For some general history and background, these may be useful:
F.J.E. Raby, _History of Christian Latin poetry from the beginnings to the
close of the middle ages_. Oxford: Clarendon, 1953.
M. Britt, _Hymns of the Breviary and Missal_. NY: Benziger, 1948.
J. Connelly, _Hymns of the Roman liturgy_. Westminster, Md: Newman, 1957.
As with so many of the oldest office hymns, authorship has oftentimes been
attributed to Ambrose. These attributions are not widely accepted today, and
even less so for this hymn. But the debate continues. A listing of a few
extant sources may be found in the summary article at
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14479a.htm.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Nugent" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 11:57 PM
Subject: Te Lucis Ante Terminum
> Can anybody tell me a little about the date, authorship, and provenance of
> the Compline hymn "Te Lucis Ante Terminum"? Any sources to check out?
>
> On a related problem (the hymn worries about "noctium phantasmata . . . ne
> polluantur corpora") is anyone on the list aware of medieval (preferably
> pre- 12th century) discussion of nocturnal pollution? I'm making in a
> point in an article that on the whole, monastic authors of the middle
> Middle Ages didn't worry much about bodily pollution, as much as theorists
> and practitioners of some other religions might--the glaring exception to
> this observation being the problem of "noctium phantasmata". (Were
> medieval monastics indeed worried about this at all, or is this a concern
> of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?)
>
> Someone might, of course, tell me I'm all washed up (no pun intended) on
> this -- please do, if you're inclined.
>
>
> __________________________________
> Patrick J. Nugent
> Earlham College
> Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
>
> (765) 983-1413
> [log in to unmask]
> __________________________________
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