Number

pt.012

Title

Vida de Santa Pelágia

Vida de Sancta Pellagya

Vida de Santa Paia

Original Latin source

Vita Pelagiae

Vita Sanctae Pelagiae (lt.012)

Textual localization  

There are two copies with the translation:

- Manuscript 1: with about twenty different texts, it is entitled Colecção Mystica de Fr. Hylario da Lourinhãa, Monge Cisterciense de Alcobaça, o qual transcreveo o seguinte no idioma Portuguez (Códice Alcobacense 266).

- Manuscript 2: with about 12 texts, it is named 'Ascetic Treaties' (Códice Alcobacense 270).

Language

Old Portuguese

Translator

Witness 1: At the beginning of the Códice Alcobacense 266 it is stated that the translator of the texts  was Frei Hilário (of which almost nothing is known, except that he came from Lourinhã and was a monk at the Monastery of Alcobaça - Castro et alii, 1982-83: 5), but this information does not seem reliable.  In fact, although paleographically the manuscript is dated to the fifteenth century, some of its texts have an older language and there are signs of at least three different scribes. According to Castro et alii (1982/83: 6), it is possible that the three have worked in the scriptorium of Alcobaça during the time D. Estêvão de Aguiar was the abbot of the Monastery (between 1431 and 1446) and that Frei Hilário had the responsibility to compile the texts and copy or translate some.

Witness 2: It is possible that the scribe was Frei Elói de Ferreira, probably the monk referred by Barbosa Machado in his Bibliotheca lusitana historica, critica, e cronológica (Vol. I, page 749). About this monk, we only know he was born in Ferreira do Alentejo and was a monk at the Monastery of Alcobaça. There, he wrote texts like Exercícios espirituaes’ and ‘Vida de Santa Maria Egypcíaca, e outros Santos’.

Translation’s contextualization  

The Códice Alcobacense 266, a manuscript from the fifteenth century, is a collection of lives of saints known by its eighteenth century title: Colecção Mystica de Fr. Hylario da Lourinhãa, Monge Cisterciense de Alcobaça, o qual transcreveo o seguinte no idioma Portuguez.

The Códice Alcobacense 270 is a manuscript of the fifteenth century that is a collection of lives of saints and other treaties which became known as ‘Tratados Ascéticos’. Originally, this collection had 12 texts, but today it only has only 11 (the first text, ‘Doze Mandamentos’ de Atanásio’, and part of the second, entitled ‘Livro de Isaac’, are missing).

Date

The dating of the Códice Alcobacense 266 is controversial, because there are significant differences in terms of the dates for which the researchers point out. Recent studies indicate that the dating of the codex is between 1431 and 1446. This does not mean, however, that this specific text has been produced at that time, although some researchers argue that the codex was the result of a unitary project and that, therefore, all texts were produced on the same period (see Sobral 1993: 673).

In what concerns the Códice Alcobacense 270, most researchers located the codex in the late fifteenth century, although some point to the fourteenth century.

Place  

Both witnesses have been translated/copied probably in the scriptorium of the Monastery of Alcobaça, where the manuscripts where they are inserted were made.

Changes to the original work

Hagiographic text about the life of Pelagia of Antioch, or Margaret, and her decision to change her life after hearing the sermon of a bishop called Nonnus. After being baptized and giving up her sinful life, she disappeared. Later, the narrator goes on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and meets a hermit monk, called Pelagius. When he dies, the narrator realizes he was actually Pelagia, who lived disguised as a man during all this time.

The witness 1 is a copy of a missing English translation. The witness 2 is based on the same translation, but shows the direct interference of the Latin version of Códice Alcobacense 283/454, which the copyist / translator also took into account (Duarte, 1993: 674).

List of manuscript witnesses

There are two witnesses of the text, in the National Library of Portugal.

Witness 1 is inserted between folios 74v and 82v of the manuscript with the reference ALC. 462 that comes from the Monastery of Alcobaça (Códice Alcobacense 266) and today belongs to the National Library of Portugal. There is a microfilm of the manuscript at the Torre do Tombo (Mf 185), its previous owner.

Witness 2 is inserted between folios 133v and 144r of the manuscript with the reference ALC. 461 that comes from the Monastery of Alcobaça (Códice Alcobacense 270). There is a microfilm of the manuscript at the Torre do Tombo (Mf. 366 – cota antiga: Alc. 270; nova cota: Manuscritos da Livraria, nº 771, Casa Forte), its previous owner.

List of old editions

According to Duarte (1993: 674), there are subsequent versions of the Portuguese text, which come from the Vitae Patrum and the Historial of St. Antonino. There are also versions of Flos Sanctorum (see note) and another version in the work Historial das vidas e feitos heroicos, e obras dos santos, of Frei Diogo do Rosário (1567).

