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TITUS AND VESPASIAN

OR

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

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SIEGE OF JERUSALEM.

Efjerion MS. 2781 , /. 190 . XIVth cent .

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OR

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

IN RHYMED COUPLETS

Edited from the London and Oxford MSS.

J. A. HERBERT

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LONDON :

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS & SONS,
PARLIAMENT MANSIONS, VICTORIA STREET, S.W.

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TITUS AND VESPASIAN.

®f n Ko^urgii; <£(ut>.

260

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DUKE OP DEVONSHIRE, K.G.

DUKE OP BUCCLEUCH, K.G., K.T.

DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G.

DUKE OF SUTHERLAND, K.G.

MARQUESS OF BATH.

EARL OF PEMBROKE AND MONTGOMERY,G.C.V.O.
EARL OF CRAWFORD, K.T.

EARL OF ROSEBERY, K.G.

EARL COWPER, K.G.

EARL OF CARYSFORT, K.P.

KARL OF POWIS.

EARL BEAUCHAMP, K.C.M.G.

EARL BROWNLOW.

EARL OF CAWDOR.

EARL OF ELLESMERE.

EARL OF CREWE..

THE LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURY.

J^ORD ZOUCHE.

LORD WINDSOR.

LORD AMHERST OF HACKNEY.

HON. ALBAN GEORGE HENRY GIBBS, M.P.
RIGHT HON. ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR.

* RT. HON. MOUNTSTUART GRANT DUFF, G.C.S.T.
8IR WILLIAM REYN ELL ANSON, BART., M.P.
SIR THOMAS BROOKE, BART.

8IR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B.

SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B.
CHARLES BUTLER, ESQ.

INGRAM BYWATER, ESQ.

GEORGE BRISCOE EYRE, ESQ.

ALFRED HENRY HUTH, ESQ., V.P.

ANDREW LANG, ESQ.

CHARLES BRINSLEY MARLAY, ESQ.

JOHN MURRAY, ESQ., Trtamnr.

EDWARD JAMES STANLEY, ESQ., M.P.

HENRY YATES THOMPSON, ESQ.

REV. EDWARD TINDAL TURNER.

VICTOR WILLIAM BATES VAN Dfi WEYER, ESQ,
W. ALDIS WRIGHT, ESQ.

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Introduction.

HE poem which is printed here for the first time
begins with an introductory passage treating of
the ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and the subsequent events, actual or
legendary, in Jerusalem. It then proceeds to
tell how Nathan was sent by Pilate to Rome to
deprecate the Emperor’s wrath ; how a contrary wind took him
instead to Bordeaux in Gascony, where Vespasian was then king
under the Emperor Nero ; how his report of the miracles of Christ
led to the mission of Vespasian’s steward Velosian to Jerusalem,
from whence he returned with Veronica ; how Vespasian was
cured of leprosy, and of a plague of wasps in his nose, by gazing on
Veronica’s miraculous portrait of the Saviour; and how in gratitude
he vowed revenge on the murderers of Christ. The second half of
the poem narrates the fulfilment of this vow by the seven years’
siege and capture of Jerusalem, and by the, merciless treatment
dealt out to its defenders.

The main theme of this work— -the capture of Jerusalem by
Vespasian and Titus, regarded as the supreme act of God’s
vengeance on the Jews for the death of His Son— was very
popular in Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Nor
is this to be wondered at : its connection with the Gospel-story
entitled any embodiment of it to rank among religious literature,
while at the same time the spirit of vindictive savagery which
usually characterised its treatment was in harmony with the
dominant instinct of a militant age ; moreover, it served as a peg

6

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vi

Introduction.

whereon legendary matter could be freely hung. It would be an
endless task to set forth in detail all the various forms in which the
story has appeared ; but a brief sketch of the principal lines of its
development seems appropriate as a preface to the present version.

The historical basis is of course the contemporary record of
Josephus, which was used by Eusebius 1 and other Church historians,
and became part of the common fund of knowledge among Christian
writers. Josephus figures largely in the present poem, both as an
avowed authority and as one of the chief actors in the story ; and a
summary of his narrative (though hardly needed, perhaps, in view
of the well-deserved popularity which his works still enjoy) may
help to show at a glance the degree of fidelity with which he has
been followed. His version of the facts which concern us is
briefly this : — *

During the reign of Tiberius, Pilate as governor of Judaea
aroused the wrath of the Jews by introducing images of Caesar
into Jerusalem, by spending the sacred treasure on an aqueduct,
and by dispersing with great and indiscriminate slaughter a crowd
which had assembled in protest against the latter act. He yielded
to their demand for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but failed to
placate them by this concession ; and when he suppressed with
bloodshed a popular movement among the Samaritans, they
appealed to Vitellius, president of Syria, who sent him to Rome
to answer their charges. Under the succeeding governors, dis-
order and disaffection spread throughout Judaea, culminating under
Gessius Floras in overt rebellion against the Roman yoke. At
first the rebels gained some successes, until Nero in alarm appointed

1 Hist Eccl. lib. i. cap. 5 — lib. iii. cap. 10, passim (Migne, Patrol. Gr., xx.
cols. 81-246).

* In the Jewish War, ii. 9-22, and more fully in the Antiquities of the Jews,
xviii.-xx., Josephus traces the history of the Jews from the governorship of Pilate to the
outbreak of open revolt against Rome. The course of the war itself is set forth in the
Jewish War, iii.-vii.

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Introduction .

• •
VII

Vespasian to the chief command against them. Vespasian marched
to Ptolemais (Acre), where his son Titus soon joined him with
reinforcements. After a long siege he took Jotapata, which was
stubbornly defended under the leadership of Josephus himself*
When the town was taken, Josephus escaped and hid with forty
others in a cave, but his hiding-place was soon discovered, and he
was invited to surrender, with assurances that his life would be
spared. His companions were indignant at the idea of his yielding,
and threatened to kill him ; but he adroitly suggested that they
should all die by one another’s hands, drawing lots to decide the
order ; and when it happened, “ whether by chance or by God’s
providence,” that he and one other were left to the last, he induced
his companion to surrender with him to the Romans . 1 During the
siege of Jotapata Vespasian had sent Trajan and Titus to reduce
the neighbouring stronghold of Japha, which they took by storm,
slaughtering all the inhabitants except women and infants.*
Josephus won favour with Vespasian by predicting that he and
Titus would be emperor successively, and by convincing him that
he hsid foretold the precise day of the fall of Jotapata and his own
capture ; and he was kindly treated henceforth, and frequently
used as an emissary to the Jews during the remainder of the war.

After an interval of over a year, spent in the reduction of
Joppa, Gamala, and other places, Vespasian prepared to march on
Jerusalem, but changed his plans on hearing of the death of Nero,
and decided to wait for instructions from the new Emperor. Galba
and Otho followed in quick succession, and when Vitellius claimed
the empire, Vespasian allowed his soldiers to put him forward as a
rival claimant The operations against the Jews were suspended
for a time ; but when, on reaching Alexandria, Vespasian heard

1 A curious distortion of this incident occurs in the present poem, 1 L 3849-3901.

3 Cf. 11 3757-2787, to which the fall of Masada (Jewish War, viL 8, 9) also doubt-
less contributed a suggestion.

b 2

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Introduction .

• • •

Till

the news of Vitellius’ death and of his own proclamation as
Emperor, he sent Titus back to finish the Jewish war, and betook
himself to Rome. Titus advanced without delay against Jerusalem,
and proceeded to invest it. Ever since the war began, that city
had been in a state of confusion and the scene of continual strife
between factions ; a vast concourse of refugees had flocked there,
including numerous hordes of robbers, and no adequate prepara-
tions had been made against a siege. But the place was defended
with great courage and resourcefulness, though the faction-fights
broke out afresh whenever the besiegers relaxed their efforts.
Titus made repeated attempts, through the mediation of Josephus,
to induce the inhabitants to surrender ; but his overtures were
rejected, and after a six months’ siege (during which the defenders
were reduced to such dire extremities of famine that a wretched
woman killed and ate her own child ) 1 the Romans took the city by
storm and laid it waste utterly, burning down the Temple and
rasing everything to the ground except three towers and part of
the wall. After rewarding his army, Titus returned to Rome and
celebrated his triumph jointly with Vespasian, leaving the subjuga-
tion of the Jews to be completed by Bassus and his successor
Silva.

For the first few centuries of the Christian era this version
sufficed, representing Vespasian and Titus as unconscious instru-
ments for exacting vengeance from the Jews for the death of
Christ. But the interweaving of the story of Veronica and her
wonder-working portrait of the Saviour transformed them into
willing and zealous agents, fired with gratitude for a miraculous
cure. The development of the Veronica-legend has been traced

1 In the present poem cannibalism is represented as an everyday occurrence
during the last years of the siege ; an exaggeration through which the ghastly story of
Mary and her child, though told with much circumstance, not to say gusto, loses
something of its horror. See 11 . 3394-3518.

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Introduction*

ix

with characteristic thoroughness by Professor Ernst von Dobschtitz,
and the reader who wishes to study the subject minutely must be
referred to his admirable work. 1 It will be enough here to mention
a few salient points.

The first germ appears in a description by Eusebius, 1 written
early in the fourth century, of a bronze group which he saw at
Paneas (Caesarea Philippi) before a house wherein, he was told,
had lived the woman who was cured of an issue of blood by
touching the hem of Christ’s garment. The group was said to
have been erected by her in memory of the miracle. It consisted
of a woman kneeling in supplication before a man who stood
upright with hand outstretched towards her ; at his feet a strange
plant, growing up to the border of his cloak, and famed for its
healing powers. Here, as in the Gospels,* the woman is unnamed,
and a Western tradition, which first appears in a sermon falsely
ascribed to St. Ambrose, 4 identified her with Martha, the sister
of Lazarus ; but in Eastern Christendom the name Berenice,
Beronice or Veronica, at first applied to the Syro-phenician
woman's daughter (Mark vii. 25), was from an early period given
to the woman afflicted with an issue of blood ; the first instance
of this latter application being in the so-called “Acta Pilati”
(which probably dates back to the middle of the fourth century),
where she bears witness for Jesus at His trial before Pilate.* So
the ingenious etymology of Veronica from vera icon must be
abandoned.

1 Christvsbilder : Untersuthungen sur ehristSthen Legende (Leipzig, 1899. Geb-
hardt and Hamack’s Texte und Untersuehungen, Neue Folge, Bd. iii.), pp. 197-263,
*50**335*. 157***203**.

1 Hist EccL vii. 18 (Dobschtitz, p. 252* ; Migne, Patrol. Gr. xx. coL 680).

s Matth. ix. so ; Mark v. 25 j Luke viiL 43.

4 Dobschtitz, p. 256* ; Migne, Patrol lat. xvii col. 698.

* Dobschtitz, pp. 203, 253* ; Tischendorf, Evang. Apocr. 1853, pp. 226, 377.

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X

Introduction .

Eusebius’ account of the statue at Paneas was repeated by
subsequent writers, sometimes with curious variations in detail.
The most interesting of these versions is that of the Byzantine
chronicler Joannes Malalas ( ctrc . 540). 1 According to him, Herod
came to Paneas full of remorse for the death of St. John the
Baptist, and was met by Veronica, a wealthy woman of that city,
with a petition narrating her miraculous cure and asking leave to
erect a statue of her Healer. Leave was granted, and a statue of
bronze, mingled with gold and silver, was set up in the middle of
the city ; which statue (Malalas goes on) remains in Paneas to this
day, though moved long ago from its original site into a sacred
house of prayer.

The Paneas-legend survived down to the fourteenth century,
but it never had the widespread popularity which was quickly
claimed and persistently retained by its more than probable off-
shoot the Veronica-legend proper, in which the statue is replaced
by a portable likeness or other relic of the Saviour. The latter
story appears first in a Latin text entitled “ Cura Sanitatis Tiberii,”
which is found in one MS. of the eighth century and many of later
date, and the composition of which in its original form is assigned
by Professor von Dobschtitz* to the sixth century. The following
abstract will serve to show its ancestral relations to the present
poem : —

The Emperor Tiberius, being afflicted with a grievous disease,
and hearing of the miracles of Jesus Christ, sent the chief priest
Volusian to bring Him from Jerusalem, saying “ Whether he be
God or man he will help us.” After a voyage of a year and three
months Volusian reached Jerusalem. His first inquiries led him
to arrest Pilate and charge him with the death of Christ. He then

1 Chronographia, lib. x. (Dobschiiu, p. 261*; Migne, Patrol. Gr. xcvii. coL 363).

* See pp. 209-214, i57**-203**. A critical edition of the text is on pp. 163**-
189**.

