All translations, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

Prologue, Paragraph 1

thankynges of all the benefytes. AA opens with a similar overview of its contents. See Appendix.↩back to note source

Fruyte of Redempcyon. The title is Appulby’s own; it does not appear anywhere in AA, outside of a few allusions to the “fruitful root of Jesse” [virga Yesse florida et fructifera] in contemplation 9. The image of Christ as divine fruit, who counteracts the baleful influence of the tree of knowledge, is commonplace in the period in both Latin and vernacular sources (see Lydgate’s Life of Our Lady, ed. Lauritis, pp. 361–67, and Play 7, “Root of Jesse” in ed. Sugano, N-Town Plays, pp. 70–73). The idea is probably derived from Adam of St. Victor’s exegesis of Daniel 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 15:23 (Collins, N-Town Plays, pp. 3–9). Nevertheless, Appulby’s choice of title serves to link his cycle back to the Bonaventurean meditative tradition. It is a central motif in chapter 46 of St. Bonaventure’s Vitis Mystica, “on the fruit of our sins, or Christ, who suffered and was crucified for us” [de fructu vitiis nostrae, seu Christi, pro nobis passi et crucifixi]. Bonaventure refers repeatedly to Christ by means of this phrase, stating “His mother delivered him with the most beautiful flower of virginity not spoiled, just as he delivered the fruit of our redemption with the flower of strength not withered . . . O how sweet are these fruits of redemption, which were contracted under such great and bitter servitude!” [protulit eum Mater pulcherrima flore virginali non perdito, protulit et ipse fructum redemptionis nostrae floribus virtutum non marcescentibus . . . O quam dulcis fructus redemptoris his, qui in tanta et tam amara servitute fuerant constituti!] (PL 184.731–32).↩back to note source

fyrst it putteth a prayer. AA introduces its first contemplation with an identical statement.↩back to note source

Chapter 1, Paragraph 1

fylth and wormes mete. Compare Ecclesiasticus 19:3.↩back to note source

resonable man. The standard position in medieval philosophy is that reason is an exclusively human prerogative, elevating human beings above other creatures. The idea is derived from Aristotle, who argues that “the other animals live by impressions and experience,” whereas “the human race lives also by art and reasoning” (Metaphysics, trans. Tredennick, p. 3).↩back to note source

Lorde my God, I desyre . . . so grete benefytes. The chapter as a whole is a close and direct translation of AA contemplation 1.↩back to note source

Chapter 2, Rubric

Laude to the Holy Trynyté . . . for his benefytes. As its free-ranging header implies, this chapter merges several sections of AA, drawing elements from contemplations 2, 3, and 4. Appulby significantly reworks his source, dovetailing motifs together and expanding on them: the amount of text from the three contemplations adds up to less than a third of the chapter’s total length.↩back to note source

Chapter 2, Paragraph 1

O Blessyd lorde God . . . and worshyp thee. This sentence is Appulby’s own invention; only its final few words echo AA’s “I praise you, I adore you, I glorify you” [te laudo, te adoro, te glorifico].↩back to note source

Thou art gracyous eternyté . . . none without thee. These lines are a compressed version of AA contemplation 2, omitting and simplifying many of its epithets, such as “you are the fount and origin of all goodness” [tu es fons et origo omnium bonorum], or “you happy eternity; you eternal happiness” [tu felix eternitas; tu eterna felicitas].↩back to note source

made of nought heven and erthe. The material on heaven, earth, and the angels comes from AA contemplation 3.↩back to note source

with thy propre handes. AA contemplation 4 provides Appulby with his thanksgivings to God for making man “with your own hands” [propriis manibus tuis]. The remainder of this chapter is Appulby’s own invention, albeit developing themes from AA.↩back to note source

Chapter 3, Rubric

the myserable laps of man. Appulby’s title translates that of AA contemplation 4; however, he has shifted the boundaries of chapters radically. Only his first sentence draws from contemplation 4, since he has already incorporated most of its contents into the preceding chapter; his material here is pieced together from later passages of AA and from his own invention.↩back to note source

Chapter 3, Paragraph 1

swetnesse of ineffable mercy. In AA, thanksgiving for God’s sweet and indescribable mercy [dulce et ineffabilis misericordia] concludes rather than opens contemplation 4.↩back to note source

Chapter 3, Paragraphs 1–2

creatour and redemptour of mankynde . . . shynynge from above. See AA contemplation 6, which also begins by offering thanks to God as “creator and redeemer of humankind” [creator et redemptor generis humani], and describes the “heavy load of the children of Adam” [grave onus filiorum adam] in the “vale of tears and misery” [vailes plorationis et misere], and God’s “cogitations of peace” [cogitationes pacis]. Close though his translation is, Appulby entirely ignores contemplation 5, despite it being one of the lengthiest sections in AA.↩back to note source

Chapter 3, Paragraph 2

desyres of prophetes. AA contemplation 6 concludes with God’s fulfilment “of the desire of the prophets to receive the spectacle of the Incarnation” [desideri a prophetarum per suscepte incarnationes exhibitioneus]. The remainder of this chapter is Appulby’s own work.↩back to note source

Blessyd be thou. The repetition of this formula is reminiscent of Thomas à Kempis, Imitatio Christi, 5.1, “on the miraculous effect of divine love” [de mirabili effectu divini amoris]: “I give blessings to you, Father of heaven, Father of my lord Jesus Christ . . . I give blessings and glorify you always, with your only begotten Son, and helper the Holy Spirit, forever and ever” [Benedico te, Pater caelestis, Pater Domini mei Iesu Christi . . . Benedico te semper et glorifico cum unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu sancto paraclito: in saecula saeculorum] (Thomas à Kempis, Opera Omnia, ed. Pohl, 2:151).↩back to note source

Chapter 3, Paragraph 3

droppes of blode. Medieval embryology tended to follow Aristotle and Galen, and held that menstrual blood was the raw material out of which the human fetus took form (see Van ‘t Land, “Sperm and Blood,” pp. 364–67). Appulby’s account echoes earlier descriptions of Christ’s Incarnation in the womb, such as those of John of Capistrano and Pius II, which also stress his physical formation from Mary’s uterine blood alone, without the normal contribution of spermatic substance (Bynum, Wonderful Blood, pp. 121–24, 158–61). Nonetheless, Appulby’s precise source is unclear. AA discusses the Incarnation in contemplations 8 and 10, both of which Appulby otherwise overlooks; however neither of them mention Mary’s blood.↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 1

O Blessed vyrgyn Mary. Although AA discusses Mary’s fitness to be mother of God in contemplation 7, Appulby abandons his main source in favor of another at this point. As the marginal notes in the early imprints make clear, his lengthy description of Mary as a model of female virtue, whose dedication to poverty and rejection of the world anticipates monastic practice, is heavily indebted to Bridget of Sweden’s Revelaciones. It and later sections are especially reliant on one of Bridget’s longest and most influential visions, entitled “the words of the Virgin Mary to her daughter” [verba virginis Marie ad filiam], in which Mary herself tells Bridget of her early life, her experiences bearing and giving birth to Jesus, and witnessing his torments and execution (BSR, 1.10).↩back to note source

at thy begynnynge. This colorful account of Mary’s life before the Incarnation comes directly from BSR. In Bridget’s vision (1.10.1–2), Mary describes her flowering devotion, and its steady increase in step with her growing maturity and knowledge of God. She progresses from an initial awareness of the existence of God “at the beginning” [a principio] that drives her to “become ever concerned and anxious of my salvation and my conduct” [semper sollicita et timorata fui de salute et obseruancia mea], to more detailed knowledge of God’s role in her life as “my Creator and judge of all my actions” [creatorem meum et iudicem de omnibus actibus meis], leading to still greater love that makes her “fear and ponder every hour, so as not to offend him in word or deed” [omni hora timui et cogitaui, ne eum verbo vel facto offenderem]. She eventually learns of his “law and his precepts to the people” and how he “makes with them all miracles” [legem populo et precepta sua et fecisse cum eis tanta mirabilia] and “vows firmly in my soul to love nothing unless it be him, and worldly things became exceedingly bitter to me” [proposui firmiter in animo meo nichil nisi ipsum diligere, et amara michi erant mundana vehementer]. Finally, after hearing that God will be born of a virgin to redeem the world, she “became affected by such great love for him, that I thought of nothing except God, wanted nothing except him” [tanta circa eum caritate affecta fui, quod nichil nisi Deum cogitabam, nichil volebam nisi ipsum].↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 2

