Fifteen Signs before Judgment

De quindecim signis ante Iudicii

Standard abbreviation: 15 Signs

Other titles: Fifteen Signs before Doomsday

Clavis numbers: ECCA 353

Category: Apocalypses

Related literature: Apocalypse of Thomas, 2 Revelation of Matthew about the End Times, Golden Legend 1

Compiled by Brandon W. Hawk, Rhode Island College

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Hawk, Brandon W. “Fifteen Signs before Judgment.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/fifteen-signs-before-judgment/.

Posted September 2025.

1. SUMMARY

The Fifteen Signs before Judgment lists the portents on the fifteen days leading up to the eschaton. Composed in the early medieval period, this eschatological work is similar to earlier lists of events leading up to Judgment Day. The textual tradition of the 15 Signs is highly variable, and multiple versions circulated during the Middle Ages; many versions are extant in Latin, Hebrew, and Armenian, as well as most Western European languages, Church Slavic, and post-Columbian Yucatec Maya. The 15 Signs were also embedded in many later Latin and vernacular pieces of literature. The three major Latin recensions include Pseudo-Bedan, Damian, and Comestor versions, while later versions in Latin (including one used by Jacobus de Voragine) and other languages seem to be later outgrowths of the tradition already established in the three major forms.

In many instances of the 15 Signs, a heading relates that the signs were found by Jerome in “Hebrew annals.” Such signs include (in various arrangements) the rising of the seas, the burning of the seas, the levelling of the waters and earth, a bloody dew, the destruction of buildings, battling rocks, animals crying out, the madness of humans, earthquake, the falling of stars, the resurrection of the dead, and the burning of the earth. Many versions end with some reference to Judgment Day itself, including the appearance of angels, the blowing of trumpets, the Antichrist, and Christ in judgment.

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Websites and Other Online Resources

“Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Wikipedia.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

Witnesses survive in at least 600 manuscripts, the majority of which contain Latin versions. No definitive, comprehensive list of witnesses has been printed, but see the following incomplete lists:

DiTommaso, Lorenzo. “Pseudepigrapha Notes III: 4. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in the Yale University Manuscript Collection.” JSP 20 (2010): 3–80, at 14–15.

Gerhardt, Christof, and Nigel F. Palmer, eds. Das Münchner Gericht von den 15 Zeichen vor dem Jüngsten Gericht, nach der Handschrift der Bayerischen Staatsibibliothek Cgm 717: Edition und Kommentart. Texte des späten Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit 41. Berlin: Schmidt, 2002 (pp. 59–67).

Heist, William W. The Fifteen Signs before Doomsday. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1952 (Appendix A, pp. 204–12 and Appendix B, pp. 213–14).

Lambert, Bernard. Bibliotheca Hieronymiana Manuscripta: la tradition manuscrite des oeuvres de Saint Jérôme. 4 vols. in 7. Instrumenta Patristica 4. Steenbrugge: Abbatia S. Petri, 1969–72 (vol. 3B, pp. 652–55).

Machielsen, John J. Clavis Patristica Pseudepigraphorum Medii Aevi. 5 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 1990–2004 (vol. 2, nos. 411 and 927).

3.1.1 Armenian

3.1.1.1 Recension 1

Jerusalem, Patriarchal Library, 1729 (1741)

3.1.1.2 Recension 2

London, British Library, Harley 5459 (1689)

Jerusalem, Patriarchal Library, 1861 (1669)

Stone, Michael E. Signs of Judgement, Onomastica Sacra and the Generations from Adam. University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 3. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981 (Jerusalem 1729 and 1861, pp. 3–40).

Stone, Michael E. “Two Unpublished Eschatological Texts.” JSP 18 (2009): 293–302 (BL Harley 5459).

3.1.1.3 Recension 3

Erevan, Matenadaran M2188 (15th cent.)

*Stone, Michael E. Armenian Apocrypha Relating to Angels and Biblical Heroes. EJL 45. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016 (M2188, pp. 4–9).