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xi

asked for a likeness of our Lord, and was told that a woman at
Tyre, named Veronica , 1 had been cured by Him of an issue of
blood three years before, and had painted His portrait, with His
knowledge, while He yet remained on earth (“ ob amorem ejus
imaginem ipsius sibi depinxit, dum ipse maneret in corpore, ipso
Jhesu sciente ”). Veronica was sent for ; at first she denied
possession of the portrait, but under pressure she produced it from
its hiding-place at the head of her bed, and Volusian re-embarked
with it for Rome, taking her and Pilate with him. The return
journey took only nine months. On hearing Volusian’s report
Tiberius banished Pilate to Ameria in Tuscany. He was then
shown the portrait, adored it, and was immediately cured. After
rewarding Veronica and enshrining the portrait in gold and
precious stones, he received baptism, and spent the rest of his
life in endeavouring to enforce Christianity upon the Senate. The
concluding part of the text deals with the contest of Simon Magus
with SS. Peter and Paul before Nero, and does not concern us
except for two points, viz. (i) Nero summons Pilate to Rome to
give his testimony, and then sends him back to Ameria, where he
perished miserably (by his own hand, according to some of the
MSS.) ; (2) Pilate’s letter to Claudius,* reporting the crucifixion
and resurrection, and throwing the blame on the Jews, is sought
out from the archives and read by Nero.

1 In one passage she is given an alternative name, Basilla (“ mulierem Veronicam
quae Basilla dicitur ”), which has given rise to much ingenious conjecture, but is
probably only a corruption of Basilissa, though Professor Karl Pearson’s suggestion
{Die Fronica, Strassburg, 1887, p. 5) of vexillum, as a translation of Qepevbcri, is
tempting. See Dobschutz, pp. 210, 177**, and C. W. Goodwin, The Anglo-Saxon
Legends of St. Andrew and Si. Veronica (Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1851),
p. viii.

* The author is regardless alike of consistency and of historical accuracy. He
has expressly told us, a little previously, that Claudius was one of the successors of
Tiberius, in whose time Pilate ceased to be governor of Judaea.

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Introduction .

Here we have already (i) the mission of Volusian, (a) the
miraculous cure of a Roman Emperor and his conversion to
Christianity, (3) the punishment of Pilate. The siege of Jerusalem
has not yet been linked on to the story ; nor, be it observed, is the
portrait miraculous in its origin. We are carried several stages
further by the next surviving version, the “ Vindicta Salvatoris,”
which exists in MSS. dating back to the tenth century, and which
was probably composed in Aquitaine about the year 700. 1 An
Anglo-Saxon translation is extant, which was made at least as early
as the eleventh century.* It may be summarised as follows

Nathan, son of Naum, on his way from Judsea to Rome with
tribute for the Emperor Tiberius (who was leprous), was driven
out of his course by the winds and carried to Bordeaux (“ Bur-
gidalla ”) in Aquitaine, where Titus reigned as a petty king under
Tiberius. Titus was afflicted with cancer in the nose ; and recog-
nising the ship as Jewish he sent for Nathan and asked him for a
remedy. Nathan could give none, but told him of Christ’s miracles
and of His passion and resurrection. Titus was much moved,
and inveighed against Tiberius for leaving the Jews unpunished ;
at once the cancer fell from his face and he was restored to
health, and so were all the sick in that place. He made Nathan
baptize him, sent for his ally Vespasian, and with him led an
army into Judaea. Archelaus slew himself in despair at the news
of their coming,* leaving the defence of the country to his son
and the other kings. For seven years Jerusalem held out, but
at last, overcome by famine, twelve thousand of the defenders
killed themselves, and the rest surrendered. Titus and Vespasian

1 Dobschiitz, pp. 214-217, 276*. For the text see Tischendor£ p. 448.

* Published, with a modem English rendering, by C. W. Goodwin, The Anglo-
Saxon Legends of St Andrew and St. Veronica, Cambridge, 1851.

* Doubtless the source of 11 3829-3836 of this poem, though Archelaus 1 suicide
is there put at the end of the siege of Jerusalem.

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xiii

put some of them to death, and sold others at thirty for a penny in
requital for the betrayal of Christ. They next made inquiry for
a portrait of Christ, and found that Veronica had one ; then, having
secured Pilate in prison, they resigned the direction of affairs to
Velosian, whom Tiberius sent to Judaea at their request.

From this point the story begins in substance to resemble
the “Cura Sanitatis Tiberii,” but there are many differences in
detail. Among the witnesses examined by Velosian is Joseph of
Arimathaea, who tells how he was imprisoned by the Jews for
burying Christ, but was miraculously released by Christ himself . 1
Veronica’s portrait is usually spoken of as “ vultus Domini ” or
“imago Domini,” but there is a good deal of vagueness about its
nature and origin. According to one version it is not a portrait at
all, but part of the Saviour’s raiment : “ Ea habebat particulars de
veste Salvatoris et summo loco ponebat, et aestimabat quasi esset

ipsa Christi facies et [Volusianus] existimavit esse vultum

Domini ipsius, etsi minime erat, sed erat vestis quam Salvator ipse
portaverat.” As with Titus, the healing of Tiberius is accom-
panied by that of all infirm persons present. Tiberius is baptized
by Nathan, and Pilate is imprisoned at Damascus. The most
ancient text ends with Tiberius* retirement into a hermitage in
Septimania, leaving the government to Velosian.

Our attention is next claimed by a version in Latin prose,
which exists in MSS. of the twelfth and succeeding centuries.
Professor von Dobschtitz* assigns its composition to the middle
of the eleventh century, and regards it, with good reason, as the
parent of the many settings in prose and verse which began to

1 This incident, which is taken from the Gospel of Nicodemus, occurs in the
present poem, 1L 507-662.

a Pp. 230-234, 240-1, 2 78**9 *. A summary of the text, with copious extracts, is
in Mone’s Anuiger fur Kundt der teutschcn Vorzeit, viL 1838, cols. 526-9; and a
thirteenth century French prose translation was edited by £dllestand Du M&il,
Points Populairts Latinos du moyen &ge, 1847, pp. 359-368.

C

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Introduction.

XiV

appear towards the end of the twelfth century, in Latin, French,
German, and other languages. As the title “De Pylato ” indicates,
the central figure is Pilate, and it is here that wd first find the
legendary account of his parentage and early life 1 which afterwards
became so popular, and which is embodied in many of the later
versions of the Titus-and-Vespasian story, including the present
poem ( 11 . 1493*^-1578). We are told how King Tyrus of Mainz,
overtaken by night while hunting near Bamberg, learnt by con-
sulting the stars that he would that night beget a child destined to
rule vast regions ; how the miller’s daughter Pila bore him a son,
whom she named Pilatus after herself and her father Atus, not
knowing the king’s name ; how Pilate was sent, when three years
old, to be brought up at his father’s court ; how he murdered his
half-brother out of jealousy, and was sent in ptmishment to Rome
as hostage for a tribute due from Tyrus ; how he murdered his
fellow-hostage Paginus, son of King Paginus of France, and was
Sent by the Romans to govern Pontus, an island ill-famed for the
unruly violence of its inhabitants; how he quelled them, earning
the name Pontius; how Herod invited him to Jerusalem and made
him governor; and how they became estranged through Pilate’s
intriguing at Rome, bat were reconciled by his Sending Jesus to
Herod for trial. After the Passion, Pilate sent Adan* to exon-
erate him in the eyes of Tiberius. Adan was cast on the shore of
Galicia ia Spain, near Compostella (“ in Galiciam mittitur, ubi nunc

* Pilate literature is of vast extent. It is only necessary here, however, to
refer to Eta Mdril, op. tit. pp. 340-368, for a comprehensive study of the legend, to
which tnoffe fecelit research ha* added little of real moment ; and to "F. J. Fumivall,
Early English Poems and Lives of Saints , with those of the wicked birds Pilate and
Judas (Philological Society, 1862), for an English rhymed version. Perhaps 6. A.
Muller’s Pontius Pilatus (Stuttgart, 1888) should also be mentioned ; it contains s
fairly extensive bibliography.

1 So Mone, Adan us (perhaps h comtptidn of Nathan?). Shttie -MSS. have
Adranus, others Adriunus ; the Legevda Attrea (ed. Gfaeste, 1846, 5. 259) has-ARmfuis.
See Dobschiitz, p. 231.

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XV

ex omni natione Cbristianorum suffragia beati Jacobi apostoli pe-
tuntur ”), and was threatened with death by Vespesian, who was
monarch there under Tiberius, unless he could cure him of the
wasps 1 in his nose. Adan bade him believe in Jesus ; he did so,
and was immediately cured, and vowed vengeance on the Jews for
the death of Jesus.

The story now goes off into what is plainly a derivative of the
“ Cura Sanitatjs Tiberii.” Tiberius, hoping that Jesus will cure his
leprosy, sends Volusian * to Jerusalem in search of Him. Veronica
tells Volusia^ of the Passion, and of her portrait of the Saviour,
which is here for the first time explicitly stated to be of miraculous
origin Cf»«-Desiring a portrait of our Lord for her comfort when He
was preaching in distant parts, Veronica was on her way to a painter
with a linen cloth, when she met our Lord Himself; He asked her
what she wanted, took the cloth, and returned it imprinted with
His face.* She goes to Rome with Volusian, and cures Tiberius,
Pilate is brought to Rome, and sentenced to a shameful death ; he
takes a knife and kills himself, thus dying (as Tiberius remarks) by
the most shameful of deaths . 4 His body is thrown into the Tiber,
but floods and storms follow, so it is taken up and flung into the
Rhone at Vienne (“Vigenna, quasi via Gehennae ”) ; but evil

1 This seems to be the earliest appearance of the wasps, which replace the cancer
that afflicts Titus in the “ Vindjcta Salvatoris,” and supply an absurd etymology for
Vespasian’s name: cf. 11 . 1175-1184 below. They were doubtless suggested, as Mr.
J 3 . L. D. Ward (Q at. of Romances , i. p, 9*8) has pointed out, by the Rabbinical legend
of a fly sent by God to punish Titus for his desecration of the Temple by flying up his
nose into his brain and there swelling to the size of a pigeon.

* So some of the MSS. (see Dobschutz, p. 333), and so Ltgtnda Aurta, y. 33a ;
Mone and Du Meril have Albanus.

* The version on 11 . 1989-2032 below is evidently based on this, though ip it the
meeting is on the Via Dolorosa, as in most of the later versions, and the Virgin Mary
intervenes, as in the chanson de geste which we shall notice presently. For other
versions see Dobschiltz, pp. 249-352.

4 See below, 1L 4396-4406, where this is put into Vespasian’s mouth. Historically,
nothing is known of Pilate’s late after his dismissal from Judaea (above, ,p. yj.), unless

c a

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xvi

Introduction .

spirits and tempests mark its presence there too, so it is removed to
Lausanne, and finally to a hole among the Alps.

Among the numerous versions derived from this Latin prose
text, the most important for our purpose are (i) a chanson de geste y
“La Destruction de Jferusalem” or “ Le livre Titus et Vaspasianus,”
of about 2,300 lines of Alexandrine verse, extant in several MSS.
of the thirteenth century, and probably composed towards the end
of the twelfth century ; 1 — (2) the Legenda Aurea , compiled by
Jacobus de Voragine in the latter half of the thirteenth century ; —
( 3 ) a group °f prose versions, in French, Catalan, Provencal,
Spanish and Portuguese, which are in fact only paraphrases of the
chanson dc geste, though M. Meyer* thinks it probable that they
do not descend from it, but from a common Latin ancestor now
lost. Professor von Dobschfltz (p. 290*) assigns the date circ. 1200
to this group, but does not give his grounds for fixing on so early a
period ; the oldest MS. is apparently that of the Provencal version
(Paris, Bibl. Nat. fr. 25,415), executed shortly before 1373.* The
French prose exists in several MSS. of the fifteenth century
(e.g. Brit. Mus. Add. 52,090, dated 1445) and in some early printed
editions. 4

The chanson de geste says nothing of Pilate’s early life, nor of
the mission of Nathan. It opens forty years after the Crucifixion.

we accept Eusebius’ report of his suicide, Hist Eccl. iL 7. The tradition of his
banishment to Vienne doubtless arose from Archelaus being sent there (Josephus,
Ant xvii. 13) ; it first appears in the Chronicle of Ado, Archbishop of Vienne 860-875
(Migne, Patrol. Lot. cxxiiL col 77).

