1 Mesler, Katelyn, “Imperial Prophecy and Papal Crisis: The Latin Reception of The Prophecy of the True Emperor,” Rivista di storia della Chiesa in Italia 61 (2007): 371–415, quoted from lines 104–5 of the edition (413–14).Google Scholar I am grateful to Robert Lerner, Richard Kieckhefer, Luca Potestà, and Sylvain Piron for their invaluable assistance throughout this project. I would also like to thank Paul Dutton, David Burr, Alexander Patschovsky, and Ron Musto, who lent their particular expertise on certain points; Thomas Madden and Jesse Njus, who helped me access materials that were crucial for this project; and the reviewer for Traditio, who offered helpful suggestions. I am also grateful for comments received from members of the international workgroup on prophecy during our annual conferences in Modena (2008) and Budapest (2009).Google Scholar

2 For the most thorough account of expectations concerning the angel pope, see Reeves, Marjorie, The Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages: A Study in Joachimism , rev. ed. (Notre Dame, IN, 1993), 393–508. More recently, the development and significance of the concept have been treated by McGinn, Bernard, “Angel Pope and Papal Antichrist,” Church History 47 (1978): 155–73; idem, “‘Pastor Angelicus’: Apocalyptic Myth and Political Hope in the Fourteenth Century,” in Santi e santità nel secolo XIV, Società internazionale di studi francescani (Perugia, 1989), 219–51; and Herde, Peter, Cölestin V. (1294): Der Engelpapst (Stuttgart, 1981), 191–206. The angelic coronation ultimately derives from a theme in Byzantine art that entered the Latin world through the Genus nequam prophecies. See Vereecken, Jeannine and Hadermann-Misguich, Lydie, Les “Oracles de Léon le Sage” illustrés par Georges Klontzas: La version Barozzi dans le Codex Bute (Venice, 2000), 238–39, 299; Volan, Angela M., “Last Judgments and Last Emperors: Illustrating Apocalyptic History in Late- and Post-Byzantine Art,” 2 vols. (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 2005), 1:104, 203–6, and figs. 2.10 (2:339), 3.46 (2:410), 4.38 (2:453).Google Scholar

3 Fleming, Martha H., The Late Medieval Pope Prophecies: The Genus nequam Group (Tempe, AZ, 1999).Google Scholar

4 Grundmann, Herbert, review of Les Prophecies de Merlin by Paton, Lucy Allen, Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen 190 (1928): 569 n. 2.Google Scholar

5 On prophecies from the Italian milieu that were attributed to Merlin, see esp. Holder-Egger, O., “Italienische Prophetieen des 13. Jahrhunderts,” Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde 15 (1890): 148–50, 174–77; 30 (1905): 378–79; 33 (1908): 99–100, 102, 131–33; Ireneo Sanesi, La storia di Merlino di Paolino Pieri (Bergamo, 1898), xxii–xxviii, cv–cxiii; Paton, Lucy Allen, Les Prophecies de Merlin: Edited from MS 593 in the Bibliothèque municipale of Rennes, 2 vols. (New York, 1926–27); Zumthor, Paul, Merlin le prophète: Un thème de la littérature polémique de l'historiographie et des romans (Lausanne, 1943), 97–113; Hoffman, Donald L., “Merlin in Italy,” Philological Quarterly 70 (1991): 261–75; idem, “Was Merlin a Ghibelline? Arthurian Propaganda at the Court of Frederick II,” in Culture and the King: The Social Implications of the Arthurian Legend , ed. Shichtman, Martin B. and Carley, James P. (Albany, NY, 1994), 113–28; Les Prophésies de Merlin (Cod. Bodmer 116), ed. Berthelot, Anne (Cologny, 1992); Kaup, Matthias, “Merlin, ein politischer Prophet: Genese, Funktion und Auslegung merlinischer Prophetie im Spiegel zweier unedierter Kommentare des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts,” Cristianesimo nella storia 20 (1999): 545–78; Daniel, Catherine, Les propheties de Merlin et la culture politique (XII^e–XVI^e siècle) (Turnhout, 2006), 277–86, 346–68.Google Scholar

6 Milioli, Albertus, Liber de temporibus et aetatibus , in Annales et chronica Italica aevi Suevici , ed. Holder-Egger, Oswald, MGH, Scriptores 31 (Hanover, 1903), 560; de Adam, Salimbene, Cronica, 2 vols., ed. Scalia, Giuseppe, CCM 125 (Turnhout, 1998–99), 2:776, 803.Google Scholar

7 See the valuable list of texts “by” and about Merlin in Redondo, Paloma Galán, “El mago Merlín desde la tradición románica hasta el Orlando Furioso (Presencia y análisis crítico)” (Ph.D. diss., Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2004), 380–87.Google Scholar

8 See the chart in the appendix to this article.Google Scholar

9 Baraut, Cipriano, “Un tratado inédito de Joaquín de Fiore: De vita sancti Benedicti et de Officio divino secundum eius doctrinam,” Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia 24 (1951): 29.7–10 (p. 63).Google Scholar

10 Kampers, Franz, Kaiserprophetieen und Kaisersagen im Mittelalter: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Kaiseridee (Munich, 1895), 244; Grundmann, review of Paton, , Les Prophecies, 569; Bignami-Odier, Jeanne, Études sur Jean de Roquetaillade (Johannes de Rupescissa) (Paris, 1952), 153, 173, 189, 195. In the following references I provide the corresponding pages from her slightly revised version: eadem, “Jean de Roquetaillade (de Rupescissa): Théologien, polémiste, alchimiste,” Histoire littéraire de la France 41 (1981): 153, 170, 182, 188–89.Google Scholar

11 It is not a surprise that no “Blaise” is listed for London in Pius Gams, Bonifacius, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae (Graz, 1957), 193–94, or in Eubel, Conradus et al., Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, sive Summorum pontificum, S. R. E. cardinalium, ecclesiarum antistitum series (Münster, 1898–1910), 1:311. Rather, Blaise is known from literature as a scribe of Merlin's deeds, although the title of bishop of London seems to be unique to this text. On Blaise in other Merlinic writings, see Zumthor, , Merlin, 107, 168–70 and Paton, , Les Prophecies, 2:302–10, 337.Google Scholar

12 I am grateful to Robert Lerner for bringing the Turin manuscript to my attention.Google Scholar

13 See the chart in the appendix to this article. The Prophecy of the True Emperor ends at the bottom of Yale, Marston 225, fol. 28r; the prophecy Et erit post sexaginta annos begins on fol. 35v (see Mesler, Katelyn, “John of Rupescissa's Engagement with Prophetic Texts in the Sexdequiloquium,” Oliviana 3 [2009]: 14 n. 19); and everything between these two prophecies can be confirmed as integral to the epistle of Merlin.Google Scholar

14 Epistola Merlini 6.35 n. 273, 7.2 n. 293. Both instances are from the Yale manuscript ( Y ).Google Scholar

15 Epistola Merlini 1.15, 2.2, 4.25, 6.2, 7.2 n. 294, 7.12, 7.21 n. 465, 8.24.Google Scholar

16 One version differs by identifying the addressee (at a different point in the text) as a certain “dominus Bartholomeus.” See ibid., 1.13 n. 6.Google Scholar

17 Ibid., 2.10–11.Google Scholar

18 See Burr, David, The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century after Saint Francis (University Park, PA, 2001), 67–69.Google Scholar

19 Epistola Merlini 4.21–22.Google Scholar

20 Ibid., 4.21.Google Scholar

21 Ibid., 4.14–15.Google Scholar

22 Ibid., 6.2–3.Google Scholar

23 Ibid., 6.4–5.Google Scholar

24 The term gens sagittaria is also found in prophetic contexts in the Visio Norsei and in Roger Bacon's Opus maius. See the references at Epistola Merlini 6.6 n. w. Google Scholar

25 Epistola Merlini 7.4–5.Google Scholar

26 See “Oraculum angelicum Cyrilli nebst dem Kommentar des Pseudojoachim,” ed. Piur, Paul, in Briefwechsel des Cola di Rienzo , ed. Burdach, Konrad and Piur, Paul, Vom Mittelalter zur Reformation: Forschungen zur Geschichte der Deutschen Bildung 2, 4 (Berlin, 1912), 221–343, at chap. 4, 269–70. The precise relationship between these texts remains difficult to determine. On the political situation in question, see Runciman, Steven, The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century (Cambridge, 1958; repr. 1992), 269–74.Google Scholar

