medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> Would anyone happen to know if any, or preferably all, of the various Liber
> Pontificalis has been translated into English, and if so, would there happen
> to be this translation available on CD Rom, or on-line? (I am particularly
> interested in the vita of popes c. 1000-1500, particularly the more
> prominent popes such as Innocent III or Boniface VIII).
Dear Wendy,
You may be out of luck. According to Eamon Duffy's splendid, albeit
"popular", history of the popes, Saints and Sinners, p. 83: "The
collapse of the papacy after Nicholas I is reflected in a
corresponding tailing away of the great papal chronicle, the Liber
Pontificalis, the fundamental source for papal history from the 6th
to the 9th centuries. ... The 9th-century lives are compiled on a
lavish scale, but the life of Hadrian II is incomplete, and
thereafter the chronicle effectively stops, each entry being no more
than a line or two giving the Pope's name and regnal dates." From
his bibliographical essay, p. 309: The Latin text of the Liber
Pontificalis with splendidly full French notes was edited by L.
Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis: texte, introduction et commentaire
(Paris, 1886-92), reissued with 3rd supplementary volume, ed. C.
Vogel in 1955-57. A good English translation from Duchesne's
edition, incorporating much of the material from his notes, has been
published in 3 volumes by Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs (Liber
Pontificalis) (Liverpool, 1989); The Lives of the Eighth-Century
Popes (Liverpool, 1992); The Lives of the 9th-Century Popes
(Liverpool, 1995).
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|