[The following extracts are taken from the text printed by W. S. Logemann in Anglia, xiii (1891), 365, from Cotton MS. Tiberius A. III, †1020-1030. This MS. has Anglo-Saxon glosses. Other MSS. are in Cotton MS. Faustina B. III, and Bodleian MS. Junius, 52, ii. Earlier editions of the text are in Reyner, De Antiquitate Ordinis Benedictinorum in Anglia, App. iii. p. 77, and Dugdale, Monasticum Anglicanum, i. xxvii. The literary history is discussed by W. S. Logemann in Anglia, xv (1893), 20; M. Bateson, Rules for Monks and Canons in English Hist. Review, ix (1894), 700; and F. Tupper, History and Texts of the Benedictine Reform of the Tenth Century, in Modern Language Notes, viii. 344. The Prooemium of the document states that it was drawn up by the bishops, abbots, and abbesses of England upon the suggestion of King Edgar at a Council of Winchester, and that certain additions were made to it by Dunstan. The traditional ascription by Cotton’s librarian and others of the authorship of the Regularis Concordia to Dunstan is probably based on this record of the revision which, as archbishop, he naturally gave it. The actual author is thought by Dr. Logemann, and by Dr. Stubbs (Memorials of Dunstan, R. S. cx) to have been Ælfric, a monk, first of Abingdon and then of Winchester, who became abbot of Cerne, and in 1005 of Eynsham, and was a considerable writer in Anglo-Saxon. Dr. Logemann’s view is based on a theory that the Concordia is the ‘Regula Aluricii, glossata Anglice’ which occurs amongst the titles of some tracts once in the library of Christ Church, Canterbury (Anglia, xv. 25). But the Concordia is more likely to have been the ‘Consuetudines de faciendo servitio divino per annum, glossatae Anglice,’ which is in the same list, and in fact the Canterbury copy is probably that in Cotton MS. Faustina, B. III (E. H. R. ix. 708). Perhaps the ‘Regula Aluricii’ was a copy of the letter to the monks of Eynsham, which Ælfric at some date after 1005 based upon the Concordia and the De Ecclesiasticis Officiis of Amalarius of Metz. This is printed, from C. C. C. C. MS. 265, by Miss Bateson, in Dean Kitchin’s Obedientiary Rolls of St. Swithin’s, Winchester, 173 (Hampshire Record Soc.). It omits the Sepulchrum and its Visitatio. In any case this letter makes it clear that Ælfric was not the author of the Concordia, for he says ‘haec pauca de libro consuetudinum quem sanctus Aethelwoldus Wintoniensis episcopus cum coepiscopis et abbatibus tempore Eadgari felicissimi regis Anglorum undique collegit ac monachis instituit observandum.’ The author, therefore, so far as there was a single author, was Ethelwold, whom I take to be the ‘abbas quidam’ of the Prooemium. He became Abbot of Abingdon about 954, and Bishop of Winchester in 963. In 965 Elfrida, who is also mentioned in the Prooemium, became queen. The date of the Concordia probably falls, therefore, between 965 and the death of Edgar in 975. There were Councils of Winchester in 969 and 975 (Wilkins, i. 247, 261): but the Council at which the Concordia was undertaken may be an earlier one, not otherwise recorded. The Concordia is said in the Prooemium to have been based in part upon customs of Fleury and of Ghent. It is worth pointing out that Ethelwold had already reformed Abingdon after the model of Fleury, and that Dunstan, during his banishment, had found refuge in St. Peter’s at Ghent (Stephens-Hunt, Hist. of the English Church, i. 347, 349). Miss Bateson suggests that another source is to be found in the writings of an earlier Benedictine reformer, Benedict of Aniane (E. H. R. ix. 700).]

De Consuetudine Monachorum.

Prohemum Regularis Concordiae Anglicae Nationis Monachorum Sanctimonialiumque Orditur.

[The Prooemium opens with an account of the piety of King Edgar ‘abbate quodam assiduo monente’ and the purification of the English monasteries.]

... Regulari itaque sancti patris Benedicti norma honestissime suscepta, tam abbates perplurimi quam abbatissae cum sibi subiectis fratrum sororumque collegiis sanctorum sequi vestigia una fide non tamen uno consuetudinis usu certatim cum magna studuerunt hilaritate. Tali igitur ac tanto studio praefatus rex magnopere delectatus arcana quaeque diligenti cura examinans synoda le concilium Wintoniae fieri decrevit ... cunctosque ... monuit ut concordes aequali consuetudinis usu ... nullo modo dissentiendo discordarent.... Huius praecellentissimi regis sagaci monitu spiritualiter conpuncti non tantum episcopi verum etiam abbates et abbatissae ... eius imperiis toto mentis conamine alacriter obtemperantes, sanctique patroni nostri Gregorii documenta quibus beatum Augustinum monere studuit, ut non solum Romanae verum etiam Galliarum honestos ecclesiarum usus rudi Anglorum ecclesia decorando constitueret, recolentes, accitis Floriacensibus beati Benedicti nec non praecipui coenobii quod celebri Gent nuncupatur vocabulo monachis quaeque ex dignis eorum moribus honesta colligentes, ... has morum consuetudines ad vitae honestatem et regularis observantiae dulcedinem ... hoc exiguo apposuerunt codicello.... Hoc etenim Dunstanus egregius huius patriae archiepiscopus praesago afflatus spiritu ad corroborandum praefati sinodalis conventus conciliabulum provide ac sapienter addidit, ut videlicet.