1 Dobschutz, p. 287* ; P. Meyer in Bulletin de la Soc . des anc. texfes frahfais ,
1875, p. 53. Fully analysed by Paulin Paris in Hist. litt. de la France, , xxii. (1852),
pp. 412-416 ; see too H. L. D. Ward, Cat. of Romances, L pp. 176-180.

3 Bulletin^ p. 53.

3 Ibid. p. 51 ; it is described, and compared with the Catalan and French prose
versions, on pp. 52-61.

4 The British Museum possesses two undated editions (1. La destruction de
iherusalem [1480?], Press-mark C. 32. m. 17; 2. La destruction de iherusalem et la
mart de pilate [1485 ?], IB. 42294), besides one printed at Lyon, 1517.

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Vespasian, Emperor of Rome, is a leper, and his face is devoured by
cancer; the plague of wasps does not occur. His seneschal Gay 1
tells him of the miracles and passion of Jesus,* and obtains his leave
to go to Jerusalem in search of a remedy. From this point onward
there is a marked agreement with our present poem : — Gay’s host
in Jerusalem is Jacob, father of one of the three Maries (cf. below,
11. 1755-1820) ; Jacob introduces him to Verone, who consents to
go to Rome with him, taking the Portrait (tb. 11 . 1951-2046) ; before
starting he has a stormy interview with Pilate, and his life is only
saved by the intervention of Barabbas ( 11 . 1843-1934) ; at Rome
Verone meets St. Clement,* who accompanies her into Vespasian’s
presence and assists at the miraculous cure (11. 2215-2544), and
baptizes Vespasian and Titus when they return victorious ( 11 . 4971-
4998). It would be tedious to enumerate all the incidents of the
war which occur in both versions. Enough has been said to prove
that the two are closely related ; but the differences are such as to
make a common ancestry more likely than direct use of the chanson
by our versifier. Some of these discrepancies ( e.g . the seneschal’s
name) might be accounted for by the fact that our author must
have used other sources in addition, viz. for the lives of Pilate
and Judas, the mission of Nathan, and other passages which have
no place in the chanson. But there are other variations not easily
explained in this way, e.g. in Veronica’s story no mention is
made of an issue of blood. While Christ hung on the cross she
drew near, being leprous ; Mary the Mother of Christ took a

1 This is his name, spelt in various ways (Jais, Gais, Gayus, etc.), in most MSS.
of the chanson and MSS. and early prints of the Romance prose versions ; Gui also
occurs (Hist. lift., xxii. 412), but the Latin original is more likely to have had Gaius
than Guido.

* The chanson does not say how Gay came to know the Gospel-story. According
to the prose versions it was through hearing St Clement preach in Rome.

* This is the earliest mention of St Clement, so far as I know, in connection
with the story.

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wimple (“ guinple ” or “ toalle ”) from her head, held it up before
our Lord’s face, and returned it to her with His likeness stamped
upon it, and immediately her leprosy departed.* This is altogether
different from our version, except for the mediation of the Virgin.*
Again, the chanson makes Marie, the woman who eats her own
child, Queen of Africa ; * but here she is only il A riche lady of J>at
contre,” sc. of Judaea ( 1 . 3409). These instances could easily be
added to. But enough has been said to show that in all proba-
bility the lost Latin original of the chanson was one of the sources
from which our author drew his materials.

Of the other sources, it is hardly possible to avoid the con-
clusion that the principal one was the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus
de Voragine. This work is practically nothing but a compila-
tion — a series of extracts, generally abridged, from lives of
saints, apocryphal gospels, ecclesiastical and other chronicles, and
monastic collections of tales ; but its convenient arrangement
helped to give it enormous vogue, and our author cannot have
been unacquainted with it. At all events, he is much more likely
to have been familiar with it than with some of the more recondite
writings which Jacobus cites, and which he and Jacobus have both
used (directly or indirectly) — and used, moreover, to just the same
extent and in the same connection. The following are the passages
from the Legenda Aurea* which concern us -

(1) Cap. 45, De 1 S. Mathia apostolo. As Mathias was chosen
to replace Judas Iscariot, Jacobus gives here the legendary life ‘of

1 Dobschutz, p. 288* ; Add. 10289, f. 86.

* See above, p. xv. note 3.

* Add. 10289, f* 107b. So too the French prose : see Add. 3*090, T. 72, and
the printed editions.

4 I refer always to Graesse’s edition, 1846.

* For the literature of this curious adaptation of the Oedipus-legend, see Du M^ril,
op. at. pp. 315-340, and Alessandro d’ Ancona, La Leggenda di Vergogna e la Leggenda
di Giuda (Bologna, 1869). See too Fumivall, Early Engl. Poems, for an English
rhymed version.

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xix

the latter, introducing it (p. 184) with the phrase ‘ Legitur enim in
qttadam hystoria licet apocrypha.’ The story, which has not been
traced back, so far as I know, beyond the Legenda , is reproduced
in our poem ( 11 . 4487*4864) with almost slavish fidelity. After the
concluding words * in aSre cum daemonibus sociaretur,’ the Legenda
goes on ‘ Cum igitur inter Ascensionem et Penthecosten apostoli in
coenacnlo simul essent, videns Petrus,” etc., and describes the
election of Mathias. This is perfectly appropriate here, but its
inclusion in the poem (11. 4865-4884) is quite uncalled-for and can
hardly be a mere coincidence. Indeed, it falls little (if at all)
short of positive proof of our author’s indebtedness to Jacobus de
Voragine.

(2) Cap. 53, De passions Domini. Here Jacobus explains
how he has divided the punishments of the murderers of Christ
into three sections (p. 231) : *Sed de poena et origine Judae
invenies in legenda sancti Matthiae, de poena et excidio Judaeorum
in legenda sancti Jacobi minoris, de poena autem et origine Pylati
in quadaift historia licet apocrypha legitur.' Then follows the
Story of Pilate’s birth and early life, down to the reconciliation
with Herod, as in the Latin prose text published by Mone, but
slightly abridged and so nearer to the version contained in this
poem ( 11 . *493*1578)- After a short digression on the quarrel
between Herod and Pilate, Jacobus says briefly that after the
crucifixion Pilate 9 ent “ qnendam sibi familiarem ’ to exouse him to
Tiberius, and then goes on (leaving this emissary's adventures for
cap. 67) : u Interea cum Tyberius morbo gravi teneretur, nuntiatnr
eiders, qtiod Hierosolimis quidam medicos esset,” etc., and narrates
the mission of Volusian, the healing of Tiberius and the punish-
ment of Pilate. For the most part he follows Mone’s text, and so
does not directly inspire our author here ; but he introduces the
incident of Pilate wearing Christ's tunic and thus securing immunity
for a time against the Emperor’s wrath, in substantial though not

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exact agreement with 11 . 4295-4336 of our poem. At the end,
after describing Pilate’s final burial-place “ in quodam puteo
montibus circumsepto,” etc., he adds : “ Hucusque in praedicta
historia apocrypha leguntur.” Probably, then, he used a later
version (now lost) of Mone’s text, into which the story of the holy
tunic had been interpolated. 1

(3) Cap. 67, De S. Jacobo apostolo , contains (pp. 295 seq.)
an account of the ministry and martyrdom of St. James the Less,
chiefly drawn from Hegesippus as quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.
ii. 23, and agreeing in the main with 11. 9 17- 1004 of this poem.
The concluding sentence points decidedly towards a direct con-
nection : “ Cum autem populus vellet ejus mortem vindicare et
malefactores capere et punire, protinus aufugerunt” (cf. 11. 987-990).
A little further on comes a passage which may well have furnished
suggestions for our author, though he might, no doubt, have
found the same matter elsewhere. Beginning “ Sed quoniam non
vult Dominus mortem peccatoris et ut ipsi excusationem non
haberent,” Jacobus goes on to say how God spared the Jews for
forty years (cf. 11. 291-8, 815-828), and sent the apostles, especially
St. James, to call them to repentance ( 11 . 922-940), and warned
them by portents, viz. (1) a sword-like star, flaming above the city
for a whole year (11. 106 1 -8) ; (2) a bright light in the Temple,
at the ninth hour of the night, on the feast of unleavened bread
(11. 1033-8) ; (3) a heifer, brought for sacrifice at the same feast,
giving birth to a lamb (11. 1023-1032) ; (4) an apparition of chariots
and soldiers in the clouds (11. 1069-1086) ; (5) voices heard in the
Temple at Pentecost, saying “Transeamus ab his sedibus” ( 11 . 1049-

1 This whole passage, from “ Interea cum Tyberius morbo gravi teneretur ” to the
end of the story of Pilate, is identical, practically word for word, with the “ Mors Pilate
qui Jesum condemnavit ” printed by Tischendorf, p. 432, from a fourteenth century MS.,
which was unquestionably copied from an earlier text (see Tischendorfs in trod,
p. lxxix.) and is probably only an extract, to judge from the opening words, “Cum
autem Tiberius,” etc.

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xxi

1060); (6) the prophecy of Jesus, son of Ananias ( 11 . 1087-1124).
The authority cited for these portents is Josephus (Jewish War,
vi. 5), who mentions one more, the Temple-gate bursting open
( 11 . 1039-1048), between Nos. 3 and 4 of the series in the Legenda.
Our author enumerates ten divine warnings in all, reckoning the
death of St. James as the first, a murderous strife at a feast
( 11 . 1005-1022, cf. Josephus, Ant. xx. 5) as the second, and the
apparitions of soldiers and chariots as eighth and ninth respectively;
he also varies the order considerably. For this passage, therefore,
he must have used some other source ; but he may have borrowed
from the Legenda the device of recounting the warnings before
the beginning of the siege, 1 instead of putting them, as Josephus
does, into a sort of appendix.

Despite these warnings, continues Jacobus, the Jews remained
obdurate ; so God sent Vespasian and Titus to destroy Jerusalem.
“ Haec autem fuit causa adventus ipsorum in Jerusalem, sicut in
quadam hystoria invenitur, licet apocrypha." He now takes up
the narrative which was interrupted in cap. 53 : “ Videns Pylatus,
quia Jesum innocentem condemnaverat, timens offensam Tyberii
Caesaris pro se excusando nuntium nomine Albanum ad Caesarem
destinavit,” etc. Alban is driven by the winds to Vespasian’s
kingdom of Galatia, and so on as in M one’s text, down to the
point where Vespasian after his cure obtains leave from Tiberius
to punish the Jews. The “hystoria apocrypha" is now laid aside,
and an account of the Jewish war follows, for the most part
“ secundum chronicas,” t'.e. abridged from Josephus. The follow-
ing points of difference from Josephus, and agreement with our
poem, are to be noted : — the fleeing of the faithful, warned by the
Holy Spirit, across the Jordan to Pella ( 11 . 2809-2824; Eusebius,
Hist. Eccl. iii. 5) ; — the corruption of Jotapata into Jonapata (it

1 It is true that Vincent de Beauvais, Spec. Hist. ix. 59-60, does the same ; but
I see no reason for supposing our author to have used his work.

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occurs only in the accusative, “Jonapatam,” which is still nearer
the Jonoporam of 1 . 3852) l ; — the sale of captive Jews at thirty for
a penny (11. 4205-4215). The story of the mysterious ailment which
seized Titus on hearing the news of his father’s accession, and the
ingenious remedy applied by Josephus ( 11 . 3181-8, 3940-4026), is
also inserted by Jacobus, though with reserve : he introduces it by
the phrase “ ut in eadem hystoria apocrypha legitur,” and appends
the semi-apologetic note “ Utrum autem haec hystoria narranda sit,
lectoris judicio relinquatur.” Another addition is the discovery
by Titus of the imprisoned Joseph of Arimathaea ( 11 . 4105-4138),
with a reference to the Gospel of Nicodemus on the subject of his
imprisonment. After this we are told of the liberality of Titus as
Emperor, how he used to say “ O amici, diem perdidi,” whenever
he had let a day go by unmarked by an act of beneficence (11. 5057-
5070).* In conclusion Jacobus recounts the miracle of the Jews
who tried to rebuild Jerusalem, and who, after disregarding two
warning apparitions of crosses, were destroyed by fire springing up
from the earth ( 11 . 5075-5130). This last tale is an unusual one,'
to such a degree that its presence in the Legenda Aurea and in
our poem would alone go far towards establishing a connection
between them.

