22. the port called ‘Charelfluot’: The late twelfth-century De viis maris mentions the harbour of Carleflet (‘Deinde est portus qui dicitur Carleflet’, Dalché, Du Yorkshire à l’Inde, p. 176) on the north Norfolk coast, between Blakeney and Foulness. A nearby sandbar is mentioned, perhaps this is where the ship got stuck. I am extremely grateful to Susan Raich for her help in identifying this place, which has no modern equivalent, in an area whose contours have changed a great deal since the twelfth century. On the De viis maris, see Paul Hughes, ‘Roger of Howden’s Sailing Directions for the English Coast’, Historical Research 85 (2012), pp. 576–96.
23. Chapel of Saint William in the Wood: The locations associated with William’s body in Thorpe Wood attracted interest and drew pilgrims, so that in April 1168 a chapel was consecrated there. The place continued to be respected, even after the Reformation. The antiquary Francis Blomefield described the remains of such a chapel in the eighteenth century: ‘[…] upon Mushold heath; it was an ancient parochial chapel [St Catherine’s], founded about the time of the Conquest, and was afterwards reconsecrated to the honour of St William of Norwich’; see Francis Blomefield, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk IV (London: William Miller, 1806), p. 425; see also John M. McCulloh, ‘Unofficial Elements in the Cult of St William of Norwich’, Hagiographica 13 (2006), pp. 194–5. For a mistaken identification; as St Catherine’s Chapel, see Edwin J. Rose and Alan J. Davison, ‘ “St Catherine’s Thorpe” – the Birth and Death of a Myth’, Norfolk Archaeology 40 (1988), pp. 179–81.
24. octave of Easter, the fifth calends of May [27 April]: Has Thomas got his dates wrong? It was not 1168 but 1158 when the octave of Easter was 27 April. In 1168 the octave of Easter was 7 April.
25. unhappy one: On planctus, see above Book One, note 62, p. 214.
26. Mary of Egypt: St Mary of Egypt’s feast – celebrated in the West on 2 April – appears in almost half of the calendars surviving from Anglo-Saxon England, with a widespread cult that continued after the Norman Conquest; see Simon Lavery, ‘The Story of Mary the Egyptian in Medieval England’, in The Legend of Mary of Egypt in Medieval Insular Hagiography, ed. Erich Poppe and Bianca Ross (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1996), pp. 113–48.
27. William of Hastings: See Book Two, note 57 above.
28. Batilda: See Batilda’s case, p. 51 above (named Botilda there).
29. has committed to writing: This letter is marred by several grammatical errors and seems to have been written by a different author than the surrounding text. Thomas or his scribe may have found the letter hard to read and thus to copy. This supports the claim that the letter is a genuine communication with Thomas from a religious house to which William’s fame had spread c. 1168, the most recent date mentioned in this part of the text.
30. Adam of Crombe: The advowson of Hill Croom church belonged to Pershore Abbey. Adam de Crombe occurs in The Red Book of the Exchequer I, ed. Hubert Hall (London: HMSO, 1896), 8 Richard I (1196–7), p. 108, holding one and a half-knight fees (‘j militem et dimidium’). Croome and Crombe are used interchangeably.
31. Robert: The reference here may be to William’s brother, Robert, who became a monk of the Cathedral Priory, as mentioned above, pp. 28, 60.
32. Misereatur vestri … Confiteor deo: ‘Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis vestris, perducat vos ad vitam aeternam’ (‘May almighty God have mercy on thee and, having forgiven thee thy sins, bring thee to life everlasting’), after the Confiteor – ‘Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper Virgini’ (‘I confess to almighty God, to the Blessed Mary, ever virgin’) – a penitential prayer which was added to the Mass in the eleventh century; see Andrew Hughes, Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office: A Guide to Their Organization and Terminology (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982, repr. 2004), pp. 21, 83–4, and Joanne M. Pierce, ‘The Evolution of the ordo missae in the Early Middle Ages’, in Medieval Liturgy: A Book of Essays, ed. Lizette Larson-Miller (New York: Garland Publishing, 1997), pp. 3–24.
33. a golden coin: The besant was a gold coin given the silver value of 2 shillings or 24 pennies in the thirteenth century. Gold coinage was not in wide circulation in the twelfth century and was often reserved for transactions rich in symbolic value, such as almsgiving. On the use of coins at shrines and as offerings in this period, see Giles E. M. Gasper and Svein H. Gullbekk, ‘An Intimate Encounter with English Coinage in the High Middle Ages: The Case of Wulfric of Haselbury’, British Numismatic Journal 83 (2013), pp. 112–19.
34. the peace: The pax was a plaque made of metal or wood, which represented the peace of the community of Christians, and was passed through the congregation during the Mass; see Rubin, Corpus Christi, pp. 144–7.