thou withdrewest thy selfe. Again, these details are taken from BSR (1.10.3), which envisages Mary removing herself “from the conversation and presence of parents and friends and all others” [a colloquiis et presentia parentum et amicorum et omnia], donating her goods and subsisting on “minimal provisions and dress” [victum tenuem et vestitum], and vowing to live to witness the time of God’s birth [viverem ad tempus natiuitatis eius] so that she might humbly serve him.↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 3

presented in to the temple. According to a longstanding tradition dating from the earliest periods of Christianity, Mary was dedicated to service in the Temple by her parents, Joachim and Anna, after an angel announced that their infertility would end and their offspring would be known the world over. The story, which obviously recalls that of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1:5–25, is developed and reiterated in a series of second- and third-century apocrypha, principally the Protoevangelicum of James, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, and Gospel of the Nativity of Mary. According to all three texts, Mary was three years old at the time of her dedication, and remained in the Temple to be “nurtured like a dove” until the age of twelve (ed. Elliott, Apocryphal New Testament, p. 60). The story might be suggested by 2 Macchabees 3:19, which mentions virgins serving as attendants at the Temple. Appulby’s information comes once again from BSR (1.10.5), which emphasizes that Mary was offered in deference to her parents [propter obedienciam parentum meorum], reflected to herself that “nothing was impossible to God” [cogitans mecum Deo nichil esse impossibile], and throughout this period “desired nothing for myself unless he desired it, willing nothing unless he willed it” [me nichil desiderare, nichil velle nisi se].↩back to note source

thou retourned home agayne. See BSR (1.10.6), where Mary describes herself “returning home more greatly aflame than before with the love of God, and every day newly I was inflamed with passions and desires of love. Therefore, I withdrew myself more by habit from everyone, and became solitary night and day, most vehemently afraid, that mouth should not speak nor ear hear anything against my God, nor my eyes behold anything delightful” [regressa domum ampliori quam prius ardebam amore Dei et nouis cotidie inflammabar estibus et desideriis amoris. Propterea plus solito ab omnibus me elongaui et fui sola noctibus ac diebus, timens vehementissime, ne os loqueretur vel auris audiret aliqua contra Deum meum, vel ne oculi mei viderent aliqua delectabilia]. This passage also exemplifies Appulby’s policy as a translator, as he permits his source to influence word choice as much as narrative: terms such as “inflambed,” “enlonged” and “delectable” are all cognate with Bridget’s Latin.↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 4

here the handmayde of God. See Luke 1:38.↩back to note source

without sorowe and synne. These details might also come from BSR (1.10.12), which has Mary state that “without sorrow and without sin I gave birth to him, just as I had conceived him” [sine dolore et peccato peperi eum, sicut et concepi]. Nevertheless, she is not cited in Appulby’s marginalia at this point, and the information might simply be quoted as accepted wisdom. Jacobus de Voragine and Pseudo-Bonaventure both stress the painlessness of the birth, no doubt to emphasize its reversal of the Fall and the penalty imposed on Eve in Genesis 3:16, describing Christ “leaving his mother’s womb without any breach or lesion . . . one moment inside the womb and the next outside the womb on the hay at his mother’s feet” (MLC, p. 24; compare Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend, trans. Ryan, p. 39).↩back to note source

thy holy fete felte not the grounde. A further detail derived from BSR (1.10.12), where Mary reports being overcome “with such exultation of soul and body that my feet for exultation did not feel the ground where they stood” [cum tanta anime et corporis exultacione, quod pedes mei per exultacione non senciebant terram, ubi stabant]. There may be an additional echo of the Protoevangelicum tradition here, which holds that St. Anne, after witnessing Mary take her first seven steps at the age of six months, “took her up, saying, ‘As the Lord my God lives, you shall walk no more upon this earth until I bring you into the temple of the Lord’” (ed. Elliott, Apocryphal New Testament, p. 59).↩back to note source

reclynynge hym in a racke. See Luke 2:7.↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 5

swete dewe. The phrase echoes BSR (1.10.13), which also asserts that “in observing and considering his beauty, my soul melted with joy like the dew” [Cumque conspicerem et considerarem pulchritudinem eius, anima mea quasi rorem pre gaudio stillabat]. Again, Appulby uses English terms etymologically connected to Bridget’s Latin, most obviously “pulcritude” and “distylled.”↩back to note source

many of the Jewes sayd . . . and mervaylous consolacyon. Appulby incorporates details here from one of Bridget’s later revelations (BSR 6.1.4): “therefore also many Jews said: We go to see the son of Mary, so that we can be consoled. And although they did not know him to be the son of God, still they received great consolation from his aspect” [Ideo et multi Judei dicebant ad inuicem: Eamus ad videndum filium Marie, ut consolari possimus. Et licet ignorarent eum esse filium Dei, tamen consolacionem recipiebant magnam ex aspectu eius]. Bridget may in turn be led by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose fifth sermon on the Nativity connects the birth of Jesus with Isaias 40:1, “be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God” [consolamini, consolamini, dicit Dominus Deus vester] (PL 183.128).↩back to note source

where the sharpe nayles sholde perce. One of Bridget’s most powerful passages (BSR 1.10.13) features Mary considering the future sites of Jesus’s wounds on the cross: “when in truth I considered the places of the nails in hands and feet, which I had heard from the prophets would be crucified, then my eyes were filled with tears and my heart was nigh on torn with sadness” [quando vero considerabam loca clauorum in manibus et pedibus, quos secundum prophetas crucifigendos audiui, tunc oculi mei replebantur lacrimis et cor meum quasi scindebatur per tristicia].↩back to note source

whan thou consydered the myght. Compare again Bridget’s vision of Mary regarding the infant Jesus (BSR 1.10.14): “by considering his divine power, I was consoled again, knowing that he himself willed this and allowed it, and all my will conformed with his will. And thus always was my happiness mixed with grief” [cum vero considerarem potenciam deitatis eius, consolabar iterum, sciens, quod ipse sic vellet et sic expediret, et omnem voluntatem meam conformaui voluntati eius. Et sic semper erat leticia mea mixta cum dolore].↩back to note source

Chapter 4, Paragraph 6

thou nourysshed thy swete sone. The closing lines of AA contemplation 11 also picture Mary giving “kisses with your delicate mouth” [oscula sui delicati oris], loosening the swaddling on his hands and arms in the cradle [laxatis fasciolis manus et scam brachia per cunarum], and offering “smiling and sweet-talking” [arridentes sibi et blandientes]. The sequence is in turn reminiscent of Pseudo-Bonaventure, who dedicates several passages to the interactions between mother and child, also emphasizing their kissing, playing together, and mutual affection (see for instance MLC, pp. 25, 28, 30–31).↩back to note source

Chapter 5, Rubric

the dolorous circumcision. The chapter is based on AA contemplation 12. On the importance of the Circumcision as a foreshadowing of the Passion, see Holkham prayer 8 and associated note.↩back to note source

Chapter 5, Paragraph 1

the eyght daye to be circumcised. i.e., circumcised eight days after birth, in accordance with the directives on purification set down in Leviticus 12:3.↩back to note source

knyfe of stone. AA makes no mention of a stone knife, simply concentrating on Christ shedding “your innocent blood for us in infancy” [sanguinem tuum innocentem pro nobis adhuc infans effudisti]. Appulby is perhaps indebted to Pseudo-Bonaventure here, who pictures Mary herself performing the circumcision “with a little stone knife,” perhaps to underscore the poverty of the holy family (MLC, p. 30).↩back to note source

enprynted in my herte. Appulby’s final petition has no equivalent in AA, which concludes with the remark “and thenceforth have you never ceased to attend to our salvation” [salutemque nostram de inceps operari non destitisti]. His phrasing may be more than a fanciful metaphor, since medieval and classical psychology often conceived memory as a quasi-physical process by which images were impressed on the brain or heart. See Carruthers, Book of Memory, pp. 16–79; Jager, Book of the Heart, pp. 1–26, 44–64.↩back to note source

