Alcuin on Virtues and Vices

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Harvard Divinity School

Alcuin on Virtues and Vices: A Manual for a Carolingian SoldierAuthor(s): Luitpold WallachReviewed work(s):Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Jul., 1955), pp. 175-195Published by: Cambridge University Presson behalf of the Harvard Divinity SchoolStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1508673.

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ALCUIN ON VIRTUES AND VICESA MANUAL FOR A CAROLINGIAN SOLDIER

LUITPOLDWALLACHCORNELL UNIVERSITY

Dedicated to Professor James HuttonTHE WORK f the Northumbrian Alcuin in the service of Charle-magneby far excels in importance he contributionsof other schol-ars allied with the Frankishking.' One of Alcuin'smany interestswas to develop in the leaders amongthe laity of a barbarianage 2a sense of moral responsibilityand a personal culture fit for thecommandingpositions which these men held. Many of the letterssent by Alcuin3 to Charlemagneand other members of the Royalhousehold,to the kings of Mercia and Northumbria,to Frankishand British nobles and government officials,overflow with adviceand requests to mend their ways. With this aim he wrote specialworksfor some of these persons- for one example,the Rhetoric4as a Via Regia for Charlemagne,a work which must be classed5 asthe oldest Carolingian speculum principis,6 preceding that ofSmaragdusof St. Mihiel (written for Louis the Pious), that ofJonasof Orleans(for Pippinof Aquitania), that of Sedulius Scotus(for Lothar II), and that of Hincmar of Reims (for Charles theBald). Related to these specula is the treatise De virtutibus et

1 See Luitpold Wallach, 'Charlemagne and Alcuin: Diplomatic Studies in Caro-lingian Epistolography,' Traditio 9 (I953), 127-154.2 Cf. the censure of barbarian procedures of law by Alcuin's friend, Theodulphof Orleans, as described by P. M. Arcari, 'Un goto critico della legislazioni bar-bariche,' Archivio Storico Italiano Iio (1952), 3-37; some of Arcari's interpreta-tions of the Lex Salica are, however, mistaken.3 Edited by Ernst Diimmler, MGH, Epistolae IV (1895).4This thesis will be developed in a forthcoming monograph 'The Via Regia ofCharlemagne: Studies in Carolingian History.'SHeinz L6we in Wattenbach-Levison, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mit-telalter (Weimar, 1953), 230, note 211, and p. 233, accepts in principle our inter-

pretation of the Rhetoric as a speculum principis, as suggested in Speculum 24(I949), 588 f.6 Cf. Lester Born, 'The Specula Principis of the Carolingian Renaissance,' Revuebelge de philologie et d'histoire 12 (I933), 483-612, who lists neither the Rhetoricnor De virtutibus et vitiis among the Carolingian specula.


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176 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWvitiis,7which Alcuin wrote in the year 799 or 8o00for Wido, Mar-grave of the Marca Britanniae,who during the same years over-came the resistanceof this territoryto Charlemagne.In type thisethical manualresembles the Libellusexhortatorius,8 ompiledbe-tween 796 and 799 by Alcuin's friend Paulinus of Aquileia forDuke Eric of Friuli,oneof Charlemagne'sbest generals. We recallalso the Liber manualis of Dhuoda,9wife of Bernard of Septi-mania,written between841 and 843 for her son William,who wasthen attached, probably as a page, to the Court of Charles theBald. An analysis of the contents, purpose, philosophy, and lit-erary compositionof Alcuin's treatise should reveal the author'sway of thinking and his method of writing, and enable us toassess the historical significanceof the tractate.

DE VIRTUTIBUS ET VITIISThe treatise10 of 35 chapters may be divided into four partsdistinctin style and content. A dedicatory etter opensthe treatise,and a brief epistolary peroration (ch. 36) brings it to a close."The first 26 chaptersdeal with the following topics: wisdom,faith,charity, hope, the readingof the Bible Lesson, peace, mercy, for-giveness, patience, humility, remorse, confession, repentance,thereturn to God,the fear of God,fasting, alms-giving,chastity, free-dom from conceit, on judges, bearing false witness, envy, pride,wrath, deceit, and perseverancein good works. Chapters27-34

provide a catalogue of 8 principalvices. The last chapter, 35, isa disquisitionon the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, cour-age, and temperance,which, together with the term 'virtus,' aredefined and described. The division into 35 chaptersis confirmedby the title, dating from the ninth century, found in the catalogueof the libraryat St. Gall: 'Alchvviniad Vitonemcomitemcapitula'Migne, PL Ioi, 613-638.8 Migne, PL 99, 197 ff.; Dom Rochais lists in the Revue B6nedictine 63 (1953),251 the extant MSS of this treatise.'Ed. E. Bondurand, Le Manuel de Dhuoda (Paris, 1887); see the fine study byA. Burger, 'Les vers de la Duchesse Dhuoda et son poeme De temporibus suis,'Melanges J. Marouzeau (Paris, 1948), 85-102."oCh. 36, PL Ioi, 638B-C, is not an original chapter of the treatise; see belownote 12.nThe introductory letter and the peroration are critically edited by Diimmler,MGH, Epistolae IV, Epist. 305, p.464 f.


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUESAND VICES 177xxxv.' 12 The letter-peroration(chapter 36 in Migne) was there-fore not countedby Alcuinas a separate chapter.

The four parts of the treatise are obviouslycomposedin differ-ent styles. The epistolary sections conform to the personal styleof Alcuin, as known from his many epistles. But while the sectionon virtues is written in a homileticvein, that on the vitia is factualand descriptive. And Chapter35 containselementsof both styles.That this variety results from Alcuin's use of different sources(see below) is clear.Alcuin allegedlywroteuponthe expressrequestof the recipient.Wido, busily absorbed in bellicis rebus, receives a handbook(manualis libellus) which is to tell him what to do and what toavoid in his daily life.The treatise is presented as a breviarium,13 composed, as ex-pected, brevi sermone. Breviariumis also the term used for theOfficiaper Ferias; it was intended to teach a 'homo laicus, quiadhuc in vita activa consistit,' how to pray and make the best useof his time.'4 The layman Wido is not to be perturbed; his mili-tary professionwill not prevent him from enteringthe Portals ofHeaven. Heaven is open to all without distinction of sex or ageor station in life, if only they performgood works (cf. Gal. 3,28;Coloss. 3,I ).Alcuin's purposein writing can be deduced from certaintopicsused in the introductory letter and the peroration. His initialallegationthat he wrote uponWido'srequestcannot be taken seri-ously, since this is one of the many topics of modestyin his arsenalof rhetorical over- and understatements so abundantly drawnupon in his writings. Further, the pretence of writing upon re-quest is supposed to lend authority to the work of the author.'"Like commonplacesalso occur, for example, in the dedicatoryepistle addressedto Beornradof Sens whichaccompaniesAlcuin'sVita S. Willibrordi:that Alcuin has, upon request of the recipient

'Paul Lehmann, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge I (Munich, 1918), 79." Letter and peroration are always referred to in Diimmler's edition.14MGH, Epistolae IV, Epist. 304, p.462,30. A. Wilmart, Revue Benedictine48 (1936), 262 f. assumes that this collection of prayers is of post-Alcuinian origin;also F. X. Haimerl, Mittelalterliche FrSmmigkeit im Spiegel der GebetbuchliteraturSiiddeutschlands (Munich, 1952), p.6.' E. R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (BollingenSeries 36, New York, 1953), 85.


