Dimock, James F., ed., Magna Vita S. Hugonis Episcopi Lincolniensis. From Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and the Imperial Library, Paris. (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green (Rolls Series, No. 37), 1864). View Source Online

Text name(s): Magna Vita S. Hugonis Episcopi Lincolniensis

Number of pages of primary source text: 378

Medieval Author(s): Adam of Eynsham

Dates: 1135 - 1220

Archival Reference: Bodleian Library, Oxford (Digby 165); Imperial Library, Paris (Latin No. 5,575)

Original Language(s): Latin;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region: Lincoln

Apparatus: Index Glossary

Comments:

This volume contains the Life of St. Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (c. 1135-1200). The saint was a Carthusian monk from Burgundy who became the bishop of Lincoln in 1186 because of pressure exerted by king Henry II (1154-1189). His Magna Vita was written by a Benedictine monk named Adam who later became the abbot of Eynsham. The author had been a member of Hugh’s household for three years prior to the saint’s death during which time he served as his private chaplain (priest). This relationship gave him access to vast stores of information about Hugh’s life but may have also predisposed him to writing about the bishop in a favorable light. Although Dimock’s edition is a good one, the newer edition of the Magna Vita by Douie and Farmer is of superior quality and should be preferred by any researcher, see: Decima Douie and David H. Farmer “Magna Vita Sancti Hugonis: The life of St. Hugh of Lincoln” (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985).

Introduction Summary:

The introduction begins with a description of the manuscripts edited in this volume. In the second section, Domock gives a brief sketch of bishop Hugh of Lincoln’s life and career. Then he writes about the author and his sources. Finally the editor discusses the historical value of the text.

Cataloger: SES