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For Michael Wright, and others interested, here are a few places to start when looking at Anglo-Saxon penitential literature. For a good general introduction and numerous texts in English, see John H. McNeill and Helena Gamer, _Medieval_Handbooks_of_Penance_:_ _A_Translation_of_the_Principal_"Libri_poenitentiales"_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1938, 1990). The translations here are very good, although McNeill and Gamer leave some of the dirtier bits in the original Latin. For texts in Latin, there are three old, but still useful, books to consider: Friedrich Wilhelm Hermann Wasserschleben, _Die_Bussord- nungen_der_abendlandischen_Kirche_ (Halle: Graeger Verlag, 1851); iehn H. McNeill and Helena Gamer, _Medieval_Handbooks_of_Penance_:_Hermann Josef Schmitz, _Die_Bussbucher_und_der_Bussdiciplin_der_ _Kirche_nach_handschriftlichen_Quellen_dargestellt_ (Mainz: Franz Kirchheim, 1883; reprint Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1958); and ibid., _Die_Bussbucher_und_das_kanonische_Busverfahren_ (same publication info.). The two volume by Schmitz are really vols. one and two of a single work, but I have more frequently found them listed as two distinct works. These three editions have been supplanted in some cases. For a good description of the main surviving penitentials and the most recent editions, see Cyrille Vogel, _Les_"Libri_paenitentiales"_, Typologie des sources du moyen age occidental, vol. 27 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1978). Finally, a good study of the specifically Anglo-Saxon penitentials is Allen J. Frantzen, _The_Literature_of_Penance_in_Anglo-Saxon_England_ (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1983). Please forgive me if I made any egregious spelling or factual errors here. I hope this is useful. --Stephen Allen, University of Notre Dame [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%