3.1.2 French

London, British Library, Add. 47682, fols. 39^r–42^r (ca. 1327–1335) ~ Holkham Bible Picture Book

Manchester, John Rylands Library, Fr. 99, item 36, position III.36 (1460s)

Davis, Lisa Fagin. La Chronique Anonyme Universelle: Reading and Writing History in Fifteenth-Century France. Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History 61. Turnhout: Brepols, 2014.

Heist, William W. “Four Old French Versions of the Fifteen Signs before the Judgment.” Mediaeval Studies 15 (1953): 184–98.

Kraemer, Erik von, ed. Les quinze signes du Jugement dernier, poème anonyme de la fin du XIIe ou du début du XIIIe siècle publié d’après tous les manuscrits connus avec introduction, notes et glossaire. Commentationes humanarum litterarum, Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Nr. 38/2. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennicae, 1966.

Mantou, Reine, ed. Les quinze signes du Jugement dernier, poème du XII e siècle, édition critique. Extrait des Mémoires et Publications de Société des Sciences, des Arts et des Lettres du Hainaut, LXXX: 2. Hainaut: Société des sciences, des arts et des lettres, 1966.

3.1.3 German

Innsbruck, University Library 306, fol. 123^r ~ Comestor

Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. germ. monac. 717, fols. 12–15 (1347)

Bartsch, Karl, and Adalbert Jeitteles. “Die Fünfzehn Zeichen von dem Jüngsten Gericht.” Germania 29 (1884): 402–406 (pp. 403–404, edition of Innsbruck 306).

3.1.4 Hebrew

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Cod. Heb. d.11 (14th cent.) ~ Seven Sages of Rome

Stone, Michael E. Signs of Judgement, Onomastica Sacra and the Generations from Adam. University of Pennsylvania Armenian Texts and Studies 3. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981.

3.1.5 Irish

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 O 48 a-b (Liber Flavus Fergusiorum), fol. 12^r (ca. 1437–1440)

London, British Library, Add. 30512 (Leabhur úi Maolconaire), fol. 95a (16th cent.)

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 502, part 2 (Saltair na Rann) (12th cent.) ~ Bodleian

Nic Cárthaigh, Emma. “The Fifteen Signs of Doomsday in the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum.” Pages 753–60 in The End and Beyond: Medieval Irish Eschatology, Volume II. Edited by John Carey, Emma Nic Cárthaigh, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh. Celtic Studies Publications 17. Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2014.

Seymour, St. John D. “The Signs of Doomsday in the Saltair na Rann.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C 36 (1921–1924): 154–63.

Stokes, Whitley. “The Fifteen Tokens of Doomsday.” Revue Celtique 28 (1907): 308–26 (BL Add. 30512).

3.1.6 Latin

3.1.6.1 Pseudo-Bedan

Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae: lost manuscript

Copenhagen, Danish Royal Library, NKS 123, 4to, fol. 11v (1454)

Eton, Eton College Library 21 (Bk. 2. 8) (ca. 1100)

Ghent, University Library 92 (Liber Floridus) (ca. 1090–1121)

Bayless, Martha, and Michael Lapidge, eds. Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae. Scriptores Latini Hiberniae 14. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1998 (p. 178).

Herwagen, Johann, ed. Opera Bedae Venerabilis presbyteri Anglosaxonicis. 8 vols. in 4. Basel: Johann Herwagen, 1563 (Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae).

Marchand, James W. “Early Scandinavian Variants of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Acta Philologica 31 (1976): 177–32 (pp. 121–22, edition of Copenhagen 123, 4to).

Migne, J.-P., ed. Patrologia Latina. 221 vols. Paris: Migne, 1844–1864 (Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae, vol. 95, cols. 539–62).

3.1.6.2 Damian (Epistolae 92 and 93; ca. 1026)

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 267 (ca. 1100) ~ CAMBRIDGE

London, British Library, Cotton Faustina A.v, fols. 99–102 (ca. 1100) ~ Biblissima

Montecassino, Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, Cod. Cassinensis 358 (11th cent.)

Montecassino, Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, Cod. Cassinensis 359 (11th cent.)

