Wyclif’s Latin works

De ecclesia, chapter 6, part 5

A theriac against exactors; Christ espoused his mother; Christ’s humanity as form of the church

Loserth pp. 130.18–133.25

¶1130.18–131.28

130Unde si quis zelans pro profectu sancte matris ecclesie, habens in animo scintillam virtutis constancie, posset dicere quod tyriaca est contra exactores huiusmodi, extorquentes sine recompensa plus debita bona pauperum sancte matris ecclesie ex titulo quod sunt membra principalia eiusdem matris sine macula vel ruga, qui possunt temptacionibus et tribulacionibus adversancium concuti sed non superari a membris diaboli vel submergi, ut dicunt iura canonica de sancta matre ecclesia: ideo ex ore proprio debent potentes mundi ab eis requirere quod ostendant secundum eadem iura procuratorium sufficiens in fructu operis quod sunt illi quibus bona sancte matris ecclesie sunt debita vel donata, quia dist. XLª scribitur: Non sanctorum filii sunt qui tenent loca sanctorum, sed 131qui exercent opera eorum. Et ista tyriaca obtunderet cauterium rubiginosum diaboli quod non gracia sanacionis sed gracia spoliacionis apponitur membris Christi. Conceditur ergo quod tam honor quam stipendium sunt impendenda Christi sacerdotibus, sed oportet eos ex operibus dare probabilem evidenciam quod sunt tales, cum nemo contra conscienciam daret bona sancte matris ecclesie membris diaboli; nam secundum leges humanas qui dat pseudoprocuratori debitum creditoris, tenetur in penam negligencie, et si perdiderit datum creditori tribuere quod est suum. Multo plus creditor matris sue, et specialiter si negligit discernere utrum exactor sit fidelis procurator sancte matris ecclesie, quod iudicabit secundum opera et regulas scripture. Nam liquido constat fidelibus quod decime, oblaciones et alie private elemosine debentur sancte matri ecclesie. Qua fronte ergo excomunicaret infructuosus operibus evangelicis subiectos simplices, nisi dent sibi bona sancte matris ecclesie, cum sit evidens ipsum non esse de illa, sed in illa, tamquam eius hostem precipuum et ypocrisi atque mendaciis eius infidelissimum proditorem. De isto inferius. Sexto arguitur contra dicta in racione secunda; videtur enim, si Christus desponsavit matrem ecclesiam cuius fuit filius, quod filius foret senior matre sua, sicut est honorabilior, melior et formalior quam est illa, et sic ydemptificaret sibi omne membrum ecclesie (ut sepe innuitur in sanctis doctoribus et scriptura).

Hence, if anyone zealous for the advancement of holy mother churchecclesia: church, having in his mind a spark of the virtue of constancy, could say that there is a theriac against exactors of this kind, who extort without recompense, beyond what is due, the goods of the poor of holy mother church, on the titletitulus: title that they are principal members of the same mother, without spot or wrinkle, who can be shaken by the temptations and tribulations of adversaries but not overcome by the members of the devil, nor submerged, as the canon lawsius: right / law say of holy mother church:1 therefore, out of their own mouth, the powerful of the world ought to require of them that they show, according to the same laws, a sufficient proctor’sprocurator; procuratrix: proctor mandate in the fruit of their work, that they are those to whom the goods of holy mother church are due or given; for in distinction 40 it is written: "They are not the sons of the saints who hold the places of the saints, but 131those who do their works."2 And this theriac would blunt the devil’s rusty cautery, which is applied to the members of Christ not by way of healing but by way of despoiling.3 It is granted, therefore, that both honour and stipend are to be paid to Christ’s priestssacerdos / presbiter: priest / presbyter; but they must give, from their works, probable evidenceevidencia: evidence that they are such, since no one against conscience would give the goods of holy mother church to members of the devil; for according to human laws he who gives a creditor’s due to a false proctor is bound, as the penalty of negligence, even if he has lost what was given, to render to the creditor what is his.4 Much more [is] the debtor of his mother [so bound], and especially if he neglects to discern whether the exactor is a faithful proctor of holy mother church, which he will judge according to works and the rules of scripture.5 For it is plainly evident to the faithful that tithesdecime; pars decima: tithes; the tenth part, oblations and other private almselemosina: alms are owed to holy mother church. With what face, then, would one who is unfruitful in gospel works excommunicate simple subjects unless they give him the goods of holy mother church, since it is evident that he is not of her but in her, as her chief enemy and, by his hypocrisy and lies, her most faithless traitor?6 Of this below. Sixthly, it is argued against what was said in the second reason; for it seems, if Christ espoused mother church, whose son he was, that the son would be older than his mother, as he is more honourable, better and more formal than she is; and so he would identify every member of the church with himself (as is often hinted in the holy doctors and scripture).7

