the Fourth Week of Advent
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Bible Encyclopedias
Romanic Versions of the Holy Scriptures.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or Under this head we mention —
1. The French Versions. — As these versions have already been treated in this Cyclopoedia s.v. FRENCH VERSIONS, we add the following as supplement. Arthur Dinaux has the merit of having pointed towards the first translator of the Bible, viz. Herman de Valenciennes, born about 1100. He was a priest and canon, and his version, free as it is for the greater part, was of the greatest importance for that time. He undertook it under the protection of the empress Mathilde, wife of the German emperor Henry V, and daughter of Henry I of England. His Genesis is preserved in the Harleian Library, MS. 222, and his Livre de la Bible, or Histoire de Ancien et du Nouveau Testament en Vers, in the Imperial Library, MS. 7986. The assertion made by A. Paulin Paris, in his Manuscrits Francais de la Bibliotheque du Roi, that before the year 1170 no translation of any note had been made, and that Etienne de Hansa, or d'Ansa, of Lyons, was the first who undertook a work of this kind, has been proved erroneous by Arthur Dinaux; yet Paulin refers to Le Long and to a letter written by pope Innocent III to the bishop of Metz, published by Baluze, and translated into French by Le Roux de Lincy in his Introduction to the Ancienne Traduction des Quatre Livres de Roi (Paris, 1841). Although Herman de Valenciennes must be regarded as the first translator, the merits of itienne de Hansa, who undertook a translation at the request of Peter Valdo, are not diminished thereby in the least. Stienne's translation, preserved in MS. 7268 2.2, and belonging to the first half of the 13th century, is a work of great value concerning the language and the letters. A. Paulin Paris saw many copies of that MS., which in part must be regarded as a revision. A version of this kind belongs to the beginning of the 14th century, and to judge from its style, it must have been made in England. This version we find in MS. 6701, and the following specimen will best illustrate the difference between the translation of 1170 (7268 2.2.) and the version from the beginning of the 14th century (6701):
MS. 7268 2.2.
Mes li serpenz estoit li plus voiseus de toutes les choses qui ont ame et que Dame Dex* avoir fet. Et il dist a la feme: Por quoi vous a Dex commande que vos ne mengiez pas de tous les fuz de paradis (Genesis 3:1). MS. 6701.
Mes le serpent estoit plus coiut de tottes choses te terre que Dieu fist, lequel dit a la femme: Por quei vous comaunda Dieu que vous ne mengeasses de cheicun fust de paradis.
* Dame Dex means "Lord God." Dame is from the Latin dominus, and Dex (deus) is the ancient form for Dieu.
With regard to the translation of 1170, we only mention that Innocent III, not knowing its source, subjected it about the year 1200 to the censor, and many writers of the 13th century believed it to be a pernicious book. Its language bears the original Romanic stamp, and reminds one of the modern French. But it is striking that the translator, Etienne de Hansa, should be from Lyons. We may suppose that the northern French stamp of the translation of 1170, as we find it in the MS. 7268 2.2., for the greater part belongs to the copyist. A. Paulin Paris conjectures that the language of the MS. is the same as that which was used at Rheims or Sens in the 13th century. The translation of 1170 is known as that of the "Bible des Pauvres." Le Roux de Lincy pronounces the translation of the MS. 7268 2.2. an excellent one, although he believes it to have been made in the 13th century at the request of Louis the Saint. Etienne de Hansa's work is the more remarkable as it can be called with certainty the first which gives a correct and literal translation of the whole Bible. The MS. 6818 2 contains a second literal translation, the author of which, according to the investigations of scholars, especially of Aime Champollion, is said to have been Raoul de Presles. Le Roux de Lincy acquaints us also with translations of single parts of the Bible, the redaction of which he puts in the 12th century, while the MSS. belong to the 13th century. As such he mentions:
1. Les Quatres Litres du Rois; a MS. of which is in the Biblotheque Mazarin.
2. Les Psaumes; MS. 1152 bis Supplement Francais, 278 Latin, 7887 fonds Francais.
3. L'Apocalypse; MS. 7013.
An ancient French translation of single psalms is given by Karl Bartsch in his Chrestomathie de l‘ Ancient Francais (1872), according to Fr. Michel's Libri Psalmorum Versio Antiqua Gallica. The catalogue of A. Paulin Paris, Manuscrits Franc. de la Bibl. du Roi, contains also the following list of translations and comments:
1. Histoire de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, en Vers Monorimes; MS. 7268 2.
2. Traduction en Vers de la Bible; MS. 7268 3.3.
3. Histoire de l'Ancien Testament; MS. 7268 4.A.
4. Traduction en Vers du Psaume Latin "Domine, ne in furore."
5. Traduction des Psaumes; MS. 7295 5.5.
6. Commentaires sur les Psaumes, trad. d'un Ancien Texts Latin; MS. 7295 3.
7. Raisons de la Composition de Chacun des Psaumes; par Jehan de Blois:; MS. 7295 5.5.
8. Commentaire Perpetuel sur les Psaumes; MS. 7295 6.6.
9. Exposition du Psaume Latin "Miserere mei Deus."
According to Grä sse, two Augustinian monks, Julien Macho and Pierre Farget, translated a Latin Bible into the Romanic. A poetical version of the Bible, belonging to the 14th century, was left by Mace of Charite-sur- Loire, and in MS. 6818 3 an original copy of the Bible des Pauvres is preserved.
We give on the following page some specimens of different translations. The MSS. 72682-2- and 68183 are copies of one text, which differ only in non-essentials, while the MS. 6818 2 forms the basis of a separate version. In this supplementary article we have largely depended on Striimpell's Erssten Bibeliibersetzungen der Franzosen (Brunswick, 1872), who also gives the following specimens; for the rest belonging to the French versions we refer to the art. in loco.
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