Epistola S. Patricii ad Christianos Corotici Tyranni subditos

Patricius peccator indoctus, scilicet Hiberione constitutus episcopum me esse fateor. Certissime reor, a Deo accepi id quod sum: inter barbaras itaque gentes habito proselitus et profuga, ob amorem Dei. Testis est ille, si ita est. Non quod obtabam tam dure et tam aspere aliquid ex ore meo effundere: sed cogor zelo Dei et ueritatis Christi excitatus pro dilectione proximorum atque filiorum, pro quibus tradidi patriam et parentes et animam meam, quia usque ad mortem si dignum suum noui Deo meo docere gentes, etsi contempnar a quibusdam. Manu mea scripsi atque condidi uerba ista danda ac tradenda militibus mittenda Corotici, non dico ciuibus meis atque ciuibus sanctorum Romanorum, sed ciuibus demoniorum ob mala opera ipsorum, qui barbarorum ritu hostili in morte uiuunt; socii Scottorum atque Pictorum apostatarum, que sanguelentos sanguinare de sanguine innocentium Christianorum, quos ego innumerum Deo genui atque in Christo confimiaui.

Postera die qua crismati neophiti in ueste candida, ¹ flagrabat in fronte ipsorum, dum crudeliter trucidati atque mactati sunt gladio, supradictis et misi epistolam p.376 Cotton MS Nero E.I. fo 173, p 2, l 34 cum sancto presbytero, quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis, ut nobis aliquid indulgerent de praeda uel de captiuis baptizatis quos caeperunt: sed cachinnos fecerunt de illis. Idcirco nescio quod magis lugeam: an qui interfecti, uel quos ceperunt; uel quos grauiter Zabulus inlaqueauit perhenne pena gehennam pariter cum ipso mancipabunt: quia utique ‘qui facit peccatum, seruus est peccati,’ (John viii. 34, 44.) et filius Zaboli nuncupatur.

Quarepropter sciat omnis homo timens Deum, quod a me alieni sunt et a Christo Deo meo, pro quo legationem fungor, patricida, fratricida, lupi rapaces, ‘deuorantes plebem Domini ut cibum panis,’ (Ps. xiv. 4, etc.) sicut ait: ‘Iniqui dissipauerunt legem tuam, Domine.’ (Ps. cxix. 126.) Quoniam in supremis temporibus Hiberione optime et benigne plantauerat atque instructa erat. Fauente Deo, non usurpo aliena;' ² sed partem habeo cum his, quos ad uocauit et predestinauit euangelium predicare in persecutionibus non paruis usque ad extremum terre; etsi inuidet inimicus per tirannidem Corotici, qui Deum non ueretur, nec sacerdotes ipsius, quos elegit, et indulsit illis summam diuinam sublimem potestatum, ‘quos ligarent super terram ligatos esse et in celis.’ (Matt. xvi. 19, etc.)

Unde ergo quaeso plurimum, sancti et humiles corde, adulari talibus non licet, nec cibum nec potum sumere cum ipsis, nec elemosinas ipsorum recipere debere, donec crudeliter poenitentiam effusis lacrimis satis Deo faciant, et liberent seruos Dei et ancillas Christi baptizatas, pro quibus mortuus est et crucifixus. ‘Dona iniquorum reprobat Altissimus,’ (Ecclus. xxxiv. 23.) et ‘qui offeret sacrificium ex substantia pauperum quasi qui uictimat filium in conspectu patris sui’ (Ecclus. xxxiv. 24. ) ‘Diuitias, [inquid,] quas congregabit iniuste, euomentur do uentre eius, trahit illum angelus mortis, ira draconum multabitur, interficiet illum lingua colubris’ (Job. xx. 15, 16, LXX.) comedit eum ‘ignis  p.377 Cotton MS Nero E.I. fo 174, a 2, l 27 inextinguibilis’ (Matt. iii. 12, etc.): ideoque ‘Ve qui replent se his quae: non sunt sua.’ (Habak. ii. 6.) Vel ‘quid prodest homini ut totum mundum lucretur et ut animae suae detrimentum patiatur?’ (Matt. xvi. 26; Mark viii. 16.) Longum est per singula discutere uel insinuare per totam legem capere testimonia de tali cupiditate. Auaritia mortale crimen. ‘Non concupisces rem proximi tui.’ (Exod. xx. 17, etc.)— ‘Non occides.’ (Exod. xx. 13, etc.)— ‘Homicida non potest esse cum Christo;’ (See 1 John iii. 15. ) ‘qui odit fratrem suum homicida adscribitur.’ (1 John iii. 15.) Vel, ‘Qui non diligit fratrem suum in morte manet.’ (1 John iii. 14.) Quanto magis reus est, qui manus suas coinquinauit in sanguine filiorum Dei, quos nuper adquisiuit in ultimis terre per exhortationem paruitatis nostrae?