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178 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEW(petitioni), written that the style of the work is not an eminentexample of eloquence (eloquentia), and that it is caritas which hasspurred the author to write. Let us compare these passages:Alcuin writes to Wido (MGH, Epistolae IV, p. 464, no. 305):

Cui tam honestae petitioni libenter me annuere fateor, optans meaedevotionis apices tibi ad perpetuam proficere salutem. Quos etiam,quamvis minus eloquenter videantur esse compositi, tamen certissimescito sanctae caritatis vigoreeosdem esse dictatos.Alcuin writes to Beornradof Sens (MGH, Epistolae IV, p. 175,no. I20):

Sed tamen longe imparem me petitioni vestrae consideravi, utpotenullo praerogativaemunere eloquentiae suffultus, ad implendum quodiussisti; ac nisi me caritas urgeret,quae nulla negaresolet, non auderemultra meae paupertatis vires negotium attingere.Other matters in Alcuin's letter are the same as those he uses

in epistles to high-ranking clerics recommending that they readthe Cura Pastoralis of Gregory the Great, which Alcuin calls aspeculum 16 of pontifical life.The main topics employedin the letter to Wido are as follows:

a. Read the treatise frequently,17 so thatb. your mind, weariedby outwardvexations, may have somethingtoturn to in which it can take pleasure; 18c. memorizeindividual chapters of the treatise; 19d. the workis a handbook which teaches you what to avoid and whatto do.20

6 Epist. II6, p.I71,27 (Diimmler): 'Speculum est enim pontificalis vitae etmedicina contra singula diabolicae fraudis vulnera,' a reference overlooked by R.Bradley, 'Backgrounds of the title Speculum in mediaeval literature,' Speculum 29(I953), oo100-103. On speculum as book-title see Paul Lehmann, MittelalterlicheBiichertitel (SB. Bayer. Akademie der Wiss., 1953, Heft 3), PP. 30-44.

17 Epist. 305, p.464,24: '. . . litterulas, ita te humiliter deposco, ut easdem saepiuslegere digneris.'18Ibidem, p.464,22: '. . ; ut animus exterioribus fatigatus molestiis, ad seipsum reversus habeat, in quo gaudeat.'" Ibidem, p.464,I9: '. . memoriae haec mea dicta inhaerere.'"Ibidem, p.464,31: '.. . ; ut habeas cotidie quasi manualem in conspectu tuolibellum, in quo possis te ipsum considerare, quid cavere, vel quid agere debeas.'This passage is modeled after Alcuin, ch. 5, De lect. studio (PL ioi, 616C): 'Sanc-tarum lectio Scripturarum divinae cognitio beatitudinis. In his enim quasi inquodam speculo homo seipsum considerare potest, qualis sit, vel quo tendat.'


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ALCUINON VIRTUESAND VICES 179The same commonplaces occur also in letters addressed byAlcuin, approximatelybetween 793 and 797, to EanbaldII, arch-

bishop of York (Ep. 116); to Arno of Salzburg (Ep. ii3), toHigbaldof Lindisfarne (Ep. 124); and to an unknownecclesiastic(Ep. 39). We again find the topics a-d in the following letters:a and d in Epist.116, p. I7I, 25: 'Sepius llum (scil.LiberS. GregoriiPastoralis)egaset relegas,quatenuse ipsumet tuumopuscognoscasin illo;ut,qualiter ivereveldoceredebeas, nteoculoshabeas;'a, b, and c, in Epist. I13, p. I66, I2: '. . . ut illum (see above) saepius

quasi enchiridionhabeas in manibus et in corde reteneas . . . sanc-torumdoctorum cio libroshabereegereet firma enerememoria;'a, c, and d, in Epist. I24, p. 182, 30: 'Iste liber (see above) tuis saepiusinhereatmanibus,llius sensustuae firmiternfiganturmemoriae;utscias, qualiterquisque . . . se ipsum circumspiceredebeat; et quibusexemplis iverenecesse it;'a andb, in Epist.39, P. 83, 2: 'Sedet pastoralem eatiGregorii apaesaepissimeperscrutare.His aepulisanimam uampasce,ut habeas,unde aliosquoquereficere aleas.'

The dedicatory Epistle is typical of Alcuin's style, and not in-debted to the letter-preface of Defensor's Liber Scintillarum21for any of its topics.Alcuin clearly saw his treatise De virtutibus et vitiis as some-thing akin-mutatis mutandis-to Gregory'sPastoral Rule, andas a handbook to guide the soldier Wido in moral conflicts thatmight occur in the everyday affairs of a military man and royaljudge. A letter of Alcuin (Epist. 249, p. 402, 5) addressed toCharlemagnepraises Wido as 'a perfect man and incorruptiblejudge.' ObviouslyAlcuin's essay continues the Continentaltradi-tion of Gregory the Great, not a British tradition presented 'iminsularen Raum'22 by pseudo-Cyprian's treatise De duodecimabusivis saeculi.23In philosophy the treatise is simple. Life is mirroredas a con-flict between the virtues and the eight vices which are the root of

'Dom Rochais, Revue B6n6dictine 63 (1953), 264 seems to assume such aninfluence.22 So Heinz Liwe in Wattenbach-Levison, op. cit., P.233.' Ed. S. Hellmann in Texte und Untersuchungen ed. Harnack-Gebhardt, 34(19 o); Alcuin was familiar with ch. io on the Rex iniquus of this political treatise.


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180 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWall evil. Thus Alcuin writes to a correspondent:'Tu vero pacemcum omnibushabeas, bellumcum vitiis' (Epist. 209, p. 349, io).The vices are overcome by their opposites among the virtues:pride is defeated by humility, gluttony by abstinence, fornicationby chastity, avarice again by abstinence,anger by patience, slothby good works, ungodly sorrow by spiritual pleasure, and vain-glory by godly charity. In this battle of contraries, the virtuesare victoriously led by the four cardinalvirtues, the duces glorio-sissimi, against the duces impietatis and their armies. All thisreflects the traditionalpicture of the continuousbattle waged be-tween the virtues and the vices described by Prudentius in thePsychomachia, by Cassian in the Collationes and the Institutesand then by Gregorythe Great,Moralia in Job, XXXI, 45. Theseauthors are well-known to Alcuin, and so was the descriptionofthis battle in Aldhelm's De virginitate,24a model for Alcuin'smetricalverse.The preceding analysis shows that Alcuin only repeats tradi-tional commonplaces. His referenceto the content of the treatiseas haec mea dicta (in the dedicatoryletter) is therefore not to betaken literally or seriously. The expressionmea dicta also occursin other epistles, and belongs to the rhetorical style he employsin his letters.25A critical investigation of the treatise will finally reveal howAlcuin excerptedfrom his sources.

