Henel, Heinrich, ed., Aelfric's De Temporibus Anni (Early English Text Society Original Series 213, 1942). ISBN: 197222137
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Text name(s): De Temporibus Anni; On the seasons of the year

Number of pages of primary source text: 83

Medieval Author(s): Aelfric

Dates: 990 - 995

Archival Reference: BM Cotton Tiberius A. III, B. V., Titus D. XXVII, Caligula A. XV; Corpus Christ College, Cambridge MS 367; Univ. Library, Cambridge MS Gg. 3. 28; Vatican Library MS Reginense Lat. 1283

Original Language(s): English - Anglo-Saxon / Old English;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region: Kent

Apparatus: Introduction

Comments:

Ælfric wrote his De temporibus anni (On the seasons of the year) as light reading for those who wanted to learn something about time and nature without having to master the complexities of the subject. Every priest and monk was required to learn a good bit more detail than is presented here: he had to be able to calculate the dates of Easter and the other movable feasts for himself. That, and the care Ælfric takes to refute some erroneous popular beliefs, suggests that he was writing for laymen.

Introduction Summary:

The introduction describes all of the manuscripts containing this text (eight in all). The editor discusses earlier editions and translations of the text. There is a section on the author, who is only named in two of the texts, and another on dating. Finally the editor discusses some of the sources of this text.

Cataloger: KC