27 Epistola Merlini 8.5–8.Google Scholar

28 Ibid., 9.1–2.Google Scholar

29 Ibid., 9.2–3.Google Scholar

30 Ibid., 9.7–8. The notion of the Last Emperor's abdication dates back to the prophecy of Pseudo-Methodius. Its influence can be found among other Latin prophecies, including Adso of Montier-en-Der's Libellus on the Antichrist and the Tiburtine Sibyl. However, I have not found a specific source for the particular details in the Epistola Merlini's version.Google Scholar

31 Epistola Merlini 6.29 and esp. n. 246.Google Scholar

32 It is tempting to speculate that the original reading was “or,” and that it was changed to “and” after the third year (1297) passed without fulfillment of the prophecy. Unfortunately, there is no evidence allowing us to draw a firm conclusion on the matter.Google Scholar

33 Epistola Merlini 5.7 and n. t. Google Scholar

34 Ibid., 6.40–41.Google Scholar

35 See esp. ibid., 2.1.Google Scholar

36 See Lerner, Robert E., “Ornithological Propaganda: The Fourteenth-Century Denigration of Dominicans,” in Politische Reflexion in der Welt des späten Mittelalters / Political Thought in the Age of Scholasticism , ed. Kaufhold, Martin (Leiden, 2004), 173. In addition to the reference in the previous note, see Epistola Merlini 2.8–9, 6.38–39, 7.27–29, 7.32 n. 404.Google Scholar

37 Jostmann, Christian, Sibilla Erithea Babilonica: Papsttum und Prophetie im 13. Jahrhundert (Hanover, 2006), 504, 510: “Cuius mors erit abscondita et incognita, sonabitque in populo: vivit, non vivit.” Google Scholar

38 Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 59; Lerner, Robert E., “Frederick II, Alive, Aloft, and Allayed, in Franciscan-Joachite Eschatology,” in The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle Ages , ed. Verbeke, Werner, Verhelst, Daniel, and Welkenhuysen, Andries (Louvain, 1988), 359–84.Google Scholar

39 The following is partially based on my arguments in Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 above), 374–80. See also the recent account by Potestà, Gian Luca, “L'uomo con la falce e la rosa: Dagli ‘Oracula Leonis’ ai ‘Vaticinia pontificum’ della Biblioteca Estense,” in Profezie illustrate gioachimite alla corte degli Estensi , ed. Potestà, Gian Luca (Modena, 2010), esp. 134–38.Google Scholar

40 Evidence for knowledge of the cardinal prophecies in 1287 is adduced by Rehberg, Andreas, “Der ‘Kardinalsorakel’-Kommentar in der ‘Colonna’-Handschrift Vat. lat. 3819 und die Entstehungsumstände der Papstvatizinien,” Florensia: Bollettino del Centro Internazionale di Studi Gioachimiti 5 (1991): 45–112. See also Millet, Hélène and Rigaux, Dominique, “Aux origines du succès des Vaticinia de summis pontificibus,” in Fin du monde et signes des temps: Visionnaires et prophètes en France méridionale (fin XIII^e–début XV^e siècle), Cahiers de Fanjeaux 27 (Toulouse, 1992), 129–56.Google Scholar

41 See Kelly, Samantha, “The Visio Fratris Johannis: Prophecy and Politics in Late-Thirteenth-Century Italy,” Florensia: Bollettino del Centro Internazionale di Studi Gioachimiti 8/9 (1994–95): 7–42. A crucial question that remains concerns the state of the Genus nequam prophecies as they were known to the author of the Visio. Initially, these prophecies are cited in reference to cardinals (see ibid., 37–38, lines 53–55). But the prophecy also includes a series of future popes, described with references to Genus nequam V, VI, and VIII (see ibid., 39–40, lines 110–22). If the papal references are his own innovation rather than an inherited interpretation, then the Visio marks a major turning point in the history of the Genus nequam prophecies. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to appraise the significance of the Visio, because later traditions departed from this text by connecting future popes to other prophecies in the series — particularly XI-XV, which the author of the Visio does not cite and perhaps did not know. See also Potestà, , “L'uomo con la falce,” 137–38.Google Scholar

42 Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy,” 378 and n. 40.Google Scholar

43 Rome, , Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Lat. 3822, fol. 6r, which Lerner dates to shortly after 1294. See Holder-Egger, , “Italienische Prophetieen” (n. 5 above), 33 (1908): 99; Lerner, Robert E., “On the Origins of the Earliest Latin Pope Prophecies: A Reconsideration,” in Fälschungen im Mittelalter, MGH, Schriften 33, 5 (Hanover, 1988), 618–22, 634–35; Fleming, , Pope Prophecies (n. 3 above), 40–43.Google Scholar

44 For a list of instances, see Lerner, , “On the Origins,” 622 n. 26. Note that one of these examples is found in Vat. Lat. 3816 (at fol. 22v), which also contains the Epistola (MS V₁ in the edition).Google Scholar

45 Telesforus of Cosenza, , Liber de magnis tribulationibus et de statu ecclesiae (Venice, 1516), fol. 8^d. This attribution already appears in some manuscripts of Telesforus. See the discussion of Telesforus below and n. 246 in the appendix.Google Scholar

46 Genus nequam XI.3, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 175, though I follow some variant readings.Google Scholar

47 Genus nequam XIII.4 and XIII.6, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 179. Note a similar idea in Piur, , “Oraculum” (n. 26 above), chap. 6, p. 282: “donec ursus mirabilis egrediatur de saxo agitatus a spiritu.” Google Scholar

48 Epistola Merlini 4.5–6.Google Scholar

49 Genus nequam XI.4–5, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 175.Google Scholar

50 Genus nequam XI.6–7, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 175.Google Scholar

51 Epistola Merlini 4.12–14.Google Scholar

52 See Vereecken, and Hadermann-Misguich, , Les “Oracles de Léon le Sage” (n. 2 above), 236–37, 297, 321; Volan, , “Last Judgments” (n. 2 above), figs. 3.44 (2:408), 3.45 (2:409), 3.47 (2:411). See also fig. 12 in PG 107:1156.Google Scholar

53 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 404, fol. 92v (image printed in Potestà, “L'uomo con la falce” [n. 39 above], 151, fig. 37) and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 88, fol. 144v (in Potestà, “L'uomo con la falce,” 152, fig. 38). Robert Lerner first pointed out that these two manuscripts preserve versions of the images that are close to the Greek originals. See Lerner, , “On the Origins,” 620–21.Google Scholar

54 Fleming, Martha H., “Metaphors of Apocalypse and Revolution in Some Fourteenth-Century Popular Prophecies,” in The High Middle Ages , ed. Mayo, Penelope, Acta: The Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies 7 (Binghamton, NY, 1980), 139; Fleming, , Pope Prophecies, 38, 68–69, 107–8, 174. For more on the images in the Latin pope prophecies, see Millet, Hélène, Les successeurs du pape aux ours: Histoire d'un livre prophétique médiéval illustré (Turnhout, 2004), esp. 45–66, and most recently Potestà, “L'uomo con la falce.” Google Scholar

55 Epistola Merlini 7.4–5.Google Scholar

56 See Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 180, who indicates that two manuscripts (Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1222B and Vat. Lat. 3819) depict these angels crowning the pope in this scene.Google Scholar

57 Grundmann, Herbert, “Die Papstprophetien des Mittelalters,” in idem, Joachim von Fiore , Ausgewählte Aufsätze 2, MGH, Schriften 25 (Stuttgart, 1977), 1–57. Marjorie Reeves also considered this possibility in “Some Popular Prophecies from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries,” in Popular Belief and Practice , ed. Cuming, G. J. and Baker, Derek (Cambridge, 1972), 107.Google Scholar

58 See above, n. 41.Google Scholar

59 See the graph of surviving manuscripts in Dutton, Paul Edward, “Material Remains of the Study of the Timaeus in the Later Middle Ages,” in L'enseignement de la philosophie au XIII^e siècle: Autour du Guide de l'étudiant du ms. Ripoll 109 , ed. Lafleur, Claude (Turnhout, 1997), 205.Google Scholar

