Wyclif’s Latin works

De ecclesia, chapter 23, part 1

Indulgences: what the word means, and the canonists’ limits on who may grant them

Loserth pp. 549.2–550.23

¶1549.2–550.23

549Restat consequenter tractare de indulgenciis et absolucionibus a pena et culpa, in quibus videtur esse error apud simplices istam materiam ignorantes. In primis ergo suppono significacionem quid nominis huius signi indulgencia. Est enim omnis indulgencia actus indulgentis, ita quod indulgencia non sit aliud nisi habentem ad hoc potenciam indulgere, et est indulgere gratis concedere, operam dare sive remittere, et componitur de inde et algere (quod est frigere vel mortificari), sicut est de commissis oblivioni traditis quoad expeticionem vindicte. Et sic loquitur scriptura Judith VIII°, 14: Indulgenciam domini cum lacrimis postulemus, et sic sumitur Isaie XXVI°, LXI° et LXIII°. Sic autem indulgere peccatoribus est Deo proprium, sicut et peccata dimittere (ut patet capitulo ultimo quinti libri); sed ab istis sensibus extractus est terminus et baptizatus in sensum alium partim per doctores theologie et partim per canonistas; quandoque enim secundum eos connotat remissionem pene, ut secunda questione tercio capitulo Indulgencie, ut notat Archidiaconus, quod quandoque signat active concessionem, ut dominus papa indulsit subdito hoc vel illud, id est, concessit; aliquando autem signat dispensacionem, aliquando ius, ut notat Johannes, XXXIII, q. IIª. Interfectores; et aliquando accipitur pro remittere vel condonare, in De Penitenciis 550et Remissionibus, cap. Indulgencie in principio per Archidiaconum; unde omnes istas indulgencias trahunt et limitant ad prelatos ecclesie. Unde statuunt sibi pro regula quod solus papa potest dare quoad locum et tempus indulgencias generales, episcopi autem habent potestatem limitatam faciendi indulgencias. Nam cum dedicant ecclesias, non extenditur eorum indulgencia ultra annum, eciamsi a pluribus episcopis dedicetur. In aliis autem ultra numerum quadraginta dierum non potest episcopus indulgere, verumptamen episcopus confirmatus antequam sit sacerdos, sicut et legati non sacerdotes faciunt indulgencias, quia hec potestas magis eis ex iurisdiccione quam ex ordine. Inferiores autem ut abbates et presbiteri non possunt indulgencias tales concedere publice ex auctoritate iurisdicionis, sed private in foro penitencie (ut patet in De Penitenciis et Remissionibus, capitulo Indulgencie); super vero conceduntur per Innocentem et Archidiaconum: licet, inquit, restricta sit potestas de indulgenciis que fiunt publice, non tamen in foro penitenciali in quo sacerdos potest indulgere annos et dies dummodo discrete faciat et penitenciam iniunctam per superiorem non remittat.

It remains next to treat of indulgencesindulgencie: indulgences and of absolutions from punishment and guilt, in which there seems to be error among simple people who are ignorant of this matter.1 First, then, I suppose the signification of this sign indulgencia, what the name meansquid nominis: what the name means. For every indulgence is an act of one who indulges, so that indulgence is nothing other than one who has the power for it indulging; and to indulge is to grant freely, to give one’s effort, or to remit; and it is compounded of inde and algere (which is to be cold or to be mortified), as is the case with offences handed over to oblivion as regards the seeking of vengeance.2 And so scripture speaks in Judith 8:14: "Let us with tears beg the Lord’s indulgence"; and so it is taken in Isaiah 26, 61 and 63.3 And to indulge sinners in this sense belongs to God alone, as also to forgive sins (as is clear in the last chapter of the fifth book);4 but the term has been drawn out of these senses and baptized into another sense, partly by the doctors of theology and partly by the canonists. For sometimes, according to them, it connotes remission of punishment, as in the second question, third chapter, Indulgencie, as the Archdeacon notes: that sometimes it signifies actively a grant, as "the lord pope indulged a subject this or that", that is, granted; and sometimes it signifies a dispensation, sometimes a right, as John notes on C.33 q.2 Interfectores; and sometimes it is taken for "to remit" or "to pardon", in De penitenciis 550et remissionibus, chapter Indulgencie, at the beginning, by the Archdeacon.5 Hence they draw all these indulgences in and limitlimitare; limites: to assign (an office); limits them to the prelatesprelatus: prelate of the churchecclesia: church. Hence they lay down for themselves as a rule that the popepapa: pope alone can give indulgences general as to place and time, but bishops have a limited power of making indulgences. For when they dedicate churches their indulgence does not extend beyond a year, even if the dedication is made by several bishops; and in other cases a bishop cannot indulge beyond the number of forty days. Nevertheless a bishop confirmed before he is a priest, as also legates who are not priests, make indulgences, because this power is theirs from jurisdiction rather than from order.6 And inferiors, such as abbots and presbyters, cannot grant such indulgences publicly by authority of jurisdiction, but privately in the court of penance (as is clear in De penitenciis et remissionibus, chapter Indulgencie); and on the word conceduntur, by Innocent and the Archdeacon: "Although," he says, "the power is restricted concerning indulgences which are made publicly, yet not in the penitential court, in which a priest can indulge years and days, provided he does it discreetly and does not remit a penance enjoined by a superior."7

