Franco Negri

SUMMARY: In 1149 or 1150 Guerricus of Igny and the archbishop of Reims Samson of Mauvoisin put Hugo of Fouilloy up for prior of St Denis of Reims. But Hugo refused the election, and adduced reasons for his refusal in an apologetic letter addressed to an unidentified domno H. The letter is transmitted by eight manuscripts, and two of them have been written in Hugo’s lifetime, probably under his supervision. In all these MSS the letter is copied beside Hugo’s De claustro animae. A new argument is given for a datation of De claustro, book I and II, ante 1149. A critical edition of the letter is provided and its style and sources are investigated. A list of hitherto unknown MS witnesses of the De claustro animae is given at the end.

Hugh of Fouilloy’s work and the text tradition of his De claustro animae were surveyed in 2006: a list of 357 surviving manuscripts was made. The preliminary work for the critical edition in Corpus Christianorum resulted in the finding of 69 more manuscripts, which are listed in the present article. MS Paris, BNF, lat. 13417 appears to be basic in the stemma codicum. Thomas of Ireland’s, Manipulus florum (early 14th Century) is an important step for its use among preachers.