 30, v. 484: After Pryde
wol I speken of the foule sinne of
Envye,
which is, as by the word of the philoso-
phre, sorwe of other mannes prosperitee;
1 Cf. the Words of the Host to the Pardoner, vv. 8-10, and K. T., vv. 397 f.
2 Cf. Cl. Tale, part 6, vv. 57 f.
• With regard to the remedia, Dr. Eilers says (p. 567): “It will be seen that
the register of virtues is here given quite as systematically as that of sins and
that it is nearly three times as long. In E [that is, the P. T.], on the other hand,
where the sections on the sins are the fullest, the Remedia, with the exception of
the last, are only short Appendices, which in form and contents allow of no com-
parison either with the sections on the sins, or with the French sections on the
virtues." Lorens, moreover, treats his sins as a whole in section III, and his vir-
tues as a whole in section VII. The Parson, Peraldus, Bod. 90, Speculum Spiritu-
alium, Summula Raymundi (J. Chappuis), etc., on the other hand, treat each
remedium after the sin to which it corresponds. Beyond this fact, however, that
Peraldus agrees with the Parson in expounding each remedium after its corre-
sponding sin, there is no agreement to be noted between the tract of Peraldus and
the first six remedia of the P. T., which Dr. Eilers describes as "only short Appen-
dices." But the last remedium of the P. T., whose length distinguishes it from
the rest, has some rather significant agreements with the corresponding remedium
of Peraldus.
46
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Invidia, secundum Aug., est
dolor felicitatis aliene.
Ibid.: Primo . . . vitium istud est
peccatum in Spiritum Sanctum.
Peccatum in Spiritum Sanctum, secun-
dum unam acceptationem, dicitur pecca-
tum quod est contra bonitatem Dei
que Spiritui Sancto appropriatur;
et sic omne peccatum quod est ex
certa malicia, peccatum est
in Spiritum Sanctum.
Quod etiam patet per divisionem
peccati in Spiritum Sanctum quod
dividitur in peccatum Obstinationis
et Impugnationis.
Obstinatus in Spiritum Sanctum
peccat quia in bonitatem Dei que homi-
nem ad penitentiam expectat et ipse
sit ingratus bonitate Dei eam impugnat ...
Ibid.: Impugnatio vero dividitur in im-
pugnationem veritatis
agnite que est in apostatis; et in
impugnationem gratie
que est in invidis, qui
gratiam Dei que est in hominibus
persequuntur et odiunt.
[See above.]
Ibid.
Unde . . . invidia erit
pessimum vitium. . .
Pejor est invidia quam avaricia. Avarus
enim etsi non vult communicare bona
sua, tamen vult quod alii sua communi-
cent. Invidus autem non vult communi-
care bona sua nec vult quod alius ea
communicet.
Ibid.: Invidus
de ipsa bonitate Dei dolet
quod ipsa non est avara
hominibus; sibi tamen eam vellet
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
and after the word of seint Augustin, it
is sorwe of other mannes wele, and joye
of othere mennes harm.¹
v. 485: This foule sinne is platly
agayns the holy goost. Al-be-it so that
every sinne is agayns the holy goost, yet
nathelees, for as muche as
bountee
aperteneth proprely to the holy goost,
and Envye comth proprely of
malice, therfore it is proprely
agayn the bountee of the holy goost.
v. 485: Now hath malice
two speces, that is to seyn,
hardnesse of herte in wikkednesse.
v. 487: That other spece of malice is,
whan a man werreyeth trouthe,
whan he woot that it is trouthe. And
eek, whan he werreyeth the grace
[See below.]
that god hath yeve to his neighebore ;
and al this is by Envye.
v. 488: Certes, thanne is Envye
the worste sinne that is.
For soothly, alle othere sinnes been
som-tyme only agayns o special vertu ;
v. 489: but certes, Envye is agayns alle
vertues and agayns alle goodnesses;
for it is sory of alle the bountees of his
neighebore;
1 Cf. Phisiciens Tale, vv. 114 ff. Cf. also, vv. 491 f., below.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
47
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
esse largam et omnibus aliis avara.
Immensitatem divine bonitatis vellet
ad se coartari. . .
Tertio... hoc vitium pure malum est.
Ibid.: quia quando diabolus capit
homines aliis vitiis, ipse
aliquam delectationem ponit
tanquam escam,
sed invidos miserius capit;
quia sine esca delectationis.
Invidia enim dolor est et amaritudo.
II, 7, ii: Sequitur de speciebus invidie.
Et possumus distinguere duas
species Invidie, scilicet,
exultationem in adversis proximi, et
tristitiam
in prosperis.
•
naturaliter de bono gaudere deberent,
sed hoc accidit quod malicia quo-
dammodo in naturam est conversa,
et ideo de malicia gaudent.
Ibid. Et notandum quod
exultatio invidi est
quasi gaudium freneticorum qui de
hoc gaudent unde flendum esset;
immo gaudium diabolicum est
cum sit de malo alterius.
[Cf. II, 9, ii, 6: De diversis speciebus
Detractionum.]
II, 9, ii, 2: Tertia divisio
Murmuris
est in Murmur contra Deum
et Murmur contra proximum.
Ibid. Murmur vero contra Deum
multiplex potest esse :
vel de infirmitate,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
and in this manere it is divers from
alle othere sinnes.
v. 490: For wel unnethe is ther any
sinne
that it ne hath som delyt in itself,
save only Envye,
that evere hath in itself anguish and
sorwe.
1
v. 491: The speces ¹ of Envye
been thise:
ther is first,
sorwe of other mannes goodnesse and of
his prosperitee;
and prosperitee is kindely matere of joye;
thanne is Envye
a sinne agayns kinde.
v. 492: The seconde spece of Envye is
joye of other mannes harm; and that is
proprely lyk to the devel,
that evere rejoyseth him of mannes harm.
vv. 493-498: Of thise two speces
comth bakbyting; and this sinne of
bakbyting or detraccion hath certeine
speces.
•
v. 499: After bakbiting cometh
grucching or murmuracion; and som-
tyme
it springeth of inpacience agayns god,
and somtyme agayns man.
v. 500: Agayns god it is,
whan a man gruccheth
agayns the peynes of helle,
1 With these two "speces" of Envy, cf. Raymund's fourth and fifth, p. 27,
above.
48
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
vel de paupertate,
vel de temporis importunitate, vel
de prosperitate malorum
et de adversitate bonorum
et similibus.
Ibid.: Omnia mala pene
sine murmure toleranda sunt quia
justo Dei judicio et
ordinatione eveniunt.
Ibid. Est murmur Invidie, murmur
Superbie, murmur Avaricie,
murmur Impacientie, murmur sane Con-
scientie ..
De tertio, legitur, Joh. xii: Quare hoc
unguentum non venditur trecentis de-
nariis ?
Ibid. De secundo, legitur, Luc. vii :
Videns Phariseus qui vocaverat eum,
ait intra se: Hic si esset propheta
sciret utique que et qualis est mulier
que tangit eum, quia peccatrix est.
[Cf. opp. v. 502, above.]
Ibid. De primo, sic legitur, Matt. xx:
Et accipientes, murmurabant adversus
patremfamilias, dicentes.
•
Cf. Ibid.: De Murmure Claustralium:
Tales enim non Domino Jesu Christo,
sed ventri suo serviunt, secundum ver-
bum Apostoli ad Ro., xvi: Ipsi de ventre
suo deum fecerunt. Juxta illud, Phil.
iii: Quorum deus venter est. 1 Dum
vero murmur proferunt,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
or agayns poverte, or los of catel,
or agayn reyn or tempest; or elles
gruccheth that shrewes han prosperitee,
or elles for that goode men han adversi-
tee.
v. 501: And alle thise thinges
sholde men suffre paciently, for
they comen by the rightful jugement and
ordinance of god.
v. 502 Somtyme comth grucching
of avarice;
as Judas grucched agayns the Magda-
leyne, whan she enoynte the heved of
oure lord Jesu Crist with hir precious
oynement.
v. 503:
v. 504: Somtyme comth murmure of
Pryde; as whan Simon the Pharisee
grucched agayn the Magdaleynę, whan
she approched to Jesu Crist, and weep
at his feet for hir sinnes.
V. 505: And somtyme grucching
sourdeth of Envye.
•
vv. 506 f.: Murmure eek is ofte
amonges servaunts, that grucchen whan
hir sovereyns bidden hem doon leveful
thinges.
v. 508: whiche wordes men clepen
quasi Pater noster dei sui, scilicet, ven- the develes Paternoster, though so be
tris dicunt.
[Cf. Ire, § 41, below.]
1 Cf. Pard. Tale, v. 205.
that the devel ne hadde nevere Pater-
noster, but that lewed folk yeven it swich
a name.
v. 509: Som tyme grucching comth of
ire or prive hate, that norisseth rancour
in herte, as afterward 2 I shal declare.
2 § 41, below.
ป
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
49
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
[Cf. Ire, § 45, below.]
[Cf. Ire, § 43, below.]
[Cf. Ire, § 42, below.]
Cf. II, 7, iii: De Remediis contra
peccatum Invidie . . . Et possunt esse
quattuor Remedia.
II, 8, i, 1: Post superbiam et invidiam
dicendum est de Ira,
quia tam superbia quam invidia
frequenter occasio est ire.
Ibid.: Iram vero hic intelligimus
appetitum vindicte.
Cf. II, 8, i, 3: Item philosophus :
Irrogata injuria ejus est insania qui facit.
Numquid non insanus est qui seipsum
gladio ire vel odii occidit?
II, 8, ii: Notandum ergo quod est
quedam ira que bona est .
Est alia ira que mala est.
Ibid. :
que bona est
•
•
est quedam ira
qua homo irascitur
vitio.
De qua, Eccs. vii: Melior est ira risu.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 510: Thanne cometh eek bitternesse
of herte ...
v. 511: Thanne cometh discord, that
unbindeth alle manere of frendshipe.
Thanne comth scorninge
tee
=
•
v. 512: Thanne comth accusinge
vv. 513 f.: Thanne comth maligni-
Remedium contra peccatum Invidie.
§ 31, vv. 515-532:1
•
§ 32, v. 533: After Envye
wol I discryven the sinne of Ire.
v. 534: And as wel comth Ire of Pryde,
as of Envye.
§ 33, v. 535: This sinne of Ire, after
the discryving of seint Augustin, is
wikked wil to been avenged by word or
by dede.
v. 536: Ire, after the philosophre,
is the fervent blood of man y-quiked in
his herte, thurgh which he wole harm to
him that he hateth.
v. 537: For certes the herte of man, by
eschaufinge and moevinge of his blood,
wexeth so trouble, that he is out of alle
jugement of resoun.
v. 538: But ye shal understonde that
Ire is in two maneres;
that oon of hem is good, and
that other is wikked.
v. 539:
The gode Ire is by jalousye of good-
nesse, thurgh which a man is wrooth
with wikkednesse and agayns wikked-
nesse ;
and therfore seith a wys man, that “Ire
is bet than pley."
v. 540: This Ire is with debonairetee,
and it is wrooth withouten bitternesse ;
nat wrooth agayns the man, but wrooth
1 V. 532, the last in the description of this Remedium, is significant: The speces
of this pas shullen be more largely in hir chaptres folwinge declared.
