Opera Omnia

Álvaro Cancela Cilleruelo presents the first critical edition of a corpus of three early medieval texts on penitence: the hexametric Exhortatio poenitendi (CPL 1227), the hymnic Lamentum Poenitentiae (CPL 1533), and the Oratio pro correptione vitae (CPL 1228) in proze. The Exhortatio poenitendi (CPL 1227), the Lamentum poenitentiae (CPL 1533) and the Oratio pro correptione uitae (CPL 1228) constitute an early medieval corpus of penitential themes, traditionally printed among the spurious works of Isidore of Seville. The first two are poetic texts: the Exhortatio is composed in a particular type of rhythmic hexameters, while the Lamentum is an alphabetic hymn in rhythmic trochaic septenaries. The Oratio, for its part, is a prose work put into the mouth of the repentant sinner. Using the Synonyma of Isidore of Seville, among other sources, the author develops an exhortation to penance composed in the synonymic style popularized by the Isidorian work. The modern attribution to Bishop Sisberto de Toledo, deposed in 693, was proposed by Justo Pérez de Úrbel in 1926. His initial success disclosed the denomination, which was progressively questioned and is today rejected; his name is preserved as a mere designation. The available evidence, in fact, does not point towards a Hispanic origin, but towards an Italian or Gallic author of the s. VIII d. This edition, based on a new direct study of the entire known tradition, offers the first complete critical text of the corpus.