Old English Martyrology

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The Old English Martyrology is a collection of over 230 hagiographies, probably compiled in Mercia, or by someone who wrote in the Mercian dialect of the Old English language, in the second half of the 9th century.

The sources of the Old English Martyrology include the works of Bede, Aldhelm, [Eddius]], Adomnán, Gregory the Great, and Isidore of Seville, showing that the author had access to a significant library.

Five principal manuscripts survive, but parts of January, and much of February and December are lost. The standard modern edition is by Günter Kotzor, Das altenglische Martyrologium (Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, volumes 88/1 and 88/2, 1981). Earlier editions, replaced by Kotzor's work, include Herzfeld's An Old English Martyrology (Early English Text Society, no. 116, 1900). An English translation by Christine Rauer is in preparation.

[edit] References

• Lapidge, Michael, "Martyrology, OE" in Michael Lapidge et al (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
• Magennis, Hugh (2003-04-30). Old English Martyrology. The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
• Rauer, Christine. The Old English Martyrology: An Annotated Bibliography. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.