THE SOURCESOF THE SECTIONDE VIRTUTIBUSDom Rochais has recently publisheda study of the source saidto underlie the first section of the treatise, which deals with thevirtues.26 He concludes that Alcuin used a florilegiumof patristicauthors and not their original writings. The intermediary s saidto have been the Liber Scintillarumof Defensor of Liguge,27who24 See the prose chaps. ii and 12, and metr., vv.2454-72, ed. R. Ehwald, MGH,Auctores Antiquissimi 15 (1919).' Cf. Epist. 257, p.415,24, addressed to Charlemagne, also Epist. 172, p.284,22.' H.-M. Rochais, 'Le Liber de virtutibus et vitiis d'Alcuin: Note pour l'6tudedes sources, 'Revue Mabillon 41 (1951), 77-86.' Migne, PL 88, 597-718. See the studies of the Liber Scintillarum by DomRochais in Revue Benedictine 58 (1948), 77-83; 59 (I949), 137-156; 61 (1951),63-80; 'Les manuscrits du L. Sc.,' Scriptorium 4 (1950), 294-309. Furthermore A.


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUESAND VICES 181duringthe last decades of the seventh century compiled a collec-tion of deflorationesfrom the Old and New Testaments and fromearly and later patristicwritings. Defensor always indicatesin hiscatenae the authors of the quotationswithout expressly register-ing the fact that many of these quotationsare not directlyderivedfrom their originals but from later florilegia, such as Isidore ofSeville's Synonymaand Sententiae. Dom Rochais believes that asimilar method was also adoptedby authors who used Defensor'swork: they never mentionDefensor's name. 'Une dependancedece genre apparait dans le Liber de virtutibus et vitiis d'Alcuin:130 passages de la Bible et des Pares sont communs aux deuxflorileges, et la faqon dont les cite Alcuin prouve qu'il les doit "Defensor.' 28 But these and other conclusions of Rochais in hisinquiry are untenable. That Alcuin was familiarwith Defensor'scompilation has not been proved by Dom Rochais, despite hislists of passages in both works which are in complete textualagreement. For many sections of Alcuin's treatise whose sourcesare not listed by Rochais, the underlying source is easy to see.Dom Rochais gives a synopsis of the parallel passages 29 in thefirst 26 chapters of Alcuin's treatise and in Defensor, and alsoidentifies the origin of Defensor's excerpts. Some parallels haveescaped his attention. Besides those mentioned for various rea-sons in the course of our investigation,compare,for instance, thetwo following:Alcuin, ch. 7, De misericordia (PL ioi, 6I8B): 'in judice misericordiaet disciplinadebetesse,quiauna sine alterabeneesse nonpossit;'Defensor, ch. 43, De misericordia(PL 88, 674C): 'Gregorius. Disciplinasine misericordiamultum destituitur, si una sine altera teneatur.'Alcuin,ch. 18, De castitate (627B): 'castitas hominemcoelo conjungit;'Vaccari, 'I1 liber scintillarum del monaco Defensor,' Studi Medievali 17 (1951),86-92. Not listed by S. de Ricci and W. J. Wilson, Census of Medieval and Renais-sance Manuscripts in the United States, are two MSS of Defensor, currently offeredfor sale by the New York firm of Bernard M. Rosenthal, Inc.; see nos. 2 and 32of their Catalogue I: Selections of Medieval Text Manuscripts (New York, 1954),pp. 2 and 21.

28Rochais, 'Contribution a l'histoire des floriliges asc'tiques du Haut MoyenAge Latin: Le Liber Scintillarum,' Revue Benedictine 63 (1953), 289." Revue Mabillon 41 (1951), 8i-86. All subsequent references to Rochais areto this synopsis unless otherwise indicated.


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182 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWDefensor, ch. 13, De virginitate (633A): 'Isidorus. Castitas hominemad coelosconjungit:'= Isidoreof Seville,Synonyma, I, 1o (PL 83,

847C): 'castitashominem oelojungit.'Dom Rochais misjudgesthe relation between the Sententiae ofIsidore of Seville and the quotations from this work in Alcuin'streatise.30 To be sure, the titles and some subject-matter ofAlcuin's first four chapters run parallel to the beginning of thesecond Book of the Sententiae." The assertion, however, thatAlcuin's text contains no part of the text of Isidore's florilegium

which Alcuin could not have found among Defensor's many ex-cerpts from the Sententiaeis mistaken. Rochais does not furnishin his synopsis, for example, the source of Alc., ch. i1 (621A),'Quando ergo ista in corde hominis fiunt, sciendum est tunc esseDeum per gratiam suam cordi humano presentem,' which is aliteralquotationfromSententiaeII, 12, 6 (PL 83, 614A). Alcuin'schapters 2o and 21, for which there is one lone parallel (over-looked by Dom Rochais) in Defensor (see below), correspondliterally with the text of the Sententiae.Alcuin, ch. 20, De judicibus (PL 101, 628C-629B) is made up ofverbatimquotationsromSententiae II (PL 83, 724B-726B, passim)in the following sequence: III, 52,4; 52,2; 52,6-7; 52,II-12; 52,16;53,1-3. Of these passages only Alcuin 629B 'non est personain iudicio

consideranda, ed causa,'occursin Defensor, ch. 58 (PL 88, 692B).Alcuin, ch. 21, De falsis testibus (629C-630A) runs parallel to Sen-tentiae II, 55,2,3,7;54,7;57,I,2,3,6(PL 83, 727A-729A, assim).There can be no doubt that Alcuin used the Sententiae di-rectly.32 Indeed it is a question whether Alcuin used Defensor atall when compiling his treatise. The mere list of parallel passagesby Dom Rochais is not evidence enough for Alcuin's dependenceon Defensor, especially when we see that Alcuin used one of theflorilegia also used by Defensor. Further, parallels to longer pas-sages in Alcuin's treatise, for which not many parallel texts occur

"oRevue Mabillon 41 (I95I), 80.31Migne, PL 83, 599-603.82 Alcuin repeatedly expressed special admiration for Isidore of Seville, especiallyin Adv. Elipandum Libri Quattuor II, 8 (PL 101, 266B): 'Isidori . . . perplurimalegebamus opuscula et in magna habemus veneratione.' Alcuin's use of the Senten-tiae and Synonyma may be added to A. E. Anspach, 'Das Fortleben Isidors im vii.bis ix. Jahrhundert,' Miscellanea Isidoriana (Rome, 1936), 350 f.


