i 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 
 iiii
 
 FOI.'NDfcD BY JOHN D. ROOKEt'KLLKR 
 
 50ME ENGLISH AND LATIN SOURCES 
 AND PARALLELS FOR THE MO- 
 RALITY OF WISDOM 
 
 A DISSERTATION 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OP THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND 
 LITERATliRE IN. CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 (DKPARTMKXT OF ENGIjISH ) 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER KAY SMART 
 
 MENASHA. WIS. 
 
 GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING 00. 
 
 1912 
 
 I
 
 "-v
 
 FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER 
 
 SOME ENGLISH AND LATIN SOURCES 
 AND PARALLELS FOR THE MO- 
 RALITY OF WISDOM 
 
 A DISSERTATION 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND 
 LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 (DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH) 
 
 BY 
 WALTER KAY SMART 
 
 MENASHA, WIS. 
 
 GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 1912 
 
 ■» 7 
 J J )
 
 • « 
 
 • • .• 
 
 • • • • • • 
 
 • . 
 
 • •••*•• • • 
 
 a • • • • • 
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 c e • •* • • • 
 
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 ► • • •
 
 6Z 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Manuscripts and Editions 4 
 
 Analysis of the Plot 6 
 
 Sources 9-38 
 
 Orologium Sapientiae 9 
 
 Scala Perfectionis 17 
 
 Epistle on Mixed Life 26 
 
 Meditationes de Cognitione Humanae Conditionis . . 28 
 
 UnidentifiedWorkby St. Bernard (?) 31 
 
 Tractatus de Interiori Domo 32 
 
 Soliloquium de Quatuor Mentalihus Exercitiis ... 33 
 
 Novem Virtutes 34 
 
 Meditations on the Passion 37 
 
 Parallel Ideas 39-77 
 
 First Division 39 
 
 Second Division 45 
 
 Third Division 60 
 
 Fourth Division 70 
 
 Purpose 78 
 
 Author 82 
 
 Place 85 
 
 Date 87 
 
 Summary 90 
 
 'CT 
 
 5922
 
 PREFACE 
 
 When this study of the sources and parallels for Wisdom was 
 begun, it was my intention to include the French field ; but the mass 
 of ecclesiastical Latin that had to be gone through proved to be 
 so large that I found it necessary to confine myself to that and the 
 English. Even in the Latin field, no pretence to completeness is 
 made. For example, much of Richard Rolle's Latin work still 
 in manuscript has not been consulted owing to the limited time 
 which I could spend in England. (It is to be regretted that these 
 works, which were collected by ]\Ir. Carl Horstman for a volume 
 in his Library of Early English Writers, have never been printed.) 
 Likewise, Bonaventura's writings have not been accessible for a 
 thorough examination. It is very probable that a search through 
 these works would yield other sources. Those that have been 
 found, however, are sufficient to show our author's relations with 
 contemporary and earlier movements of thought, and to show his 
 method of work. It is not likely that the finding of two or three 
 other Latin sources would materially add to these results. With 
 respect to the French field the situation is different. If the satire 
 on social and political conditions, in the third division of the play, 
 is not original with our author, it is probably based upon a French 
 source. At any rate, the source is pretty certainly not in the writ- 
 ings of the mystics, which furnished all those that have been found. 
 A search through the French literature might give some valuable 
 information about another side of our author's affiliations. This 
 investigation I hope to make in the near future. 
 
 In selecting sources for a play like Wisdom, in which most of 
 the material is conventional, one is always in danger of attaching 
 too much importance to mere similarity in ideas. I have tried to 
 avoid this danger by excluding from the list of sources all works 
 in which there was no significant similarity in phraseology or ar- 
 rangement. In some cases I was in doubt as to a passage. For 
 example, I feel sure that 11. 917-28 in the play follow closely an 
 undiscovered version of a conventional complaint against man's 
 ingratitude to Christ, one version of which is given in the passages 
 quoted from Lambeth Ms. 853, and other versions in the works 
 cited in the footnote (p. 73). No one of these forms, however,
 
 2 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 shows sufficient similarity to be called a direct source. This, and 
 other passages of which I was doubtful, are given among the 
 parallels-in-idea. 
 
 In order to reduce as much as possible the space occupied by- 
 foot-notes, a list of books most frequently referred to has been 
 added. It is not intended to be a complete bibliography. 
 
 In conclusion, I wish to thank the authorities of the British 
 Museum, the Bodleian Library, and the Cambridge University 
 Library for their courtesy; and especially Mr. A. W. Pollard for 
 his personal kindness and help. The Reverend Gr. A. Schneider, 
 librarian, and the Masters and Fellows of Gonville and Caius 
 College, Cambridge, were particularly obliging in allowing me to 
 use manuscripts from their library when it was closed on account 
 of alterations in the building, and in permitting transcripts to 
 be made from their manuscripts. Professor J. M. Manly suggested 
 this study, and has given much valuable help. Professors F. A. 
 Blackburn and A. H. Tolman have also suggested changes and 
 additions. Mr. C. B. Cooper has kindly read the proofs. 
 
 Chicago, December, 1912. W. K. Smart.
 
 BOOKS MOST FREQUENTLY USED 
 
 Assembly of Gods, ed. O. L. Triggs, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXIX, 1896. 
 
 Ayenbite of Inwyt, Dan Michel's, ed. R. Morris, E. E. T. S., XXIII. 1866. 
 
 Brandl, A., Quellen des weltlichen Dramas in England vor Shakespeare 
 (Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Culturgeschichte der german- 
 ischen Volker), Strassburg, 1898. 
 
 Bonaventurae (Sancti) Eximii Ecclesiae Doctoris Soliloquium. de Quatuor 
 Mentalibus Exercitiis, quod dicitur Imago Vitae. Antverpiae, M. DC. XVI. 
 
 Chester Plays, The, ed. H. Deimling, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXII. 1893. 
 
 Chester Plays, The, ed. T. Wright, Shakespeare Society Publications. Lon- 
 don, 1843. 
 
 Cursor Mundi, ed. R. Morris, E. E. T. S., LVII, XCIX, CI. 1874-93. 
 
 Digby Plays, The, ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXX. 1896. 
 
 Ludus Coventriae, ed. J. O. Halliwell, Shakespeare Society Publications. 
 London, 1841. 
 
 Macro Plays, The, ed. F. J. Furnivall and A. W. Pollard, E. E. T. S., Ext. 
 Ser., XCI. 1904. 
 
 Magnyfycence, A Moral Play by John Skelton, ed. R. L. Ramsay, E. E. 
 T. S., Ext. Ser., XCVIII. 1906-8. 
 
 Manly, J. M., Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama. Boston, 1897. 
 
 Myroure of Oure Ladye, The, ed. J. H. Blunt, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., XIX, 
 1873. 
 
 Orologium Sapientiae, [by Henricus Suso. 1480 (?)]. 
 
 Orologium Sapientiae, Middle English translation from Suso, printed in 
 Anglia, X, 323 ff. 
 
 Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed. J. P. Migne. Paris, 
 1844-11900. 
 
 Piers the Plowman and Richard the Redeless, ed. W. W. Skeat. Oxford, 
 1886. 
 
 Political Poems and Songs relating to English History, from the Acces- 
 sion of Edward III. to that of Richard III., ed. T. Wright. London, 1859-61. 
 
 Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. C. Horstman, Library of Early English 
 Writers. London, 1895-6. 
 
 Scala Perfectionis, by Walter Hilton. Julian Notary, London, 1507. 
 
 Soliloquium, see Bonaventurae. 
 
 Towneley Plays, The, ed. G. England and A. W. Pollard, E. E. T. S., 
 Ext. Ser., LXXI. 1897. 
 
 York Plays, The, ed. L. T. Smith. Oxford, 1885.
 
 MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS 
 
 The fifteenth-century morality play, Wisdom, or Mind, Will, 
 and Understanding, as it is sometimes called, is extant in its com- 
 plete form only in the Macro Ms. This manuscript, which is now in 
 the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney, of Keswick Hall, near Nor- 
 wich, derives its name from that of a former owner, the Reverend 
 Cox Macro, an antiquarian of the eighteenth century. Besides 
 Wisdom, the manuscript at present contains two other morality 
 plays; namely. Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance. Before 
 1820, these three plays formed part of a volume which is thus 
 described in the catalogue for the Macro sale held in that year: 
 '*5. A volume containing Juvenalis Ms. on vellum — Leges Inae, 
 -^thelstani, &c. (scrip, tempore Henry II.) — Liber Alchemiae — 
 Also three ancient Masques. The Masque of Wisdom — The Masque 
 of Mercy — The Masque of the Castel of Perseverance." Shortly 
 after this sale, the three moralities were separated from the other 
 pieces and bound together in a new volume. The manuscripts of 
 the three plays were written separately by different scribes.^ 
 
 The first part of Wisdom, 11. 1-754, is also found in the Bodleian 
 Ms., Digby 133, which contains three other dramatic pieces — The 
 Conversion of St. Paul, Mary Magdalene, and The Killing of the 
 Children. Dr. Furnivall thinks that these plays were written in 
 at least three hands, one of which wrote only the lines from Wis- 
 dom."^ Mr. Chambers agrees with Dr. Furnivall on these points.^ 
 Collier says that the handwriting of the Digby version of Wisdom 
 is apparently the same as that of the Macro version.* Mr. Cham- 
 bers gives this statement from Collier without comment.^ 
 
 The 754 lines from the Digby Ms. were printed in 1835 by 
 T. Sharp, in Ancient Mysteries, for the Abbotsford Club ; in 1882 
 by Dr. Furnivall, in his edition of the Digby Mysteries, for the 
 New Shakspere Society; and again in 1896 by Dr. Furnivall, in 
 
 1 This account is taken from Mr. Pollard's Introduction to The Macro Plays, pp. iz 
 and xxviii. 
 
 ^ The Digby Plays, p. xv-xvi. 
 
 »E. K. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage, II, 428. 
 
 * J. P. Collier, The History of English Dramatic Poetry, II, 207. 
 
 "E. K. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage, II, 437.
 
 Manuscripts and Editions 5 
 
 The Dighy Plays, for the Early English Text Society (a reprint of 
 the New Shakspere Society edition). The last part of the version 
 in the Macro Ms., from 1. 754 to the end, was printed in 1837 by 
 W. B. D. D. TurnbuU, for the Abbotsford Club, to supplement 
 the 1835 edition of the fragment from the Digby Ms. The three 
 moralities in the Macro Ms. were edited by F. J. Furnivall and 
 A. W. Pollard for the Early English Text Society in 1904. The 
 manuscript has also been reproduced in three volumes in the Tudor 
 Facsimile Texts, edited by J. S. Farmer. The volume containing 
 Wisdom appeared in 1907. My references are to the E. E. T. S. 
 edition by Furnivall and Pollard.
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE PLOT 
 
 Tlie plot of Wisdom falls into four divisions: the first de- 
 scribes the soul in Innocence (11. 1-324) ; the second, its Tempta- 
 tion and Fall (11. 325-551) ; the third, its Life in Sin (11. 552-876) ; 
 tlie fourth, its Repentance (11. 877-1168 ).« 
 
 At the beginning. Wisdom, who is Christ, appears, dressed in 
 "ryche purpull clothe of golde," with a mantle of the same cloth 
 lined with ermine, and wearing a wig "with browys" and a beard 
 of "golde of Sypres. " On his head is a rich imperial crown, set 
 with precious stones ;" in his left hand, he bears a ball of gold sur- 
 mounted by a cross, and in his right hand, a regal sceptre. He in- 
 troduces himself as " Euerlastynge Wysdom, " which name, he 
 declares, although not inappropriate to the other members of 
 the Trinity, belongs especially to the Second Person. Then Anima 
 enters, as a maid, dressed in a white cloth of gold, over which is 
 thrown a black mantle. She declares her love for Wisdom and 
 intreats him to tell her something about himself. Thereupon he 
 describes at length the nature and "prerogatyff" of his love. 
 This leads her to inquire more fully concerning the "scolys" of 
 his divinity, a request which calls forth a warning against the 
 desire to know too much, and the statement that knowledge of God 
 is to be reached through knowledge of herself. Then follows an 
 analysis of Anima, or the soul, which is given in accordance with 
 mediaeval theology and psychology. The soul was created in 
 the image of God, but, through the sin of Adam, lost that likeness. 
 From her fallen state she can be rescued only by the death of 
 Christ, the visible symbols of which are the seven sacraments. 
 Furthermore, the soul is divided into two parts — reason and sen- 
 suality — which two signify the whiteness and the blackness in every 
 soul : the whiteness of reason and the blackness of sin. (The white- 
 ness and the blackness of the soul are symbolized by the white 
 gown and the black mantle which Anima wears.) The five "in- 
 wits" of the soul, in the likeness of virgins dressed in white mantles, 
 then appear on the stage singing a verse from the Song of Songs : 
 "Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Jerusalem." These are succeeded 
 
 • I owe the suggestion for this division to R. L. Ramsay's edition of Skelton's 
 Magnyfycence. p. clix; but I have changed the limits of the second and third divisions.
 
 Analysis of the Plot 7 
 
 by the three "Mights" of the soul— Mind, Will, and Understand- 
 ing — all dressed in white cloth of gold and ''crestyde in on sute." 
 After they have given an account of themselves and of their partic- 
 ular functions. Wisdom exhorts them to be faithful, and warns 
 them against the wiles of their three enemies, the World, the Flesh, 
 and the Devil. The tirst division of the play ends with a eulogy of 
 the goodness and mercy of Wisdom. Then all the characters who 
 have appeared march off the stage, the five wits singing as they 
 go, "Tota pulchra es. " 
 
 In the second division, Lucifer enters, dressed "in a dewyllys 
 aray with-owt, and with-in as a prowde galonte." He outlines 
 his plan for leading the IMights into sin through the successive 
 steps of suggestion, delight', and consent ; and then he leaves the 
 stage to divest himself of the "dewyllys aray," which he fears 
 will frighten the Mights. The latter enter, and declare that their 
 thoughts are ever on Jesus and that they will always be faithful to 
 Him. Thereupon, Lucifer re-appears as a "goodly galont," and 
 with specious arguments soon wins the Mights over to his manner 
 of living. They go off the stage, leaving Lucifer behind, who tells 
 of his further plans. He will lead the Mights into pride, covet- 
 ousness, and lechery, the three chief sins, which in mediaeval 
 theology embraced all the Seven Deadly Sins. At last Lucifer 
 catches up a small boy, perhaps from the audience, and runs out. 
 This is the end of the second division. 
 
 The Mights now re-enter. Mind has given himself up to the 
 sins of pride, such as the seeking of high office and the cultiva- 
 tion of powerful friends; Understanding is covetous, and prefers 
 riches above all else; Will delights in lechery. Then follows a 
 satire on the political and social conditions of the times. Pride, 
 the particular sin of Mind, is identified with the common practice 
 of Maintenance, that is, the furthering of unjust causes, in the 
 courts and elsewhere, by the proud and powerful nobles. Covet- 
 ousness, the sin of Understanding, becomes Perjury, by means of 
 which much money can be made. Lechery, to which Will has 
 given himself, remains Lechery, for that was common enough in 
 the real life of the times. Each of these three — Maintenance, 
 Perjury, and Lechery — brings out in turn six of his followers, 
 dressed in appropriate costumes, who perform a dance. After the
 
 8 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 dance of the followers of Lechery, their leader gets into a quarrel 
 with Maintenance and Perjury, and the three fall to blows. When 
 peace has been restored and the dancers have left the stage, the 
 three proceed with an account of the methods which they will use 
 to get what they most desire. Finally, just as they are ready to 
 leave the stage to go to dinner. Wisdom re-enters. 
 
 Here the redemption of Mind, Will, and Understanding begins. 
 Wisdom reminds them that death will soon overtake them, and 
 urges them to repent. They refuse to listen to him until he shows 
 them the image of Anima, who appears "in ]>e most horrybull 
 wyse, fowlere J^an a fende," dressed in a hideous mantle, from 
 beneath which run six small boys dressed as devils to represent 
 the sins that the Mights of the soul have committed. Thoroughly 
 alarmed, they repent, and ask guidance of Wisdom, He points 
 them to the way of salvation through the three steps of penance — 
 contrition, confession, and satisfaction. When the Mights have 
 passed through contrition, the devils disappear. The Mights and 
 Anima leave the stage to make their confession to Holy Church, 
 Anima singing as they go, in the plaintive manner of Passion 
 Week, a verse from the church service. Wisdom, thus left alone, 
 describes the kind of satisfaction that is most pleasing to God; 
 namely, love to God and to one's fellow Christians, rather than 
 great bodily punishment. Anima now returns, accompanied by the 
 five "In wits," and Mind, Will, and Understanding, all in their 
 "fyrst clothynge;" and the play closes with speeches by Wisdom, 
 the Mights, and Anima. «
 
 SOURCES 
 
 OBOLOOIUM SAPIENTIAE 
 
 We are now ready to investigate the sources of Wisdom. The 
 most important of these is an English treatise entitled Orologium 
 Sapientiae, or The Seuene Poyntes of Treive Lone and Euerlast- 
 ynge Wisdame, which is extant in Ms. Caius Coll. 390, and in Ms. 
 Douce 114. The fifth chapter is also found separately in Ms. Douce 
 322, fol. 20, and in Ms. Harl. 1706, fol. 20. The entire treatise was 
 printed by Caxton, apparently about 1490,^ and again by K. 
 Horstmann in 1888, in Anglia, X, 323 ff. Both Caxton and Horst- 
 mann printed from Ms. Douce 114, although Caxton changed the 
 spelling and form of many words. The text in ]\ls. Caius Coll. 
 390 differs from that in Ms. Douce 114 in spelling and word forms, 
 but the matter is essentially the same. In this article, I have used 
 Horstmann 's text in Anglia. 
 
 Let us see what points of similarity Wisdom has with this treat- 
 ise. The passages with which we shall deal are as follows : 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1-65: 
 
 Wysdom. Yff 36 wyll wet \>t propyrte 
 
 Ande l^e resun of my nayme im- 
 
 peryall, 
 
 I a;m clepyde of hem Jjat in erthe be, 
 
 'Euerlastj'nge Wysdom' to my nobl6 
 
 egalle; 
 Wyche name acordyt best in es- 
 pecyall, 
 And most to me ys convenyent. 
 All-thow eche persone of t>e trinyte 
 be wysdam eternall, 
 And all thre, on euerlastynge wys- 
 dome, to-gedyr present, 8 
 
 Neuer-J?e-les, for-as-moche as wysdom 
 ys propyrly 
 Applyede to Jje sune by resune, 
 And also yt fallyt to hym specyally, 
 By-cause of hys hye generacion, 
 Therfor \>e belowjde sone hathe t>is 
 sygnyficacion 
 
 Orologium Sapientiae: 
 
 I. ffirst, if })ou wolt wite \>e prop- 
 erte and resone of my name, J>ou schalt 
 vnderstande l>at I am clepede of hem 
 J>at livene in erjje euerlastynge wis- 
 dam. pe whiche name is most con- 
 uenient and best acordynge to myne 
 nobleye. flPor J)owhe hit so be J>at 
 euerye persone of \>e holye trinite 
 taken by hit-selfe is wisdam, & alle 
 l>e persones to-gydere one euerlast- 
 ynge wisdam, neuerlese, for als miche 
 as wisdam is proprelye applyede to 
 \)e sone and also hit falle]? to him by 
 resone of his generacione specialye, 
 Jjerefore (J^e) bylouede sone of Jje 
 fadere is takene & vnderstande in Jjat- 
 manere significacione of wisdam cus- 
 tumablye, no we as godde & nowe as 
 manne, nowe as he pat is spowse of 
 his chirche & nowe as sche l>at is 
 spowse & wyfe of euerye chosene sowle, 
 \>at maye seye of euerlastyng wis- 
 dam in J>ees wordes of J'e bokc of 
 wisdam: banc amaui et exquisiui a 
 
 ^ K. Horstmann, Orologium Sapientiae, in Anylia, X, 323.
 
 10 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Custiinimaly 'Wysdom,' nowe 
 
 Gode, now man, 
 Spows of pe chyrche, & wery pa- 
 
 trone, 
 Wyffe of eche chose sowle: thus 
 
 Wysdom be-gane. 16 
 
 [Anima enters.] 
 
 [AxiMA.] 'Hanc amaui et exqm- 
 
 siui;' 
 
 Fro my yougthe, thys haue I sowte, 
 
 To haue to my spowse most specy- 
 
 ally; 
 
 For a louer of yowur schappe am 
 
 I wrowte. 
 A-boue all hele & bewty J^at euer 
 was sowght, 
 I haue louyde Wysdom, as for 
 my lyght, 
 For all goodnes with hym ys 
 broughte. 
 In wj'sdom I was made all bewty 
 bryghte. 24 
 
 Oflf yowur name, J^e hye felycyte. 
 
 No creature knowyt full exposycion. 
 Wysdom. 'Sapiencia, specialior est 
 sole :' 
 I am foundon lyghte with-owt com- 
 
 paryson, 
 
 off sterrys a-boue all J)e dysposicion, 
 
 Forsothe, of lyght Ipe very bryght- 
 
 nes, 
 
 Merowr of pe dyvj^ne domynacion. 
 
 And J?e Image of hys goodnes. 32 
 
 Wysdom ys bettur J)an all worldly 
 precyosnes ; 
 And all t>at may dysyryde be, 
 Is not in comparyschon to my lyknes; 
 The lengthe of pe yerys in my ryght 
 syde be, 
 
 Ande in my lefte syde, ryches, ioy 
 & prosperyte: 
 
 lo, Jjis ys Jje worthynes of my 
 name! 
 
 *The play has "specialior;" the Vulgate, 
 Most of the Latin quotations in the passage 
 from the Liber Hapientiae. 
 
 ruuentute mea & quesiui earn sponsam * 
 mi assumere, & amator factus sum 
 forme illius — J^at is to seye: 'sche JjIs 
 I haue louede & I haue vtturlye 
 sowhte fro myne 30wJ)e & I haue 
 desyrede for to haue to mye spowse, 
 and I am made a lovere of hir forme 
 and schappe.' and also in pe selfe 
 boke })us: Super salutem & omnem 
 pulcritudinem dilexi sapienciam & pro- 
 posui pro luce habere illam, venerunt 
 mi omnia bona pariter cum ilia — 
 'abouene heele & alle bewte I haue 
 louede wisdam & I haue purposede for 
 to haue hir as for mye lihte, & alle 
 godes haue comene to me with hir.' Also 
 of mye wor]?inesse hit is writen Jjus: 
 Sapiencia speciosior' est sole et super 
 omnem disposicionem stellarum luci 
 comparata inuenitur prior, candor est 
 enim lucis eterne & speculum sine 
 macula diuine maiestatis & ymago 
 bonitatis illius — }?at is to seye: 'wis- 
 dam is feyrere Jeanne sonne & in com- 
 Y>arisone of hir to liht she is fown- 
 dene passynge aboue alle pe disposi- 
 cione of sterres, she is forsojje pe 
 bryhtnesse of euerlastynge liht and pe 
 mirrour with-owt wenune of goddes / 
 maieste & pe ymage of his godenesse.' »/ 
 Also J)us: Melior est sapiencia cuntis 
 [sic] opibus preciosissimis & omne 
 desiderabile non potest ei comparari, 
 longitudo dierum in dextra eius & in 
 sinistra illius diuicie & gloria — 'wis- 
 dam is bettur }?anne (alle) manere of 
 moste preciouse godes, & alle pt\t may 
 be desyrede may not be in coraparis- 
 one lyke to hir; pe lengh of jeres is 
 in hire righ[t] syde and in hir lift 
 seyde richesses & ioye.'' And ]7us 
 miche towchynge pe proprete & l^e 
 wor]?enesse of mye name. But nowe, 
 tochinge my loue, be-holde with a 
 ioyefulle mynde howe hable I am to 
 (be) louede, howe louelye to (be) 
 clippede and kyssede of a clene 
 sowle. O, blessede is J)at sowle to 
 wham is grauntede in alle here lyfe, 
 J)owhe hit be but one tyrae, to feele 
 l?at hit be (so) ; and powh hit be so 
 
 , "speciosior" (Liber Sapientiae VII, 29). 
 given above from the Orologium are taken
 
 Sources 
 
 11 
 
 Anima. a, Soueren Wysdom! yff 
 yowur benygnyte 
 Wolde speke of loue, ^at wer a 
 
 game. 
 
 40 
 
 Wysdom. Off my loue to speke, Jjat 
 ys myrable, 
 Be-holde now, sowll, with joy full 
 mynde, 
 How louely I am, how Amyable, 
 To be halysde & kyssyde of man- 
 
 kjTide. 
 To all clene sowlys I am full hende, 
 And euer present, wer }Jat J>ey be ; 
 I loue my lovers with-owtyn ende. 
 
 That J>er loue haue stedfast in me. 
 
 48 
 
 The prerogatyff of my loue ys so 
 grett, 
 pat wo tastyt l^er-of ]>e lest droppe, 
 sure. 
 All lustis & lykyngis worldly xall 
 lett; 
 They xall seme to hym fylthe and 
 
 ordure, 
 They J'at of J^e hewy burthen of 
 synne hathe cure, 
 My loue dyschargethe & pury- 
 fyethe clene, 
 It strengtheth \>e mynde, pe sowll 
 makyt pure, 
 And j^ewj't Wysdom to hem J)at 
 
 perfvghte bene. 
 Who takyt me to spowse, may 
 veryly wene — 
 
 Yff a-boue all thynge he loue 
 
 me specyally — 
 
 That rest & tranqwyilyte he xall 
 
 sene. 
 
 And dey in sekj'rnes of joy per- 
 
 petualle. 60 
 
 The hye worthyncs of my loue, 
 
 Angell nor man can tell playnly; 
 Yt may be felt from experyens a-boue. 
 
 }>at dejj falle pere-bye, hit schalle not 
 be to him greuowse. ffor, soj^elye, I 
 am euer redye to him )7at lovejje me 
 for to loue ajenewarde, & with him I 
 am present in chirche & atte borde, in 
 pe weye & in cloyster & in J^e market, 
 so ]7at Jjere is no place but J?at Jjere is 
 present charite (of) godde. » * * *   
 Also pe sengulere prerogatyfe of mye 
 godenesse and loue is so grete, J>at, 
 whoso tastej> per-of Jjowh hit be but 
 one lytele drope, aftere J^at he schalle 
 halde alle J^e lustes & lykynges of Jje 
 worlde but as dritte. Mye love des- 
 charges hem J)at bej> ouerleyde with 
 pe heve birjjene of sinnes, hit puri- 
 fye}? & makej? clene pe conscience, hit 
 strengl?e]> pe mynde & pe sowle, hit 
 3evi}? fredam to hem f)at be}) par- 
 fyte, & cowple}) & knitte hem to here 
 euerlastynge beginnynge. And what 
 more: who-so take]) me into his 
 spowse & louej) me above alle }>inge, 
 he lyve]? with tranquillyte & reste, he 
 deej) with sykernesse, & in a manere 
 he biginnef) here pe blisse & pe ioyes 
 ))at schole laste euer worlde with-owte 
 ende. We spekene manye J)inges & 
 3ite we faylene in owre wordes: for 
 pe hye worJ)inesse of mye love |7ere 
 maye none tunge of menne ne of 
 awngeles pleynlye telle; hit maye be 
 in experience felt, but hit may not 
 be fullye tolde or spokene; & J)ere- 
 fore alle ])ees wordes of pe makynge 
 of goddelye love bej) but as sodenlye 
 raj)ere owt caste J)an in effecte plen- 
 erlye fulle spokene.® 
 
 2. penne ^^ seyde pe discyple to 
 him-selfe pus: 'O lorde godde, howe 
 manye gode })inges here I spokene, 
 souereijnlye fayre and worpi spowse! 
 Why })anne makest J>ou dissimulacione 
 or feynynge, whye assayest not 
 whe])er J)ou mayht haue hire in to 
 Jji amyke or loue?' [five lines omitted.] 
 
 And })anne euerlastynge visdam 
 with a gladde & graciose chere godelye 
 saluede hym and seyde schortlye in 
 
 'Anglia, X, 329-30. 
 
 "In Anglia this paragraph immediately follows the preceding passage. I have 
 made a new section, because in this part the significant expressions are fragmentary 
 and need to be italicized.
 
 12 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 )jees wordes: 'Fili, prebe mi cor tuum: 
 Sone, jiffe me l>i herte!'" 
 
 3. [In one of the earlier paragraphs 
 of the treatise, the disciple of Wis- 
 dom, after having studied in the 
 schools of worldly knowledge, goes to 
 another school, over the door of which 
 is written]: pis is J?e scole [of] 
 sopfaste diuinyte, where ]?e maystresse 
 is euerlastynge wisdam." [When the 
 disciple enters the school, he ad- 
 dresses the "mayster"] : pou euer- 
 lastynge sovereyne wisdam, I desyre 
 and aske of J^e }?at pou teche me in 
 schort manere pat heuenelye diuinite, 
 pe whiche with-owt errour stande]> 
 in J)i wisdam." [To this request Wis- 
 dom replies] : Mye dere sone, wille 
 pou noht sauere in kunynge to hye, 
 but drede! here me nowe and I schalle 
 teche pe Jjinges t>at bej* profitable to 
 J)e * * * * * Where-fore, takynge owre 
 higinnynge of helefulle disciplyne at 
 pe drede of godde, pe wheche is pe 
 beginnynge of wisdam, I schalle teche 
 pe be ordre VII poyntes of my 
 loue." 
 
 but not spoke ne tolde, as yt ys 
 
 verjiy ; 
 The Godly loue, no creatur can 
 
 specyfye. 65 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 69-70: 
 
 Anima. Q worthy spowse, and soue- 
 ren f ayer, 
 O swet Amyke, owur ioy, owur 
 blys! 
 
 Wisdom, 1. 79: 
 
 Wysdom. Fili ! prebe michi cor tuum ! 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 86-90: 
 
 [Anima.] Teche me pe scolys of 
 
 yowur dyvynyte! 
 Wysdom. Dysyer not to sauour in 
 cunnynge to excellent, 
 But drede & conforme yowur wyll 
 
 to me. 
 For yt ys pe heelfull dyscyplyne l>at 
 in Wysdom may be, 
 
 The drede of God, }?at ys begyn- 
 nynge. 
 