60 Ibid., 210–16.Google Scholar

61 Ibid., 217–19.Google Scholar

62 Ibid., 207–8, 220–21; Dutton, Paul Edward, “Medieval Approaches to Calcidius,” in Plato's Timaeus as Cultural Icon , ed. Reydams-Schils, Gretchen J. (Notre Dame, IN, 2003), 192. Italian examples can be found in the annotated list of manuscripts in Hankins, James, “The Study of the Timaeus in Early Renaissance Italy,” in Natural Particulars: Nature and the Disciplines in Renaissance Europe , ed. Grafton, Anthony and Siraisi, Nancy (Cambridge, 1999), 89–102.Google Scholar

63 These cases appear in Epistola Merlini 4.8–10, 1.11, and 8.1–3, respectively.Google Scholar

64 On the use of the label “Spiritual” for certain groups of the late thirteenth century, see Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans (n. 18 above), viii.Google Scholar

65 Fleming, , “Metaphors” (n. 54 above), 135; Lerner, , “On the Origins” (n. 43 above), 617.Google Scholar

66 Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 408–10; McGinn, , “Angel Pope” (n. 2 above), 167; idem, “Pastor Angelicus” (n. 2 above), 233; Fleming, , “Metaphors,” 137–38, 141–42.Google Scholar

67 See McGinn, Bernard, Apocalyptic Spirituality: Treatises and Letters of Lactantius, Adso of Montier-en-Der, Joachim of Fiore, the Franciscan Spirituals, Savonarola (New York, 1979), 155; idem, Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages, 2nd ed. (New York, 1998), 206, 213; Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans, 97–98.Google Scholar

68 Reeves, , Influence , 408; McGinn, , “Pastor Angelicus,” 233; idem, Apocalyptic Spirituality, 156; Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans, 70.Google Scholar

69 Epistola Merlini 7.32–34. Note in particular the variants in the manuscript readings.Google Scholar

70 McGinn, , “Angel Pope,” 167.Google Scholar

71 Dante, , Monarchia 3, 10.Google Scholar

72 Cf. Epistola Merlini 6.30–31, 7.32–34, 9.1–2.Google Scholar

73 Reeves, , Influence , 243–45, 414–15; McGinn, , “Angel Pope,” 170; idem, “Pastor Angelicus,” 231; idem, Visions of the End, 226–29; Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans, 389 n. 4.Google Scholar

74 Epistola Merlini 5.14–21.Google Scholar

75 Another group of Franciscans, led by Jacob de Monte and Thomas of Tolentino, spent time during this period in the eastern parts of Greece, particularly Thebes and the island of Negroponte. This group had ties with that of Fra Liberato, but I have not found any evidence that would suggest they were the object of the passage in the Epistola Merlini. See Clareno, Angelo, Liber chronicarum sive tribulationum ordinis minorum , ed. Giovanni Boccali, P. (Santa Maria degli Angeli, 1998), 5.447–53 (pp. 572–73), 5.517–31 (pp. 588–91).Google Scholar

76 Clareno, Angelo, Liber chronicarum , 5.493–514 (pp. 582–89).Google Scholar

77 McGinn, , Apocalyptic Spirituality , 167–68. On the extent of the group's persecution overseas, from Angelo's perspective, see Clareno, Angelo, Liber chronicarum, 5.454–534 (pp. 574–93).Google Scholar

78 Clareno, Angelo, Liber chronicarum , 5.380 (pp. 554–57).Google Scholar

79 See ibid., 5.455 (pp. 574–75) and 5.532 (pp. 590–91), as well as the note to 5.380 (pp. 555, 557).Google Scholar

80 McGinn, , Apocalyptic Spirituality , 152, 163; idem, Visions of the End, 206–7; Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans, 70, 105; Musto, Ronald G., Apocalypse in Rome: Cola di Rienzo and the Politics of the New Age (Berkeley, CA, 2003), 121.Google Scholar

81 Epistola Merlini 7.12.Google Scholar

82 Reeves, Marjorie E., “Joachimist Influences on the Idea of a Last World Emperor,” Traditio 17 (1961): 325–26.Google Scholar

83 Clareno, Angelo, Liber chronicarum , 5.540–42 (pp. 594–95); Burr, , Spiritual Franciscans, 96.Google Scholar

84 The only extended study remains Grundmann, Herbert, “Liber de Flore: Eine Schrift der Franziskaner-Spiritualen aus dem Anfang des 14. Jahrhunderts,” in idem, Joachim von Fiore, Ausgewählte Aufsätze 2, MGH, Schriften 25 (Stuttgart, 1977), 101–65. Luca Potestà has addressed the text briefly on several occasions, the most recent being “L'uomo con la falce” (n. 39 above), 139, 141.Google Scholar

85 Reeves, , “Some Popular Prophecies” (n. 57 above), 115.Google Scholar

86 McGinn, , “Angel Pope” (n. 2 above), 165; idem, “Pastor Angelicus” (n. 2 above), 239, 242.Google Scholar

87 Here I follow the new arguments for dating proposed by Potestà, Gian Luca, “Dante profeta e i vaticini papali,” Rivista di storia del cristianesimo 1 (2004): 77 n. 37; idem, “L'uomo con la falce,” 139 n. 50.Google Scholar

88 Liber de Flore , Nuremberg, Stadtbibliothek, Cent. IV.32, fol. 49r^b: “plures alii prophete, maxime et Merlinus.” Google Scholar

89 Ibid., fol. 56v^b: “revelatione angelica consignabitur.” Google Scholar

90 Ibid.: “Hunc virum dei absconditum ab angelo custoditum”; fol. 57r^a: “Tertio et ultimo, quia ab angelo custoditus.” See Epistola Merlini 7.5.Google Scholar

91 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 57r^a: “Et Merlinus asserat ipsum carcere detrudi dicens: Quando maior stella nigra apparebit tibi, vade nudus in inferiora terre [Genus nequam XI.6–7], id est vade in carcerem tenebrosum. Quod verum puto, quod Merlinus dixit, et ideo in ipso carceris ergastulo dico ipsum ab angelis custodiri. Quare custodiri ab angelo? Quia propter sui bonitatem preclaram debet ab angelo custodiri, vel quia qui tenebit eum in carcere eum desiderabit perdere, quod angelus non permictet, set conservabit eundem patrem illesum.” See Epistola Merlini 4.12–14, 4.20–21, 7.5.Google Scholar

92 The relevant phrase is lacking in the Nuremberg manuscript, but it is added in the margin of fol. 57r^a by a later hand. The passage is preserved integrally in another early manuscript, Arras, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 138 (cat. gén. 651), fol. 97r: “Tanta erit eius virtuosa bonitas, quod impetus fluminum faciet ad cursum retrogradum devenire, montium cacumina flectentur in eius aspectu.” See Epistola Merlini 7.22–23.Google Scholar

93 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 57v^a: “malos convincet caritate et amore paterno.” See Epistola Merlini 7.8–9.Google Scholar

94 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 57v^b .Google Scholar

95 Ibid., fol. 57v^a : “Merlino testante barbarice nationes et gentiles ac omnes ytalici unum fient.” Cf. Epistola Merlini 7.15–20, 36–37.Google Scholar

96 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 58v^a : “Itaque in sex et dimidia sex partes temporum animam domino consignabit.” Cf. Epistola Merlini 7.60–61.Google Scholar

97 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 58v^a : “Qui predecessoris exempla ficte non persequitur, sed firmiter.” Cf. Epistola Merlini 8.5–6.Google Scholar

98 Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32, fol. 58v^a–b: “Verum quod quarto anno sui regiminis quedam parva çiçania orietur occisione cuiusdam latentis in fovea.” See Epistola Merlini 8.10.Google Scholar

99 Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fol. 58v^b : “Temporalis rector deficiet et … debitum mortis solvet, anima dabit deo, qui post mortem miraculis innumeris corruscabit.” Cf. Epistola Merlini 8.24–28.Google Scholar

100 Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fol. 59r^b: “peregrina[n]do in habitu paupertatis.” See Epistola Merlini 9.3.Google Scholar

101 Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fol. 61r^b: “predecessorum bona opera sectaturus.” Cf. Epistola Merlini 8.5–6.Google Scholar

102 Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fol. 61v^a : “Hic equitanicus pastor miro modo terrena despiciet et amabit celestia.” On the sources of this phrase, which the Liber de Flore adapts to a more traditional wording, see Epistola Merlini 8.5 n. oo.Google Scholar

103 For example, Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fols. 53v^b. See Epistola Merlini 6.4, where the passage is not linked to Celestine's abdication.Google Scholar

104 Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32, fols. 55v^b, 57r^b .Google Scholar

