THE DIFFINICIO EUCARISTIE

FORMERLY ATTRIBUTED TO
ROBERT GROSSETESTE

S. Harrison Thomson, The Writings of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln

1235-1253 (Cambridge, 1940; repr. New York, 1971), 130 (no. 89).
2
Kevin M. Purday, 'The Diffinicio Eucaristie of Robert Grosseteste', J.T.S., NS
xxvii (1976), 381-90.
3
Leonard E. Boyle, 'Robert Grosseteste and Transubstantiation', ibid, xxx
(1979), 512-15.
4

Leonard E. Boyle, in his Oxford D.Phil dissertation: 'A Study of the Works
attributed to William of Pagula' (1956), ascribed the work to William de Montibus
and listed the manuscripts numbered 8,9, 10, and 14 below. Morton W. Bloomfield,
et al., Incipits of Latin Works on the Virtues and Vices, 1100-1500 A.D. (Cambridge,
Mass., 1979), 469-70, added MSS 3, 5-7, and 12. (In that list Munchen, Clm. 8883
should be Clm. 8885; the work is not found in Clm. 8875. On MS Vat. Reg. lat. 440,
see below.) R. A. B. Mynors, Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Balliol College, Oxford

(Oxford, 1963), 230-7, added MSS 1 and 4.

Oxford University Press 1986
[journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol. 37, Part 1, April 1986]

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A M O N G the theological writings attributed to Robert Grosseteste,

the famous scholar and Bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, is
a brief work ascribed in the unique manuscript copy Diffinicio
Eucaristie secundum sanctum Robertum Episcopum Lincolniensem. In
his extensive survey of the manuscripts containing Grosseteste's
writings, S. Harrison Thomson found only the one copy, in
Cambridge, Trinity College MS B. 15.20 (356), a fifteenth-century
codex. He comments that the lack of early copies and the 'patently
fragmentary nature' of the text suggest that it has been extracted
from a larger work such as Grosseteste's Dicta.1
Kevin W. Purday published an edition of the text from this
manuscript in 1976, and argued from it that Grosseteste's teaching
on transubstantiation differed from that current on the Continent
and given official currency by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.2
Leonard E. Boyle subsequently took issue with this conclusion.3
After correcting several errors in Purday's transcription of the
manuscript, Boyle argued persuasively that the doctrine of the
treatise (which he inclined not to ascribe to Grosseteste) was in fact
faithful to the general consensus concerning transubstantiation.
Both Purday and Boyle commented on the faulty nature of this
manuscript copy of the text, and like Thomson, hoped that further
manuscript discoveries might clarify both the content and the
context of this work.
The Diffinicio Eucaristie is indeed an excerpt from a longer
writing, albeit not one of Robert Grosseteste's. It derives from a
work on the seven sacraments which begins: Septetn sunt sacramenta
ecclesie que notantur hoc versiculo: Bos ut erat petulans cernentibus
obice cursum
This work is extant in at least fourteen manuscripts.4

5
Fo. 173r: Explicit summa magistri teilhelmi de montibus super septem sacramenta
gloriose complete ex vno versiculo, anno (domini) m cccc" 23, frater symon. I have
not yet been able to examine Munich, MS Clm. 8885, which may also be ascribed to
William de Montibus. On William, see Hugh MacKinnon, 'William de Montibus, a
Medieval Teacher', in T. A. Sandquist and Michael R. Powicke, (eds.), Essays in
Medieval History Presented to Bertie Wilkinson, (Toronto, 1969), 32-45. A full study
of his life and works is in preparation.
* See list of manuscripts below.
7
We will confine our comments here primarily to those portions of the text edited
below.
8
See J. de Ghellinck, 'Eucharistie au Xlle siecle en Occident' in Dictionnaire de
theologie catholique, 5/2 (1924), 1233-302; D. van den Eynde, 'Les definitions des
sacrements pendant la premiere periode de la theologie scholastique', Antonianum
xxiv(i949), 183-228,439-488125 (1950), 3-78; L. Hod], 'DerTransubstantiationsbegriff in der Theologie des 12. Jahrhunderts', Recherches de theologie ancienne
et medievale xxxi (1964), 230-59; Hans Jorissen, Die Entfaltung der Transubstantiationslehre bis zum Beginn der Hochscholastik (Munster, Westf., 1965).
Raymond M. Martin (ed.), 'Pierre le Mangeur De sacramentis' in Henri
Weisweiler, Maitre Simon et songroupe, De sacramentis (Louvain, 1937), Appendix,
pp. i*-xxviii # , i*-i38*.
10
Pierre le Chantre, Summa de sacramentis et animae consiliis, ed. Jean-Albert
Dugauquier, i (Louvain, 1954).

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92
JOSEPH GOERING
In all but one of these it is anonymous, however in Munich,
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm. 8961, it is ascribed to
William de Montibus, who was the Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral from c.i 190 until his death in 1213.5 This copy was made
in Germany in 1423. Since William's fame was not widespread
outside thirteenth-century England, the unambiguous ascription
could hardly have originated with this scribe; it must reflect an
earlier manuscript tradition.
Unfortunately no early manuscripts of the work seem to have
survived. Unlike other writings by William de Montibus which are
extant in more than one hundred manuscripts most of which were
copied before 1250, the earliest copies of the Septem sunt sacramenta
date from the end of the thirteenth century. 6 Internal evidence from
the work itself, however, supports the attribution to William de
Montibus. 7
In terms of style and content, the theological questions on the
Eucharist preserved in the Septem sunt sacramenta are typical of
the twelfth rather than the thirteenth century. 8 William taught
theology in Paris during the 1170s before returning to his native
England in the 1180s where he acquired a great reputation as
a teacher and master of the schools at Lincoln. He may have studied
under Peter Comestor at Paris, and he was a contemporary of Peter
the Chanter there. Both of these Parisian masters wrote summae on
the sacraments; Comestor's Sententiae de sacramentis were written
c.i 165-70, 9 and the Chanter's Summa de sacramentis et animae
consiliis sometime between 1192 and his death in 1197.10 The

