Commentaries on the liturgy constitute a significant, but still unjustly neglected literary genre in the medieval period. In recent decades, excellent critical editions have been produced of some of the major monuments of the genre, including the De ecclesiasticis officiis of John Beleth, the Mitralis de officiis of Sicard of Cremona and the Rationale divinorum officiorum of William Durand. This makes the decision of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series, lavishly produced on high quality paper in two volumes of a comfortable size, to include an edition and lightly annotated translation of the Gemma animae (Jewel of the Soul) of Honorius Augustodunensis all the more welcome.
The editors are to be congratulated for producing a volume that makes liturgical ritual accessible to a wider public. Students of medieval liturgical manuscripts and visual art will find helpful detail. While later liturgical commentators, like John Beleth, might draw more on secular examples to explain specific rituals, Honorius has his own way of explaining liturgy through a rich knowledge of scripture. These two volumes help show how the Gemma animae can illuminate the meaning of medieval liturgical ritual.
Constant J. Mews
The Medieval Review
Read Full Article >>