There is no reason for supposing our author to have been
influenced by any of the other English versions. Of those now
extant, the Anglo-Saxon translation of the “ Vindicta Salvatoris”
has already been mentioned (above, p. xii.). In the same volume,
p. ix., Goodwin printed an Anglo-Saxon version, entitled “ Nathanis
Judaei Legatio,” of the mission of Nathan without the story of

1 The capture of the town and of Josephus is, however, put in its right place
before the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.

* Jacobus cites Eusebius and Jerome for this anecdote, which is derived from
Suetonius, Tit. 8 (Opera, Delphin ed. vol. ii. p. 950).

* Jacobus cites “ Miletus in chronica,” an authority whom I have not had the good
fortune to identify.

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xxm

Veronica. A poem in about 1,300 lines of alliterative verse,
usually with the title “ Sege of Jerusalem,” exists in six MSS. of
the fifteenth century, 1 and I understand that an edition is being
prepared for the Early English Text Society.* It covers a good
deal of the same ground as our poem ; but the differences are
considerable, and the points of resemblance not so striking as to
suggest any close connection between the two settings. An edition
in prose, The Dystruccyon of Iherusalem by Vespazian and Tytus ,
was printed by Wynkyn de Worde about 1507,* but it is merely a
translation of the French prose version noticed above (p. xvi.).

In 11 . 7-12 our author names some of his sources, viz. the
Gospels, “ the passioun of Nichodeme ” and “ the geestes of
emperoures.” The same three authorities are also cited at the
end, 11. 5159-5170, with the explicit acknowledgment

“ Of all pis pe werke is wroght,

And in her bokes oute ysoght”

Reference is also made, in 11 . 5147-5152, to “ Maister Josephus,
Je gode clerc ” ; and in 11 . 1229, 4391, to “the Sept Sages.” It is
not difficult to assign the extent to which the first, second and fourth
of these sources have been used. The Gospels supply material for
the greater part of the first four hundred lines. The extracts from
the Gospel of Nicodemus 4 begin at 1 . 395, and end at 1 . 670 with the

1 See Ferdinand Kopka, The Destruction of Jerusalem , Inaugural-Dissertation,
Breslau, 1887 ; Ward, Cat. of Romances, i. pp. 180-186, 928.

* The text of the Oxford MS. was published by G. Steffler, The Sege of Jerusalem,
Marburg, 1891.

* A copy is exhibited in the King’s Library, British Museum, where the descriptive
label states that “ the woodcuts are copied from French cuts used at Paris by Jean
Trepperel.”

4 A lengthy discussion of this well-known book would be out of place here. Its
history has been concisely summed up by G. Paris and A. Bos, Trvis versions rimies
de r&vangile de Ntcodlme , Soc. des anc. textes fran5ais, 1885, p. iL, and its diffusion
throughout Western Europe has been sketched by R. P. Wiilcker, Das Evangelium

d 2

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departure of Joseph of Arimathaea from Jerusalem, after telling the
chief priests of his miraculous release. His second imprisonment,
when he was shut up within the thickness of the town-wall
( 11 . 671-684), is perhaps derived from cap. 67 of the Legenda
Aurea , p. 303, where it is introduced somewhat vaguely by the
words “Potest dici.” Next follows another passage ( 11 . 685-814)
based on the Gospels. I have not succeeded in discovering the
source of the passage on the threefold punishment of Israel by
pilgrimage, servage and dispersion (11. 829-888) ; it is probably to
be found in some patristic homily or commentary. After this comes
the prophecy of “ pe noble clerc, Maister Josephus ” (11. 889-914),
predicting the fall of Jerusalem and the promotion of her conqueror
Vespasian to be emperor, which is obviously evolved from the
prophecies at Jotapata (Jewish War, iii. 8 ; above, p. vii.), perhaps
with some suggestion from the ambiguous oracle found in the sacred
writings at Jerusalem (tb. vi. 5). Pilate’s letter to the Emperor
( 11 . 1385-1460) is an expanded translation of cap. 29 of the “Evan-
gelium Nicodemi ” 1 ; it occurs, as we have seen (above, p. xi.), in
the “ Cura Sanitatis Tiberii,” but not in most of the settings of the
Titus-and-Vespasian story, so probably our author had recourse
once more to “ the passioun of Nichodeme.” The narrative of
the war, though heavily loaded with legendary superstructure, is
founded on the history of Josephus (see above, pp. vi.-viii.), or
perhaps more directly on the Christianized Latin version which
commonly goes under the name of Hegesippus * ; the accretions,

Nicodemi in der Abendldndischen literature Paderbom, 1872. For the Greek and
Latin texts see Tischendorf, pp. 203-410 ; and for an Anglo-Saxon version see W. H.
Hulme, The Old English version of the Gospel of Nicodemus, Baltimore, 1898, in
vol. xiii. No. 4 of the Publications of the Modem Language Association of America .

1 Tischendorf, p. 392.

2 Hegesippus qui dicitur , sive Egesippus , De Bello Judaico , ed. C F. Weber,
Marburg, 1858-64; also printed in Migne, Patrol 1 Lat. xv. 1961, among the doubtful
works of St. Ambrose.

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XXV

as we have seen (above, pp. xvii. seq.), are mostly due, in all
probability, partly to the lost Latin original of the chanson
de geste and partly to the Legenda Aurea.

“ Geestes of emperoures ” is a title which might be applied to
any compilation of Roman history, and it would be useless to attempt
to identify the particular work referred to by our author. He
certainly made but little use of it. Vespasian is made to succeed
Nero ( 11 . 3166-3176), so that Galba, Otho and Vitellius are left out
of the roll of emperors; the account of Vespasian’s reign and
character (11. 5045-5056) reads more like hagiology than history ; and
the account of Titus, which follows (11. 5057-5072), almost certainly
owes its presence here to the fact that Jacobus de Voragine selected
it for inclusion in the Legenda Aurea (see above, p. xxii.). In fact,
the utmost that we could assign to the “ geestes of emperoures ”
would be the succession of emperors from Tiberius to Nero
( 11 . 1231-1273) ; and for that “ Alle ]>e Sept Sages” are expressly
cited. What this last reference means I have no idea, either here
or in the other place where it occurs (1. 4391), in the description of
the death of Pilate. So far as I know, there is only one point at
which the famous romance of the Seven Sages 1 approaches the
subject of the present poem ; and that is, in the framework of one
single version, viz. that in Old French, edited by H. A. Keller, Li
Romans des Sept Sages, Tflbingen, 1836. The opening stanzas
tell us that Vaspasianus, son of Matusales, who had lived 910 years,
reigned at Rome ; he was a handsome man, until he was seized by
leprosy, which made him blind. A voice from heaven spoke to
Cilofida, the woman who had woven, and now possessed, the

1 For a rtsumt of the literature of this subject see Ward, ii. 190-234 ; for fuller
treatment see especially Comparetti, Researches respecting the Book of Sindib&d , 1882
(No. 9 of the Publications of the Folk-Lore Society), and for the English versions
Killis Campbell, A Study of the Romance of the Seven Sages, 1899, in voL xiv. No. 1
of Publications of the Mod. Lang. Assoc, of America.

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shroud in which Christ’s body was wrapped, bidding her go to
Rome to Vespasianus’ help ; she obeyed promptly, crossing the
sea without wetting her shoes ; told him of the passion, touched
his sores with the shroud, and cured him. He crossed the sea
with an army, inflicted dire chastisement on the Jews, and returned
to his own country. This curious corruption of the Veronica-
legend breaks off here : the king marries the daughter of the Duke
of Carthage, who bears him a son and dies some years later ; the
young prince is entrusted to the care of the Seven Sages of Rome,
his father marries again, and so on, as in the usual forms of the
romance. This does not solve our difficulty ; but it suggests, as a
possible solution, that a variant of this “ Romans des Sept Sages ”
may have existed and been read by our author, which named
Vespasian’s predecessors on the imperial throne and included the
story of Pilate’s death.

As to the title of our poem, with its inversion of the natural
order of father and son, the following extract from the fifteenth
century prose commentary on Godfrey of Viterbo’s “Speculum
Regum,” lib. ii. cap. 1 1, is of interest : 1 “Et quamvis [Titus] filius
sit Vespasiani et successor ejus in imperio, ante patrem tamen
nominatur propter suas excellentes virtutes. Unde dicimus : Titus
et Vespasianus, et non : Vespasianus et Titus.”

The MSS. used for this edition are as follows : —

a. British Museum, Add. 36523, ff. 1-71. A vellum MS.,
probably written in the second quarter of the fifteenth century.
The leaves measure io£ by 7 inches, and the number of lines on a
page varies from 34 to 40. The quires are of eight leaves, but
the first four leaves of the first quire have been cut away, so that
the poem begins on what was originally the fifth leaf. There are

1 Pertz, Mon. Germ. Hist., Script xxii. p. 73.

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xxvu

catchwords on every leaf, the ends of quires being marked by
red and black enclosing lines round the catchwords. A seven-
line ornamental L at the beginning, otherwise no ornament beyond
touches of red to the initial letter of each line; red paragraph-
marks, and proper names sometimes underlined in red. The
whole MS. has been described in the official Catalogue of
Additional MSS. now in course of publication. Besides this
poem, it contains two other pieces in English verse, viz. (f. 71b)
the Seven Penitential Psalms, in eight-line stanzas, and (f. 88)
the Treatise on the Mass, in rhymed couplets, usually known as
The Lay Folks Mass Book (ed. T. F. Simmons, Early Engl. Text
Soc., 1879). It was acquired by the Museum in June, 1900 (J. B.
Inglis sale, Sotheby’s, lot 694).

This MS. forms the basis of the present edition. It is perhaps
worth noting that the word “ usque ” has been written several times
in the margins at irregular intervals, in different ink from the text
but apparently by a contemporary hand, as though to mark succes-
sive stages in collating this copy with its archetype. There are
also a few trifling corrections (e.g. in 1. 2285, on f. 31b, wile has
been altered to while), probably made in the course of collation.
Occasional notes have been inserted in the margins, summarizing
the contents of the text (e.g. “how Je ost gaten hem water,”
opposite 1 . 2987), but of no special value or interest. The poem
is followed, at the foot of f. 71, by the quatrain

“ Whan wille over wyt wryes
pan gothe wille witte byfom.

Mony a man to his harme hyes
pan hathe wille wit forlorn.”

Below this is the mysterious word “Anamjapta," perhaps a crypto-
gram of the scribe’s name.

b. British Museum, Add. 10036, ff. 2-6 lb. Vellum, written
about the beginning of the fifteenth century, in a good regular

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hand, leaf-measurements 6 by 3f inches, 24 lines to a page, except
the recto and verso of f. 16, an inserted leaf, 1 which contain 20 and
18 lines respectively. In quires of 8 leaves, with signatures d -1 at
the beginnings of quires, and catchwords at the ends, beginning
with f. 4 ; before that the MS. is very imperfect, wanting many
leaves before f. 2, and a smaller number after f. 3. Large red
initials are used to mark the divisions, which do not agree with
those of a. Ordinary capitals are touched with red, and the
rhyming couplets are connected by red brackets.

The contents of the whole MS., which has been briefly
described in the List of Additions to the MSS. in the British
Museum in the years 1836-40, and (with special reference to our
poem) in Ward’s Cat. of Romances , i. p. 187, are as follows, all in
English : — 1. The poem now under consideration (f. 2) ; — 2. The
Assumption of Our Lady, in octosyllabic rhymed couplets (f. 62),
printed by J. R. Lumby, King Horn , etc., Early Engl. Text Soc.
1866, p. 75 ; — 3. The Vision of St. Paul, in prose, entitled “A
questioun of J?e peynes of helle and how soules desire)? to have
rest in pat place" (f. 81), printed by E. Kdlbing, Englische
Studien, xxii. 1896, p. 134; — 4. “pe pre arowis pat God schal
schete at domysdaie,” in prose (f. 85), printed from an Oxford
MS. by C. Horstmann, Richard Rolle of H amp ole ,ii. 1896^. 446 ; —
5. The “seven askynges” in the Lord’s Prayer, the Ave Maria,
etc. in prose (wanting two leaves after f. 92) (f. 91b) ; — 6. Psalm li.
in 8-line stanzas, the same version as that in Add. 36523 (see
description of MS. a above) (f. 96b), printed by F. J. Furnivall,
Political , Religious and Love Poems } E. E. T. S. 1866, p. 279.