Oxford, St. John’s College 17, fol. 159^r (1110–1113) ~ Bodleian

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 3797 (11th cent.) ~ BAV

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Urb. lat. 503 (11th cent.) ~ BAV

Damian, Peter. “Epistula 92.” Pages 14–26 in vol. 3 of Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani. Edited by Kurt Reindel. 4 vols. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit IV. Munich: Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 1983–1993.

Migne, J.-P., ed. Patrologia Latina. 221 vols. Paris: Migne, 1844–1864 (vol. 145, cols. 835–42).

3.1.6.3 Comestor (Historia scholastica; ca. 1170)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 16943 (ca. 1183)

Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 732 b, 4to, fol. 6^v (14th cent.)

Uppsala, Universitetsbibli‍otek C 122, fol. 97^r (13th cent.) ~ poetic version

Marchand, James W. “Early Scandinavian Variants of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Acta Philologica 31 (1976): 177–32 (pp. 119–21, editions of Uppsala C 122 and Reykjavik AM 732 b, 4to).

Migne, J.-P., ed. Patrologia Latina. 221 vols. Paris: Migne, 1844–1864 (vol. 198, col. 1611).

Gjerløw, Lilli. “Notes on the book of Cerne and on ms Uppsala C 222.” Nordisk Tiskrift för Bok- och bibliotekväsen 47 (1960): 1–29 (pp. 22ff., facsimile and edition of Uppsala C 122).

3.1.6.4 Voragine (Golden Legend 1; ca. 1260–1266; READ ONLINE)

Uppland, Sweden, Övergran Church (15th cent.)

Uppland, Sweden, Sånga Church porch (ca. 1470)

Marchand, James W. “Early Scandinavian Variants of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Acta Philologica 31 (1976): 177–32 (pp. 126–30, editions of texts accompanying images in ).

3.1.6.5 Hybrid or Other

Milan, Archivio storico civico e Biblioteca Trivulziana, Triv. 199 (15th cent.)

3.1.7 Old English

London, British Library, Cotton Vespasian D.xiv, fols. 102^r–103^v (ca. 1150) ~ Pseudo-Bedan with interpolations from Damian

Giliberto, Concetta. “The Fifteen Signs before Doomsday in Cotton Vespasian D. xiv: Role and Conceptualisation.” Pages 285–309 in Practice in Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages. Edited by Rolf Bremmer, Jr. and Kees Dekker. Louvain: Peeters, 2010.

Warner, Rubie D.-N., ed. Early English Homilies from the Twelfth-Century MS Vesp. D. XIV. Early English Texts Society, o.s. 152. London: Trübner & Co., 1917 (pp. 89–91).

3.1.8 Old Frisian

Oldenburg, Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv, Bestand 24-1, Ab. Nr. 2 (ca. 1300)

Giliberto, Concetta. “The Fifteen Signs of Doomsday of the First Riustring Manuscript.” Pages 129–52 of Advances in Old Frisian Philology. Edited by Rolf H. Bremmer, Jr., Stephen Laker, and Oebele Vries. Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 64. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007.

3.1.9 Old Norse

Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 135, 4to, fol. 5^v (14th cent.) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 194, 8vo, fols. 36^r–36^v (1387?) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 350, fol., fol. 149^r (1363) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

Reykjavik, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, AM 461, 12mo, fols. 17^r–18^r (16th cent.) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

Marchand, James W. “Early Scandinavian Variants of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Acta Philologica 31 (1976): 177–32.

3.1.10 Slavic

Plovdiv, Ivan Vazov National Library, Bosnensko sborniče 116 (54), fols. 101^r–108^r (17th cent.) ~ Plovdivski zbornik (Cyrillic)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, sign. Bč 5, fols. 15^v–16^v ~ Berčićev zbornik no. 5 (Glagolitic)

Zagreb, Archive of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, sign. VIII 32, fols. 17^r–17^v (16th cent.) ~ Grškovićev zbornik (Glagolitic)

Zagreb, Archive of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, sign. IV a 48, fols. 73^r–73^v (15th cent.) ~ Zbornik duhovnog štiva (Glagolitic)

Nakaš, Lejla. “Plovdivska bosanska knjiga.” Forum Bosnae 71 (2016): 5–343 (Zagreb sign. VIII 32).