35. sacrament of the body … right-believing people: To receive communion in both bread and wine became the privilege of priests and some monks and nuns in the course of the thirteenth century; see Rubin, Corpus Christi, pp. 70–1.
36. God the Father … Father and Son: This echoes, but does not cite, the Apostles’ Creed.
37. Adhere to God … are of God: An echo of St Paul’s Epistle, 1 Corinthians 2:11: ‘quis enim scit hominum quae sint hominis nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso est ita et quae Dei sunt nemo cognovit nisi Spiritus Dei’; ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God.’
38. for ever and ever. Amen: See Revelation 7:12: ‘dicentes amen benedictio et claritas et sapientia et gratiarum actio et honor et virtus et fortitudo Deo nostro in saecula saeculorum amen’; ‘Saying: Amen. Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’
39. many and varied mansions: Referring to John 14:2: ‘in domo Patris mei mansiones multae sunt si quo minus dixissem vobis quia vado parare vobis locum’; ‘In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you.’ Saint Augustine commented on this text when writing about infant baptism; see Augustine, ‘De natura et origine animae libri quattuor’, in Opera VIII/I, ed. K. F. Urba and Joseph Zycha (Vienna: F. Tempsky, 1913), pp. 371–2; for an English translation, see Augustine, ‘On the Soul and its Origin’, in Saint Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writing, trans. Peter Holmes (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971), 3.11.15, p. 349.
40. the glorious tomb … archbishop Thomas: Archbishop Becket was murdered in 1170 and a cult arose at his tomb, even before his canonization in 1173. See Anne Duggan, Thomas Becket (London: Arnold, 2004).
41. as if pricked by an awl: A similar case to that of the monk Peter Peverell, see pp. 84, 139.
42. Ospringe: A village in Kent, near Faversham and on the road to London.
43. hurried to Bury: On pilgrimages to Bury St Edmunds, see Memorials of St Edmund’s Abbey I, especially the additions by Osbert of Clare, pp. 152–207.
44. he moved by foot … Norwich on the next: This case is mentioned (among other pilgrimages for cure) in Rawcliffe, ‘Curing Bodies and Healing Souls’, p. 117.
Acknowledgements
When I was a PhD student in Cambridge, my supervisor Christopher Brooke suggested to me that all medieval historians should undertake the edition of a text at least once. Of course, he is the distinguished editor of many texts and he has helped many others in their editorial labours. The translation of a medieval text – and in this case, translation anew – is a unique opportunity to shape the canon of historical knowledge, to bring a work to the attention of teachers, students and those of broad historical interests. This is particularly true when preparing a translation for the Penguin Classics series, knowing that it will be available to many readers all over the world for many years to come. I have aimed, therefore, to prepare The Life and Passion of William of Norwich for ease of use and reading. I have tried to avoid clutter in the notes, and yet to assist readers by identifying biblical and classical citations, persons and pla
ces, and to explain technical terms, ranging from the medical to the liturgical.
Any historian embarked on the study of so infamous a text as The Life and Passion of William of Norwich requires a great deal of advice and support. I have sought to situate the work in its time – the third quarter of the twelfth century, under the rule of kings Stephen and Henry II – and its place, Norwich in Norfolk, England. Although The Life and Passion of William of Norwich was written in a religious community, it involves and considers the hopes, habits and doubts of townspeople and villagers, laypeople of varying degrees of social comfort and substance. In my aim to identify and understand them I was frequently helped by those who know the region’s history best: Claire Daunton, David King, Rob Liddiard, Elizabeth Rutledge, Paul Rutledge and Nicholas Vincent. I also received generous advice on life in Anglo-Norman England from David Bates, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth van Houts and John Hudson. Since The Life and Passion of William of Norwich was written by a monk, I turned on occasion to experts on monastic life: Julie Barrau, Janet Burton, Sarah Hamilton, Kati Ihnat and Tom Licence. As the rich texture of The Life and Passion unfolded ever more challengingly, I became interested in medieval rhetoric and was guided in this fascinating field by Rita Copeland, whose advice was always given swiftly and with great generosity.
Editing and translating the sole surviving version of The Life and Passion of William of Norwich meant dealing with a manuscript that is enigmatic in the extreme, the properties of which were not explored to the full by its Victorian discoverer and editors. In unravelling its mysteries I learned a great deal from time spent poring over the manuscript with Connie Berman, Paul Binski, Christopher Brooke, Michael Gullick, Eyal Poleg, Rodney M. Thomson and Tessa Webber. It was particularly satisfying to share my interests with Margaret Coombe and Richard Ovenden, who have worked on aspects of the manuscript.