1 Apparently the original copyist omitted 38 lines by inadvertence, perhaps
through skipping a page of his archetype, and the owner of the MS. afterwards had the
omitted lines copied by another scribe on a leaf of the right size, and inserted so as to
complete his copy of the poem. The writing on f. 16 does not seem much later than
the rest of the MS.

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XXIX

The volume, which was acquired by the Museum in 1836, contains
the book-plate of the antiquary Thomas Sharp, of Coventry and
Leamington (06. 1841).

It is much to be regretted that this MS. is so imperfect, for
it is one of the two earliest extant copies of the poem, and the
text, though abridged (see below), seems fairly good. The scribe
is exceptionally uniform in his orthography and inflections. For
instance, he always uses the forms sche, scha /, schulde , etc., where
the other MSS. have she, shall , shulde , etc. Infinitives never have
the en suffix, except where the rhyme demands it, as in 1. 2051
(£ 5 b) :

" pf I lyve Pilat schal abeyen
For he wolde me have sleyen.”

Past participles usually have the y prefix, and often omit the en
suffix if not required for the rhyme. Present participles always
end in tng } never and \ as in some of the MSS.

In its present state the MS. begins with 1 . 1345 of our text :

“ He bad hem go in evereche londe
To preche his name )K>rw his sonde.

Of alle yvelis he jave hem my#

To hele fe sike fat bilevyd ary#.

And fei fat wollef nou# to him wende
Schulle be lore withoute ende.” f. 2.

The last two lines on f. 3b answer to 11 . 1439-40 :

“ Hit was here dede and alle here fou#

And ferfore sire leve hem nou#.”

After the lacuna the MS. goes on with 1 . 1977 :

11 Than seide Velosian him to
A 1 fat sche wol I wol also.” f. 4.

e

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The following extract may be taken as a sample of the
orthography, etc., of this MS. as compared with the others. It
corresponds to 11. 2743-2756 of this edition :

“Thei drow up seil byfore and bihynde
And God hem sent a ful redy wynde
So in six wikes over pe i come
And pp atte Acrys up pe; nome
That J>e toun wondred perfore
And wexed agast of hem ful sore
Thei dide anone as pei schulde
Withoute strif pe toun pei guide
Vaspasian lefte per his wardeyn
And in pe morwe pei went peyn
Thei went forpe into pe londe
Slow and brent alle pat pei fonde
And drof bestes with hem gret rowte
That pei purveiede al abowte.” f. 20.

The legendary life of Jndas, which follows the account of
Pilate’s death in our text ( 11 . 4487-4884), is omitted, but not
through a lacuna. The next line naturally omits the reference to
Judas which occurs in {he other MSS., and reads :

“ Let e we n ©we Pifct duelle.* f. 55b.

The concluding lines are, :

“ Iblyssed mote pei alle ybe
Of Jhesu Cryst in Trynyte
That pus wel his dep hap awreke
As I have here bifore yspeke
I trowe pat alle pei have I wis
To here mede hevene ryche blis
God graunt us alle so per to be
Amen amen pur charyte.

Explicit”

c. British Museum, Harl. 4733, ff, 40b- 1 27. Outside and

innermost sheets of each quire vellum, the rest paper ; fifteenth
century, probably circ. 1460, 8 by 5 inches, 26 to 34 lines to a

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XXXI

page ; ff. 113b, 119b left blank, the text running oh in the former
case, 28 lines ( 11 . 4730-4757) being omitted in the latter case. In
quires of 12 leaves, except the second and last (ff. 52*61, 122-12 7),
which have 10 and 6 respectively; catchwords it the ends of most
of the quires. Large red initials at the beginhing and at 11 . 685,
2569, 4487. In the margins are notes of the contents, in red ink,
at irregular intervals, sometimes in English and sometimes in
Latin ( 1 ), e.g. “How VaSpasyari Welcuihyt dani Veron and seynt
Clement ” (f. 78, at i. 2323), “ Cordnacio Tytus ” (f. 76, at 1 . 2203),
“De tunica domini inconsutilis ” (f. hi, at 1 . 4307). The whole
MS., which was briefly described id the Cat, of tki Harleian MSS.,
iii. 1808, p. 197, contains I. Disticha Gatonis, With a paraphrase
in English verse, f. 3* Colophon, “[E]xplicit liber Catonis com-
positus per Magistnim Benedictum Burgh vicarium de Maldon et
cetera,” i.e. Lydgate’s disciple Benedict Burgh, vicar of Maldon
1440, ob. 1483. 1 This version was printed by Caxton (West-
minster, 1481 ? Brit. Mbs., IB. 55 ° 34 )> an{ l again by Coplande,
Lond. 1558 ; — 2. Moral Sentences in English rhymed couplets,
in divisions of four, six or eight lines, each division headed by the
name of the author (David, Jeremias, Seneca, etc.) from whom the
sentence is taken, f. 30 1 — 3 * The present poem. f. 40b. A vellum
fly-leaf at the end (f. 128) contains a fragment (late thirteenth
century) of a French paraphrase, in octosyllabic verse, of the Hist.
Reg. Brit, of Geoffrey of Monmouth : cf. Wace, Li Romans de
Brut, ed. Le Roux de Lincy, 11 . 9386 seq. On ff. 1-3, 127, 127b,
are scribbled inscriptions of former owners* names, among which
John Bland and “ Jhon Pygyn” are prominent, both apparently
sixteenth century ; somewhat earlier is the inscription “ Master
John Penyngton, schole maister of Wurcestufe, ys possessesor (sic)
of thys booke ” on f. 2b.

1 See Lydgate and Buigh’s Secrets of old PhiBsoffres, ed. R. Steele, E. E. Text
Soc. 1894 (Extra Series, No. 66), pp. xvii.-xviii.

e 2

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The poem begins as follows : —

“ Lesteneth alle fat ben alyve
Bofe cristen men and wyve
I shal yow tellen a wondur cas
How Jhesu Crist yhated was
A 1 of fe Jewes fel and kene
And fat was sefen on hem ysene
pe holy gospel y take to wytnesse
Of fis matere bofe more and lesse
And of fe passion and eke of Nichodeme
Whoso wyl ferto taken goode yeme.” f. 40b.

The lines corresponding to the sample given from b are : —

“ They drowen up sayle byfore and behynd
And hem sende a full redy wynde
So that in syx wokys with hast fey comen
And at Acres upon the lond fe nomen
And the town wondred what they wore
And were adrad of hem full sore
And they of the cyte deden as they shold
Withouten stryff the town up they joide
And Vaspasian laft there his wardeyn
And on the morow went forth theyn
And he went tho all in that lound
And slow and brend all that he found
And dryven bestus with gret rout
That fey founden there all about” ff. 84^85.

The last eight lines are : —

“ Iblessyd mot they all now be
Of Jhesu Crist in Trinite
pat his deth have now iwroken
As I have before ispoken
And eke I hope fat fey have I wys
All to heore mede hevyn blysse
And God graunt us all there to be
Amen amen per Charite.”

Colophon (in red) : “Explicit hie sedes vel obsidium de Civitate Jerusalem.”
Below this, “ Jhesus est amor meus.” f. 127.

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The orthography differs greatly from that of a and b, and is by
no means consistent. The scribe was evidently careless, 1 and
varied his forms a good deal. For instance, on f. 116, the pronoun
she is written in three different ways within four consecutive lines
( 11 . 4557-4560), viz. she, sheo , and heo. Among other features
may be noted the — us plural termination, which is usually indi-
cated by a contraction mark( 9 ), but is sometimes written in full,
e.g. “fendus” for fiends on f. 114 (1. 4433). Variations in the text,
as compared with the earlier MSS., are frequent, and mostly of
little value. They tend especially to undue lengthening of lines by
the insertion of explanatory phrases ; e.g. 11. 4299, 4300 are drawn
out into

“ For as me thynketh I con sey none othere
But pat y mygt hym love as he were my brothere.” f. in.

For other examples, see below, p. 36, note 12, p. 37, note 2, etc.
In quite a fair number of cases, however, the readings of this MS.
help to correct errors, or to clear up obscurities and ambiguities,
in the other copies.

d. Bodleian Library, Digby 230, ff. 195-223^ Vellum, finely
written, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, 15^ by
10J inches, in double columns of 45 lines. In quires of 8 leaves,
with catchwords at the end of each quire. The first page has an
illuminated border, well executed in the style characteristic of
English art of the time. Gold initials, on blue and purple
grounds, at the beginnings of sections. The whole MS. has been
described by W. D. Macray, Cat. Codd. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. pars
nona, 1883, col. 242. Besides the present poem, it contains

1 See 1 . 9 in the first extract, for instance, which he has turned into nonsense by
inserting a superfluous of and and eke ; or the omission of God in L 2 of the second
extract

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Lydgate’s u Sege of Thebes ” arid 14 Sage of Troye.” The opening
lines ate

44 Lystneth alle that ben alyve
Bothe cristen man and wyve
And I wole jow telle a wonder c&s
Howe Jhesu Crist byhated was
Of the Jewes fel and kene
That was on hem sithen sene.

The gospelles I drawc to witnesse

Of this mater more and lesse

And the passioun of Nicodeme

He that takith therto goode geme.” f. 195.

The passage chosen as a sample reads as follows : —

14 Thei drowen up saille bifore and bihinde
And God hem sent fill redy wynde
So fat in sixe wekis orere fei cometi
And at Acres up they nomen
The toun wondred what they wore
And wereii adrad of hem ful sore
Thei diden anoon as they shulde
Withouten strif the totin they golde
Vaspasian lefte there his wardeynes
And on the morwen fei wente femes
He wente hym forthe into the londe
He slowe and brente al fat he fonde
And dryven forthe fe bestis with gret route
That fei founden thereaboute.” f. 210.

The last eight lines are

44 Iblessed mote thei alle be
Of Jhesu Criste in Trinite
That thus algate his dethe haf wroken
As I have bifore spoken
I hope they it have I wys
To here mede hevene blis
God graunte us also ther to be
Amen Amen pur charite.”

Colophon (in red ) : 44 [H]ere endith the S^e of Jerusalem.” f. 223b.

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XXXV

The above extracts, together with the collations in the foot-
notes to the text, will give a fair idea of this MS, The text is good
on the whole ; it resembles A more closely than b.

l. Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 622, ff. yib-72b, 1-21. Thick
vellum, circ. 1400, 1 1 if by 10J inches ; in double columns of 54 or
55 lines, each line on ff. comprising two lines of verse. In

quires of eight, misbound, the last quire in the volume (ff. 65-72)
being properly the first. Initials in blue, with red flourishes, at the
beginnings of sections. The whole MS. has been fully described
by H. O. Coxe, and again by J)r. Furnivall, who has printed many
of the shorter pieces contained in it. Only “ Adam Davy’s Dreams ”
(ff. 26b-27b) and “The Geste of Alisaunder” (ff. 27^64) need be
mentioned here. We shall return to them presently, when dis-
cussing the question of authorship.

The poem has the rubric-heading “ pe Bataile of Jerusalem,”
and begins : —

“ Listnef alle fat bef alyve
Bofe cristen men and wyve
I wil jou telle a wonder caa
Hou Jhesus Crist bihated was
Of fe Jewes felle and kene
pat was on hem siffe isene
Gospelles I drawe to witnesse
Of fis matere more and lesse
And fe passioun and (sic) Nichodeme
Who fat taketb rijt good seme.” f. 71b.

1 JL 0 . Coxft Cat. Codd. JtfS&.Bfy. Bodt, pars secunde, 1858-35, col. 447, dates
this MS. “ sec. xv. ineuntis." Dr. F. J. Furnivall, in his Forewords to Adam Davy’s J
Dreams , etc., E. E. Text Soc. 1878, calls it “seemingly before 1400—1380-1400, says
Mr. Macray,” Mr. Bradley says (Diet, of Nat. Biogr., xiv. 1888, p. 183) “The manu-
script, in the judgment of pateographical experts, was written in the last quarter of the
fourteenth century.” This last statement, however, is somewhat too positive ; the less
restricted and slightly later dating circ. 1400 has the authoritative support of Mr.
F. Madan, Sub-Librarian of the Bodleian, who kindly looked at the MS. with me.