4
50
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
[See after v. 543, below.]
Ibid. Est alia ira que mala est qua
homo irascitur persone. De qua intelli-
genda sunt prius dicta. Et hec duas
habet species:
quedam enim subita est et sine
deliberatione rationis,
que venialis est.
Ibid.: Alia vero
cum deliberatione
et consensu rationis,
que mortalis est.
Has duas species tangit David, dicens:
Irascimini et nolite peccare, etc.
II, 8, i, 2: Quinque de causis
displicet ira multum Deo.
Primo, quia hospitium ejus turbat.
Unde ad Eph. iv: Nolite contristari
Spiritum Sanctum.
Gregorius: Dum ira animum pulsat
Spiritui Sancto suam habitationem per-
turbat; immo quandoque Patrem et
Filium et
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
with the misdede of the man; as
seith the prophete David: Irascimini et
nolite peccare.
v. 541 Now understondeth, that wik-
ked Ire
is in two maneres, that is to seyn,
sodeyn Ire or hastif Ire, withouten
avisement and consentinge of resoun.
v. 542: The mening and the sens of
this is, that the resoun of man ne con-
sente nat to thilke sodeyn Ire;
and thanne it is venial.
v. 543 Another Ire is ful wikked,
that comth of felonye of herte avysed and
cast biforn; with wikked wil to do ven-
geance, and therto his resoun consent-
eth; and soothly this is deedly sinne.
[See v. 540, above.]
v. 544:
This Ire is so displesant to god,¹
that it troubleth his hous
Spiritum Sanctum de hospitio suo expel- and chaceth the holy goost out of mannes
lit et diabolum introducit. .
soule, and
Secundo, imaginem Dei in templo ejus wasteth and destroyeth the lyknesse of
dissipat;
Ibid.: et imaginem diaboli ibi ponit.
Ibid. Quattuor vero de causis
placet ira diabolo. Primo, quia
valde potens est ad impugnationem
hominum et destructionem boni; quia
ira est ignis spiritualis.
god, that is to seyn, the vertu that is in
mannes soule;
v. 545 and put in him the lyknesse
of the devel, and binimeth the man fro
god that is his rightful lord.
v. 546: This Ire is a ful greet
plesaunce to the devel;
for
it is the develes fourneys, that is es-
chaufed with the fyr of helle.
1 Cf. Somnours Tale, vv. 297 f.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
51
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Unde sicut ignis naturalis
potentior est ad destructionem
quam alia elementa, sic
ira que est ignis spiritualis, etc.
Cf. II, 8, i, 3: Homo iracundus est velut
rhamnus ignem ex se producens ad im-
petum venti, secundum Josephum.
Sic iracundus
P. T., §§ 23–83, vv. 387–955.
v. 547: For certes, right so as fyr
is more mighty to destroyen erthely
thinges than any other element, right so
Ire is mighty to destroyen alle spirituel
thinges.
v. 548: Loke how that fyr of smale
gledes, wollen quike agayn whan
•
they been touched with brimstoon;
right so Ire wol everemo quiken agayn,
ad ventum superbie ignem ire ex se whan it is touched by the pryde that is
producit.
II, 8, i, 2: Proximo etiam multum nocet
ira;
quia fere omnia mala que
inferunt homines sibi invicem
procedunt ex ira.
Ibid. Tertio placet diabolo . . .
Homo enim iratus
non timet facere quodcunque
diabolus precepit sibi . . .
covered in mannes herte.
vv. 549-553:
§ 34, vv. 554-556:
v. 557: Certes, this cursed sinne anoy-
eth bothe to the man him-self and eek to
his neighbor.
For soothly, almost al the harm that
any man dooth to his neighebore
comth of wratthe.
v. 558:
For certes, outrageous wratthe
doth al that
evere the devel him comaundeth ;
Ipsi Deo et Matri ejus non parcit quin for he ne spareth neither Crist, ne his
contumeliis eos afficiat.
Cf. II, 8, i, 2: Quarto quia nullum vitium
sic contemnit Deum quam ira.
Ibid.: Tertio nocet ira anime; et hoc
multipliciter . . . secundo nocet ira
anime ei omnia bona auferendo;
aufert enim misericordiam . . .
aufert etiam homini ira veram justiciam.
Ibid.: Quinto displicet Deo ira,
quia Deo aufert dominium suum
in homine,
Tertium damnum est amissio sui ipsius.
• •
•
II, 8, ii: De divisionibus ad iram perti-
nentibus ...
Ira vero que cum deliberatione est,
si inveterascat, odium dicitur.
swete mooder.
•
v. 559: And in his . . . Ire, fel-
eth in his herte ful wikkedly, bothe of
Crist ¹..
1
v. 560: Is nat this a cursed vice? Yis,
certes. Allas!
it binimeth from man his wit and his
resoun, and al his debonaire lyf espirituel
that sholde kepen his soule.
v. 561 :
Certes it binimeth eek goddes due lord-
shipe, and that is mannes soule. . . .
It reveth him the quiete of his herte, and
subverteth his soule.
§ 35, v. 562: Of Ire comen thise stink-
inge engendrures :
1 Cf. § 35, v. 581, below.
52
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Est enim odium Ira inveterata
Ibid., 1: Provenit autem ex ira, lis.
Ibid.: Ex ira etiam sequuntur guerre,
incendia, homicidia,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
first hate, that is old wratthe;
discord.
· •
v. 563: And thanne cometh werre,
et alia injectio manuum injusta, et rapina and every manere of wrong that man
et similia.
dooth to his neighebore, in body or in
catel.
De lite non dicemus modo, quia de illa
dicetur cum aliis peccatis lingue. De
rapina vero dictum est in tractatu de
avaricia. De aliis vero hic dicemus.
primo de guerra.
Et
II, 8 iii: Primum malum quod de guerra
sequitur est odium . . .
Ibid.: Illi autem qui sunt in peccato odii,
homicide sunt, juxta verbum
Johannis in prima Canonica sua.
Ibid., 3: Et notandum quod quattuor
peccata dicuntur clamare ad Deum, sci-
licet, oppressio innocentium
• ·
Et detentio mercedis mercenariorum ..
Ibid.: In oppressione vero innocentium
et detentione mercedis aufertur pauperi-
bus vita eorum, et ideo a Deo quasi
homicidium reputatur.
Unde Eccl. xxxiii :
v. 564: Of this cursed sinne of Ire
cometh eek manslaughtre. And under-
stonde wel, that homicyde that is man-
slaughtre, is in diverse wyse. Som
manere of homicyde is spirituel, and
som is bodily.1
v. 565: Spirituel manslaughtre is in
six thinges. First, by hate; as seint
John seith, "he that hateth his brother
is homicyde."
vv. 566–567: 2
v. 568: Of which seith Salomon
•
in withholdinge or abregginge of the
shepe (or the hyre), or the wages of ser-
vaunts, or elles in usure or in with-
drawinge of the almesse of povre folk.
v. 569:
For which the wyse man seith, "fedeth
him that almost dyeth for honger"; for
soothly,
Panis egentium vita pauperis est; qui
defraudat illum, homo sanguinis est. Et
ibidem: Qui aufert in sudore panem, but-if thou fede him, thou sleest him ;
quasi qui occidit proximum suum.
1 Cf. Somnours Tale, vv. 301
and alle thise been deedly sinnes.
f.
2 Cf. § 30, vv. 493 ff., above, and § 64, v. 752, below.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
53
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Cf. II, 9, ii, 1 : Quarto facit ad detesta-
tionem hujus peccati perversitas magna
que est in peccato isto. Multum enim
perversi sunt homines blasphemi, qui
bona que agunt sibi attribuunt; mala
vero Deo ascribunt.
II, 9, ii, 3: Et notandum quod multis
modis solent homines peccatum suum
excusare vel defendere.
Alii propter infirmitatem carnis
Alii multitudine peccantium
[Cf. opp. v. 585, below.]
Alii vero excusant se per juventutem
suam, qui videntur dicere quod juven-
tutem suam a diabolo teneant; cum
credant diabolo in juventute esse ser-
viendum.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
vv. 570-579: Bodily manslaughtre is...
v. 580: Yet comen ther of Ire. . .
as he that arretteth upon god, or blameth
god, of thing of which he is him-self
gilty; or
v. 581:1
vv. 582-583:
•
v. 584: ... than wole he . . .
deffenden or excusen his sinne 2
by unstedefastnesse of his flesh;
or elles he dide it for to holde companye
with hise felawes, or elles, he seith,
the fend entyced him;
v. 585 or elles he dide it for his
youthe,
[Cf. v. 584, above.]
or elles his complexioun is so corageous,
that he may nat forbere; or elles, it is
his destinee, as he seith, unto a certein
age; or elles, he seith, it cometh him
Ibid.: Alii vero excusant se per nobili- of gentillesse of hise auncestres; and
tatem suam.
II, 9, ii. 4: Sequitur de peccato
perjurii :
•
semblable thinges.
v. 586:
v. 587: After this, thanne cometh
swering,
Ibid.: Septem que sacra scriptura dis- that is expres agayn the comandement of
suadet circa juramentum .
Unde Deut. v: Non usurpabis
nomen Dei tui frustra ..
god...
v. 588: God seith: "thou shalt not take
the name of thy lord god in veyn or in
ydel." Also oure lord Jesu Crist seith
Unde Matth. v: Ego autem dico vobis: by the word of seint Matthew: 8
Non jurare omnino,
neque per celum quia thronus Dei
est; neque per terram quia scabellum
pedum ejus est.
1 Cf. § 34, v. 559, above.
8 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 305 f.
Nolite jurare omnino :
v. 589: ne wol ye nat swere in alle
manere; neither by hevene, for it is goddes
trone; ne by erthe, for it is the bench
of his feet . . . 4
v. 590:
2 Cf. § 24, v. 400.
▲ Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 305 £
54
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid. :
Hiere. iv: ubi sic legitur :
Jurabis, vivit Dominus in veritate
et in judicio et in justicia.
Ibid.: Decimum est hoc quod peccatum
istud replet hominem iniquitate.
Unde Eccl. xxiii: Vir multum jurans
replebitur iniquitate; et
non discedit a domo illius plaga.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 591: For Cristes sake, ne swereth nat
so sinfully, in dismembringe of Crist...1
v. 592: And if so be that the lawe com-
pelle yow to swere, thanne rule yow after
the lawe of god in youre sweringe, as seith
Jeremye, quarto capitulo,
"Jurabis in veritate,
in judicio et in justicia . . .
v. 593: . .
that every greet swerere,
8
2
nat compelled lawefully to swere,
the wounde shall nat departe from his
hous..
vv. 594-597:
v. 598: Take kepe eek how that the
precious name of Crist, as seith seint
Ibid. Sextum est hoc, quod cum in
nomine Jesu flectatur omne genu,
celestium, terrestrium, et infernorum, ut Paul
legitur ad Phil. ii. . .
II, 9, ii, 5: Sequitur de peccato menda-
cii ... Est autem mendacium, secundum
Aug., falsa significatio vocis
cum intentione fallendi.
