Membra Jesu Nostri

including
Salve meum (mundi) salutare
Salve caput cruentatum

Note: Some parts of this article are considered incomplete because they require examination of rare manuscripts whose images are not publicly available. In the future, as those images become available for study, some of the conclusions of this article could change.

I. Introduction

This historic cycle of seven Latin hymns is sometimes known as the “Membra Jesu nostri patientis sanctissima” (“Holy members of our long-suffering Jesus”), or the “Rhythmica oratio ad unum quodlibet membrorum Christi patientis et a cruce pendentis” (“Rhythmic prayer to any one of the members of Christ suffering and hanging on the cross”). The foundational seven parts of the series came from the quill of Arnulf of Leuven (Arnulf von Löwen, Arnoul de Louvain, ca. 1200–1250), who for ten years was abbot of Villers, Belgium, a Cistercian abbey.

The oldest surviving manuscript (L01), which names Arnulf as the author, is kept at the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, dated to 1320, and it is the only surviving manuscript bearing Arnulf’s name (“Arnulfus de louanio”). It contains seven sections:

1. “Salve meum salutare” / “Ad Pedes” (To the feet)

2. “Salve, salve rex sanctorum” / “Ad Genua” (–knees)

3. “Salve, salve Iesu bone” / “Ad Manus” (–hands)

4. “Salve, salve summe bonus” / “Ad Latus” (–side)

5. “Salve mea salus Deus” / “Ad Pectus” (–chest)

6. “Salve regis cor aveto” / “Ad Cor” (–heart)

7. “Salve Iesu reverende” / “Ad Vultum” (–face)

Generally, the hymns are structured in stanzas of ten lines (in pairs of five), following a complex rhyme scheme of aabbc-ddeec. Sometimes the writer was able to extend the rhyme across four successive lines (aaaac, etc.).

In the oldest manuscript (L01) and in some others (L05–07, 12, 15, 20–21, 31, 40–41), the text begins personally, “Salve meum salutare” (“Hail, my salvation”), but in many later manuscripts, the first line of the hymn to the feet begins “Salve mundi salutare” (“Hail, salvation of the world”).

In some manuscripts, the sections ad pectus and ad cor are combined as a single hymn (L03, 18, 20, 31, 33), whereas in the oldest manuscript and most others, these are separated. In the oldest manuscripts, the hymn ad pectus contains only 10 lines (L01, 05b, 08, 10–11, 15, 38, 40). In some later sources this was expanded two different ways. In one tradition, attested from the first half of the 15th century, the hymn ad pectus was extended to 50 lines using stanzas beginning “Vere reverendum pectus” (L07, 12). In a different tradition, starting around 1475, ad pectus was extended to 40 lines (L30, 36–37) using stanzas beginning “Jesu dulcis pastor pie,” then extended again to 50 lines (L44–46).

In some manuscripts, the entire cycle is presented as one continuous text without separate headings (L04, 08, 10, 41).

Some manuscripts have additional sections, including a hymn to the ears (ad aures, L30) or to the whole body (“Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum Christi Domini nostri” / “Salutation to every suffering part of our Lord Christ,” L12, 31, 36–37, 41). F.J. Mone (1853), pp. 170–171, reported a hymn ad humeros (“to the arm”), beginning “Salve blandus Dei agnus,” but no examples of this could be found by the present editors.

Regarding the text “Salve caput cruentatum,” these lines are a late insertion into the hymn to the face. These lines are first found in the manuscripts produced by Nicolaus de Saliceto, abbot of Abbaye Baumgarten, Bernardvillé, France, 1482–1493 (L36–37). In later printed editions (L44–46), the original opening lines for the hymn ad vultus, “Salve Jesu reverende,” etc., were moved into the hymn ad pectus, and “Salve caput cruentatum” then became the opening lines for the hymn ad vultus.

In order to trace and enumerate additional textual variants, a new critical edition of the text based on all the known manuscripts is warranted and needed.

At least one manuscript (L13), whose location is presently unknown, attributed the hymn cycle to Bonaventura (1221–1274).

The hymns are often misattributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). This can be seen in most of the manuscripts below, starting in the last quarter of the 14th century (L03, 06), and his name appeared with the earliest German translation from 1393 (Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Ms. A 131, fols. 132r–137r). The attribution is probably based on the similarity between the content of the hymns and some of Bernard’s known works, especially his sermons on the Song of Songs (more on this in section II below). Scholars since the mid-nineteenth century have questioned and then generally dismissed the attribution to Bernard, because no manuscripts of the hymns are known before 1320 (almost 200 years after his death), his name was not connected to the hymns until the end of the 14th century, the distribution of surviving manuscripts does not suggest a point of origin at Clairvaux, and most importantly, the earliest known manuscript (L01) named Arnulf as the author.

In some manuscripts and editions (L43–45), these hymns are followed by another famous hymn often misattributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, “Jesu dulcis memoria.”

II. Textual Context and Assessment

Although the text, being metrical, rhymed, and strophic, takes the form of an extended hymn or cycle of hymns, in the manuscript tradition it was described and used as a prayer (oratio), and therefore it does not have a history of being sung in its original Latin form or in the earliest German translations.

George Faithful, a professor of religion, believed the hymn was a reflection of the sacramental theology of the time:

In the Late Middle Ages, the immersion into the corporeal horrors of the crucifixion led to a new devotional practice, the contemplation of the wounds. Arnulf of Leuven led the way. . . . In the original Latin version, one of the more prominent features is the visceral overflow of blood, sweat, tears, and wounds; this was not a text to be performed by the fainthearted. . . . The narrator effectively lets the reader (or singer) wash in the blood, drink up the blood, lick the side, “filled with honey,” all of which is shimmering with Eucharistic overtones dictated by the adoption of the doctrine of transubstantiation after 1215. . . . In the original poem, we are thus engaged with a profusion of sight, smell, taste, and touch . . .[1]

Both the blood cult and bridal mysticism flourished alongside complex eucharistic theology and praxis in late medieval northern Europe. In the aftermath of the eucharistic controversy of the eleventh century, theologians arrived at a consensus, if not unanimity, regarding what became known as the doctrine of transubstantiation, formalized in the promulgations of the Fourth Lateran Council and exemplified in the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. By [the time of] the writing of Membra Jesu Nostri, especially in the monastic setting in which the text was most likely composed, recipients of the eucharist would have understood that they were touching, tasting, and receiving it into themselves Christ’s body and blood. It should be no surprise that a fascination with the physicality of Christ’s body and blood developed.[2]

Sara Ritchey, a professor of history, examined the text more specifically in the context of the ritual life of Villers, and likewise saw in it a sacramental quality with a potential for physical and spiritual healing:

This process of personal transformation through efficacious reading was anchored in the mimetic passion of the saints and in a Cistercian conviction in the healing capacity of Christ’s death on the Cross, a death that promised everlasting life by healing human illness caused by sin. . . .

