B.M. Arras 466 is a sacramentary from c. 1300 which contains a form for the
marriage rite.
I transcribed it last spring, and may as well favor you all with the
(insufficiently edited) text, which I dug out today. Perhaps folks can
return the favor by commenting and helping me to make sense of it.
[f.19r] Incipit ordo matrimonii. Bannis tribus factis sacerdos inquirat si
eos legitimos esse constat'. Mox omnis eos qui deinceps calumpnia sive
accusationem qua debeant separari super illos intu...nt [wax or water blot
here] anathematizet. Deinde utrique eorum virum prius postea mulierem ut
velit alter alterum habere in coniungem interoget. Quos concorditer
respondentes "volumus." Invectat divinis sermonibus huic sacramento
congruentibus ita dicens videlicet predictus viro "Et ego eam tibi trado
sanam egram[?]ne servandam omnibus diebus vite tue sis ei fidelis." Et
virum mulieri eisdem verbis commitat. Tunc erepositis anulo et [a sum of
money] benedicat dicens "creator et consecrator humani [f.19v ] generis
dator gratie spiritualis eterne deus emitte spiritum sanctum tuum super
hunc anulum argentum et aurum ut armati virtute celesti protectione
muniatur a meilio[?]. Per Christum dominum nostrum Amen. Deinde aspergatur
aqua benedicta super anulum et argentum. Tunc accipiens argentum illud, vel
aurum, a sacerdote vel ab alio, mittens illud in mani mulieris dicens quod
de super manum suam dicat sacerdote perloquente ". N. de hoc argento vel
auro te doto. et de corpore meo te honorifico. et de me. et de omnibus
bonis meis que habeo et habeto te dominam constituo." Tunc postmodum
sacerdos sponsum anulum tenentem doceat dicere preloquens "N. de hoc anulo
te sponso et de corpore meo te honorifico." In nomine patris et filii et
spiritus sancti Amen
"Here begins the ceremony of matrimony . . . " The priest (sacerdos) asks
the banns (3 times), and instructions are given as to what happens if
anyone comes forward with an impediment. At the time of the nuptials, the
texts says, he (presume: priest) ought to examine them, first the man,
then the woman, and ask if they are planning to live together "in
coniungem." To which they reply, "We will." He should then bring them in
[? Invectat: i.e. to the church?] for the exchange of oaths. And the
aforesaid (priest) says to the man "And I commit to you that entire ? that
I will preserve you all the days of your life [if?] you will be faithful to
this[?]" - and the man should join himself to the woman in these words.
Then taking up a ring and a sum of money he (priest_ should bless them
saying "Creator and Consecrator of mankind, Giver of spiritual grace,
Eternal God, send out your Holy Spirit over this silver ring and gold that
they might be armed [?] with heavenly virtue . . . . [?] Through Christ
our Lord, Amen. Then he should sprinkle holy water over the ring and the
money. Then [the man] taking that silver, or gold, from the priest or from
someone else and putting it in the hand of the woman he should say this
over her hand, following the priest, "N-, with this silver or gold I endow
you, and with my body I honor you; and of me, and of all my goods that I
have and will have, I make you lady." Then afterward the priest should
teach the one wearing the betrothal ring to say after him, "N-, with this
ring I marry you and with my body I honor you." In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen.
After that, mass is said. 2 ff. are then missing.
So: how typical is this? I have no idea. I love the money part, it's
very Picard. Does that occur elsewhere?
Carol Symes
Tutor in History and Literature
Harvard University
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