Numquid sine Deo vel secundum carnem Hiberione ueni? Quis me compulit? Alligatus sum spiritu ut non uideam aliquem de cognatione mea. Numquid amo piam misericordiam, quod sic ago erga gentem, illam qui me aliquando ceperunt, et deuastauerunt seruos et ancillas domus patris mei? Ingenuus fui secundum carnem, decorione patro nascor: uendidi enim nobilitatem meam (non erubesco neque me penitet) pro utilitate aliorum: denique seruus sum in Christo traditus genti extere ob gloriam ineffabilem perennis uitae, quae est in Christo Iesu Domino nostro.

Et si mei non cognoscunt, ‘propheta in patria sua honorem non habet.’ (Luke iv. 24.) Forte non sumus ex uno ouili, neque unum Deum Patrem habemus: sicut ait: ‘Qui non est mecum contra me est, et qui non congregat mecum, spargit.’ (Matt. xii. 30.) Non conuenit si unus destruit, alter aedificat. Non quero quae mea sunt.

Non mea gratia, sed Deus quidem hanc sollicitudinem dedit in corde meo, ut unus essem de uenatoribus siue piscatoribus, quos olim Deus in nouissimis p.378 Cotton MS Nero E.I. fo 174, a 2, l 18 diebus ante prenuntiauit. Inuidetur mihi. Quid faciam Domine? Valde despicior. Ecce oues tuae circa me laniantur atque depredantur a supradictis latrunculis, iubente Corotico hostile: mente longe est a caritate Dei traditor Christianorum in manus Scottorum atque Pictorum. ³ ‘Lupi rapaces deglutierunt gregem Domini,'’ (See Acts xx. 29.) qui utique Hiberione cum summa diligentia optime crescebat; et filii Scottorum et filie regulorum monachi et uirgines Christi enumerare nequeo. ‘Quam ob rem iniuria iustorum non Te placeat Domine, etiam usque ad inferos non placebit.’ (Ecclus. ix. 17.)

Quis sanctorum non horreat iocundare uel conuiuium fruere cum talibus? De spoliis defunctorum Christianorum repleuerunt domus suas; de rapinis uiuunt, nesciunt misereri. Venenum bibunt, letale cibum porrigunt ad amicos et filios suos; sicut Eua non intellexit quod mortem tradidit viro suo: sic sunt omnes qui male agunt; mortem perennem penamque perpetuam operantur. Consuetudo Romanorum Gallorumque Christianorum est, mittunt uiros sanctos et idoneos ad Francos ⁴ et ceteras gentes cum tot millia solidorum ad redimendos captiuos baptizatos: tu totius ⁵ interficis et uendis illos genti extere ignoranti Deum: quasi in lupanar tradis membra Christi. Qualem spem habes in Deum? uel qui te consentit, aut qui te communicat uerbis adulationis? Deus iudicabit: scriptum est enim: ‘Non solum facientes mala, sed etiam consentientes dampnandi sunt.’ (Rom. i. 32.) Nescio quid dicam uel quid loquar amplius de defunctis filiorum Dei, quos gladius supra modum dure tetigit. Scriptum est enim: ‘Flete cum flentibus.’ (Rom. xii. 15.) Et iterum: ‘Si dolet unum membrum, p.379 Cotton MS Nero E.I. fo 174, b 1, l 14 condolent onmia membra.’ (1 Cor. vii. 26.) Quapropter Aecclesia plorat et planget filios et filias suas, quos adhuc gladius nondum interfecit, sed prolongati et exportati in per longa terrarum. Ubi peccatum manifeste grauetur inpudenter, impudens ibi habitat et habundat: ibi uenundati ingenui homines Christiani in seruitute redacti sunt, presertim indignissimorum pessimorum apostatarumque Pictorum.