Playing on the verbal resonance of salve, the opening line of each verse entreats the healing power of Christ: “salve meum salutare / salve, salve, Ihesu chare.” The song is dynamic, involving dialogue, first-person exhortations, and gestural directions (the interlocking of hands; the pressing of mouth to wound) that serve to entwine the singer with the subject of verse. The sung meditation proceeds to lead the user from the imagined feet of Christ on the Cross, up to his knees, his hands, side wound, breast, heart, and finally his face, at the start of each canto, playing on the word salve as, simultaneously, a greeting to Christ’s body, an exhortation for salvation, and a demand for cure. Throughout, Christ’s broken limbs are hailed as the “pious medicine” that “heals completely” by washing the singer “in [his] blood.”[3]

In the earliest manuscript (L01) and in some others (L08, 20, 40), the hymn cycle was accompanied by written indulgences, meaning the readers could expect forgiveness of sin as a consequence of meditation on (or recitation of) these words. The popes associated with these indulgences (Leo IX, Urban V) were usually deceased when the manuscripts were produced, reflecting the Catholic practice of appealing to saints for intercession.

Albert Edward Bailey explained more about the hymn’s relationship to medieval meditation on the cross:

It harks back to the age in which the crucifix became an important instrument of devotion. Every monk had a crucifix in his cell and made it an object of intense concentration. In such an act the eye could not stay fixed on the total object, but must break it up into its component parts and follow them in fixed or regular patterns while the mind keeps pace to interpret the special significance of each. . . . Though the modern mind does not usually profit by the contemplation of suffering, the medieval mind did. Not only are there many poems akin to this one, but the European galleries are filled with pictures that spare us no single detail of the Saviour’s wounds. Nevertheless, there is valuable spiritual discipline to be derived from such contemplation.[4]

Some of the more romantic portions of the texts (some critics say “erotic”) have been minimized or omitted in successive translations into German and English. These include words like amator (“lover”), osculis (“kisses”), or me agnosce pastor bone, cujus sumpsi mel ex ore, haustum lactis cum dulcore (“Acknowledge me, good shepherd, from whose mouth I eat honey and drink sweet milk”). The romanticism is at least partly why the text was often ascribed to Bernard, because the language is reflective of his sermons on the Song of Songs, but this kind of language comes from the Bible text itself and the common allegorical/prophetic interpretation of Christ as the lover/bridegroom, which was not unique to Bernard. Notable examples from Scripture include “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine” (Song of Songs 1:2), or “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely” (2:14).

In monastic spirituality and contemplation, which started to blossom in the Middle Ages, this longing for the lover’s kiss is understood as an image of the spiritual and mystical colloquy between God and the Soul of man. In Bernard’s sermon on the Song of Songs, no. 2, he explained the spiritual interpretation of Song of Songs 1.2:

For his living, active word is to me a kiss, not indeed an adhering of the lips that can sometimes belie a union of hearts, but an unreserved infusion of joys, a revealing of mysteries, a marvellous and indistinguishable mingling of the divine light with the enlightened mind, which, joined in truth to God, is one spirit with him. . . .

A fertile kiss therefore, a marvel of stupendous self-abasement that is not a mere pressing of mouth upon mouth, it is the uniting of God with man. Normally the touch of lip on lip is the sign of the loving embrace of hearts, but this conjoining of natures brings together the human and divine, shows God reconciling “to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven.”[5]

See also the language in Numbers 12:6–8 of God speaking to Moses intimately/personally, “mouth to mouth,” or Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” In his sermon no. 61, Bernard explained the equivalence of the cleft of the rock with the wounds of Christ:

Another writer [Gregory the Great] glosses this passage differently, seeing in the clefts of the rock the wounds of Christ. And quite correctly, for Christ is the rock. Good the clefts that strengthen our faith in the resurrection and the divinity of Christ. . . . Within them “the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young”; in them the dove finds safety and fearlessly watches the circling hawk. This is why he says, “My dove in the clefts of the rock.” . . .

They pierced his hands and his feet, they gored his side with a lance, and through these fissures I can suck honey from the rock and oil from flinty stone—I can taste and see that the Lord is good. . . .

What an abundance of grace is here, what fulness of grace, what perfection of virtue! I will go then to these storerooms so richly endowed, taking the prophet’s advice I shall leave the cities and dwell in the rock. I shall be as the dove nesting in the highest point of the cleft, so that like Moses in his cleft of the rock I may be able to see at least the back of the Lord as he passes by.[6]

Some of Bernard’s commentary on the cleft of the rock continues in sermon 62. Sheryl Frances Chen, a member of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, connected the devotion to the wounds, especially to the heart, to some later movements and writers:

This entrance into the wounds, the exchange of hearts, the union of savior and sinner, are commonplace in the literature of devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Cistercians had a particular influence in spreading devotion to the Passion and to the wounds sustained by Jesus’ human body, centuries before Saint Margaret Mary and the cult of the Sacred Heart come to the fore.

Another Cistercian, William of Saint-Thierry, considers the wound in Christ’s side to be the door through which he can enter Christ’s heart, the ark of the new covenant. In his tract On Contemplating God, he writes:

I want to see and touch the whole of him and—what is more—to approach the most holy wound in his side, the portal of the ark that is there made, and that not only to put my finger or my whole hand into it, but wholly enter into Jesus’ very heart, into the holy of holies, the ark of the covenant.

The image of the Heart of Jesus as an ark, and of the wound in his side as an opened doorway, seems to be characteristic of twelfth century cistercian authors. It is a double image: the ark of the covenant as a symbol of God’s presence and the meeting place of the human and the divine, and the ark as a refuge, the place of safety which saves from the flood of judgment. This image of the ark prefigures the exchange of hearts discussed below: both are symbols of the experience of the most intimate entrance and union.[7]

The hymn to the face (ad faciem/vultum) is sometimes described as a meditation on Matthew 27:29–44.

