WILLIAM PARIS, LIFE OF ST. CHRISTINA, FOOTNOTES

1 Thus the disobedient one argued, began against me

2 Lines 455-56: Therefore it seems to me very long [that I wait] to be brought to you [and] to your perfect joy

3 Here ends the life of the virgin Saint Christine

WILLIAM PARIS, LIFE OF ST. CHRISTINA, EXPLANATORY NOTES

33-34 Evidently her family has decided to keep her unmarried so that she can serve their gods as a temple virgin. Some retellings of the legend suggest that her father has incestuous designs on her.

34 mawmentrye. On this term see the explanatory note to Mirk's account of Mary Magdalen, line 57.

58 As had the Baptiste. According to the Gospel of Luke, the blessedness of John the Baptist was foretold by an angel even before he was conceived (Luke 1:13-17) and confirmed in the sixth month of his mother's pregnancy when he leaped for joy in her womb at the greeting of her kinswoman, the Virgin Mary, who had herself just become pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:39-44).

62 As in Poules lyfe. The dramatic acts of grace which converted St. Paul from a persecutor of the early church to one of its chief missionaries are related in Acts 9:1-30.

64 As Barabas thef, that honge so hye. Presumably a reference to the thief who was crucified alongside Jesus and repented as he was dying, receiving forgiveness and the promise of Heaven (Luke 23:39-43). The name traditionally given to that thief, however, was Dismas or Demas. The criminal Barabbas, who seems to have gotten confused with him in this text, was the condemned prisoner whom Pilate released in place of Jesus (Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23: 17-25).

141 my doughter small. Either a reference to her slender body or to her extreme youth. Although this text does not mention her age until line 444, it follows the tradition which envisioned her as a child of twelve.

150-52 Although they are supposedly on Urban's side, Christina's handmaidens seem to be mocking him. The verb auntred (line 150) answers the question "how durste she" (line 147) with a simple assertion: she did dare to defy him. The term dyght (line 151) is ironic when used to describe the broken idols because it ordinarily refers to a constructive activity like building, adorning, or putting in order. But it also can have negative connotations. See MED dighten v. 5 ("fall"), and 2c ("condemn"). And the question in line 152 sounds more like ridicule of Urban's pretensions to power than like faith in that power.

170 in depe prisoun. In this context, depe might refer either to the severity of her imprisonment or to its location; in the latter case, we should envision a dark dungeon below the ground or in the innermost part of a tower.

202 Befor the barre. The term bar, in this sense, refers to the barrier in front of the judge's seat in a court of law.

206 Thus coppid the kene, on me began. A difficult line to translate. The kene ("The haughty, obstinate, or rebellious one"?) looks like the subject of the verb coppid ("accused," "argued," "quarreled," or "tilted with"); but coppid could also be a past participle modifying the kene ("Thus accused, the haughty one"?). The phrase on me began could mean either "began [to quarrel] against me" or "began [her life] in dependence on me." It is even conceivable that the first half of the line is a description of the way Urban is speaking, rather than part of his accusation against Christina.

223-24 fadir . . . / Of Satan fende. This sounds reversed. We would expect Christina to be saying that Urban is the devil's son, not the devil's father; and at least one Middle English version, that of Bokenham, has her say just that. But William Paris is accurately translating the usual Latin version of this line. The point seems to be that Christina is glad to be disowned by Urban because Urban is a devil and she could only be his daughter if she were a devil too. Her real father, as the legend keeps suggesting, is Christ.

239-40 What is "full of wytt" (line 237) about this response is the way it accuses Urban of devouring the flesh of his own offspring. This act can be seen as a proof of God's anger against Urban, since it fulfills a dire curse with which God threatened in Leviticus to punish the most incorrigible transgressors against Him: "But if you will not for all this [preceding series of chastisements] hearken to me, but will walk against me: I will also go against you with opposite fury, and I will chastise you with seven plagues for your sins, so that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your daughters" [Lev. 26:27-29]. The connection between Christina's legend and this Biblical curse is confirmed by the fact that the very next verse, Leviticus 26:30, corresponds with the saint's victory over her second judge: "I will destroy your high places and break your idols. You shall fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you." (See below, lines 361-72.)

269-72 Christ's words echo the standard baptismal formula, in which the priest says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

274 godfadir and preste. That is, Christ had filled the role of her godparent and sponsor, bringing her to the ceremony and conferring her baptismal name, as well as the priestly role of administering the sacrament itself.

280 in the stronde! The noun stronde generally refers to land bordering a sea or river, but it can also mean the waters near a coast.