Ibid.: Sequitur de divisionibus mendacii
que multe sunt. Primo est in octo mem-
bra sive octo species quas ponit Aug., in
li. De Mendacio
secunda est quod
•
nulli prodest et alicui obest ;
tertia est quod
uni prodest et
alii obest;
Ibid. Sexta quod nulli obest et alicui
prodest
ad pecuniam ejus servandam ;
septima quod nulli nocet et alicui prodest
1 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 144-147, 380.
8 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 320-322.
5 With v. 603, cf. Pard. Prol., vv. 22 f.
ad Philipenses secundo ..
v. 599:
§ 36, v. 600: . . . muche worse is for-
swering falsly, and yet nedelees.4
vv. 601-607:
5
§ 39, v. 608: Now wol I speken of
lesinges, which generally is
fals significacioun of word,
in entente to deceyven his evenecristene.
v. 609 :
Som lesinge is of which ther comth
noon avantage to no wight;
and som lesinge turneth to the ese or
profit of o man, and
damage of another man.
v. 610: Another lesinge is for
to saven his lyf or his catel.
2 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 306–309.
4 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 303 f.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
55
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
ad vitam corporis servandam ;
quarta est quod fit sola
mentiendi fallendique libidine;
quod est mirum mendacium, sicut dicit
beatus Aug.
Cf. Ibid. Quinta quod fit
cupiditate placendi de suavi eloquio.
II, 9, ii, 7: Sequitur de peccato
Adulationis.
Ibid.: Notandum ergo quod adulatio,
sicut quidam dixit,
est perversa laudatio . .
Notandum ergo quod
adulator nutrix diaboli est,
filios diaboli lactans lacte
adulationis.
Cf. Ibid.: Prover. xvi:
Vir iniquus lactat amicum suum
Ibid. Item sunt incantatores diaboli qui
faciunt hominibus de se credere que ipsi
volunt.
Terentius: Adulator homines prorsus
insanos ex stultis facit.
Ibid.: Adulator etiam
proditor est. Sub spe enim osculi
ad modum Jude hominem tradit hostibus
suis.
Ibid.: Ipsi etiam sunt sacerdotes diaboli,
homines vivos sepelientes.
Unde Matth. viii: Dimitte mortuos sepe-
lire mortuos suos. De quo loquens,
Gregorius dicit: Tunc mortuus mortuum
sepelit, cum peccator peccatorem aggere
adulationis premit.
Ibid., 8: Sequitur de peccato Maledic-
tionis.
Maledictionem vero hic intelligo,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955-
[See above.]
Another lesinge comth
of delyt for to lye ..
•
v. 611: Som lesinge comth, for he
wole sustene his word; and som lesinge
comth of recchelesnesse, with-outen
avysement; and semblable thinges.
§ 40, v. 612: Lat us now touche the
vyce of flateringe.
v. 613: Flaterye is generally
wrongful preisinge.
Flatereres been the develes norices, that
norissen hise children with milk of
losengerie.
v. 615: For sothe, Salomon seith, that
"flaterie is wors than detraccioun."
•
v. 616: Flatereres been the develes
enchauntours; for they make a man to
wene of him-self be lyk that he nis nat
lyk.
v. 616: They been lyk to Judas that bi-
traysed god; and thise flatereres bitray-
sen a man to sellen him to his enemy. . .
v. 617: Flatereres been the develes
chapelleyns, that singen evere Placebo.¹
v. 618: I rekene flaterye in the vyces
of Ire . . .
$41, 619: Speke we now of swich
cursinge as comth of irous herte.
Malisoun generally may be seyd
1 Cf. Somnours Tale, v. 367.
•
56
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS
mali imprecationem . .
Tertio... primum malum est
amissio regni eterni.
Unde I ad Cor., vi: Neque maledici,
neque rapaces regnum Dei possidebunt.
Ibid.: Aliud malum est quod maledictio
quam aliquis facit,
super caput maledicentis revertitur.
Unde Prover., xxvi: Sicut avis
Ibid.: Precipue vero
•
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
every maner power or harm.
Swich cursinge
bireveth man fro the regne of god,
as seith seint Paul.
v. 620: And ofte tyme swich cursinge
wrongfully
retorneth agayn to him that curseth,
as a brid
•
v. 621 : And over alle thing men oghten
cavendum est parentibus a maledictione eschewe to cursen hir children,
filiorum..
Valde impium est quod mater optat
malum filio quod non licet ei diabolo
optare.
Ibid., 9: Sequitur de peccato
Convitii, a quo peccato primo deberet
cohibere homo quod convitium
and yeven to the devel hir engendrure...
certes, it is greet peril and greet sinne.
§ 42, v. 622: Lat us thanne speken of
chydinge and reproche,
whiche been
multum vulnerat cor ejus cui dicitur. . . ful grete woundes in mannes herte;
Secundo . . . quod convitium
charitatem seu amicitiam destruit . .
Unde Ecci., xxii: Mittens . . .
Ibid. Tertio. quod non de facili fit
concordatio post convitium dictum
Sexto... Unde Matth. v: Qui dixerit
fratri suo, Fatue, reus erit Gehenne ignis.
Ibid.: Quia valde perversus sit qui
convitium dicit; ex hoc potest patere quia
aut convitium quod ipse dicit est
malum pene,
aut malum culpe.
Ibid.: Si
malum pene est,
cum malum pene a Deo sit, ipse di-
cendo opprobrium homini,
exprobrat creatori ejus.
Ibid.: Si vero est
malum culpe,
•
for they
unsowen the semes of frendshipe in
mannes herte.
v. 623: For certes, unnethes may a
man pleynly been accorded with him
that hath him openly revyled and re-
preved in disclaundre.
This is a ful grisly sinne, as Crist seith
in the gospel.
v. 624: And tak kepe now, that he
that repreveth his neighebor,
outher he repreveth him by
som harm of peyne that he hath on his
body, as "mesel," "croked harlot,”
or by som sinne that he dooth.
v. 625: Now if he repreve him by
harm of peyne,
thanne
turneth the repreve to Jesu Crist; for
peyne is sent by the rightwys sonde
of god, be it meselrie, or maheym, or
maladye.
v. 626: And if he repreve him un-
charitably of sinne, as, "thou holour,"
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
57
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
diabolicum est gaudere
de hoc quod
aliquis illud commiserit.
Ibid.: Septimo . . . quia
dicere convitium libenter homini
•
signum est impietatis et magne per-
versitatis. Unde Prover., x: Labia..
Cum ex abundantia cordis, os loquatur,
Matt. xii, vitiosum est cor unde fre-
quenter exit convitium.
Ibid.:
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
"thou dronkelewe harlot," and so forth;
thanne
aperteneth that to the rejoysinge of the
devel, that evere hath joye that
men doon sinne.
v. 627: And certes,
chydinge
may nat come but out of a vileyns herte.
For
after the habundance of the herte speketh
the mouth ful ofte.
v. 628: And ye shul understonde that
loke, by any wey, whan any man shal
chastyse another, that
Specialiter autem cavendum est ne con- he be war from chydinge or reprevinge.
vitium correctioni admisceatur. .
Nisi enim homo caveat sibi,
ipse ignem incendit
quem debuit extinguere et
occidit quem debuit
For trewely, but he be war,
he may ful lightly quiken the fyr of
angre and of wratthe,
which that he sholde quenche, and per-
aventure sleeth him which that he mighte
sanare et tenetur de damno quod verbum chastyse with benignitee.
incaute ab eo prolatum fecerit.
Ibid. Ad secundum, pertinet illud,
Proverb. xv.: Lingua placabilis
lignum vite, ... Occasio enim
vite spiritualis est illis quos
corripit. Sed lingua immoderata
conteret spiritum tam corripientis
quam ejus qui corripitur.
Ibid., 10: Sequitur de peccato
Contentionis . . . Unde Aug.:
Nihil est similius actibus demonum quam
litigare. Unde servos diaboli non Dei
se ostendunt qui litigant,
II ad Timoth., ii: Servus Domini
non oportet litigare.
Ibid.: Et licet universaliter declinanda sit
contentio,
precipue tamen cum quinque personis...
Item cum propria uxore. Ex quo enim
v. 629: For as seith
Salomon, "the amiable tonge
is the tree of lyf,"
that is to seyn, of lyf espirituel :
and sothly, a deslavee tonge
sleeth the spirites of him that repreveth
and eek of him that is repreved.
v. 630: Lo, what seith
seint Augustin:
"ther is no-thing so lyk the develes 1
child as he that ofte chydeth."
Seint Paul seith eek: "I, servant of god,
bihove nat to chyde."
v. 631: And how that chydinge be a
vileyns thing bitwixe alle manere folk,
yet it is certes most uncovenable bitwixe
a man and his wyf;
1 Cf. W. B. Prol., v. 244.
Uor M
58
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
aliquis litem habere ceperit
for
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
cum uxore, nunquam habebit quietem. there is nevere reste.
Prover., xix: Tecta
jugiter perstillantia et
litigiosa mulier comparantur.
Ibid. Qui in domo perstillanti est,
quando vult declinare unum stilli-
cidium in uno loco,
invenit illud in alio, .
Sic vir et uxor quietem non inveniunt ex
quo ceperint litigiosi esse.
Ibid. Unde Prover., xvii: Melior est
buccella sicca cum gaudio, quam
domus plena victimis cum jurgio.
Ibid., 11: Sequitur de Derisione
quam mali faciunt bonis. De qua brevi-
ter pertransimus, cum de ea dictum sit in
tractatu, De Ornatu,
in capitulo, De Verecundia.
From cross reference cited in
sentence above (II, 6, iii, 17):
Irrisores sunt ut bufones venenati,
qui pati nequeunt odorem
vinee domini florentis.
Ibid.
Ipsi videntur esse socii demonum,
et in lucro et in damno; si diabolus
aliquem amittit, dolet tanquam de pro-
prio damno;
And therfore seith Salomon, “an hous
that is uncovered and droppinge, and
a chydinge wyf, been lyke."1
v. 632: A man that is in a droppinge
hous in many places, though he eschewe
the droppinge in o place,
it droppeth on him in another place;
so fareth it by a chydinge wyf. But she
chyde him in o place, she wol chyde him
in another.
v. 633: And therfore, "bettre is a
morsel of breed with joye than
an hous ful of delyces, with chydinge,"
seith Salomon.
v. 634: Seint Paul seith. . . . 2
§ 43, 635 Afterward speke we of
scorninge, which is a wikked sinne; and
namely,
whan he scorneth a man for hise gode
werkes.
v. 636: For certes,
swiche scorneres faren lyk the foule tode,
that may nat endure to smelle
the sote savour of the vyne whanne it
florisseth.
v. 637: Thise scorneres been parting
felawes with the devel;
si autem diabolus lucratur aliquem, sicut for they han joye whan the devel winneth,
fit cum aliquis vadit ad postibulum vel
ad tabernam, gaudent tanquam de pro-
prio lucro.
[See above.]
Ibid.: Irrisores sunt adversarii
Salvatoris, quia
and sorwe whan he leseth.
v. 638: They been adversaries
of Jesu Crist; for
1 Çf., W. B. Prol., vv. 278 ff., Melibeus, § 15, 2276.