¶2131.29–132.29

131Hic dicitur quod Christus desponsavit matrem suam que est totalis ecclesia non secundum se totam, sed secundum synagogam ex qua Christus secundum carnem prodiit, et sic reliquit patrem et matrem (ut sancti doctores exponunt dictum suum Matthei XIX°, 5) 132et adhesit uxori sue, sed illud dictum oportet sane intelligi. Nam Christus assumens illud quod prius non erat non perdidit vel desiit esse illud quod erat, quia manet absolute necessario eternaliter plenus Deus, sed reliquit assumendo humanitatem esse solum Deus, cum fuit humanitas que est aliud quam deitas. Et sic ubi prius fuit summe beatus cum patre stante illa beatitudine cum patre assumpsit miseriam fraternam condicionis humane, et sic reliquit matrem synagogam, non deserendo membra predestinata in veteri testamento, sed cum eis assumendo ecclesiam gencium, (ut docet Apostolus Romanorum IX°, 24). Verumptamen multos carnaliter Iudeos reliquit tamquam ineptos ad fabricam sancte matris ecclesie et secundum dotem novam adhesit uxori sue que fit plurimum ex gentibus, et sic honorat matrem ecclesiam tamquam ipso priorem et superiorem eo quod est duarum naturarum creatarum utraque. Et secundum corpus erat subditus parentibus suis carnalibus, ergo multo magis parentibus suis spiritualibus, hoc est, sibi et sancte matri ecclesie. Sicut enim tam secundum corpus quam animam erat subditus trinitati, sic secundum corpus erat subditus sibi secundum animam. Verumptamen videtur quod non sit senior quam universalis ecclesia sed econtra, cum ipsa sit coetanea cum mundo et senium dicit rei mortalis periodum naturalem. Sed est antiquior quam creatura alia, cum sit antiquus dierum, et sic est honorabilior et melior quam mater ecclesia, proporcionaliter ut deitas excedit creaturam.

Here the answer isdicitur multipliciter: is said in many ways that Christ espoused his mother, which is the total church, not as a whole, but as to the synagogue, from which Christ came forth according to the flesh; and so he left father and mother (as the holy doctors expound his saying, Matthew 19:5) 132and cleaved to his wife; but that saying must be soundly understood.8 For Christ, assuming what he was not before, did not lose or cease to be what he was, for he remains with absolute necessity eternally full God; but by assuming humanity he left being God alone, since he was humanity, which is other than the Godheaddeitas / divinitas: the Godhead / divinity.9 And so, whereas before he was supremely blessed with the Father, that blessedness with the Father remaining, he assumed the brotherly misery of the human condition; and so he left his mother, the synagogue, not by deserting the predestinatepredestinatus, -i: the predestinate (sg. "a predestinate [person]") members in the old testament, but by assuming with them the church of the gentiles (as the Apostle teaches, Romans 9:24).10 Nevertheless he left many carnal Jews as unfit for the building of holy mother church, and according to the new dowry cleaved to his wife, who is made for the most part from the gentiles; and so he honours mother church as prior to himself and superior, in that she is each of the two created natures.11 And according to the body he was subject to his carnal parents; therefore much more to his spiritual parents, that is, to himself and to holy mother church. For just as, both according to body and according to soul, he was subject to the Trinity, so according to the body he was subject to himself according to the soul.12 Nevertheless it seems that he is not older than the universal church, but the reverse, since she is coeval with the world, and "old age" means the natural period of a mortal thing. But he is more ancient than any other creature, since he is the ancient of days; and so he is more honourable and better than mother church, in proportion as the Godhead exceeds the creature.13