Swiss-American scholar Philip Schaff (1819–1893) aptly described the legacy of the hymn(s), especially in the way the final portion (“Salve caput cruentatum”) has been venerated and translated across languages and cultures, even beyond what he described here:

This classical hymn has shown an imperishable vitality in passing from the Latin into the German, and from the German into the English, and proclaiming in three tongues, and in the name of three confessions—the Catholic, the Lutheran, and the Reformed—with equal effect, the dying love of our Saviour, and our boundless indebtedness to him.[8]

III. Additional Considerations

The hymn cycle was not adopted into the Catholic liturgy, having been used mostly for devotional purposes rather than sung purposes, so no chant tunes are associated with these texts. Danish-German composer Dietrich Buxtehude (1637–1707) famously set all seven Latin texts as a cantata, Membra Jesu Nostri (BuxWV75), in 1680.

German translations from the Latin started to appear as early as 1393 (“Gott grüße dich alle welt heil,” Zentralbibliothek Zürich, Ms. A 131, fols. 132r–137r), often credited to Bernard and based on the Latin version beginning “Salve mundi salutare” with parts 5 and 6 combined. In the 15th century, at least three different German translations were in circulation, and one in Dutch. One common translation, “Der Welt heiland, nimm mein Grüezen” (“Savior of the world, accept my greetings”), dates from the middle of the 15th century and appeared in a critical edition by Philipp Wackernagel (1867).

For a related list of manuscript examples translated into German and Dutch, see this page.

English translations are typically limited to select portions of the cycle, especially the seventh, and therefore no complete translation (either literal or metrical) was available for consultation. For a variety of 19th-century English translations from various portions of the Latin, see James Mearns (1892). Most English translations have come through the German translation by Paul Gerhardt, especially “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.” See that page for the German text and English translations based on it, along with the associated German tune, HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN (PASSION CHORALE).

For a parallel presentation of Latin, English, and German (Gerhardt), see this website.

IV. Latin Manuscripts

The manuscripts listed below are given in approximate chronological order, but the exact sequence of transmission is difficult to determine, as some manuscripts cannot be dated with certainty or were compiled over an unknown period of time. This list represents the best possible attempt to locate all surviving manuscripts, plus some notable early printed editions. Some manuscripts previously identified by other scholars in the nineteenth century, especially F.J. Mone (1853) and James Mearns (1892), are named here but could not be located by the present editors.

L01. Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (KBR), Bruxelles, MS 4459–70, fols. 150r–152v (1320)

The earliest surviving manuscript, dated 1320, is held at the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Bruxelles (Brussels), Belgium, MS 4459–70, fols. 150r–152v (Fig. L01). This text is headed “Oratio, quam fecit domnus Arnulphus de Lovanio, quintus decimus abbas Villariensis” (“A prayer produced by Arnulf of Leuven, fifteenth abbot of Villers”). Arnulf served as abbott of Villers, Belgium, from 1240 to 1250, so this manuscript is only 70 years and 37 kilometers removed from being a contemporary testament to his authorship, assuming the ascription is correct.

MS 4459–70 was assembled at Villers by John of St. Trond but intended to be used by (or in cooperation with) the women of the Cistercian abbey at Vrouwenpark (Zisterzienserinnenabtei Vrouwenpark), which was ten kilometers to the north. Historian Sara Ritchey described how the men of Villers had a high regard for the intercessory prayer of the women at Vrouwenpark:

The performance of prayer undertaken by the women under their care mattered deeply to the Cistercians of Villers. A desire to be included in the prayer life of the women of Vrouwenpark might explain the inclusion of an excerpt from the chronicle of Villers. The monks of Villers wished to connect their illustrious past with the present prayer practice of the women under their patrimony. These men not only found spiritual comfort in their friendships with Cistercian nuns and other religious women, they also perceived salvation as depending on the women’s highly efficacious prayers. Their prayers “expelled sin,” “gladdened the heart,” and “made peace between body and soul.” The Villers monks considered themselves as beneficiaries of this transformative prayer.[9]

The codex was copied by 17 different hands but each section was written around the same time, assembled in a cooperative effort. According to Ritchey, the manuscript, in spite of being made by many hands, has an internal consistency of material and purpose.

In addition to the Lives [“liégeois Lives,” or hagiographies] of living saints, the manuscript presents descriptions of mystical experiences, healing prayers and hymns, indulgences, benedictions, spiritual letters, and a papal bull. Nearly all the texts are efficacious insofar as they either provide ritual words to effect change, offer theological explanations for physical and spiritual transformation, or demonstrate through narrative the power of words.[10]

The prayer-hymn of Arnulf has seven sections, including the feet (beginning “Salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). This text was accompanied by a pair of related hymns, a visceral illustration of the bleeding wound, and an indulgence for the forgiveness of sin:

“Whoever daily looks here in memory of the Passion and arms of Jesus Christ will receive forty days of indulgence granted by Pope Leo.” The indulgence acted as a guarantee of effect, an assurance that the viewer who meditated with Arnulf’s carmina, chanted the two hymns, and gazed at the side wound and arma Christi illustrations would in fact be transformed into one freed from sin, the recipient of grace, and healed. Through the specular, gestic, and verbal performance of this text, peoples’ sins were forgiven and they were healed, a result in which both senses of salvus are manifest. Thus the “medicine of Christ” referred to in Arnulf’s song was no mere metaphor. The book itself was the bleeding wound of Christ that healed its handlers.[11]

The appeal is most likely in reference to Pope Leo IX (fl. 1049–1054), who presided over the Great Schism of 1054 and was canonized as a saint in 1082.

L01. Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, MS 4459–70, fols. 150r–152v (1320).

The manuscript was transcribed in Dreves & Blume, Ein Jahrtausand lateinischer Hymnendichtung, vol. 1 (1909), with a brief introduction to Arnulf, except the editors omitted the sections for pectus and cor, and they mislabeled the section for the face (ad vultus). They also did not transcribe the ancillary texts. This edition, therefore, is unreliable.

L02. Kloster Lichtenthal, Baden-Baden (14th century)

Sources in the 19th century described a manuscript at the Kloster Lichtenthal (Baden-Baden, Germany) of the 14th century, containing only two sections, feet and knees. The shelfmark for this manuscript was not identified and its current location could not be confirmed by the present editor. For the manuscript catalog of this place, see Felix Heinzer, Die Handschriften von Lichtenthal (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1987).

L03. Ratsbücherei Lüneburg, MS Theol. 4° 54, fols. 41r–46r (14th century)

A Franciscan codex of the 14th century. The text is prefaced by a brief statement, “Here begins the lament of Bernard.” This example contains the hymn to the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”); the knees, except here it is headed ad crucifixi; the hands; the side, unusually scripted with the typical opening lines “Salve Jesu summe bonus” providing the tail end of the previous hymn, whereas the header sets the text “Salve latus salvatoris”; the hymns to the chest (“Salve, salve mea Deus”) and heart (“Summi regis cor aveto”) are present but are not delineated with their own header; the hymn to the face is labeled ad vultum crucifixi and begins “Salve Jesu reverende.” The hymn ends with a red indicator for a collect (prayer).