CfW. B. Prol., vv. 160 f.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
59
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
qui summe Salvatori placet
ipsi odio habent, scilicet,
salutem animarum,
II, 9, ii, 12: Sequitur de peccato
pravi consili, . . . primo,
quod pravus consiliarius
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
they haten that he loveth,
that is to seyn,
salvacion of soule.
§ 44, v. 639: Speke we now
of wikked conseil ;
for he that wikked conseil yeveth
proditor est. Decipit enim eum qui is a traytour. For he deceyveth him
in eo confidit.
•
Unde Prover., xxvi: Sicut noxius.
Tertio... illud consilium quod ipse
vult dare contra aliquos,
primo dat contra seipsum.
Ibid.: Istud enim habet justicie
omnis injusticia, quod quicunque
vult nocere alii, primo noceat sibi.
•
Unde Ecci. xxvii: Qui fodit foveam,
incidit in eam.
[See above.]
Ibid. A quibus personis consilium su-
mendum est. Cavendum etiam est
homini ne consilium querat a juveni-
bus.
Item cavendum est homini
ne amatores hujus mundi consulat
de salute anime sue ...
Cavendum est etiam homini ne consilium
cum stulto habeat.
Ibid., 13: Sequitur de peccato
eorum qui seminant discordias, a quo
peccato primo deberet homines cohibere
hoc, quod illud peccatum adeo est
exosum Deo . . . Nec mirum
si Deus odiat eos qui seminant discordias
in ecclesia.
Ibid. Magis enim videntur nocere ei
qui hoc faciunt quam qui
proprium corpus ejus crucifixerunt.
Plus enim dilexit Christus
corpus ecclesie
quam corpus proprium ;
that trusteth in him,
ut Achitofel ad Absolonem.
But natheless, yet is his wikked conseil
first agayn him-self.
v. 640: For,
[See below.]
as seith the wyse man, every fals livinge
hath this propretee in him-self, that he
that wole anoye another man, he anoyeth
first him-self.
v. 641 And men shul understonde,
that man shal nat taken his conseil of
fals folk, ne of angry folk, or grevous
folk, ne of folk that loven specially to
muchel hir owene profit,
ne to muche worldly folk,
namely, in conseilinge of soules.
§ 45, v. 642: Now comth the sinne
of hem that sowen and maken discord
amonges folk,
which is a sinne that
Crist hateth outrely; and no wonder is.
For he deyde for to make concord.
v. 643: And more shame do they to
Crist,
than dide they that
him crucifyede;
for god loveth bettre,
that frendshipe be amonges folk,
than he dide his owene body.
бо
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
cum pro corpore ecclesie corpus pro- the which that he yaf for unitee.
prium morti exposuerit.
•
Tertio. . . . opus illud diabolicum est Therfore been they lykned to the devel,
et contrarium operi Christi. . . . Hac de
causa filius Dei venit in mundum ut
pacem reformaret in mundo.
Ad diabolum vero pertinet dispergere.
Ibid., 14: Sequitur de peccato
bilinguium. Bilingues autem dicuntur
qui male loquuntur de hominibus in
absentia, et bona in presentia;
vel qui pretendunt
quod bona intentione dicant,
vel causa joci,
illud quod proferunt ;
cum malam habeant intentionem.
Ibid., 17: Sequitur de
secretorum revelatione.
Tertium est hoc quod si
that evere been aboute to maken dis-
cord.
§ 46, v. 644: Now comth the sinne of
double tonge;
swiche as speken
faire biforn folk, and wikkedly bihinde;
or elles they maken semblant
as though they speke of good intencioun,
or elles in game and pley,
and yet they speke of wikked entente.
$47, v. 645: Now comth
biwreying of conseil,
thurgh which
aliquis infamatus fuerit illa revelatione, a man is defamed; certes,
vix potest
ei restitui damnum quod suscepit.
Ibid., 18: Sequitur de peccato
indiscrete comminationis
quia multa comminatur,
qui nunquam facturus sit.
•
Ibid., 20: Sequitur de verbo ocioso et
quid sit. Notandum ergo quod verbum
ociosum, secundum Hiero., est
unnethe may he
restore the damage.
v. 646: Now comth
manace, that is an open folye ;
for he that ofte manaceth,
he threteth more than he may perfourne
ful ofte tyme.
v. 647: Now comth ydel wordes,
quod sine utilitate loquentis dicitur, aut that is withouten profit of him that
audientis.
Ibid.: Quarto deberet cohibere homines
a verbo ocioso hoc quod
[See below.]
omnia verba ad examen Dei venient.
Unde Matth. xii: De omni verbo..
Aliqui vero sunt qui non multum curant
cavere a verbis ociosis, vel ab aliis veni-
alibus peccatis, eo quod talia peccata
sibi parva videntur.
speketh tho wordes, and eek of him that
herkneth tho wordes. . . .
v. 648: And al-be-it that ydel wordes
been som tyme venial sinne,
yet sholde men douten hem;
for we shul yeve rekeninge of hem
bifore god.
[See above.]
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
61
TRACTATU
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid., 21: Sequitur de multiloquio
•
Quarto vero hoc quod
P. T., §§ 23–83, vv. 387-955.
v. 649: Now comth janglinge 1
in multiloquio non deerit peccatum, ut that may nat been withoute sinne.
legitur, Prover., x, et in Ecci., xx: Qui
multis utitur verbis, ledit
animam suam. Et Ecci., v: In multis
sermonibus, invenietur stulticia.
Ibid.: Unde quidam philosophus
interrogatus quomodo quis
hominibus posset placere, inquit:
Si gesseris optima, et
locutus fueris pauca.
Ibid., 23: Sequitur de
Scurrilitate que a stultis Curialitas dici-
tur, id est, Jocularitas; sicut dicit Glo.
super Epistolam ad Eph., v, contra quod
peccatum.
Notandum ergo quod scurra est velut
capra vel simia cum quibus ludit
diabolus et homines excitat ad risum.
[Cf. above, Eph. v.]
Ibid.:
Ipsi consolatores
eorum qui laborant
in servitio diaboli.
Tractatus nonus de peccato lingue.
II, 9, iii: De octo Remediis contra
peccatum lingue. II, 8, iv: De Reme-
diis contra Iram propriam et alienam.
Cf. II, 5, i: Post peccatum avaricie,
dicendum est de peccato accidie, quia
pigritia interdum ex avaricia sequitur.
II, 5, ii, 1: Dicto de his que faciunt
ad detestationem accidie, consequenter
1 Cf. § 24, v. 406, above.
And, as seith Salomon,
"it is a sinne of apert folye."
v. 650: And therfore a philosophre
seyde, whan men axed him how that men
sholde plese the peple; and he answer-
ede, "do many gode werkes, and
spek fewe jangles."
v. 651: After this comth the sinne of
[See below.]
japeres, that been
the develes apes; 2
for they maken folk to laughe at hir
japerie, as folk doon at the gaudes of an
ape.
Swiche japeres deffendeth seint Paul.
652: Loke how that vertuouse wordes
and holy conforten hem that travaillen in
the service of Crist; right so
conforten the vileyns wordes and knak-
kes of japeris hem that travaillen
in the service of the devel.
v. 653: Thise been the sinnes that
comen of the tonge, that comen of Ire
and of other sinnes mo.
Sequitur Remedium contra
peccatum
Ire: §§ 48-49, vv. 654–676:
§ 53, vv. 677-685: After the sinnes of
Envie and of Ire, now wol I speken of
the sinne of Accidie
§ 54, v. 686:
•
v. 687: Of Accidie comth first,
2 Cf. T. and C., i, st. 131.
62
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
dicendum est de diversis speciebus
vitiorum que ad accidiam pertinent.
Videntur autem ista xvi vitia ad acci-
diam pertinere: Tepiditas, Mollicies,
Somnolentia, Ociositas, Dilatio, Tardi-
tas, Negligentia, Imperfectio sive Im-
perseverantia, Remissio, Dissolutio,
Incuria, Ignavia, Indevotio, Tristicia,
Tedium vite, Desperatio.
Tepiditas est parvus amor boni ... Facit
autem tepiditas multa mala in homine:
primo,
p. T., §§ 23–83, vv. 387–955.
that a man is anoyed and encombred
for to doon any goodnesse, and maketh
that
Deo vomitum provocat [Rev. iii, 16], ut god hath abhomination of swich Accidie,
prius ostensum est.
as seith seint Johan [Rev., iii, 16].
wol nat suffre noon hardnesse
Ibid., 2: Sequitur de Mollicie, que est § 55, v. 688: Now comth Slouthe, that
impatientia rei dure;
de qua legitur,
Prover., xviii : Qui molis est et dissolutus
in opere suo, frater est sua opera dissi-
pantis.
Cf. Ibid.: Summum remedium contra
molliciem istam est ignis Spiritus
Sancti qui lutea consolidat.
Ibid.: Valet etiam contra istam
mollitiem, assuetudo durorum.
Unde Bern. :
Rusticus duros habet nervos,
fortes lacertos; exercitatio hoc
fecit sed cum torpore mollescit.
Cf. Ibid., 5: Sequitur de vitio Dila-
tionis . .
Ibid., 16: Sequitur de desperatione .
Solet autem pervenire desperatio
ex nimia tristitia.
Ibid.: Et notandum quod peccatum de-
sperationis valde displicet Deo.
Ibid. Valde etiam placet diabolo quia
ille qui dicit verbum desperationis dicit
ne no penaunce. For soothly, Slouthe
is so tendre, and so delicat,
as seith Salomon, that he wol nat suffre
noon hardnesse ne penaunce, and ther-
fore he shendeth al that he dooth.
v. 689: Agayn this roten-herted sinne of
Accidia and Slouthe sholde men exercise
hem-self to doon gode werkes
v. 690:
• •
Usage of labour is a greet thing;
for it maketh, as seith seint Bernard,
the laborer to have stronge armes and
harde sinwes;
and Slouthe maketh hem feble and
tendre.
v. 691: Thanne comth drede to biginne
to werke any gode werkes ..
v. 692:
§ 56, v. 693: Now comth wanhope, that
is despeir of the mercy of god,
that comth somtyme
of to muche outrageous sorwe ...
v. 694-696:
v. 697: Certes, aboven alle sinnes
thanne is this sinne most displesant to
Crist, and most adversarie.
v. 698: Soothly, he that despeireth him
is lyk the coward champioun recreant
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
63
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
malum verbum, quod dicunt illi qui that seith creant withoute nede.
victi sunt.
Ibid.: Potest etiam valere contra de-
sperationem illud quod legitur,
v. 699: certes, the mercy of god is
evere redy..
v. 700: Allas! can nat a man bithinke
him on the gospel of seint
as
""
•
•
Luc. xv.: Dico vobis quod gaudiam est Luk, 15, where-as Crist seith that
wel shal ther be joye in hevene
angelis, etc.
v. 701: Loke further, in the same gos-
pel, the joye and the feste of the gode
man that hadde lost his sone,
Ibid. : Ad idem valet quod legitur
de filio prodigo de quo dicitur
quod cum adhuc longe esset, videns
eum pater ejus misericordia motus
est et occurrens cecidit super collum
ejus et osculatus est eum.
Cf. Ibid.: Tertium remedium est consi-
deratio illarum personarum cum quibus
legitur misericorditer egisse. Unde
Bern.: Omnino. . . . Non horruisti con-
fitentem latronem.
