(“On the Twelve Abuses of the World”), also titled simply ''De duodecim abusivis'', is a

Hiberno-Latin Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a learned style of literary Latin first used and subsequently spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century. Vocabulary and influence Hiberno-Latin was notab ...

treatise on social and political morality written by an anonymous

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

author between 630 and 700, or between 630 and 650. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the work was very popular throughout Europe.

Origin

In the manuscripts, the work is frequently ascribed to a named author, most commonly Saint Cyprian or

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

; this led to early editions being published among the works of these authors. In 1905, however,

John Bagnell Bury John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...

pointed out that it quoted from the

Latin Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...

, which was incompatible with an attribution to Cyprian or Augustine. He pointed out that the ninth abuse was quoted almost entirely in the ''

Collectio canonum Hibernensis The ''Collectio canonum Hibernensis'' ( en, Irish Collection of Canon law) (or ''Hib'') is a systematic Latin collection of Continental canon law, scriptural and patristic excerpts, and Irish synodal and penitential decrees. ''Hib'' is thought t ...

'', where it was ascribed to

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

; and that extracts from the same section were quoted in a letter addressed by Cathwulf, circa A.D. 775, to King Charles the Great, and preserved in a ninth-century manuscript. He concluded that this evidence “proves that the treatise is older than A.D., 700, and strongly suggests that its origin is Irish, that it was ascribed in Ireland to Patrick, and travelled to Gaul under his name.” In his 1909 edition, Siegmund Hellmann ( de) adduced further evidence, establishing it as the work of an anonymous Irish author of the 7th century. Since then, its author is conventionally known as Pseudo-Cyprian.

Sources

The text is based largely on the Bible, containing “over thirty citations from the Old Testament and twenty-three from the New excluding the Gospels, with nineteen more from the Gospels”; these citations are made from the Latin Vulgate. Ever since Hellmann’s edition, the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

has also been regarded as an important source. Hellmann regarded the ordering of the text into twelve abuses as a reversal of the twelve steps of the ladder of humility from the seventh chapter of the Rule. Breen thought it was more probable that it drew instead from the ''Regula Magistri'', a different text which was itself a source for that chapter in the rule of St. Benedict. The text also seems to have drawn on various of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

, although none are cited by name; particularly,

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

, Rufinus,

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

, Cassian and

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

. Hellmann thought that the text drew on St Isidore. Almost everyone agreed with this, but Breen did not.

Twelve abuses

''De duodecim abusivis'' condemns the following twelve abuses:

Influence

The work was very influential, both directly and through the '' Hibernensis''; especially the ninth abuse, the unjust king. There is some direct evidence for the text's popularity in tenth-century England. Bishop

Æthelwold of Winchester Æthelwold of Winchester (also Aethelwold and Ethelwold, 904/9 – 984) was Bishop of Winchester from 963 to 984 and one of the leaders of the tenth-century monastic reform movement in Anglo-Saxon England. Monastic life had declined to ...

is known to have donated a copy to the

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

house.Sawyer no. 1448
See Michael Lapidge, "Surviving booklists in Anglo-Saxon England." ''Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. Basic Readings'', ed. Mary P. Richards. London, 1994. 87–167: 117–9.

Ælfric of Eynsham Ælfric of Eynsham ( ang, Ælfrīc; la, Alfricus, Elphricus; ) was an English abbot and a student of Æthelwold of Winchester, and a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres. H ...

drew on a version included in

Abbo of Fleury Abbo or Abbon of Fleury ( la, Abbo Floriacensis; – 13 November 1004), also known as Saint Abbo or Abbon, was a monk and abbot of Fleury Abbey in present-day Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire near Orléans, France. Life Abbo was born near Orléan ...

's for his Old English treatise , in which the section on the was translated whole. Hellmann points out the extensive influence of the work upon Carolingian writings, such as the

mirrors for princes Mirrors for princes ( la, specula principum) or mirrors of princes, are an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, the late middle ages and the Renaissance. ...

, and later political literature.

Notes

References

Weblink

Monastic Manuscript Project, ''De duodecim abusivis saeculi''.
* Aidan Breen, 'Towards a critical edition of ''De XII Abusivis'' : Introductory essays with a provisional edition of the text and accompanied by an English translation', Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland) PhD thesis, Department of History, 1988, pp 488
PDF online at TARA.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duodecim Abusivis Saeculi 7th century in Ireland Medieval literature Wisdom literature 7th-century Latin books