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ALCUINON VIRTUESAND VICES 183in Defensor, are found in certain Pseudo-AugustinianSermons(Ps.-Aug., App.) in a fuller context.33A synoptic survey of thechapters in Alcuin's treatise and these apocryphal homilies willserve to illustratethe point.Alcuin,PL Io, 614 ff. Ps.-Aug., App., PL 39, 1932 ff.chapter: sermo:i. De sapientia ................. 302,2. De fide .....................3. De charitate................ 8,14-5,24. De spe........ ........5. De lect. studio ...............302,26. De pace .................... 98,27. De misericordia ..............304,18. De indulgentia .............304,2io. De humilitate ................ 297,I12. De confessione .............. 254,1-2

13. De poenitentia ............... 254,2-315. De timore Dei ............... 297,2i8. De castitate ................. 291,1,2,3.While the editors of the pseudo-AugustinianAppendixassumethat the substance of Alcuin's treatise was incorporatedinto thecontext of the apocryphalhomilies,34he editorof Alcuin'streatiserefersto its individualchaptersas portionsevidently derived fromAugustiniansermons.3 We can find the relation between Alcuinand someof the homiliesif we weigh internalevidencein the texts.We read in Alcuin's ch. 8, De indulgentia (PL o10, 618D):'Sciendum est certissime quod unusquisque talem indulgentiamaccepturusest a Deo, qualemet ipse dederitproximosuo.' Rochaisadduces as the alleged sourceDefensor, ch. 5, De indulgentia (PL88, 6IIB): 'Augustinus. Unusquisquetalem indulgentiamaccep-turus est a Deo, qualemet ipse dederitproximosuo.' Augustinus,the sourceof Defensor'scitation, is not identifiedby Rochais. Thecitation is from Ps.-Aug., App., sermo 304,2 (PL 39, 2329):' Migne, PL 39, In appendice, subsequently always referred to as Ps.-Aug., App.The editor of Alcuin in PL o101, 614 ff., refers to these sermons in the notes; butread 614B 'Serm. 302,' instead of 303; for ch. 6, De pace, the reference to serm. 98(PL 39, 1933) is missing; 625 note a, read 'serm. 291,' instead of 91." See the b notes in PL 39, 1932, 2215, 2296, 2313, 2323, 2328.SCf. PL IoI, 614b, 616c, 617a, 618b, 619a, 621a, 623a, 625a.


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184 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEW'Sciendum est certissime quod unusquisque talem indulgentiamaccepturusest a Deo, qualemet ipse dederitproximosuo.' SinceAlcuin's wording is closer to the text of the sermon than to theincomplete quotationof Defensor,Alcuinclearly used the sermon;and since Defensor obviously took the citation from the sermon,this apocryphalhomily is older than both Defensor and Alcuin,and is the source of both.Another example of the same kind is found in Alcuin's ch. 15,De timore Dei (PL o10, 624B): 'Qui timore sancto Deummetuunt,inquiruntquaebonaplacita sunt illi'; and 'Homosapiensin omnibus operibus suis metuit Dominum.' Rochais refers toDefensor, ch. 12, De timore (PL 88, 63oD): 'Augustinus. QuitimentDominum, nquiruntquaebeneplacitasunt illi'; and 'Homosapiens in omnibusmetuit.' The two citations from 'Augustinus'are not identifiedby Rochais. They occur, however, in Ps.-Aug.,App., sermo 297,2 (PL 39, 2314): 'Qui timore sancto Deummetuunt inquiruntquae beneplacitasunt illi'; and 'Homosapiensin omnibus operibus suis Deum timet.' So, clearly, this homilyalso antedates Defensor and Alcuin.For two sentences in Alcuin's ch. i i, De compunctionecordis(PL io1, 62IA), Rochais refers to Defensor, ch. 6, where bothare cited from 'Augustinus.' I have not identified the homilywhich doubtless served as the source of Defensor and Alcuin.Alcuin'schapters II, 12, and 13, are also found in Ps.-Aug.,App.,sermo 254, and since Defensor quotes from an unidentifiedworkof 'Augustinus'which was also used by Alcuin in ch. i i, we mustassume that Defensor and Alcuin used the same source, whichwas quite probably one of the apocryphal homilies ascribed toAugustinus.

Slight verbal parallels seem to join Alcuin, ch. 19 (PL io0,627D-628A) to Defensor, ch. 77 (PL 88, 711A): 'Augustinus.Ubi lucrum, et ibi damnum. Lucrum in arca, damnum in con-scientia. Acquiritpecuniam, et perdit iustitiam.' This quotationis from Ps.-Aug., App., sermo 220,2 (PL 39, 2152), i.e. fromCaesarius of Arles' sermo 222,3 (ed. G. Morin, in CorpusChris-tianorum, series Latina, 104 [Turnholti, 19531, 878 f.). Defensorand Alcuin used this homily. We note that the same 'Augustinus'quotation is found in the report - written in 786 - on two Old


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUES AND VICES 185English synods which Alcuin attended (MGH, Epistolae IV,p. 26,4).The 'Augustinus' uotationsof Defensor" and Alcuinprovethat the apocryphal omilies297 and304 antedatebothauthors,and that Alcuin'schaptersii and I9 containsimilarpseudo-Augustinianmaterials.Eight'Augustinus'uotations f Defensorare tracedby DomRochais 7 to certainsermonsof Caesarius fArles."Oneexamplewill reveal hecomplications eencountern deal-ing with a pseudo-Augustinianomily. The editorof sermo98(PL 39, 1932b)statesthat thissermon ontains h.6, De pace,ofAlcuin'streatise. He thus assumesthat sermo 98 is a post-Alcuinianhomily. Dekkersand Gaar39 also hold No. 98 to belater thanAlcuin,and find it in homily 52 of the homiliaryofHrabanus. Therecan be no doubtthat the text of ch. 6 corre-spondswith homily 98. The question s whetherAlcuincopied98 orthe authorof 98 copiedAlcuin. The firstalternatives con-firmedby the fact that the contentof ch. 6 is traceableo homily53 of PetrusChrysologusPL 52, 347). Sermo98 itself appearsto be an expanded ersionof Ps.-Aug.,App.,sermo61,40which nits turn s but anotherversionof Chrysologus,ermo53.The rela-tion between98, Alcuin,and Hrabanus eems to be as follows:Hrabanus ouldhaveusedhomily98 directly, ince the two vari-ants (see below)fratresandsocietatem abetdo notoccur n thepresenttext of Alcuin. Onthe otherhand,we find (see below)that a considerableportion (five-sevenths)of Alcuin's text isparalleledby certainsections n the contextof fourteenhomiliesby Hrabanus. So it mightwell be that Hrabanus' eadingsaretraceableo theMS of Alcuin's reatiseusedby him. That sermo98 doesantedateAlcuinmaybe inferredbecause he homilywasused,moreextensively hanin ch. 6, in his Epistle219 (p. 363,19, 23, 24), addressed o the monksof Lerins, auding heirgood

36 Our conclusions presuppose that Defensor's Augustinus quotations are genuineparts of the florilegium. Rochais is preparing a critical edition of the Liber Scin-tillarum: see Revue Benedictine 63 (0953), 265.37 bidem 63 (i953), 284.3 Ed. Germain Morin, S. Caesarii Arelatensis Sermones I (Maredsous, 1937).9 Clavis Patrum Latinorum (Sacris Erudiri 3, 1951), no. 368, p. 67.4 Add to Clavis, s.v., sermo 98: 'recensio amplificata sermonis 61.'