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The sample passage is as follows : —

“ pay droujen up sayl bifome and bihynde
God hem sent ful redy wynde
So in sexe wekes over pai comen
And at Acres up fai nomen.
pe toun had wonder whoo fai wore
And weren adrad of hem ful sore
pai duden onon as fai sholde
Wifouten strijf fe toun pai jolde
Vaspasian lefte )>ere his wardeyn
And on |>e morowen fay wenten fen
He went forf into fe londe
And sloug and brent alle fat fai fonde
And dryven beestes wif grete route
pat fai prayden al aboute.” f. iob.

The last eight lines are : —

“ Yblissed moten fai alle be
Of Jhesu Crist in Trinite
pat f us gate his def han wroken
As I have bifome spoken
I hope fat fai have I wys
To her mede hevene blys
God graunte us alle fere to be
Amen Amen per charite.”

Colophon : " Here endef fe vengeaunce of Goddes deth.” f. aib

This is unquestionably the oldest of the complete MSS., and
ought strictly, on that ground, to have been taken as the basis
rather than a. But the variations between the two MSS. are
comparatively few and unimportant, and by no means always in
favour of l. In fact, l, a and d have substantially the same
text, and any one of them would have served equally well as
basis. Due weight has of course been given in the collations to

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XXX vu

the importance of l on the score of antiquity. It is interesting
to note that l and a agree in using the northern present participle
ending — and in a few passages, viz. : —

1 . 777. A sekand, L sekande. C sechyng, D sekynge.

1 . 1258. A comand, L comande. CD comyng.

L 2009. AL berand. BCD beringe.

1 . 2021. AL swetande. BCD swetyng.

L 4449. A fletand, L floterande. BD fletinge, C fletyng.

1 . 4535. A pleyand, L pleyeande. D pleiynge.

L 4540. A fletande, L seilande. CD fletyng.

On the other hand, sometimes they disagree : —

1 . 2025. A wepand. LBC and wepte. D wepinge.

1 . 3422. A dwellande. LD duellen. B dwelle. C dwelden.
1 . 3541. A liggeand. LD liggeyng, C lyggyng.

L 3542. L Bitande. A Bityng, D Bitynge.

The Bodleian possesses another MS. of the poem, in Douce
78, 1 flF. 19-75I5, but a cursory inspection was enough to convince me
that it would be useless to collate it for this edition. It is a late
fifteenth century MS. on paper, and is very imperfect, containing
less than half the poem ; moreover, in what remains the text has
been so freely handled in many places as to make it practically
another work, or at all events another edition. Its variations,
therefore, in those parts which show no obvious signs of re-handling
are of no authority, and cannot be used with confidence in an

1 For description see Catalogue of the Printed Boohs and MSS bequeathed by
Francis Douce , Esq~, to the Bodleian Library , 1840, pt ii p. 9 ; also F. Madan, Summary
Catalogue of Western MSS. in the Bodleian Library , iv. 1897, p. 513.

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xxxviii

Introduction .

attempt to reconstruct the original text. The beginning agrees
substantially with our text

“ Lysteneth all fat bethe alyve,

Goode cristen men chylde and wyve.

I wolle telle you a wondur case,

Hou Jhesu Criste behatyd wase
Of fe Jewes felle and kene ;
pat wes on fern sone aftur asene.
pe gospell y take to wytnes
Of pis matyr more and lesse,

And all fe passion of Nycodeme,

Who fat takethe ferto goode £eme,” etc. f. 19.

So does the passage in which the MS. breaks off (cf. 11 . 2301*2310) : —

“ For he hathe pouer be nyjte and day
To do and say fat y nojt may,

And £if we hym with us lede
I hope fe bettur we schall spede.

Sere, sayde Velocyan foo,

I pray you fat je wolle with us goo.

They rysen and wente full faste fan
Tyll fei came to Vaspacyan.

. . . knees fei ham can sette,

. . . with honour fei hym grette.” f. 75b.

But the body of the text is full of interpolations. It seems to have
been arranged for a series of readings or recitations ; red lines are
drawn across the page at intervals, dividing the text into sections,
some of which end with interpolated lines asking for a rest.

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XXXIX

The following lines, for instance, answer to 11. 231-4

“ Criste answerde ever ajenste hure fojte,
pat fay coude ajenste say hym nojte.

Here is a vytte as for to rests

yf hit plesytheyou hope moste and kste.

The grettyste of fe prynces bolde

Ajenste Jhesu sore fay canne holde.” f. 24.

Instead of 11 . 405-9, again, we have —

“A wryjtes sone he wes full plyjte,

Joseph yclepyd amonge us by ryjte.
po onswarde \e xij men with on mowthe,

His fadur is kynge ofest \ wests , norths , and sowths ;
His fadur made all f inge of nojte.
per is non ofer fat Criste hathe wrojte.

Herto hers wytnss ws doths alls \

And our savyoure ws wolls hym calls .

And if y wyll fat y schall rests 9
Y woll. Y trows hit be \e bests .

The namys of fese xij telle y canne.” ff. 28b-29.

One more example. Between 11 . 1962-3 of our text, the Douce
MS. interpolates four lines : —

“ When Jacob had sayd all )>is
Velocian wes full gladde y wys.

And afturwarde, as y telle fe,

They wente to fe soper, 1 Jacob and he.” f. 67.

The British Museum acquired another MS. in 1904, too late
to be collated for the present edition, as most of the text was

1 The MS. has dyntr scored through, and soper interlined, an emendation which
suggests that the ingenious interpolator was none other than the scribe himself.

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already in type. It is now numbered Add. 36983, and is described
in the Catalogue of Additional MSS. for 1904. The volume,
which formerly belonged to the Bedford Literary Institute, con-
tains nineteen English pieces, almost all in verse, on paper, written
in or about the year 1442 (art. 5, the prose Life of the Three
Kings, bearing that date) ; including the Cursor Mundi, Chaucer’s
ABC and Balade of Truth, Speculum Guidonis de Warwick,
Abbey of the Holy Ghost, etc. Our poem is art. 6, and occupies
flf. 216-255, in double columns of 29 to 37 lines. No heading.
Begins —

“ Herknep all pat bej> alyve,

Bop C risten man and wyve.

Y wolle sow tell a wondyr cas y
How Jhesu Crist hatyd was."

The life of Judas is headed “Vita Jude Scariothis,” and
begins,

“ Now woll y tell an aventour
Of Judas, Godys traytour.” f. 249b.

Ends,

“ pus come Judas to pe ende,

To dampnacioun wipe oute ende.” fo. 252b.

The poem ends,

“ Blessyd mote pay alle be
Of Jhesu Cryst in Trenite
That pus hys depe hap wroke
As I have byfore of spoke
I hope pat pay have y wisse
To her mede hevyn blysse.

God graunt ous alle pere to be

Amen amen pur chari te.” ff. 254^255.

Colophon : M Here endip pe Vengaunce of Godys depe.

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xli

In Bernard’s Catalogi Librorum MSS. Angliae et Hiberniae ,
1697, ii. p. 33, No. 1457 (No. 12 of the Coventry School MSS.) is
described by Humphrey Wanley as containing “John Lydgate’s
Poems. This is written, painted, and gilded very well, and (as I
suppose) whilst Lydgate was alive, or presently after. It contains
not all his Poems, but only these that follow.” The last three
articles in his list are “ Sir John Mandevile’s Travels (much differ-
ent from the printed Books). The Siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian.
The Siege of Thebes.” This MS., I regret to say, has disappeared. 1

I have made no attempt to construct what is commonly called
a “ critical edition ” of the text, but have followed MS. a through-
out, except in those comparatively few places where a was plainly
wrong and one or more of the other MSS. showed equally plainly
what was the right reading ; and in such cases I have always been
careful to quote the readings of a in the footnotes. Nor have I
attempted to print a complete collation of the other MSS. ; but I
have tried to include in my selection all the really significant
variants, besides many which, though not in themselves of direct
textual importance, may help to show the characteristics of the
several MSS., and so to determine their relations to one another.
In printing a variant in which two or more of the MSS. agree
verbatim but not literatim , the spelling adopted is that of the MS.
named first.

There are one or two points to be noticed with regard to the
relations of the MSS. to one another and to the original text.
First, the omission of the Life of Judas ( 11 . 4487-4884) by b alone,
out of the six MSS. (for Add. 36983 is included here), raises the
question whether this formed part of the original poem, or was
inserted in a later and expanded version. The former supposition

1 Miss Dormer Harris, who was kind enough to ransack the School Library in
search of it, drew my attention to a note on p. 175 of Sharp’s Antiquities of Coventry,
ed. Fretton, 1871, showing that the MS. was still there shortly before 1871.

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Introduction.

is, I think, the more probable one. It has been shown (above,
p. xix.) that our author took the Life of Judas from the Legenda
Aurea , to which he is almost certainly indebted for other materials,
e.g. Pilate’s birth-story, the incident of the holy tunic, and the
miraculous burning of the would-be rebuilders of Jerusalem. What
could be more likely, then, than that he borrowed the Life of
Judas at the same time ? True, it is not strictly relevant, and does
not usually occur in versions of the story of Titus and Vespasian ;
but the account of the other “wicked bird,” Pilate, would very
naturally suggest it, and in the Legenda Aurea both are referred
to the same authority, or at all events introduced by the same
phrase, “ Legitur in quadam hystoria licet apocrypha.” An exami-
nation of what remains of b confirms the view that it is an abridg-
ment. Apart from the Life of Judas, and the two lacunae at the
beginning of b, 2904 lines are left in the present edition ; and of
those 2904, b omits no less than 40, viz. sixteen separate couplets
and two passages of four lines each. 1 All the omitted lines are in
a, c, d and l ; and though some of them might conceivably have
been inserted for an expanded version, others are necessary to
complete the sense (eg. 11. 2115-6, 3773-4). The conclusion is,
then, that B represents an abridged version of the original text.

Of the other MSS. c is the latest, and represents to a large
extent a modernised and paraphrased version. All the additional
lines which it supplies are quoted, usually in the foot-notes ; but
on two occasions (11. 149 1-2, 3489-90) lines found in it, and in no
other MS., have been incorporated in the text, the sense clearly
requiring them. It is evident, even from the selected variants
printed in the foot-notes, that c is not derived from either a, l,
or d* ; it must therefore descend (with how many intervening

1 See foot-notes, pp. 91-228, passim.

8 Its independence of a is obvious. The names in 11 . 412-414, or the variants in
11. 465, 602, 1184, 1797, may serve as examples of its independence erf L and d respec-
tively, or better still, see 11. 395-6, 2292-6.

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xliii

generations it is impossible to say) from an older MS. than any of
them, and its readings are often useful to confirm those of one or
other of the remainder when they disagree.

The relations of a, l, and d remain to be considered. The
foot-notes are full of instances of d agreeing with h as against a.
The cases in which d agrees with a as against l are just about
equally numerous ; they are not, of course, expressly mentioned in
the foot-notes, but whenever a variant is printed from l and nothing
is said about d, it may be inferred that d agrees with a. d alone
omits 11. 2202, 2295-6, 4087-8, 4579-80, 5026, inserts two lines after

I. 2241, and two more after 1. 2292, 1 and puts 11. 2423-4 before

II . 2421-2. These differences suffice to prove d independent of
l and a. No formal proof is needed here of the mutual inde-
pendence of l and a. It may be well, however, to call attention
to the omission by l. of 11. 395-6, 1988*9, 3021-2, 3371-4, 3911-12,
4465-6, 5095-6, the transposition of 11. 3571-2, 5039-40, and the
removal of 11. 1871-2 to after 1. 1894, as indicating how far l is
removed from the original text.

It is quite clear, then, that many copies must have been made
before the date of l, and we shall probably not be far wrong in
assigning the composition of the poem to the middle of the
fourteenth century.

As to the metre, there is not much to be said. It is intended
to be octosyllabic, of course, but our author cannot have had a
very fine sense of rhythm, nor can he even have been careful in
counting syllables, unless the copyists have done him grave injustice.
The rhymes, on the other hand, are scrupulously preserved — some-
times even to the detriment of the sense, as in 1. 1099, where werde
is substituted for world, in order to rhyme with yherde.

I make no attempt to deal with the question of dialect, but

1 These two lines ought to have been incorporated in the text

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leave that to specialists, who will, I trust, find enough material in
the foot-notes, and in the extracts given above, to form their own
conclusions as to the dialects of the various MSS., if not of the
original work.