Witnesses’ contextualization 

The two Portuguese witnesses seem to have a common model, as they contain the same mistake: Nonnus is presented as the bishop of Antioch but that would not be possible, because in the same narrative he was summoned to a meeting with the bishop of Antioch. Besides, on other versions he is considered the bishop of Heliopolis. This led researchers to believe the translator made a mistake and that the two Portuguese texts are copies from the version containing the error (Duarte, 1993: 675). According to Nunes (1917: 183) and Sobral (1993: 672), it is likely that the archetype from which the two witnesses descended is a copy of a Latin translation of the ninth century made at the request of Charles the Bald, by Paul Deacon of Naples. This archetype is lost but was translated into Portuguese between the thirteenth and the fourteenth Centuries. The two Portuguese extant copies are:

-    Witness 1: a text in Códice Alcobacense 266, now in the National Library of Portugal (ALC. 462).

-    Witness 2: a copy of the second half of the fifteenth century in Códice Alcobacense 270, also in the National Library of Portugal (ALC. 461). The copyist of this witness probably consulted the Latin version of the text, in Códice Alcobacense 283/454 (Duarte, 1993: 674).

Other data

Witness 1: text in Códice Alcobacense 266, now in the National Library of Portugal (ALC. 462). The manuscript is on parchment and it is written in Gothic characters from the late fourteenth century or beginning of the fifteenth century in a single column of 30 lines. The initials are colored and decorated with filigree. The leaves have the size of 263 × 180 mm. The previous owners were Torre do Tombo and the Monastery of Alcobaça.

Witness 2: text of the second half of the fifteenth century in Códice Alcobacense 270, also in the National Library of Portugal (ALC. 461). The manuscript consists of 151 folios (only 148 are known) on parchment (58 folios) and paper (90 folios) with the size of 208 x 135 mm. There are no ornamentations. It was written in Gothic cursive black letter probably by two hands (Cambraia, 2001: 8-9) and it is considered a copy of the late fifteenth century. The previous owners were Torre do Tombo and the Monastery of Alcobaça.   

Editions

CASTRO, Ivo et alii (1982-83), "Vidas de Santos de um manuscrito alcobacense: Vida de Tarsis, Vida de uma Monja, Vida de Santa Pelágia, Morte de São Jerónimo, Visão de Túndalo", Revista Lusitana. Nova Série 4, 20-29

NUNES, J. J. (1907), "Textos antigos portugueses III. [Vida de Santa Pelagia]", Revista Lusitana 10, 179-190.

OLSEN, B. Munk (1984), "La 'Vida de Santa Pelágia': une traduction portugaise médiévale et son modèle latin". In Pélagie la pénitente: métamorphoses d'une legende. Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 2, 243-277.

Corpus Informatizado do Português Medieval: Vidas de Santos de um Manuscrito Alcobacense - Séc. XIII/XIV, VS3

Studies

Online database:

Philobiblon:

Testemunho 1: Texid 1085; Manid 1143; CNum 1074

Testemunho 2: Texid 1085; Manid 1141; CNum 1104

Testemunho 3: Texid 1085; Manid 1153; CNum 2088

References:

ASKINS, Arthur L-F. (1995), "The MS 'Flos Sanctorum' of the Universidade de Brasília: an early reflex in Portuguese of the hagiographic compilation of Valerio del Bierzo". In Santos, João Camilo dos e Williams, Frederick G. (ed.) O Amor das Letras e das Gentes. In honor of Maria de Lourdes Belchior Pontes. Santa Barbara : University of California, Santa Barbara - Center for Portuguese Studies, 39-50.

CAMBRAIA, César Nardelli (2007), Tradução em língua portuguesa do “Livro de Isaac”. Caligrama 12, 171-203

CANDOLO-CÂMARA, Teresa (2008), Desejo de Deus e lágrimas - uma chave de leitura monástica para textos de espiritualidade medievais. In Tessituras, Interações, Convergências. XI Congresso internacional da ABRALIC, 13 a 17 de julho de 2008. São Paulo: USP. In http://www.abralic.org.br/anais/cong2008/AnaisOnline/simposios/pdf/044/TERESA_CANDOLO.pdf

CEPEDA, Isabel Vilares (1995), Bibliografia da Prosa Medieval em Língua Portuguesa. Lisboa: Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro, 222-23

DÍAZ Y DIÁZ, M. C. (2006), Valerio del Bierzo. Su persona. Su obra. León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación "San Isidoro" - Caja España de Inversiones - Archivo Histórico Diocesano. 73, 148-151.

DUARTE, L. F. (1993), "Vida de Santa Pelágia". In Lanciani, Giulia e Tavani, Giuseppe (dir.), Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho, 674-675.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2004), "Três documentos medievais trecentistas em confronto: Indícios paleográficos e lingüísticos recorrentes e divergentes nos manuscritos Serafim da Silva Neto", Programa para a História da Língua Portuguesa. Filologia e Linguística Portuguesa. 6 (2004), 39-51.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (1999), "A pontuação em dois manuscritos medievais portugueses de um mesmo scriptorium", Estudos Lingüísticos e Literários 23/24, 21-32.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2000), "A Pontuação em Manuscritos Medievais Portugueses". Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia - Instituto de Letras, 104-112.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2001), "Os anafóricos HI e EN(DE) em um manuscrito trescentista", Estudos Lingüísticos e Literários 27/28, 13-25

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2002), "Breve incursão pelo léxico medieval do português: o testemunho de um manuscrito trecentista", Programa para a História da Língua Portuguesa 29/30. Salvador, Bahia, Brasil: Universidade Federal da Bahia, 15-29.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2003), "Hábitos de pontuar na Idade Média portuguesa". In Anais do IV Encontro Internacional de Estudos Medievais. Belo Horizonte: PUC Minas, 482-490.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2003), "Um ‘Flos Sanctorum' do século XIV: edições, glossário e estudo lingüístico". Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2004), A Pontuação em Manuscritos Medievais Portugueses. Salvador, Bahia: EDUFBA.