105 Yale, , Marston 225, fols. 28v–35v.Google Scholar

106 See my arguments concerning the context in Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 above), 380–83.Google Scholar

107 On which, see Holder-Egger, , “Italienische Prophetieen” (n. 5 above), 33 (1908): 125–29.Google Scholar

108 For Rienzo's biography, I mainly follow Musto, , Apocalypse (n. 80 above). For assessments of his engagement with prophecy, see Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 318–19, 420–21 and Comi, Armando, “Da Angelo Clareno a Jan Amos Comenius: Fatti e protagonisti del millenarismo boemo” (Ph.D. diss., University of Bologna, 2007), 8–45.Google Scholar

109 Musto, , Apocalypse , 259.Google Scholar

110 Burdach, Konrad and Piur, Paul, eds., Briefwechsel des Cola di Rienzo , Vom Mittelalter zur Reformation 2, 3 (Berlin, 1912), no. 49 (191–97). Parts of this letter are translated in McGinn, , Visions of the End (n. 67 above), 241–43, but all translations here are my own.Google Scholar

111 Burdach, and Piur, , Briefwechsel , 194: “electus sit a Deo vir sanctus, revelacione divina ab omnibus cognoscendus, qui una cum electo imperatore orbem terrarum multipliciter reformabunt.” Google Scholar

112 Ibid., 195–96: “Ille tunc michi quasdam diversorum spiritualium virorum exhibuit prophetias easque michi exposuit tanquam breviter completuras…. Recepi itaque illas et ad iter me exposui, timens, ne, si a Deo hoc eveniebat negocium, per mei desidiam contumax apparerem; et sic confirmato quodammodo corde veni ad pedes Cesareos, illas ostendens puro animo, ut audistis.” Google Scholar

113 Ibid., no. 58 (279–332). A part of this letter mentioning Merlin is translated in McGinn, , Visions of the End , 243–44. All translations here are my own.Google Scholar

114 Burdach, and Piur, , Briefwechsel , 295: “Cur, ne nos imperiti decipiamur ab illis, eas omnino non reprobant ac illarum non prohibent ubilibet leccionem?” Google Scholar

115 Ibid., 303: “Nos autem tam pertinaci laboramus errore, ut nec diurnorum preceptorum nec superveniencium signorum terrorumque de celo nec ipsis divinarum revelacionum commonicionibus moveamur.” Google Scholar

116 Grundmann, , review of Paton, , Les Prophecies (n. 4 above), 569 n. 2.Google Scholar

117 Burdach, and Piur, , Briefwechsel , 304.Google Scholar

118 Ibid., 309–10: “Sed ait Merlinus et Ioachim: Exibunt de silvis lepores et occursum canum non timebunt.” Cf. Nuremberg, , Cent. IV.32 (n. 88 above), fol. 57v^a: “Lepores exibunt de silvis et non timebunt canis occursum.” Google Scholar

119 Burdach, and Piur, , Briefwechsel , 312.Google Scholar

120 Epistola Merlini 5.24.Google Scholar

121 The explicit reference to crows does not appear in any other version of the text. See Epistola Merlini 6.40–41. On the imagery of doves and crows, see the discussion above.Google Scholar

122 Burdach, and Piur, , Briefwechsel , 316.Google Scholar

123 Ibid., 312: “Lege, lege capitulum mei libelli veteris Merlini, et videbis clarius ad oculum quod describo.” Google Scholar

124 Ibid., 298: “Ego nequeo, carens textu ipso prophetico, melius declarare.” Google Scholar

125 Quoted in Musto, , Apocalypse (n. 80 above), 303.Google Scholar

126 Ibid., 306–7.Google Scholar

127 See Lerner, Robert E., “Historical Introduction,” in Johannes de Rupescissa, Liber secretorum eventuum , ed. Lerner, Robert E. and Morerod-Fattebert, Christine (Fribourg, 1994), 30.Google Scholar

128 See the appendix to this article.Google Scholar

129 See above, n. 10. In fact, Rupescissa's use of the prophecy was briefly noted even earlier by Grundmann, , review of Paton, , Les Prophecies (n. 4 above), 569 n. 1.Google Scholar

130 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor quod adesse festinant tempora , ed. Vauchez, André, Modestin, Clémence Thévenaz, and Morerod-Fattebert, Christine (Rome, 2005).Google Scholar

131 An edition of the Sexdequiloquium is being prepared under the direction of Sylvain Piron. The main article introducing the text is Piron, Sylvain, “Le Sexdequiloquium de Jean de Roquetaillade,” Oliviana 3 (2009). There are several studies on specific aspects of the text in the same issue of that journal, all accessible online at http://oliviana.revues.org. What follows is partially based on my own study that appears in that issue, “Rupescissa's Engagement with Prophetic Texts” (n. 13 above).Google Scholar

132 For a biographical sketch of Rupescissa, see Lerner, , “Historical Introduction.” Google Scholar

133 See the recent appraisal in Lerner, Robert E., “John the Astonishing,” Oliviana 3 (2009).Google Scholar

134 Bignami-Odier, , Études (n. 10 above), 70, 82, 88, 96; McGinn, , “Pastor Angelicus” (n. 2 above), 248. The treatment of the commentary on the Oraculum Cyrilli in Bignami-Odier, , “Jean de Roquetaillade” (n. 10 above), 106–13, is much shorter than that of her original book, and it lacks the references to Merlin.Google Scholar

135 Bignami-Odier, , Études , 74, 76, 87, 111, 180, 195; eadem, “Jean de Roquetaillade,” 119, 176, 188–89.Google Scholar

136 of Rupescissa, John, Sexdequiloquium , in Lorraine, , Private Collection, fols. 75v–76r: “Utrum in rei veritate ex scripturis sacris et auctenticis, vel ex aliis propheciis extravagantibus, vel ex verisimilibus racionibus, probari possit futurum esse in rei veritate quod canonice et rite primatus ecclesie romane transferatur a malis prelatis, si qui mali essent, ad viros electos catholicos et sanctos ordinis sancti Francisci vere obedientes potestati romane ecclesie.” Google Scholar

137 Ibid., fols. 84v–85r: “Quia Merlinus Ambrosio, ille vates famosus Britannicus, in libro suo de quibusdam romanis pontificibus, quem fecit ad preces santi Blasii londoniensis episcopi.” Google Scholar

138 Note that Rupescissa reads the second section of the prophecy as a reference to Nicholas IV rather than to Honorius IV, and also that he does not cite the third section. I think the most plausible explanation is that he combined sections 2 and 3 into the story of a single pope (note that the manuscripts do not make a clear separation between these sections).Google Scholar

139 John of Rupescissa, Sexdequiloquium, fol. 85r: “Postquam consequenter, sub quadam massa, mala tempora perversorum morum que futura erant sub multis pontificibus, quos Merllinus personaliter non distinguit.” Google Scholar

140 Ibid., fol. 85v: “Et signum adventus illius rei premittit Merlinus cum dicit quod regnum Constancini, id est terre quas Constantinus dedit ecclesie, ab ecclesia dividetur, id est a tirannis rapientur, et ecclesie aufferentur vel regibus donabuntur.” See Epistola Merlini 6.23.Google Scholar

141 John of Rupescissa, , Sexdequiloquium , fol. 85v: “sectatorem euvangelice vite.” Google Scholar

142 On Ezekiel, see proofs five and six (ibid., fols. 81v–83r); on Robert of Uzès, see proofs seven and eight (ibid., fol. 83r–83v); on the Horoscopus, here attributed to Rabanus, see proof nine (ibid., fols. 83v–84v).Google Scholar

143 Ibid., fol. 86r: “Idem Merlinus de alio post eum inmediate sic dicit, Deinde nunc secundum pastorem [omit: eligent] post triennium, preclari generis et moribus illustrem.” See Epistola Merlini 8.3–4, which reads biennium. Google Scholar

144 John of Rupescissa, Sexdequiloquium , fol. 86r: “Ecce continuacio pauperum euvangelicorum.” Google Scholar

145 Ibid.: “Omnes isti evidenter beati Francisci regulam participare videntur.” Google Scholar

146 Ibid.: “Quia in libro illo valde communi de summis pontificibus quo incipit Genus nequam ursa caculos pacens. … Et tercius vite euvangelice reinceptor. Et quartus ab angelis coronatus…. Et infra, De laudato paupere et electo pastore, etc. qui revelabitur tempore destructionis Sarracenorum describitur homo euvangelicus ab angelo revelatus.” Note that this is now the earliest witness to the papal alteration of the True Emperor's incipit, which is not quoted (although it is assumed) in the Liber ostensor. See Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 above), 388, 395.Google Scholar