 From a comparison of 11. 1-65 of Wisdom with the first selec- 
 tion from the Orologium, it is clear that the two passages corre- 
 spond almost word for word in entire sentences. Anima 's saluta- 
 tion in 11. 69-70 of the play is similar to the italicized parts of the 
 second selection from the Orologium. The words of Wisdom : 
 "Fili! prebe mi cor tuum," in 1. 79, are the same in the play and 
 in the treatise. (The Macro Ms. and the Orologium have the form 
 mi; the Digby Ms. has michi and the Vulgate, mihi. The editors 
 of the E. E. T. S. edition of the play have used the form from the 
 Digby Ms.) Finally, 11. 86-90 in Wisdom are very close in phrase- 
 ology and ideas to the italicized parts of the third selection from the 
 Orologium. The expression, "scolys of yowur dyvynyte," in 1. 86, 
 seems out of keeping with its context. It was evidently caught 
 up from the Orologium,, where different schools are discussed, and 
 transferred to the play without regard to its relevancy. The in- 
 
 " Op. cit., pp. 330-1. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 327. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 328. The "maystresse" has now become the "mayster." 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 328.
 
 Sources 13 
 
 evitable conclusion from these resemblances is that one writer 
 borrowed freely from the work of the other. That the borrower 
 was the author of the play, can be easily shown. 
 
 We shall first examine the Orologiuni. Concerning the author, 
 little is known. From his introduction we learn that he was the 
 "trewe chapeleyne" of a "moste worschipful lady," who had 
 "excellente wisdame bothe to god and to pe worlde," and that he 
 undertook the writing of the treatise at the request of this lady and 
 of other devout persons. ^^ Horstman suggests Richard Rolle of 
 Hampole as the author, but queries the suggestion.^"^ The extract 
 in Ms. Douce 322 (cap. v of the treatise) is also attributed to Rolle 
 in the Summary Catalogue of Western Mss. in the Bodleian Li- 
 trary. It was once the custom to ascribe most of the English 
 mystical writings to Rolle. I know of no specific evidence that 
 shows the treatise to be his. 
 
 In regard to the Orologium, the author says : "I am stirede to 
 wryte aftere myne simple kunnynge ****** a lytele schort 
 tretyse of euerelastynge wisdam & J^e trewe loue of Jhesu, drawne 
 owt in englische of p&t deuowt contemplatyfe boke wrytene cler- 
 gialye in latyne ]?e whiche is clepede J^e Orloge of wisdame — & ]?at 
 name was jivene ]?ere-to, as hit is seyde in pe proheme of J?e self 
 boke, bye-cause ]?at pe matere |7ere-of was schewede to him |7at 
 wrote hit as in a visione vndere pe fygure and liknesse of a won- 
 dere fayre Orloge, sette & arayede with passynge feyre Roses, and 
 with Cymbales swete sownynge, ]?at 3evene wondere likyng & heuene- 
 lye sowne, stirynge and excitynge vpwarde to hevene J^e hertes of 
 alle pat hit hyrne. * * * * [The name of the author of the Latin 
 work] is vnknowen to vs, but, as we mowe soj^elye byleve, hit is 
 wryten in pe boke of lyfe; Neuerlese, as hit schewej?, he was a 
 frere prechour. * * * * [Since many matters in the Latin concern 
 only members of the religious orders] J^ere-fore I leve seche 
 materes & take onelye I'at me J^inkeJ? edifiyng to 30we; and also I 
 folownot pe processe of j^at boke in ordere, but I take J^e materes 
 in-sindrye, as ]?ei acordene to mye purpos. Ne I translate not J^e 
 wordes as ]?ei bene wrytene, one for a noj^ere, ]7at is to seye pe eng- 
 
 « Op. cit., p. 325. 
 
 "0. Horstman, Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, x. In giving Ilorstman's name, I 
 have followed his own example, using the German form in references to Anglia, and 
 the English form in those to Richard Rolle of Hampole.
 
 14 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 lisehe worde for ]>e latyne worde." '^ Later, he names the Latin 
 Mork wliich he is translating, "Orologium sapiencie." ^^ 
 
 Using this account as a basis, Horstmann says: "Der englische 
 text nennt sich einen auszug aus dem lateinischen Orologium 
 Sapientiae, dessen verfasser, ein Dominikanermonch, unbekannt sei. 
 Das lateinische original ist bis jetzt noch unbekannt. Dagegen ist 
 im ms. Harl. 4386 (15. jahrhundert) ein franzosischer text erhal- 
 ten mit dem titel : Cy comence le liure qui est dit orloge de sap- 
 ience, lequel fist frere Jelian de soushauie de I'ordre des frere 
 prescheurs. ' ' ^^ Later, he quotes W. Blades as follows : ' ' Little is 
 known of Jehan de Soushavie, or Souaube, as a French copy has it. 
 Bibliographers generally call him Henry de Suso." -° 
 
 According to Horstmann, then, at the time the foregoing com- 
 ments were written (1888), the Latin original was unknown. In 
 the introduction to his edition of Richard Rolle's works, published 
 in 1896, he calls the treatise printed in Anglia an English re- 
 production of Heinrich Suso's "Buch von der gottlichen Weis- 
 heit." ^^ This work by Suso (the proper title of which is "Biichlein 
 der ewigen Weisheit") is, however, in German, not in Latin (see 
 p. 16), and cannot, therefore, be the original of the English treatise. 
 There was, however, a Latin Orologium Sapientiae, by Henry 
 Suso, which was very popular in the fifteenth century. This 
 Latin Orologium is undoubtedly the original of the English treatise. 
 Compare, for example, what is said about the name "Orloge" in 
 the English extract quoted above, with the following passage from 
 the prologue in a copy of the Latin work in the British Museum : 
 "Unde presens opusculum in visione quadam sub cuiusdam horo- 
 logii pulcherrimi rosis speciosissimis decorati & cymbalorum bene 
 sonantium ae suavem & celestem sonum reddentium cunctorumque 
 corda sursum moventium varietate perornati figura dignata est 
 michi ostendere dementia salvatoris. ' ' ^^ 
 
 Compare also the passage on p. 11 beginning: "Also pe sen- 
 gulere prerogatyfe of mye godenesse and loue is so grete, etc 
 
 
 " Anglia, p. 325. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 326. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 323. 
 
 »° Op. cit., p. 324. 
 
 " Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, xliii. ^ 
 
 "The book has the Museum press mark, lA. 39278; the pages are not numbered.
 
 Sources 15 
 
 with the following: "Rursus tanta est bonitatis mee prerogativa 
 singularis vt si quis ex ea vel modicam guttam ad gustandum 
 susceperit de cetero huius mundi oblectamenta tanquam stercus 
 reputabit. Amor meus peccatorum sarcinis oneratos exonerat: 
 conseientiam purificat, mentem corroborat, perfeetis libertatem 
 donat, et ipsos suo eterno copulat principio. Quid plura. Qui 
 me sibi sponsam aceepit meque super omnia diligit viuit cum 
 transquilitate, moritur cum securitate, et quodammodo in presenti 
 gaudia inchoat, que per eterna seeula durant."^^ The English 
 is a close translation of this passage. 
 
 There are many other correspondences as close as those just 
 given. These, however, are sufficient to show that the Latin 
 Orologium Sapientiae which we have here is the original of the 
 English treatise. The author of the latter, as he points out in his 
 introduction, does not always make a literal translation, but omits, 
 rearranges, and makes other changes to suit his purpose. 
 
 This Latin Orologium was pretty certainly written by Henry 
 Suso. The English translator says that the name of the author is 
 unknown, but that he was a "frere prechour." The British Mus- 
 eum copy of the Latin work, lA. 39278, omits the name of the 
 author, designating him in the colophon simply as one "de ordine 
 predicatorum. " There is no title page. The Museum catalogue 
 gives as the author, "Henricus Suso," and as the probable date 
 of printing, 1480. The copy marked lA. 4163 is also without the 
 name and the date, which are given in the catalogue just the same 
 as for lA. 39278. Copy 848. b. 21, which has the date 1509 at the 
 end, is ascribed in the catalogue but not in the book itself to 
 "Henricus Suso." Copy lA. 24148, for which the catalogue 
 gives the date 1492, is the only copy which I have seen in which 
 the name of the author is given. The prologue begins: "Incipit 
 prologus in librum qui intitulatur horologium sapientie editum 
 a beato henrico siso viro sanctissimo ordinis sacri predicatorum." 
 The French version to which Horstmann refers states that the author 
 was "frere Jehan de sousliauie de I'ordre des frere preseheurs," 
 whom W. Blades identifies with Henry de Suso. The number of 
 editions in which the author's name is omitted, and the fact that 
 the English translator did not know it, would seem to indicate 
 
 *' Orologium Sapientiae, Brit. Mus. copy lA. 39278, cap. vi.
 
 16 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 tliat in the fifteenth century the work was not generally known to 
 be by Suso. In lA. 24148 and in the French translation, both of 
 the fifteenth century, it is ascribed to him, and at present it is 
 universally so ascribed. 
 
 Henry Suso, a famous German mystic, was born in Constance 
 (probably), in 1295 (in 1300 according to some writers). At the 
 age of thirteen he entered a Dominican convent at Constance, and 
 later went to Cologne to study. From 1339 to 1346 he was in 
 Diessehoven, where he was prior. The last years of his life were 
 spent in a convent at Ulm, where he died in 1366. He was beati- 
 fied in 1831.2* ]\rost of his writings are in German, but the 
 Orologium Sapientiae is in Latin. It is a revision, with so many 
 changes as to be practically a new work, of his German Bilchlein 
 der ewigen Weisheit. Its popularity is shown by the number of 
 editions and translations, a list of which is given by Bihlmeyer.^^ 
 The Orologium was finished sometime after 1333.-*' 
 
 After this somewhat extended examination of the English, 
 Orologium and its Latin original, we now return to the considera- 
 tion of the relation between the English version and the play of 
 Wisdom. We saw from a comparison of the two, that one writer 
 must have made free use of the work of the other. The question 
 as to which was the borrower has now been decided. Evidently it 
 was the author of Wisdom, for the English Orologium is avowedly 
 a translation of a Latin work ^or, better, an adaptation from it), 
 which has been shown to belong to the previous century. This fact 
 in itself is convincing proof, but there is further corroborative evi- 
 dence. Lines 1-2 of the play, "Yff je wyll wet |7e propyrte Ande 
 ]?e resun of my nayme imperyall," seem too abrupt for opening 
 lines; in the treatise, Avhere the form is similar, the expression is 
 preceded by the disciple's request that Wisdom shall relate the 
 "properte" of his name, and the form is therefore natural. Again 
 in 1. 79, Wisdom addresses Anima as "Fili," although she is a 
 maid ; in the treatise, Wisdom is speaking to a male disciple. The 
 value of this bit of evidence is lessened by the fact that Wisdom is 
 
 "Karl Bihlmeyer, Eeinrich Sense, Deutsche Schriften (Stuttgart, 1907), pp. 63 flf., 
 in the Introduction. This is the latest and best edition of Suso's German works ; it 
 does not include the Latin Orologium. 
 
 ^ Op. cit., Introduction, pp. 163 and 157-8. 
 
 " Op. cit.. Introduction, p. 108.
 
 Sources 17 
 
 using a biblical quotation and might keep the original form in 
 spite of the inconsistency; nevertheless, as corroborative evidence, 
 the inconsistency is worthy of notice. Finally, the words, "Thus 
 Wysdom be-gane," in 1. 16, are irrelevant, since they are given as 
 a part of the speech of Wisdom himself. In the treatise, the corre- 
 sponding passage reads: "Wyfe of euerye- chosene sowle, )7at maye 
 seye of euerlastyng wisdam in J^ees wordes of ]?e boke of wisdam: 
 hanc amaui, etc." The author of the play apparently mis-read the 
 expression: ")?at maye seye of euerlastyng wisdam." 
 
 All the evidence, therefore, points to the English Orologium 
 Sapientiae, or The Seuene Poyntes of Trewe Loue and Euerlastynge 
 Wisdame, as one of the sources of Wisdom.-'^ 
 
 WALTER HILTON'S SCALA PEBFECTIONIS 
 Another source of Wisdom is the Scala Perfectionis, written 
 by Walter Hilton, one of the most popular of the English mystics. 
 Practically nothing is known of Hilton's life beyond the fact that 
 he belonged to a house of Augustinian canons at Thurgarton, in 
 Nottinghamshire, and that he died in 1396. It was formerly 
 thought that he was a member of the Carthusian order, but this 
 idea was erroneous. His best-known work is the Scala Perfectionis, 
 which was written originally in English, and later translated into 
 Latin by Thomas Fyslawe, a friar of the Carmelite order, under 
 the title Baculum Contemplationis, or Speculum Contemplationis. 
 The English version is extant in a number of manuscripts, eight of 
 which are in the Harleian collection in the British Museum, and 
 three in the Rawlinsonian collection at the Bodleian library. This 
 English version was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1494, 1519, 
 1525, and 1533; by Pynson in 1506; and by Julian Notary in 
 1507. Editions with modernized spelling were issued by S. Cressy 
 in 1659, R. E. Guy in 1869, and J. B. Dalgairns in 1870. The most 
 accessible edition is one published in 1908 by the Westminster Art 
 and Book Company; this is a reprint of Cressy 's modernized text. 
 The quotations given below are from the British Museum copy, 
 C. 25. g. 16, the printer, place, and date of which are given in the 
 Museum catalogue as "Julian Notary. London. 1507." 
 
 Hilton was the author of a number of other works, a list of 
 
 " Another passage from the English Orologium may have suggested the idea in 
 11. 1097-1105 of Wisdom (see p. 38).
 
 18 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 which is given in the article on this writer in the Dictionary of 
 National Biography. The only one of these with which we are 
 particularly concerned is the Epistle on the Mixed Life, which in 
 some manuscripts is called "A deuout boke corapyled by mayster 
 "Walter Hylton to a denont man in temperal estate, how he sholde 
 rule liym," and in others, "A luitel Boc pat was writen to a 
 worldli lord to teche him hou he schulde haue him in his state in 
 ordeynd loue to god and to his euencristene. " The article in the 
 Dictionary of National Biography, new edition, says that these 
 are not the same treatise, and that the second is probably the work 
 not of Hilton, but of Richard Rolle. This statement is not cor- 
 rect; the two treatises are the same, as may be seen by comparing 
 the first pages of the treatise from Ms. Reg. 17. C. xviii, printed by 
 Perry in English Prose Treatises,'^ with the "luitel Boc" from Ms. 
 Vernon, and the "deuout Boke" from Notary's edition of 1507, 
 both printed by Horstman,-^ the former complete, the latter in 
 part. The "luitel Boc" in Ms. Vernon is without the introduction 
 wliich is found in both Ms. Reg. and Notary 's edition ; but the body 
 of the treatise is, with some dialectal differences, the same in all. 
 In most of the editions of Hilton's works, the Epistle is printed 
 with the Scala. I have used Horstman 's reprint from Ms. Vernon.^" 
 The relationship between Wisdofn and the Scala Perfectionis 
 is shown by the following parallels: 
 
 Whdom, 11. 103-70; [Anima has asked Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. i (cf. Wis- 
 
 what a soul is] : dom, 11. 103-6) : 
 
 Wysdom. Yt ys Pe ymage of Code, f^^ thy soule & my soule and 
 
 l^at all be-gan; 103 "^ , , , ."' 
 
 . , . 1 . . u 11 every resonable soule is an ymage, 
 
 And not only jTnage, but hys lyknes , , , „ 
 
 ,g jjj,g and that a worthy ymage / for it is 
 
 Off all creaturis, pe fayrest je ware, the ymage of god as ye apostle sayth 
 
 In-to ]>e tyme of Adamys offence. / Vir est ymago dei / That is to 
 
 Anima. Lorde! sythe we, thy saye / A man is the ymage of god 
 
 sowlys J?at nowt wer per, ^nd made to the ymage and to the 
 
 Wy of ]>e fyrst man bye we Je j^^^^ of hym. * * * * This ymage 
 
 vyolence? 108 "^ , . •' „ , . „ . 
 
 made to ye ymage of god in ye fyrst 
 
 Wysdom. For euery creatur l^at hath shapynge was wonderly fayre & 
 ben, or xall, bryghtful of brennyng love & ghostly 
 
 " G. G. Perry, English Prose Treatises of Richard Rolle de Hampole, E. E. T. S., 
 pp. 19 ff. 
 
 *» Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 264 ft. 
 
 *" For facts about Hilton and his work, see the Dictionary of National Biography, 
 new edition; bibliography in the Cambridge History of English Literature, II, 542; and 
 Publishers' Note in Westminster edition of 1908.
 
 Sources 
 
 19 
 
 Was in natur of ]>e fyrst man, 
 Adame, 
 Off hym takynge J>e fylthe of synne 
 orygynall, 
 For of hj-m all creaturis cam. 
 Than, by hym, of reson je haue 
 blame, 
 And be made pe brondis of helle 
 Wen 36 be bore fyrst of yowur 
 dame, 
 je may in no wyse in hewyn dwell, 
 
 116 
 
 For je be dysvyguryde be hys synne, 
 
 Ande dammyde to derknes from 
 
 Godls syghte. 
 
 Anima. How dothe grace l?an ageyn 
 
 be-gynne? 
 
 Wat reformythe J)e sowU to hys 
 
 fyrste lyght? 
 Wysdom. Wysdam, J)at was Gode 
 & man ryght. 
 Made a full sethe to ]>e fadyr of 
 hewyn, 
 By pe dredfull dethe, to hym was 
 dyght; 
 Off wyche dethe, spronge Jje sac- 
 ramentis sevyn; 124 
 
 Wyche sacramentis, all sj'nne wasche 
 a-wey : 
 Fyrst, bapteme clensythe synne 
 orygj-nall. 
 And reformyt ]>e sowU, in feythe 
 verray, 
 To J>e gloryus lyknes of Gode eter- 
 
 nall, 
 Ande makyt yt as fayer and as 
 celestyall 
 As yt neuer dyffowlyde had be, 
 Ande ys Crystis own specyall, 
 Hys restynge place, hys plesant 
 see. 132 
 
 Anima. In a sowle, watt thyngis be, 
 By wyche he bathe hys very know- 
 ynge? 
 Wysdom. Tweyn partyes: J»e on, sen- 
 sualyte, 
 Wyche ys clepyde J^e flechly felynge ; 
 The V, owtewarde wyttis to hym be 
 serwynge. 
 Wan ^ey be not rewlyde ordy- 
 natly ; 
 
 lyjt. but thorough synne of the 
 fyrst man adam it was dysfygured 
 and forshapen into a nother lyknes. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. ii (cf. 
 Wisdom, U. 109-24): 
 
 Now it is sooth mankynde that was 
 hole in adam the fyrste man tres- 
 passed agaynste god so wonder grev- 
 ously whan it forfeyted ye specyal 
 byddynge of hym / and assented to 
 the false counsayle of the fende / that 
 it deserved ryghtfully for to have be 
 departed fro hym and dampned to 
 helle withouten ende. so fer forth 
 that stondynge the ryghtwysnes of 
 god it myght not be foryeven / but 
 yf amendes were fyrste made and full 
 satysfaccyon therfore. [No one but 
 Christ could make these amends and 
 he only by taking on man's nature.] 
 Then syth that our lorde Jhesu god 
 & man deyed thus for salvacyon of 
 mannes soiile. it is ryghtful that syn 
 sholde be foryeven & mannes soule 
 that was his ymage sholde now be re- 
 formed & restored to the fyrst lyknes 
 & to the blysse of heven. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. vi 
 (cf. Wisdom, 11. 125-30) : 
 
 [There are two kinds of sin — ori- 
 ginal and actual — for which there are 
 two remedies.] One is ye sacramente 
 of bapty[s]m ayenste orygynal synne 
 / another is the sacramente of pen- 
 aunce ayenst actuel synne / A soule 
 of a chylde that is borne and is un- 
 crystenyd by cause of orygynal synne 
 hath no lyckenesse of god / He is 
 nought but an ymage of the fende & 
 a bronde of helle [cf. Wisdom, 11. 
 114-6]. But as soone as it is crys- 
 tened it is refourmed to the ymage 
 of god and thorugh the vertue of 
 fayth of holy chyrche sodeynly it is 
 tourned fro the lyckenesse of ye 
 fende & made lyke an angel of 
 heven.
 
 20 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 The scnsualyte Jjan, with-owte 
 lesynge, 
 Is made \>e ymage of synne, then 
 of hys foly. 140 
 
 The other parte, l>at ys clepyde 
 'sesone,' 
 Ande l?at ys ]>e ymage of Gode 
 propyrly, 
 For by Jjat, ^e sowll, of Gode hathe 
 conycion, 
 And be put, hym serwyt & louevyt 
 
 duly. 
 Be J^e neyther parte of reson, he 
 knowyt dyscretly 
 All erthely thyngis, how J?ey xall 
 be vsyde, 
 Wat suffysyth to hys myghtls bode- 
 
 Ande wat nedyt not to be re- 
 f usyde ; 148 
 
 Thes tweyn do sygnyfye 
 
 Yowur dysgysynge & yowur a-ray, 
 Blake & wyght, fowU & fayer, verey- 
 
 ly; 
 
 Euery sowll her, — }5is ys no nay, — 
 'Blake,' by sterynge of synne, J^at 
 cummyth all day, 
 Wyche felynge cummythe of sen- 
 sualyte; 
 Ande 'wyght,' by knowenge of re- 
 son veray 
 Off ]>e blyssyde infenyt deyte, 156 
 
 Thus a sowle ys bothe fowlle & 
 
 fayer : 
 
 FowU as a best, be felynge of 
 
 synne ; 
 
 Fayer as a angell, of hewyn pe ayer, 
 
 By knowynge of Gode, by hys reson 
 
 with-in. 
 Anima. Than may I sey thus, & 
 be-gynne 
 With V. prudent vyrgyns of ray 
 reme; 
 Then, be pe v. wyttis of my sowll 
 with-inne, 
 'Nigra siun, sed formosa, fllia[e] 
 Jerusalem.' 164 
 
 Her enteryd v vyrgynes with 
 [white] kertyllys & mantelys, with 
 
 Also ScaJa. Perf., Pt. II, cap. xiii 
 (cf. Wudom, 11. 133-48) : 
 
 For thou shalt understonde that a 
 soule hath two partyes / That one is 
 called sensualyte & that is flesshly fel- 
 ynge by the fyve outwarde wyttes / the 
 whiche is comon to man & to beest / Of 
 the whiche sensualyte whan it is unskyl- 
 fully and unordynatly ruled is made 
 the ymage of synne / whan it is not 
 ruled after reason / for thenne is 
 the sensualyte synne. That other 
 partye is called reason / & that is 
 departed in two / In the over partye 
 & in ye nether / The over partye is 
 lyckened to a man / for it sholde be 
 mayster and sovereyne and that is 
 propyrly the ymage of god / For by 
 that only the soule knoviyth god and 
 lovyth hym / And the neyther is 
 lyckened to a woman / for it sholde 
 be buxum to the over partye of rey- 
 son / as woman is buxum to man / 
 and that lyeth in knowynge and 
 rulynge of erthly thynges: for to use 
 hem dyscretly after nede. and for to 
 refuse hem whan it is no nede. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. xii 
 (cf. Wisdom, 11. 148-70): 
 
 Fayr is mannes soule & fowle is a 
 mannes soule. Fayr in as moche as 
 it is refourmed in fayth to ye lycke- 
 nes of god / But it is foule in as 
 moche as it is medlyd with flesshly 
 felynges & unskylful styrynges of the 
 ymage of syn / Foule without as it 
 were a beest / fayre within lyke to an 
 angel / Foule in felyng of the sen- 
 sualyte fayre in trouth of the rea- 
 son / Foule for the flesshly appetyte. 
 fayre for the good wyl / Thus fayre 
 & thus foule is a chosen soule / 
 sayenge holy wrytte thus / Nigra sum 
 sed formosa filie Jerusalem sicut tab- 
 ernacula cedar et sicut pellis salo- 
 monis / That is. I am blacke but I
 
 Sources 
 
 21 
 
 cheu[elers] & chappelettis, and synge 
 'Nigra sum, sed formosa, filia[e] Je- 
 rusalem, si [cut] tabernacula Cedar, & 
 sicut pelles Salamonis.' 
 
 Anima. The doughters of Jerusalem 
 me not lake 
 For J)is dyrke schadow I here of 
 humanyte, 
 That, as pe tabernacull of Cedar, 
 with-owt, yt ys blake. 
 And with-Ine as ])e skyn of Sala- 
 
 mone, full of bewty. 
 *Quod fusca sum, nolite considerare 
 me, 
 Quia decolorauit me sol Jouis.' 170 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1121-44: 
 Mynde. Haue mynde, Soule, wat 
 Code hath do! 1121 
 
 Reformyde yow in feyth veryly; 
 'Nolite confirmare huic seculo, 
 
 Sed reformanini in nouitatem spir- 
 
 itus sensus vestri:' 
 Conforme yow not to J>is pompyus 
 glory. 
 But reforme in gostly felynge. 
 Ye J'at were damnyde by synne 
 endelesly, 
 Mercy hathe reformyde yow, ande 
 crownyde as a kynge. 1128 
 
 Wndyrstondynge. Take vndyrStond- 
 ynge, Soule, now ye 
 With contynualle hope in Godys 
 be-hest. 
 'Renouamini spiritu mentis vestre, 
 Et Induite nouum hominem, qui 
 
 secundum Deum creatus est:' 
 Ye be reformyde in felynge, not on- 
 ly as a best, 
 But also in pe ouer parte of 
 yowur reasun. 
 Be wyche ye haue lyknes of Gode 
 mest. 
 
 am fayre & shaply ye doughter of 
 Jherusalem as ye tabernacles of cedar 
 as the skynne of Salomon / That is 
 ye angels of heven that arne dough- 
 ters of the hye Jerusalem wonder not 
 me ne dyspyse me not for my 
 
 on 
 
 blacke shadowe / For though I be 
 blacke without by cause of my flessh- 
 ly kynde as is a tabernacle of cedar / 
 Nevertheles I am ful fayre within 
 as the skynne of Salomon. * * * * 
 For so sayth he in another place / 
 Nolite considerare me quod fusca 
 sum, quia decoloravit me sol.*^ 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. xxxi: 
 [Hilton has been treating of re- 
 forming in faith and has touched upon 
 reforming in feeling. He continues] : 
 Nolite conformari huic seculo sed re- 
 formamini in novitate sensus vestri / 
 That is: ye that are thrugh grace re- 
 fourmed in fayth conforme you not 
 hensforwarde to the maners of the 
 worlde in pride in covetyse and in 
 other sj'nnes. but be ye refourmed 
 in newehede of felynge. ***** [In 
 the soul are three mights: riiind, rea- 
 son, and will]. Whan thyse myghtes 
 are thrugh grace fulfylled in al un- 
 derstondynge of the wj'^U of god and 
 ghosth^ wysdom thenne hath the 
 soule newe gracyous felynges / That 
 this is soth he [St. Paul] sheweth in 
 a nother place thus / Renovamini 
 spiritu mentis vestre & induite novum 
 hominem qui secundum deum creatus 
 est in iusticia: sanctitate'- [(?) See 
 Ephes. IV, 24] et veritate. Be ye 
 renued in spiryte of your soule / That 
 is: ye shall be refourmed not in bodi- 
 ly felynge ne in jTnaginacion but in 
 the over partye of your reason / And 
 
 »> See also T. Hoccleve, Mnralization of the .Story of Jonathas, in the E. K. T. S. 
 edition of his works, I, 241: "Right so of the soule, which is in bittirnesse for the 
 wroght offense and synne. wherof it is seid in the figure and liknesse of the soule: 
 'Blake y am, but y am fair,' jjat is to seyn, blake in body, and fair in soule." 
 
 " The copy of the Scala from which this passage was taken has "scitate."
 
 22 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Ande of Jjat mercyfuU very cong- 
 nycion. 1136 
 
 Wyix. Now \>e Soule yn charyte re- 
 formyde ys; 
 With charyte ys Gode verely, # 
 Exspoliantem veterem hominem cum 
 actibus suis, 
 Spoyll yow of yowur olde synnys 
 
 & foly, 
 [et induentes novum, eum qui re- 
 novatur in agnitionem,] 
 Ande be renuyde in Gode know- 
 ynge a-geyn, 
 That, enduyde with grace so spe- 
 cyally, 
 Conseruynge in peyn, euer inblys 
 for to reyn. 1144 
 
 Wisdom, 11, 1153-63: 
 Now, with sent Powie, we may sey 
 thus, 1153 
 
 pat be reformyde thorow feythe in 
 
 Jhesus: 
 We haue peas & a-corde betwyx Gode 
 & ws, 
 'Justificati ex fide, pacem habea- 
 
 mus ad Deimi;' 
 Now to Salomonys conclusyon I 
 com, 
 'Timor domini inicium sapiencie.' 
 
 1158 
 
 'Vobis qui timetis Deum, 
 Orietur sol Justicie;' 
 The tru son of ryghtusnes, 
 Wyche Jjat ys one lorde Jhesu, 
 Xall sprynge in hem }>at drede hys 
 meknes. 1163 
 
 Wisdom, 1. 231: 
 
 Wan gode wj'U resythe, Gode ys in 
 ws knett. 
 
 clothe you in a newe man that is 
 shapen after god in rightvirysnes holi- 
 nesse and sothfastnesse / That is: 
 your reason that is properly the ym- 
 age of god thrugh grace of the holy 
 ghoste shall be clothed in a newe 
 lyghte of sotlifastnesse. holynes. and 
 ryghtwysnes / And thenne it is re- 
 formed in felynge / For whan the 
 soule hath perfyte knowynge of god 
 thenne it is refourmed / Thus sayth 
 saynt poul / Expoliantes veterem 
 hominem cum actibus suis induite 
 novum qui renovatur in agnicionem 
 dei secundiun ymagynem eius creavit 
 eum / Spoyle yourself of ye olde 
 man with al his dedes. That is cast 
 fro you ye love of ye worlde with al 
 worldly maners. And clothe you in 
 a newe man. That is: ye shal be re- 
 newed in ye knowynge of god after 
 ye lyckenes of hym that made you. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. ix: 
 As saynt poul sayth / Justificati ex 
 fide pacem habemus ad deum / That 
 is: we that arn ryghted & refourmed 
 thorugh faythe in cryst hathe pees & 
 accorde made betwyx god & us. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. xxvi: 
 Thus sayth holy wryte / Vobis qui 
 timetis deum orietur sol iusticie: ye 
 true Sonne of rightwysnes that is our 
 lorde Jhesu shal sprynge to you that 
 dreden hjTii / that is to meke soules 
 that meken hemsel under her even- 
 cristen by knowinge of her owne 
 wretchydnesse. 
 