11
J. de Ghellinck, 'A propos du premier emploie du mot "transubstantiatio"',
Recherches de science religieuse ii (1911), 466-9, 570-2; (iii) (1912), 255-9. Cf. above
n. 8.
12
See Dugauquier, (ed.) 133-4, where Peter introduces the term 'ypostasis' (as
distinct from the 'forma' which remains after consecration), and the term 'partitas' to
designate the substance of the bread. Cf. Edouard Dumoutet, 'La theologie de
l'eucharistie a la fin du XI Ie siecle: Le temoignage de Pierre le Chantre d'apres la
"Summa de sacramentis"', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen age,
xiv (1943-5), 181-262; Jorissen, Transubstantiationslehre, 87-95.
13
'Alii exponunt locutionem per uerbum mutationis in quo resoluunt uerbum
substantiuum sic: hoc est corpus meum, id est hoc erit, id est net in proximo corpus
meum. Et licet sic exponantur, non tamen possumus in sacramento exponentia uerba
sumere pro expositis quia non licet nobis mutare formam uerborum prolatorum a
Christo.' Dugauquier (ed.), 148. Compare 11. 57-71, and 125-30 below.
14
'Respondent ad hoc doctores nostri quod corpus Domini uidetur uelatum;
uidetur in specie panis, sed non concedunt simpliciter, et sine adiuncto quod
uideatur. Sicut dicitur quod manus hominis uidetur in cyrotheca, uel sub uelamine,
non tamen dicitur simpliciter quod uideatur. Sed nonne conceditur simpliciter quod
corpus Domini manducatur sicut habuimus ex auctoritate Augustini, et absque
omni scrupulo uerum est quod corpus Domini in ore ponitur, quare non ita dicitur
simpliciter quod uideatur? Hoc alii soluendum relinquimus.' Dugauquier (ed.), 167.

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THE DIFFINICIO EUCAR1STIE

93
doctrine and style of the Septem sunt sactamenta place it somewhere
between these two works. Like Comestor's, these questions on the
Eucharist are brief and relatively unsophisticated. The sources
quoted and implied in both works come primarily from Gratian's
Decretum and Peter Lombard's Sentences. Both Comestor and our
author assume a substantial change in the bread and wine, but the
term transubstantiatio, first introduced in the middle of the twelfth
century, 11 is not yet central to their discussions. By the time of
Peter the Chanter's Summa, the philosophical and theological
implications of transubstantiation were being explored with greater
precision.12 The Chanter also was able to look back critically at
some of the earlier teachings as represented by our author and
others. For example, concerning the meaning of 'hoc est corpus
meum' the Chanter reports an opinion very like that of the Septem
sunt sacramenta, but qualifies it by saying that we should not
introduce extraneous words into an exposition nor change the form
of the words actually used by Christ. 13 So too he reports an opinion
of his masters (doctores nostri) that the body of Christ is seen only in
a veiled way in the Eucharist. This opinion is found in lines 32-7 of
the Septem sunt sacramenta, below. Peter expresses his reservations
concerning this opinion although he is loath to offer an alternative
solution.14
These examples suggest that the Septem sunt sacramenta may well
have been composed at Paris sometime during the 1170s or 1180s,
although an edition of the full text would be necessary to establish
this with certainty. As William was teaching theology in Paris

94
JOSEPH GOERING
during this period, it is at least possible that he is the author of this
work. Evidence from William's other writings helps to confirm the
ascription of this work to him.
Two passages printed below from the Septem sunt sacramenta can
be identified in a work certainly written by William de Montibus.
The unusual discussion in lines 100-6 concerning the power of
words, herbs, and stones is very like an entry in William's Versarius,
an important collection of more than 5000 lines of glossed verse on
biblical and moral/pastoral topics. There one finds the verse:

Christus et ecclesia duo sunt, set came sub una.

Hie capud, hec corpus, nos quoque membra sumus.16
Although the lack of early, ascribed manuscripts of the Septem
sunt sacramenta prevents an unqualified attribution of this work to
William de Montibus, the evidence available gives no cause to
question the explicit ascription in the Munich manuscript.
It remains to explain how the excerpts entitled Diffinicio
Eucaristie came to be ascribed to Robert Grosseteste. Three
possibilities present themselves. The first, and least likely, is that
Grosseteste rather than William de Montibus is the author of the
entire Septem sunt sacramenta. No bibliographer of the Bishop of
Lincoln has attributed such a work to Grosseteste. I have found no
parallels or close resemblances in Grosseteste's other works to the
doctrine of any part of the Septem sunt sacramenta. Furthermore,
the twelfth-century date of composition almost certainly rules out
Grosseteste's authorship. We do not know when he began studying
and teaching theology,17 but the earliest disputed questions on
16

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 186, fo. 1 i8 r .