147 John of Rupescissa, Sexdequiloquium , fols. 86r–86v: “Et iste duodecim raciones concludunt quod a malis prelatis primatus ecclesie ad sanctos viros sine dubio transferetur, sive ad electos fratres minores ut puto, sive ad sanctos cuiuscumque status alterius.” Google Scholar

148 Ibid., fol. 86v: “Sed quo anno hoc erit? Dico secure quod post Innocentium papam sextum, hoc anno de novo seculo imperantem, mittetur papa sanctus mirabilis.” Google Scholar

149 Ibid. Google Scholar

150 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor (n. 130 above), 8.179 (p. 482): “Timendum est ne de prefato Innocentio papa sexto Merlinus vates britannicus in libro prefato De summis pontificibus ad Blasium londoniensem antistitem intelligat illud quod premittit immediate ante reparatorem.” Google Scholar

151 Ibid., 8.181 (p. 483): “Clarum quippe est omni in prophetiis intellectum habenti quod Merlinus loquitur de morte illius pape.” Google Scholar

152 Ibid., 4.35 (p. 156) and 8.180 (p. 483). The latter more closely matches the Sexdequiloquium. Google Scholar

153 Ibid., 8.181 (p. 483): “Per experienciam patet quod illi duo anni vel tres sumi debent non a principio sui papatus, [sed a tempore] quo retia prohicit ad plurimos capiendos, vel a tempore quo velabit oculos, teget corda, confundet scienciam, et hoc ab anno Domini MCCCLV vel sexto ad longius.” See Epistola Merlini 6.26–28.Google Scholar

154 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.182 (p. 484). The editors were unable to identify the event in question (p. 484 n. 2).Google Scholar

155 Ibid., 8.182–83 (pp. 484–85) and 11.41 (pp. 589–60): “Et velatio oculorum et reliqua sequentium fuit anno Domini MCCCLVI, VII die julii, quando [Innocentius Sextus] fecit dari sentenciam non declarando, sed velando questiones de altissima paupertate, prohibendo ne fratres minores et predicatores auderent loqui de controversiis altissime paupertatis.” Google Scholar

156 Ibid., 8.183 (p. 485). For the implication that Innocent VI will come to a violent end, see John of Rupescissa, Sexdequiloquium , fols. 85r, 86v.Google Scholar

157 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.184–86 (pp. 486–88): “concordia stupenda” (p. 488).Google Scholar

158 Ibid., 8.187–89 (pp. 488–90).Google Scholar

159 Ibid., 8.183 (p. 485): “Opino tamen mea est quod vivat usque ad fugam futuram vel circa.” See p. 485 n. 5 on the reference to the flight.Google Scholar

160 Ibid., 4.34 (p. 156): “similitudine vite Bonifacii pape pompose”; ibid., 4.36 (pp. 156–57): “ille summus pontifex de sequela vite Bonifacii … occidatur et sanguis ejus fundatur”; ibid., 8.181 (p. 483): “ultimus similis in magnifica gloria temporali, quam auxit ad celum Bonifacius papa VIII^us eidem.” Google Scholar

161 John of Rupescissa, Sexdequiloquium , fol. 85v: “Merlinus post istum introducit papam predicatorem eximium euvangelii eterni sub typo tauri rugientis.” Google Scholar

162 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 4.36 (p. 156): “Cum igitur ille taurus mugiens … sit reparator proximus, qui occisioni illius iniqui succedit.” See Epistola Merlini 6.32.Google Scholar

163 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.181 (p. 483): “Taurus, cujus rugitu stelle — id est martires quinti signaculi — resurgunt, predicat post effusionem sanguinis hujus pontificis evangelium eternum per universum mundum, et immediate tractatum admirabilissimum reparatoris subjungit.” See Epistola Merlini 6.30–32.Google Scholar

164 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 5.44 (p. 300): “Quiquid sit, Merlinus ad sanctum Blasium londoniensem antistitem scribit ipsum qui reparatori succedet, nobilem genere et sanctissimum virum, ymitatorem predecessoris sui.” See Epistola Merlini 8.4–6.Google Scholar

165 I have suggested this possibility in Mesler, , “Rupescissa's Engagement with Prophetic Texts” (n. 13 above), 19.Google Scholar

166 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.162 (pp. 468–69): “Officium eius descripsi longe lateque in pluribus libris meis, scilicet … in commento quod edidi super Merlinum, in libro ejus [qui] incipit Glorioso patri domino Blasio in capitulo Letatus sum in hiis que dicta sunt michi.” On the dating, see Mesler, , “Rupescissa's Engagement with Prophetic Texts,” 12.Google Scholar

167 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 12.13 (p. 823): “Michi videtur quod hec prophetia valde sapiat stilum Merlini — et manifeste verba sunt brevia, sed sentencie longe.” Google Scholar

168 Clémence Thévenaz Modestin has summarized the numerous citations of Merlin in the Liber ostensor, and she has also provided an edition of the quoted passages. See de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 908–12. Thanks to new information, some of her details can be corrected. First, the citations of Merlin in a manuscript from The Hague (p. 908 n. 189) are actually from a commentary on Geoffrey of Monmouth followed by excerpts of Telesforus. See Jostmann, , Sibilla Erithea (n. 37 above), 418–19. Second, the critical edition presented here clarifies which passages belong to the text proper. Of the items listed in the appendix to the Liber, only 1.b. and 1.d. belong to our prophecy.Google Scholar

169 This includes those found in de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 6.70, 6.73, 12.4, 12.18 (pp. 358, 360, 818, 826). There are, however, two parallels worth noting. One prophecy attributed to Merlin, and cited previously by Rupescissa, in De oneribus orbis, quotes the phrase “vivet et non vivet” from the Erythrean Sibyl (ibid., 6.70 [p. 358]), and another one uses the imagery of lion cubs (ibid., 12.12–14 [pp. 823–24]).Google Scholar

170 de Rupescissa, Johannes, Vade mecum in tribulatione , in Appendix ad Fasciculum rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum , ed. Brown, Edward (London, 1690; Tucson, 1967), 501. An edition of this text is being prepared by Tealdi, Elena.Google Scholar

171 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.194 (pp. 492–93): “Quare Deus ocultavit Sibille Heritee et Joachim et Merlino et nonnullis aliis prophetantibus primis quod revelatio tangebat principium dispositivum revelationis uncti et tribulationis? … Solutio: tanta est pravitas hodiernorum pravorum, maxime clericorum, quod non decuit divinam sapienciam tantum archanum patule revelare.” Google Scholar

172 Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, MS 59, fols. 53v^a–54r^a .Google Scholar

173 Madrid, Biblioteca de Palacio Real, MS II-3096, fols. 40r–49r. I am grateful to Robert Lerner for bringing this manuscript to my attention. On the manuscript, see Gimeno Blay, Francisco M., “El manuscrit II-3096 (olim 2.Ll.1) de la Biblioteca del Palacio Real,” Caplletra 13 (1992): 175–84; de Puig i Oliver, Jaume, “Unes prediccions pseudoarnaldianes del segle XV: Edició e estudi,” Arxiu de Textos Catalans Antics 13 (1994): 220–24.Google Scholar

174 On the dating, see Perarnau i Espelt, Josep, “La traducció catalana medieval del Liber secretorum eventuum de Joan de Rocatalhada,” Arxiu de Textos Catalans Antics 17 (1998): 34, 36 n. 44.Google Scholar

175 De Puig, i Oliver, , “Unes prediccions,” 224; Perarnau, i Espelt, , “La traducció catalana,” 36–37.Google Scholar

176 Perarnau, i Espelt, , “La traducció catalana,” 19 n. 14, 34, 36.Google Scholar

177 Madrid, , Palacio Real II-3096, fol. 44r–44v.Google Scholar

178 The manuscripts are T and V₂. See Epistola Merlini 6.36–40.Google Scholar

179 The most thorough account, although in need of updates and revision, remains Donckel, Emil, “Studien über die Prophezeiung des Fr. Telesforus von Cosenza, O.F.M. (1365–1386),” Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 26 (1933): 29–104, 282–314.Google Scholar

180 On the wide circulation and influence of Telesforus's Libellus, see Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 325–83 and passim.Google Scholar