L03. Ratsbücherei Lüneburg, MS Theol. 4° 54, fols. 41r–46r (14th century).
   

L04. Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Hs I 337, fols. 63r–64v (14th century)

This is the earliest of two manuscripts at Stadtbibliothek Mainz mentioned by F.J. Mone (1853), formerly known as Karth. No. 599, now cataloged as Hs I 337. It was produced at a Carthusian monastery/charterhouse at Mainz, Kartäuserkloster St. Michael, which was founded in 1320, disbanded in 1781, and destroyed by 1792. Some additional manuscripts from St. Michael are held at the Bodleian Library (online), Oxford, but those do not appear to contain the hymn.

In this manuscript, the text does not appear to be credited to any author. The hymns are not delineated by headings, being inscribed continuously, but this example includes hymns for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, and hands. The text is unfortunately incomplete, interrupted on the next page (65r) by the hymn “Ave vivens hostia.”

L04. Stadtbibliothek, Mainz, Hs I 337, fols. 63r–64v (14th century).

L05a. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2242, fols. 23v–28v (14th century)

Text begins “Salve mundi salutare” and appears in the same MS codex as L05b below. [Images not yet requested]

L05b. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2242, fols. 84v–87r (14th century)

This manuscript previously belonged to the Carthusian Kartause St. Barbara, Köln, Germany, but it was originally produced in Utrecht, the Netherlands, by multiple hands. This example includes all seven hymns, for feet (“salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). The marginal headings appear to have been added later by another hand. The next hymn immediately following in the codex is the famous “Stabat mater dolorosa.”

L05b. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2242, fols. 84v–87r (14th century).

L06. Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Toruniu, Poland, MS 100, fols. 11v–15r (1375–1400)

This codex is known as the “Modlitewnik biskupa chełmińskiego” (Prayer book of the bishop of Chełmno), written by Wikbold Dobilstein (1312–1400). In this example, the text is attributed to Bernard and it begins “Salve meum salutare.” [Not yet requested. https://www.bu.umk.pl/web/eng/availability-services]

L07. Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, Best. 7008 (GB octav) 8, fols. 26r–31r (ca. 1420)

This manuscript was previously held in the Gymnasialbibliothek (GB) Köln, but it originally belonged to the Fratres Sancte Crucis in Colonia (Die Kölner Kreuzbrüder, Brothers of the Holy Cross, Köln), which functioned in Köln from 1305 to the first decade of the 19th century. The codex is constructed in two main sections, the first section (fols. 2–71) dating to the first third of the 15th century, with folios 3 to 55 in particular dating to ca. 1420.

In this instance, the text is credited to Bernard. It contains sections for the feet (“Salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (50 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). This represents an early attempt to expand the hymn ad pectus from 10 to 50 lines, with additional stanzas beginning “Vere reverendum pectus.” These additional stanzas are rare, repeated only in Mainz Hs II 247 below (L12).

L07. Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, Best. 7008 (GB octav) 8, fols. 26r–31r (ca. 1420).

L08. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Latin 1196, fols. 465v–468v (ca. 1401–1425)

In the BNF library catalog, this manuscript is described as being produced in the first quarter of the 15th century (1401–1425). The heading for this hymn, naming “Urbanus,” is credited as an indulgence from Pope Urban V (fl. 1362–1370). The name of Pope Clement VI (fl. 1342–1352) also appears in the codex. The inclusion of these names serve as posthumous appeals to departed saints and likely do not reflect an actual imprimatur from a living pope. As such, the dating of the manuscript is considered to be post facto rather than contemporary to these persons.

This example includes hymns for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”), but the sections are not delineated, the text is presented as one continuous work. The text is not ascribed to any author.

L08. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Latin 1196, fols. 465v–468v (ca. 1401–1425).

L09. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2273, fols. 126v–130r (1436)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. Unusual order of parts. [Not yet requested]

L10. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 519, pp. 40–45 (15th cen., before 1439)

This codex was written by multiple hands. An unknown portion of the manuscript was written by Hieronymus von Brünn, whose name appears on a leaf at the end. In this example, the sections are not easily distinguished, with the text running together continuously, without headings, but it contains hymns for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), and heart, but not the face. The text here is credited to Bernard.

L10. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 519, pp. 40–45 (15th century).

L11. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 473, pp. 56–59 (before 1458)

Codex 473 in Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Switzerland, contains five fascicles (five separate gatherings of material), the first of which, dating before 1458, contains the hymn cycle on pages 56 to 59. The text is credited to Bernard. It contains hymns for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (only 10 lines), heart, and face, the latter beginning “Salve Jesu reverende.”

L11. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 473, pp. 56–59 (before 1458).

L12. Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Hs II 247, fols. 68r–81v (15th century)

This manuscript was described by F.J. Mone (1853) as Mainz Aug. 439; it is now cataloged as Stadtbibliothek Mainz Hs II 247. It was formerly held by the Bibliotheca Conventus Moguntini Ordinis Fratrum Eremitarum Sancti Augustini (Mainz, Germany). It is beautifully illuminated. It is not ascribed to any author. This example contains the hymn to the feet (“Salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (extended to 50 lines), heart, a section labeled “Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum,” etc. (“Salutation to every suffering part”), beginning “Jesu dulcis pastor pie,” a hymn to the face (“Salve Jesu reverende”), and another hymn labeled “Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum Christi,” this time beginning “Salve, salve Jesu pie.” The lines “Jesu dulcis pastor pie,” etc., appear in some later manuscripts and editions as the second or third full stanza (counting in sets of 10) of the hymn ad pectus. Like the Köln Hs. Best. 7008 8 above (L07), the additional stanzas for the hymn ad pectus begin “Vere reverendum pectus,” which are not common in later manuscripts. This is one of the longest texts among all the manuscripts.

L12. Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Hs II 247, fols. 68r–81v (15th century).

L13. Fürstlich Leiningensche Archiv, Amorbach (15th century)

F.J. Mone (1853), described an unnumbered manuscript of the 15th century in the Fürstlich Leiningensche Archiv, Amorbach, Germany, headed “Orationes Bonaventurae ad salutandum quinque vulnera Christi” (“Prayer of Bonaventura, on saluting the five wounds of Christ”). The heading illustrates early confusion over authorship and a reduction to five parts. Unfortunately, according to the current staff of this library, “The manuscript described is no longer in the library in Amorbach, because the stock was sold in the middle of the 19th century.”[12] The location of this manuscript is presently unknown.