¶3132.30–133.25

132Sed difficultas est, utrum Christus secundum humanitatem sit forma ecclesie. Et videtur mihi quod sic; nam sicut forma vivificat et movet corpus ad actus 133suos, limitans sibi et partibus suis crementum et alia accidentia naturalia, sic se habet nedum divinitas Christi extrinsecus sed humanitas eius intrinsecus ad sanctam matrem ecclesiam; unde blasphemum est cogitare quod subest potestati humane posse celebrare divorcium inter Christum et matrem suam, sicut carnaliter ymaginamur de defectu in carnali coniugio. Ecclesia enim est virgo spiritualiter intelligendo sicut tota multitudo celestium civium agnum sequencium (ut dicitur Apocalyps. XIV°, 1), unde tales virgines possunt post corrupcionem recuperare virginitatem, sicut non contingit de virginitate carnali, quamvis semper possunt esse virgines. Nam eo ipso, quo predestinatus habet celibatum, recipiens a sponso ecclesie semen fidei, gignendo filium Dei, est virgo, sponsa Christi, et per consequens, soror et frater eius germanus, et per idem, mater eius, cum gignit Christum spiritualiter ex semine sponsi in anima conversa ad Christum. Et istam materiam pulchre tangit decretum ex doctrina Augustini, ut patet XXVII q. prima: Nupciarum, ubi dicitur quod ecclesia tota virgo est, cum Apostolus IIª. Corinthiorum XI°, 2 dicit: Aptavi vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo. Et ab illo viro cum vivit perpetuo, non licet recedere spiritualiter fornicando, ideo coniugatus manet spiritualiter virgo. Sed

But there is a difficulty, whether Christ according to his humanity is the form of the church. And it seems to me that he is: for just as the form quickens the body and moves it to its 133acts, assigninglimitare; limites: to assign (an office); limits to it and its parts growth and the other natural accidents, so not only Christ’s divinitydeitas / divinitas: the Godhead / divinity from without but his humanity from within stands to holy mother church; hence it is blasphemous to think that it lies within human power to be able to celebrate a divorce between Christ and his mother, as we carnally imagine [it] from a defect in carnal marriage.14 For the church is a virgin, understanding it spiritually, as is the whole multitude of the heavenly citizens following the Lamb (as is said, Apocalypse 14:1); hence such virgins can recover virginity after corruption, which does not happen with carnal virginity, although they can always be virgins.15 For by the very fact that a predestinate [person] has celibacy, receiving from the bridegroomsponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom of the church the seed of faith, by begetting the Son of God he is a virgin, a bridesponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom of Christ, and consequently his sister and own brother, and by the same token his mother, since he begets Christ spiritually from the bridegroom’s seed in a soul converted to Christ.16 And this matter the decree touches finely, from the teaching of Augustine, as is clear in [Causa] 27, question 1, Nuptiarum, where it is said that the whole church is a virgin, since the Apostle, 2 Corinthians 11:2, says: "I have fitted you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."17 And since that husband lives for ever, it is not lawful to depart from him by fornicating spiritually; therefore one who is married remains spiritually a virgin. But …18