MACHADO FILHO, Américo, V. L. (2009), Um flos sanctorum trecentista em português. Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.

MACHADO, A. M. (2006), "A Representação do Pecado na Hagiografia Medieval: heranças ou uma Espiritualidade Eremítica". Tese de Doutoramento. Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra - Faculdade de Letras, 534-355.

MACHADO, A. M. (2008), "A coloração hagiográfica - entre a luz e a escuridão". In Cores. Actas do VII Colóquio da Secção Portuguesa da Associação Hispânica de Literatura Medieval. Lisboa: Universidade Aberta, 66-68.

MEGALE, Heitor (1995), "O testemunho da dúvida: a busca da boa edição". In Para Segismundo Spina: Língua, Filologia e Literatura.São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, 135-149.

NETO, Serafim S. (1949), "A propósito de um manuscrito medieval", Boletim de Filologia 9, 47-51.

NETO, Serafim S. (1956), Textos Medievais Portuguêses e seus Problemas, Coleção de Estudos Filológicos, 2, Rio de Janeiro: Ministério da Educação e Cultura - Casa de Rui Barbosa.

NUNES, J. J. (1923/25), "Textos antigos portugueses [Vidas dos Padres Santos de Mérida - Diálogos de São Gregório]", Revista Lusitana 25, 231-250.

REIS, Natalia de Deus (2010), Deverbais em um texto português do século XIV: Considerações sobre o étimo. In http://www.prohpor.ufba.br/deverbetimo.pdf

REIS, N. D. (2010), Taxionomia gramatical em étimo de fundo não-latino em um manuscrito trecentista. In http://www.prohpor.ufba.br/taxionomia.pdf.

RODADO RUIZ, A. M.  (1990), "'Vida de Santa Pelagia'". In Connolly, Jane E. et al. (dir.) Saints and their Authors: Studies in Medieval Hispanic Hagiography in Honor of John K. Walsh. Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 169-180.

SILVA, Rosa.V. M. (1971), "O fichário mecanográfico de um texto antigo", Universitas 8/9, 73-82.

SILVA, Rosa.V. M. et al. (2009), "Fontes para o conhecimento da língua portuguesa de trezentos: Os mais antigos manuscritos portugueses existentes no Brasil". In Gladis Massini-Cagliari et al., Fontes. Araraquara: Grupo de Trabalho de Estudos Medievais da Appall, 189-202.

SOBRAL, C. M. M.  (2007), "Hagiografia em Portugal: Balanço e Perspectivas", Medievalista Online 3.

SOBRAL, C. M. M. (1994), "Catarse na Vida de Pelágia", Românica 3, 51-58.

SOBRAL, Cristina M. M. (1993), Vida de Santa Maria Egipcíaca. In LANCIANI, Giulia e TAVANI, Giuseppe (dir.), Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa. Lisboa: Caminho, 672-674.

SOBRAL, C. M. M. (2009), Notas para uma história da hagiografia em português: os séculos XIII e XIV. Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra - Centro de Literatura Portuguesa.

Notes

There are two translated texts that apparently derive not from the Latin text, but from a Portuguese copy, belonging to Portuguese versions of Flos Sanctorum:

-  One is in the National Library of Portugal (Ho flos sanctõ[rum] em lingoaje[m] p[or]tugue[s]), with the reference RES. 157. This work comes from the Spanish version of Leyenda Aurea of Jacopo de Voragine and the life of St. Pelagia is between the folios 148v and 149r. This book was printed in 1513 in Lisbon by Hermão de Campos, who compiles more than two hundred texts. It has about three hundred folios (some are missing and others are damaged) illuminated and written in Gothic on paper in two columns and is bound in parchment. The leaves have a size of 263 x 200 mm. Previously, the work belonged to Dom João de Melo Manuel da Câmara Medeiros, Conde da Silvã and Francisco de Melo Manuel da Câmara (Cabrinha).

-  The other is in the Central Library of the University of Brasilia (Divisão de Coleções Especiais: 182 - Olim; Cofre [sem cota]) and has about three dozen texts (lives of saints and small moral treatises). This is a fourteenth or fifteenth century copy probably from an unknown Portuguese witness (Smith et alii 2009: 199) and it records saint Pelagia’s life between folios 17v, 14r-v and 1r- 3r. This book has 81 folios in parchment with leaves with the size of 330 x 223 mm with two columns of 36 lines, and is written in Gothic. The manuscript belonged to Jorge de Faria and Serafim da Silva Neto and was acquired in 1964. In the National Library of Portugal there is a modern copy of this manuscript concerning the folios 62r-82v (Mss 211, n. 1).