STANZAIC LIFE OF KATHERINE, FOOTNOTES
1 They made an amazing amount of noise
2 She said [she would go] there, and she thought [she would be] alone
3 Those who believed in Jesus were upset (ill at ease)
4 You make them do service to the devil
5 Whom you consider to be your protector
6 Lines 243-44: And in your name I will have a statue splendidly made, a very beautiful one
7 Lines 247-48: [And] on all matters of public importance / We will consult you
8 Lines 269-71: And if it would do me any good to speak, / I would now advise you / To burn and destroy your gods
9 Tie [her] up and beat [her], as long as she is alive
10 Lines 286-87: Do not give her any food or drink, / Not even a little - now understand this well
11 Lines 290-92: It behooves me not to wait long / Before relating these events to great and wise men
12 For those who love God faithfully, He ordains this [reward]
13 Lines 402-03: He inquired about the virgin's condition, / [Asking] whether she were alive or not
14 Lines 429-30: Even if I must die [for it], you can believe me: / I will never renounce Jesus
15 You have never before heard tell of any such thing
16 Lines 459-60: Very thickly studded all around / With opposing hooks, to kill her with
17 Lines 475-76: Many pagans gathered in front of the wheels. / Strong threats were uttered against the virgin [presumably by the crowd]
18 Where she would have to go in among them (the wheels)
19 They had never been so weary of (sated with) sorrow
20 Lines 511-12: I renounce you and all your possessions / And all your power forever completely
21 Lines 515-16: [The One] in whom these Christians believe, / His power extends far and wide
22 [And] torn apart completely by dogs and birds
23 To deliver her message (or intercede for her) in that ordeal
24 Lines 587-88: When you forbade her [to be buried in] the earth after you had put her to death
25 But they didn't give a sloe (a small, sour, worthless fruit) about that
26 To be chewed up by dogs and [wild] animals then
27 Lines 769-70: [To] all the sick people who went there, no matter how many there were
28 [On the date] when she was martyred here in this world
29 Lines 785-87: May Jesus give the joy of Heaven to him who thus wrote her Life and to all who read and hear it
STANZAIC LIFE OF KATHERINE, EXPLANATORY NOTES
Abbreviations: A = Auchinleck (National Library of Scotland MS Advocates 19.2.1), fols. 21r-24v; G = Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge MS 175/96, pp. 107-18 [base text]; H = Carl Horstmann; R = Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson poet. 225 (SC 15509), fols. 48r-48v, 46r-47v, and 1r-2r.
1-8 This text opens with both a blessing, recalling the invocation before a sermon, and the familiar call of the oral storyteller for the audience's attention.
10-15 These lines attempt to explain how the jurisdiction of Maxentius can extend to Katherine, who is the daughter of King Costus and living in Alexandria (lines 49-50). The historical Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius) was a Roman emperor from 306 to 312 and controlled Italy and north Africa, including Alexandria. King Costus was not a historical figure.
17 Mahoun. See explanatory note to line 205 of the early SEL account of Mary Magdalen.
21 Sarezyn. See explanatory note to line 194 of the early SEL account of Mary Magdalen.
tryst. The more usual form of this adjective is thrist.
25 fyve and fyfty yer. This version of the legend suggests, that is, that Maxentius was a very old man by the time of his confrontation with Katherine. A makes his previous reign even longer: 65 years.
66-67 blyssyd . . . here tungge. The gesture suggests that she is asking God to bless and guide her words when she confronts the emperor. Katherine's association with eloquent speech was so strong that medieval Christians sometimes invoked her aid to cure diseases and injuries of the tongue.
72 They wente with here, that stood here by. That is, she is accompanied by members of her own court or household.
93 Jhesu, the welle of wyt. It is appropriate for Katherine to call Jesus the wellspring or source of wisdom because the wisdom she will shortly display is portrayed as miraculous and divinely given (not merely the result of her excellent education).
102 mawmettys. See explanatory note to line 57 of Mirk's account of Mary Magdalen.