 Also Scala Perf., Pt. I, cap. xii: 
 The knyttynge & ye fastynge of 
 
 Jhesu to a mannes soule: is by good 
 
 wyl. 
 
 In the preceding passages from Wisdom and the Scala Per- 
 fectionis, lines 103-33 in the play show fewer correspondences to 
 the treatise than do the other lines, but even here the relationship 
 is evident. The similarity, both in phraseology and in ideas, be-
 
 Sources 23 
 
 tween lines 133-70 and the treatise is so clear that no comment is 
 needed. Lines 1121-44 and 1153-63 contain a number of Biblical 
 texts, in Latin, which are also in the Scala. These texts do not in 
 themselves show any direct relationship between the play and the 
 treatise, for the two writers might have taken them independently 
 from the Bible. The translations, or paraphrases, of the texts, 
 however, have parallel expressions which point to a direct con- 
 nection. Compare, for example, the paraphrases -of the Latin, 
 "Vobis qui timetis Deum," etc. (11. 1159 ff.), which are almost 
 identical in the play and in the Scala, and are free and elaborated 
 renderings of 3IalacM IV, 2. Then, too, the arrangement of the 
 texts is significant. The first three (11. 1123, 1131, and 1139), 
 taken from the Epistles to the Romans, the Ephesians, and the 
 Colossi ans, respectively, occur in the same order in the two works. 
 The agreement in phraseology, and in the choice and arrange- 
 ment of material, therefore, shows that Hilton's Scala Perfectionis 
 — the earlier work — is one of the sources of Wisdom. 
 
 There are still other passages in the Scala in which the ideas are 
 similar to those in the play, but the phraseology is different. Al- 
 though these are not to be regarded as direct sources, I have placed 
 them here in order to get all the material relating to Hilton to- 
 gether, and in this way show just how much our author may have 
 been indebted to him. Inasmuch as the Scala is certainly one of 
 the sources of the play, it is fair to assume that some of the ideas 
 in the latter were suggested by corresponding ideas in the treatise, 
 even though the phraseology is not parallel. The passages follow: 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 95-8: 
 
 Wysdom. By knowynge of yowur sylff, je may haue felynge 
 Wat Gode ys in yowur sowle sensyble; 
 The more knowynge of yowur selif passyble, 
 ]>e more verjly je xall God knowe. 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. I, cap. xl: 
 
 But thou Shalt yf thou wylte begynne a newe game & a newe traveyle / 
 And that is for to entre within in to thyn owne soule by medytacion for to 
 knowe what it is / And by the knowj^ng therof to come to the ghostly 
 knowynge of god." 
 
 "The phraseology in the play is more like that of a passage in St. Bernard's (?) 
 Meditations (see p. 29).
 
 24 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 177-8: 
 
 Thre myghtis, euery cresten sowlHias, 
 
 Wyche bethe applyede to pe trinyte. 
 
 [These are then named: Mynde, Wyll, and Vnderstondynge.] 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. I, cap. xliii: 
 
 The soule of a man is a lyf made of thre myghtes mynde reason & wyl. 
 to the ymage & the lyknes of the blessyd trynyte.'? 
 
 Wisdom, II. 205-6: 
 
 [Mykde.] I seke & fynde no-wer comforte. 
 
 But only in Gode, my creatur. 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. I, cap. xliii: 
 
 For as the mynde was somtyme stablyd in god / ryght so now it hath 
 forgoten hym / and sekith his rest in creatures: now from one to an nother / 
 and never may fynde ful reste / For he hath loste hjnn in whom is ful reste. 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 415-6: 
 
 Yet ]>e lest hade blys for euer-more: 
 
 Ys not J>is a-now? 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. xviii: 
 
 [Some] thynke it ynough to hem to kepe hemselfe out of dedely synne. 
 & for to stonde stylle in that plyght as they are in / For they saye that 
 it is ynough to hem for to be saaf and have the leest degre in heven / They 
 wol coveyte no more. 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 431-9: 
 
 LucYFER. ContemplatyfP lyff for to sewe, 
 
 Yt ys grett drede; & se cause why: 
 They must fast, wake, & prey, euer new, 
 Wse harde lywynge & goynge, with dyscyplyne dew, 
 Kepe sylence, wepe, & surphettis eschewe ; 
 
 Ande yff ]>ey fayll of thys, J»ey offende Gode hyghly. 
 
 Wan J^ey haue wastyde by feyntnes. 
 
 Than febyll J)er viyttis, & fallyn to fondnes, 
 
 Sum in-to dyspeyer, & sum in-to madnes. 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. II, cap. xxii: 
 
 [Various enemies will assail the soul; sometimes they will say]: If thou 
 holde forth thy desyre to Jhesu so fully travelyng as thou begynnest. thou 
 shalt falle in to sykenes or in to fantasyes or in to frenesyes as thou seest 
 that som don / Or thou shalt fal in to povertee & bodely myscheyf.'* 
 
 ** Warnings against the evils of excessive penance are common. A discussion of the 
 subject, including more details about Hilton's view, is given on pp. 54-5.
 
 Sources 25 
 
 Wisdom, stage direction after 1. 906: Anima has been "defouled" by the 
 sins of the Mights, and appears on the stage "in J^e most horrj'bull wyse, 
 fowlere Jjan a fende." Also, according to the stage direction after 1. 916, 
 she is dressed in a "horrybyll mantyll." 
 
 Scala Perf., Pt. I, cap. lii: 
 
 [Look within yourself, and] thou shalt fynde a derke ymage & a paynful 
 of thyn owne soule. whiche hath nother lyght of knowyng ne felyng of love 
 ne lykyng. This jTnage yf thou be holde wittely is al umbylapped with blacke 
 stinkyng clothes of syn / as pride, envye. ire. Accidye covetise Glotenye and 
 lecherye. 
 
 This conception of the soul as a foul image of sin, Hilton carries 
 through a number of chapters. The reading of this long account 
 may well have suggested to the writer of Wisdom the idea of repre- 
 senting the sinful soul on the stage "in ]>e most horrybull wyse," 
 dressed in a "horrybyll mantyll." 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 961-73: 
 
 Wysdom. Then [xall] ^e soule mynde take, 961 
 
 Ande wndyrstondynge, of hys synnys all-wey, 
 Beynge in wyll, yt [to] forsake; 
 
 Yit thes do not only synnys a-wey, 
 But very contrycyon, who }?at haue may, 
 
 pat ys purger & denser of synne; 
 A tere of J>e ey, with sorow veray, 
 
 J>at rubbyt & waschyt pe soule with-In. 968 
 
 All J>e penance l^at may be wrought, 
 
 Ne all pe preyer }>at seyde be kan, 
 With-owt sorowe of hert, relesyt nought; 
 
 That in especyall reformyth man, 
 
 Ande makyt hym as clene as when he be-gane. 973 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 985-96: 
 
 [Wysdom.] For, Gode ye haue offendyde hyghly, 985 
 
 Ande yowur modyr, holy chyrche so mylde; 
 J)er-for, Gode ye must aske mercy. 
 By holy chyrch to be reconsylyde, 
 Trustynge verely ye xall neuer be rcvylyde. 
 
 YflF ye haue yowur charter of pardon by confessyon. 
 Now haue ye for-yeffnes fat were fylyde, 
 
 To prey yowur modyr chyrche of her proteccion. 992 
 
 Anima. O Fadyr of mercy ande of comfort, 
 With wei)ynge ey, & hert contryte,
 
 26 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 To owur modjT, holy chyrche, I wj'll resort, 
 
 My lyif pleyn schewenge to here syght. 996 
 
 Scala Per/., Pt. II, cap. vii: 
 
 He [God] abydeth not grete penaunce doynge ne paynful flesshly suflFeryng 
 or he foryeve it [sin] / But he askyth a lothynge of synne & a ful forsakynge 
 in wyl [cf. Wisdom, 1. 963] of the soule for the love of hym and a tournyng 
 of ye hert to hjTn. [When this is done, the sin is forgiven so that the soul is 
 not damned]. Neverthelesse the payne dctted for the synne is not yet fully 
 foryeven / but yf contrycvon & love be the more. And tlierfore shal he go 
 and shewe hjin & shrive hym to his ghostly fader, and receyve penaunce 
 enioyned for his trespaas & gladly fulfyl it. so that bothe the synne & ye 
 payne maye be done awaye or he passe hens / And that is the skylful ordy- 
 naunce of holy chyrche for grete profyte of mannes soule that thoughe the 
 synne be foryeven thorough the vertue of contrycyon / neverthelesse in ful- 
 fyllynge of mekenesse: and for to make hole satysfaccyon he shal yf he may 
 shewe to his preste plener confessyon [cf. Wisdom, 1. 996] for that is his 
 token & his warraunt of foryevenesse ayenste al his enmyes. ***** It is 
 not ynough to hym to ful sykernesse for to have foryevenes of god oonly 
 by contrycyon betwene god and hym. but yf he have a charter made by holy 
 chyrche yf he may come therto. And that is the sacrament of penaunce the 
 whiche is his charter & his token of foryevenes [cf. Wisdom, 1. 990].^^ 
 
 WALTER HILTON'S EPISTLE ON MIXED LIFE 
 The following passages from Wisdom and Hilton's Epistle on 
 Mixed Life are alike in ideas, and show some similarity in phrase- 
 ology : 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 401-29: Epistle on Mixed Life, cap. xxvii: 
 
 [LtTCYFER.] All thynge hat dew ^ And I halde l^at hit is good to Jje 
 
 ^ ' for to vse pis maner in what deuocion 
 
 tymes, ],at Jjou be, J^at J)ou hange not longe 
 
 Prayer, fastynge, labour, all thes: J^er-vpon, ou^ur forto putte fro pe 
 
 AVan t^Tne is not kept, that dede ys >* "^ete or J?i slepe in tyme. or forto 
 
 '   [dijsese any o]7ur man vnskllfuli. 
 
 ^ * Omnia tempus habent: Al Jjing haj? 
 
 be more pleynerly to yowur infor- tyme.^* 
 
 macion. Epistle, cap. i: 
 
 J)ou schalt not vtturli folwe l^i 
 
 desyre for to leue ocupacions & bisy- 
 
 Here ys a man put Ij-wvt wor[l]dly, "es of pe world wjuch are nedeful to 
 
 Hathe wvfFe chvlderne & serwantis ''^^ ^^ riilyng of >i-self & of al ojjur 
 name wytte, cnjiaerne, & serwantis j^^^ ^^^ ^,^^^^ j,j kgping, & jeue pe 
 
 "^^Yf hol[i] to gostly occupacion in preyers 
 
 And other chargys pat I not specj^- & meditacions as hit were a Monk or 
 
 f^g. ' a frere or eny o}>ur mon J?at w^re not 
 
 •V X 1 ' iY? bounde to l>e world be children & ser- 
 
 Ys yt leeffull to ]?is man uauns as J?ou art: for hit fallej? not 
 
 «»The expression, "charter of pardon," occurs in A Confession and Prayer that 
 St. Brandon Made, in Ms. Harl. 1706, fol. 86b. 
 "Richard Bolle of Hampole, I, 291.
 
 Sources 
 
 27 
 
 To lewe hys labour wsyde truly, 
 His chargys perysche, ]?at Gode gaff 
 
 . , •^' . „ . "^^^i^o"y gi^e up the contempia^ti^e 
 
 Ande yewe hjTu to preyer & es of hfe] for pi stat askej? for to do bobe. 
 
 to ]>e; jif bou do so, Jjou kepest not 
 pe ordre of charite. ***** [On the 
 other hand, the man so situated should 
 
 - — — boj^e, 
 
 in diuerse tymes." 
 
 Epistle, cap. ii: 
 
 [Beginning of the chapter; follows 
 immediately after the last sentence 
 given above.] pow schalt medle pe 
 werkes of actif lyf wip gostly werkes 
 of contemplatyf lyf, and ^en dost 
 J?ou wel. For J^ou schalt o tyme wij> 
 Martha be bisy ffor to ruile &'goueme 
 bin houshold, ]pi children, J^i seruauns, 
 bi neijebors, and I?i tenauntes;— jif 
 }7ei do wel, cumforte hem J^erin & 
 help hem; jif J^ei don vuel, tech hem to 
 amende hem, & chastise hem. ***** 
 [One sentence omitted.] A noJ?ur 
 tyme ]7ou schalt mp Marie leue J^e 
 bisynes of be world & sitte doun at pe 
 feet of vr lord be mekenes in prevers 
 & holy J^oujtes.^' 
 
 Epistle, cap. v: 
 
 Oure lord for to stere sum men to 
 vse }>is medled lyf, tok vpon him-self 
 pe persones of such maner of men, 
 bo>e of prelates & curates of holy 
 chirche, & of oj^ur suche as are dis- 
 posed as I haue seid, and jaf to hem 
 ensaumple be his owne worchyng J7at 
 bei schulde vse J^is medled lyf as he 
 dude. O tyme he comuned & medled 
 wib men, sche\vj^ng to hem his dedes 
 [of] merci; ffor he taujt pe vnkonnyng 
 be his preching, he visyted l^e seke 
 & heled hem of heor sores, he fedde 
 pe hungri, & cumforted hem J)at were 
 sori. Anojjur tyme he lafte pe conuer- 
 sacion of al worldly men, & of his 
 disciples also, & went alone in to 
 desert vpon J^e hiilles, & contyn[u]ed 
 al be nijt in preyers as J^e gospel sei]?. 
 pis medled lyf schewcd vr lord in 
 him-self to ensaumple of hem }5at han 
 take pe staat & pe charge of J^is med- 
 Ande J)at lyff xulde ye here sewe. led lyf.*^ 
 
 The lines in the play read very much like a summary, with 
 elaborations, of the passages from Hilton. If we had no other 
 evidence that the author of the play was acquainted Avith Hilton's 
 writings, it would, perhaps, be unwise to insist upon these pas- 
 
 •' Op. cit.. I, 267. 
 »0p. cit., I, 269. 
 
 body? 
 
 Wo-so do thus, with Gode ys not 
 than. 
 
 Mertha plesyde Gode grettly thore. 
 Mynde. Ye; but Mar[i]a plesyde 
 
 hym moche more. 
 LucTPER. Yet pe lest hade blys for 
 
 euer-more : 
 Ys not I>is a-now? 
 Mynde. Contemplatyff lyif ys sett be- 
 
 for. 
 LucYFER. I may not belewe l>at in 
 
 my lore, 
 For God hym selff, wan he was man 
 
 borre, 
 Wat lyff lede he? answer ]7ou now! 
 
 Was he euer in contemplacion? 
 Mykde. I suppos not, by my rela- 
 
 cion; 
 LucYFER. And all hys lyff was in- 
 
 formacion 
 And example to man: 
 SumtjTue with synners he hade con- 
 
 versacion ; 
 SumtjTne with holy also, comunyca- 
 
 cion ; 
 Sumtyme he laboryde, preyde; sum- 
 
 tyme tribulacion; 
 This was "vita mixta," }jat Gode 
 
 here began;
 
 28 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 sages as sources. In view of his certain and liberal use of Hilton's 
 Scala Perfectionis, however, and in view of the popularity of this 
 Epistle on Mixed Life, as shown by the number of manuscripts 
 and editions in which it is found (see Horstman's list in Richard 
 RoUe of Ilampole, I, 264 ff.), we may fairly include the Epistle 
 among the sources. 
 
 ST. BERNARD'S (?) MEDITATIONES DE COONITIONE HUMAN AE 
 
 CONDITIONIS 
 
 Another source of Wisdom is a tract which was once attributed 
 to St. Bernard, but which is probably not his. It is printed among 
 his doubtful works in Migne's Patrologia Latina,^^ where the title 
 is given as, Meditationes Piissimae de Cognitione Humanae Con- 
 ditionis. The work is also sometimes included among the writings 
 of Hugo of St. Victor. Bonaventura, in his Soliloquium, quotes 
 the passage which I shall use as a source, and closes it with "Haec 
 Bernardus." According to the introductory note in the Patrologia, 
 almost all the manuscripts ascribe the tract to Bernard. That it 
 was believed in England in the fifteenth century to be by him, is 
 shown by the title given to an English translation published in 
 1496 by Wynkyn de Worde : The Medytacyens of Saynt Bernarde. 
 
 The Meditations were evidently popular in England in the 
 fifteenth century, for otherwise Wynkyn de Worde would not have 
 considered it worth while to publish a translation. The trans- 
 lator, who describes himself at the end of the work as a "devoute 
 student of the unyversyte of Cambrydge," also testifies to their 
 popularity in the preface, where he says: "And by cause I wolde 
 have so goode & so prouffytable a thynge comyn to many, and also 
 by cause that hastly after the translacyon herof before it was duely 
 correcte & ordred, it was by devoute persones transumpte & copyed 
 I wote not hoM' ofte aeynste [sic] my Avyll / Therfore have I 
 ***** putte it more dylygently corrected & ordred to the enpryn- 
 ter. " Wisdom is closer in phraseology to the Latin original than 
 to the translation. 
 
 The parallels between the play and the Meditations are found 
 in the following passages : 
 
 '"Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 184, col. 485 fif.
 
 Sources 
 
 29 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 95-8: 
 
 Wtsdom. By knowynge of yowur sylflF, je 
 may haue felynge 95 
 
 Wat Gode ys in yowur sowle sensyble; 
 The more knowynge of yowur selff passyble, 
 
 J?e more veryly je xall God knowe. 98 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 177-90: 
 
 [Wysdom.] Thre myghtis, euery cresten 
 sowll has, 177 
 
 Wyche bethe applyede to J>e trinyte. 
 Mtnde. All thre, her, lo, by-for yowur face ! 
 Mynde. 
 
 Wytl. Wyll. 
 
 WNDYRSTONDYisrGE. Ande Vnderstond- 
 ynge, we thre. 180 
 
 Wysdam. 3e thre, declare t>an thys, 
 
 Yowur syngnyfycacon & yowur propyrte! 
 Mende. I am Mynde, pat in pe sowle ys 
 The veray fygure of pe deyte. 
 Wen in my selflF I haue mynde, & se 
 
 The benefyttis of Gode & hys worthynes, 
 How holl I was mayde, how fayer, how 
 fre. 
 How gloryus, how jentyll to hys lyknes, 
 
 188 
 Thys insyght bryngj^t to my mynde 
 
 Wat grates I ought to God a-geyn. 190 
 [Mind continues with his "syngnyfycacon" 
 and "propyrte;" Will gives his; and 
 then Understanding speaks] : 
 
 Wisdom, II. 245-82: 
 
 Wndyhstondynge. The iijde parte of pe 
 
 soule ys 'wndyrstondynge ;' 245 
 
 For by wndyrstondyng I be-holde wat 
 
 Gode ys 
 
 In hym selff, be-gynnyng with-owt be- 
 
 gynnyng, 
 
 Ande ende with-owt ende, )>at xall neuer 
 
 mys. 
 In-comprehensyble in hym-selff he ys; 
 Hys werkys in me I kan not compre- 
 hende ; 
 How xulde I holly hym l^an, >at wrought 
 all Jjis? 
 Thus, by knowynge of me, to knowynge 
 of Gode I assende. 252 
 
 I know in angelys he ys desyderable. 
 
 For, hym to be' holde, )?ei dysyer souerenly ; 
 In hys seyntis most dylectable. 
 For in hym Jjei joy assyduly; 
 In creaturys, hys werkys ben most won- 
 dyrly. 
 For all ys made by hys myght. 
 By wysdom gouernyde most souerenly, 
 And hys benygnyte inspyryt all soullys 
 with lyght. 260 
 
 Meditations, cap. i: 
 
 Per cognitionem mei valeam 
 pervenire ad cogitationem Dei. 
 Quanto namque in cognitione 
 mei proficio, tanto ad cogni- 
 tionem Dei accedo. Secundum 
 interiorem hominem tria in 
 mente mea invenio, per quae 
 Deum recolo, conspicio, et con- 
 cupisco. Sunt autem haec tria, 
 memoria, intelligentia, volimtas 
 sive amor. Per memoriam re- 
 miniscor; per intelligentiam in- 
 tueor; per voluntatem amplec- 
 tor. Cum Dei reminiscor, in 
 memoria mea eum invenio, et in 
 ea de eo et in eo delector, secun- 
 dum quod ipse mihi donare 
 dignatur. Intelligentia intueor 
 quid sit Deus in se ipso; quid 
 in Angelis, quid in Sanctis, 
 quid in creaturis, quid in hom- 
 inibus. In se ipso est incom- 
 prehensibilis, quia principium et 
 finis: principium sine princi- 
 pio, finis sine fine. Ex me in- 
 telligo quam incomprehensibi- 
 lis sit Deus; quoniam me ipsum 
 intelligere non possum, quem 
 ipse fecit. In Angelis est de- 
 siderabilis, quia in eum desi- 
 derant prospicere : in Sanctis est 
 delectabilis, quia in eo assidue 
 felices laetantur: in creaturis 
 est admirabilis, quia omnia po- 
 tenter creat, sapienter guber- 
 nat, benigne dispensat: in ho- 
 minibus est amabilis, quia eor- 
 um Deus est, et ipsi sunt popu- 
 lus ejus. Ipse in eis habitat 
 tanquam in templo suo, et ipsi 
 sunt templum ejus: non de- 
 dignatur singulos, neque uni- 
 versos. Quisquis ejus meminit, 
 eumque intelligit ac diligit, cum 
 illo est.
 
 30 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Of all creaturis he ys lowyde souereyn, 
 
 For he ys Gode of yche creature, 
 And Jjey be his peple l^at cuer xall reynge, 
 In worn he dwellyt as hys tempull sure. 
 Wan I, thys knowynge, make reporture, 
 
 Ande se pe loue he hathe for me wrought, 
 yt bryngyt me to loue pat prynce most 
 pure. 
 For, for loue, >at Lorde made a man of 
 nought. 268 
 
 Thys ys pat loue wyche ys clepyde 'charyte,' 
 
 For Gode ys charyte, as awtors tellys; 
 Ande woo ys in charyte, in Gode dwellyt he, 
 Ande Gode, J'at ys charyte, in hym 
 
 dwellys ; 
 Thus, wndyrstondynge of Gode compellys 
 To cum to charyte: than have hys lyknes, 
 lo! 
 Blyssyde ys ]5at sowll J?at ]?is speche spel- 
 lys, 
 'Et qui creauit me, requieuit in taber- 
 naculo meo.' 276 
 
 Wysdom. lo ! thes iij myghtis in on soule be : 
 
 Mynde, wyll, & wndyrstondynge. 
 By 'mynde,' of Gode pe Fadyr, knowynge 
 haue ye; 
 By 'wndyrstondynge,' of Gode pe Sone ye 
 
 haue knowynge; 
 By 'wyll,' wyche turnyt in-to loue bren- 
 nynge, 
 Gode pe Holv Gost, ]?at clepyde ys 
 'lowe.'   ' 282 
 
 Diligere eum debemus, quo- 
 niam ipse prior dilexit nos, et 
 ad imaginem et similitudinem 
 suam nos fecit. ***** [Twenty- 
 seven lines omitted.] Beata ani- 
 ma, apud quam Deus requiem 
 invenit, et in cujus taberna- 
 culo requiescit. Beata quae 
 dicere potest: Et qui creavit 
 me, requievit in tabernaculo 
 meo. ***** [About thirty 
 lines omitted.] Mens imago Dei 
 est, in qua sunt haec tria: id est 
 memoria, intelligentia et volun- 
 tas. ***** [Six lines omitted.] 
 Per memoriam Patri similes 
 suraus, per intelligentiam Filio, 
 per voluntatem Spiritui sancto. 
 Nihil in nobis tarn simile Spir- 
 itui sancto est, quam volimtas 
 vel amor sive dilectio, quae ex- 
 cellentior voluntas est. Dilec- 
 tio namque donimi Dei est, ita 
 quod nullum hoc dono Dei est 
 excellentius. Dilectio namque 
 quae ex Deo est, et Deus est, 
 proprie Spiritus sanctus dici- 
 tur." 
 
 Lines 95-8 in Wisdom are a translation of the opening sentences 
 in the quotation from the Meditations. The Mights of the soul — 
 Mind, Will, and Understanding — enumerated in 1. 180, are the same 
 as those in the Meditations — Memoria, Voluntas, and Intelligentia. 
 Some writers in enumerating this trio of Mights, substitute Reason 
 (Ratio) for Understanding (see p. 43). Lines 185-90 are appar- 
 ently suggested by the sentence beginning, "Cum Dei reminiscor," 
 etc. Tlie description of Understanding, 11. 245-64, 275-6, is a direct 
 translation of the description of Intelligentia. Lines 265-74 are 
 not similar in phraseology to the corresponding part of the Medi- 
 tations; but the latter suggests the two main ideas in these lines, 
 viz., that God's love for us leads us to love him; and that the man 
 who has charity or love dwells with God, and God dwells with him. 
 These two suggestions are given by the statements : ' ' Diligere eum 
 
 'Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 184, col. 485 fif.
 
 Sources 31 
 
 debemns, quoniam ipse prior dilexit nos;" and "Quisquis ejus 
 meminit, eumque intelligit ac diligit, cum illo est.'' For the fuller 
 development of the latter idea, our author made a paraphrase of a 
 part of / JoJm IV, 16 : "Et nos cognovimus, et credidimus eharitati 
 quam habet Deus in nobis. Deus charitas est; et qui manet in 
 charitate, in Deo manet, et Deus in eo." Lines 277-82 again enu- 
 merate the Mights and bring them into relationship with the three 
 Persons of the Trinity ; the Latin does the same. The Meditations, 
 then, are another source of Wisdom. 
 
 AN UNIDENTIFIED WORK BY ST. BERNARD (?) 
 The source of 11. 1106-10 of Wisdom is a passage ascribed by 
 Bonaventura, John Fisher,*^ and The Boke of the Craft of Dying *2 
 to St. Bernard. As I have not been able to find the passage in 
 Migne's edition of St. Bernard's works, I shall quote from Bon- 
 aventura 's Soliloqiiium. This same Soliloquium is also the source 
 of 11. 309-23 (seep. 33). 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1106-10 [the writer is Soliloquium: 
 
 describing Christ's suffering on the Revertere adhuc, O Anima, Christus 
 
 cross] : in Cruce te expectans, habet caput in- 
 
 My handys sprede a-brode to halse clinatum, ad te peccatricem & im- 
 
 pe swyre; mundam deosculandam, habet brachia 
 
 My fete naylyde, to a-byde with J>ee, extensa, ad amplexandam : manus 
 
   swet herte; apertas ad remittendum: corpus ex- 
 
 My hert clowyn for pi loue most tensum, ad se totum impcndendum: 
 
 (jgrg. pedes afBxos, ad tecum commanendum: 
 
 Myn hede bowhede down to kys pee latus apertum, ad te in illud intro- 
 
 here; mittendum. Esto ergo, O Anima, iam 
 
 My body full of holys, as a dove- columba nidificans in foraniinibus 
 
 hows. petrae. ****** Haec Bernardus." 
 
 The reference to the dove nesting in the holes in the rock seems 
 to have suggested, somehow, to the writer of Wisdom the compari- 
 son of Christ's body and its wounds to a dove-house full of holes, 
 a comparison which is not original with him, for it had already 
 been made by Richard RoUe in his Meditations on the Passion: 
 
 *^John Fisher's English Works, ed. J. E. B. Mayor, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., XXVII, 
 411. 
 
 " Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, 410. 
 
 *'Sancti Bonaventurae Eximii Ecclesiae Doctoris Soliloquium de Quatuor Mentalibut 
 Exercitiis, quod dicitur Imago Vitae (Antverpiae. M. DO. XVI), p. 83.
 
 32 Some Sources and Parallels for "Wisdom 
 
 "jit, swete Ihesu, pi body is lijk a duflious: / for as a dufhous is 
 f ul of dowue holis, so is J?i bodi f ul of woundis. ' ' ** 
 
 In Richard Rolle's (?) Latin tract on the Novem Virtutes 
 (Ms. Caius Coll. 140, fol. 133 ff.) under the second "virtus," an 
 account similar to the one given above from Bernard is assigned 
 to Augustine: "Augustinus in libro de virginitate sic ait de 
 passione. Inspice vulnera pendentis sanguinem morientis precium 
 redimentis cicatrices resurgentis. Capud habet inclinatum ad 
 osculandum cor apertum ad diligendum brachia extensa ad 
 amplesandum totum corpus expositum ad redimendum." I have 
 not been able to find the' passage in Augustine's works; it is not in 
 the Liber de Sancta Virginitate (Migne, Pat. Lat., tom. 40, col. 395 
 ff.). It will be noticed that the "cor apertum ad diligendum" of 
 this passage is much more like 1. 1108 in the play than is Bernard's 
 "latus apertum, ad te in illud intromittendum. " On the other 
 hand, Augustine's account (if it is his) omits "pedes affixos" and 
 the references to the dove and to the hands, having only "brachia 
 extensa," instead of the double item, "brachia extensa" and 
 "manus apertas," in Bernard's version (cf. Wisdom, 1. 1106). 
 I have therefore taken the passage from Bernard as the source of 
 the lines in the play.*° 
 
 TRACT ATUS DE INTERIORI DOMO 
 The description of Will in 11. 213-8 of Wisdo^n is taken from 
 the Tractatus de Interiori Domo, seu de Conscientia JEdificanda, 
 which, like the Meditations, has been ascribed to both St. Bernard 
 and Hugo of St. Victor. It is printed among Bernard's works in 
 Migne 's Patrologia; but the introductory note in that work says 
 that it is not by him.*® 
 
 Wisdom, 11, 213-18: De Interiori Domo, cap. ii: 
 
 Nam inter omnia Dei dona, quae 
 
 Wyil. And I of J^e soull am \>e wyll; ad salutem hominis spectare videntur, 
 
 primiim et principale bonum, bona 
 voluntas esse cognoscitur, per quam 
 
 ** Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 96 ; for other comparisons of Christ's body to a 
 dove-house, see Ayenbite of Inwyt, 142 ; and the English Orologium Sapientiae^ in 
 Anglia, X, 344. 
 
 *^ English translations of all or part of the Latin description of Christ hanging 
 on the cross are found in Ms. Harl. 1706, fol. 88 b; Minor Poems of the Vernon Ms., 
 ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., CXVII, Vol. II, p. 472; Altenglische Dichtungen des 
 Ms. Harl. 2253, ed. K. Boddeker, p. 200; and Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, 410. 
 