Chapter 6, Rubric

the thre holy kynges. Appulby has again shifted the divisions between sections; AA contemplation 13 discusses both the Oblation and Purification.↩back to note source

Chapter 6, Paragraph 1

thre precyous gyftes. Appulby adds specific details about the kings’ gifts and gives the traditional interpretation of their meaning; neither are mentioned in AA. On the significance imputed to the gifts of the Magi, see Holkham prayer 9 and associated note. The oratio that concludes this chapter seems to be Appulby’s own.↩back to note source

Chapter 7, Paragraph 1

shewed by the olde man Symeon. Contemplation 13 of AA concludes with this detail.↩back to note source

lawe of puryfycacyon. See Leviticus 12:5.↩back to note source

no maner necessyté of puryfycacyon. A marginal note attributes this statement to Bernard of Clairvaux. Appulby is probably thinking of Bernard’s third sermon on the Feast of the Purification, which imagines Mary asking herself as she enters the Temple: “What need is there for my purification? . . . Nothing in this conception, nothing in the birth was impure, with nothing to be set aside, nothing to be cleansed: no wonder, with an offspring that is the fount of purity, and come to make purgation of faults. What can a legal obligation purify in me, who was made still more pure by that same immaculate conception?” [quid mihi opus est purificatione? . . . nihil in hoc conceptu, nihil in partu impurum fuit, nihil illictum, nihil purgandum: nimirum cum proles ista fons puritatis sit et purgationem venerit facere delictorum. Quid in me legalis purificet observatio, quae purissima facta sum ipso partu immaculato?]. Bernard then adds: “truly, O blessed Virgin, truly you do not have a cause, nor need for purification of yourself” [Vere, o beata Virgo, vere non habes causam, nec tibi opus est purification] (PL 183.370).↩back to note source

Chapter 8, Rubric

fleynge in to Egypte. This chapter derives its key details from AA contemplation 14.↩back to note source

Chapter 8, Paragraph 1

grete penury and poverté. The tradition that the holy family lived in poverty during their exile in Egypt again stems from Pseudo-Bonaventure. He heavily emphasizes Christ’s “love of poverty” during this period, and his and Mary’s willingness to subsist on begging and menial labor, no doubt to evoke the ideals of Franciscan mendicancy (MLC, pp. 44–46). See Dzon, Quest for the Christ Child, p. 71.↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Rubric

the invencyon of Jhesu. Appulby follows AA contemplation 15 closely in this chapter; he only omits a final, formulaic tribute to the Son’s place in the Trinity, “living and reigning God for ever and ever amen” [qui cum deo patre et spiritu sancto vivus et regnans deus per omnia secula seculorum, amen].↩back to note source

Chapter 9, Paragraph 1

Ysay. Isaiah, whose messianic prophecies in Isaias 61:1–2 are read by Christ in the Temple, according to Luke 4:16–20.↩back to note source

servaunt so suffrynge for our helthe. See Isaias 53:5, which is applied to Christ’s coming by the apostle Philip in Acts 8:32–35.↩back to note source

Chapter 10, Rubric

the baptym of our lorde. Appulby departs from AA here to place greater emphasis on baptism and the blessings it confers, perhaps in deference to his predominantly lay readership. The episode only receives a cursory mention in AA contemplation 16; Appulby not only separates the baptism and fasting into two distinct chapters, but adds the reference to consubstantiality, the details from scripture, and a final thanksgiving for the sacrament.↩back to note source

Chapter 10, Paragraph 1

Here is my welbeloved sone. The wording follows Matthew 3:17, in which the voice acknowledges Christ in third rather than second person, instead of Mark 1:11 or Luke 3:22.↩back to note source

in lykenesse of a dove. Appulby echoes Luke 3:22 rather than Matthew 3:16 or Mark 1:10; only Luke describes the Spirit assuming the “bodily shape” of a dove, rather than merely descending in the manner [tamquam] of the bird.↩back to note source

Chapter 11, Rubric

his temptacyons. The chapter takes its account of the fasting and temptation from AA contemplation 16, which it reproduces verbatim.↩back to note source

Chapter 11, Paragraph 1

the fode of aungell. The phrase originates from Psalm 77:25 (or 78:25 in non-Catholic bibles), where the “bread of angels” [panem angelorum] refers to the miraculous rain of manna that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. Its application to Christ first occurs in the work of Augustine, who comments that “the manna signified Jesus as the true bread of heaven . . . who became flesh so that man might feed” [verum ipsum de coelo panem quem manna significabat . . . quod ut manducaret homo, caro factum est] (Enarrationes in psalmos, PL 36.995); from Augustine it made its way into broader exegetic tradition (see Glossa ordinaria, PL 113.969–70; Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 3.80.2). The importance of the epithet was further cemented by the office for Corpus Christi, reputedly composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for the feast’s creation in 1264 (see Rubin, Corpus Christi, pp. 185–89); the hymns “Sacris solemniis” and “Lauda Sion” both hail the Eucharist as “panis angelicus” or “panis angelorum” (Murray, Aquinas at Prayer, pp. 267, 271). Although a version of the phrase does occur in AA (as “cibus angelorum”), Appulby may have intended to echo Aquinas’s hymns in his choice of language, since they and their occasion share his emphasis on equal participation by all Christians in the body of Christ.↩back to note source

Chapter 12, Rubric

the predicacyon and holsome doctryne. Appulby follows AA contemplation 17 closely in this chapter, only leaving out a few minor details and phrases.↩back to note source

Chapter 12, Paragraph 1

wery of journeys. Appulby removes AA’s echo of Matthew 9:35, which shows Christ travelling between cities and towns or castles [ambulans civitates et castella], perhaps to avoid any implication that his ministry was confined to privileged spaces.↩back to note source

Belzabub. Beelzebub is the Canaanite deity described as “god of Accaron” in 4 Kings (or 2 Kings in non-Vulgate bibles) 1:2–16, but relegated to “prince of devils” in Matthew 12:24 and Luke 11:15.↩back to note source

frende of publycanes. The phrase occurs in Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34; Mark 2:16 also alludes to it when summarizing the accusations of the Pharisees. The opprobrium attached to this label can be explained by the fact that publicans [publicani] were Jewish tax collectors on behalf of the Roman occupiers of Judea, and so judged treacherous pariahs by their own people; Christ himself bids that anyone who “will not hear the church” should be treated the same “as the heathen and publican,” i.e., be made an outcast (Matthew 18:17). The term should not be confused with the modern sense of publican as the owner of an alehouse or tavern, since this meaning is not recorded until the early eighteenth century (OED, publican (n.1), sense 3), and probably started life as a jocular reference to the biblical term.↩back to note source

Chapter 12, Paragraph 2

clensed lepers. Appulby omits a reference here to Christ curing “paralysed and withered men” [paraliticos et aridos curasti] derived from Matthew 9:6–7 and 12:10–13, Mark 2:9–12 and 3:1–5, Luke 5:24–25 and 6:6–10, and John 5:7–9.↩back to note source

Blessyd be the wombe. See Luke 11:27. AA contemplation 17 continues beyond this point, delivering a summative thanksgiving for “all of the signs and wonders and works” [signa et prodigia et opera] by which Christ showed his “tenderness and mercy” [pietatis et misercordia], before concluding with a tribute to the image miraculously imprinted on Veronica’s cloth. Appulby moves much of this material to chapter 19.↩back to note source

Chapter 13, Rubric

the entrynge of oure lorde. In this section Appulby radically compresses and reworks his source. Although he draws principally from AA contemplations 18 and 19, he is highly selective in his material. In particular, he strips out all passages relating to the attack on the money-lenders and the Sanhedrin’s proceedings against Jesus, most likely in recognition of his urban, commercial readership. See the Appulby Introduction, p. 101, for fuller discussion.↩back to note source