Idcirco cum tristitia et merore uociferabo: O speciossissimi atque amantissimi fratres et filii, quos in Christo genui enumerare nequeo, quid faciam uobis? Non sum dignus Deo neque hominibus subuenire. “Praeualuit iniquitas iniquorum super nos.” Quasi extranei facti sumus. Forte non credunt quod unum baptismum percipimus uel unum Deum Patrem habemus: indignum est illis quod de Hibernia nati sumus; sicut ait: ‘Nonne unum Deum habetis? Quid dereliquistis unusquisquae proximum suum?’ (Malachi ii. 10.) Idcirco doleo pro vobis, doleo, carissimi mei: sed iterum gaudeo intra meipsum, quia non gratis laboraui uel peregrinatio mea in uacuum non fuit: ⁶ et contigit scelus tam horrendum et ineffabile. Deo gratias: creduli baptizati de seculo recessistis ad paradisum. Cerno: uos migrare cepistis ubi ‘nox non erit, neque luctus, neque mors amplius:’ (Rev. xxi. 4; xxii. 5.) sed ‘exultabitis sicut uituli ex uinculis resoluti, et conculcabitis iniquos, et erunt cinis sub pedibus vestris.’ (Malachi iv. 2, 3.)

Vos ergo regnabitis cum apostolis et prophetis atque martyribus et aeterna regna capietis, sicut ipse testatur inquiens: ‘Venient ab oriente et occidente et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum.’ (Matt. viii. 11.) ‘Foris canes et ueneficos et homicidae et mendacibus et periuris:'’ (Rev. xxii. 15.) pars eorum in stagnum ignis p.380 Cotton MS Nero E.I. fo 174, b 2, l 10 aeternae: non immerito ait apostolus: ‘Ubi iustus uix saluus erit, peccator et impius et transgressor legis ubi se recognoscit?’ (1 Peter iv. 18.) Unde enim Coroticus cum suis sceleratissimis rebellatoribus Christi? Ubi se uidebunt, qui mulierculas baptizatas et praedia orphanorum spurcissimis satellitibus suis premia distribuunt ob miserum regnum temporale, quod utique in momento transeat sicut nubes uel fumus, qui utique uento dispergitur: ita peccatores et fraudulenti a facie Domini peribunt: iusti autem epulabuntur in magna constantia cum Christo: iudicabunt nationes, et regibus iniquis dominabuntur ‘in secula seculorum’ (Rev. xxii. 5.) amen.

Testificor coram Deo et angelis suis, quod ita erit sicut intimauit imperitiae meae. Non mea uerba sunt ista, sed Dei et apostolorum atque prophetarum, quod ego Latinum exposui, qui numquam enim mentiti sunt: ‘qui crediderit saluus erit, qui uero non crediderit condempnabitur:’ (Mark xvi. 10.) Deus ⁷ locutus est. Quaeso plurimum ut quicumque famulus Dei ut promtus fuerit, ut sit gerulus litterarum harum, ut nequaquam subtrahatur a nemine, sed magis potius legatur coram cunctis plebibus, et presente ipso Corotico. Quod si Deus inspirat illos ut quandoque de eo resipiscant, ita ut uel sero peniteant quod tam impie gesserunt. Homicidae erga fratres Domini fuerunt: sed poeniteant et liberent captiuas baptizatas, quos ante ceperunt; ita ut mererentur Deo uiuere, et sani efficiantur hic et in eternum. Pax Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.

AMEN.

