nium sacramentorum quæ a sacerdotibus fieri possunt, officia verum etiam resolutiones omnium dubiorum ad ea pertinentium, et excommunicationum canones, cum brevi illarum et absoluta declaratione ex sacris doctoribus collecta, multaque alia sacerdotibus valde utilia atque necessaria continentur."" HA CHAPTER VI. AVING now gone through and attempted to explain the list of service books ordered in the constitution of Archbishop Winchelsey, our next step is to notice those which are mentioned in the other statutes which I cited. And among these the "Breviarium" claims the first place.35 I am called upon to make some remarks upon the Breviary in another part of these volumes: here I shall repeat that the word itself occurs for the first time in Micrologus, an author of about A. D. 1080. Some say that it was so called as containing not merely an arrangement but an abbreviation of the Divine Offices: probably both reasons may have had their influence on the name. However this may be, the Breviary in its full and settled state, say from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, contained the whole offices of the canonical Hours throughout the year: of the great festivals, the saints-days, the sundays, and the week-days. These were arranged under their respective days, with rubrics directing to certain prayers, hymns, or psalms which occurred frequently, or to the psalter which formed a portion of the volume. The rubrics of breviaries in manuscript will be found to vary much in their fulness as they happen to have been written for the use of churches or monasteries of which the Ordinals had been drawn up. Thus some would have but very few others again as many in comparison. Not that we are to suppose, by any means, that the existence of an Ordinal always led to the omission of rubrics in the Breviary: for the Ordinal itself might be more or less complete, and both might continue to give, with relation to certain parts of the Office, what we may call, duplicate directions. The first edition which was printed of the Sarum Breviary was at Venice. "Venetiis per Raynaldum de Nóuimagio. M. cccc. LXXXIII." in folio. The last, I believe, at Paris, in 12mo. 1556, of which the second volume, Pars Estivalis, is dated 1557. Soon afterwards the Breviaries of other churches began, for convenience sake, to be printed in four volumes, divided into "Pars Hiemalis," "Verna," "Estiva," and "Autumnalis." 36 But the Breviaries of the English Church never exceeded two volumes: the Hiemalis and Estivalis. If in one, always, if I mistake not, in 36 In each of these parts, and so also of the Sarum Breviaries if in two volumes, are repeated the Psalter, the Canon if included, the Commune Sanctorum, &c. Indeed otherwise, the separate volumes would be useless. folio in two, they ranged from small folio, through 4to. and 8vo. sizes, to the duodecimo. I speak of them as we now would, not of their signatures, which commonly ran in eights. Here, as I am upon the size of the Breviary, seems to be the proper place to speak of the "Portiforium:" with its various English names, of Porteau, Portuary, Portuis, Portuasse, Porthoos, and Portfory. There can be no doubt that the printed Breviary in folio of the Use of Sarum is of the highest rarity. Such books naturally would be so they were intended for the public use of churches, and in almost every case having been purchased by them, would have been less likely to escape the severe edicts which so frequently were aimed not merely at their mutilation, but total destruction. Neither Herbert nor Gough mentions an edition in folio, and therefore we must conclude knew not of the existence of any one. This might account somewhat for the error of the latter, where he says, that the Portiforium "like the Breviary, was a commodious portable abridgment of the service." Such certainly are all the editions less than the folio, although it must be remembered that those in small folio (so-called) or thick 4to. are sufficiently bulky. But Gough quotes Du Cange, who says nothing of the sort for which he is appealed to. The one lays down that the printed Portiforium was a portable book, the other that it was so called from having perhaps originally been so. He says, "Vocis etymon ab eo quod foras facile portari possit accersendum opinor. Here I fully agree with this very learned 99 37 37 Glossarium. Verb. Portiforium. writer, and that the word, as time went on, was changed from its original signification, until it came to be nothing more or less than a synonym of Breviary. Portiforium, or, as sometimes spelt, Portiphorium, appears to have been adopted only in England. At least, in the catalogue of Breviaries given by Zaccaria,38 in which he says he has added to the already long list compiled by Fabricius," no such title is quoted of any foreign Use. The authorities also of Du Cange are all English: his first, Ingulphus, is remarkable, as it shews that as soon as the name of Breviary is to be found abroad, so early also is the title Portiforium at home. The book is often spoken of in works of the xv th and xvith centuries, is not an unfrequent item“ in 40 dated 1436, he gives "Domino Here I may mention with gratitude the services which this Society (the Surtees) has rendered to every one interested in ritual and liturgical pursuits, by their excellent publications, "The Durham Ritual:" "Rites of Dur monastic inventories, and forms a special gift in many ancient wills. As a late authority, let me quote the instance of the unfortunate Queen Mary of Scotland, who, immediately before she was barbarously murdured, whilst the Dean of Peterborough gave the sanction of his presence and was offering up some long extempore prayer, which he thought suited to such an opportunity, "performed her own private devotions, out of her own Portuary, sometimes in the Latin, and sometimes in the English tongue."2 I have given a table of the contents of a Salisbury Breviary in the preface to the English Prymer, in this work: and I think it only necessary here to add, that the Breviaries of the churches of Hereford and York were also printed. In the statute cited above (p. xvj.), of Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, are enjoined three service books not mentioned in Winchelsey's constitution: viz. the "venitare," "ymnare," and "collectare." Of these the second only was printed: and I know not whether the others are any where extant in manuscript. In the absence ham:""Catalogi Veteres:" and "Wills and Inventories." The learned editor of the Catalogues has not ventured himself to explain what the books are, which occur so often in his volume, but quotes a History of North Durham, by the Rev. J. Raine, who has given (it seems) a short account of them there. It is to be lamented that this has been done; for such explanations as the following are worse than useless. They repeat the mischievous errors which I have spoken of already at some length. "Ordinarium. The Book of daily or Common Prayer." "Portifer, Portiforium: a book of the same nature as the Ordinarium above, only of a smaller and more portable size." Preface to Catalogi Veteres, p. xliv. Such extracts are unworthy of that learned Society, by way of illustrating really useful compilations. 42 Gunton. Hist. of Peterborough, p. 76. |