113-14 Yyf thou were leryd. Ironically, Maxentius argues that Katherine has been badly educated and should have studied with teachers like his own.
118 Termagaunt. See explanatory note to line 205 of the early SEL account of Mary Magdalen.
135-36 Ther is no god but On of alle, / That . . . al hath wrought. Katherine's reply echoes the beginning of the Nicene Creed ("I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible") - a good response to a polytheist and idolater like Maxentius.
139-48 This version of the legend places unusual emphasis on the secrecy and the personal sealing of Maxentius's letters to the philosophers, making one wonder what he fears.
166 As Jhesu Cryst schal wysse thee. An echo of Jesus's promise to His followers in Luke 21:12-15: "[you will be brought] before kings and governors, for my name's sake. And it shall happen unto you for a testimony. Lay it up therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay."
173 In al wysdom and eke Latyne. The philosophers' knowledge of Latin would not be worth mentioning, of course, except in a vernacular retelling of the legend for audiences who did not know it themselves.
183-84 The explicit mention of God's angel again at this point, together with the way Katherine "sees" her arguments as if they had been miraculously written in her heart, reinforces the message that she is successful in this debate because of divine inspiration, not her own learning.
205 in fay. Presumably intended as a mere asseveration, meaning "certainly." But it is an ironic choice, since its literal meaning is "in faith" and Maximus seems to be the only person present who has not been converted.
210 Of ryche kynrede. The idea seems to be that this scholar's family background makes him the natural spokesman for the others.
225-28 The martyrdom of the philosophers echoes the ordeal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3), who refused King Nebuchadnezzar's command to violate their Jewish faith by worshiping his idols and were bound and cast into "a furnace of burning fire," from which they emerged unharmed (Daniel 3:6, et passim). Although the newly converted philosophers in the legend die, the miracle that preserves their bodies apparently untouched recalls the details recounted in Daniel 3:94 (3:27 in Protestant translations): "[All the witnesses] gathered together, considered these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, and that not a hair of their heads had been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell of the fire had passed on them." There is also an important New Testament text on such miracles, when Jesus promises that His followers will be kept completely safe in the midst of persecution, even if they lose their earthly lives: "You shall be betrayed . . . and some of you they will put to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. But a hair of your head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess your souls" (Luke 21:16-19).
236 par ma fay! Literally, "by my faith" - another irony, when applied to Maxentius. See explanatory note to line 205, above.
239-40 A slightly veiled threat to have her beheaded.
242 in boure and eke in halle. Since boure in Middle English can mean "bedchamber," this line briefly recalls the familiar motif of the pagan suitor who attempts to seduce the virgin martyr away from her true bridegroom, Christ. The theme of sexual temptation, however, was never as important in the Katherine legend as in those of virgin martyrs like Margaret, and there is almost nothing else to suggest it in this particular retelling. The MED glosses in bour and in hall as meaning simply "in chamber and in hall, in cottage and mansion, everywhere" (see bour n. 4).
253-56 Maxentius offers Katherine a marble temple, within which she will be worshipped after death along with his gods. Instead, Katherine will be buried in a marble tomb, to which pilgrims will come forever to be healed and edified by the miraculous oil that perpetually flows from her remains (lines 773-80 below).
282 whyt as whales bon. A conventional image of beauty in Middle English poetry, meaning "as white as ivory." Ivory did not actually come from whales, of course, but among its main sources were walruses and other animals that could be confused with whales. Interestingly enough, the corresponding line in A has alpes bon ("elephant's bone," another kind of ivory); R uses another image entirely, saying she was as white as milk foam.
289-96 In other versions of the legend, the emperor's temporary departure from Alexandria is attributed to other pressing business. In this version he is apparently so obsessed with the need to overcome Katherine that he can think of nothing else.
335-36 This seems to echo the promise in Matthew 10:32: "Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven."
349-52 An echo of 1 Corinthians 2:9 (and, somewhat more distantly, Isaiah 64:4): "That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him."