[On Maundy Thursday] In qua missa sicut in sequentium dierum communicatio prebetur tam fratribus quam cunctis fidelibus reservata nihilominus ea die eucharistia quae sufficit ad communicandum cunctis altera die....

In die Parascevae agatur nocturna laus [i.e. the Tenebrae] sicut supra dictum est. Post haec venientes ad primam discalceati omnes incedant quousque crux adoretur. Eadem enim die hora nona abbas cum fratribus accedat ad ecclesiam.... Postea legitur passio domini nostri Ihesu Christi secundum Iohannem.... Post haec celebrentur orationes.... Quibus expletis per ordinem statim preparetur crux ante altare interposito spatio inter ipsam et altare sustentata hinc et inde a duobus diaconibus. Tunc cantent.... Deferatur tunc ab ipsis diaconibus ante altare, et eos acolitus cum pulvillo sequatur super quem sancta crux ponatur.... Post haec vertentes se ad clerum nudata cruce dicant antiphonam Ecce lignum crucis.... Ilico ea nudata veniat abbas ante crucem sanctam ac tribus vicibus se prosternat cum omnibus fratribus dexterioris chori scilicet senioribus et iunioribus et cum magno cordis suspirio viiᵐ poenitentiae psalmos cum orationibus sanctae cruci competentibus decantando peroret.... Et eam humiliter deosculans surgat. Dehinc sinisterioris chori omnes fratres eadem mente devota peragant. Nam salutata ab abbate vel omnibus cruce redeat ipse abbas ad sedem suam usque dum omnis clerus ac populus hoc idem faciat. Nam quia ea die depositionem corporis salvatoris nostri celebramus usum quorundam religiosorum imitabilem ad fidem indocti vulgi ac neofitorum corroborandam equiparando sequi si ita cui visum fuerit vel sibi taliter placuerit hoc modo decrevimus. Sit autem in una parte altaris qua vacuum fuerit quaedam assimilatio sepulchri velamenque quoddam in gyro tensum quod dum sancta crux adorata fuerit deponatur hoc ordine. Veniant diaconi qui prius portaverunt eam et involvant eam sindone in loco ubi adorata est. Tunc reportent eam canentes antiphonas ... donec veniant ad locum monumenti depositaque cruce ac si domini nostri Ihesu Christi corpore sepulto dicant antiphonam.... In eodem loco sancta crux cum omni reverentia custodiatur usque dominicae noctem resurrectionis. Nocte vero ordinentur duo fratres aut tres aut plures si tanta fuerit congregatio, qui ibidem psalmos decantando excubias fideles exerceant.... [The Missa de Praesanctificatorum follows] ... Sabbato sancto hora nona veniente abbate in ecclesiam cum fratribus novus ut supra dictum est afferatur ignis. Posito vero cereo ante altare ex illo accendatur igne. Quem diaconus more solito benedicens hanc orationem quasi voce legentis proferens dicat....

In die sancto paschae ... eiusdem tempore noctis antequam matutinorum signa moveantur sumant editui crucem et ponant in loco sibi congruo.... Dum tertia recitatur lectio quatuor fratres induant se, quorum unus alba indutus ac si ad aliud agendum ingrediatur atque latenter sepulchri locum adeat, ibique manu tenens palmam quietus sedeat. Dumque tertium percelebratur responsorium residui tres succedant, omnes quidem cappis induti turribula cum incensu manibus gestantes ac pedetemptim ad similitudinem querentium quid veriant ante locum sepulchri. Aguntur enim haec ad imitationem angeli sedentis in monumento atque mulierum cum aromatibus venientium ut ungerent corpus Ihesu. Cum ergo ille residens tres velut erraneos ac aliquid querentes viderit sibi adproximare incipiat mediocri voce dulcisono cantare Quem quaeritis: quo decantato fine tenus respondeant hi tres uno ore Ihesum Nazarenum. Quibus ille, Non est hic: surrexit sicut praedixerat. Ite nuntiate quia surrexit a mortuis. Cuius iussionis voce vertant se illi tres ad chorum dicentes Alleluia: resurrexit dominus. Dicto hoc rursus ille residens velut revocans illos dicat antiphonam Venite et videte locum: haec vero dicens surgat et erigat velum ostendatque eis locum cruce nudatum sed tantum linteamina posita quibus crux involuta erat. Quo viso deponant turribula quae gestaverunt in eodem sepulchro sumantque linteum et extendant contra clerum, ac veluti ostendentes quod surrexerit dominus, etiam non sit illo involutus, hanc canant antiphonam, Surrexit dominus de sepulchro, superponantque linteum altari. Finita antiphona Prior, congaudens pro triumpho regis nostri quod devicta morte surrexit, incipiat hymnum Te deum laudamus: quo incepto una pulsantur omnia signa.