On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Stephen A. Allen wrote:
> At 11:19 AM 2/14/98 -0500, Tom Izbicki wrote:
> >Two semi-related comments / questions:
> >
> >I have been told that the liturgical books Charlemagne
> received from Rome
> >were little used in practice. I never have gotten round
> to checking on
> >this. Has anyone any references to offer on this matter?
> They might be
> >useful when I introduce my seminar to liturgics.
> >
>
> My understanding is that Charlemagne asked very
> specifically for the pure and original sacramentary as
> developed by Gregory the Great. In this case, he seems to
> have out-Romaned the Romans, who had no such book on hand.
> (In fact, it is fair to ask whether such a book ever existed.)
>
> I have found that the best introduction to medieval liturgy
> is still:
>
> Cyrille Vogel, Medieval Liturgy: In Introduction to the
> Sources, trans. William Storey and Niels Rasmussen
> (Washington DC: The Pastoral Press, 1986).
>
> It is suitable for a graduate seminar, and contains enough
> bibliography to keep anyone busy for years to come. In re
> recent discussions, it also contains a lengthy look at the
> liturgical readings.
>
> Stephen A. Allen
> The Medieval Institute
> University of Notre Dame
> Notre Dame, IN 46556-5692
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
Vogel is indeed the best place to start; but let me just issue a friendly
warning here about liturgical history: proceed w/caution-- you are
entering a minefield of great difficulty and highly technical minutiae.
The issue of the reception of the Hadrianum sent by Pope Hadrian I
(772-795) is complex. It had a wide distribution but the fact that the
Hadrianum was hardly a complete Sacramentary invited folks to alter and
supplement it which ensured a vast amount of regional diversity and the
survival of local practices despite Carolingian uniformalizing policies.
Thus even such elementary necessities as a uniform liturgical calender--
at least for major holidays-- remained an ideal often breached in
practice. I think I mentioned at one time problems w/the calculation of
Ember days. But even something as basic as Easter was problematic. Ademar
of Chabannes in the early 11th cent. mentions the practice of certain
christians in W. Aquittaine who follow the "Jewish heresy" with respect
to the celebration of Easter. That is, by using the lunar calender, they
celebrate Easter on Passover. Other Carolingian efforts at imposing
uniformity also met w/mixed results (ie canon law). Finally, I believe
that some yrs back Fordam U had made avail. a rather extensive biblio. on
medieval liturgy. Does anyone know if it's still avail.?
Michael F. Hynes
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