353-56 These lines echo several Biblical prophecies about the joy of the blessed in Heaven, most notably Revelation [or Apocalypse] 7:16-17 ("They shall no more hunger nor thirst, neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall rule them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes") and Revelation 21:4 (". . . and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away").
371 pynk. Either a minnow or a derivative of the verb "pinchen," suggesting a miserly portion.
375 that. In order to make the sentence parse, this word should either be construed as a demonstrative (that is, "the angels brought her that [as a] ration") or emended to ther.
392 myn handwerk. Referring to human beings as the work of God's hands recalls the poetic language used in the Psalms and some of the Old Testament prophets. See, for example, Psalm 138:8 [137.8 in Vulgate and Douay], Isaiah 29:23, 45:9-11, and 64:8.
398-400 These details about Maxentius's entourage have no equivalent in most versions of the legend. Their addition heightens his resemblance to a late-medieval monarch and also highlights the choice Katherine has made between earthly power and that of Jesus (whose own entourage of angels and saints has been mentioned just above, in lines 378-80 and 396).
426 Sarezynys so blak. The adjective here must be figurative rather than literally descriptive, referring either to their lack of enlightenment or more generally to their wickedness. On Sarezynys, see explanatory note to line 194 of the early SEL account of Mary Magdalen.
451 Cursates ("the cursed one"), the confederate of Maxentius who suggests, and in this version actually builds, the terrible wheel on which Katherine is to be torn apart.
456 Another lessoun. Continued play with the idea of Katherine's needing instruction from them: she will change her tune, predicts Cursates, once she sees this terrible torture device.
523-24 The only explanation Maxentius can imagine for his wife's conversion is witchcraft or sorcery by the Christians. He returns to this explanation below, in lines 640-44, calling Katherine a witch.
531-32 The cutting off of the queen's breasts has been interpreted as "a kind of metaphorical transference" which emphasizes her connection with Katherine, whose own body will bleed milk when she is beheaded, later in the legend (Wogan-Browne and Burgess, Introduction to Virgin Lives and Holy Deaths, p. xxxiv). It is more common in saints' legends for the virgin martyr herself to be mutilated in this way; see for example lines 441-44 of the Christina legend, below in this collection, and the accompanying explanatory note.
555-60 Although the queen's mutilated body is left unburied, to be eaten by dogs and other scavengers, her soul is immediately taken to Christ. In A lines 559-60 make this point even clearer: The soule com bifor Jhesu, / Er the bodi were cold.
574 My serjauntys that I clothe and fede! As he sends his officers out to find the unknown culprit(s), he arouses their zeal by reminding them of the loyalty and gratitude they owe him. Ironically, of course, it is the leader of his own officers who has chosen to follow Jesus Christ instead of the emperor.
583 withouten drede. The phrase probably means "without any doubt," but in this context it could also mean "without fear of the consequences."
593-608 Although modern readers might expect the emperor to mourn the loss of his wife more than that of his favorite lieutenant, medieval retellings of the legend nearly always skip over the former in favor of the latter. Indeed, the emperor's lament over Porphirius was obviously a favorite scene.
602 in wede. Perhaps "in [his] garments," but also "in [his] madness." See MED wede n. 3. This is also a handy formula to complete and intensify the alliteration on w and to supply a rhyme.
609-16 The sequence of events here is not entirely clear, but the idea in G seems to be that the knights assigned to guard Porphirius, their former leader, use their opportunities to talk with him privately while he is in their custody and are converted by what he tells them about his own decision to convert. A and R present a different scenario in which the emperor privately questions his knights about Porphirius's conversion (which they already know about) and they unanimously express their own faith (to which they have already been converted). One might logically connect these knights with the 200 whose conversion was mentioned earlier (lines 363-68), although A and R do not make that clear.
679-82 Compare Luke 23:27-28, in which Jesus is followed to His crucifixion outside Jerusalem by a multitude and specific mention is made of "women, who bewailed and lamented him." Jesus tells them to weep instead for themselves and their children.