181 This trend was initially noted by Grundmann, , review of Paton, , Les Prophecies (n. 4 above), 572.Google Scholar

182 Telesforus of Cosenza, Liber (n. 45 above), fol. 8^d: “Item invenimus quaedam parvum librum intitulatum Hec revelatio Merlini de summis pontificibus, qui incipit Genus nequam.” Google Scholar

183 Grundmann, , “Die Papstprophetien” (n. 57 above), 30–31; idem, review of Paton, , Les Prophecies, 569 n. 1. Note that Grundmann's reference to the Venice printing should cite fol. 8^d, not 8^c .Google Scholar

184 Note the incorrect incipit in Vat. Lat. 3816, fol. 33v, which was copied in Rome in 1448 (see the author's indication of the date on fol. 64v). See also n. 246 below.Google Scholar

185 Donckel, , “Studien,” 301.Google Scholar

186 Telesforus of Cosenza, Liber , fol. 17^c: “Etiam Merlinus, in revelatione quam habuit de hoc scismate.” Google Scholar

187 Syracuse, University Library, Von Ranke 90, fol. 13v (originally 16v): “Et sic pseudo pontifex qui iniuste invasit sedem apostolicam repelletur a sede. Item Merlinus, in revelacione facta a deo de summis pontificibus, loquens de scismate et ipsi pseudo pontifici, sic loquitur, Inique, non poteris. …” See Epistola Merlini 6.25. The corresponding passage in Telesforus of Cosenza, Liber , fol. 17^d reads “ipso pseudo pontifice,” which is surprising given the second person address that follows. The dative reading from the Syracuse manuscript is also attested in Vat. Lat. 3816, fol. 43r.Google Scholar

188 Syracuse, Von Ranke 90, fols. 13v, 14v (originally 16v, 17v); Vat. Lat. 3816, fols. 43r, 44r; Telesforus of Cosenza, Liber , fols. 18^a, 18^c, 20^a. The other manuscripts consulted are listed in the appendix to this article.Google Scholar

189 Telesforus of Cosenza, Liber, fol. 20^a: “Que verba mihi non sunt clara.” Google Scholar

190 Ibid., fol. 25^b: “Alibi dicitur post 9 annos et semis, vel novem menses, vel circa, finiet vitam suam.” See Epistola Merlini 7.60–61.Google Scholar

191 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor (n. 130 above), 4.174 (p. 253).Google Scholar

192 Cf. Nuremberg, Cent. IV.32 (n. 88 above), fol. 58v^a, quoted above, n. 96. The wording of the passage is slightly different in Arras, BM 138, fol. 98v, transcribed in Grundmann, , “Liber de Flore” (n. 84 above), 142 n. 100, who notes that the phrasing could be read as six and a half years or as nine years.Google Scholar

193 Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 above), 388–89.Google Scholar

194 de Rupescissa, Johannes, Vade mecum (n. 170 above), 502.Google Scholar

195 Donckel, , “Studien,” 67–70.Google Scholar

196 Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 425–27; Daniel, , Les prophéties de Merlin (n. 5 above), 378–79.Google Scholar

197 Even in these cases, as in some of the manuscripts of Merlin's prophecy, the attribution to Merlin was lost. A good example is a text on the angel pope that is found in BNF lat. 16201, which claims, “In una bibblia satis antiqua serenissimi regis Aragonum, quam multo tempore possedit, caldea lingua expositiones sequentes super Ieremiam prophetam continetur sic” (fol. 5r). On fol. 7r, the author quotes a few excerpts from section 7 of our prophecy, without attribution. These same excerpts also appear in Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS 828, fols. 170v–171r. These excerpts are not directly from our text, but rather derive from Telesforus.Google Scholar

198 Here I rely in part on the account of Vinay, Gustavo, “Riflessi culturali sconosciuti del minoritismo subalpino,” Bollettino storico-bibliografico subalpino 37 (1935): 136–49. Vinay quotes many passages from the manuscript, but those reproduced here are my own transcriptions unless otherwise noted. For more on prophecy in Piedmont, see Rusconi, Roberto, L'attesa della fine: Crisi della società, profezia ed Apocalisse in Italia al tempo del grande scisma d'Occidente (1378–1417) (Rome, 1979), 185–95 (on Tebaldo and this manuscript, see 189–90). There is another compilation that is supposedly by the same Tebaldo in Turin, BN K² V 8, according to McGinn, , Visions of the End (n. 67 above), 254 n. 6.Google Scholar

199 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 168v: “Et re vera valde bone prout ego, Tibaldus [sic] de tali comedi in civitate Cumarum, ibi asidens pro iudice maleficiorum, anno domini MCCCCXXXVII.” Google Scholar

200 Here I rely with great caution on Vinay's transcription of the damaged margin of fol. 45r, in Vinay, , “Riflessi,” 140: “Ex quaddam aliquantulum vetusta scriptura, MCCCCXXXVIII.” The date is rather legible.Google Scholar

201 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 126v. Quoted below n. 208.Google Scholar

202 Again, I cautiously rely on Vinay's transcription of the marginalia of fol. 3r in Vinay, , “Riflessi,” 139, 146: “CXLVI, die IV … scriptura existenti in civitate Ast.” Google Scholar

203 Turin, BN K² IV 13, fol. 47r. Vinay, , “Riflessi,” 140, seems to suggest that there is an indication of 1447 in the margins of fol. 47r. However, this is clearly a later gloss on the text that Tebaldo copied in 1438.Google Scholar

204 Note that fol. 51 is clearly out of order and probably belongs to the Italian verses that precede the Liber de Flore. Google Scholar

205 BNF lat. 14669, fol. 129r.Google Scholar

206 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 76v: “Ex dictis Ioachin et Merlini in dicta epistola, possunt coligi multa signa in quibus cognosci poterit angelicus pastor, mondi reparator.” Google Scholar

207 Ibid., fol. 77v: “Qui forte vocatur Philipus.” Google Scholar

208 Ibid., fol. 126v. Partial transcriptions of this damaged passage have been provided by Vinay, , “Riflessi,” 139, 146, and in de Rupescissa, Johannes, Liber secretorum eventuum (n. 127 above), 103. I offer the passage in full, including Tebaldo's marginal additions (in parentheses) that Christine Morerod-Fattebert has reconstructed: “Has quidem prophecias suprascriptas transcripsi ex quodam antiquo libelleto et satis vetusto scriptura (iam XL … decursi … et … meo iudi[cio] … et ultra … magis cen[tum] annis) in hanc formam ego Thebadus [sic] de Civeriis iuris minimus professor in Cherio die XII octubris anno domini millesimo CCCXL. Et qui libeletus ex quo extraxi hec suprascripta, et infrascripta conten[u]ta in X foliis in proximo inscriptis, est domini magistri Iohannis Cyme de Ast, habitatoris Vercelarum et nunc regentis scolas in Cherio diocesis Thaurini.” Google Scholar

209 Turin, , BN K ² IV 13, fol. 111r: “Capitulum primum super prophetiam Ioachyn.” Google Scholar

210 I have not yet succeeded in identifying the source of this passage, found in Turin, BN K² IV 13, fol. 111r: “In die illa erit defectus ex parte anime, et oratio malla ad dominum effundetur in destructionem veritatis et bonitatis, et quia principium omnium bonarum actionum defficiet necesse est ut scandala veniant, et mallorum principium publicetur in sollio excellenti, id est in cathedra ecclesie, ut nobis videtur, et tempora immutabunt naturam, et panis in lapidem convertetur.” Google Scholar

211 Ibid., fol. 112v: “Istud cum toto sequente in hoc capitulo est Merlini, ubi clarius explicat quid dictum est de Ioachyn quantum ad iniquum pastorem.” Google Scholar

212 Ibid., fol. 113r: “Semen asperssum iuxta babilonicas partes, etc., id est prava doctrina, que supra a Ioachyn dicta est ‘oratio malla’ et ‘principium mallorum,’ publicata in romana curia que Babilon dicitur.” See Epistola Merlini 5.10–11.Google Scholar

213 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 113r: “Et hic nota primam constitutionem Ad conditorem.” Google Scholar

214 Edited in Tarrant, Jacqueline, ed., Extrauagantes Iohannis XXII (Vatican City, 1983), 228–54 (no. 18). The original decree was issued on 8 December 1322, while a longer version was issued in 1323. On the dating of this bull and those mentioned below, see ibid., 27.Google Scholar