The authorship has been ascribed to Lydgate 1 on the strength
of his “Sege of Thebes” being included in the Digby MS. But
the fact that Lydgate was not born until about 1370* makes this
ascription all but impossible on chronological grounds, and the
absence of any resemblance in style puts it out of the question.
For the sake of brevity I have frequently alluded to the present
metrical composition as a poem, but the justice of Dr. Brandi’s
description of it as “ void of artistic aspiration ” * cannot be gain-
said ; and Lydgate’s verse certainly does not merit quite so harsh
a phrase.

The attribution to Adam Davy 1 rests on a similar insecure
foundation. He used to be looked upon as the author of the whole
contents of the Laud MS.; but it has long been recognised* that
the “Alisaunder” is not by him, and Dr. Furnivall has shown*
that there is no evidence for his authorship of anything in the
volume except the Dreams about King Edward, in which he names
himself repeatedly. Indeed, the anxiety he displays in that short
poem that his name should not be overlooked raises somewhat of a
presumption against his having written any of the anonymous pieces,
especially a long one like this. Davy’s latest biographer, Mr. Henry

1 Bernard, Catalog r, 1697, i. p. 88 ; Tanner, Bibliotheca Brit.-Hib ., 1748, p. 491 ;
Ritson, Bibliotheca Boeiica, 1803, p. 71.

8 Schick, introd. to Lydgate’s Temple of Glas , E. E. T. S. extra series 60, 1891,
p. lxxxvii.

* H. Paul, Grurtdriss der germanischen Philologie , ii. i. 1893, p. 658.

4 Tanner, p. aai ; Warton, History of English Poetry , 1840 ed., ii. pp. 1-4;
Ritson, pp. 33, 34.

1 See Price’s note in Warton, ii. p. 6.

• Adam Davy’s j Dreams about Edward II., etc., E. E. T. S. 1878, p. 7.

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Introduction .

xlv

Bradley, 1 after pointing out that the Dreams were written about
1308 or 1328 (according as the king referred to is Edward II. or
III.), says that the other poems in the MS. (apart from the “ Ali-
saunder”) “ certainly belong to Davy’s period, and in diction and
metrical qualities they closely resemble his undoubted work.” It
is with great diffidence that I venture to question the judgment of
so competent a critic; but my opinion is that the resemblances
between the present work and the Five Dreams are slight, and that
the former is probably by some monkish or at any rate clerical
versifier, who wrote about the middle of the fourteenth century.

The plates have been executed by Mr. W. Griggs. They are
taken from Egerton MS. 2781 in the British Museum, 1 a Book of
Hours written and illuminated in England in the first half of the
fourteenth century, so that they are practically contemporary with
the poem which they are here used to illustrate. The frontispiece
is inscribed “Coment Titus et Vaspezianus lemperour de Rome
destruit le Juzeus en la cite de Jerusalem pur la mour de Dieu . et
coment le femmes mangeront lour fiz et le fiz lour pere . e le pere
lour fiz.” It represents a vigorous assault on the city by the
Romans, whose archery is rapidly thinning the ranks of the
defenders, and also depicts the horrors of the siege vividly by the
figures of two women eating their children. The second plate has
two inscriptions, “ Comment le Cristiens geterent le Jueus hors a
lez mangunelz” at the top and “Pur le encheysoun que Judas
vendi Dieu pur . xxx. denirz Titus vendi . xxx. Jueus pur . L diner .
quant Jerusalem fust ganhee ” at the bottom. It is in three com-
partments : the two upper ones represent various tortures inflicted
on the captive Jews after the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 11 . 4225-4244,
where, however, nothing is said of hurling from mangonels), and
the subject of the lowest is the sale at thirty for a penny (11. 4197-

1 Diet, of Nat Biogr . xiv. 1888, p. 183.

2 Described in the Cat of Additions^ 1SSS-9J, p. 473.

£

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xlvi

Introduction.

4224). It maybe mentioned here, & propos of pictorial representa-
tions of the story, that the Siege of Jerusalem formed the subject of
“ seven pece of Arras ” among the tapestries at Windsor Castle in
Henry VIII.’s time. 1

I am greatly indebted to Miss A. F. Parker for her careful
transcripts and collations of the Oxford MSS. ; and I wish to
record my grateful thanks to Dr. G. F. Warner, Keeper of the
MSS. in the British Museum, for his ever-ready help and advice in
difficulties.

J. A. H.

27 May , 1905.

1 Harl. 1419, f. *98, in an inventory taken by virtue of a commission dated
14 Sept. 1 Edw. VI. Noted by Warton, i. p. 205.

CORRIGENDA.

1 . 277. For pan read fan.

1. 299. „ opur „ ofur.

1. 1546. „ ynone „ ynome.

1. 4626. „ zonge „ jonge.

1. 2965 is wrongly numbered 2665.

p. 160, note 6. For LD Bitande read L Bitande. D Bitynge.

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SIEGE OF JERUSALEM.

Egerton MS. 27Hl,y’.190A. XIVth cent.

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TITUS AND VESPASIAN;

OR,

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.

pE 1 BATAILE OF JERUSALEM.

Listeneth alle )>at ben in live,

Bothe Cristen man and wive.

I wil jou tellen a wonder caas,

How Jesu Crist byhatede was
5 Of Je Jewes felle and kene ;

J?at was on hem sithen seene.

Tlfc Gospelles I drawe to witenesse
Of J?is matere more and lesse ;

And the passioun of Nichodeme,

10 If J?at je take Jereto good jeme ;
And of the geestes of emperoures
That tellen of Jese aventures :

How Jhesu Crist was doon to deed
Thurgh Je Jewes false reed.

15 Firste they deden hym grete despyt
Er j?at he dyede, I telle jou jet.

I trow Jat J>ei bilogh hit noght ;

1 So L. No title in A, C, or D.

B

Listen how Jesus
was done to death
by the Jews,

witness the
Gospels, Passion
of Nichodeme,
and Gestes of
Emperors.

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2

Titus and Vespasian ;

They hated Him
for His teaching.

and because He
exposed their
hypocrisy.

For after they hit dere aboght,

As je may heereafterward lere.

20 Listeneth lordes and je shall here. 1
ge wite well, and sooth it is,

That many man gylteles hangede is.

Right soo byfell on Jesu Criste,

As us shewed the Evangeliste ;

25 For oure trespas, and noght for his,

He soffrede here grete shame, I wys.

Firste they were wrothe with hym,

As false men and ful of venym,

For he prechede and taght gode lore*

30 Amonge J?e Jewes lesse and more ;

And much )>e more J>ei gan hym greve
For he had of hem noo leve.

And ofte he tolde hem in his sawe
Whan* J?ei trespassede agayn J?e lawe,

35 And J?at J>ei deden 4 in fele manere.

He chargeth noght, J?ogh J?ei it heere ;* fo. 1 b.
He provede it wel by holy wryt,
pat J?ei couthe not agayne seyen it.

Also he tolde everywhere
40 pat )>ei ypocrites were ;

For J?ei maden right such chere
As® )>ei lyveden in gode manere ;

1 C And ye wyl lesten wyth goode chere.
s L For he preched everewhore (JD hem everywhore).

C For cause he preched everowhare.

» LCD Where.

* C And Jwxt right L omits J>ei deden.

* C For pei shulden yt weel yhere.

LD He J>oujt (D roujte) never feij pai it here.

8 C As pough.

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or, The Destruction of Jerusalem.

3

The pore they deden robben and reve. 1
For* all her lawes J>ei nolde noght leve.

45 The grettest maistres werst it* kepeth.

Her wronge with hem to 4 longe slepeth.
get hem he tolde her owne thoght, 5
pat J>ei ne might withseye it noght.

This was noo maistry to Jhesu Crist.

50 They wondrede all * how he it wist ;

Graceles pei were and dym of sight
To knowen Je strength of God allmyght ;

A 1 if 7 they hym in manhode sawe,

His Godhed myght J>ei noght knawe.

55 They sheweden after here mysdede.

Forth anoon 8 they fell in drede
For the wondres * J>at J?ei sawe.

Of his Godhed J?an had J?ei awe,

For no man myghte such maistries kythe
60 As he dede for hem ofte sithe ;

As Nichodemus-witenesseth right, J e . sus visited by

That come to Jhesu Criste by nyght Nichod-mus.

And seide, “ Jesu, we witen hit wel
Thou art moost mayster of Israel,

65 And J?at knoulachest 10 Jou noght to be

1 C But yf pei pe pore dede robbe and reve.

L Hou pai pe pouere robben and reve.

* CYn.

3 C here lawe kept.

4 LD nojt ne slepep. C perfore pe venjaunce perof not longe slept.

* C Also Jhesus tolde hem here owene wykked pought.

8 LD Napeles pai wondred. C And yet pei wondred.

7 CD Alpough. L Alpeij.

8 C And perfore perafter.

9 LCD wondres. A wordes.

10 C pou knoulechest weel pat yt so be.

B 2

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4

Titus and Vespasian ;

For all the mervailles we seen of the.

Amonges couthe we never fynde 1
Any soo worch by mannes kynde,

Neither lewede man ny clerk,

70 But God were with hym in his werk.

Forthy [we] wolde * som token see,

To shew if pou Goddes sone be.” *

CThan seide Jesus to Nichodeme,

“ je taken of me ful litell geme. fo. 2.

75 Thogh I jou all pe aventures telle
Of pis worlde pat je in dwelle,
pat beth goon and shull byfalle,
je ne bileveth a worde of alle ;

For thogh * I of heven jou tolde,

80 Of all ping J»at ge wyten wolde,

How shulde perof trowe 6 oght,

Whan je pat other troweth noght ?

Nevertheles the aventures alle
pat 6 I say 30U shull bifalle.”

85 Nichodemus hym trowede well,

And privelich heelde with hym everydell.

1 C And amonge us can we non fynde,

pat so can werche be mankynde.

L Among us ne coupe we never fynde
On to wirche by mannes kynde.

2 C Wherfore we wolden. L perfore we wolde.

8 C Yf fat pou now God almyghti be.

L Schewe jif pou God almijtty be.

D To shewen if pou God almisty be.

* C And perfore yf. D Forthy of hevene pouj I jou tolde.

L Forpi of heven jif I tolde.

6 C leven. LD trowe me.

6 C pat Jhesus seyde shulde befalle,

Nichodeme hem leved weel
And helde yt pryve echeadel.

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or, The Destruction of Jerusalem.

5

And in Je gospell as men reede, The J ew s tempt

The Jewes Crist temptede oft indede ; Jesus,

pei askede hym mony a wonder sawe,

90 And ofte opposede hym in her lawe, 1
That J?ei myght by som juggement
In som manere have hym yhent.*

Ageynes hym pei wroght in vayn,
pat al unbyndeth and byndeth agayn.

95 This worlde it nys * but folye
Agaynes Goddes grete maistrye.

COnes pei askede hym, “ Maister dere, Tribute to Caesar.

To whom shull we jeelden every jere
All J»e truage of oure lande ? ”

100 How he unswarede, now understande :

“ Of whom joure monee hath ymage
With name iwriten, jeldeth hym truage.”

This was askede of hym in skome
For the wordes he seide biforn,

105 That he was God and Jewes kyng.

In hym Jei had noo trewe levyng. 4
“ Oure money, sire, we make )>e war,

Is made aftur oure kynge Cesar.”

“ pan,” seide he, “gelde Cesar his right,

1 10 And J?at is Goddes to God almight.”

Here thei were confoundet anoon ;

Concludet they were everychon. fo. 2 b.

1 C For to have atteynte hym be per lawe.

LD For to ateint hym bi her lawe.

2 C yshent. L schent. D shent

s C And al pis worldes wytte ys.

L pis werldes wytt is. D The worldis wit nys.

4 This line supplied in margin.

C And )>anne answerid pei to pis ping.

LD po ansuered pai to pis ping.

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6

Titus and Vespasian ;

Woman taken in
adultery.

By a womman pei temptede hym jet.

From peyne of stonyng 1 fair he hir quyt
1 15 For avowtrie, pat foule synne ;
pei accusede hir to hym perinne.*

Jhesu stoupede doun right anoon ;

These * wordes he wroot pe erthe upon :

“ This wrecched erthe pis opur biwriede, 4
120 But God forgaf pat mercy cryede.”

poo he had unswared * what he wolde,

“ Goth je e pe lettres for to biholde.”

