Textual History -- MS I [base text]

This redaction of Wulfstan's Sermo ad Anglos is found on folios 110r-115r of the British Library MS Cotton Nero A.i.The text, probably copied in the early part of the eleventh century, was annotated throughout in a hand that is most like that of Wulfstan himself. This probability, as well as the internal manuscript evidence for a date of 1014, gives the text a terminus ad quo of 1014 and a terminus ante quem of 1023, the year of Wulfstan's death at York.



































Textual History -- MS E

This redaction is found in the Bodleian Library, MS Hatton 113, folios 84v-90v. Originating in a scriptorium in Worcester, this manuscript contains a redaction of the long version of Wulfstan's sermon, and is dated to between 1050 and 1075, well after Wulfstan's 1023 death. Like many other manuscripts from this provenance, this redaction of the Sermo Lupi ad Anglos contains marginal annotations in the famous "tremulous hand" of Worcester.



































Textual History -- MS C

A mid-length version of the text, missing some vital passages, this redaction is found in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 201, pages 82-86. The manuscript as a whole contains a first draft of Cnut's laws, which were composed between 1016 and 1018; the handwriting has been dated to approximately 1050. This redaction gives the date of the sermon as 1009, but this is probably a misreading of the more likely mlo XIIII for the scribal mlo VIIII. The provenance is questionable, and the text may be assigned either to Worcester or York.



































Textual History -- MS B

One of the two shorter redactions of Wulfstan's Sermo ad Anglos, this text is found in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 419, pages 95-112. It is missing some vital passages, which may best be elucidated by consulting the textual apparatus. This redaction is dated to the first half of the eleventh century, though I suggest that the text is closer to 1050 than 1014 in both its appearance and manuscript content.



































Textual History -- MS H

This redaction is the latest copy of Wulfstan's Sermo ad Anglos, dated to the latter part of the twelfth century. With a provenance of the West Midlands, the manuscript as a whole contains some other Wulfstan and Ælfric homilies, as well as some Early Middle English shorter poems and lyrics. Like those contained in MSS C and B, this redaction is missing some significant passages.