215 Turin, BN K² IV 13, fol. 113r: “In hac tercia partia ostendit quomodo seminatam pravam doctrinam conabitur deffendere, unde dicitur balistum eriges, etc.” See Epistola Merlini 5.14.Google Scholar

216 Turin, BN K² IV 13, fol. 113r: “Et stellas, id est in luce veritatis imbutos.” See Epistola Merlini 5.15.Google Scholar

217 Tarrant, , Extrauagantes , 255–57 (no. 19). Issued on 12 November 1323.Google Scholar

218 Tarrant, , Extrauagantes , 257–87 (no. 20). Issued on 10 November 1324.Google Scholar

219 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 113v: “Sed timore balisti, id est sententie, non timore conscientie sed exterioris pene, ocultabit, id est simulabit, ad tempus ostendere veritatem.” See Epistola Merlini 5.21.Google Scholar

220 Turin, BN K² IV 13, fol. 113v: “Dicit igitur virgo, id est ipsa religio incorrupta in fide, ornata virtutibus in observancia consiliorum Christi, sine matula [sic] heresis, predicabit in mondo.” See Epistola Merlini 5.24.Google Scholar

221 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fols. 112r, 117v.Google Scholar

222 Ibid., fol. 122r: “Capitulum sextum pro maiori parte est Merlini et etiam Joachyn.” Google Scholar

223 Ibid., fol. 122v: “Privatio, inquit, dicti principii, etc., id est depositio illius uncti, qui visus est esse principium quoddam bonorum pontificum.” Google Scholar

224 Ibid., fol. 123r: “gens sagitaria, id est sequens positionem et sententias sagitarii supradicti, regnabit in christicolis, etc.” Cf. chapter 1 of the commentary, as described above. See Epistola Merlini 6.6. Google Scholar

225 Turin, , BN K² IV 13, fol. 124r: “Et hec deus permittet propter peccata populi, faciens scilicet regnare pontificem ypocratam, qui scilicet predictorum mallorum erit occaxio principium et origo, etc.” See Epistola Merlini 6.21–22.Google Scholar

226 Both terms ultimately derive from Genus nequam XI.Google Scholar

227 Cadili, Alberto, “I frati Minori dell'antipapa Niccolò V,” Franciscana 6 (2004): 95–137.Google Scholar

228 Ibid., 115, 133, 136.Google Scholar

229 Ibid., 115–16.Google Scholar

230 The manuscript is Vat. Lat. 3816. On what follows, see Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 above), 393–97.Google Scholar

231 Vat. Lat. 3816, fols. 56r–64v.Google Scholar

232 Ibid., fol. 63v: “Futurum enim est quod gens sagiptaria regnet in cristicolis, et non est qui ei resistet vel eos conterat, et nondum tempus eorum advenit.” See Epistola Merlini 6.6–7.Google Scholar

233 The resulting text is arranged as follows:Google Scholar Verus imperator , lines 1–43 Google Scholar Epistola Merlini , section 7 Google Scholar Verus imperator , lines 43–82 Google Scholar Epistola Merlini , section 8 Google Scholar Verus imperator , lines 83–134 Google Scholar Epistola Merlini , section 9.Google Scholar

234 On which, see Britnell, Jennifer and Stubbs, Derek, “The Mirabilis Liber: Its Compilation and Influence,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 49 (1986): 126–49.Google Scholar

235 Quoted in Daniel, , Les prophéties de Merlin (n. 5 above), 321.Google Scholar

236 For a detailed account of contents and further bibliography, see the descriptions in José Paz, Carlos Santos, La obra de Gebenón de Eberbach (Florence, 2004), ccxxxiii–iv and Jostmann, , Sibilla Erithea (n. 37 above), 389–91. These surpass the older description in Biblioteca Nacional de España, Inventario general de manuscritos de la Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid, 1953), 1:56–57.Google Scholar

237 I am grateful to Alexander Patschovsky for his assessment of these two hands.Google Scholar

238 On this manuscript and its contents, see Vinay, , “Riflessi” (n. 198 above), and de Rupescissa, Johannes, Liber secretorum eventuum (n. 127 above), 103–4.Google Scholar

239 A list of this manuscript's contents can be found in Reeves, , Influence (n. 2 above), 538. See also Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy,” 393–96.Google Scholar

240 For a detailed list of the contents, see Jostmann, , Sibilla Erithea , 447–52.Google Scholar

241 For an assessment of previous arguments concerning this manuscript, with additional bibliography, see Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy,” 380–83.Google Scholar

242 In this case especially, note the difference from the folio numbers printed in Donckel, , “Studien” (n. 179 above), 37.Google Scholar

243 This manuscript is being edited by a team of scholars led by Piron, Sylvain.Google Scholar

244 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor (n. 130 above), 4.34 (p. 156); de Rupescissa, Johannes, Vade mecum (n. 170 above), 501.Google Scholar

245 de Roquetaillade, Jean, Liber ostensor , 8.162 (p. 469).Google Scholar

246 The precise relationship between the manuscripts remains puzzling, though I can offer a few observations. BNF lat. 3184 and Saint-Geneviève 1453 are closely related both by the omission of certain words and by variant readings. They are also the only two manuscripts I have seen that preserve the correct incipit for Merlin (rather than the mistaken incipit, Genus nequam). Syracuse, Von Ranke 90 (n. 187 above) is closer to the former manuscripts than to any of the others, but it is lacking the page on which the incipit is given. Vat. Lat. 3816 and BNF lat. 11415 share more variant readings than any other pair, while Lyons, MS 189 and the printed edition show notable similarities in their omission and addition of words. The fragment in BNF lat. 14726 is difficult to place, but it appears to be a rather reliable text.Google Scholar

247 Given the complexity of the textual tradition and the terseness of the reference to Merlin, I have not undertaken a survey of the manuscripts. However, Elena Tealdi has recently begun the work of editing this important text.Google Scholar

248 For more on the orthography of Y and V₁ , see the description in Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy,” 400.Google Scholar

a Calcidius, , Timaeus a Calcidio translatus commentarioque instructus , 39E, ed. Waszink, J. H. (London, 1962), 32: “Et iam fere cuncta provenerant usque ad genituram temporis.” Google Scholar

b Cf. Ezek. 1:4.Google Scholar

c Augustine, , Liber de fide rerum invisibilium 2, 4, CCL 46 (Turnhout, 1969), 5: “Omitto dicere, quam multa isti, qui nos reprehendunt, quia credimus quae non videmus, credant famae et historiae vel de locis, ubi ipsi non fuerunt, nec dicant: ‘Non credimus, quia non vidimus.’” Google Scholar

d Nicholas, IV reigned from 22 February 1288 until 4 April 1292, almost exactly fifty months.Google Scholar

e Cf. Rev. 12:14. The interregnum between Nicholas IV and Celestine V lasted from 4 April 1292 until Celestine's election on 5 July 1294. This is a little less than two and a half years, even if we count until Celestine's coronation on 29 August 1294.Google Scholar

f The cardinals first gathered in Rome to elect a new pope, but they failed to reach an agreement. The deliberations moved to Perugia in October 1293, where the election of Celestine V eventually took place (see Herde, , Cölestin V. [n. 2 to text above], 53–70).Google Scholar

g Genus nequam XIII.4, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies (n. 3 to text above), 179: “Nudus venit de petra tenebrosa.” Google Scholar

h Genus nequam XI.3, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 175: “Petram habitas” (but note that several manuscripts read “habitans”).Google Scholar

i Celestine V reigned for three and a half months, from his coronation on 29 August 1294 until his renunciation on 13 December of the same year. Perhaps the reference to four months is connected to Genus nequam V.5–6 (Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 161): “Item coniuncta falcifer quattuor mensium te scribo.” Google Scholar

j Calcidius, , Timaeus , 40B (p. 33): “Qua ex causa facti sunt summa divinitate praediti omnes illi ignes siderei, qui nullos errores exorbitationesque patiuntur.” Google Scholar

k Genus nequam XIII.4, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 179. See n. g above.Google Scholar

l Cf. Genus nequam XI.6–7, in Fleming, , Pope Prophecies , 175: “Quando maior stella apparebit nigra tibi. Nudus item vade in inferiora terre.” Google Scholar

m Calcidius, , Timaeus , 39A (p. 31): “Omnes quippe circulos eorum uniformis et inerrabilis illa conversio vertens in spiram.” Google Scholar

