medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Erik,
I don't know (and would not know) of an edition, but can offer some rough &
dirty comments:
Your text is an invocation of five saints grouped frequently together
though usually together with several others: in Germany, from the 14th
century on, the most common grouping is called "vierzehn Nothelfer" ('14
auxiliary saints' or 'holy helpers') and includes:
- Achatius (against despair and fear of death, persecution and fire)
- Aegidius (for a successful confession of sins), or Leonard (captivity,
mental illness)
- Barbara (in the hour of death)
- Blasius (wounds, diseases of the throat)
- Christophorus (against sudden death)
- Cyriacus (evil spirits, temptations in the moment of death)
- Dionysius (against headaches, of course!), or Sixtus (invoced in
pregnancy; back and spine)
- Erasmus (stomach, bowels), or Nicolaus (universalist)
- Eustachius (universalist)
- George (cattle disease, dangers of war)
- Catharina (mouth, tongue, stammer)
- Margareta (childbed)
- Pantaleon (medical universalist)
- Vitus (seizures, epilepsy)
I have been so completely out of contact with any decent language (not
counting business English as decent) that I will rather not try to emend
your Latin text, but I can try to give a very rough translation:
>Dyonisius radius grecie
> Fide regnum illustrans francie
>O georgi miles egregie
> Hostem vincens armis potencie
>Xpofore tinctus in sanguine
> Christum ferens humeris flumine
>Blasi presul vivens purissime
> Plagas curans carnis et anime
>O egidi cum feris habitans
> Regis crimine Karoli recitans (!)
>Impetrate que nunc sancti flagitans
> Apud deum ne sim periclitans.
Dionysius, light of Greece,
illuminating with your faith the kingdom of France,
O George, outstanding soldier,
defeating the Foe of (with?) powerful arms,
Christophorus, tainted with blood,
bearing Christ on your shoulder through the river,
Blasius, bishop of most saintly living,
healing wounds of body and soul,
O Egidius, living together with wild beasts,
reading the crime (if crimine is to be emended crimen) of Charlemagne,
You (all five), who are now saints, pray and implore
God ('before God'), so that I will not perish.
I am not sure what to make of the genitive "potentie" (v.4) or the ablative
crimine (v.10). As regards "Charlemagne's crime" associated with Aegidius,
there was a popular legend according to which Charles had committed a crime
so grave (i.e. his incestuous relation with Gisela) that he did not want to
confess it to any human being. He asked Aegidius to pray for him, and one
day during mass an angel brought a letter to the saint, where the crime was
written down and where confirmation was given that the saint's prayer had
been heard and that the king's sin would be forgiven if it was confessed
and not continued.
Kind regards,
Otfried
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Otfried Lieberknecht
[log in to unmask]
http://www.lieberknecht.de
D-80337 Muenchen, Lindwurmstr. 127
phone +49 (0)89 76775703, mobile +49 (0)1706771396
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