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186 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEWreputation, and exhorting them to mutual charity and peace. Theunanimitas pacis, repeatedly stressed in this letter, but not men-tioned by Alcuin in ch. 6, is a special point at issue discussed to-gether with caritas in sermo 98, 4-5 (PL 39, 1933 f.).The following excerpts of an identical passage in its five differ-ent transmissions illustrate the possible interdependences just dis-cussed.PetrusChrysologus, ermo53 (PL 52, 347C-348A):Pax plebis charissimi est gloria sacerdotis, et pacis plena laetitia est

perfectacharitasfiliorum. Sacerdotisest, admonerequoddecet; plebisest, audire.quod monet; quidquid non licet, pastoris est prohibere,gregis audire ac velle ne fiat. .... Custodienda prae omnibus vir-tutibuspax est, quoniamDeus semperin pace est;Ps.-Augustinus,Appendix,sermo 61,3 (PL 39, 1859):Pax plebis, gloria est sacerdotis: et parentum laetitia, perfecta chari-tas filiorum. Sacerdotis . . [like Chrysologus, above] ... pas-toris est prohibere ne fiat; gregis est audire, ut faciat . . . Custodi-enda omnibusviribuspax est; quoniamDeus semperin pace est;Ps.-Augustinus, Appendix, sermo 98,2 (PL 39, 1933):Pax plebis sanitas, gloria sacerdotis, et patriae laetitia, et terror hos-tium sive visibilium sive invisibilium. Omnibus viribus pax est cus-todienda, fratres, quia semper in Deo manet, qui in pace sanctamanet, et cum sanctis Dei societatem habet. Sacerdotis est, in pacepopulum admonere quod debeat agere; populi est, in humilitateaudire quae monet sacerdos. Quidquid non licet, pastoris est pro-hibere ne fiat; plebis, audire ne faciat;Alcuin, ch. 6, De pace (PL ioi, 617C):Pax plebis est sanitas . . . [the remainder is identical with sermo

98]; there are some variants: Alcuin omits fratres, reads manet in-stead of societatemhabet, and at the end est audire; cf. Alcuin, Epist.i8, p. 51, 29 'sanitas plebis';

Hrabanus Maurus, Hom. 52 (PL iio, 96A-B):This text is identical with sermo 98; Hrabanus reads fratres, andsocietatem habet, and est audire.The reading 'custodienda omnibus viribus pax est' n1as against41The same reading appears in the so-called OE Alcuin: 'Seo sibb is mid eallemoeignen to healdene'; see R. D-N. Warner, Early English Homilies from theTwelfth Century MS. Vesp. D. XIV (EETS, Original Series, 152; London, 1917),95.


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ALCUINON VIRTUESAND VICES 187Chrysologus'prae omnibus virtutibus is noteworthy. Accordingto Chrysologuspax belongs to the virtutes, while the authors ofthe expandedversionof his sermonevidently no longersharedthisnotion, which was known to the early Middle Ages especially alsofrom Prudentius, Psychomachia,vv. 769 f.:

Paxplenumvirtutisopus,paxsummaaborum,Pax belliexactipretium st pretiumque ericli.A summaryof the preceding inquiry and comparisonwith theconclusions of Dom Rochais shows that Defensor's florilegiumcannot have been Alcuin's source, for Alcuin excerpted some ofthe writingsalso excerptedby Defensor, such as Isidore of Seville'sflorilegiaand pseudo-Augustinianhomilies. One of these homilieswas identified (above) with a homily of Caesariusof Arles, whosesermo18, 2-6 (CCL 103, pp. 83-86), for example,suppliedAlcuinwith two-thirds of the text of ch. 14 (623B-D). It seems thatAlcuin was also familiar with Pomerius, De vita contemplativa,

since excerpts from Pomerius are found in Alcuin's ch. 23, Desuperbia.42The homiletic nature of at least the first part of Al-cuin's treatise was obvious to Alcuin's unknown biographer,whowrote: 'Scripsitet ad Widonemcomitem omelias de principalibusvitiiset virtutibus.'3THE SOURCES OF THE SECTION DE VITIS

The second part of Alcuin's treatise, which is not investigatedby Dom Rochais, is in eight chapters,each dealingwith one of thechief vices (principales), namely, pride, gluttony, lust, avarice,anger,sloth, sorrow,and vainglory (Chaps. 26-34). The chapterson the vices are followedby a brief discussionof the four cardinal"2Compare this chapter and Pomerius, PL 59, 478A-B; also Alcuin, ch. 3 (PL

ioi, 615C) and Pomerius III, 13, 14, 15 (PL 59, 493C, 494A ff., 496B-C)'; A. M.Landgraf, Dogmengeschichte der Friihscholastik I, I (Regensburg a.D., 1952), 162compares Pomerius III, i6 (PL 59, 498) and Alcuin, ch. 35. The first Pomeriusitem is listed by Dom Rochais, Revue Mabillon 41 (1951), 85. M. L. W. Laistner,Studi e Testi 122 (1946), 356 assumes that Alcuin was unfamiliar with Pomeriuswhen writing his treatise.~Vita Alcuini ch. 21, MGH, Scriptores XV, I95. - There is no apparent con-nection between the homiletic materials of our treatise and the extant second vol-ume of Alcuin's homiliarium; on the latter see the note in Speculum 29 (1954), 823.


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188 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWvirtues (ch. 35), and a letter-peroration,addressedto the recipi-ent of the handbook. The last paragraphattached to the perora-tion (in Migne's edition) is a cento of Scriptural passages 'OnFriendship' (PL ioI, 638CD) which is not an originalpart of thework. Its originis not unknown,as Dom Rochais assumes.44Thepassages are taken from Defensor, ch. 63, De amicitia (PL 88,696CD).The fundamental sources of Alcuin's catalogue of vices areGregory, Moralia in Job XXXI,45,45 and Cassian, Collatio V,Iand V,I6,5.46 The themes at the end of each chapter--thespecific virtue overcoming its opposing vice --are supplied byIsidore, SententiaeII, 37.47The sequence of chapters 27-34 follows with two exceptionsthe order of Cassian's classification of vices, though Gregoryfurnishes the descriptionof the individual vitia. Since acedia ismissing in Gregory's list, Alcuin in this instance follows (635A)Cassian. And although superbiais the last vice in Cassian'slist,it becomes the first for Alcuin as being the worst vice. Occasion-ally, both basic sources conflatein Alcuin'sdescription. Haereses,for example,derivedfrom Cassian's treatmentof cenodoxia, s in-serted into the descriptionof superbia,copied from Gregory. Asa rule, the sourceactually used by Alcuin can be determinedwith-out great difficulty. Malitia in Alcuin's treatment of tristitia, avice not found in Cassian, Collatio V, I6,5, is taken from Greg-ory's list of vices (PL 76, 62IB).The occurrenceof direct literal citations from Cassianhas beenwrongly denied by Albert Hauck;48 for not only the Collationes,but also the De institutis coenobiorum 9 is excerpted by Alcuin.So when Alcuin says in ch. 32, De acedia, 'Quaecum miserabilemobsidet mentem,' he obviously follows Cassian, De inst. X,2:

"4Revue Mabillon 41 (195i), 73.4PL 76, 620-622.46 Ed. M. Petschenig, CSEL 13 (Wien, 1886), 142 f.7 De pugna virtutum adversus vitia (PL 83, 638); cf. also Isidore's DifferentiaeII, chaps. 39-40 (PL 83, 95 f.); Quaestiones Testamentorum: In Deuteronomiumch. I6 (PL 83, 366), following Cassian.48Albert Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands II (3rd and 4th edd.; Leip-

zig, 1912), 147 f.: 'Direkt aus Cassian entnommene Sitze habe ich nicht bemerkt.'9 De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis libri XII,ed. M. Petschenig, CSEL I7 (Wien, 1888).


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUESAND VICES 189'Quaecum miserabilemobsederit mentem.' Rather incongruouslythe 'malaotiositas' (De inst. X,2o) of the monk is mentionedandrejectedin this chapterof our treatise written for a layman Thefirst bracketed section in De superbia (633B) is drawnverbatimfrom De inst. XII,29. The chapter 'On Vainglory' (635A-D)contains longer excerpts derived word for word from De inst.XI,3,4,6, and i9.50Thus, our study reveals the natureof the treatiseon virtues andvices and its author's method of excerpting. The same method ofborrowing may be observed in Alcuin's Rhetoric,5~and in hisgrammaticaltreatise De orthographia.52The system of eight vices is also the basis of Alcuin's Confessiopeccatorum in the Officia per Ferias (PL o101, 525D). In Deanimae ratione, however,written for Gundrada,sister of Charle-magne's trusted advisor Adalhard of Corbie, Alcuin enumeratesonly seven vices: 'gastrimargia, fornicatio, phylargiria, tristitia,acedia, superbia, and cenodoxia.'5 Ira is missing. Alcuin doesnot consider ira an individual vice, since it is assignable to theirascible part of the soul from which tristitia and acedia alsospring. From the two other parts of the soul in this ancient divi-sion stem the remainingfive vices, pride and vainglory from therational part, gluttony, lust, and avarice, from the concupiscent.De animae ratione, we note, was one of the sources54 of Despiritu et animaby the Cistercian Alcher of Clairvaux.Though the treatise De virtutibuset vitiis, as Schmitz" puts it,'s'inspirebeaucoupde SaintAugustin,'it is hard to identify in thetractate literal excerpts from genuine Augustinian writings, al-thoughthe trace of a genuine Augustinianhomily can occasionallybe seen."6 But in general there is no ground for thinking with

50Ibidem, pp. 195,18-26; 196,13-22; 197,6-1o; 203,22-204,6.5 Ed. Carl Halm, Rhetores Latini Minores (Leipzig, 1863); cf. note 4, above.52 Ed. Aldo Marsili, Alcuini Orthographia (Pisa, 1952).53PL ioi, 640C-D; the treatise is partly edited by E. Diimmler in MGH, Epist.

IV, no. 309, PP. 473-478.' Alcuin, ch. ii (PL ioi, 644B-C) is verbatim copied in Alcher of Clairvaux'sDe spiritu et anima (PL 40, 788). On Alcher's authorship of this pseudo-Augus-tinian writing see H. S. Denifle, Die deutschen Mystiker des 14. Jahrhunderts, ed.Otwin Spiess (Freiburg, Switzerland, 1951), 81.5Philibert Schmitz, Histoire de l'Ordre de Saint-Benoit II (Maredsous, i949),379."6Compare, for example, Alcuin, ch. 30 (PL ioi, 634B) and Augustine, sermo


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190 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWKleinclausz" 'that most of the chapterson the virtues areliterallyindebted to sermons of the great African doctor,' or that 'Alcuinreasoned and thought independentlyin the chapterson the vices,especially where he dramaticallyconfronts the virtues and thevices.' Nor is there a basis for Kleinclausz's assumption thatCicero's De officiis supplied Alcuin with the definitions of thecardinal virtues (in ch. 35).

THE INFLUENCE OF THE TREATISEThe treatise De virtutibuset vitiis was read and copied duringthe ninth and subsequentcenturies. About 22 MSS, saec. IX-X,are still extant,58and more from the followingcenturies are foundin the librariesof all Westernand CentralEuropeancountries. Alone MS copy of the work has just now reached this country.5"Carolingian writers used the treatise. The chapter on thecardinal virtues (ch. 35) was copied by Alcuin himself in his

Rhetoric.6oSome excerpts are inserted in an epistle of unknownFrankish origin that was sent to Italy duringthe early ninth cen-tury.61 Jonas of Orleansin De institutione laicali "2acknowledgeshis indebtedness to the section on the vices. A contemporaryofLouis the Pious dedicated to his sovereigndistichs on the virtuesand the vices for which he adopted 32 chapter-titles in the se-quence of Alcuin's treatise."3To these Carolingianwitnesses wemay add Halitgar of Cambrai, and Alcuin's pupil HrabanusMaurus.Halitgar of CambraiappropriatedAlcuin's definitions of the

177, ed. D. C. Lambot, S. Aurel. August. Sermones Selecti (Stromata Patristica etMediaevalia I; Utrecht-Bruxelles, 1950), 68; for Alcuin, ch. 14 see Appendix 28,and Revue Mabillon 41 (1951), 83." Arthur Kleinclausz, Alcuin (Paris, 1948), 221. There are slight verbal parallelsbetween Alcuin's definition of prudentia (in ch. 35) and Cicero, De officiis I, 153,but not enough to assume certain dependence.58Listed by Rochais, Revue Benedictine 63 (1953), 251 note 4.59This MS is listed in the sales Catalogue I, p. 2, no. 2, quoted in note 27, above.'?Wallach, Medievalia et Humanistica 6 (1950), 41.61MGH, Epistolae IV, no. 2, pp. 484-491.62In Lib. III, 6; cf. PL io6, 244-247A; compare also Alcuin, ch. 23 (63oD),and the sentence from this chapter quoted by Jonas in III, 4 (PL lo6, 239A).' Omitting those of Alcuin's chaps. I, 20, 26; see Strecker, MGH, Poetae IV,pp. 924-27.