Chapter 13, Paragraph 1

Lazar. Although AA places Lazarus’s name in the header for contemplation 18, it does not discuss his resurrection in any greater detail than Appulby, simply making passing reference to “the tears that you cried at the tomb of Lazarus and over the city of Jerusalem” [lachrimas quis flevisti ad monumentum Lazari et super civitatem hierusalem].↩back to note source

And not longe after. Appulby moves away from AA contemplation 18 here and skips ahead to the middle part of contemplation 19. He omits much of contemplation 18, with its account of Christ confronting the traders in the Temple, and the cures performed after their expulsion; he also ignores the first part of contemplation 19, which portrays Caiaphas’s maneuvers against Christ and Judas receiving his thirty pieces of silver. Despite these truncations, however, his rendering is faithful.↩back to note source

Chapter 13, Paragraph 2

And herynge this they began. Appulby starts to elaborate freely on AA from this point. On the disciples’ response to Christ’s words, for instance, his source simply states “they were disturbed, and each doubting the others came and held fast to plead one after the other” [illi turbati: et hesitans quis eorum eent et ceperunt singuli excusare].↩back to note source

He that putteth his hande . . . shall betraye me. See John 13:26. The allusion does not appear in AA.↩back to note source

all preestes to the worldes ende. It is difficult not to see a response here to the Lollard movement, which often questioned priestly authority along precisely these lines. There is no comparable text in AA contemplation 19, which simply notes how Christ receives his “guests” [discumbes] into the bosom of his father, just as an unnamed disciple leans on Jesus’s bosom in John 13:23.↩back to note source

Chapter 13, Paragraph 3

O, what excellent love. The remainder of this chapter, and its insistence on the importance of the Eucharist, appear to be Appulby’s own invention.↩back to note source

we sholde not hungre ne thurste. See John 6:35; Apocalypse 7:16.↩back to note source

toure of strengthe. See Psalm 60:4 (or 61:3 in post-medieval bibles) and Proverbs 18:10.↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Rubric

Of the prayer. The chapter is based on AA contemplation 21. Appulby has disregarded contemplation 20, based on John 13:34, 14:1–3, and 14:27; he also ignores the first part of contemplation 21, which gives a potted version of John 17:11–15.↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Paragraph 1

by reason of two loves. The reading of Christ’s three petitions is Appulby’s own. This episode receives only brief consideration in AA: reflecting on Christ’s plea to “let this chalice pass from me,” AA merely remarks that his apprehension stemmed not from his “human disposition” [non tuum quod humano affect] but because he had appointed his own death “in his godhood” [in divinitate fiat]. It elaborates no further, moving immediately on to the significance of Christ sweating blood in Luke 22:44.↩back to note source

naturall love. Appulby’s discussion may be colored by scholastic philosophy, where “naturall love” carries specific meanings. Aquinas defines amor naturalis as the attraction between “each single thing” to “that which is naturally suitable to it,” much as a “heavy body” is drawn to the center of the world “by reason of its weight” (Summa Theologica, 2.1.26.1). This force is inferior to “intellectual or rational love,” which can only be attained by entities equipped with free will, such as human beings or God. See further Morgan, “Natural and Rational Love.”↩back to note source

Fader, yf it be possyble, make . . . this bytter passyon to be taken fro me. See Matthew 26:39.↩back to note source

Fader, not my wyll . . . but thyn be fulfylled and done. See Matthew 26:42.↩back to note source

Chapter 14, Paragraph 2

And after thou had prayed thus. Appulby returns to AA contemplation 21 from this point and for the remainder of the chapter, albeit with a few minor adjustments.↩back to note source

for thy holy prayer, bytter agony and . . . the swete love thou hast shewed to me. AA looks more specifically to Matthew 26:40–44 here, giving thanks “for this, your devoted prayer, and for the threefold stirring by which you carefully encouraged your disciples so that they would be watchful and pray” [propter hanc devotam orationem tuam et per trinam excitationem quem pie exhortasti discipulos tuos ut vigilarent et orarent].↩back to note source

Chapter 15, Rubric

the capcyon of our lorde. Most of this chapter reworks AA contemplation 23; it also draws material from the first half of contemplation 24. Once again, Appulby’s treatment reflects a general lack of interest in Christ’s betrayal, since he sidesteps contemplation 22, which deals in depth with the episode.↩back to note source

Chapter 15, Paragraph 1

voluntaryly thou went. This part of the chapter is transplanted from AA contemplation 21 which, after the visitation of the angel, similarly adds, “by design you voluntarily went to that place where you knew by innate understanding that you would be betrayed” [et per fortatus voluntarie ibas in locum quem sciebas cognitum esse traditori tuo].↩back to note source

with knyves. Appulby’s translation is strained here: AA has “swords” [gladiis], following Matthew 26:55, Mark 14:48, and Luke 22:52.↩back to note source

And the wycked persones. Appulby omits the first part of contemplation 23, which continues to outline Judas’s betrayal; his rendering of the remainder of the chapter is faithful for the most part, however, down to the epithets “tamest lamb” [agnum mansuetissimum] and “creator before the creature” [creator ante creaturam].↩back to note source

Anna. That is, Annas, high priest of Judea and father-in-law to Caiaphas, whose interview with Jesus is detailed in John 18:13–24.↩back to note source

Chapter 15, Paragraph 3

And erly in the sprynge. Appulby leaves out a short prayer on the face and eyes of Jesus, which bewails the disfigurement of this “flower of Nazareth” and “pearl and splendor of the angels” [o vultus amabilis nasareni floris . . . o margarita et spendor angelorum], and asks for protection from confusion by “the darkness of sin” [occultis peccatis].↩back to note source

And thou answered. From this point, Appulby transfers his attention to AA contemplation 24. He has also moved the boundaries between the sections of his source-text, effectively splitting contemplation 24 into two, and turning its final third into a chapter in its own right, his sixteenth. Nonetheless, despite reordering his material, Appulby’s translation remains close.↩back to note source

the wayes of our helth. This unusual phrase renders AA’s “viam nostre salutis” [the road to our salvation], which in turn echoes Acts 16:17.↩back to note source

whyte vesture. See Luke 23:11. AA also views the “alba veste” Christ is made to wear as “signum fatuitate et ignavie” [a marker of insanity and dishonor], perhaps calling on common color symbolism for lunacy in late medieval culture. See Parsons, “Trouble at the Mill” for discussion and examples.↩back to note source

Pylate and Herode were made frendes. See Luke 23:12.↩back to note source

for all these irrysyons . . . and adversytyees. This short prayer is Appulby’s own; AA does not interrupt the narrative at this point, concluding contemplation 24 with Jesus’s flagellation.↩back to note source

Chapter 16, Rubric

of his expolyacyon. This chapter marks the reintroduction of Bridget as a major witness to the events of the Passion, effectively overriding AA’s treatment of the same details. Nevertheless, up until the cry in support of Barabbas, Appulby continues his close translation of AA contemplation 24 from his previous chapter.↩back to note source

Chapter 16, Paragraph 1

Thou hast sayd so. Whereas AA gives the longer version of Christ’s response from John 18:34–38, Appulby favors the shorter text of Matthew 27:11–14, Mark 15:2–5, and Luke 23:3–4.↩back to note source