 « Migne, Pat. Lat., tom. 184, col. 507.
 
 Sources 
 
 33 
 
 Off J^e godhede, lyknes & fygure. 
 Wyt goode wyll, no man may spyll, 
 Nor with-owt goode wyll, of blys 
 
 be sure. 
 Wat soiile wyll gret mede recure. 
 He must grett wyll haue, in 
 thought or dede. 
 
 imago similitudinis Dei in nobis repa- 
 ratur. * * * * [Two short sentences 
 omitted.] Quidquid homo facit, 
 bonum esse non potest, nisi ex bona 
 voluntate procedat. Sine bona volim- 
 tate omnino salvari quispiam non 
 potest: cum bona voluntate nemo per- 
 ire potest. * * * * [Four short sen- 
 tences omitted.] Quantum crescit 
 voluntas tua bona, tantum crescit 
 meritum tuum. Fac igitur magnam 
 bonam voluntatem tuam, si vis ha- 
 bere magnum meritum." 
 
 BONA VENTURA'S SOLILOQUIUM 
 
 The enumeration of the benefits which God has given to man is 
 a favorite topic with ecclesiastical writers. The lines in Wisdom 
 are a translation of a passage in Bonaventura 's Soliloquium de 
 Quatuor Mentalihus Exercitiis. 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 309-23: 
 
 Anima. Soueren Lorde, I am bownde to the ! 
 
 Wan I was nought, J)ou made me thus 
 
 glorius; 
 
 Wan I perysschede thorow synne, J)ou 
 
 sauyde me; 
 
 Wen I was in grett perell, I^ou kept me, 
 
 Christus ; 
 When I erryde, t>ou reducyde me, Jhesus; 
 Wen I was ignorant, ]7ou tawt me truthe ; 
 Wen I synnyde, l^ou corecte me thus; 
 Wen I was hewy, J)ou comfortede by 
 ruthe ; 
 
 Wen I stonde in grace, J>ou holdyste me }Jat 
 tyde; 
 Wen I fall, }?ou reysyst me myghtyly; 
 Wen I go wyll, J?ou art my gyde; 
 
 Wen I cum, ]?ou reseywyste me most 
 
 louynly; 
 Thou hast a-noyntyde me with J^e oyll of 
 mercy ; 
 Thy benefyttis, Lorde, be in-numerable; 
 
 Soliloquium: 
 
 [Anima is speaking] : Eia mi 
 Domine Deus mens, si haec ita 
 se habent, quantum ego infelix 
 & misera diligere deberem De- 
 um meum, qui me creavit cum 
 non eram, redemit cum perie- 
 ram, & de multis periculis li- 
 beravit me, quando errabam 
 reduxit me, quando ignorabam 
 docuit me, quando peccabam 
 corripuit me, quando contris- 
 tabar consolatus est me, quan- 
 do steti tenuit me, quando ceci- 
 di erexit me, quando iui duxit 
 me, quando veni suscepit me. 
 Haec & multi alia fecit mihi 
 Deus, de quibus dulce mihi erit 
 semper loqui, semper cogitare, 
 semper gratias agere, utinam 
 pro omnibus beneficijs suis pos- 
 sem eimi laudare & amare.** 
 
 Werfor, lawde endeles to Jjee I crye. 
 
 The "Epistle to the Reader" attached to the 1616 edition of 
 
 the Soliloquium states that parts of the work were taken from 
 
 " Op. cit., col. 511. 
 
 ** Sancti Bonaventurae Eximii Ecclesiae Doctoris Soliloquium de Quatuor Mentalibus 
 Exercitiii, quod dicitur Imago Vitae (Antverpiae. M. DO. XVI), p. 88.
 
 34 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Hugo of St. Victor's De Arrha Animae. The passage quoted above 
 is one of these. Hugo's version is as follows: "Et saepe cum mihi 
 consumptus videbar, subito liberasti me ; quando errabam, reduxisti 
 me ; quando ignorabam, docuisti me ; quando peccabam, corripuisti 
 me ; quando tristabar, consolatus es me ; quando desperabam, con- 
 fortasti me; quando cecidi, erexisti me; quando steti, tenuisti me; 
 quando ivi, duxisti me; quando veni, suscepisti me."*® 
 
 Bonaventura apparently took the passage from Hugo and 
 made some slight changes in it. That the author of Wisdom used 
 Bonaventura 's version is shown by the exact correspondence in 
 contents and arrangement between it and the play; whereas in 
 the passage from Hugo there is an additional item, "quando des- 
 perabam, confortasti me," which is in neither Bonaventura 's ver- 
 sion nor the play, and the order of "quando steti" and "quando 
 cecidi" is reversed. Also "qui me creavit cum non eram" (cf. 
 Wisdom, 1. 310), is in Bonaventura 's text but not in Hugo's. 
 
 RICHARD ROLLE'S (?) NOVEM VIRTUTES 
 
 The account of the "Nine Points Pleasing to God" in 11. 1001-68 
 of Wisdom is a translation from the Latin Novem Virtutes, which 
 is ascribed to Richard Rolle but may not be his, and which is 
 extant in Ms. Caius Coll. 140, fol. 133 ff. (Horstman incorrectly 
 gives 132).^° English prose translations of this Latin text are 
 printed in Reliquiae Antiquae,^^ from Ms. Lansd. 762; and by 
 Horstman, from Mss, Rawl. C 285, Harl. 1704, and Vernon, re- 
 spectively.^^ Horstman also prints a verse translation from Ms. 
 Harl. 2409 (also extant in Mss. Cambr. Ff I. 14 and Ji IV. g).^^ 
 An incomplete version, omitting the first five points and part of 
 the sixth, is among the poems of John Audelay.^* All of these 
 
 ^ SolUoquium de Arrha Animae, in Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 176, col. 968. Other 
 works in which these ideas occur, with more or less detail, are the following: Tractatus 
 de Interiori Domo, in Migne, op. cit., torn. 184, col. 511; English version of the Mirror 
 of St. Edmund, in Richard Rolle of Eam.pole, I, 221; Informacio Alredi Abbatis Mon- 
 asterij de Rieualle ad Sororem Suam, in Eng. Stud., VII, 337; Myroure of Oure Ladye, 
 ed. J. H. Blunt, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., XIX, 186; De Imitatione Christi, ed. J. K. 
 Ingram, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXIII, 78. 
 
 " Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, 455. 
 
 ^^ Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. T. Wright and J. O. Halliwell, I, 245-6. 
 
 ^^ Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 110 ff. 
 
 •^ Op. cit., II, 455. 
 
 ** Poema of John Audelay, in Percy Society Publications, XIV, 51 ff.
 
 Sources 
 
 35 
 
 agree in the main points, but differ somewhat in details. None 
 exactly corresponds to the passage in Wisdom; the Latin version 
 is most like it. 
 
 Wisdom, 11, 1001-68: 
 
 Wtsdom. thus seth Gode, Mankynde tvll: 
 
 1001 
 
 The[s] ix poyntys pies hym, all other be- 
 fore. 
 'Gyff a peny in thy lyve, with goode wyll 
 To pe pore, & pat pleysythe Gode more 
 J)an mowyntenys in-to golde transposyde 
 were ; 
 Ande aftir thy dethe, for the dysposyde.' 
 Ande all ]>e goodys )?ou hast in store 
 
 Xulde not profyght so moche wan J>i 
 body ys closyde. 1008 
 
 The secunde poynt, Gode sethe thus: 
 
 'Wepe one tere for my loue hertyly, 
 Or for J>e passyon of me, Jhesus 
 Ande J^at plesyt me more specyally 
 Than yff Jjou wepte, for pi frendys or 
 goodys worldly. 
 As moche watur as pe se conteynys.' 
 lo! contrycion ys a soueren remedy, 
 That dystroythe synnys, J^at relessyt 
 peynys. 1016 
 
 The iijde, Gode sethe, 'sufFyr pacyen[t]ly, 
 for my loue, 
 Off Jji neybure a worde of repreve; 
 Ande ]7at, to mercy mor dothe me move 
 than [yf] })ou dyscyplynyde Jji body with 
 
 peynys grewe, 
 With as many roddys as myght grow or 
 l?rywe 
 In pe space of [a] days Jornye!' 
 Lo, who suffyryth most for Gode, ys most 
 lewe. 
 Slandyr repreve only Aduersyte. 1024 
 
 The iiijte, Gode sethe, 'wake on awyr for pe 
 loue of me; 
 And I>at to me ys more plesaunce 
 
 than yff Ijou sent xii kyng}'s free 
 to my sepulkyr with grett puysschaunce, 
 For my dethe to take vengeaunce.' 
 
 Novem Virtutes: 
 
 Hie continentur nouem vir- 
 tutes quas dominus noster ihesus 
 christus cuidam sancto viro 
 volenti deo seruire necnon de- 
 uote facere que placent ore suo 
 reuelauit sibi dicens primo. Da 
 pauperibus meis vnum denar- 
 ium in vita tua quia raihi hoc 
 phis placet quam si dedisses 
 post vitam tuam montes aure- 
 os in monetam compositos.*** 
 
 Secunda virtus. Emitte vnam 
 lacrimam pro peccatis tuis et 
 pro amore meo siue passione 
 mea et hoc plus placet mihi 
 quam si plorares tantam aquam 
 quanta continetur in mari pro 
 rebus mundanis. ***** Casio- 
 dorus *** ait Fletus est cibus 
 animarum coroboracio sensuum 
 absolucio peccatorum refeccio 
 mencium lauacrum culparum. 
 ***** 
 
 Tercia virtus. Sustine dul- 
 citer et pacienter vnum verbum 
 durum et probosum de proxi- 
 mo tuo et magis mihi placet 
 quam si disciplinares corpus 
 tuum cum tot virgis quot pos- 
 sunt crescere super vnam ar- 
 borem vel dictam terre.***** 
 
 Quartus gradus. Uigila vna 
 hora pro me et cicius placebit 
 mihi quam si mitteres vltra 
 mare duodecim milites sepul- 
 crum meum vindicaturos. [Then 
 follow a number of quotations
 
 36 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for "Wisdom 
 
 lo, wakynge ys a holy thynge! 
 \>eT yt }'S hade with goode vsance, 
 Many gracys of yt doth sprynge. 1032 
 
 The vte, Gode sethe, 'haue pyte & compass- 
 yon 
 Off pi neybur wyche ys seke & nedy; 
 And ))at to me ys more dylectacion 
 than [yff] I'D!! fastyde xlty yer by & by, 
 thre days in pe weke, as streji;ly 
 
 As Jjou cowdys in watur & brede.' 
 lo, pyte, Gode plesyth grettly, 
 
 Ande vt ys a vertii soueren, as clerkys 
 rede.' 1040 
 
 The vite, Gode seth in )7is wyse: 
 
 'Refreyn thy speche, for my reuerens; 
 Lett not thy tonge thy evj'n crysten dyspyse ; 
 Ande pan plesyst more myn excellens 
 Than yff }?ou laberyde with grett dylygens 
 
 Wp-on thy nakyde feet & bare, 
 Tyll pe blode folwude for peyn & vyolens, 
 Ande af tyr eche stepe yt sene were.' 1048 
 
 The vijte, Cryst seth in ]7is maner: 
 
 'thy neybur, to ewyll ne sterre not thou; 
 
 but all thynge torne into wertu chere; 
 
 A[n]d than more plesyst [J?ou] me now 
 
 then yf a thowsende tymys po\i renne 
 thorow 
 
 A busche of thornys ]7at scharpe were, 
 Tyll I)i nakyde body were all rought, 
 Ande evyn rent to pe bonys bare.' 1056 
 The viiite, Gode sethe J>is man tyll: 
 
 'Oftyn prey, & aske of me; 
 Ande ]>at plesythe me more on-to my wyll 
 Than yf my modyr & all sentys preyde 
 for pee: 1060 
 
 The ixte, Gode sethe, 'lowe me souerenly; 
 
 Ande J?at to me more plesant ys 
 Than yf J?ou went wp on a pyler of tre 
 J)at wer sett full of scharpe prykkys. 
 So })at Jjou cut })i flesche in-to pe smale 
 partys.' 
 lo, Gode ys plesyde more with J^e dedys 
 of charyte 
 Than all pe peynys man may suffer I-wys: 
 Remembyr thes poyntys, man, in J)i 
 felycite! 1068 
 
 ^ Ms. Caius Coll. 
 to God", see p. 74. 
 
 140, fol. 133 ff. 
 
 from the Fathers, recommend- 
 ing discretion in fasting, vigils, 
 etc. Cf. Wisdom, 1. 1031.] 
 
 Quinta virtus. Habeas pie- 
 tatem et compassionem de prox- 
 imo tuo inope vel infirmo et 
 hoc enim frequencius mihi 
 placet quam si ieiunares xl an- 
 nis qualibet ebdomada per tre- 
 us dies in pane et aqua. [Quo- 
 tations dealing with the sub- 
 ject of pity are then given. Cf. 
 Wisdom, 1. 1040.] 
 
 Sexta virtus. Ne dicas ser- 
 monem tradiciosum vel frau- 
 dulentum de proximo tuo set 
 taceas pro amore meo et am- 
 plius mihi placet quam si am- 
 bulares per viam nudis plantis 
 quod cursus sanguinis sequere- 
 tur vestigia pedum tuorum.*** 
 
 Septima virtus. Ne instiges 
 nee excites proximum tuum ad 
 malum set omnia conuertas in 
 meliora et hoc mihi plus placet 
 quam si semel in die ascendens 
 in celum.***** 
 
 Octava virtus. Frequenter 
 desideres et interroges me et 
 hoc mihi plus placet quam si 
 mater mea et omnes sancti 
 orarent pro te.***** 
 
 Nona virtus. Diligas me so- 
 lum super omnia et hoc mihi 
 plus placet quam si ascenderes 
 vnam columpnam plenam noua- 
 culis acutis ita quod caro tua 
 scinderetur in particulas irre- 
 cuperabiliter in futurum.***** 
 Item greg. in pastoralibus ait 
 Nichil est preciosius deo vir- 
 tute dileccionis. [Cf. Wisdom^, 
 11. 1066-7.] ^5 
 
 For a discussion of the "Nine Points Pleasing
 
 Sources 
 
 37 
 
 After each "virtus" in the Latin, comments appropriate to the 
 subject under discussion are added from the writings of the 
 Fathers. The author of Wisdom makes use of these comments only 
 in the instances noted in the parentheses above. 
 
 RICHARD ROLLE'S MEDITATIONS ON THE PASSION 
 
 A passage in Richard Rolle's Meditations on the Passion is 
 similar to the following lines in Wisdom: 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1097-1105: 
 [Wysdom.] Ande ther yowur 
 V wyttys offendyde has, 
 Ande to mak a-sythe by 
 Impotent, 
 My V wyttys, J^at neuer dyde 
 trespas, 
 Hatha made a-sythe to Jjc 
 
 Father suffycyent. 
 With my syght I se J>e 
 people vyolent; 
 I herde hem vengeaimce 
 on-to me call; 
 I felte^^ pe stenche of 
 caren here present; 
 I tastyde J^e drjTike 
 mengylde with gall. 
 By towchynge, I felte peyns 
 smerte. 
 
 Meditations on the Passion: 
 
 And Jjat place was so wlatsom wip stinche of 
 diners careines, }Jat it Iodide ony man to neije 
 nyj. / & J?us weren alle ]>i fyue wittis ocupied 
 wijj peynes: to bote J>e trespace of oure fyue 
 wittis. In si3t t>ou were blind f eld, for J)ou sij 
 lp\ modir so wo, and for })ou si3 hem pi foes 
 J'at weren moost holden to be pi frendis, as pe 
 iewis. In J^i smellinge, wip stink of careynes 
 J7at were so manye: for l^ou were doon to pe 
 dee]? in J^e foulist place of lerusalem, Jjere alle 
 J^e careynes of pe toun weren cast out; / and 
 J)at smyl, swete Ihesu, was ful greuous in 
 J)i nose. In J>i taast, lord, greuede pee pe galle 
 aftir Jurist — for, swete Ihesu, plente of peyne 
 is cause of Jurist & of drienes — & gal is bittir 
 in taast: / & J>e iewis jeuen J^ee {Jerto eisil, to 
 echin Jji bittir taast. In heeringe, swete Ihesu, 
 ]7ou were greued vrip false accusingis, & scornes, 
 whanne t)ei seiden "heil king" & spitten in t>i 
 face; wip heeringe of foul cri, whanne J^ei crie- 
 den to hange pee swete Ihesu on pe rode, / and 
 whanne J>ei crieden "he coude o)?ere men saue: 
 now lete him saue him-silf if he can." In 
 felinge, swete Ihesu, t>ou were peined in J)i 
 bindinge ^d hariynge, buffetinge, blindfelling, 
 scourginge, crowninge, in beringe of pe cros, 
 in drawinge of cordis on pe cros, in nailinge of 
 J?i feet & hondis on pe cros." 
 
 This passage is not similar enough to Wisdom in phraseology 
 to warrant our calling it one of the certain sources of the play. 
 The ideas, however, are identical, and there is some similarity in 
 expression. It is evident that the writer of the play had in mind 
 this passage or one similar to it. In different Mss. of the Medita- 
 tions, the phraseology of this account of Christ's suffering varies 
 widely; for example, compare the two versions printed by Horst- 
 man.''^ The author of Wisdom may have followed some unknown 
 
 " This Bhould be "smelte," of course; the Ms. does not indicate the "m." 
 ^Richard RoUe of Hampole, I, 100; for the other version see I, 87. 
 
 a?'5.932
 
 38 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 variant form closely, or he may have paraphrased, or summarized, 
 a form no nearer to his than is the one given above. 
 
 A similar idea is expressed in a passage from the English 
 Orologium Sapicntiae: "And so I hangynge on pe erosse and on 
 alle sydes vmbyllappede with pe moste bitter sorowes of dep, mye 
 clere & shiny nge eyene wer alle dasevvede and derkede, myne god- 
 delye eres fillede with scornes and repreves, mye smelle disesede 
 with fowle stynke of ]?e place, mye swettuste mow]?e with drynke 
 of galle made bittere : & so alle-torene, betene & woundete I schede 
 mye blode."^^ This account is, in turn, a translation from Suso's 
 Latin Orologium.^^ The passage in the English Orologium is not 
 so close to the lines in the play as is Rolle's account, and is evi- 
 dently not the direct source. It may, however, have suggested the 
 idea to the author of Wisdom, who, as we have seen, borrowed freely 
 from the Orologium in the first part of the play. If this theory 
 is correct, he adopted Rolle's account as the basis of his, probably 
 because it was more specific and more detailed than the one in 
 the Orologium. 
 
 ^Anglia, X, 339. 
 
 ** The Latin Orologium Sapientiae, cap. iii.
 
 PARALLEL IDEAS 
 
 Besides the direct sources which have been examined, a number 
 of passages may be cited which show parallels in ideas, but not in 
 phraseology, to the play.*^" They are given, not as sources, but to 
 show where our author's affiliations in ideas lay. Along with 
 them, a few of the more important points which have already been 
 traced to their sources will be discussed again more fully. In this 
 investigation, the fourfold division which was pointed out in the 
 Analysis of the Plot will be followed. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION: "INNOCENCE" 
 
 Most of the first division of the play — the part dealing with 
 the soul in a state of innocence — has already been covered in the 
 discussion of the sources. The points to be examined further are 
 as follows : 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1-16 : in these lines of the play, the author identi- 
 fies Wisdom with Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity. This 
 identification had been made as early as the time of Augustine but 
 not so definitely, I think, as the following statement by Thomas 
 Aquinas suggests: "Secundum Augustinum Patri attribuitur po- 
 tentia, Filio sapientia, Spiritui sancto bonitas." ^^ I have not suc- 
 ceeded in finding such a statement in Augustine 's undoubted works. 
 In the Liber Soliloquiorum Animae ad Deum (printed in the ap- 
 pendix to Augustine's works, in Migne, Pat. Lai., tom. 40, col. 896) 
 the follo\\ang occurs: "Cognoscere Patris potentiam, Filii sapien- 
 tiam, Spiritus sancti clementiam, ipsius summae Trinitatis unara et 
 indivisam essentiam, est videre faciem Dei vivi." This Liher Soli- 
 loquiorum, however, seems to have been written much later than 
 Augustine's time. Furthermore, such a definite division of attri- 
 butes among the Persons of the Trinity does not agree with Augus- 
 tine's conservative conclusion in De Trinitate, VI and VII. There 
 he discusses the question at length, and concludes that although 
 Wisdom is to be attributed to all the Persons, yet it belongs more 
 especially to the Son: "Propterea igitur cum pronuntiatur in 
 Scripturis, aut enarratur aliquid de sapientia, sive dicente ipsa, 
 
 •"A few of these have already been given in the section devoted to Hilton (see p. 23). 
 " Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Pt. I, Qu. xxxix, Art. 8.
 
 40 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 sive cum de ilia dieitur, Filius nobis potissinmm insinuatur. ' ' ®^ 
 The text for this discussion is "Christum Dei virtutem et Dei sa- 
 pientiam" ( 7 Cor. I, 24). 
 
 Abelard advocated a definite division of attributes among the 
 Persons of the Trinity, assigning Power to the Father, Wisdom to 
 the Son, and Goodness to the Holy Ghost.^^ This view was attacked 
 as heretical by St. Bernard, who probably did not object to Augus- 
 tine's more cautious statement. Bernard argues thus: "Dicit 
 [Abelard] proprie et specialiter ad Patrem potentiam, ad Filium 
 sapientiam pertinere : quod quidem falsum. Nam et Pater sapien- 
 tia, et Filius potentia verissime sunt, sanissimeque dicuntur: et 
 quod est commune amborum, non erit proprium singulorum.***** 
 Quid, quaeso, facturus est de ilia nobili sua partitione, in qua ut 
 Patri potentiam, sic Filio sapientiam, sic Spiritui sancto benignita- 
 tem proprie ac specialiter assignavit ? Non enim una et eadem res 
 proprie poterit convenire duobus, hoc est, ut cuique propria sit. 
 Eligat quod vult : aut det sapientiam Filio, et tollat earn Patri ; aut 
 Patri tribuat, et auferat Filio; et rursum benignitatem aut Spir- 
 itui sancto sine Patre, aut Patri sine Spiritu sancto assignet : aut 
 eerte desinat nomina communia propria facere."®* 
 
 In spite of Bernard's opposition, however, this division of at- 
 tributes, made more or less definitely, became a conventional idea in 
 mediaeval literature.^' 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 91-2, "Wysdom," speaking of the fear of God, 
 
 says: 
 
 The wedis of synne, J)at makyt to flee, — 
 
 And swete wertuus herbys in \>e sowU sprynge. 
 
 A similar comparison of the soul, or heart, to a garden is found in 
 Mary Magdalene, one of the Digby plays ; Christ appears as a 
 gardener to Mary, and after she has recognized him, says: 
 
 Mannys hartt is my gardyn here; 
 
 ]?er-In I sow sedys of vertu all J>e jere; 
 
 })e fowle wedes and wycys, I reynd vp be J^e rote. 
 
 6T)e Trinitate, Lib. VII, cap. iii, sect. 5, in Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 42, col. 938. 
 
 ''Petri Abaelardi Opera, ed. V. Cousin, (Paris. 1849-59), II, 15 ff. 
 
 •* Tractatus de Erroribus Aba,elardi, Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 182, col. 1058-9. 
 
 "* Cf. English version of Mirror of St. Edmund, in Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 
 222; English Works of Wyclif, ed. P. D. Matthew, E. E. T. S., LXXIV, 362-3; Ayen- 
 hUe of Inwyt, 120-1; Hilton's Scala Perfectionis, Pt. I, cap. xliii; etc.
 
 Parallel Ideas 41 
 
 Whan Jjat gardyn is watteryd with terys clere, 
 than spryng vertuus, and smelle full sote.°" 
 
 The discussion of the soul and its parts in Wisdom, 11. 95-292, 
 is conventional. The idea that knowledge of God is to be attained 
 only through knowledge of one's self (11. 95-8; for the direct source 
 of these lines see p. 29), occurs frequently in the Tractatus de 
 Interiori Domo,^'' sometimes wrongly attributed to St. Bernard. 
 It is also found in the translation of Richard of St. Victor's 
 Benjamin Minor,^^ and in the translation of the Mirror of St. 
 Edmund.^^ This idea is based upon the succeeding one in the 
 play, that the soul is made in the image of God {Wisdom, 1. 103; 
 also 11. 128, 175, 241, etc.). This latter idea is also a common one; "'^ 
 its source is, of course, the Bible {Gen. I, 26). 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 133 ff., the two parts of the soul are said to be 
 sensuality and reason (see ante, p. 19). The first is defined as 
 fleshly feeling. Reason, in turn, is di\dded into the upper and lower 
 reason (only the lower is named specifically here, but in 11. 298-300 
 both are given). With this division of the soul into sensuality and 
 reason, compare Augustine's "sensation" (sensus) and "reason" 
 (intellectus, ratio). '^^ Lydgate named one of his poems Reson 
 and Sensuallyte, and in it defines the two thus: the "vertu sen- 
 
 sytif " is the one 
 
 By which he [man] feleth and doth knowe 
 Thinges, bothen high and lowe, 
 Which to forn him be present; 
 
 the other, ' ' vnderstondyng and reson, ' ' by which a man 
 
 of nature ys resemblable 
 To goddys that be pardurable; 
 Knowynge throgh hys dignite 
 Many thinges that be secre." 
 
 •• The Digby Plays, p. 96, 11. 1081-5. 
 
 "Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 184, cols. 514, 541, and 544. 
 
 '^^ Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 171. 
 
 *^0p. cit., I, 219. 
 
 ■><> Mirror of St. Edmund, in op. cit., I, 220; Hugo of St. Victor's Works, in Migne, 
 Pat. Lat., torn. 175, col. 37; Poem, Knowe Thy Self and Thy God, in Twenty-six Poli- 
 tical and Other Poems, ed. J. Kail, E. E. T. S., OXXIV, 101; etc. 
 
 "Windelband, Uistory of Philosophy, trans. 3. H. Tufts, p. 278. 
 
 "•^ Reson and Sensuallyte, ed. E. Sieper E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXXXIV, 20.
 
 42 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 In the Assembly of Gods, Reason and Sensuality, as allegorical 
 characters, are frequently brought into opposition (cf. 11. 1345-51; 
 1361-5; etc.). In the Interlude of Nature, Reason and Sensuality 
 are assigned to man to be his guides through life." For a dis- 
 cussion of the upper and lower parts of reason, see Thomas Aquinas, 
 Summa Theologica, Pt. I, Qu. Ixxix, Art. 9. 
 
 In Wisdo7n, 11. 162, Anima says that there are "v. prudent 
 vyrgyns of my reme," which are the "v. wyttis of my sowll with- 
 inne;" and then "v vyrgynes with (white) kertyllys & mantelys" 
 appear on the stage. According to mediaeval writers there, were 
 ten ''wits:" the five outward wits, or the five senses, and the five 
 "in wits." These ten wits were sometimes compared to the ten 
 virgins in the Biblical parable, as for example in one of J^lfrie's 
 sermons: "This present church, which receives the evil and the 
 good, is compared to the ten maidens, of whom five were foolish 
 and five wise. With five senses **** every man lives that has his 
 health ; that is, sight and hearing, taste and smell and touch. 
 These five senses, if they are doubled, will then complete a ten- 
 fold number." (I have given Thorpe's modern English ver- 
 sion.)'^* The author of Wisdom makes this comparison, and calls 
 the inwits the "prudent" virgins, as distinguished from the out- 
 <\^ard wits, which are sometimes not "rewlyde ordynatly" and 
 are therefore fittingly likened, by implication, to the foolish 
 five. The inwits, according to the Lay Folks' Catechism, were 
 "Wyl. / Resoun. / Mynd. / ymaginacioun. and thogth." ^^ In Ja- 
 cob's Well, the "v. watyrgatys in J?e indere-warde of pi soule" are 
 "vndyrstondyng, desyre, delyjt, mynde, & will."^^ It will be 
 noted that among the five inwits in the first passage are Mind, 
 Reason, and Will; and in the second. Mind, Understanding, and 
 Will. Now Mind and Will, together with Understanding, accord- 
 ing to some writers, and with Reason, according to others, con- 
 stitute the three Mights of the soul. In the play, just after the 
 five inwits have been introduced, the three Mights enter. Hence 
 
 " A. Brandl, Quellen, p. 78. 
 
 '* Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ed. B. Thorpe, II, 563. 
 
 ''^Lay Folks' Catechism, ed. Simmons and Nolloth, E. E. T. S., CXVIII, 19. 
 
 ""^Jacob's Well, ed. A. Brandeis, E. E. T. S., CXV, 222-3.
 
 Parallel Ideas 43 
 
 we have a unique situation, in which the same characters are on 
 the stage in two capacities at the same time : as virgins and as men 
 of religion. 
 
 The division of the soul into the three Mights, Mind, Will, and 
 Understanding, was conmionly made by mediaeval writers. The 
 division seems to go back to Augustine, who names the three as 
 "memoria," "voluntas," and " intelligentia, " and discusses the 
 subject at considerable length."^ Some writers use "intellectus" 
 for "intelligentia," apparently with the same meaning. A careful 
 logician like Albertus Magnus, however, distinguishes between 
 the meanings of the two: "intelligentia" he calls the highest 
 step of the "intellectus."'** See also the discussion of this point 
 by Thomas Aquinas.^^ Still other writers in enumerating the 
 Mights give "ratio" instead of "intelligentia" or "intellectus;" 
 Walter Hilton is one of these (see p. 24). Our author chose 
 "understanding" instead of "reason" probably because he had 
 already used the latter in his other division of the soul into reason 
 and sensuality. This, as we saw, he took from Hilton ; the latter's 
 enumeration of the Mights, which included "reason," he dis- 
 carded, and adopted the other, which had "understanding" for 
 the third Might. 
 
 In Wisdo7n, 11. 279-82, the three Mights are brought into con- 
 nection with the three Persons of the Trinity, Mind with the 
 Father, Understanding with the Son, and Will with the Holy 
 Ghost (see ante, p. 31.) This connection goes back to Augus- 
 tine ;^° and frequently when later writers name the Mights, this 
 likeness to the Trinity is noted.^^ 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 285-7, we have a triple connection of the three 
 Mights, the three Persons of the Trinity, and the three Virtues- 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity. Cf. the homily, Eoiv Man's Soule is 
 
 "" De Trinitate, X, 10-12; XV, 21-3; etc. 
 