Ibid., fo. i25r (no gloss).
17
The general consensus, following Daniel A. Callus, 'Robert Grosseteste as
Scholar' in Robert Grosseteste, Scholar and Bishop, ed. D. A. Callus (Oxford, 195s),
1 -69, is that he studied theology in Paris between 1209 and 1214, and probably taught
theology in England thereafter. However Josiah C. Russell has argued that Grosseteste may not have become a master of theology until after 1225; see idem, 'Phases of
Grosseteste's Intellectual Life', Harvard Theological Review xliii (1950), 93-116.
R. W. Southern states that 'there is no record of Grosseteste teaching in Oxford
before about 1225, when he began teaching theology'. See 'From Schools to University' in J. I. Catto (ed.), History of the University of Oxford (Oxford, 1984), 36 n. 1.
10

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Vis est in uerbis, gemmis, oculis, et in herbis.

The gloss on this verse explains: Verbis, presertim sacramentalibus.
Vnde accidit uerbum ad elententunt etfit sacramentum. Gemmis, et aliis
lapidibus ut etiam in adamante et magnete. Herbis. Herbarum uires
Macer tibi carmine dicet.lb
The verses quoted in lines 96-9 of the text below are also found in
William's Versarius:

18
Joseph Goering, 'The De dotibus of Robert Grosseteste', Mediaeval Studies xliv
(1982), 83-109. James McEvoy, in 'The Chronology of Robert Grosseteste's
Writings on Nature and Natural Philosophy', Speculum lviii (1983), 614-55, draws
attention on p. 619 to the lack of theological interests in Grosseteste's philosophical
writings before c. 1230. F. A. C. Mantello and Joseph Goering have edited several of
Grosseteste's early penitential writings: Robert Grosseteste, Templum Dei, edited
from MS 27 of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (Toronto, 1984), which was
probably written between 1220 and 1230; 'De modo confitendi et paenitentias
iniungendi', to appear in Recherches de theologie ancienne et medievale, probably
written between 1214 and 1225; 'Perambulauit Iudas . . . (Speculum confessionis)', to
appear in Revue benedictine, probably written after the 'De modo' and before the
Templum Dei. These works, however, are primarily of a practical/pastoral nature,
and do not afford clear evidence of the scholastic teaching of a regent master
in theology.
' See Callus,'Grosseteste as Scholar', 3-4.
20
In his 'Perambulauit Iudas . . . (Speculum confessionis)', (see n. 18).
21
See F. A. C. Mantello, 'Letter CXXXI ascribed to Robert Grosseteste: A new
edition of the Text', Franciscan Studies xxxix (1979), 165-6 n. 3.
11
A scribe has made precisely this mistake in a copy of William de Montibus'
Distinctiones. In London, BL, MS Royal 8.G.II, fo. 92V, a fifteenth-century hand
has added this note: 'Expliciunt distinctiones Lincolniensis honeste et utiles, vel
secundum quosdam Willelmi de Montibus'.

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THE DIFFINJCIO EUCARISTIE

95
18
theological topics date from the period around 1230. It is
extremely unlikely that he was teaching theology in the schools as
early as the 1170s or 1180s, when the questions and responses in the
Septem sunt sacramenta were current.
A second possibility is that Grosseteste was responsible for
excerpting this Diffinicio Eucaristie from the longer work by
William de Montibus. Grosseteste seems to have been at Lincoln
while William was Chancellor there, 19 and he borrows from
William's Versarius as well as from his Peniteas cito peccator,
a didactic poem on confession and penance. 20 However, the person
making these excerpts, be it Grosseteste or not, can hardly be
described as their author, since they are taken almost entirely from
William's Septem sunt sacramenta.
A third possibility is that the manuscript ascription to Robert
Grosseteste rests on a scribal misinterpretation. During the
thirteenth century Grosseteste came to be designated in many
manuscripts by the simple epithet Lincolniensis, referring to his
status as Bishop of Lincoln. 21 However, William de Montibus, too,
was sometimes designated by this same title in view of his fame as
Chancellor of Lincoln. It is possible that at some stage in the transmission of the excerpts now found in the Trinity College MS a scribe,
finding the name 'Lincolniensis' in his exemplar, interpreted this
incorrectly as referring to the famous Bishop, Robert Grosseteste. 22
The Diffinicio Eucaristie preserved in Trinity College,
Cambridge MS B. 15.20 comprises roughly one-third of the
materials in the chapter on the Eucharist in the Septem sunt

23
Approximately 175 of the 470 lines of text in Cambridge, Gonville and Caius
MS61/155.
24
'Diffinicio', 390 n. 1.
25
Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana MS Reg. lat. 440, fos. I 3 v - i 4 r :
Partis mutatur species remanente priori.
Set non est talis qualis sentitur in ore.
Res occultatur quia res si iam videatur,
Presbiter oreret manducare timere.
Both couplets are preceded by an explanatory gloss.
* A. Wilmart, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana: Codices Reginenses latini, ii
(Vatican, 1941), 561-3.
27
See above, n. 15. Like William's Versarius, this treatise consists of brief
mnemonic verses and an explanatory gloss. A number of verses are common to both
works, but these on the eucharist are not found in the two extant copies of the
Versarius.