Chapter 16, Paragraph 2

Baraban. Barabbas, the prisoner released in place of Jesus according to all four gospels; described as a “notorious criminal” in Matthew 27:16, a bandit in John 18:40, and an insurrectionist and murderer in Mark 15:7.↩back to note source

as thou were borne. Compare Bridget’s description of the flagellation (BSR 1.10.16): “as though he had just been born, he stood and suffered the blushing shame of his nakedness” [sicut natus est, sic stabat et paciebatur erubescenciam nuditatis sue].↩back to note source

personally thou put thy handes aboute the pyller. BSR also emphasizes the voluntary nature of Christ’s disrobing and submission to beating (1.10.15): “then, led to the whipping-post, he personally shed his clothing and personally joined his hands around the post, which his enemies bound without mercy” [deinde ductus ad columpnam, personaliter se vestibus exuit et personaliter manus ad columpnam applicuit, quas inimici sine misericordia ligauerunt]. Again, Appulby’s lexis follows his source closely: his repeated use of “personally” takes a cue from Bridget’s personaliter.↩back to note source

clene from every spotte. See BSR (1.10.16): “they flogged his body, clean of every mark and sin” [flagellabant corpus eius, ab omni macula et peccato mundum].↩back to note source

fell to the grounde as deed. In BSR (1.10.17), Mary also describes herself fainting at the sight of Christ’s torments, even before she knows the full extent of his injuries: “at the first blow I, who was standing nearby, was struck down as though dead, and regaining consciousness I saw his body beaten and flogged down to the ribs, so that his ribs were seen” [ad primum igitur ictum ego, que astabam propinquius, cecidi quasi mortua et resumpto spiritu vidi corpus eius verberatum et flagellatum usque ad costas, ita ut eius coste viderentur].↩back to note source

no hole place. Much of the phrasing here is dependent on BSR (1.10.18), which ascribes the same observations to Mary: “and then my son stood totally blood-stained, so totally lacerated that there could not be found any wholeness nor place yet to be flogged” [cumque filius meus totus sanguinolentus, totus sic laceratus stabat, ut in eo non inueniretur sanitas nec quid flagellaretur].↩back to note source

not juged to dethe. According to BSR (1.10.18), Mary overhears one of the assembled tormentors demand, “Surely we should not kill him so unjudged?” [Numquid interficietis eum sic iniudicatum?] after being “roused in his spirit” [concitato in se spiritu].↩back to note source

Chapter 16, Paragraph 3

tokens and steppes of blode. Bridget pictures Mary following the bloody trail Christ left on the ground (BSR 1.10.19): “the place where my son’s feet stood I saw totally replete with blood, and from the footprints of my son I knew his path. He had proceeded where the earth was infused with blood” [tunc locum, ubi stabant pedes filii mei, totum repletum vidi sanguine, et ex vestigiis filii mei cognoscebam incessum eius. Quo enim procedebat, apparebat terra infusa sanguine]. Once again, Appulby recalls Bridget in both vocabulary and imagery, his “infuded” mirroring her infusa.↩back to note source

O good Jhesu, for the bytternesse of thy scourgynge. This concluding prayer moves back to AA contemplation 24, which also ends by giving thanks “for the great severity of your flagellation, at which you were torn to pieces” [per hanc magnam acerbitatem flagellorum qua dilacerata sunt].↩back to note source

thy bytter scourgynge. Appulby ignores a short passage here in AA, commending Jesus’s “lively and virginal body” that had been “held in the pure embraces of the Virgin Mary” [tuum delicatum et virgineum corpus . . . astrictum fuit castis amplexibus virginis marie].↩back to note source

Chapter 17, Rubric

Of the expolyacyon. Appulby draws here on AA contemplation 25. Almost all of the material included in this chapter is taken from AA, with only minor modifications.↩back to note source

Chapter 17, Paragraph 1

mynystres. AA has “militibus” [soldiers].↩back to note source

thyn eyen were blynded. The reference to Christ’s blood choking his eyes and other features is an unacknowledged allusion to BSR (1.10.23), which similarly mentions that “his eyes were filled with flowing blood, his ears were blocked and his beard entirely stained by the pouring blood” [sanguine fluente replerentur oculi eius, obstruerentur aures et barba tota decurrente sanguine deturparetur].↩back to note source

Chapter 17, Paragraph 2

All hayle kynge of Jewes. See Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:18; John 19:21.↩back to note source

blacke and blewe. AA simply has “discolored by blows” [lividam plages]; Appulby inserts a common English idiom, first recorded in the fourteenth century and still in everyday use (OED, black (adj. and n.), phrases 2a).↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Rubric

Of the wrongfull condemnacyon. Compare AA contemplation 26. As with the previous chapter, Appulby reproduces his source-text very closely here, with negligible compression or elaboration.↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 1

Beholde man. See John 19:5.↩back to note source

Crucyfy hym, crucify hym. See John 19:6.↩back to note source

I fynde no cause in hym. See John 19:6. Compare also Luke 23:4.↩back to note source

We have a lawe. See John 19:7.↩back to note source

From whens arte thou? See John 19:9.↩back to note source

Thou sholde not have power in me. See John 19:11.↩back to note source

Chapter 18, Paragraph 2

Beholde your kynge. See John 19:14.↩back to note source

They denyed. AA follows the Johannine account more directly here, quoting the supposed cry of the crowd “Away with him, away with him: crucify him” (John 19:15).↩back to note source

We have noo kynge. See John 19:15.↩back to note source

Yf thou let hym passe. See John 19:12.↩back to note source

for envy they had brought thee. See Mark 15:10 and Matthew 27:18.↩back to note source

I am innocent. See Matthew 27:24.↩back to note source

The vengeaunce of his blode. See Matthew 27:25.↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Rubric

Of the berynge of the crosse. While the heading is taken from AA contemplation 27, much of the material in this section is rooted in BSR and the stock of Passion images popularized by the fourteenth-century Yorkshire mystic Richard Rolle and his followers; it also freely incorporates elements from AA contemplation 28.↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Paragraph 1

cleven faste with drye blode. The idea that Christ’s flesh was torn away by his blood-soaked robe is commonplace in English Passion narratives. See prayer 39 in the Holkham prayers and the associated note. AA contains no reference to this added torment, simply declaring, “I give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, stripped of the purple robe at the sixth hour of the day, and dressed in your garments by soldiers who led you most ignominiously between two thieves, carrying the crossbar of your own cross” [gratias tibi ago domine iesu christe quod hora diei sexta exutus es purpura, et vestibus tuis reindutus a militibus qui eduxerunt te valde ignominiose in medio duorum latronum baiulantem tibimetipsi patibulum crucis].↩back to note source

coude not se who smote thee. Appulby once again turns to Bridget for this supplementary information. In BSR (1.10.21), Mary also reports that the press of the crowd obscured her son from view as individual members of the mob inflicted different torments on him: “some struck him in the throat, some buffeted him in the face. And so vigorously and relentlessly was he beaten that, although I did not see the beater, I clearly heard the sound of the beating” [alii percusserunt eum in collo, alii in faciem cederunt. Et tam fortiter et valenter percussus est, ut, licet ego non viderem percucientem, audiui tamen clare sonitum percussionis].↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Paragraph 2

an other man. The intervention of Simon of Cyrene is recorded in Mark 15:21–22, Matthew 27:32–33, and Luke 23:26. AA also imputes his involvement to the “malignitatem” or spite of the spectators.↩back to note source

Veronyca. On Veronica and the development of her story, see Holkham prayer 38 and the associated note. Veronica and her miraculous “memoryall” have been transplanted from contemplation 13 of AA, where she receives a relatively brief notice, rounding out the catalogue of “his signs, examples, and good habits.” Appulby’s treatment of the story is his own: AA merely states that “you willed your image to abide” [imaginem tuam reliquere voluisti], and Veronica receives no mention at all in BSR.↩back to note source

the women that folowed. Appulby switches back here to AA contemplation 27, which also contains a short reference to “the women who followed you, crying and lamenting for you, and you consoled them by speaking to them” [mulieres quod sequebantur te plangentes et lamentantes et consolasti eas dicens].↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Paragraph 3

all the instrumentes . . . condempned to deth. BSR (1.10.21) again emerges as Appulby’s main source here, as Bridget’s vision is reworked almost verbatim: Mary tells Bridget, “once I reached with him the place of the Passion, I saw there all the instruments prepared for his death. And my son reaching that place, he personally removed his clothing, the officers saying among themselves: Those clothes are ours, nor will he reclaim them, for he is condemned to death” [Cumque venissem cum eo ad locum passionis, omnia instrumenta vidi ibi preparata ad mortem suam. Et ipse filius meus veniens ibi exuit se personaliter vestibus suis, ministris inter se dicentibus: Hec vestimenta nostra sunt nec ea rehabebit, quia dampnatus est ad mortem].↩back to note source

naked and bare. Bridget stresses Christ’s nudity once more at this point (BSR 1.10.22), and mentions the small mercy of “one running up to him carrying a cloth with which he, rejoicing inwardly, covered his shame” [unus tunc accurrens apportauit sibi velamen, quo ipse exultans intime velabat verecundiora sua].↩back to note source

