This is a transcription of the codex unicus, apparently, of a Renaissance dialogue, in Latin, among three nuns, a mother and her twin daughters. The Anulus nuptialis is in the tradition of exhortation literature of the Middle Ages, here directed to the brides of Christ, encouraging them to persevere in monastic life. / The dialogue constists of an agreed upon topic (the love of the heavenly bridegroom), with questions from the daughters addressed to their mother. The questions allow the mother to discuss monastic love as the middle of three stages, superior to the world, inferior to heaven. The Anulus nuptialis, then, also belongs to the tradition of didactic literature on the mystical marriage. The rhetoric and spirituality closely follow the works of Bernard and Bonaventure, and Bernard is represented significantly among the authorities the mother calls upon. Other sources include the works on marriage and virginity by Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory. Cicero is the only named classical authority. / The subject and exempla of the Anulus nuptialis, and its apparent, pervasive normative consciousness of a mother who has raised children, suggest that the author was a woman. All marks of authorship and ownership have unfortunately been cut from the codex. An unpolished, rough draft of one of the text's pages was discovered as the front end folio; as it is in the same fine humanist hand as the final text, the sciptor may also have been the auctor. The page does allow us a glimpse at the compositional process behind the making of the Anulus nuptialis. / For its light on the sociology of 15th century monastic life, on the education of young women in the convent, and on the status of the mystical marriage motif immediately preceding the Reformation, the Anulus nuptialis is a valuable primary source. / An English translation follows the Latin transcription; notes thereto identify the sources and offer limited and brief commentary. I have included indices on scriptural and non-scriptural citations, and on proper names in the codex. The bibliography serves to direct further study on issues the Anulus nuptialis raises, both as an unrecorded manuscript and as late medieval didactic literature related to the mystical marriage theme. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2664. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74473 |
| Contributors | LARRICK, ROLLIN DAVID., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 453 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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