Ibid., 3: Sequitur de peccato Somno-
lentie quod ad accidiam pertinet. Quia
sicut legitur, Prover., xix:
Pigredo inmittit soporem,
quod potest intelligi de sopore
contemplationis et de sopore corporis.
Ibid.: Tempus etiam in quo
dormiendum non est,
tempus matutinum est,
illud enim tempus non est somno occu-
pandum quia
whan his sone with repentaunce was
retourned to his fader.
v. 702: Can they nat remembren hem
eek, that, as seith seint Luk xxiii capi-
tulo, how that the theef that was hanged
bisyde Jesu Crist, seyde: "Lord, remem-
bre of me, whan thou comest in-to thy
regne?"
vv. 703-705:
v. 706: Than cometh Sompnolence,
that is, sluggy slombringe,
which maketh a man be hevy and dul,
in body and in soule;
and this sinne comth of Slouthe.
v. 707: And certes, the tyme that, by
wey of resoun, men sholde nat slepe,
that is by the morwe; but-if ther were
cause resonable.
v. 708: For soothly, the morwe-tyde
valde utile est et studio, et orationi, et is most covenable, a man to seye his
divine laudi,
et Dei consolatio
frequentius tempore illo
recipitur.
Ibid., 7: Sequitur de negligentia.
preyeres, and for to thinken on god, and
for to honoure god.
•
v. 709: Lo! what seith Salomon:
"who-so wolde by the morwe awaken
and seke me he shal finde."
v. 710.: Thanne cometh Necligence,
or recchelesnesse, that reketh of no-thing.
64
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid.: Et attenditur negligentia
in hoc quod homo non curat
qualiter opus inchoatum faciat,
utrum bene vel male,
sed hoc solum curat, ut ab onere laboris
inchoati se expediat.
Ibid. Contra hanc negligentiam duo
spiritualia sunt remedia: primum est
timor. Unde Eccs., vii:
Qui timet Deum,
nihil negligit.
Secundum est amor Dei.
Qui enim perfecte Deum diligit,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
And how that ignoraunce be moder of
alle harm, certes, Necligence is the
norice.1
v. 711: Necligence
ne doth no fors,
whan he shal doon a thing,
whether he do it weel or baddely.
$ 57, v. 712: Of the remedie of thise
two sinnes,
as seith the wyse man, that
"he that dredeth god,
he spareth nat to doon that him oghte
doon."
V. 713: And
he that loveth god,
diligentiam adhibet in eis que ad Deum he wol doon diligence to plese god by his
pertinent.
Ibid., 4: Est etiam ociosus velut
castrum absque muro. . .
Unde Aug..
•
werkes.
v. 714: Thanne comth ydelnesse, that
is the yate 2 of all harmes.
An ydel man is lyk
to a place that hath no walles ;
Homo ociosus non tamen uni hosti ex- the develes may entre on every syde and
positus est, sed etiam pluribus.
Ibid.: Sexta stulticia ociosi est quod
ipse se facit quasi receptaculum omnium
sordium. Unde
Bern.: Omnium temptationum et cog-
itationum malarum et inutilium, sentina
est ocium.
Ibid.: Celum enim merces erit tantum
eorum qui operarii fuerint. .
•
Unde in Ps. In labore hominum non
sunt, et cum hominibus non flagella-
buntur.
sheten at him at discovert, by tempta-
cion on every syde.
v. 715:
This ydelnesse is the thurrok of alle
wikked and vileyns thoghtes, and of alle
jangles, trufles, and of alle ordure.
v. 716: Certes, the hevene is yeven to
hem that wol labouren, and nat to ydel
folk.
Eek David seith: that "they ne been in
the labour of men, ne they shul nat
been whipped with men,”
1 Cf. The Seconde Nonnes Tale, vv. 1-3, and § 57, v. 714, below.
2 Cf. § 56, v. 712, above, and The Seconde Nonnes Tale, vv. 1-3.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
65
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ociosi non laborant cum hominibus,
et ideo non flagellabuntur cum
hominibus in purgatorio,
sed cum demonibus in inferno.
Ibid., 6: Sequitur de
tarditate...
Cf. Ibid., 5: De vitio dilationis.
si quis in locum immundum cecidit,
fatuus est si voluntarie inde
differt exire.
Cf. Ibid., 6: Sex vero sunt que possunt
dissuadere nobis vitium Tarditatis:
primum est ipsa angustia sive brevitas
temporis presentis.
Ibid., 9: Sequitur de vitio Remissio-
nis... Hoc vitio laborat ille qui quoti-
die deterior efficitur.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
that is to seyn,
in purgatorie.
v. 717: Certes, thanne semeth it, they
shui be tormented with the devel in helle,
but-if they doon penitence.
and
§ 58, v. 718: Thanne comth the sinne
that men clepen Tarditas,
certes, that is a greet folye.
•
He is lyk to him that falleth in the dich,
and wol nat
aryse.
v. 719: And this vyce cometh of a fals
hope, that he thinketh that he shal live
longe; but that hope faileth ful ofte.
§ 59, v. 720: Thanne comth Lachesse;
that is he, that whan
Si inchoat aliquid opus, primo die ali- he biginneth any good werk,
quantulum strenue operatur ;
secundo die minus; ad ultimum, nihil.
Ibid.: Remissionem vero istam sequitur
paupertas...
anon he shal forleten it and stinten. . .
v. 721 :
v. 722: Of this comth
poverte
Secundo sequitur remissionem istam and destruccioun, bothe of spirituel and
servitus vitiorum.
•
Sequitur etiam remissionem istam
frequens fractio propositi.
Unde Sen. Arcum frangit intensio;
animum remissio.
Ibid., 13: Sequitur de vitio
indevotionis.
•
Et est indevotio quedam ariditas
spiritualis...
Unde Bern., loquens in persona illius
qui... dicit: Ab heri et nudius tertius
invasit me languor anime.
Non compungi ad lachrymas queo,
tanta est duricia cordis ut non
sapiat psalmus. Non legere libet;
non orare delectat ;
meditationes solitas non invenio ;
temporel thinges.
Thanne comth
a manere coldnesse,
that freseth
al the herte of man.
v. 723: Thanne comth
undevocioun,
thurgh which a man is so blent,
as seith seint Bernard,
and hath swiche langour in soule,
that he may neither
rede ne singe in holy chirche,
ne here ne thinke of no devocioun,
5
66
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
ideoque ad opus manuum piger;
ad vigilias somnolentus;
ad iram preceps;
ad odium pertinax. .
Ibid., 14: Sequitur de
tristicia.
•
Nocet etiam tristicia spiritualiter occi-
dendo. . . . Unde Ecci., xxx: Tristiciam
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
ne travaille with hise handes in no good
werk, that it nis him unsavory and al
apalled.
v. 724: Thanne wexeth he slow and
slombry,
and sone wol be wrooth,
and sone is enclyned to hate and to envye.
v. 725: Thanne comth the sinne of
worldly sorwe, swich as is cleped tristicia,
longe expelle a te. Multos enim occidit that sleeth man, as seint Paul seith.
tristicia.
Cf. Ibid., 15: Sequitur de Tedio Vite
•
. paulatim corruit adeo ut non solum
displiceat ei Deo servire,
sed etiam vivere.
Cf. II, 5, iii: De octo Remediis contra
accidiam.
secundum est consideratio
pene future. . .
Tertium est consideratio
eterni premii.
octavum et summum remedium est
gratia Dei.
II, 4, i, I: Post vitium gule et Lux-
urie dicemus de vitio avaricie. . .
Ibid., 3: Quartum testimonium est
illud verbum quod legitur, I Timoth.,
vi: Radix omnium malorum est cupidi-
tas. Alia littera habet: Radix omnium
v. 726: For certes, swich sorwe werk-
eth to the deeth of the soule and of the
body also; for therof comth,
that a man is anoyed of his owene lyf.
v. 727 :
Remedium contra peccatum Accidie,
§ 60, vv. 728-730:
§ 61, vv. 731-737 :
:1
v. 738: Eke ther been mo speciale
remedies agains Accidie, in diverse
werkes, and
in consideracioun
of the peynes of helle,
and
of the joyes of hevene,
and in trust of the
grace of the holy goost. . .
§ 62, v. 739: After Accidie wol I
speke of Avarice and of Coveitise, of
which sinne seith seint Paule, that
"the rote of alle harmes is Coveitise:
Ad Timotheum, sexto capitulo.2
""
1 The "speces" of Fortitude here given as the Remedia against Accidia, are
Magnanimitee" (vv. 731–733), "the vertues of feith" (vv. 734), "seuretee" or
"sikernesse ""
v. 735), “ Magnificence” (v. 736), “Constaunce”
"Constaunce" (v. 737). Cf. the
parts of Fortitude in the Summa Virtutum, that is, I, 4 (De Fortitudine), 5: -. . .
Macrobius vero septem partes ejus tangit: Magnanimitatem, Fiduciam, Securi-
tatem, Magnificentiam, Constantiam, Tolerantiam, Firmitatem.
2 Cf. Pard. Prol., vv. 6, 98.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
67
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
malorum est Avaricia.
Cf. Ibid., 4: Unde I ad Timoth., vi,
post illud verbum: Radix omnium. .
subjungit apostolus: Quam
quidam appetentes erraverunt a fide
et inseruerunt se doloribus multis.
Gravissime vero affligit dolor in
amittendo.
Et ad hoc pertinet quod dictum est in
verbo opposito: Pereunt enim in afflic-
tione pessima. Tunc enim pessime affli-
guntur cum divitie eis pereunt.
Cf. Ibid., I: Intelligimus autem
avariciam in hoc loco
indebitum amorem
pecunie.
Ibid. Tertio ostenditur iniquitas
avari per hoc quod
Unde
ipse est iniquus in Deum.
Ibid.: Iniquus est etiam in Deum,
quia inde hostis Dei efficitur.
amplius eum amare debuit, scilicet,
propter bona hujus mundi que Deus sibi
contulit.
Ibid.: Tertium testimonium est
ad Eph., v, ubi dicitur quod
avaricia est idolorum servitus.
ubi dicit Glo. :
Avari deus est nummus.
Ibid.: Quia autem avaricia sit idolatria
vel Dei negatio potest ostendi multipli-
citer....
secundo potest ostendi per hoc quod
Deus precipit avaro ut nomen ejus non
assumat in vanum, Exo., xx.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 740: For soothly,
whan the herte of a man is confounded
in it-self and troubled
and that the soule
hath lost the comfort of god,
thanne seketh he an ydel solas
of worldly thinges.
§ 63, v. 741 :
Avarice, after the descripcion of seint
Augustin, is likerousnesse in herte
to have erthely thinges.
vv. 742-744 :
v. 745: Soothly, this Avarice is a sinne
that is ful dampnable; for al holy writ
curseth it, and speketh agayns that vyce;
for it dooth wrong to Jesu Crist.
v. 746:
For it bireveth him the love that men to
him owen, and turneth it bakward agayns
alle resoun;
v. 747:
v. 748: And therfore seith seint Paul
ad Ephesios, quinto, that
an avaricious man is in the thraldom of
ydolatrie."
