medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
To JBW's list, I would add Eric Palazzo's _A History of Liturgical Books from the Beginning to the Thirteenth Century_ (either in the original French or English translation). To paraphrase Palazzo's motivation for writing the book: Vogel is too confusing if you are not a specialist already. He also makes a greater effort than Vogel to situate the history of the liturgy in medieval history at large.
Julian Hendrix
On Nov 8 2006, John Wickstrom wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>I was a little sleepy after work…of course, Taft doesn't deal directly with the Mass, only the office (his modern sounding, somewhat misleading title should not
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>be off-putting…the bulk of his book treats Early Christian, Late Antique and Medieval office liturgies. The Mass does come in for some discussion as the liturgy which the office surrounds.
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>jbw
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> _____
>
>From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Wickstrom
>Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 7:10 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [M-R] More on Liturgy
>
>
>
>Dear John,
>
>
>
>Reading your post, I would change my reading suggestions a bit. I would now recommend Robert Taft's _Liturgy of the Hours in East and West_. Although Taft is perhaps the foremost expert writing in English on the Eastern liturgy, this volume is admirably clear in its analysis of the main trends of the mass and office (the latter is especially well done) in both eastern and western usages from the beginning through modern times. (He includes the Reformation reforms of the liturgy, esp. the office, , a most interesting chapter.)
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>Looking over Vogel after reading your post, I agree that he is most useful for the mass rather than the office and his exposition is not easy. Not good for a clear exposition of the issues you raise.
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>Finally, I would wonder if your frustration is not partially a matter of demanding clarity of rubric regarding usages that varied a great deal over both geography and time. What might have been a midnight through Vespers rubric in one area or period might well be a Matins (or Vigils) through Nones usage in another. Uniformity of usage does not predate the Breviarium Romanum of Pius V and the corresponding Breviarium Monasticum of some of the post-Reformation Benedictine congregations in Italy and France (if then).
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>best,
>
>John W.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Briggs
>Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 5:28 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [M-R] More on Liturgy
>
>
>
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
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>
>
>John Wickstrom wrote:
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>>
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>> Cyrille Vogel's Medieval Liturgy as revised by William Storey and
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>> Niels Rasmussen (1986) is the best one volume presentation of
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>> medieval liturgy I've seen.
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>
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>Thanks - I've ordered a copy, although why the keenest price should be in
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>Rochester, NY is one of mysteries of life! But Harper (Forms and Orders)
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>says that Vogel concentrates on the Mass, and doesn't really deal with the
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>Office.
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>
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>> Andrew Hughes, Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office has a good
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>> introductory section (1982).
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>
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>I'm struggling with this. It seems to be a besetting sin of liturgiologists
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>to devise their own complicated mnemonic systems of abbreviations, symbols
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>and typefaces (cf Frere).
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>
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>> Another volume, the best for detailed discussion of the medieval
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>> office (despite its specialized title) is volume VI of
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>>
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>> J.B.L. Tollhurst, The Monastic Breviary for Hyde Abbey (1942)
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>> subsequently published (1993) as a separate volume: Introduction to
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>> the English Monastic Breviaries.
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>
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>I'm *really* struggling with that one. I think that Tolhurst had spent so
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>long with the medieval liturgy that he had absorbed the scholastic cast of
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>thought, and was incapable of writing any other way. (I find this problem
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>with Frere, as well.) I find that Tolhurst explains things in considerable
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>detail, but with an almost complete absence of clarity. Not to mention
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>neglecting to explain *why* he is explaining what he is. Obviously, a lot
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>of knowledge is assumed - but there is not much clue as to what that might
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>be!
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>Where simple things *are* explained clearly, the authorities don't always
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>agree. Take the liturgical day, which is where we came in. Tolhurst baldly
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>states that the liturgical day starts the evening before. No exceptions. No
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>suggestion that ferias might be different. Hughes states that by the end of
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>the medieval period, the liturgical day was regarded as starting at
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>midnight. Which leaves him at a bit of a loss to explain why feasts might
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>still behave as they do. Harper states (with admirable clarity) that ferias
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>start at midnight, that simple feasts start with their vespers the day
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>before, and that double feasts have first vespers the day before, and second
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>vespers on the day itself. This is all well and good, but one is left with a
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>nagging suspicion that it might be an oversimplification! Nobody seems
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>confident about compline...
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>
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>Hughes says that Harper's Forms and Orders is a book that he wished he
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>himself had written. Given the complexity of his own book, one might
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>perhaps be permitted some scepticism... Of course, Harper may not have been
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>overburdened with knowledge when he wrote his book. Many years later, at a
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>meeting this year of the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society, he gave a
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>dazzling virtuoso presentation of the results of his recent research into
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>reconstructing the choral forces for the whole liturgy of Rochester
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>Cathedral c.1544 - and succeeded in confusing everybody, including himself!
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>I am still staring at the handout and can't decide whether two columns have
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>become interchanged or not!
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>
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>John Briggs
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>
>
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--
Julian Hendrix
King's College
Cambridge CB2 1ST
UK
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