Each of these scholars has made a unique and important contribution to this book, and helped shape the interpretation of it. Once I was convinced that the manuscript was made in a Cistercian monastery, I benefited from the expertise of those who know the life and literary production of that religious order best: David Bell, Helen Birkett, E. Rozanne Elder, Michael Gullick, Beverly Kienzle, Anne Lawrence and Jennifer M. Sheppard. Since the Life and Passion aims at verisimilitude, its author enjoyed describing details of the work and family lives of its protagonists. Highly technical questions – ranging from the location of medieval cesspits to the process of tanning leather or trade routes with Norway – were answered with great erudition and willingness by Richard Britnell, Jim Bolton, James Carley, Matthew Champion, Sue Edgington, Roy Flechner, Susan Irvine, Chris King, Jon Parry, Sarah Rees Jones, Susan Raich, Nicholas Vincent, Chris Wilson and George Younge. A number of colleagues and friends devoted time and care in reading the introduction to this translation, offering a wide range of expert perspectives: Matthew Champion, Peter Denley, Emma Dillon, Kati Ihnat, Ira Katznelson, Ora Limor, Ruth Nisse, Eyal Poleg, Irven Resnick, Gareth Stedman Jones, Elizabeth van Houts, Nicholas Vincent and Milan Žonca.
As my study of The Life and Passion of William of Norwich progressed I was able to present it to audiences and to benefit from questions and comments. I enjoyed such occasions at the universities of Bristol, Durham (where Lynda and David Rollason offered particularly interesting insights), Exeter, Florida (at Gainesville), Mainz, Manchester, Minnesota (Minneapolis), Oxford, Saint Thomas (St Paul) and at the Centre for East Anglian Studies at the University of East Anglia.
I am grateful to the gracious and helpful staff of Cambridge University Library, where my work on this manuscript was facilitated in countless ways over five years. Patrick Zutshi, the university archivist, was particularly encouraging from the start and helped me secure the library’s permission to make my transcription of the work in Latin, available electronically at http://yvc.history.qmul.ac.uk/passio.html. Ros Grooms, who is charged with the archives of Cambridge University Press at the university library, allowed me to explore the circumstances of the text’s first publication in 1896.
My ideas about The Life and Passion of William of Norwich were profoundly shaped by the work of the network ‘Youth, Violence and Cult’ in three workshops funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in 2009/10. The group gathered on those occasions to learn about the prominent features which the work combined: Christian ideas about Jews; the imputation of violent intentions and actions to Jews and injury to children; the responses of communities to violence; and the enshrinement of its memories in a local cult. Members contributed ideas and knowledge to my understanding of the world into which The Life and Passion of William of Norwich was made: John Arnold, Anthony Bale, David Bates, Paul Binski, Heather Blurton, Susan Boynton, David Carpenter, Hugh Doherty, T. A. Heslop, Kati Ihnat, Yosi Israeli, Tom Licence, Ora Limor, Sara Lipton, Julian Luxford, Bill MacLehose, Jinty Nelson, Carole Rawcliffe, Emily Rose, Robert Stacey, Rosa Vidal, Nicholas Vincent and Simon Yarrow.
Being an historian at Queen Mary University of London is a privilege. It is not only home to many wonderful scholars, but also an environment where my research has always been encouraged from inception to realization. My colleague Sue Edgington helped with numerous queries about twelfth-century Latin. It was particularly poignant to study and discuss The Life and Passion of William of Norwich – the first known narrative in which Jews were cast as child-murderers – close to what became centres of dense Jewish life and culture in the East End of London. At Queen Mary I am daily reminded of the dramas of continuity and change, dramas which historians are obliged to chronicle and understand.
By editing and translating the Life and Passion I have brought to fruition a project conceived in the 1990s by Willis Johnson with the encouragement of Michael Lapidge. When it became clear that Willis would not be able to undertake the project, he offered me the opportunity to do so, together with his microfilm, transcription and encouragement. This was a generous gift indeed and I hope Willis will approve of the resulting volume. I am enormously grateful to Simon Winder, who believed in the project, to Ian Pindar, who expertly treated the text for publication, and to Anna Hervé, who supported the bringing of the book to press.
Finally, I thank from the bottom of my heart two extraordinary scholars of the Middle Ages, who scrutinized the text and its notes and who offered the greatest of gifts – time and attention – to this translation: Christopher Brooke and David d’Avray. They did so with the generosity of friends, but also with a realization of how important it is to get right any attempt to understand the medieval legacy of The Life and Passion of William of Norwich.
Miri Rubin
Cambridge, 2013
THE BEGINNING
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Translated from manuscript Cambridge University Library Additional 3037
First published in Penguin Classics 2014
Translation, introduction and notes copyright © Miri Rubin, 2014
Cover: Panel from a rood screen depicting St William of Norwich with three nails in his head, made around 1450-1470 (photograph © Victoria and Albert Museum, London)
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ISBN: 978-0-141-97053-0
The Life and Passion of William of Norwich (Penguin Classics) Page 33