‘Crux Fidelis …’ Prolegomena to a History of the Holy Cross Hymns

Abstract

It is over a decade since a study of legends of St. Peter in medieval Latin hymns appeared (Traditio 10 [1954] 275–322), followed not only by a number of other monographs but also by a more comprehensive investigation of the history of medieval Latin hymnody, now completed. The questions raised in that article in Traditio have still their significance and the search for a suitable method, or methods, in hymnology is not yet ended. Successive investigations in this field have gradually revealed some of the possibilities in hymnological research; we have noted that the study of legends and narrative sources reflected in hymn-texts may result in concrete discoveries which aid the analytic investigation of medieval hymns. Through them we often come to learn something about the contemporary intellectual trends and the ideas that were lingering in the minds of the people of those times. We also discover echoes of popular beliefs and cults by analyzing certain elements of the hymns. Further investigations in the terminology and style of the hymns can lead us to medieval exegetic and homiletic literature, to patristic sources and the like, which, too, left their imprint on Latin hymnody.