Rešetar, Milan. Libro od mnozijeh razloga. Dubrovački ćirilski zbornik od g. 1520. Beograd – Sremski Karlovci: Zbornik za istoriju, jezik i književnost srpskog naroda, prvo odeljenje, knjiga XV, 1926 (Zagreb sign. IV a 24).

Strohal, Rudolf. Stare hrvatske apokrifne priče i legende. Bjelovar: L. Weiss, 1917 (Zagreb sign. IV a 48).

Vialova, Svetlana Olegovna. Glagolicheskij sbornik XV v. Rossijskaja nacional’naja biblioteka. Sobranie Ivana Berchicha, f. 67, Berchich No. 5. Glagoljski zbornik 15. st. Ruska nacionalna biblioteka. Zbirka Ivana Berčića, f. 67, Berčić br. 5. Knjiga 2. Monumenta glagolitica Archiodioecesis Iadertinae 20/2. Zadar: Sveučilište u Zadru – Stalna izložba crkvene umjetnosti, 2016 (Saint Petersburg sign. Bč 5).

Žagar, Mateo, ed. Libro od mnozijeh razloga 1520. Latinički prijepis s komentarima. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, 2020 (Zagreb sign. IV a 24).

3.1.11 Swedish

Stockholm, Kungliga biblioteket, Holm D 4, fols. 235^r–235^v (1430–40) ~ Comestor

Stockholm, Kungliga biblioteket, Holm D 426 (16th cent.)

Uppsala, Universitetsbibli‍otek N 1122a (16th cent.)

Marchand, James W. “Early Scandinavian Variants of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Acta Philologica 31 (1976): 177–32.

3.1.12 Welsh

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 24A, pp. 97^b–98^a (16th cent.) ~ Comestor with interpolations from Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 27, pp. 161–62 (ca. 1400) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 28B, p. 140 (1455–56) ~ Comestor

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 34B, pp. 16–18 (16th cent.) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 117D, p. 200 (1544–52) ~ Comestor with interpolations from Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 135, p. 34 (ca. 1600) ~ Voragine

National Library of Wales, Llanstephan 181A, pp. 133–35 (ca. 1556) ~ Comestor with interpolations from Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Panton 68, p. 26 (15th cent.) ~ Comestor

National Library of Wales, Peniarth 214, pp. 292–97 (1609–12) ~ Comestor with interpolations from Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Peniarth 214, pp. 163–67 (1609–12) ~ Pseudo-Bedan

National Library of Wales, Peniarth 216, pp. 24–27 (1607–11) ~ Comestor

National Library of Wales, Wrexham 2, pp. 44–46 (16th cent.) ~ Voragine

National Library of Wales, Y Brython III, 56 (1861) ~ Voragine (printed from an unidentified manuscript in the British Museum at the time)

Heist, William W. “Welsh Prose Versions of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Speculum 19 (1944): 421–32.

3.1.13 Yucatec Maya

Teabo Manuscript (18th or early 19th cent.)

Christensen, Mark Z. The Teabo Manuscript: Maya Christian Copybooks, Chilam Balams, and Native Text Production in Yucatán. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2016 (photographic facsimile pp. 218–62).

3.2 Translations

3.2.1 English

Bayless, Martha, and Michael Lapidge, eds. Collectanea Pseudo-Bedae. Scriptores Latini Hiberniae 14. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1998 (p. 179).

Christensen, Mark Z. Aztec and Maya Apocalypses: Old World Tales of Doom in a New World Setting. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2022 (translations of Yucatec Maya versions, pp. 69–114).

Hawk, Brandon W. “The Fifteen Signs before Judgment.” Pages 609–34 in vol. 2 of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by James R. Davila and Richard Bauckham. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2025 (parallel translations of Latin versions, Hebrew version, and Armenian versions).

3.3 General Works

Christensen, Mark Z. The Teabo Manuscript: Maya Christian Copybooks, Chilam Balams, and Native Text Production in Yucatán. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2016.

Conley, C. H. “An Instance of the Fifteen Signs of Judgment in Shakespeare.” Modern Language Notes 30 (1915): 41–44.

