DOROTA GACKA, Medieval Sequences about Thomas Aquinas and One Rhymed Prayer

SUMMARY

This article has been conceived as a continuation of the previous one. It presents medieval offices dedicated to Saint Thomas Aquinas as well as hymns that fit within them. It provides what is likely first Polish translation and description of these medieval sequences about the Angelic Doctor. Both articles contain a complete picture of the liturgical poetry created in the Middle Ages in honor of this Dominican scholar.

The sequences about Thomas are composed of lyrical and epical elements. Lyric poetry is visible mostly in the initial and final stanzas, while epic poetry is particularly evident in the central ones. Since epical elements are predominant in these poems, we decided to compare them with fragments of Thomas’ biography written by William of Tocco in connection with his canonization process. In a few places, we also refer to the biography of Bernard Gui and other canonization documents. With regard to figurative character of this poetry, we thought it would be proper to compare some stanzas with pictures from the illustrated biography of Thomas published in Antwerp at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

In this article we also present a rhymed prayer found by Clemens Blume in a Dutch manuscript from the fifteenth century. It is based on the words Ave — Salve — Gaude — Vale, as are most of the prayers in this prayer-book. Blume classified it as pia dictamina, that is, as the work of medieval clerks who were employed in the offices of kings and bishops.