 " Erdmann, History of Philosophy, trans. W. S. Hough, I, 408. 
 
 ""> Summa Theologica, Pt. I, Qu. Ixxix, Art. 10. 
 
 80 De Trinitate, XV, 23. In this passage Augustine gives "love" instead of "will," 
 but in Cap. 21 he calls "love" a "stronger will" (valentior voluntas). 
 
 wCf. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, Lib. I, Dist. iii; Ayenbite of Iixivyt, pp. 105-6; 
 William Nassington's Mirrour of Life, Ms. Addit. 22558, fol. 5. See also the quotation 
 from Ms. Harl. 2373 in the following paragraph.
 
 44 Some Sources and Parallels for "Wisdom 
 
 Made to ]>e Ymage & ]>e Lyknes of ]>e Holi Trinite, in Ms. Harl. 
 2373, fol. 12 b : 
 
 Be ye refourmede wi)? virtewes, J^e mynde wi]? belefe. J^e reson wij) hope, 
 and t)e wylle wij? charite. and so yc bene Ij'che to \>e holy trinite. ***** 
 pe jyfeyng of ])e jiftes of kynde and ]>e reformacion of ]>e mynde be bileve 
 answerynge to god ]>e ffader. J^e jyfeynge of \>e 3iftes of grace refourmynge 
 and infourmynge J>e reson to gude werkes. by ]>& whyche two ioyntely. grace 
 and werkes. comet' trew hoppe answerynge to ])e wysdome of god. ]>t whyche 
 wysdome is t>e sone of J>e fadir. ***** and Jje jyfeynge of Jje blyssydhode }>e 
 whyche is J^e perfytest 3ift. fynally fulfyllynge wij) perfyte charite Jje Jjred 
 myjt of J>e soule. }?e whyche is J^e wylle. answere [sic] to god )7e holy goste 
 [etc.]. 
 
   Lines 220-1 in Wisdom state that : 
 
 in wyll stondyt only mannys dede. 
 Wyll, for dede oft ys take. 
 
 "With these lines compare a passage from the tract, A Sentence 
 to them that he in Temptation, Ms. Harl. 1706, fol. 127 : 
 
 ffor in the doom of god })e wylle stondej) for deed and so seyej> holy 
 wrytte which may not be untrewe J?at every good wylle ys accepted as for 
 deede. 
 
 Cf. also the Contemplations of the Dread and Love of God, wrongly 
 
 ascribed, says Horstman,®'- to Richard Rolle : 
 
 Of this saynt Austyn bereth wytnes & sayth: What thou wylt & mayst 
 not do, god acounteth for dede.'' 
 
 The reference to Augustine is to his Enarratio in Psalmum LVII : 
 
 Quidquid vis, et non potes, factum Deus computat.** 
 
 This might easily, however, become a dangerous doctrine. Men 
 might plead good intentions as an excuse for their failure to per- 
 form good deeds, and in this way seek not only to shield themselves 
 from censure, but also to ease their own consciences. Later in the 
 play (1. 468), therefore, Lucifer, who is tempting the Mights, 
 advances the argument that "Gode plesyde best with goode wyll, 
 no dowte," to show the Mights an easy way to accept his manner 
 of living without being too much troubled by their consciences. 
 
 *2 Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, xlii. 
 
 *3 Op. cit., II, 91. 
 
 s^Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 36, col. 677.
 
 Parallel Ideas 45 
 
 SECOND DIVISION: "TEMPTATION" 
 
 In the second, third, and fourth divisions of the play, the author 
 follows a conventional formula covering the temptation, fall, and 
 redemption of the soul. Two versions of the formula are here 
 given, neither of which is quite complete: 
 
 The first is from the Myroure of Oure Ladye : 
 Ye shulde vnderstonde that there ys thre maner of dedes that we oughte 
 to do. some longe to god somme to oure selfe. and some to our euen crysten. 
 But these thre maner of dedes are often lettyd. and somtyme destroyed by thre 
 synnes. that ys. Pryde. Couetyse. and flesshely synne. in whiche ar vnder- 
 stonde all synnes. as saynte lohn sayeth. And so by them the thre powers 
 of the soulle. that ys mynde. reson. and wylle are defoyled. Therefore yt 
 ys necessary for vs to caste oute these synnes and to refourme oure soulle. 
 by thre partes of penaunce. that ys contrycyon. confessyon. and satysfaccion. 
 And after to kepe oure soulle stable in these thre vertewes. Fayth. Hope, and 
 Charite. That the same soulle maye come at oure ende to the trynyte of blysse. 
 father and sonne and holy gooste.'" 
 
 The second version is by St. Bernard : 
 
 Est Trinitas creatrix, Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus, ex qua cecidit 
 creata trinitas, memoria, ratio et voluntas. Et est trinitas per quam cecidit, 
 videlicet per suggestionem, delectationem, consensum. Et est trinitas in quam 
 cecidit, videlicet impotentia, caecitas, immunditia. Rursus trinitas quae cecidit, 
 id est memoria, ratio, voluntas. Singulae cuj usque tripartitus exstitit casus. 
 Memoria cecidit in tres species cogitationum, aflFectuosas, onerosas, otiosas. 
 Ratio in triplicem ignorantiam: boni et mali, veri et falsi, commodi et incom- 
 modi. Voluntas in concupiscentiam carnis, concupiscentiam oculorum, et am- 
 bitionem saeculi. Est trinitas per quam resurgit, scilicet fides, spes, charitas.*" 
 
 In Wisdom, the Mights of the soul — Mind, Will, and Under- 
 standing — the image of the Trinity, are led through the three 
 steps — suggestion, delectation, and consent (11. 365-7; 497-9) — 
 into the three chief sins — pride, covetousness, and lechery (11. 528- 
 35; 552-99). Then, following the exhortation of Wisdom, the soul 
 seeks forgiveness through the three steps in penance — contrition, 
 confession, and satisfaction (11. 977-1068),— and is reformed in 
 faith, hope, and charity (11. 1122, 1130, and 1137). All the parts 
 of this process, except the first— the three steps leading to sin- 
 are found in the version of the formula from the Myroure; the 
 omitted part is found in the version of St. Bernard, which in 
 turn lacks the three steps in penance, and does not definitely name 
 
 85 Myroure of Oure Ladye, p. 99. 
 
 ^ Sermonea de Diversis, Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 183, col. 669.
 
 46 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 the three chief sins. The successive elements of the formula will 
 be examined in their proper places in tlie following discussion. 
 
 The Second Division of the play (11. 325-551) describes the 
 temptation of the Mights by Lucifer. 
 
 When Lucifer first appears, he is dressed in a "dewyllys a-ray 
 withowt, & with-in as a prowde galonte" (stage direction before 
 1. 325). The "dewyllys a-ray" was probably some form of the 
 more or less conventionalized costume which Eckhardt describes.^^ 
 Later, in order not to frighten his intended victims, Lucifer leaves 
 the stage, divests himself of this devil's garb, and returns in the 
 guise of a "goodly galont" (after 1. 380), the more prominent fea- 
 tures of his costume being probably exaggerated for the purpose 
 of satirizing contemporary fashions. The devil appears in other 
 "religious" plays in a similar costume. In the Digby Mary Mag- 
 dalene, Curiosity, who seduces Mary, announces himself with "Hof, 
 hof, hof, a frysch new galavnt," and describes his costume.^^ In 
 the Coventry (N-Towoi) Council of the Jews, Lucifer appears as 
 a dandy, dressed in the latest fashion, and says: "Byholde the 
 dy\'ercyte of my dysgysyed varyauns." Then he describes his 
 "long peykyd schon," his "hosyn enclosyd of the most costyous 
 cloth of crenseyn," his "shert of feyn Holond," etc., all of the 
 latest style. Later, he gives directions to his followers as to how 
 they shall dress, exhibiting himself at the same time, no doubt, as 
 a sort of fashion plate which they are to copy.^^ 
 
 Eckhardt suggests the similarity between this Lucifer and the 
 Lucifer of Wisdom.^'^ This suggestion is a good one : the two are 
 similar not only in costume, but also in general character. They 
 have little of the buffoonery, and none of the obscenity, which char- 
 acterize many of the devils of the mystery plays. Both pride them- 
 selves on their wiliness and skill as tempters. Both tell of their 
 fall from heaven, and announce their intention of avenging their 
 grievance — by seducing the Mights, in Wisdom; and by bringing 
 confusion to Christ, in the Council. Of course, this similarity does 
 not mean that there is any direct relationship between the two 
 
 ^ E. Eckhardt, Die lustige Person im alteren englischen Drama, pp. 56 ff. 
 
 ^The Digby Plays, p. 73, 11. 491 ff. 
 
 ^ Ludus Coventriae, pp. 241-2. 
 
 »" E. Eckhardt, Die lustige Person im alteren englischen Drama, p. 73.
 
 Parallel Ideas 47 
 
 plays; it merely points to the conclusion that our author's concep- 
 tion of Lucifer was more or less conventional. An examination of 
 the details of this conception will prove that this conclusion is 
 correct. 
 
 In the first place, Lucifer, in Wisdom, enters with the cry, ' ' Owt 
 harow!" In The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer in the York 
 plays Lucifer begins his speech with "Owte owte! harrowe!"^^ 
 In the York Dream of Pilate's Wife, the devil on entering uses the 
 same words (p. 277, 1. 159) ; in the York Harrowing of Hell, when 
 Christ enters the gates of Hell, Satan says, "Owte! harrowe!" (p. 
 383, 1. 185) ; and in the same play Satan again exclaims, "Owt, ay! 
 herrowe!" (p. 392, 1. 343). In Mary Magdalene of the Digby 
 group, "Rex deabolus" says, "A, owt, owt, and harrow!"^- and 
 in the same play, a devil, entering, cries, "Ow3t! ow3t! harrow I 
 may crye and yelle" (p. 91, 1. 963). 
 
 Again, the Lucifer of Wisdom, as he enters, "roars," as indi- 
 cated in 1. 325: "Owt harow, I rore!" In the Conversion of St. 
 Paid, Digby plays, a devil called Mercury comes in, "cryeng and 
 roryng" (p. 44, stage direction after 1. 432) ; and Belial and Mer- 
 cury "shal rore and crye" (p. 45, stage direction after 1. 470). In 
 the Digby 3Iary Magdalene, a devil cries and yells (last quotation 
 in the preceding paragraph). 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 333-6, Lucifer tells of his fall from heaven : 
 
 I was a angell of lyghte; 
 Lucyfeer, I hyght, 
 Presumynge in Godis syght, 
 Werfor I am lowest in hell. 
 
 The story of the fall has become familiar to modern readers through 
 Milton's Paradise Lost; in the Middle Ages it was very common, 
 and, although extra-canonical, was sanctioned by the Church. The 
 legend had behind it the authority of Gregory the Great and Avitus 
 of Vienne. Its popularity is attested by its occurrence in many 
 works; for example, those of Caedmon, Bede, ^Ifric, Peter Com- 
 estor, and Hugo of St. Victor; the Cursor Mundi, the Legenda 
 Aurea, and a number of the mystery plays. A full discussion of 
 
 " York Plays, p. 5, 1. 97. 
 
 M The Digby Plays, p. 82, 1. 722.
 
 48 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 tlie origin and development of the legend is given by CM. Gayley, 
 Plays of Our Forefathers, pp. 236 ff."^ 
 
 Two conventional ideas are contained in Wisdom, 11. 326-8 and 
 
 337-9 : 
 
 For envy I lore, 
 My place to restore, 
 
 God hath mad a man. 
 
 ************ 
 
 In reformynge of my place, ys dyght 
 
 Man, whan I haue most dyspyght, 
 
 Euer castynge me with hem to fyght. 
 
 The idea that man was created to fill the places of the fallen 
 
 angels "runs back through Anglo-Saxon literature, Avitus of Vien- 
 
 ne, and Anselm's famous treatise Cur Deus Homo, to Gregory and 
 
 Augustine. ' ' ^^ The following account, from the Fall and Passion, 
 
 one of the Kildare-Gedickte is only one of many in English : 
 For t>e prude of Lucifer 
 pe tejje angle fille in to helle. 
 And al Jjat to him boxum were 
 Euer in pine hi mot dwelle. 
 Har stides forto fulfille 
 pat wer ifalle for prude and hore — 
 God makid Adam to is ^ville.®^ 
 
 The other idea in the passage quoted above — that Lucifer is 
 envious of man and is determined to destroy his happiness — occurs 
 in the Old English Genesis, w. 364-8, and frequently in the mystery 
 plays. The following are two instances : In the Coventry (N-Town) 
 Fall of Man, Deus asks Diabolus why he tempted Adam and Eve, 
 and Diabolus replies : 
 
 I ded hem alle this velony, 
 
 ffor I am ful of gret envy. 
 
 Of wrethe and wyckyd hate. 
 
 That man xulde leve above the sky. 
 
 Where as sumtyme dwellyd I, 
 
 And now I am cast to helle sty.** 
 
 In the Digby Mary Magdalene (p. 68, 11. 364 ff.), Satan says: 
 
 »' See also references in W. W. Skeat, Piers Plowman, II, 25. 
 
 »* C. M. Gayley, Plays of Our Forefathers, p. 245. 
 
 "^ Die Eildare-Gedichte, ed. W. Heuser, p. 107, 11. 29-35. For other versions see the 
 Catechism of Adrian & Epotys, in the Brome Commonplace Book, ed. L. T. Smith, p. 28; 
 The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer, in the York Plays, p. 6, 11. 139 ff; and The Castle 
 of Perseverance, 11. 3497-3503, in The Macro Plays, p. 181. 
 
 w Ludus Coventriae, ed. J. O. Halliwell, for Shakespeare Society, 1841, p. 29.
 
 Parallel Ideas 49 
 
 Mannis sowie to be-segyn and bryng to obeysavns, 
 }a. [with] tyde and tyme I do ))at I may, 
 for at hem I haue dysspyte J)at he xold haue J>e loye 
 That lycyfer, with many a legyown, lost for ]jer pryde. 
 
 These three topics — the fall of Lucifer and his followers, the 
 
 creation of man to fill their place, and their consequent envy of 
 
 man — are combined in the speech of Lucifer in the Towneley play 
 
 of The Creation, as in that of the Lucifer of Wisdom: 
 
 The Creation, 11. 254-67: 
 
 [Ten] orders in heuen were 
 
 of angels, that had oifyce sere; 
 
 Of ich order, in thare degre, 
 
 the [teynd] parte fell downe with me; 
 
 ffor thay held with me that tyde, 
 
 and mantenyd me in my pride; 
 
 Bot herkyns, felows, what I say — 
 
 the loy that we haue lost for ay, 
 
 God has maide man with his hend, 
 
 to haue that blis withoutten end. 
 
 The neyn ordre to fulfill, 
 
 that after vs left, sich is his will. 
 
 And now ar thay in paradise; 
 
 bot thens thay shall, if we be wise." 
 
 A number of pages of the Ms. are lost here; consequently, we 
 get only a suggestion of the "envy" and of the plot to ruin man, 
 which were discussed in the lost pages. 
 
 In Wisdo7n, 11. 343-5, Lucifer says that he varies his temptations 
 to suit the different complexions of men : 
 
 I know all compleccions of a man, 
 Wer-to he ys most dysposyde; 
 Ande per-in I tempte ay whan. 
 
 Cf. The Remedy against the Troubles of Temptations, wrongly 
 
 ascribed to Richard Rolle : ^^ 
 
 Leo the pope sayth: The fende our ghostly enemy aspyeth in euery man 
 what wyse he is dyspo»ed by his compleccyon / and by that disposicyon he 
 tempteth hym."* 
 
 See also William Bond's Consolatory, cap. 13 (printed with Hil- 
 ton's Scala Perfectionis in Brit. Mus. copy, C.21. b.l5; pages not 
 numbered) : 
 
 " The Towneley Plays, pp. 8-9. 
 
 8' Richard Rolle of Uampole, II, xliii. 
 
 »» Op. cit., II, 109.
 
 50 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 The enemy when he wold deceyve man / he fyrst consyderyth of what 
 complexion he is. And so applyeth his ordynaunce & layeth sege to manes 
 soule / where he fyndeth hym most weke. and appte to receyve his sugges- 
 tions. Saynt Gregory affyrmyth the same in his morals. 
 
 Bond later says that St. Leo also discusses this idea in a sermon 
 on the nativity (side note says, "Sermo VII."). The reference to 
 St. Gregory's Moralia is probahly to the following passage: "In- 
 tuetur ergo inimicus generis humani uniuscujusque mores cui vitio 
 sint propinqui, et ilia opponit ante faciem ad quae cognoscit faci- 
 lius inclinari mentem. " ^°° I have not traced the reference to St. 
 Leo. 
 
 Lucifer says in Wisdom, 11. 360-4 : 
 
 And ]7e flesche of man J>at ys so changeable, 
 That wj^U I tempte, as I gees, 
 Thow J'at I perwert, synne non ys 
 But yflf J^e soule consent to Jjis, 
 
 for in t>e wyll of I?e soule the dedis ben damnable. 
 
 A similar idea occurs in the Vision of Philihert regarding the Body 
 and the Soul; the Body says to the Soul : 
 
 How myjt the body syne, I pray the take hede, 
 
 Withoute the soule? 
 
 Then the Body explains his position : the soul is given sovereignty 
 over the body, whose duty is to obey the soul; and since the body 
 can do nothing without the consent of the soul, the responsibility 
 for all sin belongs to the latter.^°^ 
 
 The other two principal ideas in Lucifer's first speech — that the 
 soul is made up of the three Mights, who are the image of the 
 Trinity (11. 357-9), and that the three steps leading to sin are sug- 
 gestion, delectation, and consent (11. 365-7) — are discussed else- 
 where on pages 43 and 56, respectively. 
 
 Lucifer now goes out to divest himself of his "dewyllys aray," 
 and the Mights appear on the stage. After they have announced 
 their intention of being loyal to Jesus, Lucifer re-appears and pro- 
 ceeds artfully to tempt them. The Mights are represented as 
 monks, as is sho\vn by the following particulars : Lucifer addresses 
 them as "ye fonnyde fathers" (1. 393) ; he advises them to leave their 
 "syngler besynes" and "be in ]>e worlde" (11. 441-2) ; to avoid all 
 
 loo Moralia, XIV, 13, in Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 75, col. 1048. 
 
 ^'>^ Early English Miscellanieg, ed. J. O. Halliwell, p. 21 (Warton Club Publications).
 
 Parallel Ideas 51 
 
 "syngler deuocions" (1. 452) ; to leave their studies ")?ow ]>ey 
 ben dyivjjn" hnd "lede a comun Ijrff" (11. 470-2) ; and to leave 
 their "nyce chastyte & take a wyff" (1. 476). Will, almost con- 
 vinced by Lucifer's arguments, admits that it seems reasonable 
 that "in body & soule, Man may be in pe wo ride, & be ryght goode" 
 (11. 485-6). Again, when Lucifer says (11. 419-28) that Christ was 
 never in contemplation, he evidently means contemplation in the 
 monastic sense; and his description of the contemplative life as 
 consisting of fasting; waking; praying; hard living, with due 
 discipline ; keeping silence ; weeping ; and eschewing of surfeits (11. 
 431-5), is primarily true of life in the cloister. Some of these parti- 
 culars apply to the secular clergy, and others to the friars, as well as 
 to the monks. The admonition to leave their studies, however, does 
 not fit the secular clergy, for, in most cases, they were notoriously 
 illiterate. Also, the contemplative life which is described is, as 
 we have seen, the life of the cloister, with its rule of silence and 
 its hard discipline ; it does not correspond at all with the life of the 
 seculars, and it is much more appropriate to the monks than to 
 the friars, whose business was to go about in the world. "We con- 
 clude, then, that the Mights are represented as monks. 
 
 Lucifer's arguments are chosen mth especial reference to the 
 monkish character of his victims. He first touches upon one of 
 the most vulnerable points in the monastic life — idleness. "Vt," 
 he says in 1. 394, "quid hie statis tota die ociosi?" craftily using 
 the words of Christ in the parable of the workers in the vineyard 
 (Matt. XX, 6), and thus giving to his rebuke some of the author- 
 ity that the Master's words would naturally carry. Idleness was 
 a vice to which the members of the religious orders were peculiarly 
 subject, and the monks most of 'all. It was the cause of frequent 
 attacks upon both the monastic and the mendicant orders. For in- 
 stance, in a poem On the Council of London (1382), Wyclif and 
 his disciples are represented as advising the Benedictine monks 
 that they ought not to live lazily, but that they should work with 
 their hands. The poet also advises the friars not to beg but to 
 work, and enforces his argument by citing the example of St. 
 Francis, who was accustomed to do manual labor.'"^ Again, Jacke 
 
 ^^ Political Poems and Songs, ed. T. Wright, (Rolls Series), I, 258-9.
 
 52 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Upland, the hero of a satirical poem of the same name (1401), says 
 
 to the friars : 
 
 Then might ye have 
 
 both plough and cart^ 
 
 and labour as other good men done, 
 
 and not so to beg by losengery, 
 
 and idle, as ye done."" 
 
 In An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, attributed to Wyclif, a sim- 
 ilar charge of idleness is made : 
 
 And eft Austeyn seijj, Wat do pey J^at wil not wirk bodily? I desire to 
 wit to wat Jjing pey tent? [Then, anticipating the answer, the author con- 
 tinues] : J>ei sey to prayor, salmis, and redingis, and to pe word of God, 
 pat is preching, forsoj?, he seijj, an holy lif. But if we schal not be callid 
 fro l>eis J?ingis, we schal not eyt, ne meytis ar not to be mad redy, ilk day 
 J)at J?ey be tan.^"* 
 
 This anticipated answer, it will be noted, is similar to the reply 
 given by Mind to the charge of Lucifer {Wisdom, 1. 398) : "He is 
 not ydyll, pat with Gode ys." 
 
 Lucifer now begins his systematic temptation of the Mights in 
 accordance mth the plan which he had outlined in his opening 
 speech (11. 365-7) : 
 
 To pe mynde of J^e soule I xall mak suggestyun, 
 Ande brynge hys wndyrstondynge to dylectacion. 
 So J»at hys wyll make confyrmacion. 
 
 The first step is "suggestion," which he addresses to Mind (11. 
 397 ff.). He advances the familiar argument, that all things, such 
 as prayer, fasting, and labor, have due times, and when the proper 
 time is not observed, a man does wrong. Then he puts a case: 
 suppose a man has a wife, children, and servants; if he leaves his 
 work to follow the contemplative life, then those dependent upon 
 him perish. Surely, says Lucifer, God is not pleased with such a 
 man. This problem arose frequently in the mediaeval religious 
 life. There were many men who, if they had been free from worldly 
 ties, would have entered one of the religious orders, but who were 
 so situated that they felt unable to do so. The recognition of this 
 fact led to the formation of the Tertiaries, that is, organizations 
 of men still living in the world, but conforming as closely as their 
 
 «» Op. cit., n, 27. 
 
 i"*id.n Apology for Lollard Doctrines, ed. J. H. Todd (Camden Society Publication!. 
 1842), p. 106.
 
 Parallel Ideas 53 
 
 circumstances would allow to the rules of the order to which they 
 were, auxiliary. It was to a "deuout man in temperal estate," who 
 was perplexed by the seemingly conflicting demands of a secular 
 and a contemplative life, that- Walter Hilton wrote his Epistle on 
 Mixed Life. In this Epistle, Hilton advances the same argument 
 for the mixed life that Lucifer uses (passage quoted among the 
 sources, ante, p. 26). 
 
 In 1. 413, Lucifer cites Martha, who in mediaeval theology was 
 the regular representative of the active life, as Mary was the rep- 
 resentative of the contemplative life. (Many writers recognize 
 only the contemplative and the active life, including the mixed life 
 under the latter. ) ' ' Mertha, ' ' says Lucifer, ' ' plesyde Gode grettly 
 thore. ' ' To this, Mind retorts, " Ye ; but Maria plesyde hym moche 
 more." Here we have a reference to Christ's visit to the home of 
 Mary and Martha. Martha busied herself with providing for the 
 entertainment of the Master ; Mary sat at His feet listening to His 
 words. Martha complained that Mary was not doing her share of 
 the work, whereupon Jesus reproved her, saying: "Martha, Martha, 
 thou art careful and troubled about many things : But one thing 
 is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part " {Luke X, 41, 
 42). Instances of the use of this idea are common; for one, see the 
 passage quoted from Hilton, p. 27. Another is in the Informacio 
 Alredi Abhatis Monasterij de Rieualle ad Sororem Suam: 
 
 Suster, know wel ]>e condicioun of ]>y lyf. per were two sustren, Marthe 
 and Marye: {lat oon trauaylede, p&i oJ?er restyde. ***** Marthe jaf out- 
 ward seruise, Marie nurschede ynward loue. ***** Marie was not dis- 
 tracte aboute husbondrye **** bote sche saat meekely at Jhesu feet & herde 
 deuoutly his word and his lore. My diere sister, })is is )>y party: pu J)at 
 art deed to \>e wordle [sic] & ybyried. ***** Let Marthe alone wil? )?at 
 partye, whos partye all)0U3 it be nou3t deneyed good, Maries partye naj^eles 
 is y-seyd ])e bettere."" 
 
 Lucifer strengthens his argument by showing that Christ led 
 not a contemplative but a mixed life (11. 419-28). The same idea 
 occurs in Hilton's Epistle on Mixed Life (quoted on p. 27) ; and in 
 Misyn's The Fire of Love (1435), a translation of Richard Rolle's 
 Incendium Amoris : 
 
 Criste truly had no scrithyng Jjoghtis, and contemplatife he was not 
 
 ^<»Eng. Stud., VII, 318.
 
 54 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 in comon maner als sayntis in l?is lyf ar oonteinplatife; hyro nedyd not treuly 
 labyr als vs nedis, for fro ]>e begynnynge of his consaueing he sawe gude."" 
 
 Mind is not yet convinced, and so Lucifer recounts the rigors of 
 the contemplative life: fasting, waking, hard living, harsh dis- 
 cipline, weeping, etc. ; and then draws a picture of the feebleness of 
 wit and the madness that result from such practices (11. 437-9) : 
 Wan Jjey haue wastyde by feyntnes, 
 Than febyll per wyttis, & fallyn to fondnes, 
 Sum in-to dyspeyer, & sum in-to madnes. 
 
 In Hilton's Scala Pcrfectionis, Satan is said to use just this 
 sort of temptation (passage quoted on p. 24). Cf. also William 
 Bond's Consolatory, cap. xvii; Bond says that sometimes the devil 
 in tempting the soul will say: 
 
 - If thou cease not from this worke / or that worke / thou shalt falle in 
 this horryble syknes / as the falyng syknes / the frensy / the pawlsey or the 
 pestylence.^*" 
 
 Hilton and the majority of the other religious wjiters believed 
 in penance, but they recognized the dangers of it when carried 
 to excess. Accordingly, one finds many warnings against undue 
 mortification of the body much in the manner of Lucifer's warn- 
 ing against penance of all kinds. In the Scala Perfectionis, Pt. I, 
 cap. xxii, Hilton says: "For anence thy bodely kynde it is good 
 for to use descresyon in etynge drynkynge & slepynge. & in al 
 maner bodely penaunce. ****** in all thyse werkes it is gode to 
 kepe discrecyon / for the meane is the best." Richard Rolle, in 
 the Form of Perfect Living, quotes Jerome and Bernard as fol- 
 lows : ' ' Saynt lerome says, \>aX he makys of rauyn offerand ]?at out- 
 ragely tourmentis his body in oure-lytel mete or slepe. And 
 saynt Bernarde sais : Fastyng & wakyng lettes noght gastly godes, 
 hot helpes, if J?ai be done with discrecion ; with-outen ]?at, j^ai er 
 vices." ^°* Similar warnings are numerous. 
 
 Thus, the principal parts of Lucifer's "suggestion" are to be 
 found in the writings of orthodox churchmen ; Hilton, for example, 
 uses all of them. As we have seen, the author of Wisdom drew 
 largely upon Hilton for material, and no doubt he fully agreed 
 with Hilton's attitude on the mixed life. Why, then, does he as- 
 
 1°* R. Misyn's Fire of Love, and Mending of Life, ed. R. Harvey, E. E. T. S., 
 CVI, 49. 
 
 ^'" In the Brit. Mus. copy, C. 21. b. 15, of the Scala Perfectionis. 
 
 ^0*' Richard Rolle of Hampole, I, 7.
 
 Parallel Ideas 55 
 
 sign Hilton's ideas to Lucifer, and make the latter use them as 
 arguments in tempting the Mights? Lucifer's first argument, with 
 its hypothetical case of a man with wife, children, and servants, is, 
 it must be remembered, addressed to the Mights, who are monks. 
 Now Hilton's Epistle on Mixed Life is addressed to a man in "tem- 
 peral estate," and he is careful to stipulate that the mixed life is 
 not for the monks and others in similar circumstances. They have 
 renounced all earthly obligations, and their whole life should be 
 spent in the contemplation of God. His argument, therefore, does 
 not apply to the Mights; and any misapplication of it that would 
 include them is prompted by Satan and is properly put into the 
 mouth of Lucifer. The same is true of the argument that Christ 
 led a mixed, not a contemplative, life. When used by Lucifer to 
 prove to the Mights that they should follow His example, it is 
 given a meaning that was never intended by writers like Hilton. 
 The latter distinctly states that Christ lived thus in order "to 
 stere sum men to vse ]?is medled lyf" (first sentence from cap. 
 V; see ante, p. 27). Not all men are to use it, and certainly not the 
 monks. This argument, therefore, is also not applicable to the 
 Mights. Again, Lucifer declares that the contemplative life leads 
 to faintness, feebleness, and madness. He states this baldly and 
 unconditionally. Hilton and the other writers cited say that these 
 are the results of excessive penance, not that they necessarily ac- 
 company the contemplative life. This, then, is Lucifer's method: 
 he takes arguments that are unimpeachable when applied to the 
 conditions that Hilton and the other writers had in mind, and 
 twists them into connection with entirely different conditions. In 
 this way he gives to his arguments the weight that the ideas of the 
 religious leaders always carried in the Middle Ages, when appeal 
 to "authority" settled all questions. It is in his use of such argu- 
 ments that Lucifer shows his craftiness. 
 