Document details

The TEI Header

File description

Extent: 4225 words

Source description

Manuscript sources

1. London, British Library, Cotton MS. Nero E.I., fo. 173 b2-fo. 174 b2. Written in round minuscule at Worcester; dated to c. 1000 by Flower, with more recent additions at beginning and end. Contains Confessio and Epistola, fo. 169v-174v. For further details see Joseph Planta (ed.), A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library deposited in the British Museum, London, 1802. [Used in Stokes's and in Bieler's edition.]
2. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 17626 (Compiègne 40 bis). Written in Caroline minuscule, 10th cent. Contains Confessio and Epistola, fo. 72r-85v. [Used in Bieler's edition.]
3. Arras, Bibliothèque Municipale 450 (S. Vedasti 1628 F 2; S. Vedasti 3, 16). Written in continental minuscule, 12th cent., probably originating in Northern France. Contains Confessio and Epistola, fo. 50v-53r; two leaves are missing, one between fo. 51 and 52, the other between fo. 52 and 53. They were still present 1668 when a copy was made from the text. [Used in Bieler's edition.]
4. Oxford, Bodleian Library Fell 3. Written in minuscule; dated to c. 1100-1200. The script is English. Contains Confessio and Epistola, fo. 7r-13r. [Used in Bieler's edition.]
5. Oxford, Bodleian Library Fell 4. Written in minuscule; dated to c. 1050-1150. Contains Confessio and Epistola, fo. 158r-166r. Provenance and history of this MSS are identical with Fell 3. [Used in Bieler's edition.]
6. See also Ludwig Bieler (ed), Codices Patriciani Latini: a descriptive catalogue of Latin manuscripts relating to St. Patrick, Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies, 1942.

Editions and translations

1. Whitley Stokes (ed.), The Tripartite Life of Patrick, with other documents relating to that Saint with translations and indexes, Rolls Ser. 8vo, Part I. cxcix + 267 [8] pp. facs. Part II. 269-676, London 1887. [His edition is from Cotton MS. Nero E.I.]
2. Ludwig Bieler (ed.), Libri Epistolarum Sancti Patricii Episcopi, 2 vols., Dublin 1952; reprinted Dublin 1993. [Confessio; Epistola ad milites Corotici. With introduction; with commentary and indexes in pt. 2. In his edition, he uses a stemmatic approach and makes a fresh collation of manuscripts.]
3. R. P. C. Hanson, English translation of the 'Confession' and the 'Letter to Coroticus' of Saint Patrick, Nottingham Medieval Studies 15 (1971) 3-26.
4. A. B. E. Hood (ed. and trans.), St Patrick: His Writings and Muirchu's Life, Chichester 1978.
5. A. B. E. Hood and Cécile Blanc (eds.), Saint Patrick Confession et Lettre à Coroticus [Introduction, critical edition, French translation and notes], Paris 1978.
6. Joseph Duffy (ed. and trans.), Patrick in his own words, Dublin 2000.