L14. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 485, pp. 113–117 (15th century)

This codex was probably produced at St. Gallen, it contains multiple hands, and it is a compilation of material gathered over an unspecified period of time in the 15th century. The portion represented here seems to have been written by a person named Famulus Ludvicus (his name is given on page 95). In this example, the hymn cycle is credited to Bernard, and it contains hymns for only four parts: the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands (beginning “Manus sanctae vos auete,” p. 116), and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). The handwriting and layout of this manuscript are particularly difficult to decipher.

L14. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 485, pp. 113–117 (15th century).

L15. Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal (BNF), Paris, Latin MS 858, fols. 37r–45r (15th century)

In this manuscript, the text is credited to Bernard, and it begins “Salve meum salutare.” All seven hymns are present. The hymn ad pectus has 10 lines, and the hymn ad vultum Domini begins “Salve Jesu reverende.” The library staff were unable to facilitate digital images of the entire text, owing to the fragile condition of the codex, but conservator Anne-Bérangère Rothenburger supplied the following comments, 26 May 2021:

For the style of our Ms 858, it seems to have been written in the XVth century. A former colleague of mine considered it from a Flemish hand, which is very consistent with the origin of the manuscript in a monastery near Utrecht, and the name of the very careful copyist, “Orate Deum pro scriptore hujus libelli, fratre Johanne Wuilhelmi de Leydis.” If you consider the general look of the manuscript, the nearest other copies are St. Gallen Codex 482 (1475) and Freiburg Hs. 91 (ca. 1486).

L16. Stadtbibliothek Dessau, BB Hs. 3613, fols. 193v–196v (15th century)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested. Order online from Harald Fischer Verlag]

L17. Kloster Ebstorf, Hs. IV 18, fols. 236v–240r (15th century)

This is a miniature codex containing texts in Latin and German. The hymn cycle has no prefatory heading. It begins with the hymn to the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), a variant of the hymn to the knees beginning “Salve dives rex caelorum,” the hymn to the hands, and a hymn to the face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). The manuscripts of Kloster Ebstorf are currently managed by the Lüneburger Klosterarchive, Kloster Wienhausen, Germany.

L18. Universitätsbibliothek Basel, A XI 72, fols. 111r–114r (15th century)

According to the catalog description, this is a “composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, written by various 15th century hands.” The hymn cycle is part of a larger section in the manuscript from 81r to 154r inscribed by the same hand. This version includes headings for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”), except here, the 10-line hymn ad pectus is combined with the text ad cor, presented as one continuous hymn.

L18. Universitätsbibliothek Basel, A XI 72, fols. 111r–114r (15th century).

L19. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München, Clm 10125, fols. 76r–89v (Middle 15th century)

[Not yet requested]

L20. Kloster Ebstorf, Hs. IV 17, fols. 70r–82v (ca. 1450–1499)

This manuscript is from the Kloster Ebstorf, probably created there, but the codex is currently managed by the Lüneburger Klosterarchive, Kloster Wienhausen, Germany. The codex dates to the second half of the 15th century; the paper bears a watermark traceable to ca. 1459–1462. In this example, the text is credited to Bernard and it includes an indulgence from Pope Urban V (fl. 1362–1370). This example is unusual in the way it begins “Salve dives rex caelorum,” which is a variant of the hymn to the knees, then it has the feet (“Salve meum salutare”), side, chest and heart combined, hands, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). The script is exceptionally large, with thick strokes, and in some places, what appears to be water damage has caused the ink to bleed such that the text is difficult to read. The Kloster has not allowed the pages to be reproduced here, so only a sample is shown below.

L21. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, HM 1249, fols. 28r–35r (ca. 1450–1499)

The text begins “Salve meum salutare.” Described as being originally from the Netherlands, second half of 15th century. It was formerly in the possession of an American banker, Beverly Chew (1850–1924), acquired by the library in 1912. [Images not yet requested]

L22. Universitätsbibliothek München, oct. Cod. Ms. 270, fols. 20v–25v (ca. 1450–1499)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Images not yet requested]

L23. Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar, Oct 61, fols. 91r–96r (ca. 1450–1499)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L24. Universitätsbibliothek Eichstätt, Cod. st 112, fols. 42v–46v (ca. 1450–1499)

Includes the variant “Salve dives rex caelorum,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L25. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. Magdeburgica 19, fols. 80r–81r (1459–1460)

This manuscript was produced in Leipzig. The text begins “Salve mundi salutare.” [Not yet requested]

L26. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 521, fols. 77v–79r (ca. 1460–1478)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L27. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB), München, Clm 3702, fols. 94v–98v (1468–1469)

This codex is from the Swabian region of Germany, written in five distinct hands. The folios for the hymns belong to the first hand/grouping, 1r–201v. The first grouping contains two dates, 1468 (19v) and 1469 (84v). The stamps on the binding can be dated to a workshop in Southern Germany between 1473 and 1508.

In this example, the text is headed “Predulcis laus et oratio de passionem dominum” (“Sweet praise and prayer regarding the passion of our Lord”), not credited to any author. The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. and is presented continuously without breaks, but it also contains the hymns for the knees (at 94v), hands (96r), side (96v), chest (10 lines, at 97r), heart (97v), and face (“Salve Jesu reverende,” at 98r). This manuscript thus follows the basic traditional structure.

L27. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB), München, Clm 3702, fols. 94v–98v (1468–1469).
   

L28. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1228, fols. 69r–74r (1470)

A codex from the Karthause Wesel. The text begins “Salve mundi salutare.” [Not yet requested]

L29. Universitetsbibliotek, Uppsala, C 455, fols. 89r–92v (1471?)

A Swedish codex. The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L30. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 482, pp. 313–328 (1475)

Codex 482 was produced by a monk known as Gallus Kemli (1417–1482), who spent much of his life at the Kloster St. Gallen. After a dispute with the abbot in 1470, he left for while, and compiled most of this codex while at Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, in 1475. This version of the Latin hymn cycle, credited here to Bernard, contains sections for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (40 lines), heart, an uncommon section for the ears (“Ad aures”), and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). The manuscript appears to be missing a page, omitting the last five stanzas of the final hymn.

L30. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 482, pp. 313–328 (1475).