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ALCUINON VIRTUES AND VICES 191four cardinal virtues (ch. 35) in five chapters of his Penitential,Bk. II.64 Alcuin's influence is furthernoticeable in Bk. I, chaps.6, 10-12, and 14.We have referredabove to some homilies of HrabanusMaurus.It can be shown that the text of 25 of the 35 chaptersof Alcuin'streatise is paralleled by certain sections in the context of 14 homi-lies by Hrabanus,65namely, Nos. 45, 47-49, 51-56, 58-60, and62. Hrabanus'sermonsare always more extensive than the chap-ters of Alcuin. Someof Hrabanus' homiliescould be combinationsof individual chapters of Alcuin's treatise, as may be deducedfrom the following summary.

Chapters i and 5 of Alcuin correspondwith Homilia 48 of Hrabanus;chaps. 2, 3, 4 with hom. 45; ch. 6: hom. 52; chaps. 7-8: hom. 51;chaps. io and 15 with hom. 54; chaps. ii, 12, 13:hom. 55; 14:56;16:49; 17:53; 18:47; chaps. 9g nd 3o:hom. 62; chaps. 2o0 nd 21:hom.58; chaps. 23 and 25:hom. 59; chaps. 24 and 31:hom. 6o. For elevenof Alcuin's chapters (9, 22, 26-29, 32-36) parallels seem to be absentin Hrabanus'homilies.Some of Hrabanus' sermons are identified by Dekkers andGaar66 with pseudo-Augustinianhomilies that are also used, aswe saw, by Alcuin. These identifications can now be supple-mented and correctedin accordance with our findings. Hrabanusindeed utilized some of these apocryphal sermons that were notexcerpted by Alcuin, for instance, serm. 194, 280, and 290. Butthe statement in Dekkers and Gaar, Clavis, No. 368, s.v., sermo98, 'est in homiliario Hrabani Maurihomilia 52' can only refer tothe identity of the texts, and not to Hrabanus'authorshipof thesermon, because its origin has been ascertained (see above).Since Alcuin used sermo 98 in his treatise, Hrabanus' author-ship of no. 98 is impossible. The same conclusion holds for Ps.-Aug., App., serm. 297 and 304, which are paralleled in the Claviswith hom. 54 and 51 of Hrabanus; the use made by Alcuin ofnos. 297 and 304 forbids us to assume that Hrabanus was theauthor of these two pseudo-Augustinianhomilies.

" In chaps. 6-io (PL 105, 673D-674A; 674D-675A; 675C; 676A); see Alcuin'schaps. 22, 28, 30, and 33 in PL 105, 662B, 667B, 664D, and 665A.' Homiliae de virtutibus, PL I1o, 82 ff. I have not seen Aloys Ruppel onHrabanus in Jahrbuch fiir das Bistum Mainz 3 (1948), 117-137.SClavis (see above note 39), pp. 67-70.


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192 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWHrabanus also copied for Book III of De ecclesiastica disci-plina 67 fromAlcuin'schapters2, 4, 3, 6, 9, 23, 24, 28, and 30-32.The definitions of virtue and the four cardinalvirtues in Hra-banus' De vitiis et virtutibus,Bk. III s whose first two Books areidentical with Halitgar's Penitential, Bks. I-II, are not from Al-cuin's ch. 35, but from Alcuin's Rhetoric, chaps. 44-45.69 Hra-banus here cites a sentence from Alcuin's Rhetoric70which doesnot occur in Alcuin'sch. 35.Onulf of Speyer, writing his Colores Rhetorici in the seventiesof the eleventh century, quotes71 from Alcuin's chap. 35.The definition of the three kinds of alms in the Corpus IurisCanonici,decr. I, dist. 45, q. xii, seems to be derived from Alcuin'sch. I2, De eleemosynis.A manuscript of the treatise which probably contained onlythe section on the vices was known to Wolfgerof Priifening,72whoin his literaryhistory, formerlyascribedto theso-calledAnonymusMellicensis, lists the writings of Alcuin, and says: 'Scribitde octo

viciis ad Gwidonemcomitem.'73Considerableuse was made of Alcuin's treatise in Old and Mid-dle English Literatures. Aelfric inserted excerpts in his HomiliaeCatholicae,71 and an Old English translation of the first sixteenchapterspreservedin a MS of the twelfth century75probablywasmadein his period. About 1300, or perhapsa little later, Alcuin'swork became the immediate source of the early English metricalpoem, Speculum Gy de Warewyke,76and largely determinedthe

'PL 112, in the following sequence corresponding to the Alcuin chaps. listedabove: 1234A-C, 1236A-C, I236D-I237B, 1257B, I24oD-I24IA, 1242C, I246B-C,1245A, 124ID-I242A, and 1252A.'PL 112, I253D, 1254B, 1254D, 1255A.69 Ed. Carl Halm (see note 51, above), p. 548 f.; Karl Werner, Alkuin und sein

Jahrhundert (Paderborn, 1876), 257 wrongly assumes that Hrabanus followed Devirtutibus et vitiis, ch. 35.70 Ed. Halm, p. 549, 27 f. from 'Honor eximius . . . apud Deum'; compare theHrabanus citation in PL II2, I255A.71 Wallach, 'Onulf of Speyer: A Humanist of the Eleventh Century,' Medievaliaet Humanistica 6 (1950), 40.72NoW ascribed to him by H. von Fichtenau, 'Wolfger von Priifening,' Mit-teilungen des Inst. fiir Oesterreich. Geschichtsforschung 51 (i937), 341-35I.3 De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, ed. Emil Ettlinger (Karlsruhe, 1896), ch. 41, p. 70.

71 Max F6rster, Anglia 16 (1893-94), 46 f.5 Referred to in note 41, above.

76 Ed. G. L. Morrill, Speculum Gy de Warewyke (EETS, Extra Series, 75; Lon-don, I898), pp. xciii-cxiv, and cxvii f., on Alcuin's influence on Gy.


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUES AND VICES 193trend of the argument. Finally, an Old Norse translation of thetreatise is found in a MS of the twelfth or thirteenthcentury."

The popularity of the treatise De virtutibus et vitiis duringtheMiddle Ages as evinced by the numberof MSS, by its influenceon authors from the ninth until the fourteenthcenturies who wrotein Latin and in vernacularlanguages, calls for a new edition ofthe treatise. Migne's edition of I85I is reprintedfrom the secondvolume of Alcuin's Opera published by Froben at Regensburgon-the-Danube in I777. It is not based on the oldest and bestMSS, and is now inadequatein the light of modern standards oftextual editing.

APPENDIXI. ALCUIN AND THE COMMONITIUNCULAAD SOROREM?