Additional Reading

1. James Henthorn Todd, St. Patrick: Apostle of Ireland, a memoir of his life and mission, Dublin 1864.
2. W. M. Hennessy, The Tripartite life of Saint Patrick, apostle of Ireland. Translated from the original Irish in M. F. Cusack (ed.), Life of Saint Patrick, London 1870, 371-502.
3. Whitley Stokes, On the Calendar of Oengus, Royal Irish Academy Transactions, Irish Manuscript Series, volume 1, Dublin 1880.
4. Edmund Hogan (ed.), Vita Sancti Patricii Hibernorum apostoli, auctore Muirchu Maccumachtheni: et Tirechani Collectanea de S. Patritio, nunc primum integra ex Libro Armachano ope Codicis Bruxellensis; (excerptum ex Analectis Bollandianis), Brussels 1882.
5. George Thomas Stokes and Charles H. H. Wright (eds.), The writings of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, a revised translation with notes, critical and historical, London 1887.
6. Whitley Stokes, Saint Patrick's Doctrines, Academy 34 (1888) 26, 54-55, 104.
7. J. B. Bury, Tirechan's Memoir of St. Patrick, English Historical Review 1902, 235-67.
8. Whitley Stokes and John Strachan (eds.), Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus: a collection of Old Irish glosses, scholia, prose and verse, volume 2, Cambridge 1903, 238-243.
9. J. B. Bury, Sources of the Early Patrician Documents, English Historical Review 1904, 493-503.
10. J. B. Bury, Life of St. Patrick and his place in history, London 1905.
11. John Healy, Life and Writings of St. Patrick, Dublin 1905.
12. Richard Irvine Best, Betha Pátraic, from King's Inn Library MS. 10, Anecdota from Irish MSS. 3, Halle 1909, 29-42.
13. John Gwynn (ed.), Liber Ardmachanus, The Book of Armagh edited with an Introduction and glosses, Dublin 1913. [Irish notes, glosses, names on persons and places, etc. with indices, revised by E. J. Gwynn.]
14. Eoin Mac Néill, The native place of St. Patrick, PRIA 37 Section C, 6, 1926, 118-40.
15. Eoin Mac Néill, The earliest lives of St. Patrick, Royal Society of Antiquaries Journal LVIII (1928) 1-21.
16. K. Müller, Der Heilige Patrick, Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Göttingen 1931.
17. Paul Walsh (ed.), Saint Patrick; A.D. 432-1932: a fifteenth centenary memorial book, Dublin 1932.
18. Elias Avery Lowe (ed.), Codices Latini Antiquiores: a palaeographical guide to Latin manuscripts prior to the ninth century II, Oxford 1934.
19. Kathleen Mulchrone, Bethu Phátraic, The Tripartite Life of Patrick edited with translation and indexes, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1939. [Text based on Egerton 93 and Rawl. B 512.]
20. Thomas F. O'Rahilly, The two Patricks: a lecture on the history of Christianity in fifth-century Ireland, Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies, 1942.
21. Review of O'Rahilly. [1] J. F. O'Doherty, Irish Historical Studies (March 1943) 323-9.
22. John Ryan, The Two Patricks, Irish Eccelesiastical Record (October 1942) 241-52.
23. Gerard Murphy, The Two Patricks, Studies 35 (1943) 297-307.
24. Ludwig Bieler, The Life and Legend of St. Patrick, Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series 70 (1948) 1087-1091.
25. Ludwig Bieler, The life and legend of St. Patrick: problems of modern scholarship, Dublin 1949.
26. Mario Esposito, The Patrician problem and a possible solution, Irish Historical Studies 10 (1956) 131-55.
27. Paul S. Grosjean, Les Pictes apostats dans l'Épître de S. Patrice, Acta Bollandiana 76 (1958) 354-378.
28. John Ryan, St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, Studies 50 (1961) 113-151.
29. Robert E. McNally, St. Patrick 461-1961. The Catholic Historical Review 47 (1961/62), 305-324.
30. N. Tolstoy, Who was Coroticus?, Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 5th series 97 (1962) 137-47.
31. Daniel A. Binchy, Patrick and his biographers: ancient and modern, Studia Hibernica 2 (1962) 7-173.
32. Ludwig Bieler, The mission of Palladius, A comparative study of sources, Traditio 6 (1948) 1-32.
33. Paul S. Grosjean, Saint Patrice d'Irlande et quelques homonymes dans les anciens matyrologes, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 1 (1950) 151-9.
34. Ludwig Bieler, The place of Saint Patrick in Latin language and literature, Amsterdam 1952.
35. Daniel A. Binchy, "The Fair of Tailtu and the Feast of Tara", Ériu 17 (1958) 113-38.
36. Tomás Ó Fiaich, St. Patrick and Armagh, Irish Eccelesiastical Record (March 1958) 153-70.
37. Tomás Ó Fiaich, St. Patrick and Armagh, Irish Eccelesiastical Record (April 1961) 229-35.
38. James Carney, The problem of St. Patrick, Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies, 1961.
39. Eoin Mac Neill, Saint Patrick, edited by John Ryan, with a memoir by Michael Tierney and a bibliography of Patrician literature by F. X. Martin, Dublin 1964.
