Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 2651

DIMEV 2651

IMEV 1583

NIMEV 1583

In Tiberius time the true emperor

The alliterative Sege of Ierusalem — 1334 lines

Note: See 3107 for the metrical version.

Title(s): Sege of Ierusalem

Subjects: romances

Versification: — four-line, alliterative — unrhymed

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Laud misc. 656 (SC 1059), ff. 1v-19

First Lines:

In tyberyns tyme þe trewe emperour
Sire sesar hym sulf seysed in rome…

Last Lines:

…Wenten syngyng a way & han her wille foryred
& hom riden to rome now rede ons oure bord

Attributed Title: Hic terminatur bellum Iudaiceum apud Ierusalem (f. 19)

Editions:

Steffler, Gustav, ed. The Sege of Jerusalem: Nach dem Bodl. Ms. Laud F. 22. Marburg: Elwertschle, 1891.

Kölbing, Eugen, and M. Day, eds. The Siege of Jerusalem, from Bodleian MS. Laud Misc. 656. EETS o.s. 188 (1932); repr. 1988.

Turville-Petre, Thorlac. Alliterative Poetry of the Later Middle Ages. Routledge Medieval English Texts. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1989: 161-9 (lines 521-724).

Livingston, Michael, ed. Siege of Jerusalem. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University for TEAMS, 2004.

2.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Mm.5.14, ff. 187-206v

First Lines:

IN tyberius tyme that trewe emperour
Sire Cesar him self sesed in Rome…

Last Lines:

…Ihesu ioyne hem and vs with ioye in his blisse
And to wele hem wysse that reden this geste

Attributed Title: Incipit Destruccio de Jerusalem per Titum & Vespasianum (f. 187)

3.Source: London, British Library Cotton Caligula A.II, ff. 111-125

First Lines:

yn Tyberyus tyme þe trewe Emperour
Syr sesar hym self sesed in rome…

Last Lines:

…Ihesu Ioye hem & vs with Ioye in his blysse
And to welthe hem wysse that wryten this geste

Note: Ends ‘Amen’ at end of last line and ‘Explicit’ in lower margin below.

Attributed Title: The Sege of Ierusalem (in upper margin, f. 111, and as RT running across verso-recto thereafter); A poeme the seeg of Ierusalem (f. 1, sixteenth-century list of contents)

4.Source: London, British Library Cotton Vespasian E.XVI, ff. 70-75v

Note: Lines 1-957 wanting.

5.Source: London, British Library Addit. 31042 [London Thornton Manuscript], ff. 50-66

6.Source: Exeter, Devon Record Office 2507, fragment

7.Source: London, Lambeth Palace Library 491, ff. 206-227v

First Lines:

IN tyberies tyme the trewe Emperour
Sir Cesar hym self sesid in Rome…

Last Lines:

…Ihesu Ioyne hem and vs wiþ ioy in his blysse
That wrote þis geest to his wele he hym wisse

Attributed Title: Here bygynnith þe sege of Ierusalem (f. 206, rubric); Þe sege of Ierusalem (RT, rubric); Explicit þe sege of Ierusalem (f. 227v, rubric)

8.Source: San Marino, CA, Henry Huntington Library HM 128 [olim Ashburnham 130], ff. 205-216

First Lines:

In tyberyes tyme the trewe emperowr
Sere cesar hym seluen seysyd in rome…

Last Lines:

…Wente synggyng awey & lefte woo there
And hool reedyn to rome yblessyd be god almyȝty

Attributed Title: Here begynneth þe seege of ierusaleem & how it was destroyed (f. 205)

9.Source: Princeton, Princeton University Library Taylor Medieval 11 [olim Petre, olim Sotheby’s Sale, 10 March 1952, Lot 143, olim Quaritch Sale Cat. 704, Item 350, olim Laurence Witten], ff. 104vb-110vb

First Lines:

IN Tiberius tyme þe trewe Emperoure
Whenne Cesar hym seluyn was cesed in Rome…

Last Lines:

…ffelled of þe fase [ ]
Als bestes b[ ]
Þan tit is [ ]
Mas mason [ ]
After profers þaim [ ]
When he [ ]
Bot ȝone þe [ ]
And [ ]
Says [ ]
Þan [ ]
G[ ]
Myȝht [ ]
ffor [ ]…

Note: Ends incomplete at end of volume; last page damaged by damp.