709-16 Katherine's prayer for those who honor her memory. Note the similarity to St. Margaret's final prayer, in which that saint asked to be able to assist those who remember her martyrdom, give churches or alms in her name, or call on her in need. But unlike most versions of Margaret's prayer, which included petitions for women in labor and other particular categories of persons she wanted to help, Katherine just refers in a general way to the needs of people facing death or some other trouble and stipulates that her help be confined to those whose requests are ryghtful (line 713).
739-40 Again the legend refers to Heaven with details drawn from Biblical prophecies - for example, Revelation 22:5: "And night shall be no more: and they shall not need the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them."
754 for the blood the mylk out ran. A miracle that is reported also at the executions of several other virgin martyrs and at least one male saint, the apostle Paul. In the cases of Katherine and the other virgins, the miraculous substitution operates most obviously as a sign of the saint's physical and spiritual purity, suggesting that she has transcended the natural, sexual functions of her earthly female body. The connection with St. Paul reminds us, however, that milk was also a symbol of spiritual fruitfulness and nurturing that could cross gender lines - as it did in Paul's account of his own initial dealings with the new Christian community in Corinth: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual [people], but as unto carnal. As unto little ones in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able as yet. But neither indeed are you now able" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).
756 He was ful blak, he was ful wan. Although there may be some word play here, in this context the principal meaning of blak is probably the opposite of the modern word it resembles - that is, it probably means pale, colorless, or dead-white (see the OED entry for the adjective blake and compare the word "bleak"). Paired here, the near synonyms blak and wan suggest the executioner's shocked reaction to the miracle that has just proved Katherine's sanctity and his own collusion in evil.
760-62 Mt. Sinai, on the Sinai Peninsula (now in Egypt), is believed to be the place where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (see especially Exodus, ch. 19). Next to Mt. Sinai, where the legend says Katherine's body was taken by angels after her death in Alexandria, is Jebel Katherine, or Mt. Katherine. St. Katherine's Monastery, at the foot of the mountains, is the present site of Katherine's tomb. The monastery, built in 548-65 by Justinian I, originally commemorated the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-6), but was rededicated to St. Katherine in the tenth or eleventh century.
781-84 The anniversary of her death, November 25, was listed in medieval liturgical calendars all over Europe and commemorated every year in church services with special readings, hymns, and antiphons in her honor.
785-96 This version of the legend ends, as it began, with the invocation of a blessing that includes everyone who reads or hears it.
STANZAIC LIFE OF KATHERINE, TEXTUAL NOTES
Abbreviations: see explanatory notes.
6 of. The scribe of G regularly doubles medial and final f, writing off for of, afftyr for aftyr, and so on. Since this spelling quirk does not affect the pronunciation of the words in question, it has not been reproduced in this edition.
25 he. G: omits.
hadde. G: hadde ben, with ben canceled.
45 Glemen. Emendation based on A. G reads Alle men, which does not make sense with the remainder of the line.
49 that. Inserted above the line in G.
50 G: hys ryghte name, with ryghte canceled.
52 eightene wyntyr. A gives her age as fifteen instead of eighteen.
of. A, H: omit.
57 in. G: i.
59 desport. Somewhat conjectural, since the last three letters can no longer be read in G. "Coort," the rhyme word (line 57), helps, however. A ends the line differently.
64 Maxeens. H: Maxcens.
69 A has an easier reading: Sche sayde sche wald thider wende; R is similar but omits thider.
82 as. Inserted above the line in G.
112 nothyng. G: no th thyng.
133 develys. G: develys alle, with alle canceled.
141 was. G: was ther, with ther canceled.
146 selyd. G: fe selyd, with fe canceled.
150 knyght. G: kyng knyght, with kyng canceled.
151 they. G: omits. H's emendation.
164 to. G: omits. H's emendation.
185 sayde. The beginning of this word is too faint and worn to be read in G.