fyrst thy ryght hande. The sequence of wounds follows BSR (1.10.22–23): “first, his right hand was pinned to the crossbar, which had been pierced for the nails. And that same hand they pierced through that part where the bone was solid. Next, drawing out with a cord his other hand, they fixed it to the crossbar in a similar way. Then they crucified the right foot and the left foot over it with two nails, so that all his nerves and veins were stretched and ruptured” [primo dexteram manum eius affigentes stipiti, qui pro clauis perforatus erat. Et manum ipsam ex ea parte perforabant, qua os solidius erat. Inde trahentes cum fune aliam manum eius, ad stipitem eam simili modo affixerunt. Deinde dexterum pedem crucifixerunt et super hunc sinistrum duobus clauis ita, ut omnes nerui et vene extenderentur et rumperentur].↩back to note source

the marowe of thy bones. Appulby augments BSR with material from AA contemplation 28: this also describes how “the bitterness of the nails penetrated to the secrets of the marrow of the bones” [acerbitas clavorum penetravit secreta medullarum ossium], liberating the “treasure of your blood” [thesauros sanguinis tui]. There is also some overlap with the imagery of the Fifteen Oes: in some versions, it is alleged that the prayers were revealed to Bridget as a fitting means of honoring Christ’s sacrifice, after she wished to know the number and nature of the wounds he sustained. Appulby’s language specifically recalls the eleventh prayer, which reflects on “the depnes of thy woundes that wente thurgh thy tender flesshe, also thy bowellis, and the mary of thy bones”; he might also have in mind the twelfth prayer, which directs the meditator to think on the “precious blode” emitted from “thyn inumerable peynes and woundes” (ed. Barratt, Women’s Writing, pp. 180–81).↩back to note source

Chapter 19, Paragraph 4

thou might praye for thyn enemyes. Many of the details of the prayer are culled from AA contemplation 28, which also includes a brief prayer directing its reader to state “I praise and glorify you, Jesus Christ, reaching out to your enemies on the cross, while you were not able to move hand or foot, nor any other member” [laudo et glorifico te ihesu christe propter nimiam extensionem tuam in cruce ut nec manus nec pedes ne ullum membrum movere posses].↩back to note source

let fall in to the morteys. This part of the prayer rests more on vernacular tradition than any particular source, as its description of the cross being rammed into its socket draws on one of the most pervasive ideas in Middle English popular drama and visionary literature. See Holkham prayer 40 and the associated note, where the “mortise-drop” becomes a central pivot of meditation. Neither Bridget nor AA includes this detail in exactly these terms, although the latter, when recounting “the wounding and stretching out of Jesus Christ on the cross,” does refer generally to “the great misery that passed through your whole interior when you were raised up with the cross” [magnum dolorem quod pertransivit omnia interiore tua quom elevatur es cum cruces]; this might account for Appulby’s reference to the “interyour partes of thy body.”↩back to note source

thy charyté may brenne. Appulby takes this phrase from AA, cycling back to the conclusion of contemplation 27; its account of the procession to Calvary also concludes with a plea for “charitas” to expunge all vices [omnia vycia], and asks that the meditator seek to become a “most pure mirror” [purissimum speculum].↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Rubric

Of the blasphemés of the Jewes. The heading rearranges and recombines the titles of AA contemplations 28 and 29. Appulby’s overall treatment of this material waters down much of the anti-Semitism of his source, leaning more on Bridget’s more concise description of the abuse Jesus received.↩back to note source

Chapter 20, Paragraph 1

thou were a thefe. See BSR (1.10.24), which also reports that the accusations against Jesus caused Mary particular agony: “At that moment I heard some say that my son was a robber, others that he was a liar, others that none deserved death more than my son. In hearing this my grief renewed” [In tempore illo audiui alios dicentes, quod filius meus latro erat, alios, quia mendax, alios, quod nullus dignior esset morte quam filius meus. Ex quorum auditu dolor meus renouabatur].↩back to note source

Yf thou be Cryste kynge of Israell. See Matthew 27:40.↩back to note source

O cruelté of people. From this point until the end of the chapter, Appulby heads off on his own trajectory. The AA does not commend forgiveness with quite the same intensity, and introduces a theme it will explore more fully in contemplation 31: although it stresses that Christ’s “passion and cruel death” satisfied a “desire for brotherly charity” [passione et crudeli morte satisfeci . . . desiderio fraterne charitatis], it uses his words to emphasize his simultaneous role as creator, redeemer, and savior from the beginning of time [creator ab initio fui illorum redemptor et salvator factus sum], and ends by stressing that Christ became both brother and father to humankind through the Incarnation and Passion [frater effectus sum illud mecum possideat in eternus hereditario iure fraternitatis]. Appulby reserves the discussion of brotherhood for chapter 24, paragraph 2.↩back to note source

they whiche wyll shewe no mercy. See James 2:13. The allusion does not appear in AA.↩back to note source

Chapter 21, Rubric

the thefe hangynge. AA does not award this episode its own chapter, but merely includes it as part of the account of the “insults of the Jews” in contemplation 29. Appulby’s decision to privilege this aspect of the Passion perhaps reflects his lay readership, for whom Christ’s extension of mercy beyond his chosen circle of disciples would have particular resonance. He may also be led by the sixth of the Fifteen Oes, which makes Christ’s promise to the repentant thief the basis of a separate prayer, although one that pleads for “merci . . . in the hour of my deth” rather than valorizing contrition (ed. Barratt, Women’s Writing, pp. 179).↩back to note source

Chapter 22, Rubric

Of the words of Jesu. The overall focus of this chapter broadly corresponds to AA contemplation 30, although only the first two sentences are taken directly from it.↩back to note source

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2

whan thou behelde her. From this point Appulby resumes his translation of BSR, although he has slightly reordered it. Whereas Bridget describes Christ’s bloodied body immediately after the raising of the cross, he delays these remarks until chapter 26; otherwise, he follows BSR with his usual fidelity.↩back to note source

lever wolde have suffred . . . and tourmented. This sentence reworks BSR (1.10.30), which also stresses the willingness of the spectators to consign themselves to hell rather than witness Christ’s torments any further: “with my son encircled by these griefs, he regarded his friends weeping, who would have preferred with his assistance to have endured his punishments or to have burned for eternity in hell, than to see him so tortured” [Cumque filius meus hiis doloribus circumseptus respexisset ad amicos suos flentes, qui maluissent illam penam in se cum auxilio eius pertulisse vel in eternum in inferno ardere quam eum sic videre cruciari].↩back to note source

the sorowe that thou toke. BSR (1.10.30) also insists that Christ’s “pain for the grief of his friends” [dolor ille ex amicorum dolore] caused him greater agony than his physical torment “because he dearly loved them” [quia tenere diligebat eos].↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Rubric

the thurste of Jhesu. Neither AA nor its source the Meditationes de vita et beneficiis dedicate specific prayers to Christ’s final words; AA singles out “Eloi, eloi, lamma sabacthani?” in contemplation 31 but treats the rest en masse in contemplation 33. Appulby on the other hand considers the utterances on the cross in three separate chapters, addressing them here and in chapters 25 and 26. No doubt this more sustained and systematic treatment is influenced by other meditative cycles, since it is not uncommon for the seven utterances to function as an organizing schema: examples can be found in Bonaventure’s Vitis mystica, Ulrich Pinder’s Speculum passionis Christi, and the Fifteen Oes; the last is the likeliest model for Appulby. See also Holkham prayers 41, 42, and 43. Nevertheless, much of the material in this chapter is still drawn directly from AA: compare its opening sentence, for instance, to the earlier text’s “from the excessive effusion of blood and burning desire for our salvation, with your tongue sticking to your cheeks, you said, ‘I thirst’” [ex nimia effusione sanguinis et ardenti desiderio nostrae salutis, cum adhesit lingua tua faucibus tuis et dixisti ‘Sitio’].↩back to note source