Notes

  1. 1 Si quis … posset dicere quod tyriaca est … : ideo …: the condition has no main clause; ideo opens the theriac itself. Tyriaca: theriac, the physicians’ antidote to poison (Glossary proposals). Plus debita: beyond what is due. Membra principalia … sine macula vel ruga: the exactors claim for themselves what is said of the church (Eph. 5:27, "not having spot or wrinkle", DR). The canons that say the church is shaken but not overcome are not traced.
  2. 2 Ex ore proprio: out of their own claim, turned against them. Procuratorium: a proctor’s letter of mandate. B quod sint (130.30). A margin Dist. XL. Hic nota contra sanctitatem pape (130.31). Loserth (130.31): Decretum I, D.40 c.2, Non est facile (the form is ours), Jerome to Heliodorus: non sanctorum filii sunt, qui tenent loca sanctorum, sed qui exercent opera eorum (PL 187:213C–214B).
  3. 3 Cauterium: the surgeon’s searing iron; cf. 1 Tim. 4:2, "having their conscience seared" (DR, cauteriatam). The cautery is presumably the censure by which the exactors extort (131.17). Gracia with a genitive: for the sake of.
  4. 4 Probabilem evidenciam: evidence that makes it probable, not proof. The rule of "human laws" on payment to a false proctor is not traced. Et si: even if. In penam negligencie: as penalty for his negligence.
  5. 5 Print creditor; Loserth’s page foot (131.12): "perhaps debitor should be read". The one who owes tithes to the mother church is her debtor, and creditor gives no sense in the argument, so we translate debitor. B est fidelis (131.13).
  6. 6 Qua fronte: with what face, how shamelessly. Non … de illa, sed in illa: in the church but not of it (cf. 121.12, 06-b). Ypocrisi atque mendaciis eius: we take eius with proditorem, "her traitor". De isto inferius: a cross-reference forward, not identified.
  7. 7 A margin Sexta obieccio (131.23); B lacks sua (131.25); A₁ formosior, "more beautiful", for formalior (131.26). Formalior: more of the nature of form, preparing the question of 132.30. In racione secunda: the second argument of this chapter (06-a), presumably. Ydemptificaret sibi: would make identical with himself.
  8. 8 A margin Nota bene. Responsio: Christus desponsavit sibi matrem suam ecclesiam non secundum se totam (131.29). Matt. 19:5, "shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife" (DR); Wyclif’s past tenses (reliquit … adhesit) apply it to Christ. The holy doctors’ exposition is not traced. A A₁ sane intelligere (132.1–2).
  9. 9 A margin De incarnacione (132.3); A assummendo (132.5). Assumens illud quod prius non erat: after the antiphon Mirabile mysterium of the Circumcision (octave of Christmas), id quod fuit permansit, et quod non erat assumpsit (Sarum Breviary, Procter–Wordsworth I, col. ccxciii); Wyclif’s words echo the antiphon rather than quote it. Reliquit … esse solum Deus: this is his leaving of the father. Cum fuit humanitas: "since he was [also] humanity", or "since there was [in him] a humanity"; doubtful.
  10. 10 Ubi prius: whereas before. Rom. 9:24, "not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles" (DR), is cited, not quoted; A B have Romanorum and a gap for the chapter (132.12), which Loserth filled.
  11. 11 Carnaliter Iudeos: Jews after the flesh. Secundum dotem novam: the new dowry of the incarnation (124.4–8, 06-c). Duarum naturarum creatarum utraque: we take it of the church as made of both created natures, angelic and human, whereas Christ’s created nature is human only; doubtful.
  12. 12 Luke 2:51, "was subject to them" (DR), is alluded to. Sibi: to himself as God; subditus sibi secundum animam: his body subject to his own soul.
  13. 13 B ut ita sit (132.25); A margin Differencia inter senium et antiquitatem (132.27). Dan. 7:9, "the ancient of days" (DR). Senium: old age, the natural span of a mortal thing, said of creatures; antiquior: more ancient, said of the Word. Creatura alia: "any other creature", as printed; as man he is also a creature.
  14. 14 B margin (later hand) Utrum Christus secundum humanitatem sit forma ecclesie; A margin Dubium (132.30). Forma: as the soul is the form of the body, giving it life, motion and growth, so Christ’s humanity is to the church from within, his divinity from without. De defectu in carnali coniugio: from the defects for which a carnal marriage may be dissolved.
  15. 15 Apoc. 14:1 (as printed) shows the Lamb with the hundred forty-four thousand; agnum sequencium is the language of 14:4, "for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth" (DR). Quamvis semper possunt esse virgines: we take it that the carnally corrupted can always still be virgins in spirit; doubtful. A margin Sponsa Christi (133.7).
  16. 16 B sponso semen fidei gignendi (133.14). Soror et frater … mater: cf. Matt. 12:50, "he is my brother, and sister, and mother" (DR). Germanus: full brother. Habet celibatum: keeps the celibacy of the soul faithful to its one bridegroom.
  17. 17 Loserth (133.19): Decretum II, C.27 q.1 c.41, Nuptiarum (the form is ours), from Augustine, De bono viduitatis 10.13 (Gratian "c. 8"; PL 187:1388B–1390A; PL 40:438). 2 Cor. 11:2, Vulgate Despondi enim vos uni viro, DR "For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ"; Wyclif’s Aptavi, "I have fitted", is Augustine’s reading (Gratian Aptavit), translated. A B II Cor. X, A corrected in the margin to XI (133.21).
  18. 18 Cum vivit perpetuo: cf. Rom. 7:2, the woman "whilst her husband liveth is bound to the law" (DR). B idem coniugatus (133.24–25). The final Sed opens a sentence that continues in the next part (06-f, 133.26), where A has the margin Dubium.
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 130: matris (N is alinea letter)
    • 130: XLª
    • 131: filius
    • 131: melior
    • 131: formalior (print has formalior) [NW]
    • 132: huma- (huma-/nitatem hyphenated; main token holds first half (P is alinea letter))
    • 133: IIª
    • 132: ∅ (second half of huma-nitatem; JOIN onto 225 huma- -> humanitatem) [DELX]
    • 132: humanitatem (print: huma-/nitatem (agent 13); scan split)
    • 132: ∅ (margin mark)
    • 132: ∅ (joined at 225)
  • OCR scars, translated as corrected: p. 132 Verumptamem (read Verumptamen), vivmcat (read vivificat); p. 133 IIª. (stray point). Doubts: p. 131 creditor (Loserth: debitor); p. 132 duarum naturarum creatarum utraque.