 Mind cannot answer Lucifer's "suggestion," and the hardest 
 part of the latter 's three-fold task is finished. He soon brings Un- 
 derstanding into "delectation" by pointing out the advantages of 
 being rich (11. 451-62), and Will into "consent" by urging him to 
 eat and drink well, and, above all, to leave his "nyce chastyte, & 
 take a wyff" (11. 469-92). 
 
 The division of the soul's progress toward sin into the three
 
 56 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 steps — suggestion, delectation, and consent — is used by Chaucer 
 
 in the Parson's Tale (11. 331 ff.) : 
 
 There may ye seen that deadly synne hath first suggestioun of the feend, 
 as sheweth heere by the naddre, and afterward the delit of the flessh, as 
 sheweth heere by Eve, and after that the consentynge of resoun, as sheweth 
 heere by Adam. 
 It also occurs in ^If ric 's sermons : 
 
 On tSreo wisan bits deofles costnung; })aet is on tihtinge, on lustfullunge, 
 on getSafunge.^"* 
 
 See also the "formula" from St. Bernard, quoted ante, p. 45, 
 Gregory the Great gives four steps : ' ' Quatuor quippe modis pecca- 
 tum perpetratur in corde * * * * namque suggestione, delectatione, 
 consensu, et defensionis audacia perpetratur.""" 
 
 The Mights are now ready to give up the contemplative life 
 
 {Wisdom, 11. 497-9): 
 
 Mynde. To Jiis suggestyon a-gre we. 
 Wndyrstondynge. Delyght J^er-In, I haue truly. 
 Wyll. And I consent J)er-to frelye. 
 
 Mind announces his determination to win " worschyppys ; " Under- 
 standing will have "worschyppys & glory;" "^ and Will intends to 
 enjoy the "lustis of lechery" (11. 514-6). They go off the stage to 
 discard their garb of "innocence," and to array themselves in the 
 latest fashion. 
 
 Lucifer, left alone on the stage, exults over his success and 
 outlines his plan for the further corruption of the Mights. It 
 will be remembered that at the beginning of his temptation Lucifer 
 advocated the mixed life, not one of extreme worldliness. All the 
 time, of course, he had the latter in mind ; but knowing the previous 
 religious training of the Mights and being fearful that too bold an 
 argument would frighten them, he contented himself with urging 
 them to take the middle ground. If they did that, they would 
 break their vows, and then he felt sure that they would go further. 
 Now he declares that he will lead them into the three chief sins — 
 pride, covetousness, and lechery (11. 528-35) — for which they have 
 already expressed their liking. 
 
 ^o* HomUiea of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ed. B. Thorpe, I, 174. 
 
 ^^ Moralia, Lib. IV, cap. xxvii, in Migne, Pat. Lat., torn. 75, col. 661. 
 
 "1 This is not in keeping with Understanding's later character : he stands for covetous- 
 ness; Mind, for pride. "Worschyppys & glory," therefore, belong to Mind rather than to 
 Understanding.
 
 Parallel Ideas 57 
 
 The grouping of the Seven Deadly Sins under these chief sins 
 is of common occurrence in mediaeval literature. According' to the 
 "formula" from the Myroure of Oure Ladye, quoted on p. 45: 
 
 [Man's good deeds are hindered and often destroj^ed by] Pryde. Couetyse. 
 and flesshely sjTine. in whiche ar vnderstonde all synnes. as saynte fohn sayeth. 
 A marginal note gives the reference, '*Pri. loan ij," which is 
 apparently intended for / John II, 16: "Quoniam omne quod est 
 in mundo concupiscentia carnis est, et concupiscentia oculorum, et 
 superbia vitae, quae non est ex Patre, sed ex mundo est." The 
 Cursor MuncU has : 
 
 Couetise lecchery and pride 
 
 HaJ? spred J>is world on euery syde."f 
 
 Cf. Contemplations of the Dread and Love of God, wrongly 
 
 ascribed to Richard Rolle : 
 
 Thre thynges there be in the worlde as I rede whiche men desyre aboue 
 all other worldely thynges. The fyrst is rychesse. The seconde is lustes. And 
 J7e thyrde is worshyp. ****** Ryches engendreth couetyse; lustes noryssheth 
 glotonye & lecherye / & worshyp noryssheth boost & pryde."^ 
 
 Lucifer's work is now done, and he disappears from the play. 
 
 He concludes his speech (11. 548-51) : 
 
 Thus, by colours and false gynne. 
 Many a soule to hell I wyn. 
 Wyde to go I may not blyne 
 
 With J>is fals boy; God gyff hjnn euell grace! 
 Her he takyt a screwde boy with hym, & goth hys wey, cryenge. 
 
 This act of catching up and carrying off the "screwde boy," per- 
 haps one from the audience, is so different from Lucifer's previous 
 behavior, and so foreign to his character of a clever logician, that 
 Eckhardt pronounces it "ein Beispiel eines ursprlinglicli impro- 
 visierten Spasses" which is intended merely to produce laughter.^^* 
 Cushman ^^^ and Gayley ""^ also call it an interpolation. This inci- 
 dent is better explained, it seems to me, as a reminiscence of a com- 
 mon function of the Devil in the mystery plays: the carrying off 
 of the souls and sometimes the bodies of the dead to hell. For in- 
 ns Cwraor Mundi, ed. R. Morris, E. E. T. S., LVII, etc., p. 103, 11. 1645-6. 
 ^"> Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, 81. Cf. also Uyrnns to the Virgin and Christ, 
 ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., XXIV, 36-7. 
 
 "* E. Eckhardt, Die lustige Person im dlteren englischen Drama, p. 73. 
 "» L. W. Cushman, The Devil and the Vice in the English Dramatic Literature be- 
 fore Shakespeare, p. 47. 
 
 "' C. M. Gayley, Representative English Comedies, pp. xlvii-xlviii.
 
 58 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 stance, in the Chester Slaying of the Innocents a devil carries off 
 the dead Herod, warning his hearers as he leaves : 
 
 I will bringe this into woe, 
 
 and corae agayne and fetch moe, 
 
 as fast as ever I may goe."^ 
 In the Chester Antichrist devils bear away the body of the dead 
 Antichrist to hell ; "* in the Towneley play of The Judgment devils 
 dispose of the damned in the same way ; ^^^ in the Cornish Begin- 
 ning of the World Satan and Beelzebub carry off Abel and later 
 Adam, after their death ; ^~^ and in the Castle of Perseverance the 
 Bad Angel carries the soul of Humanum Genus to Hell.^'^ 
 
 Such acts, then, were common; and Lucifer in Wisdom seems 
 to be making use of one of the conventional features of his pro- 
 totypes. In this connection, it will be noted that in 1. 549, just 
 before Lucifer seizes the boy, he boasts that he wins many a soul 
 to hell. This is a suitable cue for his action. 
 
 To summarize our study of Lucifer: his "dewyllys aray" is 
 probably the ' ' make-up ' ' that was . commonly worn by the Devil, 
 and his "prowde galonte's" costume is similar to that worn by 
 the Lucifer of the Coventry Council of the Jews and by Curiosity, 
 the tempter in the Digby Mary Magdalene. His first words, "Owt 
 harow," and his "roaring" are conventional features of the Devil 
 in the mystery plays ; his account of his expulsion from Heaven and 
 of his envy toward man is a centuries-old story; his arguments are 
 to be found in the writings of churchmen; and his plan of cam- 
 paign is the one against which the Church had long warned her 
 members to be on their guard. Finally, his manner of exit seems 
 to be a reminiscence of a common feature of the Devil in the mys- 
 tery plays. In all these respects Lucifer is a conventional character. 
 In the use of his arguments, however, he shows a skill which, so far 
 as I know, is not found in any like character in the mediaeval reli- 
 gious plays. The Coventry Lucifer also prides himself upon his 
 craftiness ; but he merely relates what he has done, and consequent- 
 ly lacks the opportunity of showing his skill that the actual repre- 
 
 ^T The Chester Plays, (E. E. T. S.), p. 203, !I. 453-5. 
 '^^ The Chester Plays, (Shakespeare Society), II, 175. 
 "» The Towneley Plays, p. 386, 11. 608 ff. 
 
 120 The Ancient Cornish Drama, ed. E. Norris, Vol. I, p. 43, 11. 553 flf. ; p. 69, after 
 1. 898. 
 
 i« The Macro Plays, p. 170, 11. 3123-9.
 
 Parallel Ideas ^ 59 
 
 sentation of the "temptation" scene gives to the Lucifer of Wisdom. 
 This is the only important respect in which our author's concep- 
 tion of Lucifer is original. 
 
 For convenience, a number of popular proverbs which occur in' 
 different places in the "temptation" scene have been reserved for 
 discussion together: 
 
 In 1. 444, Lucifer says, "Who clymyt hye, hys fall gret ys." 
 This is such a common proverb (one hears it even now) that no ex- 
 amples of its use need be given. For a number of references see 
 V. S. Lean, Collectanea, English and other Proverbs, etc., Ill, 
 487-8. 
 
 In 11. 490-2, there are three proverbs : 
 
 [LucYFER.] Ther ys a wolffe in a lombys skyn. 
 Wyix, Ya! I woll no more row a-geyn pe floode; 
 I woll sett my soule a mery pynne. 
 
 With 1. 490, compare the following from Respuhlica; Veritas, 
 speaking of Avarice, Oppression, and their companions, who are 
 masquerading as Policy, Reformation, etc., says : 
 But what if these * * * * 
 
 Have been ravenyng woulves in the clothing of sheepe?"* 
 In a manuscript in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, a tract 
 
 ascribed to Wyclif has : 
 
 Crist biddeth vs be waar with thes fals prophetis that comen in clothing 
 of sheepe, and ben wolues of rauejjn, and thes ben specially men of thes newe 
 ordris.^^ 
 In Wisdom, the "prechors" are the wolves (1. 488). 
 
 With 1. 491, compare the following from the Proverbs of King 
 Alfred in a thirteenth-century manuscript : 
 pus quad Alfred: 
 Stronge it his to rogen 
 A gen J?e se flod."* 
 A similar expression is in Respiiblica; Adulation says: 
 We strive againste the streame all that we doo."^ 
 With 1. 492, compare the following from Skelton's The Boivge 
 
 of Courte: 
 
 Plucke vp thyne herte vpon a mery pyne."° 
 
 "2 Respuhlica, ed. L. A. Magnus, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., XOIV, p. 45, 11. 1365-6. 
 
 ^'^ Apology for Lollard Doctrines, Camden Society Publications, pp. x-xi. 
 
 ^^* Reliquiae Antiquae. ed. T. Wright and J. O. Halliwell, I, 174. 
 
 ■^Respuhlica, E. E. T. S., p. 47, 1. 1443. 
 
 "' The Poetical Works of John Skelton, ed. A. Dyce, I, 45, 1. 386.
 
 60 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 For some later examples of the use of "mery pynne," see Lean's 
 Collectanea, III, 342. 
 
 In Wisdom, 1. 505, Lucifer says : 
 
 Ande euer be mery ; let reuell rowte ! 
 
 Cf. The Boivge of Courte: 
 
 What reuell route! quod he, and gan to rayle, etc}" 
 
 THIRD DIVISION: "LIFE IN SIN" 
 After Lucifer has left the stage, the Mights re-appear, very en- 
 thusiastic over their new mode of life. Mind has given himself 
 up to the sins of Pride (11. 552-9, 576-83, 600-3— these last lines 
 belong to Mind, although the Ms. does not so indicate) ; Under- 
 standing, to the sins of Covetousness (11. 560-7, 584-91, 604-7) ; 
 and Will, to the sins of Lechery (11. 568-75, 592-9 — these belong to 
 Will, — 608-11). The scene that follows is a satire on contem- 
 porary social and political corruption in England. I have not 
 found any close parallels to the phraseology of this scene; it seems 
 to be the most original part of the play. The abuses which 
 are described are common subjects with the satirical writers of 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but the manner of presenta- 
 tion seems to be original. The principal evils which are de- 
 scribed are maintenance of evil-doers by the powerful lords; per- 
 jury, bribery, and kindred practices in the law courts ; laxity in the 
 relations between the sexes ; and extravagance in dress. Complaints 
 against these evils are not confined to any one period of the four- 
 teenth and fifteenth centuries, but recur frequently. 
 
 We shall first discuss these principal evils, and then point out 
 parallels for some of the details. The satire is brought into con- 
 nection with the rest of the play by identifying the Mights with 
 Maintenance, Perjury, and Lechery (11. 632-876). This identifica- 
 tion I have found nowhere else. Between the two groups there 
 is little apparent logical connection; Mind has nothing particular- 
 ly to do with Maintenance, or Understanding with Perjury; and 
 Will has no closer relationship with Lechery, than with any other 
 sin. Apparently the connection was made through the common 
 relationship of the two groups with the chief sins — pride, covetous- 
 ness, and lechery. These sins are associated with the Mights in 
 the "formula" from the Myroure of Oure Ladye (see p. 45). As 
 
 "' Op. cit., I, 44, 1. 368.
 
 Parallel Ideas 61 
 
 regards the other side of the connection, Pride might well sug- 
 gest Maintenance to a man of the fifteenth century, for this prac- 
 tice was common among the proud nobles; Covetousness might 
 suggest Perjury, which enables a man, by false lawsuits, to steal the 
 property of others ; and Lechery is in both groups. In other words, 
 Maintenance, Perjury, and Lechery were concrete contemporary 
 manifestations of these sins. The connection between the Mights 
 and these three evil practices, made through this intermediate step, 
 is intelligible. 
 
 No one can read even cursorily the history of England in the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth centuries without realizing how wide- 
 spread was the practice of maintenance.^-® Statute after statute 
 was made to suppress this evil, but without success until the time 
 of Henry VII, when it was brought under control. References to 
 maintenance are common in the literature of this period. Cf. the 
 Towneley Second Shepherds' Play, 11. 19-36: 
 
 Thus thay refe vs oure reste, / Oure Lady theym wary ! 
 These men that ar lord-fest / thay cause the ploghe tary. 
 That men say is for the best, / we fynde it contrary; 
 Thus ar husbandys opprest / in po[i]nte to myscary 
 
 On lyfe. 
 Thus hold thay vs hunder, 
 Thus thay bryng vs in blonder; 
 It were greatte wonder 
 
 And euer shuld we thryfe. 
 
 fFor may he gett a paynt slefe / or a broche now on dayes, 
 Wo is hym that hym gref e / or onys agane says ! 
 Dar noman hym reprefe, / what mastry he mays; 
 And yit may noman lefe / oone word that he says. 
 
 No letter. 
 He can make purveance, 
 With boste and bragance, 
 And all is thrugh mantenance 
 
 Of men that ate gretter."" 
 
 Wyclif says that a lord is called most worshipful, 
 
 128 See W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, III, 550 ff . ; and J. F. 
 Stephen, History of the Criminal Law of England, III, 234 ff. 
 
 '2' J. M. Manly, Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama, I, 95; from a manu- 
 script of the second half of the fifteenth century (op. cit., p. 13). This passage is on p. 
 117 of the E. E. T. S. edition of the Towneley Plays; another passage on maintenance 
 is in the First Shepherds' Play of the same cycle (E. E. T. S. edition, p. 102, 11. 55 ff.)
 
 62 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Principaly jif he meyntene his men to bete pore men & do wrongis bi 
 loue dales, holdynge & meyntenynge of causes l>at rijt & lawe may not haue 
 his cours. & Jjus ***** jjei meyntenen proude luciferis children, extorsioneris, 
 robberies, & reuers, to distroie here pore neijebores & maken here hous a 
 den of Jjeues.**" 
 
 In Wisdom (stage direction after 1. 695), the six followers of 
 Maintenance, or Mind, are "dysgysyde in pe sute Mynde," and 
 the followers of Understanding wear "hattis of meyntenance" and 
 are dressed "in a sute" (stage direction after 1. 727). These 
 * ' sutes ' ' and ' ' hattis ' ' suggest one of the worst features of the prac- 
 tice of maintenance — the wearing of livery by the retainers of a 
 lord. These retainers were quarrelsome and insolent, for they 
 knew that the fear of the powerful lord whose livery they wore 
 would prevent any retaliation. In 1377 the commons petitioned 
 against "the gi"\dng of hats by way of livery for maintenance:" 
 and in answer to this petition justices were directed to inquire into 
 cases of abuse. At various other times statutes were passed regu- 
 lating the giving of liveries,^ ^^ but these statutes were not enforced, 
 and the evil continued into the reign of Henry VII. The "paynt 
 slefe" and the "broche" mentioned in the selection quoted above 
 from the Second Shepherds' Play are part of a livery. 
 
 The corruption in the courts of law was closely connected with 
 the practice of maintenance, inasmuch as one of the favorite meth- 
 ods of the maintainers was to intimidate or bribe the judges and 
 juries. One of the grievances of the Proclamation made by Jacke 
 
 Cade, written to justify the rebellion of 1450, was the following : 
 
 The law servyth of nowght ellys in thes days but for to do wrong, for 
 nothyng is sped almost but false maters by coulour of the law for mede, drede, 
 and favor, and so no remedy is had in ye cowrt of conscience in eny wyse."^ 
 
 In Lydgate's version of ^sop's Wolf and Sheep, we find: 
 
 Whan a jarrour hath caught savour ones 
 
 To be forsworn, custom makith hym strong, 
 
 'Si dedero' is now so mery a song, 
 
 He hath a practis bi lawe to make a preef. 
 
 To hange a triew man and save an errant thief. 
 
 ^^ English Works of Wyclif, ed. F. D. Matthew, E. E. T. S., LXXIV, 243. See 
 also Eoccleve's Minor Poems, ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXI, Pt. I, 
 p. 115; Piers Plowman, (Vol. I, p. 86), B, III, 245 flE. ; Richard the Bedeless, III, 
 310 e. {op. cit., I, 624) ; etc. 
 
 ^^ W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, III, 553 ff. 
 
 1^ Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles, ed. J. Gairdner, for the Camden Society, 
 p. 96 ; concerning the authorship of the Proclamation, see op. cit., p. x.
 
 Parallel Ideas 63 
 
 With empty handis men may no hawkes lure. 
 Nor cacche a jurrour, but if he gyf hym made. 
 The poore pletith what is his aventure, 
 Voyde purse causith he may nat spede.^"* 
 
 Line 792 of Wisdom implies that the court at Westminster was 
 especially corrupt. There is plenty of evidence that this implica- 
 tion was true. In A Ballad on Money, we find: 
 
 In Westmynster hall the criers call. 
 The sergeauntes plede apace; 
 Attorneys appere now here now ther 
 Renning in every place. 
 
 Whatesoevery he be, and yf that he 
 Whante money to plede the lawe. 
 Do whate he cane in ys mater than 
 Shale not prove worthe a strawe.^" 
 
 Also in Mundiis et Infans, 11. 575-82 : 
 
 Manhode. Herke, felowe! why doost thou to Westminster drawe? 
 FoLYE. For I am a seruaunt of the lawe; 
 Couetous is myne owne felowe, — 
 
 We twayne plete for the kynge; 
 And poore men that come from vplande, 
 We wyll take theyr mater in hande, — 
 Be it ryght or be it wronge, 
 
 Theyr thryfte with vs shall wende."^ 
 The court of the Marshalsea was another seat of corruption 
 ( Wisdom, 1. 857 ) . It still retained its bad reputation in the middle 
 of the next century. In the Complaynt of Roderyck Mors it is 
 thus described : 
 
 The court of the Marshyalsee, I can neyther thynck, speake, nor write, 
 the slendernesse and vnreasonable chargys of that court. If the kyng knewe 
 what boytrye were there vsed, I think he wold neuer suffer them more to kepe 
 court, or els he wold loke otherwyse vpon it. It is meruel, but only that God 
 is mercy ful, that fyre descend not down from heauen & destroye that court.^** 
 
 ^^ Anglia, IX, 8, 11. 45-53. Cf. also Lydgate's Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, ed. 
 F. J. Furnivall and Miss Locock, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXXVII, etc., p. 487, II. 
 18241 ff. ; William Nassington, Mirrour of Life, in Ms. Addit. 22558, fols. 64 and 70; 
 various fifteenth-century poems in Twenty-six Political and other Poems, ed. J. Kail, 
 E. E. T. S., CXXIV, 26, 36, and 56; and Loci e libro veritatum, extracts from 
 Thomas Gascoigne's Theological Dictionary, ed. J. E. T. Rogers, p. Ixxxviii. 
 
 "^ Nugae Poeticae, ed. J. O. Halliwell, p. 48. This is a book of selections illus- 
 trating "the manners and arts of the fifteenth century" (title page). 
 
 "'^J. M. Manly, Specimens of the Pre-Shnksperean Drama, I, 372. Cf. also Uycke- 
 scorner, 11. 217 ff., op. cit., I, 393; a poem On the Times (1388), in Political Poems and 
 Songs, ed. T. Wright, (Rolls Series), I, 272-3; and Piers Plowman, A, III, 11. 11 ff. 
 
 "» Henry Brinklow's Oomplaynt of Roderyck Mors, ed. J. M. Oowper, E. E. T. S., 
 Ext. Ser., XXII, 26.
 
 64 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 In 1. 724 and again in 1. 734 of Wisdom, the followers of Per- 
 jury are called the "quest of Holborn." I have found no other 
 reference to the Holborn juries. Collier suggests that this men- 
 tion, in Wisdom, "of the corruptness of the inquest of Holborn 
 was, perhaps, a temporary allusion, not now to be explained. ' ' ^^^ 
 Mr. Pollard thinks that the Holborn juries were notorious for 
 corrupt verdicts.'^^ This conjecture is probably correct, for the 
 Holborn neighborhood, some years later than the date oi Wisdom 
 at least, had an evil name. In Cock Lor ell's Bote, printed by 
 Wynkyn de Worde, the following gathering places of prostitutes 
 are named : 
 
 Some at saynt Kateryns stroke a grounde. 
 And many in Holborne were founde, 
 Some at Saynt Gyles, I trowe. 
 Also in Ave Maria aly, and at Westmenster."* 
 
 In Mundus et Infans (11. 572 ff.). Folly says: 
 
 Syr, in Holborne I was forthe brought; 
 And with the courtyers I am betaught; 
 To Westmynster I vsed to wende.^*" 
 In Hyckescorner (11. 662 ff.), one of the characters, who is seek- 
 ing an opportunity to rob someone, goes to Holborn as one of the 
 
 places suitable for his purpose : 
 
 Syrres, he walked thrughe Holborne 
 
 Thre houres after the sonne was downe, 
 
 And walked up towarde Saynte Gyles in the Felde.^" 
 
 These names are evidently not chosen at random: Holborn is 
 mentioned in all three passages, Westminster in two, and St. 
 Giles in two. They were all places of ill-repute, and Holborn 
 was the most prominent : Folly was born there ; many prostitutes 
 lived there {some in the other places mentioned). The reference 
 to the Holborn juries, then, is in keeping with the general char- 
 acter of the neighborhood. One is tempted also to see a connection 
 between the corrupt juries and the open bribery and general cor- 
 ruption prevalent in the Newgate prison, which was in that local- 
 ity. In the absence of any direct proof, however^ such a connection 
 is only a conjecture. 
 
 "' J. p. Collier, History of English Dramatic Poetry, II, 210. 
 
 "* The Macro Plays, p. xxi. 
 
 "» Quoted by Collier, op. cit., II, 222. 
 
 i" J. M. Manly, Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama, I, 372. 
 
 "1 Op. cit., I, 408.
 
 Parallel Ideas 65 
 
 On the subject of Lechery our author Jias much to say, but noth- 
 ing that is particularly significant. The satire would apply to 
 the twentieth century almost as well as to the fifteenth. In 1. 770 
 he alludes to the French: "Hurle hens thes harlottis! here gyse 
 ys of France." "Thes harlottis" are the followers of Lechery. 
 Apparently the French were noted in England for their laxity 
 in matters of sexual morality. The same estimate of them is ex- 
 pressed in the Coventry play, Joseph's Return; Joseph, when he 
 discovers that Mary is to bear a child, thinks that she has been un- 
 faithful and fears that men will say of him : 
 
 Olde cokwold, thi bowe is bent 
 
 Newly now after the Frensche gyse.**^ 
 
 The satire on extravagance in dress does not appear prominently 
 in the text of Wisdom; various lines, however, suggest that the 
 Mights are dressed in the extreme of fashion : 
 
 Mynde. Lo, me here in a new a-ray (552) 
 
 [Mynde.] Me-semyt myselff most lykly ay, (556-9) 
 It ys but honest; no pryde, no nay; 
 I wyll be freshest, by my fay, 
 
 For Jjat a-cordyt with my complexccion. 
 
 Wndurstondynge. Ande haue here me, as fresche as yow (560) 
 
 Mynde. Curyous a-ray I wyll euer hante (612) 
 
 And to these add the following from the Second Division of the 
 play: 
 
 [Lucyfer.] Change J?at syde a-ray! (510-2) 
 Mynde. I yt defye. 
 Wndyrstondynge. We woU be fresche. 
 
 In a period when fashions in dress offered so many points for 
 ridicule as they did in the fifteenth century, no satirical writer, 
 given a situation and characters like those in Wisdom, would neg- 
 lect this opportunity for raising a laugh in the audience. We may 
 assume, therefore, that the costumes of the Mights were exagger- 
 ated copies of contemporary dress. Lucifer, as we have seen (p. 
 46), was probably dressed in similar manner. 
 
 Satire on extravagance in dress was common in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. Reference has already been made to the costume of the 
 
 i*3LwdM« Ooventriae, p. 118.
 
 66 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Lucifer of the Coventry Council of the Jews (p. 46). In the Boy 
 Bishop's Sermon delivered at St. Paul's in the time of Henry VII, 
 which Dibdin says must have been printed before 1496/*^ the fol- 
 lowing complaint is made : 
 
 There is no vanyte in no partye of the worlde but we bene redy to bye 
 it: longe heres and shorte collers of Almayns; evyll fasshenyd garmentes and 
 devyllisshe shoone and slyppers of Frensmen; powches and paynted gyrdylles 
 of Spaynardes; newe founde hattes of Romayns.^" 
 
 A typical description is the following from a Ballad against 
 Excess in Apparel, Especially in the Clergy, which was probably 
 written not later than 1467 : "^ 
 
 Ye prowd galantts hertlesse. 
 With your hygh cappis witlesse, 
 And your schort gownys thriftlesse, 
 Have brought this lond in gret hevynesse. 
 
 With your long peked shone, 
 Therfore your thrifte is almost don; 
 And your longe here into your eyen, 
 Have brought this lond to gret pyne. 
 
 Ye poope holy prestis full of presomcion, 
 With your wyde fueryd hodes, voyd of discrecion; 
 Un to your owyn prechyng of contrary condition, 
 Whech causeth the people to have lesse devocion. 
 
 Avauncid by symony in cetees and townys; 
 
 Make shorter your taylis, and broder your crownys, 
 
 Leve your short stuffede dowblettes and your pleytid gownys. 
 
 And kepe your owyn howsjTig, and passe not your boundis.^** 
 
 These are only two of the many similar passages which might be 
 cited. The general tone is the same in all; extravagance in dress 
 is a besetting sin, not .only of the courtiers and dandies, but also 
 of the men of religion. ^*^ 
 
 A quotation from the Speculum Chris fianorum, fol. 35 b, will 
 give a fitting conclusion to our general discussion of the political 
 
 and social satire in Wisdom: 
 
 • 
 
 ^** The Camden Miscellany, VII, xxxv (Camden Society Publications, 1875). 
 1" Op. cit., p. 10. 
 
 »*= Percy Society Publications, XXVII, 55. 
 !« Op. cit., se-Ti. 
 
 '*' On the dress of the clergy see E. L. Cutts, Parish Priests and their People, pp. 
 164 ff.
 
 Parallel Ideas 67 
 
 Peccata britonum. Negligentia prelatorum / rapina potentum / cupiditas 
 iudicum / rabies periuriorum / inordinatus cultus vestimentorum / detestanda 
 luxuria / omne peccatum publicum & notorium clamat vindictam ad deum.^** 
 
 We are now ready to examine parallels for the ideas in special 
 passages of this part of the play : 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 556-7, ]\Iind, now identified with Pride, says : 
 
 Me-semyt myselif most lykly ay, 
 
 It ys but honest; no pryde, no nay. 
 
 Also, in 11. 604-7, Understanding, identified with Covetousness,^ says : 
 The ryche couetyse, wo dare blame, 
 Off govell & symony thow he bere pe name? 
 To be fals, men report yt game; 
 Yt ys clepyde wysdom. 
 
 The same disguising of "pride" under the name of "honesty," 
 and of " covetousness " under that of "wisdom," occurs in the 
 Coventry Council of the Jews; Lucifer says to his followers : 
 I have browth jow newe namys, and wyl je se why 
 flFor synne is so plesaunt to eche mannys intent, 
 36 xal kalle pride oneste, and nateralle kend lechory, 
 And covetyse wysdam there tresure is present."® 
 
 The general device of giving inoffensive names to various sins 
 and follies is used frequently, especially in later plays. For in- 
 stance, in Skelton's Magnyfycence, Crafty Conveyance becomes 
 Sure Surveyance (1. 525) ; Counterfeit Countenance, Good De- 
 meanance (1. 674) ; and Cloaked Collusion, Sober Sadness (1. 
 681). Cf. also Respuhlica, in which Insolence is called Authority; 
 Oppression, Reformation; Adulation, Honesty; and Avarice, Pol- 
 jgy 150 rpj^g j^g^ ^^Q pairs are practically the same as Pride- 
 Honesty and Covetousness-Wisdom of the Coventry Council and 
 Wisdom. This disguising goes back to the Psychomachia of Pru- 
 dentius (I owe this suggestion to Professor A. H. Tolman). 
 
 In line 569 of Wisdom, Will says: 
 
 I am so lykynge; me seme I fle. 
 
 ^*B Speculum Chriatianorum, Paris, 1502 (British Museum press mark, 1361. a. 5 
 (2) ). The Museum catalogue gives as the author, "Joannes Watton." Except for the 
 omission of some passages in English, this work seems to be the same as the Speculum 
 Chriitiani, which is supposed to be the first book printed in London. 
 
 "* Ludus Coventriae, p. 243. 
 
 ^ Beapublica, in Brandl's Quellen, p. 298. (In the E. E. T. S. edition of Respuh- 
 lica, the reference is p. 13, 11. 375 ff.).
 
