372 BuoniCattolici
were probably even smaller. Nonetheless, manuscripts containing such
works are by no means rare in Italian libraries. In numbers they today far
surpass collections of prayers, even if the latter were probably produced in
greater number. There was more reason to preserve a fine codex of Alber-
tano of Brescia than a cheap pamphlet of prayers. Since most prayer collec-
tions were short, codices that contain them, even when not created by
modern binders, usually contain similar works. A manuscript from the early
1300 s, in the Ambrosiana of Milan, may be taken as typical.^134 This collec-
tion assembles extracts from theArbor Vitaeof Bonaventure, a poetic prayer
on the Passion, a sermon by Saint Bernard, the section on charity from a
treatise on the virtues, an abstract from Augustine’sSoliloquies,an anonymous
treatise on hell, a treatise on the end of the world attributed to Saint Albert
the Great, a versified guide to making a good confession, and a prayer to all
the saints. This manuscript is in a single hand. A mostly vernacular collection
of the late 1200 s in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Florence provides another
example.^135 It contains works of Albertano of Brescia, a moralizing collection
on the virtues of the ancients calledDe’ filosafiadi e d’imperadori,some Provenc ̧al
poetry (entirely secular), and a couple of Latin prayers. Even ignoring their
long selections in the vernacular, these manuscripts present a striking con-
trast to monastic or clerical compilations. Those usually consist of patristic
sermons and theological treatises.^136 This contrast remains even when the
content of the clerical manuscripts is more varied: such assemblages empha-
size sermons, biblical commentaries, pastoral aids (particularly for hearing
confessions), and an occasional theological treatise (e.g., Adso’sOn the Anti-
christ).^137
The content of a manuscript like that of the Ambrosiana could be as
idiosyncratic and unique as any collection of prayers. But certain generaliza-
tions are possible. Among the religious literature read in the communes,
sermons did not enjoy the esteem typical of the later Middle Ages. Even
collections of edifying stories remained, until well into the 1300 s, a clerical
preserve, used mostly to prepare homilies.^138 Codices with large vernacular
content or Latin works intended for lay use include works from three general
categories. The first and most common is ‘‘vices-and-virtues literature.’’^139 It
ranges from versified catalogues of the cardinal and theological virtues to
florilegia containing rules of life abstracted from pagan and classical sources.
The most common subgroup in this category is confessional aids for lay-
- Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana,msY 5 Sup.
- Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale,msConv. Soppr. F. 4. 776.
- E.g., Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana,msConv. Soppr. 137 , which is late-twelfth-
century and clearly monastic. - This reflects the contents of the early-thirteenth-century Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenzi-
ana,msAed. 37. - The vernacular collection of miracle stories in Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 158, fols.
14 r– 24 r, which dates to the 1300 s, is among the earliest I know of. - This literature has been extensively catalogued in Bloomfield et al.,Incipits.