De oudste Mariagetijden in het Nederlands : editie van de tekst in handschrift St.-Petersburg, Biblioteka Akademii Nauk, O 257 (1300-1350)

Abstract

This article contains an edition of the oldest Middle Dutch version of the Hours of the Virgin, according to MS St.-Petersburg, Biblioteka Akademii Nauk, O 257 (1300-1350). This vernacular version is a translation of the so called Little Office of the Virgin (use of Rome), as it was prayed – first in Latin, later on also in the vernacular – in many religious communities from the early Middle Ages until the middle of the sixteenth century. This oldest translation in Middle Dutch was most probably made in the southern part of medieval Brabant, and might have been intended for those who had to pray the Little Office in Latin, but had insufficient knowledge of the lingua franca of the Church.