L31. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 18, fols. 1v–9v (1475)

Little is known about the origins of this codex, except it was made by a German hand, and it is dated 1475 internally. Important information was likely lost or destroyed when the binding was replaced. This example contains all seven hymns. The headings here are unique, labeled according to the daily pattern of monastic prayers (office hours). For the hymn to the feet, which begins “Salve meum salutare,” the heading is “Ad matutinum” (“at early-morning”). The hymn to the knees is labeled “Ad primas” (“at first [hour],” sunrise); then the hands, “Ad trias” (“at the third [hour],” or 9:00); then the side, “Ad sextam” (“at the sixth [hour],” 12:00). The next hymn, “Ad nonum” (“at the ninth [hour],” 3:00), represents a combination of the 10-line hymn ad pectus plus the full hymn ad cor. The following section, “Ad vesperam” (“at vespers”) contains the spurious stanzas “Salve, salve Jesu pie / Fili Dei et mariae,” etc., which appear also in the later Freiburg Hs. 91 and its printed version, the Antidotarius Animae, where they are headed “Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum,” etc. (“Salutation to every suffering part,” etc.). The last section in Hs. 18 is labeled “Ad completorium” (“at compline”) and contains the traditional hymn to the face, “Salve Jesu reverende.” At the end of the cycle, after the Amen, is the line “Explicit plancta beati Bernhardi” (“the lament of blessed/saint Bernard has been unfolded/set forth”).

L31. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 18, fols. 1v–9v (1475).

L32. Universitätsbibliothek München, oct. Cod. ms. 212, fols. 104r–110v (ca. 1475–1499)

The text begins “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L33. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 521, pp. 137–151 (late 15th century)

In this example, the hymn cycle is credited to Bernard. It has sections for the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). In this instance, the hymn to the chest is actually a combination of the ten-line version ad pectus as seen in other copies plus the hymn ad cor (beginning “Summi regis cor aveto”), not delineated as a separate section, treated as a singular hymn.

L33. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 521, pp. 137–151 (late 15th century).

L34. Domarchiv (Archiwum Archidiecezjalne i Biblioteka Kapitulna), Codex 15, Wroclaw (Breslau), fols. 202r–205r (1484)

“Salve mundi salutare.” Ms of unknown provenance. [Not yet requested]

L35. Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Mc 158, fols. 267v–275v (1484)

A codex from the Dominikanerkloster Schwäbisch Gmünd. “Salve mundi salutare,” etc. [Not yet requested]

L36–37. Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg, Hs 91, fols. 89r–92v (ca. 1486)

This manuscript dating to the end of the 15th century (ca. 1486) was made by Nicolaus de Saliceto when he was abbot of the Abbaye Baumgarten, Bernardvillé, France, 1482–1493. This copy contains the sections for feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (40 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverende”), plus an extra section, “Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum Christi Domini nostri” (“Salutation to every suffering part of our Lord Christ”). The prefatory heading (starting at the bottom of folio 89r) credits the hymn to “Bernardi Abbatis Clarevallensis” (Bernard Abbot of Clairvaux). A version of this manuscript also appeared in print (L37). These two sources contain the earliest known appearances of the text “Salve caput cruentatum.”

L36. Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg, Hs. 91, fols. 89r–92v (ca. 1486).

The Freiburg MS was published with the title Antidotarius Animae in several editions from 1489 to 1500. Like the manuscript, this printed copy contains the sections for feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart, and face, plus the extra section, “Salutatio ad dolores singulorum membrorum Christi Domini nostri,” and the hymn cycle is credited to Bernard. For further study of the variant editions of Antidotarius Animae, see Michal Spandowski (2014).

L37. Liber Meditationum ac Orationum Deuotarum qui Anthidotarius Anime Dicitur (ca. 1491–1493), scanned from Fondo Bibliográfico de Abanca (Biblioteca de Galicia).

L38. Opuscula Diui Bernardi Abbatis Clareuallensis (1495)

An early edition of the works of Bernard, Opuscula Diui Bernardi Abbatis Clareuallensis (1495), included this hymn cycle. The version printed here includes the feet (“Salve mundi salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, and “ad totum corpus” (the whole body), except this last one is the hymn for the face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). In this example, the indentation is not consistently rendered to show sets of five lines.

L38. Opuscula Diui Bernardi Abbatis Clareuallensis (1495), scanned from Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.

L39. Anholt (Kreis Borken), Fürstlich Salm-Salmsche Bibliothek (Museum Wasserburg), Hs 6342, fols. 28v–30v (ca. 1500)

Codex described in Handschriftenarchiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Kasten 3 [Box 3]. The text begins “Salve mundi salutare” and is credited to Bernard.

L40. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1109, fols. 93v–99r (1518)

A manuscript from the former Kartause St. Barbara, Köln, Germany. The codex contains the work of Carthusian librarian Georg Garnefeld and headmaster Hermann Appeldorn. The text is attributed to Bernard. The format is unusual, presented in two columns, written transversely. The way the codex is bound, some of the text near the interior gutter has been obscured or destroyed. This example contains seven sections, for the feet (“Salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, and face (“Salve Jesu reverendum”). At the end is an indulgence from Pope Urban V (fl. 1362–1370).

L40. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1109, fols. 93v–99r (1518).

L41. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1997, fols. 45r–47r (1529)

This codex formerly belonged to the Kapuzinerkloster in Bensheim, a monastery founded in 1628 by a Capuchin branch of the Franciscan order, which closed in 1802 and was later revived in 1919. It was originally created in Mainz. In this example, the hymns were written continuously without delineation of the various sections, but it contains the hymns for the feet (“Salve meum salutare”), knees, hands, side, chest (10 lines), heart, the spurious stanzas beginning “Salve salve Jesu pie / Fili Dei et Mariae,” and the hymn for the face (“Salve Jesu reverende”). Notice especially the note at the end of the text, Explicit in die sancti Blasii martiris anno 1529 (“Set forth on the day of St. Blaise the martyr, year 1529”), which would refer to the feast day of 3 February 1529.

L41. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1997, fols. 45r–47r (1529).

L42. Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, Ms.0.158, fols. 9–17 (16th century)

[Digitization request submitted via email 30 Apr. 2021]

L43. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. germ. oct. 361, fols. 248r–260r (1558–1559?)