40. Kathleen W. Hughes, The Church in Early Irish Society, London 1966.
41. R. P. C. Hanson, Saint Patrick: his origins and career, New York 1968.
42. A. B. E. Hood (ed. and trans.), St. Patrick, his writings and Muirchu's life, London 1978.
43. James F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland: ecclesiastical; an introduction and guide, New York 1979.
44. Richard Sharpe, Palaeographical Considerations in the Study of the Patrician Documents in the Book of Armagh, Scriptorium 36 (1982) 3-28.
45. Walter Berschin, 'Ich Patricius: Die Autobiographie des Apostels der Iren' [The autobiography of the apostle of the Irish]. In Löwe, Heinz (ed.), Die Iren und Europa im früheren Mittelalter. 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1982) Vol. 1, 9-25.
46. E. A. Thompson, Who was Saint Patrick? Woodbridge 1985.
47. Review of E. A. Thompson. [1] Michael E. Jones, Albion 19 (1987) 209-210.
48. Review of E. A. Thompson. [2] E. A. Overgaauw, Le Moyen-Age 94/3-4 (1988) 481-482.
49. Review of E. A. Thompson. [3] Alan Dierkens, Latomus 48 (1989) 46.
50. R. P. C. Hanson, The life and writings of the historical St. Patrick, New York 1983.
51. Review of R. P. C. Hanson. [1] Keith J. Egan, Church History 53 (1984) 548-549.
52. Review of R. P. C. Hanson. [2] Joseph F. Kelly, Speculum 59 (1984) 652-653.
53. Review of R. P. C. Hanson. [3] Robert T. Meyer, Theological Studies 45 (1984) 208.
54. Review of R. P. C. Hanson. [4] D. Ó Cróinín, Irish Historical Studies 24 (1984-85) 398-399.
55. Review of R. P. C. Hanson. [5] Tarlach Ó Raifeartaigh, Irish Theological Quarterly 50 (1984) 276-280.
56. E. A. Thompson, 'St. Patrick and Coroticus'. Journal of Theological Studies, 31 (1980) 12-27.
57. Cormac Bourke, Patrick: the archaeology of a saint, Belfast 1993.
58. Liam De Paor (ed. and trans.), Saint Patrick's World, the Christian culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age, Dublin 1993.
59. Review of Liam De Paor. [1] Claire Stancliffe, Early Medieval Europe 4 (1995) 220-221.
60. Review of Liam De Paor. [2] Colmán Etchingham, Éigse 29 (1996) 214-220.
61. Michael W. Herren, 'Mission and Monasticism in the 'Confessio' of St. Patrick', in D. Ó Corráin, L. Breathnach, K. McCone (eds.), Sages, Saints and Stoytellers, Maynooth 1989, 76-85.
62. Alannah Hopkin, The living legend of St. Patrick, London 1989.
63. Review of Alannah Hopkin. [1] Richard Sharpe, Folklore 102/1 (1991) 120-121.
64. David N. Dumville, Lesley Abrams, T. M. Charles-Edwards, Alicia Corrêa, K. R. Dark, K. L. Maund, and A. P. McD. Orchard, Studies in Celtic history: Saint Patrick A.D. 493-1993, Woodbridge 1993; esp. 107-115 and 117-127.
65. Review of Dumville et al. [1] Ann Hamlin, Medieval Archaeology 39 (1995) 296-297.
66. Review of Dumville et al. [2] N. J. Higham, Britannia 26 (1995) 399-400.
67. Review of Dumville et al. [3] Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 29 (1995) 72.
68. Review of Dumville et al. [4] Jane Stevenson in Early Medieval Europe 4 (1995) 114-115.
69. Daniel Conneely and Patrick Bastable (eds.), St. Patrick's letters: a study of their theological dimension, Maynooth 1993.
70. David R. Howlett (ed. and trans.), The book of letters of Saint Patrick the bishop with analysis and commentary, Dublin 1993.
71. Laurance J. Maney, When Brigit met Patrick, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 14 (1994) 175-194.
72. Frédéric Kurzawa, Petite vie de saint Patrick. Paris 1995.
73. Review of Kurzawa. [1] Gwenaël Le Duc, Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l'Ouest (Anjou, Maine, Touraine) 102/4 (1995) 129.
74. John Carey, Saint Patrick, the Druids, and the end of the world, History of Religions, 36:1 (1996), 42-53.
75. Thomas O'Loughlin, St. Patrick: the man and his works, London 1999.
76. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Who was Palladius, "first bishop of the Irish"?, Peritia, 14 (2000) 205-237.
77. Elizabeth McLuhan, 'Ministerium seruitutis meae': the metaphor and reality of slavery in Saint Patrick's Epistola and Confessio, in J. Carey, M. Herbert and P. Ó Riain (eds.), Studies in Irish hagiography: saints and scholars, Dublin 2001, 63-71.
78. Gearóid Mac Eoin, The four names of St Patrick, in Michael Richter and Jean-Michel Picard (eds.), Ogma: essays in Celtic studies in honour of Próinséas Ní Chatháin, Dublin 2002, 300-11.
79. Alfred P. Smyth, Bishop Patrick and the earliest Christian mission to Ireland, in B. Bradshaw and D. Keogh (eds.), Christianity in Ireland: revisiting the story, Dublin 2002, 11-20.
80. Fausto Iannello, Note storiche sull'Epistola ad Milites Corotici di San Patrizio, "Atti della Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, classe di Lettere, Filosofia e Belle Arti" 84 (2008) 275-285. [This reference was kindly supplied by Dr Fausto Iannello].

