Robert of Brunne’s Handlyng Synne (1303): And its French Original

Published in 1901, this book provides an English and French version of the 1303 text by Robert Manning of Brunne. Handlyng Synne was adapted from an Anglo-Norman work attributed to William of Waddington, the Manuel de Pechiez. It consists of more than 12,000 lines of verse, arranged in four-stress couplets. It is a discussion of the ten commandments, the seven deadly sins, the seven sacraments, and the elements of confession, illustrated throughout by exempla, or moral anecdotes, thirteen of which do not appear in the Manuel. Handlyng Synne has been described as a reduction of the world’s experience to a comprehensive moral scheme .