The Northern Homily Cycle

Probably composed from 1295–1306 by an unnamed Augustinian canon, the Northern Homily Cycle is one of the earliest sermon cycles written in the vernacular to help lay parishioners make sense of the Latin Gospel readings that accompanied every Sunday mass. Each sermon begins with a Latin rubric from the Gospel lesson and a Middle English paraphrase, followed by a related homily (or lesson) drawn from patristic exegesis, and an illustrative exemplum—with all the English versified in rhyme. Recurring themes include pity for the poor, anger at economic inequality, and condemnation of corrupt clergy. The cycle’s textual sources, twenty surviving manuscripts in three distinct recensions, attests to its enduring popularity. This volume presents selections from the first recension, edited from two of the earliest manuscripts whose Yorkshire dialect approximates the original text’s northern language. Anne Thompson’s introduction and notes provide historical context, an overview of the liturgical calendar, and sources for individual sermons.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Northern Homily Cycle
Prologue
Ratio
1. First Sunday in Advent
2. Second Sunday in Advent
3. Third Sunday in Advent
4. Fourth Sunday in Advent
6. First Sunday after the Nativity
11. Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
12. Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
13. Purification
14. Septuagesima Sunday
15. Sexagesima Sunday
16. Quinquagesima Sunday
18. Second Sunday in Lent
19. Annunciation
20. Third Sunday in Lent
25. Easter Monday
32. First Sunday after the Ascension
33. Pentecost
46. Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
49. Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
52. Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
54. Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
56. Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity
59. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
Explanatory Notes
Textual Notes
Bibliography
Glossary

• Edited by Anne B. Thompson