n This passage is found in both short versions of the Erythrean Sibyl, as printed in the edition of Jostmann, , Sibilla Erithea (n. 37 to text above), 496–527. See 1.115–16 (p. 504) and 2.133–34 (p. 510): “Cuius mors erit abscondita et incognita, sonabitque in populo: vivit et non vivit.” A similar passage appears in the long version at 3.193 (p. 522): “Que claudet eius oculos morte abscondita supervivetque. Sonabit et in populo: Vivit et non vivit.” Google Scholar

o Cf. “tuba mirum spargens sonum” from the Dies irae, and also Jostmann, , Sibilla Erithea , 526: “vox tube terribilis.” Google Scholar

p Calcidius, , Timaeus , 46B (p. 42): “Dextrae porro partes quae sunt sinistrae videntur in isdem speculis insolito quodam more.” Google Scholar

q Calcidius, , Timaeus , 45C (p. 41): “Quorum tamen esset angusta medietas subtilior.” Google Scholar

r Cf. Isa. 30:6.Google Scholar

s This phrase appears to be particularly corrupt. I have followed the base text Y , though these readings are no more (or less) clear than the variants from the other family. In any case, the next word seems to begin a different idea, so I have not tried to connect the phrases.Google Scholar

t The verb leonizare can be found in Hakamies, Reino, Glossarium latinitatis Medii Aevi Finlandicae (Helsinki, 1958), 97, where it is defined as “amener sous le signe de Lion (astrol.).” The only listed attestation is from Italy in 1383.Google Scholar

u The imagery of barren trees can be found in the Horoscopus and its commentary. See Berlin, Staatsbibliothek 116, fols. 29v, 31r.Google Scholar

v Similar passages can be found in other prophecies. See, e.g., Joachim of Fiore (Pseudo), Interpretatio preclara Abbatis Ioachim in Hieremiam prophetam (Venice, 1525), fol. 12v^a: “Inde tumultuabitur puer adversus senem, praedicator contra pastores, et ignobilis contra nobilem.” This notion has biblical precedent in Mic. 7:6, Matt. 10:35–36, and Luke, 12:53.Google Scholar

w The race of archers is mentioned throughout the prophetic Visio Norsei, printed in Pertusi, Agostino, Fine di Bisanzio e fine del mondo: Significato e ruolo storico delle profezie sulla caduta di Costantinopoli in oriente e in occidente , ed. Morini, Enrico (Rome, 1988), 130–34. For example, “Praedicam vobis tribulationes et mala tempora quae ventura sunt in mundo a gente sagittaria et a regibus orientalibus, qui destruent terram et plenitudinem eius” (130). Similarly, see Bacon, Roger, The “Opus majus” of Roger Bacon , ed. Bridges, John Henry, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1897), 1:363: “Alius propheta eorum vocatur Akaton, qui prophetavit de Tartaris et de destructione eorum. Dicit enim ‘quod ab aquilone veniet gens sagittaria, quae omnes nationes orientis subjugabit, et venient in regno occidentis, scilicet ad Constantinopolim, et ibi per principes occidentis destruentur.’” Google Scholar

x Cf. John, 7:6.Google Scholar

y Cf. Dan, . 2:31–33. The details here are reversed.Google Scholar

z The imagery of merchants falsifying their wares can be found in Les Prophecies de Merlin and the Oraculum Cyrilli. See Paton, , Les Prophecies (n. 5 above), 1:261–62, 312, 2:146; Piur, , “Oraculum” (n. 26 to text above), 3.27–30 (p. 263).Google Scholar

aa Cf. Rev. 14:6. This may also be a reference to the infamous Scandal of the Eternal Evangel (1255), in which the Franciscan Gerard of Borgo San Donnino was condemned for the radical Joachism espoused in his Introductorius in Evangelium Eternum. The classic study (which needs to be updated) is Denifle, Heinrich, “Das Evangelium Aeternum und die Commission zu Anagni,” Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters 1 (1885): 49–142. See now Tealdi, Elena, “Il Protocollo della Commissione di Anagni (1255): Fonti, metodi di lavoro, obiettivi,” (master's thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, 2008) and her forthcoming publication on the subject.Google Scholar

bb The imagery of doves that avoid corpses is contrasted with crows that love corpses in Joachim of Fiore (Pseudo), In Hieremiam , fol. 13r^a .Google Scholar

cc Ps. 121:1.Google Scholar

dd See the image accompanying Genus nequam XIV (fig. 3, above). See also Verus imperator, lines 114–17 in Mesler, , “Imperial Prophecy” (n. 1 to text above), 413–14.Google Scholar

ee Cf. Wisd. of Sol. 3:1.Google Scholar

ff Cf. Isa. 14:29 and also Piur, , “Oraculum,” ch. 4, pp. 269–70.Google Scholar

gg Cf. Augustine, , Enarrationes in Psalmos 60, 6 (on Ps. 60:5), ed. Dekkers, Eligius and Fraipont, Jean, CCL 38–40 (Turnhout, 1990), 2:769: “Non vincetur ecclesia, non eradicabitur, nec cedet quibuslibet tentationibus, donec veniat huius saeculi finis.” Google Scholar

hh 2 Cor. 6:10.Google Scholar

ii Pope Sylvester I (r. 314–35).Google Scholar

jj Cf. Gen. 48:14–19.Google Scholar

kk Calcidius, , Timaeus (n. a above) 50E (p. 48): “Proptereaque informis intellegatur omni quippe forma carens.” Google Scholar

ll Calcidius, , Timaeus , 48E (p. 46): “Unum perpetuum carens generatione exemplaris eminentiae, alterum simulacrum et imago eius aeternitati propagata secundae generationis idque visibile.” Google Scholar

mm Calcidius, , Timaeus , 49C (p. 47): “Aer porro exustus ignem creat.” Google Scholar

nn Calcidius, , Timaeus , 48D–E (p. 46): “Deum ergo etiam nunc auxiliatorem invocabimus ante auspicium dictionis, liberatorem ex turbida et procellosa coepti sermonis iactatione.” Google Scholar

oo This phrase has its origin in patristic and liturgical traditions. See, for example, Bruylants, P., “Terrena despicere et amare caelestia,” in Miscellanea liturgica in onore di sua eminenza il cardinale Giacomo Lercaro , 2 vols. (Rome, 1967), 2:195–206; idem, Les oraisons du missel romain: Texte et hisoire, 2 vols. (Leuven, 1952), 2, nos. 113, 331, 379, 417, 829, 1102, 1112; Lietzmann, Hans, Das Sacramentarium Gregorianum nach dem Aachener Urexemplar (Münster, 1921), no. 186 (p. 104); Mohlberg, Leo Cunibert, ed., Sacramentarium Veronense (Rome, 1956), no. 421 (p. 57); idem, ed., Liber sacramentorum romanae aeclesiae ordinis anni circuli (Sacramentarium Gelasianum) (Rome, 1960), no. 1124 (p. 170). See also Kieling, Michał, Terrena non amare sed coelestia: Theologie der Welt in Alkuins Commentaria super Ecclesiasten (Frankfurt, 2002), 38–39.Google Scholar

pp Calcidius, , Timaeus , 49A (p. 46): “Quam igitur eius vim quamve esse naturam putandum est? Opinor, omnium quae gignuntur receptaculum est, quasi quaedam nutricula.” Google Scholar

qq Calcidius, , Timaeus , 49D (p. 47): “Quapropter de cunctis huius modi mutabilibus ita est habendum: hoc quod saepe alias aliter formatum nobis videtur et plerumque iuxta ignis effigiem non est, opinor, ignis sed igneum quiddam, nec aer sed aereum, nec omnino quicquam velut habens ullam stabilitatem.” Google Scholar

rr Calcidius, , Timaeus , 49E (p. 47): “Igitur ignem quoque eum esse vere putandum, qui semper idem est.” Google Scholar

ss Cf. Calcidius, , Timaeus , 50B (p. 48): “Eadem et consimilis ratio.” The wording is too generic to be considered a quotation. However, it is noteworthy that these words in the Timaeus appear in the range 48D–50E, from which more than half of the quotations used in the Epistola derive.Google Scholar

tt Calcidius, , Timaeus , 50C (p. 48): “Eademque quae introeunt et egrediuntur simulacra sunt vere existentium rerum miro quodam vixque explicabili modo formata ab isdem vere existentibus rebus.” Google Scholar