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96
JOSEPH GOERING
sacramental3 There are, in addition, four lines of verse entitled
'Versus de corpore Domini nostri lesu Christi' at the end of the
Diffinicio Eucaristie which are not derived from the Septem sunt
sacramenta. Purday speculated that these might be part of
a different work.24 In fact these verses do occur in another work that
has been confused with the Septem sunt sacramenta, and may also be
by William de Montibus. 25 A treatise in Vatican Library MS Reg.
lat. 440 opens with the same unusual verse that begins the Septem
sunt sacramenta: Bos ut erat petulans, cernentibus obice cursum. This
verse, written in large letters at the top of fo. 1, is followed by an
introduction which speaks of the author in the third person: 'Iste est
liber compendiosus videlicet breuis et utilis de septem sacramentis
ecclesiasticis metrice compilatus versus decretales communiter ab
omnibus ad informacionem sacerdotum. Et diuiditur iste liber in
prohemium et tractatum. . . . Postquam superius ac(tor)> posuit
prohemium nunc accedit ad suum tractatum.' Wilmart, in his
description of this manuscript, has identified it with the Septem sunt
sacramenta ascribed to William de Montibus in Munich, MS Clm.
8961, 26 but it is a quite different work. The Vatican treatise consists
of glossed verses on the sacraments. It resembles, in both form and
content, the Versarius of William de Montibus. 27 Further research
will be necessary to establish the precise relationship of the Vatican
text to William's other works, but there is at least presumptive
evidence that it, too, belongs in the canon of his writings. The
insertion, at the end of the Diffinicio Eucaristie, of verses from the
Vatican treatise may suggest either that the scribe knew both
William's Septem sunt sacramenta and the verses preserved in the
Vatican treatise, or, more plausibly, that these verses had been
inserted as marginal additions in his copy of the Septem sunt
sacramenta.

THE DIFFINICIO EUCARIST1E

97
The following manuscript copies of the Septem sunt sacramenta
have been indentified (those marked with an asterisk have been
examined either on microfilm or in situ):

AD I375. 3 5

9. Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 8961, fos. i63 r -i73 r .

28
M. R. James, A Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in the University
Library, Aberdeen (Cambridge, 1932), 69-70.
29
Sr. Wilma Fitzgerald, curator of the microfilm collection at the Pontifical
Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, kindly brought this manuscript copy to my
attention. See Seymour de Ricci and W. J. Wilson, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, i (New York, 193s). 819, no. 378.
30
Ladislaus Mezey, Codices latini Medii Aevi Bibliothecae Universitatis
Budapestinensis (Budapest, 1961), 55-7.
31
M. R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of
Gonville and Caius College, i (Cambridge, 1907), 53-7.
32
Ibid., ii (Cambridge, 1908), 433-4.
33
Rudolf Helssig, Katalog der lateinischen und deutschen Handschriflen der
Universitdts-Bibliothek zu Leipzig, Vol. 1/1 (Leipzig, 1926-1935), 653-7.
34
See Bloomfield, et al., Incipits, 470 n. 5461.
36
Carolus Halm and Gulielmus Meyer, Catalogus codicum latinorum bibliothecae
Regiae Monacensis, vol. 2/1 (1874; repr. Wiesbaden, 1968), 63.

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*i. Aberdeen, University Library MS 240, fos. 194vb-i98ra. Early 14th

century. Inc.: (Tractatus de vij sacramentis ecclesie) Septem sunt sacramenta
ecclesiastica que notantur hoc uersu: Bos ut erat peculans cernentibus obice
cursum. Expl.: (incomplete in Coniugium): . . . Secunda est fornicacionis
remedium.ia
*2. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery MS W.i 31, fos. I33 r -i74 v . Late 13th
century. Inc.: (De septem sacramentis ecclesie) Septem sunt sacramenta que
notantur isto uersiculo: Bos ut erat petulans cernentibus obice cursum. Expl.:
. . . et ideo debet esse uel fieri in forma deprecatiueP
3. Budapest, Egyetemi Konyvtar (University Library) MS 39, fos.
9O r -94 r . 14/15th century. Inc.: (Sequitur de septem sacramentis matris sancte
ecclesie) Septem sunt sacamenta que nominantur in his verbis.. .. Expl.: ... Et
hec dicta sufficiant de septem sacramentis sancte ecclesie.30
*4. Cambridge, Gonville and Caius MS 61/155, PP- I5oa-i76b. Late
13th century. Inc.: (Incipit tractatus de vii sacramentis. De baptismo).
Septem sunt sacramenta que notantur isto uersu: Bos ut erat petulans
cernentibus obice cursum. Expl.: . . . Qui exemplis suis alios exhortatur, implet
officium dyaconj, qui autem corpus et sanguinem christi digne consecrat,
officium sacerdotis perficit.31
5. Cambridge, Gonville and Caius MS 380/600, fos. I7 v a-i9 v b. Late
13th century. Inc.: Septem sunt sacramenta ecclesiastica que notantur per
hunc uersum: Bos vt erat petulans cernentibus obice cursum. Expl.:
(incomplete in Penitentia) . . . dummodo diuites sint.32
6. Leipzig, Universitatsbibliothek MS 423, pp. 308-18. 15th century.
Inc.: Septem sunt sacramenta que nominantur in hoc versu. . .. Expl.:.. error
non separat.33
7. Mainz, Stadtbibliothek MS I. 117, fos. 19 ff.34
8. Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 8885, fos. 27o r -274 v .

