Vernacular Religious Miscellanies of Exempla: The Case of UPenn MS Codex 331

Abstract:Originally used for preaching, exempla, short stories with a religious educational goal, rapidly spread in private manuscript collections and miscellanies, thanks to their wealth of characters, events, and situations. They moved easily from one manuscript collection to another, allowing the often-anonymous copyists and authors to personalize them according to their interests and the needs of their audience. This course was made possible by the spread of the vernacular languages, especially in Tuscany, that allowed for a larger audience; this also meant stories were able to not only share a religious message but also plots and tropes that could keep readers engaged. To better understand the main features of these vernacular religious miscellanies of exempla, this essay will consider Ms. Codex 331, a collection of religious texts, housed in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania. The miscellany lacks a well-defined provenance and colophon, is a relic of an obscure past, an assortment of diverse materials. By discussing the exempla of this miscellany and underlining the connections that it has with other similar manuscripts, the paper argue that the change of audience brought about a new understanding of religious literature and culture, in search of a better balance between the educational purpose of preaching and the entertaining value of literature.