The edition used in the digital edition

Stokes, Whitley, ed. (1887). The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, with other documents relating to that Saint, edited with translations and indexes (Vol. II)‍. 1st ed. cxcix + 267 [8] pp. facs. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

You can add this reference to your bibliographic database by copying or downloading the following:

@book{L201061,
  title 	 = {The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, with other documents relating to that Saint, edited with translations and indexes (Vol. II)},
  editor 	 = {Whitley Stokes},
  edition 	 = {1},
  note 	 = {cxcix + 267 [8] pp. facs.},
  publisher 	 = {Her Majesty's Stationery Office},
  address 	 = {London},
  date 	 = {1887}
}
 L201061.bib

Encoding description

Project description: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

Sampling declarations

The present text represents pp. 375–80 of the printed edition. Footnotes are retained.

Editorial declarations

Correction: Text proofread twice at CELT.

Normalization: The electronic texts represents the edited text. The acute accent appearing in a few Latin words in Stokes's edition has not been retained. Text supplied by the editor is marked sup resp="WS". Editorial notes are marked note type="auth" n="". MS foliation is tagged mls. MS variants are integrated.

Quotation: Direct speech is tagged q. Citations are tagged cit. This element contains qt and bibl tags.

Hyphenation: Soft hyphens are silently removed. When a hyphenated word (hard or soft) crosses a page-break, this break is marked after the completion of the hyphenated word.

Segmentation: div0=the correspondence; paragraphs and page-breaks are marked.

Interpretation: Names are not tagged.

Profile description

Creation: The earliest extant MSS are from the 10th century. The letter itself goes back to the 5th century.

Date:

Language usage

• Text is in Latin. (la)
• Footnotes contain English. (en)

Keywords: religious; prose; medieval; letter; Coroticus

Revision description

(Most recent first)

1. 2019-06-05: Changes made to div0 type. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
2. 2010-01-06: Addition made to bibliographic details. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
3. 2008-10-18: Keywords added; minor changes made to header; file validated. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
4. 2008-07-21: Value of div0 "type" attribute modified, 'creation' tags inserted, content of 'langUsage' revised; minor modifications made to header. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
5. 2005-08-25: Normalised language codes and edited langUsage for XML conversion (ed. Julianne Nyhan)
6. 2005-08-04T16:17:26+0100: Converted to XML (ed. Peter Flynn)
7. 2004-05-13: File proofed (2); quotes and citations marked up; markup and header modified; additions made to bibliography; file re-parsed. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
8. 2004-05-07: Additions made to bibliography; HTML file created. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
9. 2004-04-30: Header created; bibliography compiled; structural and content markup inserted; file parsed. (ed. Benjamin Hazard)
10. 2004-04-28: File proofed (1), page-breaks inserted. (ed. Benjamin Hazard)
11. 2004-04-25: File scanned. (Data capture Benjamin Hazard)