An anonymousreatise,presumablyromthe secondhalf of the sev-enth century, n the MSS ascribedvariously o Augustine,Ambrose,Jerome,78rCaesariusf Arles,andby A. E. Anspach,79ts mostrecenteditor,assignedo Isidoreof Seville, s saidto have eft traces nAlcuin'sDe virtutibus t vitiis. Buttheassumptionf suchan influence nAlcuincannotstand the test of a criticalexamination.Carefulcomparisonfboth treatisesdoesnot disclose videnceo supporthecontentionsmadeby AnspachandVaccari.The introductoryetterof the Comm(onitiunculad Sororem)s notthesourceof Alcuin'sdedicatorypistleto Wido. ThepurelyAlcuinianoriginof the epistlehas been demonstratedn the first part of thispaper. Alcuincertainlyneededno recourse o the exordiumof theComm., Tuae non immemorpetitionis,o charissimamater, tibi utrogasti,scriberestudui,' in orderto say in his exordium(Ep. 305,p. 464,II): 'Memor petitionis tuae et promissionis meae, qua me obnixe

"See G. T. Flom, Codex AM 619 Quarto: Old Norwegian Book of Homilies. . and Alcuin's De virtutibus et vitiis (Univ. of Illinois Studies in Language andLiterature 14, 4; 1929); Gustav Indreb0, Gamal Norsk Homiliebok Cod. AM 619.40 (Oslo, 1931) and the Facsimile-edition by Trygve Knudsen, GammelnorskHomiliebok Etter AM 619 QV (Corpus Codicum Norvegicorum Medii Aevi,ed. D. A. Seip, Quarto Serie I; Oslo, 1952).

"8Cf. Alberto Vaccari, 'Un trattato ascetico attribuito a S. Girolamo,' Melangesofferts au R. P. Ferdinand Cavallera (Toulouse, 1948), 147-162.* A. E. Anspach, S. Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Commonitiuncula ad Sororem(Script. eccl. hispano-latini veteris et medii aevi, IV; Escorial, i935); Dom Rochais,Revue B6nedictine 63 (1953), 251 note i, offers a list of extant MSS.


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194 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEWflagitasti aliquod tuae occupationi, quam te in bellicis rebus haberenovimus.' This is merely a commonplace,repeated elsewhere. For ex-ample, the same exordium is used in Alcuin's dedicatoryletter that ac-companies parts of the Commentaryof John which he presented toGisla, sister of Charlemagne (Ep. 214, P. 357,29): 'Memor petitionisvestrae et promissionismeae, quamvis tardius implerem propter occu-pationes perplurimas. . .' An often stereotyped exordial technique is afeature of Alcuin's epistles. The formula-likephrase 'Memor condictaeamicitiae inter nos,' for instance, occurs as the exordiumin seven of hisletters.so

The testimonia of the Comm. allegedly preserved in Alcuin's chap-ters 3, Io, and Ii, are hardly in point. The slight similaritiesbetweenthe two texts can be explained; the authors of both writings excerptedthe same source. The mediaeval scribe of an expanded MS traditionof the Comm. must have been aware of this source, since he insertedinto ch. XIII a passage from Isidore of Seville's Sententiae III, 8,2(PL 83, 679B), which occurs also in Alcuin's ch. 5 (PL o10, 616D).Alcuin drew directly on Isidore's florilegium,which was - as we haveseen- one of the main sourcesof his treatise. The passage in questionassumed topical significancein Alcuin's epistolary style and appears assuch in at least three of his letters.8s An interpolated passage in MS Eof the Comm. (ed. Anspach,p. 34), which is identical with the openingsentences of Alcuin,ch. 5 (PL o10, 614C), might be traceable to a directborrowingfrom Alcuin by the scribe of MS E, or else be directly de-rived from the pseudo-Augustiniansermo 302,2 (PL 39), which con-tains the same sentences.

2. ALCUIN AND CAESARIUS OF ARLESThe relation between Alcuin and Hrabanus Maurus can be more

closely determinedby an investigation of the use made by Alcuin ofCaesarius of Arles' serm. 18, 2-6 (ed. G. Morin, CCL Io03, 83-86,passim) in ch. 14 (PL o01, 623 f.). The literal borrowings from thishomily in ch. 14 are here printed in italics. Compare:Legitur n litteris divinitus nspiratisdictum:"Fili,ne tardesconvertiad Deum,quia nescis, quid futura pariat dies" (Eccli. 5.8). Qui tardat converti,periculum

facit animae suae, quia "mors non tardat" (Eccli. 14.12). Quae si tardantem con-verti inveniet,ad tormentadeducit eum. Dissoluta et paralyticacogitatioest, decrastinacogitareconversione,et hodiernamnegligere. Quid tu, peccator,convertidissimulas, et non metuis, ne tibi mors repentina subripiat diem conversionis? Nonnehomines subito moriuntur? Si bonum est peccata dimittere, et ad Deum converti,8 Epistles nos. II, 24, io8, 122, 128, 263, 298.81Epistle 296, p. 455,26; 270, p. 429,6; 228, p. 372,7.


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ALCUIN ON VIRTUES AND VICES 195cito fiat. Deus tibi promittit remissionem convertenti a peccatis, securitatem tibi nonpromisit diu vivendi. (Lege prophetas, lege Apostolum, et vide si tibi promissa sithora aut dies). Ideo convertat se citius unusquisque ad Deum, et cum invenerit eum,derelinquat impius viam suam. Si subito intrat dies extremus, perit dilatio, etrestat damnatio. Perire non vis, redi ad Deum, et vives. Noli desperare (MS: pec-cando sperare) de venia peccatorum, nec de vita longiori confidere. Convertere ergo,et poenitentiam age. Cras, inquies, convertam. Quare non hodie? Quid mali, dicis,si cras dicam? Quid mali, si hodie? Forte dicis: Longa erit vita mea. Dicam, silonga erit, bona sit; si brevis, et ipsa bona sit. Quis ferat malum longum prandium?Longum non vis habere malum, et vitam longam vis habere malam? Villain emis;bonam desideras. Uxorem vis ducere; bonam quaeris. Filios tibi nasci vis; bonosoptas. Et ut etiam de rebus vilissimis loquar, caligas emis, et non vis malas. Etvitam amas malam? Quid te offendit vita tua, quam solam vis malam, ut interomnia bona tua solus sis malus? "Neque tardes converti ad Dominum, et ne dif-feras de die in diem" (Eccli. 5.8). Verba Dei sunt, non mea. Non a me haec audisti,sed ego tecum audio a Domino. Forte respondes: Cras, cras. 0 vox corvinal Cor-vus non redi(i)t ad arcam, columba redi(i)t. Si enim tunc vis poenitentiam agerequando peccare non potes, peccata te dimiserunt, non tu illa. Satis alienus a fide est,qui ad agendum poenitentiam tempus senectutis exspectat.

Alcuin's dependenceon Caesarius'homily is obvious. Since the com-plete text of Alcuin's ch. 14 appears in Hrabanus Maurus' sermo 56(PL I io, 104 f.), where it constitutes about one half of the entire ser-mon, Hrabanus clearly inserted the text of Alcuin's chapter into hishomily. The same relationshipexists between all the other chapters ofAlcuin's treatiseand those homilies of Hrabanus' collection De virtutibusthat borrowed from Alcuin's De virtutibus et vitiis. We finally noteone of the rarely found literal borrowingsfrom a genuine Augustiniansermon; the passage 'Si enim tunc . . . non tu illa' is taken from Au-gustine's sermo 393 (PL 39, I715).

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Alcuin on Virtues and Vices