98

JOSEPH GOERING

The edition below of excerpts from the Septem sunt sacramenta is

based on Cambridge, Gonville and Caius MS 61/155 (designated
by the siglum C). Selected variants from Baltimore, Walters Art
Gallery MS W.131 (siglum B), and Munich, Clm8g6i (siglum M)
are cited, and are occasionally the basis for emendations of the text
of C. Wherever a variant is cited, the reading of all three
manuscripts at that place is given in an apparatus criticus keyed to
the text by means of lowercase superscript letters. The text of the
Diffinicio Eucaristie has been printed without emendation as it
appears in Cambridge, Trinity College MS B. 15.20. Punctuation
and paragraph divisions of both texts conform to modern practice.
An apparatus fontium is keyed to the texts by line numbers.
36
Carolus Halm and Gulielmus Meyer, Catalogus codicum latinorum bibliothecae
Regiae Monacensis, vol. 2/1 (1874; repr. Wiesbaden, 1968), 68.
37
R. A. B. Mynors, Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Balliol College, Oxford
(Oxford, 1963), 232.
38
Catalogue general des manuscrits des bibliotheques publiques de France, Departements, xxxvii, ed. M. Collon, (Paris, 1900), 375-8.
39
Jacques Guy Bourgerol, Les manuscrits franciscains de la Bibliotheque de Troyes,
(Rome, 1982), 203.
40
[P. A. Tiele], Catalogus codicum manu scriptorum bibliothecae Universitatis
Rheno-Trajectinae, i (Utrecht, 1887), 132-3. The catalogue description fails to note
that another work has been appended on fo. S3r-9V- This is a work on confession
beginning: 'Confessio est legitima peccatorum coram proprio sacerdote...."
T h e scribe
notes correctly on fo. 59 V : 'Explicit liber de sacramentis ac liber penitenciarum.'
41
John Kestell Floyer, Catalogue of Manuscripts Preserved in the Chapter Library
of Worcester Cathedral, ed. and rev. S. G. Hamilton (Oxford, 1906), 121-3.

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AD 1423. Inc.: Septem sunt sacramenta que nominantur in hoc versu: Bos ut
peculans cernentis obice cursu. Expl.: . . . officium sacerdotis inplet et perficit
christi abluo firmo cibo penitet vngit et ordinata vxorque. Explicit summa
magistri wilhelmi de montibus super septem sacramenta gloriose complete ex
vno versiculoanno (dotnini) m" cccc" 230 frater symon.36
*io. Oxford, Balliol College MS 228, fos. 22O r b-225 r b. 14/15th century.
Inc.: (Questiones de sacramentis ecclesie) Septem sunt sacramenta que
notantur hoc versiculo Bos ut erat peculans cernentibus obice cursum. Expl.: . . .
prima causa est quia Mi sunt de una progenie.31
11. Tours, Bibliotheque Municipale MS 473, fos. io6 r -i98 v , 202"",
2O7v, 216", 2i7 r . 14th century. Inc.: Septem sunt sacramenta, que nominantur isto versiculo: Bos ut erat petulans cernentibus obice cursum. Expl.: . . .
quia coacta hoc fecit et non sponte.36
12. Troyes, Bibliotheque Municipale MS 1514, fos. 9o v a-96 v a. 15th
century. Inc.: Septem sacramenta que notantur in isto versiculo: Bos Ut Erant
sPeculans, Cernentibus Obice Casum.
13. Utrecht, Bibliotheek der Universiteit MS 387, fos. 5Or~52v. 15th
century. Inc.: <JB>OJ ut erat petulans cernentibus obice cursum. Nota quod
per hunc versum. . . .40
14. Worcester, Cathedral Library MS Q.27, fos. 226V-234V. 14th
century. Inc.: Septem sunt sacramenta, que nominantur hoc versiculo: Bos Vt
Erat Petulans Cernentibus Obice Cursum.*1

THE D1FFINIC1O EUCARIST1E

DIFFINICIO EUCARISTIE SECUNDUM

SANCTUM ROBERTUM EPISCOPUM
LINCOLNIENSEM.

[See below, lines 51-2]

Eucaristia dicitur ab 'eu' quod

est bonum et 'caris' quod est
20 gracia, id est bona gracia.
Vnde eucaristia est panis
angelorum uel contractus ministerio angelorum.
25

30

Panis enim dicitur quia panis

est in apparencia, hoc est extra,
caro intra in existencia. Non enim
potest uideri carnalibus oculis
corpus Christi glorificatum. Sed
35 potest uideri quasi latenter et non
aperte in rota panis, sicut sol
uidetur nube interposita in rota.
Item sacramentum eucaristie
maiusestceterissacramentisetnon
40 potest prospici carnalibus oculis.

18-21: Cf. Peter Lombard, Sententiae 4.8.1. (Magistri

Petri Lombardi..

. Sententiae

in IVlibrisdistinctae, 3rdedn., vol. ii (Grottaferrata, 1981), 280).

22-9: Cf. Ps.
77: 25.
32-7: Cf. Peter the Chanter, Summa (Pierre le Chantre, Summa de
sacramentis et animae consiliis, ed. Jean-Albert Dugauquier, vol. 1 (Louvain, 1954),
167).
" ministerio BM: in ministerio C.
" set uera caro B: set uera statio C: set
c
intra caro M.
latenter BM: latatum C.

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Incipit tractatus de vii sacramentis.