200 it. Inserted above the line in G.
205 Maxcence. G: Maxcence hymself, with hymself canceled.
215 itold. The i is inserted above the line in G.
218 wende. The last two letters are obscured in G.
222 bad. G: bayd bad, with bayd canceled.
224 be. G: omits. H's emendation.
227 fax. A, R: flesche; H proposed emending G's fax to fay ("face"), to avoid the apparent redundancy with her. But emendation is not really necessary, since the MED defines fax as referring specifically to the hair of the head, whereas her could mean facial hair (beard, brows, lashes) and body hair. The preservation of their hair is the most essential detail here because it shows the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to His followers in Luke 21:18.
228 and. G: and and.
235 then. The last letter is obscured in G.
240 away. The first a is inserted above the line in G.
251 I. G: omits.
261 to Jhesu Cryst my love. The sense is clear, but this phrase is not very idiomatic. A has Ich have me taken to Jhesus Crist, and R is very similar.
263 G also gives an alternative version of this line - In hevene He schal me wedde above - in what looks like the same scribal hand, with the Latin notation elige ("choose").
267 my lyf. G: my my lyf.
270 thy. H emends to žy[s].
297 iwent. The i is inserted above the line in G.
305 That ylke. Inserted above the line in G, replacing an earlier reading, Withinne the.
307 he. Inserted above the line in G.
323 up. Inserted above the line in G.
329 spak. G: be spak, with be canceled.
344 thou alsoo, I. The thou and I are both inserted above the line in G. The original reading was alsoo say I thee, but the I thee in that clause has been canceled.
346 joye. The initial letter can no longer be read in G.
363-64 here . . . hem. In most versions of the legend, these two hundred men are Porphyry's converts, but here they seem to be the queen's. There is an initial confusion of the pronouns in G, however, which has hym both in line 363 (where it may have been meant to refer to Porphyry) and again in 364, where the sense clearly demands hem. A and R both have hir and hem, although neither of them repeats the language about being served at the table, which in G underlines the analogy between the heavenly servants who wait on Katherine in prison and the earthly ones who wait on the queen in her husband's court.
369 drynk. The last letter is obscured in G.
381 ben. The last two letters are obscured in G.
383 thou. Inserted above the line in G.
399 dukes, eerlys. G: dukes and eerlys, with and canceled.
404 ful. Inserted above the line in G.
449 skypte. Inserted above the line in G, replacing an earlier reading, scypte or possibly stypte.
455 sche it seeth. Inserted above the line in G, replacing an earlier reading, it is wrought.
489 breke. End of this word inserted above the line in G.
502 adrad. Inserted above the line in G, replacing an earlier reading, dred.
504 sorewe. The last two letters inserted above the line in G, which originally had sore.
513 thou. Inserted above the line in G.
523 dysseyvyd. Last three letters obscured in G.
545 trewe. Inserted above the line in G.
560 it. Inserted above the line in G.
575 Manye. The reading in G. H: Many.
589 playn. It may be that this word should be play, as in A and R, which would rhyme exactly with "ay" in line 591 instead of repeating the rhyme on "-ayn." H takes it that way; but the mark of abbreviation in G is clear, and playn makes better sense in this context.
625-28 An addition in G, not found in A and R, which briefly interrupts the narrative with a direct address to the audience, urging everyone to pray for the same reward after death that was won by the martyrs.
625 Pray. G: And pray, with And canceled.
626 Lytyl and mochyl. Written over an erasure in G.
627 G: be be hens, with hens written over an erasure.
635 holy. Inserted above the line in G, replacing an earlier reading, swete.
679 fele. G: fele fele, with the first one canceled.
698 on. Inserted above the line in G.
708 soone. G: sone, with a second o inserted above the line.
709 me. G: my, which makes a better rhyme but is ungrammatical in this context.
726 orysoun. G: prayer orysoun, with prayer canceled.
758 flowen. H reads flowe, but there is an abbreviation mark in G.