Devotional book for nuns, Swabian. [Not yet requested]

L44. Divi Bernardi Clarevallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (1566)

In an edition of Bernard’s works published in Paris in 1566, the cycle had been expanded to feature 50 lines in each of the seven parts. The first five lines of “Salve Jesu reverende,” ad faciem, were moved into the position of lines 21–25 ad pectus, with a new half-stanza at 26–30 beginning “Pectus mihi confer mundum.” In place of “Salve Jesu reverende,” etc. ad faciem were five new lines beginning “Salve caput cruentatum.” The basis for this editorial decision or authorship of these lines is unclear, because this construction has not been found in any previous manuscripts or editions.

L44. Divi Bernardi Clarevallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (Paris: Gulielmum Merlin, 1566).

L45. Divi Bernardi Clarævallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (1609)

The Latin text in this edition (also published in Paris) is sometimes cited as the model for Paul Gerhardt’s metrical translations, especially “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.” Like the Paris edition of 1566, this version features 50 lines for each hymn.

L45. Divi Bernardi Clarævallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (Antwerp: Iohannem Keerbergium, 1609).

L46. Psalterium Beatae Mariae Virginis (1607, 1622)

The hymn cycle appeared in some late editions of Psalterium Beatae Mariae Virginis, a collection attributed to Bonaventura (1221–1274), including editions at Leodii (1607) and Antwerp (1622). The collection itself had been in print since about 1473 in various forms. The earliest editions contain only a few dozen pages and do not contain the Membra Jesu Nostri, while in these two later editions, the text is credited to Bernard (“Rhythmica oratio sancti Bernardi,” etc.). In the Antwerp edition, each of the seven hymns was followed by a supplementary prayer. Some scholars have presumed Paul Gerhardt translated his hymns from an edition of Bernard’s Opera Omnia (as in 1609), but the hymns had also circulated via this pseudo-Bonaventura publication.

L46. Psalterium Beatae Mariae Virginis (Antwerp, 1622)

by CHRIS FENNER
and DICK WURSTEN
for Hymnology Archive
5 August 2021

See also:

Membra Jesu Nostri deutsche

O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

Footnotes:

1. George Faithful, “Arnulf of Leuven—Salve Mundi Salutare,” Medieval Histories (14 Apr. 2017): https://www.medieval.eu/arnulf-leuven-salve-mundi-salutare/; summarized from his article in Church History (2013), listed below (see especially pp. 787–788). See also Caroline Walker Bynum, Wonderful Blood: Theology and Practice in Late Medieval Northern Germany and Beyond (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007), pp. 1–21; Bettina Bildhauer, Medieval Blood (Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press, 2006), p. 14.

2. George Faithful, “A more brotherly song, a less passionate Passion: Abstraction and ecumenism in the translation of the hymn “O sacred head now wounded” from bloodier antecedents,” Church History, vol. 82, no. 4 (December 2013), pp. 787–788: Cambridge

3. Sara Ritchey, “Saints’ Lives as Efficacious Texts,” Speculum, vol. 92, no. 4 (October 2017), pp. 1104, 1132: JSTOR

4. Albert Edward Bailey, “Salve caput cruentatum,” The Gospel in Hymns (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950), pp. 274–275.

5. Translated by Kilian Walsh, “Sermon 2: Various meanings of the kiss,” On the Song of Songs I (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977), pp. 9–10, from the Latin edition by Jean Leclercq et al., Sermones super cantica canticorum (Rome: Cistercienses, 1957); see also Heb. 4:12, 1 Cor. 6:17, Col. 1:20.

6. Translated by Kilian Walsh, “Sermon Sixty-One: Thoughts on the expression ‘My dove in the clefts of the rock,’” On the Song of Songs III (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1979), pp. 142–144, from the Latin edition by Jean Leclercq et al., Sermones super cantica canticorum (Rome: Cistercienses, 1958); see also 1 Cor. 10:4, Ps. 84:3, Ps. 22:16, Jn. 19:34, Deut. 32:13, Ps. 34:8, Jer. 48:28, Ex. 33:22–23.

7. Sheryl Frances Chen, “Bernard’s Prayer Before the Crucifix,” Cistercian Studies Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1 (Jan. 1994), pp. 42–43; quoting De Contemplando Deo in William of Saint-Thierry, The Works, Vol. 1, CF 3 (Spencer: Cistercian, 1971), p. 38.

8. Philip Schaff, “O sacred head! now wounded,” Christ in Song (NY: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1868), p. 178: Archive.org

9. Sara Ritchey, “Saints’ Lives as Efficacious Texts,” Speculum, vol. 92, no. 4 (October 2017), p. 1137: JSTOR

10. Sara Ritchey, “Saints’ Lives as Efficacious Texts,” Speculum, vol. 92, no. 4 (October 2017), p. 1129: JSTOR

11. Sara Ritchey, “Saints’ Lives as Efficacious Texts,” Speculum, vol. 92, no. 4 (October 2017), p. 1134: JSTOR

12. Email to Chris Fenner from Birgit Wagner, Fürstlich Leiningensche Verwaltung (22 April 2021).

Related Resources:

Arnulf of Leuven

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS Theol. Lat. Qu. 195 (Sara Ritchey, p. 1107: “This manuscript contains the Life of Arnulf of Villers, verses composed for Arnulf as well as those for Abbot William of Villers, and the Life of the recluse Margaret of Magdeburg”).

Jean Noël abbé Paquot, “Arnold de Louvain,” Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire littéraire des dix-sept provinces des Pays-Bas, vol. 16 (Louvain: Imprimerie académique, 1769), pp. 52–58: HathiTrust

F. Hennebert, “Arnould de Louvain,” Biographie Nationale, vol. 1 (Bruxelles: H. Thiry van Buggenhoudt, 1866), p. 469: HathiTrust

Edouard de Moreau, L’Abbaye de Villers-en-Brabant aux XIIe et XIIIe siècle: Étude d’histoire religieuse et économique, suivie d’une notice archéologique par le Chanoine R. Maere (Brussels, 1909).

Latin Text: Manuscripts

Manuscripta Mediaevalia [catalog of examples, mostly German libraries]: http://www.manuscripta-mediaevalia.de/

L01. Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (KBR), Bruxelles, MS 4459–70: KBR Catalog

L02. Kloster Lichtenthal, Baden-Baden (14th cen.); see Felix Heinzer, Die Handschriften von Lichtenthal (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1987).