Chapter 23, Paragraph 1

fonte of the water of lyfe. Appulby’s interpretation and language here is evidently colored by the seventh of the Bridgettine Fifteen Oes, which also invites meditation on the word “sitio.” His terminology echoes the Latin text at several points; this is especially visible in the cluster of epithets “fonte of the water of lyfe” [fons inexhauste pietatis], “thurste of carnall concupyscence” [sitim carnalis concupiscentie], and “worldely delectacyon” [mundane delectionis] (Hore Beatissime Virginis Marie, fol. 53v).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Rubric

the grete clamour of Jesu. Appulby reorders AA here. AA also allocates this episode its own contemplation (31), but places it before the other words spoken on the cross. Appulby’s sequencing might reflect a debt to the Fifteen Oes, where prayer 9 focuses on the declaration “O my God, why haste thou forsake me?,” and prayers 7 and 8 look to Christ’s thirst and his drinking vinegar and gall (ed. Barratt, Women’s Writing, pp. 180–81).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 1

lyfe stryved with deth. Much the same idea is emphasized in BSR (1.10.28–29): “and because he had been begotten as the finest man, life competed with death in his pierced body. For whenever anguish from his limbs and the sinews of his perforated body climbed to his heart, which was most fresh and uncorrupted, extraordinary pain and suffering jolted him. And sometimes misery of the heart descended into a mangled limb: and so death was prolonged with bitterness” [Et quia optime nature erat, vita cum morte in corpore eius perforato certabat. Nam quandoque dolor de membris et nervis corporis perforatis ad cor ascendebat, quod recentissimum erat et incorruptum, et incredibili dolore et passione vexabat ipsum. Et quandoque dolor a corde in membra lacerata descendebat et sic mortem prolongabat cum amaritudine]. The reference to Christ’s “complexyon” probably picks up on Bridget’s reference to his “optime complexionatum” slightly earlier in her vision (BSR 1.10.27).↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 2

O my fader and lorde. From this point, Appulby turns to contemplation 31 of AA, which he translates almost in its entirety; it provides him with his interpretation of Christ’s cry, and much of his final prayer.↩back to note source

Chapter 24, Paragraph 3

Forsake me not . . . so dere. Appulby’s concluding sentence differs from AA contemplation 31, which instead asks for strength “in all my vital parts” [omnia viscera mea]. His formulation is comparable to the ninth of the Fifteen Oes, which also pleads “by this paynefull anguysshe forsake not us in the anguisshis of our deth” (ed. Barratt, Women’s Writing, p. 180).↩back to note source

Chapter 25, Paragraph 1

moost pureste myrroure. Although the bulk of this chapter draws, like chapter 23, on AA contemplation 33, Appulby’s opening commendation comes from contemplation 32: this begins “hail, Jesus Christ, you who are the purest mirror of the holy trinity, whom I regard with my mind’s eye, and most interior parts” [ave iesu christe qui es purissimum speculum sanctem trinitatis, quem intueor oculis mentis mee, et intimis visceribus]. Appulby probably excerpted this formula, despite making little use of contemplation 32 otherwise, for its definition of meditation as a psychological, emotional, and biological process.↩back to note source

Consummatum est. See John 19:30.↩back to note source

Every thynge that hath be sayd . . . is fulfylled in me. Appulby’s interpretation follows AA contemplation 33, which also puts much the same explanation into the mouth of Christ, in the same first-person prose: “you said Consummatum as though to say, ‘I have confirmed all the prophets in me by giving myself up’” [dixisti Consummatum ex quasi dicers . . . consummata sunt in me qui totum me dedi prophetas].↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Rubric

the expyracyon of Jhesu. Appulby’s title again shows him shifting the boundaries between sections, combining the final part of contemplation 33 with the first part of contemplation 34; nevertheless, much of his account rests on BSR and its references to Christ’s dying body.↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 1

thy blessed eyen apprered all deedly. As might be expected, this intense and vivid account of Christ’s final moments comes more or less directly from BSR (1.10.26): “then his eyes appeared half-dead, his cheeks sunken and his face dark, his mouth gaping and his tongue bloodied, his stomach clinging to his back, owing to the wastage of fluid, as though he had no innards, all his body pale and weak from the flow and shedding of blood. His hands and feet were extended most rigidly, and against the form of the cross were drawn and molded. His beard and hair were completely spattered with blood” [tunc oculi eius apparuerunt semimortui, maxille eius submerse et vultus lugubris, os eius apertum et lingua sanguinolenta, venter dorso inherens consumpto humore, quasi non haberet viscera, omne corpus pallidum et languidum ex fluxu et egressione sanguinis. Manus et pedes eius rigidissime extenti erant et iuxta formam crucis cruci attracti et conformati. Barba et crines ex toto respersi sanguine].↩back to note source

fader, into thy handes. See Luke 23:46.↩back to note source

she remembred these wordes. This detail is also drawn from BSR (1.10.31), where Mary serves as an example of the power of imaginative recollection: “on hearing that cry I, his most mournful mother, trembled through all my limbs with love and all my heart with sadness; and whenever afterwards I thought of that cry, it was as though it was present and fresh in my ear” [hanc igitur vocem cum audissem ego, eius mestissima mater, contremuerunt omnia membra mea cum amaro cordis mei dolore. Et quociens postea hanc vocem cogitabam, quasi in aure mea presens et recens erat].↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 2

whan deth came. See BSR (1.10.31–32): “as death approached, his heart was ruptured by the violence of anguish, then all his limbs trembled and his head raised itself a little and fell, his mouth seemed to open, and his tongue was wholly bloodied; his hands loosened themselves a little in the place where they were pierced, and the weight of his body bore down on his feet, his fingers and arms contorted, and his back was drawn tight to the post” [appropinquante autem morte, cum cor pre violencia dolorum rumperetur, tunc omnia membra contremuerunt et caput eius quasi modicum se erigens inclinabatur, os eius apertum videbatur et lingua tota sanguinolenta. Manus eius retraxerunt se modicum de loco perforacionis et pondus corporis pedes amplius sustentabant. Digiti et brachia quodammodo extendebant se et dorsum fortiter stringebatur ad stipitem].↩back to note source

thy holy soule departed. Appulby reverts back to AA at this point, although he patches together details from multiple sections rather than reworking any particular one. This specific sentence translates part of contemplation 36.↩back to note source

thou presented them. This detail is briefly noted in AA contemplation 38.↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 3

thou reclyned it on thy sholdre. See John 19:30. The interpretation of Christ’s final moment is taken wholesale from AA contemplation 33, which also claims that Christ could find nowhere else to rest his head on the cross [in cruce penderes et non haberes ubi caput tuum reclinares] and attaches four distinct meanings to his dying gesture. These meanings are in turn commonplace in visionary literature, especially the idea that Christ bowed his head to kiss his followers. Although widely misattributed to Augustine or Bernard of Clairvaux, it seems to stem from the highly charged, eccentric visions of Rupert of Deutz in the early twelfth century (Lipton, “Sweet Lean of His Head,” pp. 1175–98). In formal Passion meditation, the image is given a major impetus by St. Bonaventure, whose Soliliquium bids “return to this, o soul!: Christ on the cross expecting you has bowed his head as though to kiss you, sinful and impure” [revertere adhuc, o anima!: Christus in cruce te expectans habet caput inclinatum ad te peccatricem et immundam deosculandam] (ed. Peltier, Sancti Bonaventurae Opera Omnia, 12:100).↩back to note source

Chapter 26, Paragraph 4

And in thy deth . . . all the worlde was derke. Appulby loosely translates the opening of AA contemplation 34, which is in turn based on Matthew 27:51–52 and Mark 15:38. His stress on the effect of the Passion on unreasoning creatures is not found in his source, however, and may be influenced by the version of the Treatise of Love printed by de Worde in ca. 1498: this contains similar phrasing when describing “how many ensamples were of sorowe whan our lorde Jhesu cryst deyed,” declaring that “unresonable creatures made sorowe; the sonne wythdrewe his lyghte, hidyng his bemys and became al derke” (This tretyse is of loue, fol. 25v).↩back to note source

I beseche thee to be mercyfull. This concluding prayer is Appulby’s own; it does not correspond to any of the final exhortations in AA.↩back to note source