Whan J?ei had seien it as he bad, 7
I sey to jou, pei were adradde:

125 “ Taketh pis womman pat hath do mys 8
Whosoo withouten synne now is,

And casteth on hir pe firste stoon.”
pan J?ei stale out evervchon,

All but pis womman pat stode alone.

130 And Jesus sat and lokede hir one ;

“ Where ben pese men, wymmen,” he seide,

“ pat pis blame soo on the leide ?”

1 D Shulde have ben stonid.

C pat shulde have be stoned and panne was she quyt.

L pat schulde be stoned fair he quit.

s C pat pei tolde hym pei founden here ynne.

LD pai tolde hym pai fonde hire perinne.

* C And certein.

4 C For pe false acusours pat here hadde bewreyed
And wolde pe woman also have stroyed.

* LD writen.

C And whanne he hadde wrytten.

6 C pei gon. L Hy gon.

7 C And whanne pei sey pat he hadde made.

8 C And Jhesus seyd to hem, y wys,

“ Now whiche of yow withoute synne ys,

Do cast on pe woman pe ferst stone.”

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or, The Destruction of Jerusalem.

7

C“ Sire, I not noght 1 sikerly.”

“ Dame,” he seide, “ no more wot I.

135 Goo now, j?ou dame, with joie and wynne,
And kepe thy * wyl from dedely synne.”
Alwey thus on hym J?ei soght,

But evermore J?ei fonde it vaillede noght.

For Goddes myght * and mannes witte
140 Mow not wel togeder syt.
pan ]>ei gan * hym to diffame,

And lyede on hym and dede hym shame.

Tho fat myght spede with no resoun *

With falsehed J?ei J’oght to brynge hym doun,
145 And seide, “ Thou seist amys we leven
Ajeynes the lawe J?at is us jeven.”

They seide, “ Sire, we have the lawes
That Moyses taghte us by his dawes, fo. 3.
pat he of Messias godelich toke,

150 Alsoo* we fynden in oure booke.

Soo heelde oure fader Abraham
And hiderward 7 J>at after hym cam.
pat we can wite 8 we breke it noght
In werk, in worde, ny in noo J>oght.”

155 He* wyst ful wel J?at J>ei mystolde,

1 D nevere. C She seyde, “ Sir, y not sykerly.”

* D the forpewarde. C pe hensorward weel fro synne.

L pe forpward fro synne.

* C wytte.

4 C Natheles pei wenten.

1 C And whanne pei myghte not spede in here resoun.

« LC as.

7 D alle tho. C al pat hyderward after cam.

8 C And to oure wytshepe.

9 Z He. A We.

C And pei seyden pilke hadde nought mystolde.

They defame Him,

citing Moses and
Abraham.

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8

Titus and Vespasian ;

His answer.

pat made Je lawes newe and olde.”
pan spake Jesus Je Jewes unto :

“ Moises and Abraham I sawe alsoo. 1
To Moises Je lawes I bitaght,
x6o pat fro me to 30U hit broght.

I sawe Abraham and he me ;

He was joiefull me to see.
je ben wel harder Jan Je stone,
pat of 30U wil knowe me none.*

165 Thwey 8 dombe beestes, the ox and asse,
pei segh me and wist what I wasse,

And Je bestes wilde under lynde, 4
They knewe me all but mannes kynde.”

The Jewes seide Jat he mystolde ;

170 He was not fifty wynter olde :

“ Moises and Abraham Jou hast seen ?

This may in no wise ben.

Thou ne semest but a jonge man.

How myghtes Jou have seen hem Jan ? ”

175 “ Forsoth,” he seyde, “ I telle 30U can.

I was longe er Je worlde bigan.

I shall be withouten ende
Thogh all Jinges in 5 sundry wende.

I am Jesus, Goddes sone.

180 I segh Abraham and Salamon.

1 C Of Moyses and Abraham y sey yow so.

2 C pat non of yow me knowen can.

* L Tueie. D Tweie. C Sithen J>at tweye.

4 D wode lynde. C And bestes so wylde under fe wode lynde,
Me knoweth al sauf mankynde.

L And bestes wilde under wood lynde.

Me knowep al bet mankynde.

6 C asoundre. L asondri. D asondry.

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9

I come the lawes to fulfille,

Not oon poynt J>erof to spille,

Ny of the prophecies alle
That han ibe or shull bifalle. fo. 3 b.
185 And also trewely I 3011 telle,

joure mychel temple I may doun felle
And reisen hit up the thrid day.”

“ pat myght not be,” J?ei sweren* ay.

In al Jns woorde* he hem blent,

190 For by his owne body he hit mente,
pat he shulde dyen and 3 assaye
To 4 risen up J>e thridde day.

For J>is worde they were negh mad,

For ever J>ei founden hym trewe and sad.
195 Nevertheles* they unswarede this right :

“ Er J>at oure temple were all ydight
jeres were sex and fourty fulle.

How )>an J?e trowe we shull ? ’ ’

Cursede folke men 6 myght hem call,

200 For 7 the miracles he shewede hem all.

1 C seyden.

* C And yn alle pese wordes.

LD In alle pise wordes.

* C as y yow say.

* CAnd.

* C Natheles pei answerid pus aplyt :

“ And oure temple were now al to-dyt,

Yeres wolde be sex and fourty fulle

Er we ageyn reren yt shulle.”

* L he. C me.

T C pat for.

Between //. 200, 201, C has two additional lines :
pei wolde not leven on hym be no wey,

But evere dured forth yn here false lay.

C

He foretells His
death and
resurrection.

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Titus and Vespasian ;

10

They charge Him
with Sabbath-
breaking.

But all pat Jhesus wold and thoght
Most som tyme to ende be broght.

That folke was ordeyned 1 to doo pat dede ;
perfore pei myght pe more drede.

205 He blamede hem for her bileve,

And seide it shulde hem sore agreve.

He myght sone suche thynges han wroght,
pat maked all pe worlde of noght.

And for he kepte * not her Sabaot * day,

210 To doon miracles every 4 day,

The seke to heele of evell and synne,

For her lawe he nolde not blynne.
Worldes 6 werkes were pei none,

But God almighty * dedes aloone.

215 pei askede hym why he wroght pan ;

And he unswared, as 7 God and man,

“ Is there noon of 30U alle,

If pat joure beest were ifalle
Doun in a pyt or in a lake,

220 Whepur® hit shulde ben up ytake,

1 L loked.

C But )>at folk fat holpen hym to fat dede.

* LCD held.

8 C Sabot. L Sabath. D Sabat.

4 C fanne away. L alway. D al the day.

6 C has two additional lines here, the following lines answering

11 . 213-14:

Suche werkes to don fat gracious were,
perfore fei nolde hym alyve yhere.

And yut worldes werkes wrought he none,

But fat were almesse dedes everychone.

8 LD almijtties. A almiyhty.

7 L als a good man.

8 LD $if. C pat nolde nought yt shulde up be take.

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Er hit were lorne ge wolde updrawe fo. 4.
On Je Sabot day, for all joure lawe ? ”
pei stode abashed everychon,
pat Jei ne couthe unsware hym none.

225 Anoon pei askede hym with grete tene
What his miracles wolde 1 bymene ;
pat was whan * he heelede Je seke,

Or seide or dede wondres * eke.

Ofte Jus Jei come hym to,

230 And askede why Jat he dede soo.

He unswarede aftur her thoght,

That Jei ne couth withsey him noght.

The grettest of J?e princes bolde 4
Agaynes Jhesu ful harde Jei holde,

235 And ichon makede ojur present
For to ben * at oon assent.

But smale folkes there aboute
Folweden hym with grete route ;

Wonder thicke Jei fell hym to
240 For the miracles Jei sawe hym doo,
pat Jei despyt doon * hym ne might ;
pat made 7 Jei token hym by night.

Whan Jesus segh Je tyme Jerto, 8
pat it most nedes ben ydoo,

245 He bad Jei shulde hem sone amende,

1 C shulde mene. L wolden mene. D myjte mene.

8 C And of J>at fat.

8 LCD wondres. A wordes.

4 C But fe princes fat weren so bolde.

* C be alle.

8 C ne don hym myghte.

L For fai no spyt do hym ne migt.

1 C And ferfore.

• C was to.

C 2

They question
Him as to His
miracles.

Their princes
conspire against
Him,

but fear the people
who follow Him.

He warns them of
their impending
fate,

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Titus and Vespasian ;

but they hate
Him the more.

Or stronge vengeance he shulde hem sende.

He byhight to fordoon hem all, 1
And her citee it shulde doun fall,

Jerusalem, Jat was stronge and hye.

250 Tho gan waxe pere grete envie ;*

But whil it stode )?ei had no doute,

Hit was soo riche and strong aboute.
Nevertheles of his* grete sawe
All Jei were in muchell awe.

255 For his prophecies pei hatede hym sore,

For Jei were 4 trewe wel Je more ;

And for his witte J>at was soo grete, fo. 4 b.

For his unsware and for his threte,

And for he bare so noble a fame
260 pat men honurede hym all by name,

And clepede hym Jesus Je verrey propphete,
Where he walkede in toun or strete.

Oft J>ei waitede hym to sloon,‘

And for drede J>ei let hym goon.

265 By day J>ei myght hym not hent
For the folke J>at with hym went.

Wel mony thousandes for his sake
Wolde han dyede er he were take ;

1 C He seyde J>ei shulde be fordon alle.

2 C panne beganne to waxen here envye.

L po gan to waxen her envie.

1 L pis.

C Nevertheles for alle here grete la we
Yut were J>ei brought yn ful grete awe.

4 C And eke for he was.

LD And for he was.

4 L sle . . . . lete hym be.

C But often hys enemys wayted hym to slen,

And evermore for doute J>ei lete hym ben.

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If }>ei had tofom all wiste 1
270 pei wolde soo foule have pynede Criste,
Alle J>e princes J>ei wolde have slayn
And all J>e contrey have brent ful fayn.
God wolde noght J>at hit were soo,

But ojjerwise it moste goo,

275 Whan tyme and terme was ycome
J?at he soffrede to ben ynorae.

Ful wel pan* he toke is merke
What manere men* shulde doo J>is werke ;
And sithen it shulde nedes 4 be doo
280 Somme manere of folke most* go J?erto.
get was it better J>ei had J>e gylte
J)an any ojmr nacioun had be spylte ;*

For in the booke thus we it fynde,

They were out-castynges 7 of all inankynde.
285 He 8 preiede for hem on rode tree,

“ Forgeve hit hem ]?at it shulde soo be,”

In ensaumple of all* Cristen men

He prayed for
His murderers on
the Cross,

1 C But and J>ei beforhand hadde ywyst

pat )>ei wolde so foule han ferd with Crist.
L jif J>ai hadden biforehonde wist

pai scholde so foule have faren with Crist.

2 L he had taken his merk.

C hadde he taken hys marke.

1 L Whan men.

4 C algate be so. LD alway be do,

• C muste nede yt do.

LD most nedes J>erto.

6 C panne J>ei many oJ>er hadden be spylt.

L omits nacioun.

7 LC J>e outcast.

8 C And yut he.

9 C us. LD omit all.

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Titus and Vespasian ;

M

and spared them
for forty years.

Their plots
against Him.

J?at here in 1 any envye ben,

That we forjeve as he forgave,

290 And michell mede fan shull we have ;*

For he is soo greet* of curtesy e
He nyl noo synfull man dye, 4
But space and grace he wil hym sende
And* he wil hymselfe amende.

295 Soo myght fe Jewes have hade grace

Of her grevose* and grete trespas. fo. 5.
Jhesus soflrede 7 a longe stounde,

Fourty gere (hit is wel founde) ;

For * token ny for noon opur sight
300 Repentede fe[i] never by day ny nyght.

But in the passioun as we rede,

As * f ei were gadrede in every 10 stede,

Ofte biforn fei spake fis 11 deed,

How to doon fei couthe 11 no reed.

305 J?ei 11 seide, “ Whan shull we us wreke
Of fis prophete fat fus can speke ?

For if we leten hym fus goon

1 C often yn envye bren. L in envie ne brenne.

* C pat we )>erfore gret mede myght have.

* C ful.

4 D ne dye. C pat he wyl pat no man to helle deye.

• CYfjat.

• LCD vileynous trespas.

I C For Jhesus suffred hem.

8 C And yut for.

» C Where. LD pere.

10 C ony.

II A is ( altered to pis). LD his ded.

C Often before er he were ded.

18 C token here reed.

« CAnd.

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