281 Seint Mighell. Michael the Archangel, mentioned in Revelation 12:7-9 as the leader of the angelic host that defeated Satan's army and drove them from Heaven, was generally associated with mountains and other high places rather than with rescues from the sea, and was the protector of soldiers in particular. His introduction into some retellings of Christina's legend (including the Legenda aurea, as well as William Paris's version) may have been intended to emphasize the resemblances between this intrepid young virgin and the archetypal Christian warrior.

284 He wiste in world. Obviously this must be an idiom which, like the modern "could care less," means the opposite of what it literally says.

294 depe prison. On this term see explanatory note to line 170, above.

305 Dyons. The name of Christina's second judge is generally given as "Zyon" in English sources. In the Legenda aurea tradition, on the other hand, he is usually called "Elius."

323 twys-borne child. That is, born again with baptism and enjoying the luxury of a second childhood, safe in the protection of her real father, Christ.

344 tonne. Drinking from the same tun - i.e., from the same barrel of wine or ale - was a proverbial expression for sharing the same fate.

350 Apolyn. That is, to a large statue of the Roman god Apollo, which must stand in a public place in this city.

353 in that araye. An ironic choice of words, since Christina is naked and the term araye usually refers to clothing.

355 wyfs and wemen. Married women and women in general.

368 Sarzyns. On this term, see explanatory note to line 194 of the early SEL Life of Mary Magdalen.

441-44 Kirsten Wolf discusses the possible implications of such mutilation of female saints in "The Severed Breast: A Topos in the Legends of Female Virgin Martyr Saints," Arkiv for Nordisk Filologi 112 (1997), 97-112.

445 The mylke stremyd oute. A miraculous sign reported at the deaths of several other virgin martyrs, including Katherine of Alexandria. For possible interpretations, see explanatory note to line 754 of the stanzaic Life of Katherine.

474-80 This complaint by the persecutor represents a surprising departure from most versions of the legend, which have Christina miraculously continuing to speak, and thus affirm the powerlessness of violence to silence the martyr's defiant witness. Stouck suggests that William Paris may have reversed the usual message at this point in order to reduce the embarrassing contrast between Christina and Warwick, who was said to have capitulated and confessed all too easily ("Saints and Rebels," p. 87).

482 He wiste in world. On this idiom, see explanatory note to line 284 above.

489-90 stronge castyll . . . Bulstene. The Legenda aurea identifies Bolsena as a fortified place between Orvieto and Viterbo.

501-02 Sir Thomas Brawchaump. That is, Sir Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. See Introduction to this text.

505-12 Notice how the "Ubi sunt" motif in this stanza is used both to lament the absence of Sir Thomas' other followers and to suggest their cowardice and ingratitude. Christina was braver than any of them, which may be a reason for William Paris' retelling of the legend.

WILLIAM PARIS, LIFE OF ST. CHRISTINA, TEXTUAL NOTES

Abbreviations: A = British Library MS Arundel 168, fols. 2r-4v [base text]; H = Carl Horstmann.

8 highte.A: toke highte, with toke dotted for deletion.

68 sacrifiee. Corrected in A from sacrifice, presumably for the sake of the rhyme.

96 My. Conjectural reading; A damaged at this point.

97 Thi. Conjectural reading; A damaged at this point.

127 wold. Emended from A: wild.

216 this. Emended from A's reading, thus, to restore the rhyme with "is" (line 209), "sacrifice" (line 211), and "mysse" (line 214).

234 toke. Corrected in A from to.

250 sorcerrie. Emended from A: socerrie.

251 Therfor. Corrected in A from Ther.

258 thei. Emended from A: thi.

302 away. Emended from A: al way.

306 To. Emended from A: Tho.

321 Corrected in A, which originally omitted thee.

323 yonge. The text must originally have been composed in a dialect that could use the form yinge, rhyming in this stanza with "kynge" (line 321), "nothinge" (line 326), and "hynge" (line 328).

344 tonne. Emended from A: towne.

345 Than Dyons. H suggests emending this line by inserting the verb bad.

353 forthe in that. Corrected in A, which originally omitted in.

387 keene. Corrected in A from kiene or kuene.

399 no grevaunce. Corrected in A, which originally omitted no.

428 well. Emended from A: will.

438 And he stode. Corrected in A, which originally omitted he.

441 ywysse. Emended from A: ywyse.

450 Thee. A: omits. H's emendation.

460 tonge! It. There is a canceled letter between tonge and It in A.

465 Corrected in A, which originally omitted toke.

476 Corrected in A, which originally omitted thi.

500 The Ile of Man, that stronge cuntré. An emendation suggested by Gerould. A has another of after Man.

513 Corrected in A, which originally omitted the verb site.

521 Goddes. Emended from A: goddeste.