 68 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Cf. Skelton's Magnyfycence, 11. 839-41: 
 Me seme I flye, 
 I am so lyght 
 To daunce delyght. 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 576-83, Mind says : 
 
 Ande thes ben my syngler solace; 
 
 Kynde fortune & grace, 
 
 Kynde nobyll of kynrede, me ioy yovyn base, 
 
 Ande Jjat makyt me so-leyn. 
 
 Fortune in worldis worscbyppe me doth lace; 
 
 Grace yewyt curryus eloquens, & ]>at mase 
 
 [ ] 
 
 Tbat all on-cunnynge I dysdeyn. 
 
 The third line in this selection, copied from the E. E. T. S. edi- 
 tion of the Macro Plays, does not give the correct meaning. In 
 the second line Mind enumerates his three "solaces;" then in the 
 following lines he tells what each of these brings him. Kind, 
 that is, Nature, gives him noble kindred; Fortune, worldly honor; 
 and Grace, "curryus" eloquence. The Macro Ms. gives the idea 
 correctly: "Kynde nobyll of kynrede me yewyn base." The sec- 
 ond and third lines should therefore read: 
 
 Kynde, fortune, & grace; 
 
 Kynde, nobyll of kynrede me yewyn base. 
 
 This, the reading of the Macro Ms., is the one that we expect 
 from, the parallels given below.' In the comparison of the play with 
 these parallels, it will be remembered that in the former. Mind, to 
 whom these "solaces" belong, is identified with Pride. 
 
 Cf. Chaucer's Parson's Tale, 11. 450 f f . : 
 
 Somtyme it [pride] spryngeth of the goodes of nature, and somtyme of 
 the goodes of fortune, and somtyme of the goodes of grace. 
 The Cursor Mundi has : 
 
 [Pride springs] of werldis happe, of grace, of kinde."' 
 Finally, according to the Ayenbite of Inwyt : 
 
 [We have no gifts but those God has given us], ne guodes of kende: ase 
 uayrhede. and helj?e. an streng]?e of bodye. * * * ne guodes of auenture. ase 
 richesses. worssipe. and bejnesse. ne guodes of grace, ase Jbyjj uirtues. and 
 guode workes. 
 
 This passage is a part of the discussion of Pride, and in a longer 
 
 account a few pages further on in the same work, the three 
 
 «> Cursor Mundi, E. E. T. S., p. 1526, U. 27558 flf.
 
 Paeallel Ideas 69 
 
 "guodes" are represented as the three small ''boughs" of Vanity, 
 which, in turn, is a bough of Pride.^"- 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 620-3, the Mights form a trio, and sing : 
 Mynde. a tenowur to yow bothe I brynge; 
 Wndykstondynge. And I a mene, for ony kynge; 
 Wyll. And, but a trebnll I owt wrynge, 
 
 the deuell hj-m spede, pat myrthe exyled ! [Et cantent. 
 
 A similar trio appears in the Towneley Second Shepherds' Play 
 
 I. Pastor. Lett me syng the tenory. 
 
 II. Pastor. And I the tryble so hye. 
 
 III. Pastor. Then the meyne fallys to me; 
 
 Lett se how ye chauntt.^^ 
 
 In Wisdom, 1. 721, we find: 
 
 Jorowur, in on hoode berith to facis. 
 This is a common proverb; cf. Skel ton's Magnyfycence: 
 Two faces in a hode couertly I bere.^" 
 
 In Wisdom, 11. 772-7, the IVIiglits are fighting : 
 
 Wndyrstondynge. Ill spede l»ee, ande J>ou spare 1 
 Jji longe body bare. 
 To bett I not spare; 
 
 Haue the a-geyn ! 
 Wyll. Holde me not^ let me go ware! * 
 
 I dynge, I dasche! J^er, go ther! 
 This description of the fight of the Mights is conventional in phras- 
 eology. In the Chester play of The Passioyi, the First Jew, who 
 
 is tormenting Jesus, says : 
 
 On thy bodye bare 
 
 Strockes shalte thou beare.^^ 
 The following passages are all from the Towneley plays: In The 
 Scourging, after Jesus has been stripped, he is scourged ; the First 
 Torturer says: 
 
 ii»4j/enbite of Inwyt, E. E. T. S., pp. 18 and 23-4. See also Richard RoUe of 
 Eampole, I, 224; and Lydgate's poem on the entry of Henry VI into London after his 
 coronation in France, in Percy Society Publications, II, 6-8. 
 
 i"J. M. Manly, Specimens of the Pre-fihaksperean Drama, I, 100. (The Towne- 
 ley Plays, E. E. T. S., p. 122, U. 186-9). 
 
 ^^Magnyfycence, E. E. T. S.. p. 23, 1. 710. See also the Bowge of Courte, in the 
 Poetical Works of John Skelton, ed. A. Dyce, I,. 46, 1. 428; and Anglia, XXVI, 203 
 and 266. 
 
 ^^ The Chester Plays, II, 46 (Shakespeare Society).
 
 70 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 To bett his body bar 
 I haste, withoutten hoyne.'" 
 In Herod the Great, a woman attacks a soldier who has killed 
 
 her child : 
 
 Haue at the, say I ! / take the ther a f oyn ! 
 
 Out on the I cry / haue at thi groyn 
 
 An othere ! '^ 
 In Noah and the Ark, Noah, who is fighting with his wife, says : 
 
 Haue at the, gill ! »"' 
 
 In the play of Abraham, Abraham, about to slay Isaac, is stopped 
 
 by an angel, who seizes him ; Abraham exclaims : 
 
 War! let the go.^"* [The editor suggests me for the.'\ 
 
 Finally, in The Scourging, the Third Torturer says: 
 Do, dyng hym."° 
 
 FOURTH DIVISION: "REPENTANCE" 
 
 The fourth division of the play deals with the regeneration of 
 the Mights. A considerable part of the material in this division 
 has already been discussed under "Sources." In addition, there 
 
 are a number of ideas for which parallels are at hand. 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 877-8: 
 
 Wysdom. O thou Mynde, remembyr thee ! 
 Turne ]>\ weys! Jjou gost a-myse! 
 Cf. Goddis Owne Complaynt, from Lambeth Ms. 853, of about 
 1430: 
 
 Turne to me ! bi]?inke J>ee how 
 
 pou hast goon mys ! come hoom ageyne ! "^ 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 881-2: 
 
 They J?at lyue well, pey xall haue blys; 
   Thay J?at endyn yll, ]>ej goo to hell. 
 Cf. the poem, I Wite My Silf Myn Owne Woo, from Lambeth Ms. 
 853, of about 1430 : 
 
 If Jjou doist weel, ]>ou goist to blis; 
 If J)ou do yuel, Jjou goost to J^i foo."^ 
 
 «« The Towneley Plays, p. 247, 11. 132-3. 
 
 1K7 Op. cit., p. 177, 11. 381-3. 
 
 i=s Op cit., p. 29, !. 219. 
 
 IBS Op. cit., p. 48, 1. 258. 
 
 ^^ Op. cit., p. 248, 1. 149. 
 
 "> Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., XV, p. 
 193, 11. 53-4. 
 
 ^«^ Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. E. T. S., XXIV, p. 39, 
 11. 133-4.
 
 Parallel Ideas 71 
 
 These lines are a paraphrase of a sentence in the Athanasian 
 Creed: "Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam eternam; qui vero 
 mala, in ignem eternum." 
 
 In Wisdom, as a proof of the plight into which the Mights, by 
 
 their sins, have brought the Soul, Anima appears on the stage 
 
 dressed, not in the white robes which she wore at the beginning of 
 
 the play, but in a "horrybyll mantyll," in the "most horrybuU 
 
 wyse, fowlere pSLB. a fende." From beneath the mantle run out 
 
 "vi small boys in pe lyknes of Dewyllys, & so retorne a-geyn" 
 
 (stage directions after 11. 906 and 916). (The number should 
 
 be vii instead of vi, for according to 11. 913-4 : 
 
 As many dedly synnys as ye haue vsyde, 
 So many deullys in yowur soule be. 
 
 Evidently, the Mights have used all the Seven Deadly Sins — not 
 one has been slighted. The mistake in the number is easily ex- 
 plained. The number "six" is given in only one place, and there 
 it is the Roman numeral "vi." The scribe carelessly omitted the 
 second "i"). The Mights are terrified at the horrible plight into 
 which they have brought the soul, and they repent. Thereupon 
 the seven small devils withdraw (stage direction after 1, 982). 
 
 This scene of the devoiding of the devils from Anima is similar to 
 the one in the Digby Mary Magdalene play in which the seven 
 devils are cast out of Mary. After she has been seduced by 
 Curiosity, "Mari xal entyr In-to J?e place alone, save J^e bad 
 angyl and al ]?e seuen dedly synnes xal be conveyyd in-to J?e howse 
 of syitiont leprovs, ]?ey xal be a-rayyd lyke vij dylf."^*^^ Later, 
 Jesus and his disciples come to the house of Simon. Mary, who in 
 the meantime has repented, enters -and asks Christ 's forgiveness. 
 Christ says : 
 
 Woman, in contrysson J)ou art expert, 
 
 thy feyth hath savyt pe, and made J>e bryth; 
 Wherfor I sey to pe, 'vade In pace.' 
 
 [With J?is word vij dyllys xall de-woyde frome pe woman, 
 and the bad angyll enter into hell with thondyr.] i" 
 
 Here we have the Seven Deadly Sins, dressed as seven devils, 
 
 ^'^ The Digby Plays, p. 76, stage direction after 1. 563. 
 >" Op. cit., p. 81, 11. 686-91.
 
 72 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 appearing as characters on the stage and devoiding from Mary,^^' 
 just as the Seven Deadly Sins, dressed as small devils, appear and 
 devoid in Wisdom. 
 
 In the Coventry play, The Last Supper, while Jesus and his 
 disciples are at Simon's house, Mary enters weeping over her sins, 
 and asks forgiveness ; Christ says to her : 
 
 Alle thi prayour I xal fulfylle, 
 
 ************ 
 
 And fro vlj. develys I xal the ffende, — 
 ffendys, flethe jour weye ! 
 Wyckyd spyritys, I jou conjowre, 
 fflethe out of hire bodyly bowre. 
 Mary answers : 
 
 I thanke the, Lorde, of this grett grace; 
 Now these vij. ffendys be fro me fflytt."* 
 
 There is no direct statement that the "flitting" of the devils was 
 actually represented on the stage ; but Christ 's direct address to 
 the devils, and Mary's reference to "these vij. ffendys" indicate that 
 they were actually present. 
 
 We have, then, in the mystery plays two scenes in which the 
 devils are cast out of Mary Magdalene ; in one of them the de- 
 voiding is certainly represented by actual characters on the stage; 
 in the other, it probably was so represented. Knowing our author 's 
 fondness for borrowing ideas, we suspect that he had some such 
 scene as these in mind when he represented the devoiding of the 
 devils from Anima. 
 
 Wisdom, II. 917-20: 
 
 Wysdam. What haue I do? why lowyste ]?ou not me? 
 
 Why cherysyste J>i enmye? Why hatyst J>ou J?i frende? 
 Myght I haue don ony more for t)ee? 
 
 But loue may brynge drede to mynde. 
 
 Wisdom, II. 925-8: 
 
 Wy doyst ]?ou, soule, me all dyspyght? 
 
 Why yewyst J'ou myn enmy J^at I haue wrought? 
 Why werkyst J»ou hys consell? by myn settis lyght? 
 
 Why hatyst Ijou vertu? why louyst I^at ys nought? 
 
 **^ See W. Creizenach, Geschichte des neueren Dramas, I, 194 : mediaeval theolo- 
 gians taught that the woman out of whom the seven devils were cast was Mary, and 
 that these devils were the Seven Deadly Sins. 
 
 1™ Ludus Coventriae, p. 264.
 
 Parallel Ideas 73 
 
 With these lines compare the follo"\ving from Goddis Owne Com- 
 playnt, in Lambeth Ms. 853, of about 1430: 
 
 Complaynt, 11. 9-12 [Christ is speaking to man] : 
 Haue y not doon al ]>at me oujt? 
 
 Haue Y l^^t ony t>yng bihynde? 
 Whi \vraj>]7ist }7ou me? y greue ]5ee nou3t; 
 Whi art J)ou to J^i freend vnkinde? 
 
 Complaynt, 11. 49-50: 
 O Man, y loue Jjee! whom louest J>ou? 
 I am J>i freend; whi wolt J>ou feyne? 
 
 Complaynt, U. 61-2: 
 
 Of a freend the first [e] preef 
 
 Is loue wij> drede, & noujt displese. 
 
 Complaynt, 11. 139-40: 
 
 What haue y trespasid vnto ]7ee 
 
 t>at Jjou forsakist me, & seruest sathan?-*" 
 
 Similar complaints of man's ingratitude are of common occur- 
 rence.^'^ None of those that I have found is sufficiently like the 
 lines of Wisdom in phraseology to be called their direct source; it 
 is probable, however, that our author used some undiscovered ver- 
 sion and followed it closely. 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 977-80: 
 
 By wndyrstondynge, haue very contrycion; 
 
 With mynde of your synne, confessyon make, 
 Wyt wyll yeldynge du satysf accion ; 
 
 J7an yowur soule be dene, I wndyrtake. 
 
 Penance was commonly divided into the three steps — contrition, 
 confession, and satisfaction. Neander says that this division was 
 "determined by Peter of Lombardy. " ^®^ According to the latter 
 (Quatuor libri sententiarum, Lib. IV, Dist. xvi) : 
 
 In perfectione autem poenitentiae, tria obseruanda sunt, scilicet, com- 
 punctio cordis, confessio oris, satisfactio operis. 
 
 ^"^"^ Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. F. J. Furnivall, E. B. T. S., pp. 191 ff. 
 This same poem, with some variations, is found in Lambeth Ms. 306 (printed by Furni- 
 vall, op. cit., 190 ff. ). and in Ms. Douce 78, fol. 5. 
 
 "8 Of. poems of William Lichfield, in Ms. Gonville and Caius Coll. 174, fol. 469; 
 Twenty-six Political and other Poems, ed. J. Kail, E. E. T. S., p. 42, 11. 57 ff; Richard 
 Rolle of Eampole, I, 71 and 88. 
 
 iM A. Neander, History of the Christian Religion and Church, trans. J. Torrey, IV, 
 347.
 
 74 Some Sources and Parallels for "Wisdom 
 
 These three are necessary, he thinks, because man sins in "corde," 
 "ore," and "opere," In the Cursor Mundi they are said to be 
 necessary because man sins in thought, word, and deed.^^'' In the 
 Assembly of Gods, a different order is given — confession, contri- 
 tion, and satisfaction.^'^ 
 
 It will be noted that in the lines from Wisdom quoted above we 
 have only an outline or enumeration of the parts of penance; the 
 discussion of these extends from 1. 981 to 1. 1068. The most in- 
 teresting part of this discussion is the passage relating to the 
 "Nine Points Pleasing to God" (11. 1001-68), the source of which 
 was given on p. 34. This passage describes the kind of "satisfac- 
 tion" that is most acceptable to God, and is interesting because it 
 emphasizes the value of love of God and charity to one's neighbors, 
 and minimizes the importance of fasting, making of pilgrimages, 
 scourging of the body, and like practices, which occupied a very 
 important place in the mediaeval religious life. So large a place 
 did they occupy, that this view, as expressed by a writer of the 
 fifteenth century, seems on first thought to be unorthodox; but, in 
 fact, it was not. In considering the attitude of the Church on 
 the subject of penance, says Neander, "We must take care to dis- 
 tinguish the false representations of the church-doctrine, which 
 were encouraged by ignorant and badly-disposed preachers, from 
 that doctrine as it was taught in the schools of theology. ***** 
 The church doctrine and scientific theology were very far from at- 
 tributing any important influence to the external act separated 
 from the internal disposition. ***** The blame lies with the 
 ordinary priests, that this connection betM^een the inward temper 
 and outward act, in the religious sense of the multitude, was ob- 
 scured, and that the people were confirmed in the delusive notion 
 that forgiveness of sin could be obtained by outward works. "^^^ The 
 
 "0 Cursor Mundi, ed. R. Morris, E. E. T. S., p. 1480, 11. 25932 flf. 
 
 "i Assembly of Gods, ed. O. L. Triggs, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXIX, 11. 1142 ff. 
 See also a list of references in a note, op. cit., p. 86. Other references to English works 
 are: Works of John Fisher, ed. J. E. B. Mayor, E. E. T. S., pp. 24, 37, and 151; 
 Poems of William of Shoreham, ed. M. Konrath, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., LXXXVI, p. 
 31, II. 846 ff. ; Lay Folks' Catechism, ed. Canon Simmons and H. E. Nolloth, E. E. T. S., 
 CXVIII, p. 66, 11. 310 ff. Cf. the discussion of these three steps as they appear in 
 Everyman, by P. A. Wood, in Modern Philology, Oct. 1910, pp. 283 ff., article on 
 Elckerlijc-E very man : The Question of Priority. 
 
 "2 A. Neander, History of the Christian Religion and Church, trans. J. Torrey, 
 IV, 347-8.
 
 Parallel Ideas 75 
 
 Church sanctioned this outward penance as good in its place; and 
 the author of Wisdom does not deny that it may be of value. He 
 merely shifts the emphasis from the outward works, where it was 
 popularly placed, to the inner attitude of the heart, where the 
 Church taught that it should be placed. This shifting of emphasis 
 was particularly characteristic of the mystics, who stood for a 
 personal and intimate relationship with God. The basis of the 
 idea is found in Mark XII, 30, 31, and 33 : Christ said to the 
 scribe, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 
 strength; this is the first commandment. And the second is like, 
 namely this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is 
 none other commandment greater than these." The scribe an- 
 swered, "And to love him with all the heart, and with all the 
 understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and 
 to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offer- 
 ings and sacrifices." 
 
 Wisdom, 11. 1087-93: 
 
 Wysdom. Vulnerasti cor meum, soror, mea sponsa, 
 
 In vno ictu oculorum tuorum. 
 Ye haue wondyde my hert, systur, spowse dere, 
 
 In pe tweyn syghtys of yowur ey. 
 By pe recognycion ye haue clere, 
 
 Ande by pe hye lowe ye haue godly, 
 
 It perrysschyt my hert to here yow crye. 
 
 Compare with these lines a passage from the Tractatus de Chari- 
 tate, by an anonymous writer, which consists largely of extracts 
 from the works of Richard of St. Victor, Peter Blessensis, etc. : 
 
 'Vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum.' Duos nempe oculos 
 habet anima. ****** Et horum duorum dexter oculus est amor. ***** 
 Sublato enim amore, qui dexter est oculus, ad solum errorem remanet intel- 
 lectus, quern sinistrum diximus. ******* Videtur itaque ab amantibus 
 Deus utroque oculo, sed altero vulneratur, quando ubi intellectus caligat, amor 
 penetrat; ubi ille repcllitur, iste admittitur.*'' (In some cases in this quota- 
 tion, a number of lines have been omitted between extracts. The passage is 
 too long to be quoted fully enough to give a connected reading). 
 Also, in the first draft of a speech prepared by the Lord Chancellor, 
 John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, for the opening of the parliament 
 of Richard III, we find : 
 
 MSMigne, Pat. Lot., torn. 184, col. 592.
 
 76 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Oculus igitur est geminus, there be allewey ij. ies, seyth Lincoln [R. 
 Grosseteste], yn hys tretie de oculo morali, quorum dexter est intellectus, sin- 
 ister aflFectus. The ryghte ie ys undrestondynge, the left ye ys aifeocion."* 
 
 The translation of the Latin phrase "in vno ictu oculorum 
 tuorum," in Wisdom, by "in pe tweyn syghtys of yowur ey" is 
 unintelligible as it stands; and the connection between this trans- 
 lation and the two following lines, with their reference to "recog- 
 nycion" and "lowe," is not clear. The passages from the 
 Tractatus and Russell's speech give the key to the translation and 
 the meaning. The Latin tract has "in uno oculorum tuorum," 
 which is also the reading of the Vulgate {Cant. Cant. IV, 9), and it 
 explains the phrase as referring to the two eyes of the soul: "in- 
 tellectus" and "amor." Russell also gives these two eyes as 
 "understanding" and "affection." It would seem that when the 
 author of Wisdom translated the Latin, "in vno ictu oculorum 
 tuorum," by "in pe tweyn syghtys of yowur ey," he had in mind 
 the more common Vulgate reading, "in uno oculorum tuorum," 
 and the current interpretation of it as referring to the two eyes 
 of the soul. Thus the "recognycion ye haue clere" of 1. 1091 
 evidently refers to the reason or understanding; and the "hye 
 lowe ye haue godly" of I. 1092 is love or affection: But this does 
 not explain the change from "in ^lno oculorum tuorum" to "in 
 pe tweyn syghtys." The change was necessary in order to make 
 this passage fit in with the preceding parts of the play. In 11. 
 1077-80, Anima says : 
 
 In twayn myghtys of my soule I the offendyde : 
 
 The on, by my Inwarde wyttys, thow ben gostly; 
 
 J>e other, by my outwarde wyttys comprehendyde, 
 Tho be ])e v wyttys bodyly. 
 
 These "twayn myghtys" are evidently the reason and sensuality 
 of 11. 135-148. There, the five outward wits are said to be the ser- 
 vants of sensuality; the five inwits are not mentioned, but by 
 implication they are connected with reason, the other part of the 
 soul, and a few lines later they are brought on the stage as the 
 prudent virgins of the soul's realm within. Hence, 11. 1077-80 
 mean that the soul has offended in both reason and sensuality. 
 In 11. 1087-93, these are identified with the two eyes of the soul — 
 
 "* Grants of King Edward the Fifth, ed. J. G. Nichols (Camden Society Publica- 
 tions, 1854), p. Iv.
 
 Parallel Ideas 77 
 
 understanding and love ^^^ — and for the wounding in one of the 
 eyes, which would give the correct meaning of the Latin, "in uno 
 oeulorum tuorum," our author substitutes the "tweyn syghtys," 
 in both of which the Mights have certainly sinned. 
 
 This concludes our examination of the sources and pg,rallels for 
 the play of Wisdom. No doubt if we had before us the whole 
 body of literature with which our author was acquainted, we 
 should find others. The number which we have gathered, however, 
 is sufficient to show his method of work. He cannot be called an 
 original writer; originality, indeed, was not a mediaeval virtue. 
 He took passages from various writers, sometimes almost word for 
 word; cast this borrowed material into the chosen verse form; 
 added connecting links and, perhaps, a little original material, 
 together with his own statements of conventional ideas — and he 
 had a play. And yet it may be that we are giving him too little 
 credit. The political and social satire in the third division is much 
 more spirited and interesting than the other parts of the play. 
 This superiority is, no doubt, partly due to tlie subject matter, 
 which is better suited to dramatic treatment than is the abstract 
 theological material in the first and fourth divisions. It will be 
 remembered, however, that we have found no direct source for 
 this satirical passage. It may be, then, that this division is original 
 with our author, and that its superiority is also in part due to 
 the fact that he is treating his own material in his own way. 
 
 1'"' Intellectus (understanding) and ratio (reason) are sometimes used synonym- 
 ously (see p. 43).
 
 PURPOSE OF THE PLAY 
 
 "We are now ready to discuss the purpose of Wisdom. The 
 first division contains a conventional account of the soul and 
 its Mights; the fourth deals with the plan of salvation prescribed 
 by the Church. So far as these two divisions are concerned, the 
 play might have been written for the religious edification of man- 
 kind in general. The second and third divisions, however, in 
 which the temptation and sinful life of the Mights are described, 
 contain features which show that the play had a special purpose 
 and was intended for a special class of men. In order to under- 
 stand these divisions, it will be necessary to look briefly at the 
 religious conditions in England in the fifteenth century. 
 
 At that time, the Church was badly demoralized; she had just 
 passed through the Great Schism, in which she had lost more 
 authority than she could ever regain. In too many eases, her 
 ministers, from the Pope down, were seeking after pleasure and 
 wealth rather than after holiness of life. Men who thought at all 
 saw the necessity for a change. The seeds of heresy which Wyclif 
 had sown in the preceding century had found ready soil, and 
 heresy had sprung up and spread through every class of society. 
 The Reformation was not far away. The Church had reason to 
 be alarmed at the spirit of unrest. The monastic and mendicant 
 orders suffered severely. The vows were no longer held sacred — 
 apostasy was common. According to Mr. Abram, "The particular 
 evil which the reformers [within the orders] wished to cure in 
 1441 was the apostasy of the monks and their flight from the 
 monasteries. Their 'speciall labour and intente,' they said, would 
 be to 'reduce to religious observaunce, apostataas disordinate and 
 vagabond persones.' The extent to which this evil had gone is 
 revealed to us by a series of documents kept in the Public Record 
 Office amongst the Chancery Warrants for Issue. They are letters 
 from the heads of various religious houses asking the King to grant 
 them letters patent ordering the secular authorities to arrest and 
 hand over to them monks who had fled from their monasteries and 
 were wandering about the country in secular dress. ***** There 
 are more than three hundred and fifty letters, and Orders of all 
 kinds are represented — Benedictines, Cluniacs and Carthusians,
 
 Purpose of the Play 79 
 
 Cistercians, Augustinians, Premonstratensians [etc.]. Some of 
 the letters complain of the flight of one brother only, but many- 
 ask for the arrest of two or more offenders. The evil does not 
 seem to have been confined to any particular locality, but the peti- 
 tions are from all parts of the country [here a list of places is 
 given]." "« 
 
 In 1451 we find another proof of the prevalence of apostasy. In 
 the statutes of the Observant Franciscans collected in that year at 
 the general chapter of Barcelona, the subject of apostasy was 
 treated at considerable length."^ Concerning this matter, Mr. R. 
 Howlett says, "Apostasy, however, was the great offence, and the 
 vagabond friar was, both by royal and papal enactments, to be 
 caught wherever found and handed to his superiors for punish- 
 ment." In these statutes apostasy was the only crime for which 
 the punishment of flogging was prescribed.^^^ 
 
 Thus in 1441 and again in 1451 we find the religious orders 
 making a determined stand against apostasy. There is no reason 
 for believing that this stand was effective, and there is no doubt 
 that apostasy became more and more prevalent as the spirit of the 
 Reformation grew stronger. It is with this question of apostasy, 
 I think, that the second and third divisions of Wisdom deal. 
 
 The second division was certainly not written for a general audi- 
 ence. For a performance before such an audience, there would be 
 no point in representing the Mights as monks (see p. 50) ; "Man- 
 kind" or "Everyman" in general, as in the plays of those names, or 
 "Humanum Genus," as in the Castle of Perseverance, would be 
 more appropriate. Lucifer's arguments against the contemplative 
 life, which lead the Mights to give up that manner of living, would 
 also have no significance. These features point to a performance 
 before an audience of monks. This conclusion is supported by 
 the general character of the play. Mr. Pollard points out that 
 the number of actors required makes the play unsuitable for a 
 traveling company, such as the one which presented the Castle 
 
 "«A. Abram, Social England in the Fifteenth Century (University of London 
 dissertation, 1909), pp. 111-2. For references to the original documents, see Mr. 
 Abram's footnotes. 
 
 i'''' Statuta Oeneralia edita apud Barcinonam, A. D. 1451, printed by R. Howlett, 
 Monumenta Franciscana (Rolls Series), II, 105. ^ 
 
 "* Op. cit., II, xxiv-v.
 
 80 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 of Perseverance. He estimates that at least thirty performers 
 were necessary (if we add another small boy to round out the 
 Seven Deadly Sins, the number will be increased to thirty-one), 
 from which fact he concludes that "although this large number 
 by no means excludes the possibility of the morality having been 
 performed by a traveling company, so far as it goes it makes in 
 the other direction. "^'^ The same is true of the costumes, which 
 are unusually magnificent and expensive. A traveling company 
 could hardly afford Wisdom's "Ryche purpull clothe of golde," 
 his "ryall hode furred with Ermyn," and his "Ryche Imperyall 
 CroMTi, sett with precyus stonys & perlys;" and Anima's "wyght 
 clothe of golde gyntely purfyled with menyver." Also, there is 
 a notable lack of obscenity, and but little buffoonery. It would be 
 assuming too much as to the refinement of the members of the 
 monastic orders to conclude from tliis that the play was certainly 
 intended for performance before them, but the point is in favor of 
 them rather than of a popular audience. Finally, the manuscript 
 was in the possession of a monk, and pretty certainly at one time, 
 later perhaps, belonged to the library of a monastery (see p. 85). 
 All of these features are against a supposition that the play was in- 
 tended for popular presentation; and the representing of the 
 Mights as monks, the kind of arguments used by Lucifer, and the 
 possession of the Ms. by a monk, point specifically to a monastic 
 audience. 
 
 The play was written, I think, for the purpose of counteracting 
 the prevalent spirit of apostasy, which was the question of supreme 
 importance at this time to the religious orders. The Mights, as 
 monks, are led by the wiles of Lucifer to renounce their vows and 
 return to the common secular life. Lucifer represents the forces 
 that are demoralizing the discipline and threatening the existence 
 of the orders. He charges the Mights with idleness ; he urges them 
 to marry — "Bettur ys fayer frut )?an fowll pollucion;" and he 
 attacks the foundation principle of monasticism — contemplation 
 and withdrawal from the world — as being contrary to the example 
 set by Christ. These are common arguments with the opponents 
 of the orders from the time of Wyclif.^^'^ They are arguments for 
 
 "» The Macro Plays, p. xxiii. 
 
 **» Sep Wyclif's opinions of monasticism in D. S. Schafif, History of the Christian 
 Church, Vol. V, pt. ii, pp. 334 ff., and G. Lechler, John WycUffe and His English Pre- 
 eur»or». trans. P Lorimer, pp. 319 fl.
 
 Purpose op the Play 81 
 
 the active as opposed to the contemplative, the worldly against the 
 monastic life; they represent the lure of the world. As the ex- 
 ponent of these ideas, Lucifer is appropriately dressed in the 
 worldly costume of a "prowde galonte." 
 
 After the JMights have given up the contemplative life, they 
 appear as men of the world, dressed in the latest and most ex- 
 treme fashion, and they fall into the sins of the world — main- 
 tenance, perjury, lechery, and the like. The play now becomes a 
 satire on contemporary vices. This part of the play applies to 
 men of the world in general ; but, in view of the connection of 
 the Lucifer scene with the religious orders, it seems fair to assume 
 that in this general satire the writer still has in mind the members 
 of these orders. He is representing the dangers which threaten the 
 apostate monk when he leaves the fostering care of his order. 
 
