Anonymous: Versus Wissenburgenses

The Versus Wissenburgenses are a series of short anonymous poems in hexameters, named after the abbey of Wissembourg in Alsace with which their manuscript is associated. Each numbered poem treats a scene from the Gospels or Acts: the first describes Judas betraying Christ for a small price, blinded and unaware of what he lost; the second the condemnation of Christ under Pontius Pilate and the crown of thorns; the third the death and resurrection of the Lord. Later poems treat the raising of Dorcas by Peter and the conversion of Cornelius. The collection is about 580 words long.

Short verses on biblical scenes were often composed as captions (tituli) for cycles of paintings in churches, and these poems may have served that purpose. Their irregular hexameters and late Latin forms suggest an origin in late antiquity or the early Middle Ages. They are a witness to the use of verse to teach and illustrate the Bible. Their author and exact date are unknown.