{{Italic title
''De abbatibus'' (fully ''Carmen de abbatibus'', meaning "Song of the Abbots") is a
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
poem in eight hundred and nineteen
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...
s by the ninth-century English monk Æthelwulf (''Ædiluulf''), a name meaning "noble wolf", which the author sometimes Latinises as ''Lupus Clarus''. It recounts the history of his monastery (possibly at Bywell, or, less probably, Crayke, twelve miles north of York) from its foundation through its six first abbots and ending with Æthelwulf's two visions. It is addressed to the Bishop of Lindisfarne, Ecgberht, and dates to between 803 and 821.
The poem exists in three manuscripts:
*''L'':
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, Cotton MS Tiberius D IV, Part 2, ff. 158v-166r; originally in Winchester Cathedral I, f. 108v. This manuscript also contains a copy of
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
's ''
Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The (Latin for "Historical Monuments of Germany"), frequently abbreviated MGH, is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of parts of Northwestern, Central and Souther ...
'' (1881), but it was based on a bad text from
Jean Mabillon
Dom Jean Mabillon , (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics.
Early life
Mabillon w ...
. Thomas Arnold produced a superior edition in 1882, but from only two of the manuscripts.
Ludwig Traube Ludwig Traube may refer to:
*Ludwig Traube (physician) (1818–1876), German physician and co-founder of experimental pathology in Germany
*Ludwig Traube (palaeographer) (1861–1907), his son, German paleographer
{{hndis, Traube, Ludwig ...
produced a respected edition of his own, but based on the poor version of Dümmler. The definitive
critical edition
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...
, based on all three manuscripts, a reinterpreted manuscript history, and critical analysis of Traube's version, was produced in 1967 by Alistair Campbell and included an English translation.
''De abbatibus'' is, like all Anglo-Latin poetry, constructed out of borrowings and imitations, yet it is not completely unoriginal, and though history has at times been subordinated to a literary trope, it is not without eloquence. Prominent among the works on which Æthelwulf relied are those of
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
, though Dümmler also found references to
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
and
Cyprianus Gallus
Cyprianus Gallus or Cyprian the Gaul (fl. c. 397–430) is the conventional name of the poet who wrote a Late Latin epic versification of the historical books of the Old Testament based on the Old Latin translation, although only his version ...
. The chief Anglo-Latin poets from which Æthelwulf gleaned are
Aldhelm
Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex ...
,
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
, and
Alcuin
Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert of York, Archbishop Ecgbert at Yor ...