De duodecim abusivis saeculi "On the Twelve Abuses of the World" is a treatise on social and political morality written by an anonymous Irish author between 630 and 700. During the Middle Ages the work was very popular throughout Europe.
Contents
Background
The work was first propagated throughout Europe by Irish missionaries in the 8th century. Its authorship was attributed at different times to Saint Patrick, Saint Augustine, but mainly Saint Cyprian of Carthage – men of such authority that it explains its acceptance and popularity. It was not until 1909 that Siegmund Hellmann revealed its Pseudo-Cyprian origins to an anonymous Irish author of the 7th century.
Duodecim abusivis saeculi
De duodecim condemns the following twelve abuses:
Influence
Hellmann points out the extensive influence of the work upon Carolingian writings, such as the mirrors for princes, and later political literature.
There is some direct evidence for the text's popularity in tenth-century England. Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester is known to have donated a copy to the Peterborough house. Ælfric of Eynsham drew on a version included in Abbo of Fleury's Collectio canonum for his Old English treatise De octo vitiis et de duodecim abusivis gradus, in which the section on the rex iniquus was translated whole.