§ 64, v. 749: What difference is betwixe
an ydolastre and an avaricious man, but
that an ydolastre, per aventure, ne hath
but o mawmet or two, and
the avaricious man hath manye? For
certes,
every florin in his cofre is his mawmet.
v. 750: And certes, the sinne of Maw-
metrye
is the firste thing that god deffended in
the ten comaundements, as bereth wit-
nesse Exodi, capitulo xxº:
68
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
II, 4, ii, 3: Tertio loco inter species ava-
ricie dicendum est de peccato injustarum
talliarum.
Ibid. Sextum damnum est quod odio
habentur ad modum luporum
Ibid.: Quartum damnum est. .
Ea enim mensura qua mensi fuerint
illis quibus presunt, remetietur
eis ab eo qui preest illis.
Ibid., 4: . . . dicendum est de
fraudibus negociatorum.
Et notandum est quod
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
· •
v. 751: "Thou shalt have no false
goddes
v. 752:
Of Coveitise comen thise
harde lordshipes, thurgh whiche men
been distreyned by tailages, custumes,
and cariages, more than hir duetee or
resoun is. ...
vv. 753-774:1
v. 775: Wherfore I seye, that thilke
lordes that been lyk wolves
v. 776: they shul receyven
by the same mesure that they han mes-
ured
to povre folk the mercy of Jesu Crist,
but-if it be amended.
v. 777: Now comth
deceite betwixe marchant and marchant.
And thow shalt understonde, that
marchandyse is in two maneres; that
oon is bodily, and that other is goostly.
negociatio bona est in se et hominibus That oon is honeste and leveful,
necessaria.
Ordinavit enim Deus ut nulla
terra in omnibus sufficiat, ut cum
alia terra ei subvenerit eam chariorem
habeat.
Ibid.: Subventio autem ista mediante
negociatione fit.
Ibid. Sed malicia hominum adeo im-
plevit fraudibus negociationem quod
multi negociatores non sunt minus
mali hodie raptoribus vel usariis.
Ibid., 7: Sequitur de avaricia ministrorum
ecclesie . . . primo dicemus
de symonia.
and that other is deshoneste and unleve-
ful.
v. 778: Of thilke bodily marchandyse,
that is leveful and honeste, is this; that
thereas god hath ordeyned that a regne
or a contree is suffisaunt to him-self,
thanne is it honeste and leveful, that of
habundaunce of this contree, that men
helpe another contree that is more nedy.
v. 779: And therfore, ther mote been
marchants to bringen fro that o contree
to that other hire marchandyses.
v. 780: That other marchandise, that
men haunten with fraude and trecherie
and deceite, with lesinges and false othes
is cursed and dampnable.
v. 781: Espirituel marchandyse is
proprely
Symonye
v. 782:
1
1 Cf. the discussion of gentility, § 27, above, and W. B. Prol., vv. 253-320.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
69
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid. : . . . inter eos qui symoniam
committunt, alii committunt eam emendo,
ut Symon Magus qui proprie symoniaci
dicuntur.
Alii vero committunt eam vendendo,
ut Giezi qui Giezite vocantur.
[Cf. above.]
Aliquando tamen large vocantur
Symoniaci et isti et illi.
Committur autem symonia quadruplici
munere, videlicet, cum quis obtinet ali-
quid spirituale per pecuniam,
vel per adulationem,
vel per preces carnales,
vel per obsequium sordidum.
Ibid.: ...
verbum Damasi Pape :
Omnia crimina ad comparationem
symoniace heresis
quasi pro nihilo reputantur.
Ibid.: Undecima contum lia est quod
latrones et sacrilegos facit
obtinere locum et vicem Dei.
[Cf. below.]
Ibid. Septima contumelia est quod
filios Dei exheredat a patrimonio
Christi et filios diaboli ibi
heredes constituit.
Ibid., 15: Ultimo loco inter species
avaricie dicemus de peccato
lusorum ...
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
783: Certes, Symonye
[Cf. below.]
is cleped of Symon Magus, that wolde han
boght..
v. 784: And therfore understond, that
bothe he that selleth
and he that byeth thinges espirituels,
been cleped
Symonials;
be it by catel,
be it by procuringe,
or by fleshly preyere of hise freendes,
fleshly freendes, or espirituel freendes.
vv. 785-787:
v. 788: For, as seith seint Damasie,
"alle the sinnes of the world, at regard
of this sinne,
arn as thing of noght"
v. 789:
v. 790:
...
For they putten in theves,
that stelen the soules of Jesu Crist
and destroyen his patrimoine.
v. 791:. and swiche yeveres of
chirches
• •
putten out the children of
Crist, and putten in-to the chirche
the develes owene sone.
v. 792:
v. 793: Now comth
hasardrye
Possunt vero ibi accidere xvi peccata: ... with hise apurtenaunces, as
Cupiditas
tables and rafles; of which comth
proditio . . . immiseri-
cordia . . . usura afflictio Dei Patris,
scilicet, quem ibi crucifigit ille qui amittit,
1
blasphemando et dilaniando eum ¹... [Cf. below.]
1 Cf. § 35, v. 591, above, and Pard. Tale, vv. 144-147, 380.
270
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
•
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
contemptus ecclesie
scandalum
proximi . . . omissio bonorum
jurium.. fraus . . . ira .
atio
verber
•
•
[Cf. above.]
fractio solemnitatum .
homicidium . . . idolatria.
•
De Remediis contra avariciam .
II, 4, iv: . . . de quibus sufficiat
ponere octo.
• •
per-
conviti.
II, 4, v: De prodigalicate que est vitium
contrarium avaricie
• •
et de distinc-
tione prodigalitatis a liberalitate.
II, 2, i: . . . Primo enim occurrit nobis
quod vitium gule in matre nostra Eva
occasio fuit omnium malorum.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
deceite, fals othes,
chydinges,
and alle ravines, blaspheminge and re-
neyinge of god, and hate of hise neighe-
bores, wast of godes,
misspending of tyme,
and somtyme manslaughtre.¹
vv. 794-803 :
Relevacio contra peccatum Avaricie,
§§ 68-69, vv. 804-817:
[Cf.
•
"resonable largesse," v. 811 and
"fool-largesse," § 69, vv. 813-817.]
$ 70, v. 818: After Avarice comth
Glotonye.
v. 819:
This sinne corrumped al this world, as is
wel shewed in the sinne of Adam and
Eve.2
Ibid. : juxta illud Apostoli ad Phil., iii... Loke eek, what seith seint Paul of
Quorum deus venter est.
II, 2, ii: Sequitur de speciebus hujus
vitii, que sunt Gastrimargia sive
Comesatio, Ebrietas..
Cf. Ibid. Que mala veniant ex Ebrie-
Glotoyne.
v. 820: "Manye," seith seint Paul,
goon
•
•
of whiche hir wombe is hir
"8
god.
v. 821 :
v. 822: This sinne hath manye speces.
The firste is dronkenesse,
tate . . . omnia bona dissipat in homine that is
Unde Aug.:
Ebrietas aufert memoriam, dissipat
sensum, confundit intellectum, concitat
libidinem, involvit linguam, corrupit san-
the horrible sepulture of mannes resoun;
and therfore, whan a man is dronken, he
hath lost his resoun; and
1 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 263–266.
2 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 176 ff.
8 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 201 ff.
f
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
71
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
guinem, omnia membra debilitat, vitam
diminuit, et omnem salutem exterminat.
[Cf. above.]
Ibid.: Aliter
distinguuntur quinque species
hujus vitii a Greg.
•
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387–955.
this is deedly sinne.¹
v. 823:
v. 824: The seconde spece of Glotonye
is, that the spirit of a man wexeth al
trouble; for dronkenesse bireveth him
the discrecioun of his wit.
vv. 825-827:
§ 71, v. 828: In other manere
been distinct the speces
of Glotonye, after seint Gregorie.
Prima species est cum quis horam The firste is, for to ete biforn tyme to
comedendi prevenit.
•
Secunda species est quando aliquis
nimis delicata vult habere.
•
Ibid. Tertia species est quando quis
nimis sumit.
•
Quarta species est studiositas
ete.
The seconde is, whan a man
get him to delicat mete or drinke.
v. 829: The thridde is, whan men
taken to muche over mesure.
The fourthe is curiositee,
que pertinet ad sollicitudinem et curio- with greet entente to maken and appa-
sitatem laute preparandi.
Quinta species est cum quis
nimis avide vel ardenter sumit cibum.
Ibid. He species continentur in hoc
versu: Prepropere, laute, nimis, ardenter,
studiose.
Cf. II, 3, ii, 2: Et nota quod diabolus
dicitur habere duas manus, quibus fre-
quenter homines capit, scilicet, Gulam
et Luxuriam.
•
Quinque digiti in prima manu sunt quin-
que species Gule, que notantur in hoc
versu: Prepropere, laute, nimis, ardenter,
studiose.
De Octo Remediis contra vitium Gule,
II, 2, iv :
II, 3, i, 1: . . . ideo hic dicemus de
peccato isto [sc. Luxuria], et satis con-
gruo ordine post vitium gule, quia nasci-
tur ex illo.
1 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 230 ff.
2 Cf. § 76, v. 852, below.
raillen his mete.
The fifthe is,
for to eten to gredily.
v. 830:
Thise been the fyve fingres of the develes
hand, by whiche he draweth folk to
sinne.2
Remedium contra peccatum Gule.
§§ 72-73, vv. 831-835:
§ 74, v. 836:
After Glotonye, thann ecomth Lecherie;
for thise two sinnes been so ny cosins,
that ofte tyme they wol nat departe.³
8 Cf. Pard. Tale, vv. 153f.
72
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid., 2: Quia peccatum luxurie
sit contumeliosum Deo.
II, 3, ii, 5: Sequitur
de adulterio
quod dividitur in duas species, scilicet,
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 837: God woot, this sinne
is ful displeasaunt thing to God. .
vv. 838-839:
§ 75, v. 840: Now lat us speke thanne
of... Avoutrie of wedded folk,
that is to seyn,
in simplex adulterium (quod est, cum
uxoratus peccat cum soluta, et e con- if that oon of hem be wedded,
verso),
et in adulterium duplex (quod est cum
uxoratus peccat cum uxore alterius).
Ibid.: Septem autem sunt per que potest
ostendi
magnitudo hujus peccati:
primo per hoc quod est contrarium
Matrimonii quod ipse Deus instituit
et in Paradiso et in statu innocentie.
Ibid., 2: Et nota quod diabolus dicitur
habere duas manus, quibus frequenter
homines capit.
•
•
or elles bothe.¹
v. 841:
=
v. 842: Certes, the brekinge of this
sacrement
is an horrible thing;
it was maked of god him-self
in paradys. 2
•
vv. 843-851 :
§ 76, v. 852: This is that
Quinque digiti in secunda manu sunt other hand of the devel, with fyve fin-
quinque species dicte.
gres, to cacche the peple to his vileinye.
vv. 853-864: 8
Ibid., 2: Et iste species luxurie vocantur
luxuria secundum quod hoc nomen luxu-
ria stricte sumitur. Et dividitur in quin-
que species: prima
quin-
est simplex fornicatio;
secunda, stuprum . . . tertia, adulter-
ium . . . quarta est incestum
ta est peccatum contra naturam.
Ibid. 6: Sequitur de stupro,
quod est illicita defloratio virginum.
