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Latin · canon-law ·

Canones Alii Sancti Patricio Ascripti

Patricius · ogl-pl

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 382 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Canones Alii Sancti Patricio Ascripti are a supplementary set of canons traditionally attributed to Saint Patrick, likely compiled in early medieval Ireland between the 6th and 8th centuries. They form part of the Irish canonical tradition, often appended to the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, and address ecclesiastical discipline, penance, and clerical conduct. The canons blend native Irish legal customs with Latin canonical norms, reflecting the fusion of indigenous and Christian traditions. They survive in several medieval manuscripts, though no single authoritative witness exists. The text influenced later Irish penitentials and early medieval canon law in Britain and the Continent, particularly through the Hibernensis collection. The present edition is a modern collation without critical apparatus, and the attribution to Patrick is traditional, not contemporary.

The Canones Alii are significant as a witness to early medieval Irish canon law and its fusion of native and Latin traditions. They influenced later penitentials and the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, which shaped ecclesiastical discipline in Carolingian Europe. The canons also illustrate the development of penitential exile (peregrinatio) and the integration of biblical models into legal practice.

Historical context

The Canones Alii were likely compiled in early medieval Ireland, probably between the 6th and 8th centuries, within monastic scriptoria that produced the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis. This collection circulated widely in Carolingian Europe, influencing continental canon law. The canons reflect a church structure where abbots and bishops held overlapping authority, and penitential practice included peregrinatio (enforced exile) as a distinctive Irish feature. The text survives in manuscripts from continental libraries, indicating transmission by Irish missionaries. The attribution to Patrick (5th century) is a later ascription, common in Irish canonical collections to lend authority. The canons address practical issues like church theft, clerical misconduct, and community property, blending biblical citations (e.g., Acts 4:32-35) with secular penalties such as mutilation or exile. The lack of a critical edition means textual variants and interpolations remain unmarked.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 3 scripture2 structure2 term2 transmission1 background1 reception1 caution 1 derived notes 4 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: canon-law in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • caution1 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note.
  • sourceSource edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
tmp877.tmp877.opp-lat1:1 · narrativehigh
Source
CANONES ALII S. PATRICIO ATTRIBUTI, E codice ms. collegii Benedictini Cantabrigiæ descripti. De unitate subditorum Quis ergo audet scindere unitatem, quam nemo hominum solvere vel reprehendere potest? Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una, et nulla erat separatio in eis, nec quisquam ex bonis suis dicebat esse aliquid: sed erant illis omnia communia. Gratia quoque erat magna super illos omnes, nec in eis aliquis indigens. Nam quicunque possessores agro rum aut domorum erant, vendentes afferebant pretia illorum et ponebant ante [pedes] apostolorum; et dividebatur unicuique ut opus erat (Act. IV, 32-35). DeinJe: Quidam autem vir nomine Angnias, etc., usque ad illa verba: Audiens autem Ananias hæc verba, cecidit et exspiravit (Act. v, 1-5). II. De furto in ecclesia peracto. Qui furatus fuerit pecuniam ab ecclesia sancta ubi martyres et corpora sanctorum dormiunt, illius mauus vel pes circumcidatur, aut in carcerem mittatur, aut in peregrinationem ejiciatur, et restituat duplum; ct jurabit quod non revertetur donce impleverit pænitentiam.
English
OTHER CANONS ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT PATRICK, described from a manuscript of the Benedictine College at Cambridge. On the unity of subjects Who then dares to break the unity, which no man can dissolve or reprove? But the multitude of believers had one heart and one soul, and there was no division among them, nor did anyone claim anything from his own goods as his own: but all things were common to them. Moreover, great grace was upon them all, and none among them was in need. For whoever were possessors of fields or houses, selling them, they brought their prices and placed them before the feet of the apostles; and it was distributed to each as was necessary (Acts 4:32-35). Then: But a certain man named Ananias, etc., up to those words: But Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and expired (Acts 5:1-5). II. On theft committed in a church. Whoever has stolen money from a holy church where martyrs and the bodies of saints rest, that person’s hand or foot shall be cut off, or he shall be sent to prison, or he shall be cast out into pilgrimage, and he shall restore double; and he shall swear that he will not return until he has fulfilled the penance.
tmp877.tmp877.opp-lat1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
III. De veris viduis. De veris viduis Paulus: Vidua eligatur non minus annorum 60, unius viri uxor (I Tim. v, 9). Muta: Si plures viros habuerit, vidua non sit. Adjicinntur deinde mox sequentes duo canones: ed an S. Patricii, vel cujus sint, e ms. Benedictino non liquet. Eorum vero posterior in codice Cottoniano canonum, lit. 66, diserte synodo Hiberniensi ascribitur. I. De eo quod non repudianda sit, si sterilis, si deformis est, si ætate vetula, si fetida, si temulenta, si iracunda, si jurgatrix, tenenda sit velis nolis. Qualiscunque accepta sit, tenenda est. II. Omnis adulter sive a concelebratione, sive a communicatione mensæ, sive a colloquio, sive a comitatu, usque dum poeniteat, excludendus est
English
III. Concerning True Widows. Concerning true widows, Paul says: Let a widow be chosen not less than 60 years of age, the wife of one man (1 Tim. 5:9). The change: If she has had more husbands, she is not a widow. There are then added, immediately following, these two canons: but whether they are of St. Patrick, or whose they are, is not clear from the Benedictine manuscript. However, the latter of them in the Cottonian manuscript of canons, letter 66, is expressly ascribed to a Hibernian synod. I. Concerning the fact that she is not to be repudiated, if she is sterile, if she is deformed, if she is aged, if she is foul-smelling, if she is drunken, if she is wrathful, if she is quarrelsome, she is to be kept whether you will or not. However she was accepted, she is to be kept. II. Every adulterer is to be excluded, whether from concelebration, or from communion of the table, or from conversation, or from companionship, until he repents.
Citation. Tergwame, “Canones Alii Sancti Patricio Ascripti”, tmp877.tmp877.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp877.tmp877.opp-lat1#s1
Colophon. Source: ogl-pl · licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0017 · generated 2026-11-15.