Notes

  1. 1 A heads the chapter Cap. XXII. (549.1). C. A pena et culpa: the formula of the plenary indulgence, "from punishment and guilt". Simplices: simple people, the unlearned. R. A in the margin at 549.2: De indulgenciis.
  2. 2 Significacionem quid nominis huius signi: Wyclif begins from what the name means (row), as he began from ecclesia (5.11). Indulgencia non sit aliud nisi habentem ad hoc potenciam indulgere: an accusative and infinitive, "nothing other than one who has the power for it indulging". Operam dare: to give one’s effort or service, one of the dictionary senses of indulgere. The derivation from inde and algere (to grow cold) is the grammarians’ (not found in PL): an offence handed to oblivion grows cold as to the seeking of vengeance. T. B signacionem (549.5); B remittere componitur, without et (549.9–10). R. B in the margin at 549.7: Quid est indulgencia? Cf. Hus, Opera I, 175 (Loserth, 549.5).
  3. 3 Judith 8:14: the Vulgate reads indulgentiam ejus fusis lacrimis postulemus, Douay–Rheims "with many tears let us beg his pardon"; Wyclif’s domini … cum lacrimis is translated, and "indulgence" kept, since the word is his point. Isaiah 26:15 Indulsisti genti (Douay–Rheims "Thou hast been favourable to the nation"), 61:1 praedicarem captivis indulgentiam ("to preach a release to the captives"), 63:7 secundum indulgentiam suam ("according to his kindness"): Wyclif gives the chapters only; the verses are ours.
  4. 4 Deo proprium: proper to God, his alone (side-note 549.2). Capitulo ultimo quinti libri: De civili dominio III c. 27, as at 547.17 (chapter 22, part 8), on suffrages and indulgences (Society ed. IV, 644); that only God remits sin is argued in its c. 26 (608: hoc solus Deus potest). R. Side-note 549.2; A in the margin at 549.20: Nota quid est indulgere vel indulgencia; supra vide.
  5. 5 Baptizatus in sensum alium: the term is "baptized" into a new sense (B lacks baptizatus, 549.18). Quod quandoque signat: taken as reporting the Archdeacon’s note. S. Secunda questione tercio capitulo Indulgencie: so the codices; Loserth corrects to Liber Sextus 5.10.3 Indulgentiae, with the gloss of the Archdeacon, Guido de Baysio (Loserth, 549.21; the form is ours). XXXIII, q. IIª. Interfectores: Decretum C.33 q.2 c.5, Nicholas I to Archbishop Rodulf of Bourges (Loserth, 549.26; the form is ours). Loserth would read Nicolaus papa for Johannes, the canon being Nicholas I’s; but ut notat Johannes names the glossator Johannes Teutonicus: the ordinary gloss on c. 5, v. Indulgentia, weighs whether an indulgence is a dispensation or a ius (glossed Decretum, 1588), as Wyclif reports, so the emendation is not needed. T. B convocat for connotat (549.20). R. Side-note 549.15.
  6. 6 Limitant: "limit", in the sense of restrict (row limitare), not "assign". C. Quoad locum et tempus: general as to place and time. Magis eis ex iurisdiccione quam ex ordine: the verb is understood. S. The year for a dedication and the forty days otherwise are the rule of the Fourth Lateran Council, c. 62, X 5.38.14 Cum ex eo. R. Side-note 550.1. A in the margin at 550.3, only partly legible in the page foot: Indulgencia … potestas, with convenit added; B in the margin at 550.14: Potestas indulgendi est ex iurisdiccione et non ex ordine, ut hic patet.
  7. 7 Super verbo is our emendation for the print’s super vero, which does not construe: the canonists cite a gloss "on the word" (cf. in verbo, 551.4), and the word glossed is taken as conceduntur. B Inserentes autem for Inferiores autem (550.14); A discreta (550.22). C. In foro penitencie: the court of penance, the confessional, set against public jurisdiction. Inquit: singular, though two glossators are named. The quotation is closed at remittat, where the print’s italics end. S. Innocent IV and the Archdeacon on Indulgentiae, VI 5.10.3; Innocent’s apparatus is on the Decretals of Gregory IX, so his gloss may be on X 5.38.14 (not traced: no readable copy of Innocent’s or the Archdeacon’s apparatus was found on archive.org, and the OCR of the glossed Sext of 1584 is unusable at that place). Sext 5.10.3 has conceduntur.
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 549: CAP. XXIII.
    • 549: consequenter
    • 549: Deo (203c is the glued folio mark)
    • 549: IIª
    • 550: ∅ (previous page’s closing text at page top)