Various authors: Tituli Funebres

These are the tituli of the mortuary roll sent round after the death in 1101 of Bruno, founder of the Grande Chartreuse and of the hermitage in Calabria where he died. Each church or community that received the roll added its entry, and Migne prints 178 of them, from the brothers of Fiscicle, from Rangerius, a former disciple, and from churches at Lucca, Piacenza, Susa and elsewhere. Most entries promise prayers, Masses and the inscription of Bruno’s name in the community’s list of the dead, asking prayers in return; many add verses in his praise, often in rhyming hexameters celebrating the faithful hermit who now lives in heaven.

Mortuary rolls were a regular way in which medieval religious houses joined in prayer for each other’s dead, and Bruno’s is among the best known because of its length and the reputation of its subject. The entries give a picture of the network of churches and monasteries the roll reached, and of the varying literary skill of their members. They are also an early witness to Bruno’s standing as a holy man in the years immediately after his death.