(De baptismo)
Septem sunt sacramenta que
notantur isto versu: 'Bos ut erat
petulans
cernentibus
obice
cursum.' Per hanc dictionem
'bos' notatur baptismus; per 'ut'
unctio; per 'erat' eucharistia; per
'petulans' penitentia; per 'cernentibus' confirmatio; per 'obice'
ordo; per 'cursum'coniugium. . . .
(De confirmatione)
Confirmatio est unum sacramentum, et iure dicitur sacramentum quia sacrat mentem. . . .
[De eucharistia]
Eucharistia est tercium sacramentum, et dicitur ab 'eu' quod
est bonum et 'caris' quod est
gratia, quasi bona gratia.
Eucharistia est panis angelorum, id est panis consecratus
ministerio" angelorum. Vnde
dicendum panem
angelorum
manducauit homopanem angelorum, id est panem iustorum,
quia iusti dicuntur angeli . . .
[6 lines] . . .
Panis dicitur quia est panis in
apparentia, set uera caro b in existentia. Non enim potest uideri
carnalibus oculis corpus Christi
glorificatum, set uidetur quasi
latenter c et non aperte in rota
panis, sicut sol uidetur in rota
nube interposita.
Sacramentum eucaristie est
maius aliis sacramentis et non
potest percipi carnalibus oculis;

99

100

JOSEPH GOERING

uerum quanto carnaliores, tanto

obscurioresd ad percipiendum
hoc sacramentum . . . [48 lines]...
[See above, lines 16-19]

Recte dicitur
sacramentum
quia sacrat mentem.
Habet itaque formam quam
spiritualiter uidemus, signum per
quod corpus esse credimus, quia
in ea substantia in qua debet esse
50 uidemus quod non possunt hoc
sustinere oculi carnales.

55

60

65

70

75

Sed queritur a quibusdam

quando hoc sacramentum datum
fuit. Respondemus quod pridie
quam pateretur.
Sed queritur si habuit duo
corpora quando, eleuatis oculis,
post agnum misticum panem
benedicens ait: 'hoc est corpus
meum*, cum ipse Christus et
corpus Christi adhuc passibile et
corruptibile erat quod tenebat.
Respondemus quod Christus non
habuit duo corpora, sed de seipso
dixit 'hoc est corpus meum'. De
pane uero sic intelligendum est:
hoc est corpus meum, id est
quociens in meam commemoracionem facietis, habebitis pro
meo corpore hunc panem.
Item eucaristia tria sunt: forma
panis, sacramentum, et res sacramenti. Forma panis que apparet
exterius. Sacramentum est misti-

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Habet itaque formam et signum: formam quam spiritualiter

uidemus, signum per quod corpus
Christi credimus, quia si in ea
substantia in qua debet esse
uideretur, carnales oculi non
possent sustinere.
Queritur a quibusdam quando
datum fuit hoc sacramentum.
Dicimus pridie quam pateretur
tribuit hoc sacramentum.
Set queritur utrum habuit duo
corpora quando, eleuatis oculis in
celum, post agnum misticum
panem benedixit dicens: 'hoc est
corpus meum', et cum ipse
Christus et corpus suum adhuc
passibilis esset,e et hoc corruptibile quod tenebat. Dicimus quod
non habuit duo corpora, set de
seipso dixit 'hoc est corpus
meum', non de pane. Sic intelligendum est uero,r id est, quocienscumque in conmemoratione hoc
facietis, pro meo corpore* hunc
panem habebitis . . . [14 lines] . . .
In eucharistia sunt tria, scilicet
forma panis, sacramentum, et res
sacramenti.h Forma panis est que
apparet exterius. Sacramentum,

45

53-6: pridie quam pateretur: from the prayer Qui pridie of the canon of the mass; cf.
Peter the Chanter, Summa, i, 147, 149-50.
58-9: eleuatis oculis in celum: from
the canon of the mass.
59-60: agnum misticum: i.e. agnum paschalem; cf. Peter
Comestor, De sacramentis ('Pierre le Mangeur De sacramentis', ed. Raymond M.
Martin, Appendix, i*-i38* in H. Weisweiler, Maitre Simon et son groupe, De
sacramentis (Louvain, 1937), 33*).
60-1: Cf. Matt. 26: 26, 1 Cor. 11: 24.
68-71: Cf. 1 Cor. 11: 25-6.
75-82: Cf. Peter Lombard, Sententiae, 4.8.7 (ii.
285); Peter Comestor, De sacramentis, p. 35*.
d

quanto . . . obscuriores BM: in quantum carnalius est, tanto absentius est C.

adhuc . . . esset M: passibile esset ad duo B: possibilia ad duo essent C.
' de
seipso . . . uero M: cum dicit hoc est corpus meum C: de seipso dixit hoc est corpus
h
meum B.
* meo corpore M: pane meo B: patre meo C.
et res
sacramenti M: res B: rerum, sacramentum forme panis C.

THE DIFFINICIO EUCARISTIE

101

cum corpus Christi; et dicitur

per similitudinem quia, sicut ex
multis granis unus panis, et ex
multis ramis efficitur uitis, ita
80 ex multis fidelibus constituitur
corpus Christi. Ipse enim est
capud et fideles sunt membra.
Vnde uersus: Christus et eterna
duo sunt, sed carne sub una/ Hie
85 capud, hoc corpus, nos quoque
membra sumus.
Duplex est caro Christi, mistica
et uera, quia est supernis uera
quod assumpsit in uirgine Maria,
90 que glorificata est spiritualis.
Res et sacramentum est uera
caro Christi quam
quidam
commedunt spiritualiter. Vnde
95 Angustinus: 'Vt quid paras
dentem et uentrem. Crede et
manducasti.'

