We continue with our 15th century Middle English calendar for the month of August.
Each month I publish my transcription and translation of the text into modern English.
Here is the August page, f. 4v.
Ignoring the dates on the left, you will notice some text entirely in red; these are major feasts. The black text underlined in red is the name of a saint and so a more minor feast day.
In 2025, the British Library acquired several new manuscripts, one of which is MS89792, a 15th century manuscript which contains devotions on the passion - Arma Christi - along with several other texts.
If you want to look at the text yourself, you can find it here.
In my transcription, the letter “þ” represents the “th” sound.
The Labours of the Months, a series of misericords showing the yearly activities - this one shows the harvesting of wheat in the summer. The man is cutting the wheat with a sickle, the woman is gathering the wheat using a crook. Ripple church.
Here is the transcription of the text:
The boundes of Seynt Peter at lames.
Unbynde vs w[i]t[h] þe pope Steuen.
And Steue[n] þe deken oon of þe seuen.
Help with þi merites many fold.
With kyng and martir Seynt Oswold.
Seynt Sixte pope for goddess sake.
With Donat bisschop do þi diligence.
Also with þi felaus Seynt Ciriake.
With Seynt Roman help our co[n]scie[n]ce.
O þow worthi martir Seynt Laurence.
Pray for vs now with Seynt Tyburs.
I hope it wol be neuer þe wors.
Seynt Ypolite here my peticion.
With Sey[n]t Eusebe þe holy confessour.
Now lady for þi high assumpcion,
Geue vs þin hande and þi socour.
That we mow stye in to þi tour.
Wher Seynt Agapit is with þe.
Lady with Sent Magne help þou me.
To my valentine lady I chese þe.
Whom I wol not change for no newe.
Now pray for me Seynt Thunothe.
To my lady my loue þat I be trewe.
Help me I pray þe Seynt Bartholomew.
So worthi apostel as þow art oon.
Peter help þ[?] prayer can I noon.
Help me Seynt Ruphe þe martyr of ?cste?
And Seynt Austyn so worthi a dortour.
With decollacion of John þe Baptiste.
Seynt Felix pray oure sauyour.
With Seynt Cuthburge þe virgin flour.
St Cuthbert’s tomb in Durham Cathedral, where King Oswald’s head also lies. At the back you will notice a headless statue - this is St Cuthbert, now headless himself, but holding St Oswald in his hand.
And my translation, with notes on the saints and feast mentioned:
This misericord from Ripple, labelled as July, is interpreted as preparation for Lammas Day; the first wheat of the harvest has been ground and made into bread for presentation in church on Lammas Day. It is guarded, being so important to the people.
On the Chains of Saint Peter1 at Lammas,2
unbind us, together with Pope Stephen,3
and Stephen the Deacon, one of the Seven.4
Help [us] through your many merits,
together with King and Martyr Saint Oswald.5
Saint Sixtus, Pope,6 for God’s sake,
With Bishop Donatus,7 do your duty.
Also with your companion, Saint Cyriacus,8
With Saint Romanus,9 help our conscience.
O worthy martyr, Saint Lawrence,10
pray for us now with Saint Tiburtius.11
I hope it will never be the worse.
Saint Hippolytus,12 hear my petition,
With Saint Eusebius,13 the holy confessor.
Now, Lady, for your high Assumption,14
give us your hand and your help,
that we may [ascend?] into your tower,
where Saint Agapitus15 is with you.
Lady, together with Saint Magnus,16 help me.
I choose you as my Valentine,
whom I will never exchange for another.
Now pray for me, Saint Thunothe,17
that to my Lady my love I may remain true.
Help me, I pray, Saint Bartholomew,18
worthy Apostle that you are one.
Saint Peter, help me—I can offer no prayer.
Help me, Saint Rufus,19 the martyr of [uncertain, perhaps “Christ”?],
and Saint Augustine,20 so worthy a Doctor.
At the Beheading of John the Baptist,21
Saint Felix,22 pray to our Saviour,
With Saint Cuthburga,23 the flower among virgins.
The 8th century depiction of Mary being carried out for burial, with the high priest who seized the bier being dragged along underneath, according to the legend. St John is in front, with some of the other apostles either present in the Spirit or, alternatively, being carried to the even through the clouds. Grave cover at Wirksworth.
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1st August is the feast of the dedication of the church in Rome built in the 5th century to house the chains which bound St Peter under the Emperor Nero.
Lammas Day is an Anglo-Saxon festival held on 1st August. It is a harvest festival marking the cereal harvest and the midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. Its name derives from the Old English hlāfmæsse ("loaf-mass"), referencing the Christian tradition of baking bread from the season's first grain and blessing it in church.
Pope Stephen died in 257 AD, feast day August 2nd.
This may refer to one of the 7 deacons martyred with Pope Sixtus, whose feast day is August 7th.
King Oswald, 604-642, feast day August 5th. Born pagan, converted to Christianity and then brought Christianity to his people in Northumbria. Died fighting the pagan king Penda of Mercia and has always been considered a martyr. Bede wrote about him at length. His claim to fame after death is that his head was placed in St Cuthbert’s coffin when the monks abandoned Lindisfarne and it remains there to this day.
Pope Sixtus, died 258 AD, feast day August 7th. He was arrested while preaching during the liturgy in one of the Roman catacombs. He and his 7 deacons were martyred.
There are two candidates here, both bishops. One was a 4th century bishop of Arezzo, the other a monk and bishop of Besancon in 624. Feast day for both is August 7th.
A deacon, one of 24 martyrs who died in Rome in 304 AD under Diocletian. Feast day August 8th.
Romanus Ostiarius, died 258 AD and may be connected with St Laurence. Feast day August 9th.
The deacon St Laurence (or Lawrence), martyred in 258 AD, perhaps connected with the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus on August 7th and St Romanus on the 9th. Famously roasted on a gridiron, which became his emblem in the medieval church. Mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass, his death marked the beginning of the end for pagan religion in Rome and from that point it went into decline.
Tiburtius was a martyr at Rome around 288 AD. feast day August 11th.
Hippolytus was a priest who was rigorous in his beliefs and ended up being elected anti-pope, as a result of which he was exiled to Sardinia. He was reconciled to the church before his martyrdom in 235 AD. Feast day August 13th.
This Eusebius (there are several), feast day August 14th, was a Roman priest who died in the 4th century.
The Assumption on August 15th was celebrated in the Eastern church at least as early as the 5th century, and in the Western church by the 7th century.
Agapitus was a 15 year old martyr who died around 274 AD, feast day August 18th.
Magnus was a Benedictine monk and bishop who died around 660 AD. Feast day August 19th.
I’m drawing a blank on this one. Any ideas?
One of the 12 Apostles, said to have preached in the East as far as India, and to have been flayed alive. Feast day August 24th.
There are two candidates for Rufus on August 27th, perhaps late 3rd century.
Augustine of Hippo, feast day August 28th. 354-430 AD, born in North Africa. One of the most influential of the Doctors of the church.
Felix and Adauctus, martyrs beheaded in Rome in around 304 AD. As Felix was being led to death, a bystander confessed Christ and was put to death with him. As his name was not known, he was given the name “the added one” - Adauctus.
Cuthburga was a princess who became a nun and founded Wimborne Abbey in the early 8th century. This monastery sent many missionary nuns to assist in the evangelisation of Germany. Died around 725, feast day 31st August.
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