:
Ibid. Secundo . . . idem peccatum
aufert virginitatem cui debetur fructus
centesimus.
3
v. 865: Of Lecherie, as I seyde, sourden
diverse speces; as
fornicacioun.
·
•
v. 868: Another sinne of Lecherie
is to bireve a mayden of hir mayden-
hede.
•
v. 869-870: and
bireveth hir thilke precious fruit that the
book clepeth "the hundred fruit." I ne
1 Cf. § 76, vv. 872-906, below.
8 Cf. with v. 859, Marchantes Tale, v.
2 Cf. § 76, v. 883, below.
596.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
73
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Qui illicite deflorat aliquam, aliquando
est occasio mille fornicationum quas ipsa
faciet postea.
Sicut ille qui primo rumpit clausuram
vinee, occasio est illius damni quod fa-
ciunt qui postea intrant qui aliter non
intrassent..
bonum quod ipse aufert, scilicet,
virginitatis, bonum est
irrecuperabile et irrecompensabile.
Ibid., 2: Tertia est adulterium quod est
alterius thorum accessio.
Ibid., 5: Tertio . . . cum enim vir et
mulier sint una caro, qui aufert uxorem
suam alicui, idem est ac si seipsum ei
auferret.
Exuperat autem istud peccatum omne
furtum,
quia quod aufertur cum sit creatura
rationalis melius est quacunque terrena
substantia.
[Cf., below.]
Ibid.: Primo, per hoc quod est con-
trarium sacramento matrimonii
quod ipse Deus instituit et in
paradiso et in statu innocentie.
Unde non fit contumelia tanto sacra-
mento absque magna contumelia Dei.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
can seye it noon other weyes in English,
but in Latin it highte Centesimus fructus.
Certes, he that so dooth is cause of
manye damages and vileinyes, mo than
any man can rekene;
right as he somtyme is cause of alle
damages that bestes don in the feeld
that breketh the hegge of the closure,
thurgh which he destroyeth
that
may nat been restored.
vv. 871-873:
v. 874: Avoutrie in Latin is for to seyn
approchinge of other mannes bed..
vv. 873-^76:
v. 877: sinne is eek a thefte; for
thefte genera
thefte genera is for to reve a wight
his thing agayns his wille.
v. 878: Certes, this is the fouleste
thefte that may be. . . .¹
and steleth hir soule fro Crist, and
yeveth it to the devel.
vv. 879-881 :
v. 882: The thridde harm is the filthe
thurgh which they breken the comande-
ment of god, and defoulen the auctour
of matrimoine, that is Crist.
v. 883: For certes, in-so-muche as the
sacrement of mariage is so noble and
so digne, so muche is it gretter sinne
for to breken it ;
for god made mariage in 2
paradys, in the estaat of innocence,
to multiplye man-kinde to the service
of god.
v. 884: And therfore is the brekinge
ther-of more grevous.
1 Cf. § 76, v. 887, below.
2 Cf. § 75, v. 842, above.
74
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid.: Sexto potest ostendi per mala
que inde sequuntur. Sequuntur autem
ex hoc peccato exheredationes filiorum.
•
Ibid.: Sequitur etiam inde
multotiens incestus, ut scilicet,
qui cognoscat filiam patris sui,
vel ejus uxorem ignorans quis sit pater
ejus.
Ibid. Tertio potest ostendi per hoc
quod prohibitio adulterii in Decalogo
inmediate ponitur post prohibitionem
homicidii et ante prohibitionem furti.
Unde Clemens Papa..
Exuperat autem istud peccatum omne
furtum, quia quod aufertur, cum sit
creatura rationalis, melius est quacunque
terrena substantia.
Ibid. Homicidio quodammodo assimil-
atur adulterium. Cum enim vir et mulier
sint una caro, qui aufert uxorem suam
alicui, idem est ac si seipsum ei auferret.
Quarto. per legem que habetur
Levit., xx, ubi sic dicitur: Si mechatus
quis fuerit cum uxore alterius. . . .
morte moriatur.
•
•
Cf. Ibid.: Secundum enim
in penis tenet locum.
Cf. Ibid., 8: Tertio modo potest dividi
peccatum luxurie, secundum
diversitatem subjectorum in quibus
est; ut dividatur in luxuriam
laicorum, clericorum, et religiosarum
personarum.
•
gravius est peccatum illud in clericis vel
in religiosis personis, et aliter ponde-
randum est in eis quam in laicis.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
Of which brekinge comen
false heires ofte tyme, that wrongfully
occupyen folkes heritages. .
vv. 885 f.: Of this brekinge comth eek
ofte tyme, that folk unwar wedden or
sinnen with hir owene kinrede..
v. 887: Understond eek, that
avoutrie
is set gladly in the ten comandements
bitwixe thefte and manslaughtre ;
for it the gretteste thefte that may be ;
for it is thefte
of body and of soule.¹
v. 888: And it is lyk to homicyde;
for
it kerveth a-two and breketh a-two hem
that first were maked o flesh, and ther-
fore, by the olde lawe of god, they sholde
be slayn.
v. 889:
v. 890: Soothly, the vengeaunce of
avoutrie is awarded to the peynes of
helle, but-if so be that it be destourbed
by penitence.
v. 891: Yet been ther mo speces of
this cursed sinne;
as whan that oon of hem is
religious, or elles bothe; or of folk that
been entred in-to ordre, as subdekne or
dekne, or preest, or hospitaliers.
And evere the hyer that he is in ordre,
the gretter is the sinne.
1 Cf. § 76, v. 878, above.

The Sources of the Parson's Tale
75
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid. Septem autem sunt que
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 892: The thinges that gretly
aggravant peccatum carnis in clericis in agreggen hir sinne
sacris ordinibus constitutis.
Primum est voti fractio.
Ibid. Et ista circumstantia valde aggra-
vans peccatum quod satis apparebit si
aliquis attendat
is the brekinge of hir avow of chastitee,
whan they receyved the ordre.
v. 893: And forther-over, sooth is, that
of god,
quam preciosum sit quod aufert Deo holy ordre is chief of al the tresorie
et quod res sancta sit
Castitas vero quam iste promisit Deo
cum sacros ordines suscepit. .
... res
irrecompensabilis est. Unde Ecci. xxvi:
Omnis ponderatio non est digna anime
continentis. Res etiam sancta est cum
sit Deo oblata.
Ibid.: Quartum est hoc quod
ad servitium Dei assumpti sunt.
Quintum est quod ipsi sunt
•
and his especial signe and mark of
chastitee; to shewe that they been joyned
to chastitee, which that is most precious
lyf that is.
v. 894: And thise ordred folk
been specially tytled to god,
de familia Dei et ejus expensis vivunt et and of the special meynee of god;
vestiuntur.
Proditores enim sunt quando illum im-
pugnant de cujus bonis vivunt et ves-
tiuntur. Sextum est hoc quod ipsi
decipiunt populum qui dat eis elee-
mosynas,
ut ipsius peccata deleant orando,
et gratiam impetrent sanctitate vite sue;
quod ipsi non faciunt. Quia, secundum
Grego., cum indignus ad intercedendum
mittitur, irati animus ad deteriora provo-
catur. Bern.: Qui ambulat in carne,
Deo placere non possunt, et placere
velle presumunt.
for which, whan they doon deedly sinne,
they been the special traytours of god
and of his peple; for they liven of the
peple,
to preye for the peple,
and whyle they been suche traitours, hir
preyers availen nat to the peple.
Ibid., 9: Sextum est hoc quod
v. 895:
vita claustralis est angelica vita.
Imi-
Preestes been aungeles,
tari enim debet angelicam vitam in puri-
tate per castitatem. In carne enim
preter carnem vivere non humane est by the dignitee of hir misterye:
nature, sed virtutis angelice . . . Claus-
tralis ergo angelus est. Ergo vel malus
vel bonus. Si malus est, diabolus est but for sothe, seint Paul seith, that
vel demon. Nihil enim aliud est malus "Sathanas transformeth him in an aungel
76
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
angelus quam diabolus. Et sic claus- of light."
trales luxuriosi sunt demones incubi.

Ibid., 2: Quarta est incestus qui
est consanguinearum vel
affinium abusus.
Ibid., 4: peccatum istud
hominem quasi canem reddit.
Canis enim in opere illo
non observat consanguinitatem.
Ibid., 2: Quinta esti peccatum contra
naturam.
• •
De quo vitio cum magna cautela
loquendum est in predicando et
interrogationes in confessionibus fa-
ciendo.
Ibid., 3: Primo illis testimoniis scripture
que hoc vitium asserunt maximum vel
minimum.
•
•
Cf. II, 3, iii, 1:... dicendum est de
his que prestant occasionem huic pec-
cato, que sunt octo, scilicet,
ocium,
indiscreta sumptio cibi et potus.
•
Cf. I, 3, De temperantia, pars iii, 15:
Sequitur de commendatione matrimonii
primum . . . ordinem Matrimonii
instituit ipse Deus qui errare non potest
. . secundum est locus in quo institu-
tum est, scilicet, paradisus.
•
sextum . . . noluit filius Dei carnem
.
ex ea assumere donec fuit in matrimonio.
vv. 896-906:
v. 907: The fourthe spece is the as-
semblee of hem that been of hire kin-
rede, or of hem that been of oon
affinitee... this sinne
maketh hem lyk to houndes,
that taken no kepe
to kinrede.
vv. 908-909:
v. 910: The fifthe spece is thilke ab-
hominable sinne,
of which that no man unnethe oghte
speke ne wryte,
nathelees it is openly reherced in holy
writ.
v. 911:
v. 912: Another sinne aperteneth to
lecherie, that comth in slepinge; and this
sinne cometh . . . in foure maneres.
v. 913: Somtyme, of languissinge of
body; for the humours been to ranke
and habundaunt in the body of man.
Somtyme of infermetee; for the feblesse
of the vertu retentif, as phisik maketh
mencioun.
Somtyme, for surfeet of mete and drinke.
v. 914: And somtyme of vileyns
thoghtes..
Remedium contra peccatum luxurie,
§§ 77-83, vv. 915-955.
§ 77, v. 918: This, as seith the book,
is a ful greet sacrement. God made it,
as I have seyd,¹
in paradys,
and wolde him-self
be born in mariage.
1 Cf. § 75, v. 842, and § 76, v. 883, above.
3
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
77
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
Ibid. Octavum est quod Dominus
nuptias voluit honorare; primo aperto
miraculo quod fecit coram discipulis
suis. Ipsum vero miraculum quo aqua
mutata est in vinum,
ostendit cujus virtutis sit matrimonium.
P. T., §§ 23-83, vv. 387-955.
v. 919: And
for to halwen mariage, he was at a wed-
dinge, where-as he turned water in-to
wyn; which was the firste miracle that
he wroghte in erthe biforn hise disci-
ples.

v. 920:
Aqua enim vilis est, vinum preciosum; Trewe effect of mariage
sic opus carnale absque matrimonio vile
quod est; opus vero matrimoniale pre-
ciosum.
Decimum est preciosus fructus qui ex
matrimonio sequitur: generantur enim
inde filii hujus seculi qui post per adop-
tionem fiunt filii Dei . . .