Et quomodo per uerba sacrata

Queritur quomodo per uerba
efficitur corpus Christi. Dicimus 100 efficitur corpus Christi. Responquod Dominus dedit uirtutem"
sio: dicimus quod Deus dedit
tribus, scilicet herbis, uerbis, et
potestatem tribus rebus, scilicet
lapidibus preciosis. Verbis, quia
uerbis, et herbis et lapidibus
quidam incantatores per uerba
preciosis. Verbis quia quidam
reddunt serpentes innocentes, et 105 incantatores sunt per uerba. In
ad se uenire faciunt. Non igitur
cena efficitur corpus dominicum
mirum si sacramentum prolatumP
in cantacionibus et uerbis.
q
ab ore Christi in cena conficit
corpus Christi, cum incantationibus et uerbis serpentes attrahunt. r
Herbis dedit Deus potentiam,
quia quedam fugant demones,
77-81: Cf. 1 Cor. 10: 17.
83-6: Cf. Eph. 5: 25-33.
87-97: Cf. Peter
Lombard, Sententiae, 4.8.7 (ii. 284-5); Peter Comestor, De sacramentis, 35*-6*.
98-118: Cf. intro., n. 15; Thomae de Chobham Summa confessorum, ed. F. Broomfield
(Louvain, 1968), p. 478.
1

ita BM: om. C.

> carne sub una ed.: carnem substantia M: om. BC.
Christus et ecclesie . . . sumus M: om. BC.
' Maria BM: om. C.
m
quid BM: quis C.
" dentem et BM: om. C.
uirtutem BC: potestatem
p
M.
sacramentum prolatum C: per sacrata uerba et probata uel prolata B: per
verba sacrata et probata M.
' conficitC: conficiturfl: efficitur M.
* attrahunt C: attrahuntur BM.
k

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misticum corpus Christi; et dicitur misticum per similitudinem

quia, sicut ex multis racemis
efficitur uinum, et ex multis grants
panis, ita1 ex multis fidelibus
corpus Christi. Ipse enim Christus
est caput, fideles autem membra
sunt. Christus et ecclesia duo
sunt, carne sub una;^ Hie caput,
hoc corpus, nos quoque membra
sumus. k
Duplex est enim caro Christi,
mistica et uera. Mistica que dicta
est superius. Vera est quam
assumpsit in uirgine Maria, 1 que
glorificata et spiritualis est.
Res et sacramentum est ipsa
caro Christi quam quidam comedunt spiritualiter. Vnde Augustinus: 'Vt quid m paras dentem
et n uentrem. Tan turn crede et
manducasti' . . . [16 lines] . . .

102

JOSEPH G O E R I N G

"5

izo

Item opponitur de hoc quod

Deus dixit in cena ante passionem
discipulis, 'hoc est corpus meum',
demonstrans panem. Ergo habuit
duo corpora, unum quod traxit de
125 uirgine, alterum quod erat in
pane. Respondemus quod ita est
intelligendum: Dominus dixit
'hoc est corpus meum' set dixit
'accipite et comedite; hoc erit pro
130 corpore meo', demonstrans seipsum, non panem.
Item queritur quando mutatur
siue substanciatur panis ille in
corpus.
Respondemus
quod
135 multiplex est mutacio, scilicet
artificialis, materialis, naturalis,
accidentalis, moralis, substancialis siue sacramentalis.
140

Artificialis est que fit mediante

hominis artificio, ut de feno uel
felice fit uitrum, et ex lacte fit
caseus. Materialis, quando ex una
145 materia fit alia uel procreatur.
Vnde de materia oui fit pullus.
Vnde ouum materia est carnis,
propter quod quidam non comedunt oua sexta feria, et maius
150 confirmatiuum est quam caseus.

120-31: Cf. Peter of Poitiers, Sententiarum libri quinque, 5.11 (PL 211. 1244).
132-68: Cf. ibid., 5. i2(PZ-2ii. 1246); Peter the Chanter, Summa, 133; H. Jorissen,
Die Entfaltung der Transsubstantiationslehre bis zum Beginn der Hochscholastik

(Munster, Westf., 1965), 102-3, cites several anonymous, twelfth-century glosses

which are relevant to this discussion.
s

artimesia M: artemisia B: arcomesia C.

' conferunt B: conservant C: conu
v
firmantiW.
accipite... erit BM: hoc panem C.
corpus BM: corpore
w
C.
alia moralis BL: om. C.
* silice M: fulia B:filiceC.
* procreatur alia B: procreatur altera C:fitalia uel procreatur M.
* sexta feria BM:
die ueneris C.

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ut artimesia, s et herba sancti

Iohannis. Quedam conformant
sanitatem ut petrosillum, et quedam fugant febres. Lapidibus,
quia sunt quidam lapides qui
conferunt' graciam, ut agates, et
quidam conseruant sanitatem.
Opponitur de hoc quod dixit
Dominus discipulis suis ante
passionem in cena dicens 'hoc
est corpus meum', demonstrans
panem. Ergo habuit duo corpora,
vnum quod traxit a uirgine, aliud
quod erat in pane. Dicimus quod
ita intelligendum est, quod dicit
'hoc est corpus meum', demonstrans in pane se ipsum. Set dicit
'accipite et comedite; hoc erit" pro
corpore meo'.
Queritur quomodo panis ille
mutatur in corpus v Christi.
Dicendum est quod multiplex
mutatio: alia est enim mutatio
artificialis, alia materialis, alia
naturalis, alia accidentalis, alia
moralis, w alia substantialis siue
sacramentalis.
Artificialis est ilia que fit mediante artificio hominis ut de feno
et silice" fit uitrum, et ex lacte
caseus. Materialis est quando ex
una materia procreatur alia/ ut
de materia oui procreatur pullus.
Vnde ouorum materia est caro, et
propter hoc quidam non comedunt oua in sexta feria,2 et sunt
magis confortatiua quam caseus.

THE DIFFINICIO EUCAR1STIE

103

sacramentis, 47*.
bb
cc
" de agno B: licaon C: om. M.
nati sunt ex BC: om. M.
non B:
dd
ee
nunc C: om M.
corpus BM: corpore C.
et forma M: forma B:
om. C.
" inuitetur M: imittetur BC.