Davidson, Clifford. “The Signs of Doomsday in Drama and Art.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 26 (2000): 223–45.

DiTommaso, Lorenzo. “Pseudepigrapha Notes III: 4. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in the Yale University Manuscript Collection.” JSP 20 (2010): 3–80.

Gayk, Shannon. “Apocalyptic Ecologies: Eschatology, the Ethics of Care, and the Fifteen Signs of the Doom in Early England.” Speculum 96 (2021): 1–37.

Gerhardt, Christof, and Nigel F. Palmer, eds. Das Münchner Gericht von den 15 Zeichen vor dem Jüngsten Gericht, nach der Handschrift der Bayerischen Staatsibibliothek Cgm 717: Edition und Kommentart. Texte des späten Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit 41. Berlin: Schmidt, 2002.

Grau, Gustav. Quellen und Verwandtschaften der älteren germanischen Darstellungen des Jüngsten Gerichtes, Studien zur englischen Philologie 31. Halle: S. M. Niemeyer, 1908 (pp. 261–80).

Hawk, Brandon W. “The Fifteen Signs before Judgment in Anglo-Saxon England: A Reassessment.” JEGP 117 (2018): 443–57.

________. “Biblical Apocrypha as Medieval World Literature.” The Medieval Globe 6.2 (2020): 49–83.

Heist, William W. “Welsh Prose Versions of the Fifteen Signs before Doomsday.” Speculum 19 (1944): 421–32.

________. The Fifteen Signs before Doomsday. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1952.

________. “The Fifteen Signs before Judgement: Further Remarks.” Mediaeval Studies 22 (1960): 192–203.

________. Sermon Joyeux and Polemic: Two Sixteenth-Century Applications of the Legend of the Fifteen Signs. University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures, 73. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1968.

Heuser, W. Die Kildare-Gedichte: Die ältesten mittelenglischen Denkmäler in anglo-irischer Überliegerung. Bonner Beiträge zur Anglistik 14. Bonn: P. Hanstein’s Verlag, 1904 (pp. 96–98).

Holdenried, Anke. The Sibyl and Her Scribes: Manuscripts and Interpretation of the Latin Sibylla Tiburtina c. 1050-1500. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006 (pp. 81–83, with tables of manuscripts at 84–92).

Lerner, Robert E. “Sign Theory: Some Scholastic Encounters with ‘The Fifteen Signs before the Day of Judgement’.” JEH 73 (2022): 720–36.

McNamara, Martin. “Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts in Irish Literature: Oriental Connections?” Pages 75–97 in Apocalyptic and Eschatological Heritage: The Middle East and Celtic Realms. Edited by Martin McNamara. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003.

________. “The Signs before Doomsday.” Pages 128–32 in The Apocrypha in the Irish Church. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Study, 1975.

________. “The (Fifteen) Signs Before Doomsday in Irish Tradition.” Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne 20 (2007): 223–54.

Nakaš, Lejla. “Skazanije i pripovidjenije od Suda velikoga (Libro od Mnozijeh Razloga 49–56).”

Croatica: časopis za hrvatski jezik, književnost i kulturu 45.65 (2021): 109–24.

Nölle, Georg. “Die Legende von den Fünfzehn Zeichen vor dem Jüngsten Gerichte.” Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 6 (1879): 412–76.

Steel, Karl. “Woofing and Weeping with Animals in the Last Days.” postmedieval 1 (2010): 187–93.

Stone, Michael E. “Jewish Tradition, the Pseudepigrapha and the Christian West.” Pages 431–49 in vol. 1 of Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha and Armenian Studies: Collected Papers. OLA 144. Leuven: Peeters, 2006.

Vučković, Josip. “Interpolacija stihova iz pjesme Svit se konča u izlaganju o Posljednjem suduiz Berčićeva zbornika br. 5.” Ricerche slavistiche, nuova serie 2.62 (2019): 317–40.

Wagner, Daniela. Die Fünfzehn Zeichen vor dem Jüngsten Gericht: Spätmittelalterliche Bildkonzepte für das Seelenheil. Berlin: Reimer, 2016.