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The title ''Handbook for a Confessor'' (also ''Old English Handbook'', or in full, ''Late Old English Handbook for the Use of a Confessor'', refers to a compilation of Old English and Latin penitential texts associated with – and possibly authored or adapted by – Wulfstan (II), Archbishop of York (d. 1023).〔Wormald, “Archbishop Wulfstan.” p. 10; Heyworth, “Handbook.” pp. 221-2.〕 The handbook was intended for the use of parish priests in hearing confession and determining penances. Its transmission in the manuscripts (see below) seems to bear witness to Wulfstan's profound concern with these sacraments and their regulation, an impression which is similarly borne out by his ''Canons of Edgar'', a guide of ecclesiastical law also targeted at priests. The handbook is a derivative work, based largely on earlier vernacular representatives of the penitential genre such as the ''Scrifboc'' (or ''Confessionale Pseudo-Ecgberhti'') and the ''Old English Penitential'' (or ''Paenitentiale Pseudo-Ecgberhti'').〔Fowler, “Handbook.” pp. 12-3; Heyworth, “Handbook.” p. 221.〕 Nevertheless, a unique quality seems to lie in the more or less systematic way it seeks to integrate various points of concern, including the proper formulae for confession and instructions on the administration of confession, the prescription of penances and their commutation.〔Fowler, “Handbook.” p. 12.〕 ==Manuscripts== The original exemplar is lost, but extracts from the handbook survive in six manuscripts, three of which have been identified by scholars as Wulfstan's so-called 'commonplace books', i.e. collections used by Wulfstan for a large variety of purposes.〔Heyworth, “Handbook.” pp. 218-9. The following overview is based on Fowler, “Handbook.” pp. 1-4 and Heyworth, “Handbook.” p. 218.〕 *1. Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, MS 8558–63 (2498), ff. 132–9v. Commonplace book. *2. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201, pp. 114–25, 170. The principal text for Fowler's edition; associated with Wulfstan's commonplace books.〔Wormald, “Archbishop Wulfstan.” p. 10, describes it as a commonplace book, but this is not universally accepted. Heyworth, “Handbook.” 219-20; Fowler, “Handbook.” p. 4.〕 *3. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 265, pp. 72–83. Commonplace book. *4. London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii, ff. 55–6v, 94v–7. *5. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 121, ff. 23v–4, 54v–7v. Commonplace book. *6. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 482, ff. 28v, 40–3v, 464. Of Worcester provenance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Handbook for a Confessor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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