L03. Ratsbücherei Lüneburg, MS Theol. 4° 54 (14th cen.): Images

L04. Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Hs I 337 (14th cen.): Catalog

L05. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2242 (14th cen.): Website | Catalog

L06. Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Toruniu, Poland, MS 100 (1375–1400): Website ; see also Marta Czyzak & Arkadiusz Wagner, “Odnaleziony Modlitewnik Biskupa Chełmińskiego” (“Recovered Prayer Book of the Bishop of Chełmno”), Zapiski Historyczne, vol. 78, no. 2 (2013), pp. 99–116: PDF

L07. Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln, Best. 7008 (GB octav) 8 (15th cen.): Catalog

L08. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Latin 1196 (ca. 1401–1425): Images

L09. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 2273 (1436): Website | Catalog

L10–11. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 519, 473 (15th cen.): Website | Catalog (PDF)

L12. Stadtbibliothek Mainz, Hs II 247 (15th cen.): Website

L13. Fürstlich Leiningensche Archiv, Amorbach (15th cen.); see F.J. Mone, Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters, vol. 1 (1853), pp. 162–172: HathiTrust

L14. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 485 (15th cen.): Website | Catalog (PDF)

L15. Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal (BNF), Paris, Latin MS 858 (15th cen.): Catalog

L16. Stadtbibliothek Dessau, BB Hs. 3613 (15th cen.): Catalog 1 | Catalog 2

L17. Kloster Ebstorf, Hs. IV 18 (15th cen.): Website | Catalog

L18. Universitätsbibliothek Basel, A XI 72 (15th cen.): Images

L19. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB), München, Clm 10125 (Mid 15th cen.): Catalog 1 | Catalog 2

L20. Kloster Ebstorf, Hs. IV 17 (ca. 1450–1499): Website | Catalog

L21. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, HM 1249 (ca. 1450–1499): Catalog 1 | Catalog 2

L22. Universitätsbibliothek München, oct. Cod. Ms. 270 (ca. 1450–1499): Catalog 1 | Catalog 2

L23. Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar, Oct 61 (ca. 1450–1499): Website | Catalog

L24. Universitätsbibliothek Eichstätt, Cod. st 112 (ca. 1450–1499): Catalog

L25. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. Magdeburgica 19 (1459–1460): Website | Catalog

L26. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 521 (ca. 1460–1478): Website | Catalog

L27. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB), München, Clm 3702 (1468–1469): Catalog 1 | Catalog 2 | Images

L28. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1228 (1470): Website | Catalog

L29. Universitetsbibliotek, Uppsala, C 455 (1471?): Website | Catalog 1 | Catalog 2

L30. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 482 (1475): Website | Catalog (PDF)

L31. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 18 (1475): Website | Catalog

L32. Universitätsbibliothek München, oct. Cod. ms. 212 (ca. 1475–1499): Website | Catalog

L33. Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen, Codex 521 (late 15th cen.): Website | Catalog (PDF)

L34. Domarchiv (Archiwum Archidiecezjalne i Biblioteka Kapitulna), Codex 15, Wroclaw (Breslau) (1484): Website / Handschriftenarchiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Kasten 32 (Box 32): Website-Catalog

L35. Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Mc 158 (1484): Website | Catalog

L36. Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg, Hs 91 (ca. 1486): Catalog | Images

L37. Liber Meditationum ac Orationum Deuotarum qui Anthidotarius Anime Dicitur (ca. 1491–1493), Fondo Bibliográfico de Abanca (Biblioteca de Galicia): Images / Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Düsseldorf: Images

L39. Anholt (Kreis Borken), Fürstlich Salm-Salmsche Bibliothek, Hs 6342 (ca. 1500): Website / Handschriftenarchiv der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Kasten 3 [Box 3]: Website-Catalog

L40. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1109 (1518): Website | Catalog

L41. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt, Hs 1997 (1529): Website | Images

L42. Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg, Ms.0.158 (16th cen.): Catalog

L43. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ms. germ. oct. 361 (1558–1559?): Website | Catalog

Latin Text: Editions

L38. Opuscula Diui Bernardi Abbatis Clareuallensis (1495): Archive.org

L44. Divi Bernardi Clarevallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (Paris: Gulielmum Merlin, 1566): Archive.org

L45. Divi Bernardi Clarae Vallensis Abbatis Primi . . . Opera Omnia (Antwerp: Ioannem Keerbergium, 1609): Images

L46. Psalterium Beatae Mariae Virginis (Antwerp: 1622): Google Books

F.J. Mone, Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters, vol. 1 (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1853), pp. 162–172: HathiTrust

H.A. Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus (1855), vol. 1, pp. 232–233: HathiTrust; vol. 4, pp. 224–231: HathiTrust

J.P. Migne, ed.., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, vol. 184 (1862), cols. 1319–1324: HathiTrust

Philipp Wackernagel, Das deutsche Kirchenlied, vol. 1 (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1864), pp. 120–124: HathiTrust

St. Bonaventure’s Life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, with a free translation by Emily Mary Shapcote (NY: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1881), pp. 379–407: Archive.org

Godgeleerde Bijdragen, vol. 5 (Amsterdam: W. Brave Jr., 1881), p. 820: Google Books

Gustavus Milchsack, Hymni et Sequentiae (Lipsiae [Leipzig]: G. Drugulin, 1886), pp. 127–130: Archive.org

Guido Maria Dreves & Clemens Blume, “Arnulph von Löwen,” Ein Jahrtausend lateinischer Hymnendichtung, vol. 1 (Leipzig: O.R. Reisland, 1909), pp. 323–327: HathiTrust

Related Scholarship

James Mearns & John Julian, “Salve mundi salutare,” A Dictionary of Hymnology, ed. John Julian (London: J. Murray, 1892), pp. 989–991: HathiTrust

Albert Edward Bailey, “Salve caput cruentatum,” The Gospel in Hymns (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950), pp. 274–275.

Sheryl Frances Chen, “Bernard’s Prayer Before the Crucifix that Embraced Him: Cistercians and Devotion to the Wounds of Christ,” Cistercian Studies Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1 (Jan. 1994), pp. 23–54.

Suzan Folkerts, Voorbeeld op schrift: de overlevering en toe-eigening van de vita van Christina Mirabilis in de late middeleeuwen (Hilversum: Verloren, 2010), pp. 126–129, 266–270.

Michal Spandowski, “The Antidotarius Animae of Nicolaus de Saliceto as Published by Kaspar Hochfeder,” Polish Libraries, vol. 2 (2014), pp. 180–193: PDF

Sara Ritchey, “Saints’ Lives as Efficacious Texts: Cistercian Monks, Religious Women, and Curative Reading, c. 1250–1330,” Speculum, vol. 92, no. 4 (October 2017), p. 1101–1143: JSTOR

Dick Wursten, “Salve mundi salutare” [April 2023] [Parallel Latin–English–German]: https://dick.wursten.be/salvemundi-latin-english.html