 In the fourth, as in the first, division, as we have seen, our 
 author has not adapted his play to his special purpose. These parts 
 have a universal application, and follow the plan of the general 
 morality. The third division, considered apart from its connection 
 with the second, is also of a general nature. It is only in the sec- 
 ond division that the special purpose is distinctly shown.
 
 AUTHOR 
 
 The next point for discussion is the question of authorship. 
 Wliile it can hardly be expected that the author of Wisdom will 
 ever be definitely known, it is possible from the material at hand 
 to form an idea of his relations with contemporary movements of 
 thought. In the first place, it will be noticed that all the passages 
 which have been cited as sources are from the writings of Richard 
 RoUe of Hampole, Walter Hilton, Henry Suso (an English adap- 
 tation from one of his works), Bonaventura, and St. Bernard of 
 Clairvaux, or from writings attributed in the fifteenth century to 
 them. All these men were prominent in that revolt against the 
 cold intellectualism of the Scholastics which historians of the 
 mediaeval church call mysticism. Besides these sources, a number 
 of the parallels-in-idea in the play are found in the writings of 
 these same mystics or of their associates. Evidently our author 
 was particularly interested in the works of the mystics. 
 
 Before attempting further to determine the extent of his rela- 
 tion with mysticism, we must get a working definition for that 
 word. We shall not attempt to formulate an exact definition, for 
 "mysticism," like "romanticism," is an elusive term. The most 
 characteristic feature of mysticism is the doctrine of love, "burn- 
 ing" love it is usually called, through which the soul of the wor- 
 shipper is merged into the Being of God. This love is sometimes 
 accompanied by visions, such as Juliana of Norwich had, and by 
 ecstatic experiences such as Richard Rolle described in his account 
 'of the three phases of " contemplatio " — calor, canor, and dulcor.^*^ 
 This doctrine of "burning," contemplative love is the heart and 
 soul of mysticism; but the mystics did not always live on the 
 heights of love, nor did they always write of their ecstatic ex- 
 periences. Walter Hilton could give practical advice to a "devout 
 man in temporal estate" who was bewildered by the seeming con- 
 flict between his duty to God and his duty to his family. St. Ber- 
 nard found time to engage in ecclesiastical politics. Augustine, 
 to whom the later mystics went for much of their inspiration, was 
 the first great organizer of the practical working creed of the 
 Church. Mysticism did not exclude an interest in practical af- 
 
 **' Richard Rolle of Hampole, II, vii.
 
 Author 83 
 
 fairs ; it simply shifted the preponderance of interest from them to 
 love and quiet contemplation of God. Again, most of the mystics 
 accepted the creed of the church. To believe this was their duty 
 as members of the church. The mere observance of rites and cere- 
 monies, however, was not sufficient for them. They yearned for 
 a more intimate knowledge of God, and they sought Him with so 
 fervent a love that they found Him in an immediate and personal 
 communion as real and direct, they thought, as that which the 
 prophets of the Old Testament had enjoyed. Mysticism, then, was 
 not a new formal religion ; it was a personal striving after God on 
 the part of orthodox members of the church. The truth is that 
 most men have something of mysticism in their nature. In the 
 majority of them it is held in check by other and stronger forces; 
 in men like Bonaventura and Bernard it fills a larger place, 
 though it does not exclude an interest in practical affairs; in 
 persons like Juliana of Norwich and Richard Rolle it dominates 
 practically the entire life. We do not call the men of the first 
 class "mystics;" we reserve that term for the Bernards and es- 
 pecially the Richard Rolles. Yet the difference is chiefly one of 
 degree. 
 
 The exact place that the author of Wisdom occupies in this 
 scale of the mystics we shall not attempt to decide. He deals pri- 
 marily with the orthodox side of religion. He sets forth the plan 
 of salvation prescribed by the Church for those who, through neg- 
 lect of her teachings, have fallen into sin. Of the more character- 
 istically mystical doctrines, also, he shows some traces. In 11. 61-4 
 he says that the high worthiness of Christ's love can be felt from 
 experience above, but not told plainly; in 11. 87-90 he minimizes 
 the importance of knowledge gained through the reason as con- 
 trasted with that which comes through the "drede of God," which 
 is the beginning of wisdom; in 1. 281 he speaks of "burning" love; 
 in 11. 1001-68 he emphasizes love of God and of one's neighbors 
 as of more importance in the sight of God than bodily punish- 
 ment; and in 11. 1101-10 he describes in a highly emotional manner 
 Christ's suffering on the cross. All these are favorite topics with 
 the mystics. Dr. Ward says of the play, ' ' To my mind it recalls some 
 of the mystic imaginings of Jacob Bohme,"^«== a German mystic 
 
 "2 A. W. Ward, History of English Dramatic Literature, I, 115, note.
 
 84 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 (1575-1624). The passages that have been cited and the general 
 tone of the play to which Dr. "Ward calls attention, together with 
 the fact that most of the material was taken from the writings of 
 the mystics, lead us to the conclusion that our author was himself 
 a mystic. In that case, he belongs among the fifteenth-century 
 followers of Richard Rolle and Walter Hilton; but before his 
 proper place among them can be determined, the history of English 
 mysticism will have to be written. 
 
 That this mystic was a "man of religion" is obvious. The ques- 
 tion is, to what class did he belong? Was he priest, monk, or 
 friar? The German mystics of the fourteenth century — Eckhart, 
 Tauler, and Suso — were Dominicans; and at that time and in that 
 country, mysticism seems to have been regarded as belonging par- 
 ticularly to that order. There was, however, no necessary con- 
 nection between the Dominicans and mysticism. Augustine, Ber- 
 nard, and Hugo of St. Victor antedated the founding of the mendic- 
 ant orders. Bonaventura was a Franciscan; Hilton was an Augus- 
 tinian canon; Richard Rolle was a hermit, not connected with any 
 order; Juliana of Norwich was a recluse. There is, then, no a 
 priori reason for assigning a writer of a mystic work to any par- 
 ticular class. But we have seen that the Mights are monks, and 
 that Lucifer in tempting them uses arguments that are especially 
 adapted to them as such. It is fair to assume, I think, that our 
 author belongs to the same class, for he is evidently in sympathy 
 with the mode of life from which Lucifer entices the Mights, and 
 his purpose in writing is to show the monks the folly of leaving 
 their order. Furthermore, the evidence at hand points to St. 
 Edmundsbury Abbey, a great Benedictine house, as the probable 
 place of performance. If this is the case, our author was probably 
 a Benedictine monk of this abbey.
 
 PLACE 
 
 In regard to the place of composition, Dr. Furnivall, in his intro- 
 duction to The Dighy Plays, said that Wisdom was one of a set 
 of plays given in London, for it mentioned several places in that 
 city and had "few, if any, of the dialectal peculiarities which 
 mark the Midland ]\Iysteries. ' ' ^^^ K. Schmidt, writing also of the 
 Digby version, said that from the allusions to London localities we 
 should suspect that the play was written either in London or in 
 its vicinity; the dialect, however, he found to be that of the north 
 border of the West IMidlands. He tried to reconcile this incon- 
 sistency by suggesting that the play might have been written in 
 the Midlands and later transferred to London or its vicinity, where 
 the local allusions were added.^^* Dr. Furnivall, in his After- 
 words to The Macro Plays, pronounced the dialect of the Macro 
 version of Wisdom to be that of the East Midlands.^^^ A. W. 
 Pollard, in the Introduction to the same work, said: "References 
 to place and date are neither abundant nor precise. An allusion 
 to 'sent Audre of Ely' reinforces the evidence of the dialect and 
 the possession of the manuscript by the same monk Hyngston 
 [Hyngham] who owned that of Mankind, and there can be no 
 doubt that the play belongs to the Eastern Counties." The refer- 
 ences to London legal quarters he thinks are only such as suitors 
 from the country would be familiar with.^^^ Professor J. M. Manly 
 thinks that Mr. Pollard is right about the London allusions, and 
 says that the play belongs to Cambridge, or to St. Edmundsbury. 
 
 The Ms. pretty certainly belonged to the latter place. According 
 to the Dictionary of National Biography, some of Cox Macro's 
 manuscripts formed part of the library of Bury Abbey.^" Our 
 manuscript seems to have been one of these. An inscription at the 
 end of Wisdom (duplicated at the end of Mankind) reads as fol- 
 lows : "0 liber, si quis cui constas forte queretur, Hyngham quod 
 monacho, dices, super omnia consto" (this is Professor Manly 's 
 
 183 The Dighy Plays, pp. xiii-xiv. 
 
 iMK. Schmidt, Die Digby Spiele, in Anglia, VIII, 391. 
 
 "* The Macro Plays, p. xxxv. 
 
 i»" Op. cit., p. xix. 
 
 "' Referred to by Mr. Pollard, op. cit., p. ix.
 
 86 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 reading). Concerning Hyngham, Mr. Pollard says: "Who Monk 
 Hyngham was we do not know. He may have belonged to Bury 
 St. Edmunds, whence some of the Macro manuscripts are said to 
 have come. "^^^ This conjecture, I think, can be shown to be cor- 
 rect. The abbot of St. Edmundsbury from 1474 to- 1479 was 
 Kichard Hengham.^^^ These years fit in with the probable date of 
 the play (see p. 89), and the dialect of the latter points to some 
 Midland locality, such as Bury. It is probable, therefore, that 
 this Richard Hengham who afterward became abbot is the monk 
 who owned the manuscript. Moreover, on fol. 105 of the manu- 
 script there is a scribbling : "In the name of God amen I Rychard 
 Fake of Bury ' ' — the rest of the sentence is blotted out. The manu- 
 script, then, may safely be assigned to St. Edmundsbury Abbey. 
 
 The play was also probably written for that house. It was 
 intended for a monastic audience, as we have seen, and this abbey, 
 which was the most important of the Midland monasteries, and to 
 which the manuscript almost certainly belonged, is the most likely 
 place of composition. 
 
 1^ Op. cit., p. XXX. 
 
 "»A History of Suffolk, II, 72, article on the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds by Rev. 
 J. C. Cox. (The Victoria History of the Counties of England).
 
 DATE 
 
 The date of the Digby manuscript which contains the first 754 
 lines of Wisdom is given by Dr. Furnivall as 1480-90.^^° Mr. 
 Chambers says that the dramatic texts in this manuscript are prob- 
 ably early sixteenth-century copies of late fifteenth-century plays.^^^ 
 The Macro manuscript as a whole is assigned by Chambers to the 
 reign of Edward IV (1461-83),"- and by Creizenach to the reign 
 of Henry VI (1422-61)"^ — (but note the reference to Edward in 
 line 683 of Mankmd). For the probable date of the part of the 
 Macro manuscript which contains Wisdom, A. W. Pollard gives 
 about 1475,"* and J. S. Farmer, 1460."^ The only new evidence 
 which I have to offer is based upon the inscription at the end of 
 Wisdom (see p. 85). If we were right in identifying the Monk 
 Hyngham who owned the manuscript with Richard Hengham, 
 abbot of St. Edmundsbury Abbey from 1474 to 1479, the manu- 
 script was probably written before the former year ; for after Heng- 
 ham had been made abbot, he would hardly have signed himself 
 "monk." 
 
 The date of the composition of Wisdom is variously given. A. 
 W. Pollard puts it about 1460; "« C. M. Gayley between 1480-90; "^ 
 and R. L. Ramsay "before 1483." "^ The last two writers give no 
 reasons for their choice of dates; 1483 was apparently selected as 
 the last year of the reign of Edward IV. Mr. Pollard's date is 
 based in part upon the assumption that maintenance would be at 
 its worst in the decade between 1454 and 1464, when the royal 
 authority was at its weakest ; and that therefore the satire on main- 
 tenance in the play would be most appropriate at that time. Main- 
 tenance, however, as he points out, was common in other decades 
 of the century, and satire on the practice was frequent in various 
 periods. Another reason for his choosing this date is the resem- 
 blance in various respects which Wisdom bears to the so-called Co- 
 
 is" The Digby Plays, pp. xv-xvi. 
 
 i^E. K. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage, II, 428. 
 
 i« Op. cit., II, 436-7. 
 
 >»'W. Creizenach, Geschichte dea neueren Dramas, I, 468 (second edition, 1911). 
 
 "* The Macro Plays, p. xxx. 
 
 i** Tudor Facsimile Texts, Wisdom, title page. 
 
 i»« The Macro Plays, pp. xix-xx. 
 
 !»' Plays of Our Forefathers, p. 294. 
 
 !•* Magnyfycenee, p. xv.
 
 88 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 ventry Mysteries, which are extant in a manuscript of 1468. These 
 two reasons, of course, are not sufficient to date the play accurately. 
 
 The identification of the Monk Hyngham with Abbot Hengham 
 would place the date before 1474, and thus make Mr. Gayley's 1480- 
 90 too late. Mr. Pollard's round date of 1460 is, I think, about 
 right, although for proof I have only a conjecture to offer. He 
 suggests that the expression, "Lett see Madam Regent" {Wisdom, 
 1. 710), may refer to Queen Margaret's desire to act as regent dur- 
 ing the incapacity of Henry VI. ^^^ This suggestion is not impos- 
 sible; but there seems to be little point in the expression if Mar- 
 garet was meant. The speaker is Maintenance and he is addressing 
 his followers. It seems to me more likely that "Madam Regent" 
 is Alice, Duchess of Suffolk, widow of the Duke, William de la Pole. 
 William died in 1450, leaving a son, John, who was at that time 
 eight years of age. During John's immaturity the Duchess seems 
 to have attended to the affairs of the dukedom.-^" In other words, 
 she was the "Regent-Duchess." (For the use of the word "regent" 
 in connection with a Duchess see under "Regent" in the New Eng- 
 lish Dictionary) . If we may judge from the Paston Letters, she 
 and her son, when he was old enough to have a hand in affairs, were 
 very unpopular with the people of Suffolk and Norfolk. On Jan- 
 uary 7, 1462, Margaret Paston wrote to John Paston: "In good 
 feyth men fere sore here of a comone rysyng but if a bettyr remedy 
 may be had to a pese the pepyll in hast. ***** They love not in 
 no wyse the Dwke of Sowthfolk nor hys modyr. They sey that all 
 the tretourys and extorsyonerys of thys contre be meynteynyd by 
 them and by syche as they get to them with her goodys, to that 
 intent to meynten suche extorsyon style as hathe be do by suche as 
 hathe had the rewyll undyr them be fore tyme. Men wene, and 
 the Dwke of Sowthfolk come ther school be a schrewd reuell but if 
 ther come odyr that be bettyr belovyd than he is here." 2°^ It 
 would be appropriate for the writer of the satire on maintenance to 
 make the leader of the maintainers call upon the Duchess of Suf- 
 folk, who was notorious for having a part in that practice. 
 
 Moreover, the badges of the followers of Maintenance in the 
 play are lions (stage direction after 1. 695). According to Fox- 
 
 !*• The Macro Plays, p. xix. 
 
 -°° Paston Letters, ed. James Gairdner, I, 122, 258, 521 (edition of 1872-5). 
 
 «» Op. cit., II, 83.
 
 Date 89 
 
 Davies, the badge (not coat of arms) of the Duke of Suffolk (John 
 de la Pole) was a gold lion;-°- of the Duke of Norfolk, a white 
 lion.^°^ The Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk were constantly quarrel- 
 ing about land, and their followers kept the country in a tur- 
 moil. -°* It seems probable, then, from the lions used as badges by 
 the followers of Maintenance in the play, that the latter were in- 
 tended to represent the retainers of the two dukes, and especially 
 those of the Duke of Suffolk, in whose county the play was written. 
 
 If these conjectures as to Madam Regent and the lions are cor- 
 rect, we have some new data for determining the date of com- 
 position. The "hit" at Alice, or "Madam Regent," would be most 
 appropriate before her son had taken active charge of affairs. In 
 1455 he was restored to the dukedom of Suffolk, and in 1463 he was 
 re-created Duke. The former year apparently marks the time when 
 he approximately reached the legal age of discretion (14), but we 
 are not to suppose that at this age he assumed all the duties of a 
 Duke. In 1463, on reaching his majority, he probably became 
 Duke in fact as well as in name, and after this time the Duchess 
 would have less to say concerning the affairs of the county. The 
 reference to Madam Regent, then, we may put before 1463. 
 
 I do not know when John de la Pole adopted the lion as a badge. 
 His father's had been an ape's clog, and that probably remained 
 the family badge until the son had retainers of his own. In 1461 
 he was with the army vrhich went to fight Margaret 's northern host, 
 and would need a badge to distinguish his followers.-"^ We shall 
 perhaps, then, not be far out of the way if we assign about the year 
 1460 as the time for the adoption of the lion as a badge. This 
 gives us another limit for the date of composition, for wliich we 
 thus have the period 1460-3. Of course these two limits are based 
 upon conjectures, but both conjectures fit the conditions in Suffolk, 
 the place of composition of the play.-"^ 
 
 «2A. C. Fox-Davies, Heraldic Badyes, p. 147. (London, 1907). 
 
 203 Op. cit., p. 128. 
 
 ^o* History of Suffolk, II, 176-7 (Victoria History of the Counties of England). 
 
 20S For the foregoing facts about the life of John de la Pole, see the article on him in 
 the Dictionary of National Biography . 
 
 2°* In passing, I have a suggestion to offer concerning the date of Mankind. In I. 
 458 of that play one of the characters says, "Gyf ws rede reyallys." The "rial" was 
 first coined in England in 1465 (New English Dictionary, under "rial"). This refer- 
 ence and Hyngham's inscription would give 1465-74 as the period of composition. There 
 is a possibility that French rials may have been in circulation in England before coins 
 of that name were issued there, but as the first reference to the rial in the New English 
 Dictionary is under the year 1473, the French coins would seem not to have circulated 
 freely in England.
 
 - SUMMARY 
 
 This concludes our examination of the play of Wisdom. We 
 have seen that it is a production written by a mystic, who was 
 probably a monk of St. Edmundsbury Abbey, Suffolk, for the pur- 
 pose of counteracting the growing spirit of apostasy in the monastic 
 orders. The date of composition is probably about 1460-63. The 
 writer was an extensive borrower, in some cases taking whole pas- 
 sages from the writings of the mystics and adapting them to his 
 own needs; and in other cases using conventional ideas, which he 
 expresses in his own language. In the third division he seems to 
 have been more original, and to have given expression to his own 
 views regarding the social and political corruption in England. In 
 the parts where the borrowing is most direct, viz., the first and 
 fourth divisions, the play is heavy and commonplace, the result, 
 no doubt, in part, of the nature of his material. In the second divi- 
 sion, where the borrowing is less direct, there is an increase in 
 liveliness and interest, which are found in still greater degree in 
 the third division, where the writer seems to be most original. This 
 division shows considerable ability in the writer — when judged by 
 mid-fifteenth-century standards — of which there is little indica- 
 tion in the first and fourth parts.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abelard, 40. 
 
 Abram, A., 78. 
 
 Active life, 27, 53. 
 
 Aelfric, 42, 47, 56. 
 
 Albertus Magnus, 43. 
 
 Alice, Duchess of Suffolk, 88 f. 
 
 Anima, 6, 8, 25, 71. 
 
 Anselm, 48. 
 
 Apology for Lollard Doctrines, 52, 59. 
 
 Apostasy, 78 ff. 
 
 Aquinas, Thomas, 39, 42, 43. 
 
 Assembly of Gods, 42, 74. 
 
 Athanasian Creed, 71. 
 
 Audelay, John, 34. 
 
 Audience, Monastic, 79. 
 
 Augustine, 32, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 48, 
 
 52, 82, 84. 
 Author of Wisdom, 82 ff. 
 Ayenbite of Inwyt, 32, 40, 43, 68. 
 Baculum Contemplationis, 17. 
 Ballad against Excess in Apparel, 66. 
 Ballad on Money, 63. 
 Bede, 47. 
 
 Benjamin Minor, 41. 
 Bernard, St., 23, 28 ff., 31, 32, 40, 41, 
 
 45, 54, 56, 82, 83, 84. 
 Bihimeyer, K., 16. 
 Blades, W., 14, 15. 
 Blessensis, Peter, 75. 
 Bohme, Jacob, 83. 
 Boke of the Craft of Dying, 31. 
 Bonaventura, 28, 31, 33 ff., 82, 83, 84. 
 Bond, William, 49, 54. 
 Boxvge of Courte, 59, 60, 69. 
 Boy Bishop's Sermon, 66. 
 Brinklow, Henrj% 63. 
 Biichlein der ewigen Weiskeit, 14, 16. 
 Bury, Rychard Fake of, 86. 
 Caedmon, 47. 
 
 Castle of Perseverance, 4, 48, 58, 79. 
 Catechism of Adrian 8[ Epotys, 48. 
 Caxton, 9. 
 
 Chambers, E. K., 4, 87. 
 Chaucer, 56, 68. 
 Chester Plays, 58, 69. 
 Cock Lorell's Bote, 64. 
 Collier, J. P., 4, 64. 
 Comestor, Peter, 47. 
 Confession, 8, 25, 45, 73. 
 Confession and Prayer that St. 
 
 Brandon Made. 26. 
 "Consent," 7, 45, 55 f. 
 Consolatory, 49, 54. 
 Contemplations of the Dread and 
 
 Love of Ood, 44, 57. 
 Contemplative life, 24, 27, 51, 52 ff. 
 Contrition, 8, 25, 45, 73. 
 Cornish Drama, The Ancient, 58. 
 Costume, 6, 7, 8, 25, 46, 65, 71, 80. 
 Courts of Law, 62. 
 Coventry (N-Town) Plays, 46, 48, 65, 
 
 67, 72, 88. 
 Covetousness, 7, 45, 56, 60, 67. 
 Creizenach, W., 72, 87. 
 Cressy, S., 17. 
 
 Cursor Mundi, 47, 57, 68, 74. 
 Cushman, L. W., 57. 
 Cutts, E. L., 66. 
 Date of Wisdom, 87. 
 De Imitatione Christi, 34. 
 "Delight," 7, 45, 55 f. 
 Dialect, 85. 
 Digby Ms., 4, 5, 87. 
 Digby Plays, 5, 47, 85. 
 Dress, extravagance in, 65. 
 Eckhardt, E., 46, 57. 
 Eckhart, Meister, 84. 
 Epistle on Mixed Life, 18, 26 ff., 53. 
 Everyman, 74, 79. 
 Faith, Hope, and Charitj% 43, 45. 
 Farmer, J. S., 5, 87. 
 Fire of Love, 53. 
 Fisher, John, 31, 74. 
 Form of Perfect Living, 54.
 
 92 
 
 Some Sources and Parallels for Wisdom 
 
 Fox-Davies, A. C, 89. 
 
 Furnivall, F. J,, 4, 5, 85, 87. 
 
 Fyslawe, Thomas, 17. 
 
 Gascoigne, Thomas, 63. 
 
 Gayley, C. M., 48, 57, 87, 88. 
 
 Genesis, 48. 
 
 Goddis Owne Complaynt, 70, 73. 
 
 Gregory the Great, 47, 48, 50, 56. 
 
 Gurney, J. H., 4. 
 
 Hengham, Richard, 86, 87. 
 
 Hilton, Walter, 17 ff., 26, 40, 43, 49, 
 
 53, 54, 82, 84. 
 Hoccleve, T., 21, 62. 
 Holborn, 64. 
 
 Horstman, C, 9, 13, 14, 18, 28, 34, 44. 
 Horstmann, K., see Horstman, C. 
 Howlett, R., 79. 
 Hugo of St. Victor, 28, 32, 34, 41, 47, 
 
 84. 
 Hyckescorner. 63, 64. 
 Hyngham, Monk, 85, 87. 
 Idleness of monks, 51. 
 Informacio Alredi Abbatis, etc., 34, 
 
 53. 
 "Innocence," 6, 39. 
 "Inwits," 6, 20, 42, 76. 
 I Wite My Silf Myn Owne Woo, 70. 
 Jacke Cade, Proclamation Made by, 
 
 62. 
 Jacob's Well, 42. 
 Jerome, St., 54. 
 
 Juliana of Norwich, 82, 83, 84. 
 Kildare-Gedichte, 48. 
 Knowe Thy Self and Thy God, 41. 
 Lay Folks' Catechism, 42, 74. 
 Lean, V. S., 59, 60. 
 Lechery, 7, 45, 56, 60, 65. 
 Lechler, G., 80. 
 Legenda Aurea, 47. 
 Leo, St., 49. 
 Lichfield, William, 73. 
 "Life-in-Sin," 6, 60. 
 Livery, 62. 
 
 Lombard, Peter, 43, 73. 
 Lucifer (Coventry), 46, 58, 66, 
 Lucifer (Wisdom), 7, 44, 46 if., 80. 
 
 Lydgate, 41, 62, 63, 69. 
 
 Macro, Cox, 4, 85. 
 
 Macro Ms., 4, 5, 12, 68, 87, 
 
 "Madam Regent," 88. 
 
 Magnyfycence, 6, 67, 68, 69. 
 
 Maintenance, 7, 60 ff., 87 fF. 
 
 Mankind, 4, 79, 85, 87, 89. 
 
 Manly, J. M., 61, 63, 64, 85. 
 
 Margaret, Queen, 88. 
 
 Marshalsea, 63. 
 
 Martha, 27, 53. 
 
 Mary, 27, 53. 
 
 Mary Magdalene (Digby), 4, 40, 46, 
 
 47, 48, 58, 71. 
 Meditationes de Cognitione Humanae 
 
 Conditionis, 28 ff. 
 Meditations on the Passion, 31, 37. 
 Mights, the three, 7, 8, 24, 29, 42, 
 
 43 f., 45, 50, 56, 60. 
 Mind, 7, 8, 24, 29, 42, 43 f., 45, 56, 60. 
 Mirror of St. Edmund, 34, 40, 41. 
 Mirrour of Life, 43, 63. 
 Misyn, R., 53. 
 Mixed Life, 27, 53 ff. 
 Monks, Mights are, 50 ff., 80, 84. 
 Moralizatiofi of the Story of Jonathas, 
 
 21. 
 Mundus et Infans, 63, 64. 
 Myroure of Oure Ladye, 34, 45, 57, 
 
 60. 
 Mysticism, 82 ff. 
 Mystics, 16, 75, 82 ff. 
 Nassington, William, 43, 63. 
 Nature, 42. 
 Neander, A., 73, 74. 
 "Nine Points Pleasing to God," 34, 36, 
 
 74. 
 Novem Virtutes. 32, 34 ff. 
 On the Council of London. 51. 
 Orologium Sapientiae (English), 9 ff., 
 
 15, 16, 17, 32, 38. 
 Orologium Sapientiae (Latin), 13, 
 
 14 ff., 38. 
 Parallels-in-idea, 39 ff. 
 Paston Letters, 88. 
 Penance, 8, 25, 45, 73.
 
 Index 
 
 93 
 
 Penance, excessive, 24, 54. 
 
 Performance, place of, 85. 
 
 Perjury, 7, 60, 64. 
 
 Piers Plowman, 62, 63. 
 
 Place of Wisdom. 85. 
 
 Plot, analysis of, 6 flF. 
 
 Pole, John de la, 88 f. 
 
 Pollard, A. W., 5, 64, 79, 85, 87, 88. 
 
 Pride, 7, 45, 56, 60, 67. 
 
 Proverbs of King Alfred. 59. 
 
 Proverbs, Popular, 59. 
 
 Purpose of Wisdom, 78 ff. 
 
 Psijchomachia, 67. 
 
 Ramsay, Tl. L., 6, 87. 
 
 Reason, 6, 20, 24, 30, 41, 76. 
 
 "Repentance," 6, 70. 
 
 Reson and Sensuallyte, 41. 
 
 Respublica, 59, 67. 
 
 Richard of St. Victor, 41, 75. 
 
 Richard the Redeless, 62. 
 
 Rolle, Richard, of Hampole, 13, 18. 
 31, 32, 34 ff., 44, 49, 5.3, 54, 57, 82, 
 83, 84. 
 
 Russell, Jolin, Bishop nf Lincoln, 75. 
 
 Satire, social and political, 7, 60 ff., 
 81. 
 
 "Satisfaction," 8, 45, 73. 
 
 Hcala Perfectionis. 17 ff., 28, 40, 49, 
 54. 
 
 Schaff, D. S., SO. 
 
 Schmidt, K., 85. 
 
 Sensuality, 6. 19, 41, 76. 
 
 Sentence to them that be in Tempta- 
 tion, 44. 
 
 Sevene Poyntes of Treve Lowe and 
 Eiierlastifnge Witdame, 9, 17. 
 
 Seven Deadly Sins, 7, 57, 71, TOvSo. 
 
 vSharp, T., 4. 
 
 Shoreham, William of, 74. 
 
 Skelton, John, 6, 59, 67, 68, 69. 
 SoUloquium de Quatuor Mentalibii.i 
 
 Exercitiis. 28, 31, 33 ff. 
 Sources of Wisdom, 9 ff. 
 Speculum Chrisfiauorum, 66. 
 Speculum Contemplationis, 17. 
 St. Edmundsbury Abbey, 84, 85. 
 Stephen, J. F., 61. 
 Stubbs, W., 61, 62. 
 Suffolk, Duke of, 88. 
 "Suggestion," 7, 45, 52, 55 f. 
 Suso, Henry, 14 ff., 82, 84. 
 Tauler, J., 84. 
 
 "Temptation and Fall," 6, 45 ff. 
 Tolman, A. H., 67. 
 Towneleif Plays. 49, 58, 61, 69. 
 Tractatus de Charitate. 75. 
 Tractatus de Interiori Domo. :\2, 3-(, 
 
 41v^. 
 Trinity and the Mights, 30, 43, 45. 
 Tudor Facsimile Texts, 5, 87. 
 Turnbull, W. B. D. D., 5. 
 Understanding, 7, 8, 24, 29, 42, 43 f., 
 
 45, 56, 60. 
 Upland, Jacke, 52. 
 l^ision of Philibert, 50. 
 Vulgate, 6, 10, 12, 21, 23. 31. 40, 41. 
 
 51, 57, 76. 
 Ward, A. W., 83. 
 Westminster, 63, 64. 
 Will, 7, 8, 24, 29. 42, 43 f., 45, 56, 60. 
 Windelband, W., 41. 
 "Wisdom," Christ is, 6, 9, 39 f. 
 AVood, F. A., 74. 
 Wyclif, John, 40, 51, 52, 59, 61, 62, 
 
 78, 80. 
 Wynkyn de Worde, 17, 28, 64. 
 York Plays. 47, 48.
 
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