Chapter 27, Rubric

Of that the body of Cryst. The title reworks the headings of AA contemplations 34 and 35, although the vast bulk of his material is taken from the former, which deals with Longinus piercing the side of Christ.↩back to note source

Chapter 27, Paragraph 1

thre houres myserably deed. See Mark 15:33.↩back to note source

thre houres alyve. See Mark 15:25.↩back to note source

blode and water. See John 19:34.↩back to note source

gates of heven opened. Appulby takes a different track from Weydenbosch here; AA contemplation 34 does not emphasize that Christ’s wound was the origin of the sacraments, instead stressing that it revealed “all the treasures of wisdom and hidden knowledge; and through the effusion of rose-coloured blood and most holy water that heat of love drew out of your side to penetrate to the depths of the heart” [omnes thesauri sapientie et scientie absconditi; et per effusionem rosei sanguinis et sanctissime aqua quam fervor amoris eduxit de latere tuo ut penetrantes profunditatem cordis]. The contemplation ends with a conventional appeal for Christ to inflict “unhealing wounds” [incurabile vulneratibus] of love and charity on the meditator.↩back to note source

the seconde Adam. This section builds on the Pauline doctrine of Christ as “novissimus Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), whose sacrifice repays and reverses the penalty imposed on Adam after the Fall. The idea is formulated at greatest length in 1 Corinthians 15:21–22: “for by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” Compare also Romans 5:15.↩back to note source

Chapter 28, Rubric

Of the takynge downe of the body. Appulby takes his title from contemplation 36, although the chapter owes very little to AA.↩back to note source

Chapter 28, Paragraph 1

Joseph and Nychodeme. See John 19:38–39. Neither are named by AA, which simply refers to “your faithful disciples” [fideli discipulo tuo].↩back to note source

thy sorowfull moder. Mary’s involvement in preparing Jesus’s body is once again taken from BSR (1.10.34), as is the graphic blazon of his corpse before burial: “I took him on my knee, resembling a leper and entirely discoloured. For his eyes were dead and filled with blood, his mouth cold as snow, his beard like fibers, his face drawn, his hands so stiffened that they could not be brought down to his stomach. As he was fixed to the cross, so I held him on my knee, like a man withered in all his members” [Quem ego recepi in genu meum quasi leprosum et totum liuidum. Nam oculi eius erant mortui et sanguine pleni, os frigidum quasi nix, barba quasi restis, facies contracta. Manus quoque sic diriguerant, quod non possent deponi nisi circa umbilicum. Sicut stetit in cruce, sic habui eum in genu quasi hominem contractum in omnibus membris]. The only detail Appulby omits is the stiffening of Christ’s beard; his reason for doing so is unclear.↩back to note source

thy wofull moder wyped. BSR (1.10.35) again supplies Appulby with these details: “afterwards they placed him in a clean cloth, and I with my own cloth wiped dry his wounds and limbs, and closed his eyes and mouth, which in death had opened” [postea posuerunt eum in linteo mundo, et ego cum linteo meo extersi vulnera et membra eius et clausi oculos et os eius, que in morte fuerant aperta].↩back to note source

Chapter 29, Rubric

Of the gloryous Resurreccyon. Aside from a few small additions, this chapter closely reworks contemplation 37 of AA, which gives a similarly compressed survey of Christ’s activities between the Resurrection and Ascension.↩back to note source

Chapter 29, Paragraph 1

apperynge to thy blessyd moder. As Appubly’s qualification acknowledges, the appearance of Christ to his mother is not grounded in scripture, but originates from Pseudo-Bonaventurean tradition. AA makes no mention of it. See Holkham prayer 47 and the associated note.↩back to note source

All hayle ye. See Matthew 28:9.↩back to note source

dyscyples goynge to Emaus. See Luke 24:30–31.↩back to note source

Peas be to you, I am — drede ye not. See John 20:19.↩back to note source

a rosted fysshe, and of a hony combe. See Luke 24:42.↩back to note source

Tiberiadis. Lake Tiberias, an alternative name for the Sea of Galilee. See John 21:1–23.↩back to note source

thou conforted Thomas. See John 20:24–29.↩back to note source

Ave Maria. AA continues beyond this point, concluding with a plea that Christ “make me and all my friends rise again with great glory and honor” [fac me et omnis amicos meos resurgere cum magis gloria et honore].↩back to note source

Chapter 30, Rubric

Of the mervaylous Ascencyon. The chapter closely adheres to AA contemplation 38. Appulby’s only substantive addition is the final sentence, on the meditator as part of Christ’s mystical body, which has no parallel in AA; it most likely reflects his intended lay audience.↩back to note source

Chapter 30, Paragraph 1

fayth, hope and charyté. See 1 Corinthians 13:13.↩back to note source

mount of Olyvete. The location is unnamed in AA, which only states that “afterwards you ascended on the mountain, and raising your hands you granted them your divine blessing” [postremo ascendisti in montem, et elevatis manibus dedisti eis tuam divina benedictionem]. The addition of this detail is typical of Appulby’s subtle glossing of his source.↩back to note source

lyftynge up thy hande. See Luke 24:50–51.↩back to note source

syttynge at his ryght syde. See Acts 2:34.↩back to note source

coomnipotent and coeterne. The concept of a triune God, who exists in three distinct persons sharing a single essence, is found in elementary form as early as 1 John 5:7. However, the nature and extent of this union coalesced only gradually, developing in the work of the early fathers Tertullian, Novatian, Origen, Hilary of Poitiers, and Augustine, before being formally ratified at the Council of Nicea (325 CE); it was further refined by ecumenical councils over the next millennium, as heretical movements such as Arianism, Catharism, and Joachism compelled stricter definitions (see Phan, “Developments”; Fortman, Triune God, pp. 99–170). The language used by Appulby and AA reflects this gradual toughening of vocabulary. It echoes the terminology set down in the first canon of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which insists on the shared omnipotence and eternity of the three persons, calling them “Father and Son and Holy Spirit, certainly of three persons but altogether one simple essence, substance, or nature . . . consubstantial and coequal, co-omnipotent and coeternal” [Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus: tres quidem personae, sed una essentia, substantia seu natura simplex omnino . . . consubtantiales et coaequales et coomnipotentes et coaeterni] (ed. Cavallera, Thesaurus doctrinae, p. 330). See Robb, “Fourth Lateran Council’s Definition of Trinitarian Orthodoxy.”↩back to note source

Chapter 31, Rubric

Of the myssyon of the Holy Ghost. The chapter loosely follows AA contemplation 39, although it adds a few points, and dispenses with its final thanksgivings for the universal mystery of the mass “and for all my friends, teachers and benefactors alive and dead” [et omnes amicos professores et benefactores meos vivos et defunctos].↩back to note source

Chapter 31, Paragraph 1

lykenesse of tongues of fyre. See Acts 2:3–4.↩back to note source

converted thre thousande. See Acts 2:41.↩back to note source

Credo in Deum. The opening words of the Apostles’ Creed, a profession of fundamental Christian belief that probably crystallized around the end of the fourth century CE (J. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, pp. 1–29, 88–99).↩back to note source

Chapter 31, Paragraph 2

Te deum laudamus. Appulby echoes the opening words of an early hymn customarily recited on Sundays at the hour of matins. AA also concludes its final contemplation (41) with this formula.↩back to note source

Epilogue, Paragraph 1

all ye servantes of God. Appulby’s closing exhortations are original, and replace the final two contemplations of AA.↩back to note source

Epilogue, Paragraph 2

Deo gratias. Taken from 1 Corinthians 15:57 and 2 Corinthians 2:14, the verse is used as a congregational response in the Roman mass.↩back to note source

Epilogue, Paragraph 3

Rycharde, unworthye bysshop of London. Richard FitzJames, Bishop of London between 1506 and 1522, and staunch defender of orthodoxy and ecclesiastic privilege against Lollardy (see Thompson, ODNB, “FitzJames, Richard (d. 1522)”). FitzJames’s commendation remains in all editions of the Fruyte, despite the fact he had been dead for at least eight years when Redman’s and de Worde’s later imprints appeared. See the Appulby Introduction, pp. 97–99.↩back to note source