Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Of particular interest to the present study is the fact that one of the Arles
scriptoria, either that of the cathedral or of St John itself, copied and circulated at least
one collection of Caesarius’ sermons to monks, in which were included some by the
anonymous fifth-century author(s) known as Eusebius Gallicanus. 12 This collection,
Morin’s M group, enjoyed an immense circulation: Morin notes that its manuscripts are
innumerable, held by almost every library in Europe, and that he has therefore based his
edition on merely the best thirty-six examples. 13 These manuscripts contain other,
differing, works beside the Caesarian sermons. The common element, the sermons to
monks, was therefore probably circulating as a libellus. The earliest extant copy of the
collection is now Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, ms. 1221, dating from the end of the
seventh century, and originally the possession of the monastery of St Médard of Soissons.
The Caesarian sermons now form only the last third of the manuscript, the majority of
which comprises of a book of sermons on monastic life. It also contains fragments of a
psalter, from an Irish or Saxon sacramentary. 14 Monasteries to which the libellus
circulated evidently used it to build up their own collections of works of guidance for
monks. Clearly, normative texts for monks no more consisted solely of regulae than did
such writings for dedicated women.
Contemporary adaptation: the rule for monks
The first ripple of influence spreading outwards from the Regula virginum
emanated from Caesarius himself. He clearly felt the responsibility to circulate his own
12 See A. de Vogüé and J. Courreau (eds.) Césaire d’Arles. Oeuvres monastiques. II, Oeuvres pour les
moines SC 398 (Paris, 1994) 19-57. For its contemporary collation and circulation, see Morin I, xxxii. I
have been unable to see the unpublished PhD thesis of Lisa Bailey, ‘Preaching and pastoral care in late
antique Gaul: The Eusebius Gallicanus sermon collection’ (Princeton, 1994).
13 Morin I, xxxiii – xxxvi.
14 J. van den Gheyn, Catalogue des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique II (Brussels, 1902)
224-5. According to van den Gheyn, the following inscription in the manuscript dates to the seventh
century: Hic liber vita[s] patru[m] [s]eu vel humilias s[an]c[t]i Caesarii ep[iscop]i quod venerabilis vir
Nomedius abba scribere rog[??] et ipsu[m] basil[??] s[an]c[t]i Medardi contulit devotus in honore si quis
illu[m] exinde auferre temptaverit iudiciu[m] cum Deo et s[an]c[t]o Medardo sibi habere [noverit]. [‘This
book of the lives of the fathers and of the sermons of St Caesarius the bishop which the venerable man,
abbot Numidius, asked to be written and collected for the basilica devoted in honour to St Medard: if
anyone shall be tempted to steal it from there, he shall have [and learn] the judgement of God and St
Medard’.]
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