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Naturalis, sicut ex putrefactione

Naturalis, quando ex putrefacta
grani nascitur seges. Vnde: 'Nisi
arbore et radice nascitur arbor,
granum frumenti cadens in
et ex putrefactione grani seges.
terram mortuum fuerit ipsum
Vnde in euangelio: 'Nisi granum
frumenti', etc. Aliter nisi putre- 155 solum manet.' Aliter quia nisi
faceret, parere non posset. Acciprius putrificeret, non possit
dentalis est quando res alba fit
parere. Accidentalis, quando de
nigra. Moralis est quando aliquis
alba re fit nigra. Moralis, quando
bonus fit malus et rapax. Vnde ita
aliquid prius bonus postea fit
de agno1"1 mutatur in lupum, quia 160 malus et rapax. Vnde Licaon
malos homines et rapaces dicimus
mutatus in lupum, et Remus in
esse lupos. Vnde Licaon uersus
Romulus nutriti a lupa, id est a
est in lupum. Romulus et Remus
meretrice, quia malos homines
nati sunt ex bb lupa, id est ex
dicimus esse lupos.
meretrice.
16 S
Substancialis siue sacramenSubstancialis siue sacramentalis est miraculosa, que fit ex
talis est miraculosa, qui fit in
substantia panis in corpus Christi.
corpore Christi, in substancia
Super hoc multiplex est opinio.
panis non mutata. Super hoc
Quidam dicunt quod substantia 170 multiplex est oppinio. Quidam
panis non mutatur, set ita latet
dicunt quod substancia panis
Christi corpus sicut unguentem in
mutatur, sed ibi latet corpus
uase; vas uidetur, unguentum
Christi sicut unguentum in uase;
uero non. Ita corpus Christi non
vas enim uidetur, unguentum
uidetur set panis. Eos non cc 175 non. Ita panis uidetur, corpus
reprobramus, set ita uidetur quod
Christi non.
in die ueneris uel ieiunii non
debeat missa celebrari. Panis enim
remanet, sacerdos comedit ilium,
ergo peccat accipiendo corpus 1 8 0
Christi, quod falsum est. Set
melius et tucius est credere quod
substantia panis mutatur in
corpus Christi, dd forma panis
remanente . . . [38 lines] . . .
85
Notandum quod de pane
Notandum quod de pane
ee
remanent odor, sapor, et forma,
remanet sapor, odor, et forma, ut
ut magis inuitetur rf sensus ad
magis inuitetur sensus hominis
accipiendum.
accipiendum.
Item uidetur quod Deus habeat 1 go
Item uidetur quod habet
154-5: Nisi granum frumenti. . .: John 12: 24.
158-64: The story of Licaon is
found in Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1. 5; that of Romulus and Remus, born to a Vestal
Virgin and nourished by a she-wolf, is in Livy, 1. 4.
186-9: Cf. Peter
Lombard, Sententiae, 4.11.3 (ii. 299).
190-204: Cf. Peter Comestor, De

104

JOSEPH G O E R I N G

VERSUS DE CORPORE DOMINI NOSTRI

IESU CHRISTI:

Panis mutatur specie remanente

Panis mutatur species remanente
220
priore.
priori.
Et non est talis qualis sentitur
Set non est talis qualis sentitur in
in ore.
ore.. . .
Res occultatur queritur, quia si
Res occultatur quia res si iam
uideretur,
videatur,
Presbiter
oreret,
manducare 225 Forsitan horreres et manducare
timeres.
timere."
JOSEPH GOERING

205-12: Cf. ibid., 57#; Gratianus, Decretum, De cons. D.2C.22 (ed., E. Friedberg,
Corpus iuris canonki, I, Decretum magistri Gratiani (Leipzig, 1879), c. 1321).
hh
BB ista BM: ilia C.
ex una BM: om. C.
" accenduntur BM: incenkk
duntur C.
" due vero. . . . uino BM: om. C.
misticum . . . ecclesiam
B: corpus Christi in matrem ecclesiam C: misticum corpus christi M.
" Panis.
r
. . . timere Vatican, MS Reg. lat. 440, fos. 13"-I4 : om. BCM [cf. intro. nn. 25-6].

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diuersa corpora, quia in istagB

diuersa corpora, quia est in ista et
ecclesia et in ilia est, et totus hie
in ilia, et totus hie et totus ibi.
et totus ibi. Respondemus quod
Respondemus quod totus hie et
totus hie et totus ubique, sicut
totus ibi.
uox mea tota in aure mea, et tota 95
in aure audientis. Nee tamen est
conparatio, quia corpus Christi
subtilius est quam vox mea. Et
sicut ex una hh candela accenduntur 11 multe, nee tamen
decrescit nee minuitur, ita in
omnibus ecclesiis corpus Christi
consecratur, nee tamen decrescit
nee minuitur . . . [70 lines] . . .
Queritur quid significant tres 205
Corpus Christi informe intelpartes quarum una mergitur in
ligitur illud, scilicet quod in celis
uino, due uero remanent in manu.
residet, et quod in terra ambulat,
Respondemus quod ilia que
et quod in sepulcro remansit.
mergitur
uinoJj
significat
Christum positum in sepulchro,
alia Christum ambulantem super
terram, alia misticum corpus
Christi, idestmatremecclesiam. kk
In omni creatura Deus est per
215 presenciam, per potenciam, per
essenciam.