•
•
Duodecimum opus carnale quod
sine eo esset mortale, cum eo est veniale,
vel omnino sine peccato...
adeo efficax est ad concordiam faciendam
que adeo placet Deo, sicut discordia
multum ei displicet.
Ibid., 17: Hanc inseparabilitatem primo
videtur requirere hoc quod matrimo-
nium sacramentum est matrimonii spiritu-
alis, quod est inter Christum et ecclesiam.
Ibid., 17: Et dicendum est quod
opus illud exerceri potest sine omni
culpa et etiam meritorie in tribus casi-
bus.
Primus est cum fit causa prolis suscipi-
ende et ad cultum Dei educande cum
aliis debitis circumstantiis. Aug...
quia principaliter institutum est matri-
monium ad suscipiendum prolem.
Ibid.: Secunda ejus institutio fuit in
remedium, scilicet, ad fornicationem
evitandam. Secundus casus est cum
petenti redditur debitum . .
clenseth fornicacioun
and
replenisseth holy chirche of good linage;
for that is the ende of mariage;
and it chaungeth
deedly sinne in-to venial sinne bitwixe
hem that been y-wedded,
and maketh the hertes al oon of hem
that been y-wedded, as wel as the
bodies.
v. 921:
§ 78, v. 922:
First, for mariage
is figured
bitwixe Crist and holy chirche. . .
vv. 923-924:
§ 79, vv. 925-929:
§ 80, vv. 930-938 :
v. 939: Thanne shal men understonde
that
for three thinges a man and his wyf
fleshly mowen assemble.
The firste is in entente of engendrure of
children to the service of god,
for certes that is the cause fynal of mat-
rimoine.
v. 940: Another cause is, to yelden
everich of hem to other the dette of hir
bodies, for neither of hem hath power
over his owene body. The thridde is,
for to eschewe lecherye and vileinye .
•
78
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
TRACTATUS DE VICIIS.
II, 3, iv, 1: De Remediis contra luxu-
riam
•
P. T., §§ 23–83, vv. 387–955.
vv. 941-943:
§ 81, vv. 944-950:
§ 82, v. 951: Another remedie agayns
Lecherie is, specially to withdrawen
Secundum remedium est ut homo sub- swiche thinges as yeve occasion to thilke
trahit sibi de cibo et potu
vileinye; as ese, etinge and drinkinge;
for certes, whan the pot boyleth
strongly,

Ibid.: Si olla que juxta ignem est adeo
ebulliat ut effundatur quod in ea conti-
netur, aliquod horum trium fieri consue-
vit: vel aqua frigida olle infunditur;
vel de lignis subtrahitur;
vel olla ab igne elongatur.
Ibid., 1: Triplex autem ratio potest
assignari quare fugiendo pugnandum sit
cum peccato carnis.
Ibid., 2: Preterea et si murus a candela
juxta se posita non comburatur, tamen
denigratur.
•
Ibid. : . . . dicit Hieronymus ;
nec in preterita castitate confidas.
Nec David sanctior, nec Samsone for-
tior, nec Salomone potes esse sapientior.
the beste remedie is to withdrawe the fyr.
v. 952:
v. 953: Another remedie agayns Lech-
erie is, that a man or womman eschue the
companye of hem by whiche he douteth
to be tempted. . .
►
v. 954: Soothly a whyt wal,
although it ne brenne noght fully by
stikinge of a candele, yet is the wal blak
of the leyt.
v. 955: Ful ofte tyme I rede, that no
man trust in his owene perfeccioun,
but he be stronger than Sampson, and
holier than David, and wiser than Salo-
mon.
$85, v. 956: Now after that I have de-
clared yow, as I can, the sevene deedly
sinnes, and somme of hir braunches and
hir remedies, soothly, if I coude, I wolde
telle
yow the ten comandements.
v. 957: But so heigh a doctrine I lete
to divines.¹ Nathelees, I hope to god
they been touched in this tretice, everich
of hem alle.
Such are the correspondences upon which I base the conclusion
which I stated at the outset, viz., that the Parson's Tale goes back for
1 Cf. §93, v. 1043, below; K. T., v. 465; H. of F., I, 12-14, 52-55; and N. P. T.,
vv. 416–422.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
79
its ultimate source to a thirteenth-century tract by Raymund on Peni-
tence, supplemented by another tract of the same century, by Peraldus,
dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins.
The fact that the P. T. rests fundamentally upon a tract of Ray-
mund's Summa invests Chaucer's work with a special interest. For
Raymund's treatise was a work of no ordinary significance to a Parson
of the thirteenth century, a work "Confessoribus perutilem," as Trivet
describes it later. Indeed, Raymund's object in writing the Summa
was to aid priests in the execution of what is perhaps the most impor-
tant legislative act in the history of the Church.
The Lateran Council of 1215-1216 had effected a momentous change
in the character of auricular confession: from being voluntary, it be-
came obligatory. Priests, therefore, required instruction in the admin-
istration of their new power over the consciences of the faithful, and
manuals for the guidance of confessors superseded the Penitentials.
One of the first treatises in this new class of literature, De Casibus Con-
scientiae, is the Summa of Raymund.¹
The new Summa, moreover, carried with it the influence of its dis-
tinguished author, who was the Pope's penitentiary, and whose former
work, the Decretals of Gregory IX, had been ordered by the Pope to
be taught in the schools at Bologna and at Paris. It is, therefore, no
wonder that the Summa should have ¹d such an extraordinary vogue
from 1250 to 1400.³
2
The ultimate source of the P. T., then, is literature eminently char-
acteristic of a Parson's calling. And it is such a source as we like to
find. For in the case of the Nun's Priest, the Pardoner, and the Friar,
Chaucer appears to have considered the professional reading and voca-
tion of his clerks in selecting material for the tales which they tell.
There now remains the problem of tracing this material in the De
Poenitentia and in the Summa de Vitiis from their thirteenth-century
authors to Chaucer.* The evidence of the parallels quoted above
1 Cf. A. Tardif, Hist. des Sources de Droit canonique, pp. 324, 130; Wetzer et
Welte, Dict. de la Théol., art. Casuistique.
2 Tardif, ibid., p. 198.
8 See p. 2, note 2, above.
4 In tracing the history of these tracts to Chaucer, it may be important to
remember that, like the Somme des Vices et des Vertus, both these tracts were
written by Dominicans.
80
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
makes it clear that both tracts must have suffered many changes ¹
expansions in some places, and abridgments in others- before they
came into Chaucer's hands. The Summa de Vitiis, in particular, was
probably much reduced in length before it served as Chaucer's original.
The fact, moreover, that there is a tendency in some versions of Ray-
mund's tract to expand the treatment of Sin along the lines of the
exposition of the P. T. (see p. 35, above), makes it probable that
Chaucer's original was a single treatise, consisting of a worked-over
copy of the De Poenitentia into which had been fitted a similarly
worked-over copy of the Summa de Vitiis. The person who dove-
tailed the two together would then, perhaps, be responsible for the vari-
ations from the text of both which one who compares the P. T. with
the Latin must notice.
The P. T. itself furnishes some evidence as to its original. For it
seems to indicate that its immediate source was (i) a written treatise,2
the language of which (ii) was perhaps Latin, a treatise in which
8
1 Cf. the variation of similar material in the following texts: Summa Perutilis
(Goffredus Tranensis); Summa Aurea (Hostiensis); Summa Monaldina; Summa
Astesana; Summa Pisanella; Supplementum Summae Pisanae (Nicolaus de Ausmo);
Summa Rosella; Summa Pacifica; Summa Angelica; Summa Metrificata (Frater
Adamus); Summula Raymundi (J. Chappuis); Summula Raymundi (Guil. Redo-
nensis). Cf. also the variation of similar material in other tracts: Articuli Fidei
and the poem Floretus; Arundel 330 (Tractatus pulcher de Penitentia); Bod. 90
(quoted from Professor Liddell's letters to the Academy, 1896); Compendium The-
ologice Veritatis; Interrogatorium sive Confessionale (Bartholomaeus de Chaimis);
Harleian 4065 (De Penitentia Thomae de Cabaham); Libellus de modo Confitendi et
Penitendi (“Peniteas Cito"); Lo Specchio della vera Penitenzia (J. Passavanti), a
treatise which shows great obligation to Raymund's tract, and which is second only
to that work in furnishing a consecutive parallel to the P. T.; The Pricke of Con-
science; Speculum Aureum; Speculum de Confessione (A. de Butrio); Speculum
Spiritualium; Textus Sacramentorum (J. Chanesius), etc.
2 Cf. the use of "chapitres": § 23, v. 389, § 31, v. 532, § 85, v. 958; and of
"tretice": § 84, v. 957 [§ 104, v. 1081], in which Chaucer fails to adapt the tract
to the Parson telling his Tale, as also in Melib., Prol., vv. 39, 45, and The Seconde
Nonnes Tale, v. 78, and again, P. T., § 93, v. 1043.
3 Cf. § 76, v. 869: "I ne can seye it noon other weyes in English, but in Latin it
highte Centesimus fructus"; and § 58, v. 718, § 59, v. 725, § 60, v. 728, § 76, v. 874.
On the other hand, the use of the word "basilicok" (§ 76, v. 853) has been thought
to indicate an original in French. Cf. also § II, v. 248.
The Sources of the Parson's Tale
81
8
4
2
(iii) the exposition was fuller than the Parson's;¹ and in which (iv)
the Ten Commandments may have been distinctly treated, and the
Paternoster; and possibly, too, the Sins of the Tongue, and the Five
Wits; and in which (v) there may have been a different arrangement
of material at certain points; and in which (vi) some lines of the
P. T. which reappear in other parts of the Canterbury Tales may have
had their source."
5
6
These are problems, however, for further study. This paper is but a
preliminary investigation of the P. T., dealing with its ultimate sources.
The development of Chaucer's direct original out of the two thirteenth-
century analogues which I put forward as the ultimate sources of the
P. T., I leave for a subsequent investigation.
1 Cf. the topics announced but not treated in the P. T. : § 2, v. 82, § 16, v. 317;
and cf. what seem to be actual admissions of condensation: § 15, v. 313, § 31 v.
532.
2 Cf. § 84, v. 956, and the analogy of Astesanus, Libellus de modo Conf., Spec. de
Conf., Interrogatorium, Art. Fidei and Floretus, etc.
8 Cf. § 93, v. 1043, and the analogy of Lorens's Somme, Speculum Ecclesiae and
The Mirror of Edmund, Speculum Spiritualium.
4 Cf. § 47, v. 653, Peraldus, tractatus nonus, Art. Fidei, etc.
5 Cf. § 85, v. 959, Libellus de modo Conf., Summula Raymundi by J. Chappuis, Art.
Fidei and Floretus, Textus Sacramentorum, etc.
6 Cf. § 40, v. 618, § 47, v. 653.
7 Cf. the following lines which are found in Peraldus: § 35, vv. 587, 588, 592 ff.,
§ 67, v. 793, § 70, vv. 819f., § 42, vv. 630 f., § 30, v. 484; other lines which appear in
the P. T. and in other Canterbury Tales are cited by E. Koeppel in Archiv für das
Studium der neueren Sprachen, LXXXVII, 33 ff.
6


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THE SOURCES
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BY
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