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| Home Page for Medieval mss. |
Pragmatic manuscripts |
| Religious and devotional mss. | |
| Pragmatic mss. | |
| Late Medieval literary mss | |
| Histories & chronicles |
Bede Writings on the Calendar, etc
England, Durham: twelfth century (second quarter)
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Written at the monastery of Durham by a number of scribes during the second quarter of the twelfth century, this manuscript is a compilation of several works mainly concerning the use of the Calendar, by the Venerable Bede, Abbo of Fleury, Hyginus, and others. It is closely related to, and in part probably copied from, another manuscript still at Durham (Hunter 100). Although its early ownership inscription has been excised, it still bears the Durham Cathedral pressmark 2a. 3i. T. dating from the period 1416-1446 when the books were placed in a new library. The second item in the manuscript is a copy of Bede's 19 Year Cycles, covering the period 1-1253 A.D. The main interest of this text lies in the accompanying annals, added until the year 1199; one opening displayed below (folios 24v-25r) includes the entry for 1066. One of the scribes of the annals has been identified by David Rollason as that of the historian and chronicler Symeon of Durham (d. after 1129). Symeon's hand has been recognised in some thirty manuscripts, mostly from Durham, suggesting that he was responsible for supervising the production of manuscripts as well as for writing texts. The major work of the volume is Bede's treatise of 725 On the Reckoning of Time. Amplifying his earlier work On Times, the book was intended to provide Bede's students with a theoretical outline to increase their understanding of computation and the calendar. The text is introduced by an initial 'D' in red, green, blue, yellow and purple (folio 35r). It contains a seated representation of the author, identified by the inscription 'S. BEDA. P[resbiter]'; the opening words of the preface De natura rerum et ratione temporum... appear on the scroll he holds.
See also the
January 2001 'book of the
month' feature on this manuscript with further information and
images. |
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Alexander of Tralles Practice of Medicine, and other texts
England: mid twelfth century
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The chief work of this medical compendium is the handbook of the Greek physician Alexander of Tralles, who practised pharmacy in Rome in the mid sixth century, prescribing remedies like iron for anaemia and rhubarb for liver weakness and dysentery. The other works include a pharmacopoeia, an explanation of medical terms, and a treatise on the diseases of women.
Major coloured initials introduce each book of the
Practice, as shown below (folios 2r and 45r). These swirling arabesque
designs in red, blue and green incorporate trilobe leaf shapes that
suggest that this manuscript was produced in the West Country. As well
as being decorative, these initials act as mnemonic cues and perform a
useful navigational function in this pragmatic text. The incorporation
of indexing tools and apparatus was still in its infancy in the twelfth
century, and readers would rely on the layout of text to access
information quickly and easily. Although each book is prefaced by a
rudimentary listing of contents (as seen on 1v and 44v), there is no reference
to pagination or chapter numbering to aid quick reference. There are,
however, also vellum place holders to aid finding the main sections in
lieu of pagination or foliation; these are now folded down, but would
originally have stuck out of the text block effectively marking the
start of each new book. One is visible in the top left hand corner of
folio 44v. |
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Statutes of the Realm
England: fourteenth century (first half)
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This pocket copy of
the laws of England was doubtless written for an itinerant lawyer. The
collection is prefaced by two illuminated pages (folios 9v-10r)
depicting a Crucifixion and an image of an enthroned king - the
conjunction of Church and state. Although the manuscript was probably
produced in England, the style of the Crucifixion is close to a type
found in a group of Fenland psalters of the early fourteenth century.
The text opens with the Magna Carta; this copies the third re-issue of
the charter by Henry III, made in 1225. Written in a mixture of Latin
and French, the last statute entered (as an addition) dates from the
early 1350s, some ten years before Edward III ordered that the use of
French in the courts should be discontinued. |
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John of Arderne Mirror of Phlebotomy
& Practice of Surgery
England: late fourteenth/early fifteenth century MS
Hunter 112 (T.5.14)
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Newark in Nottinghamshire, was surgeon to the royal household and to the
army for much of the middle years of the Fourteenth Century, and may
have developed his skills on active service with the armies during the
Hundred Years' War. He was born in 1307 and died some time after
issuing, in 1376, this treatise on the cure of anal fistula, one of the
deadliest operations in medieval surgery. Thought to have lost only half
of his fistula patients, he was considered a remarkably successful
surgeon; his great advance at the time was to avoid the corrosive
after-care treatment used by other practitioners. In other respects,
Arderne was more traditional, practising astrology for the prevention of
ailments, diagnosis, treatment and prognostication of the outcome. The
'zodiac man' illustrated on folio 48v shows which parts of the body were
influenced by which astrological sign, thus indicating the most
auspicious times for performing operations.
The need for navigational apparatus in
practical texts such as this had become fairly well established by the
Fourteenth Century. This manuscript is foliated and boasts a
comprehensive index that refers to both texts. Although the alphabetical
order of the index is only rudimentary (strict alphabetical order not
being adhered to beyond grouping each topic under its appropriate
letter), a combination of rubrication and underlining of keywords makes
finding specific subjects easy, while access to the precise location of
each topic in the text is facilitated by the citation of both a folio
number and a letter (flagged up in red in the margin of the folio).
Thus, in the examples shown below, the entry for 'Agrippa' is found on
the index page (folio 97r) at the top of the 'A' section with the reference 'folio vi
a'; upon turning to folio 6v, the section dealing with
'Agrippa' will indeed be found opposite the initial 'a' in the margin
(it is flagged up by a red paraph marker). This treatise also contains
some of the best examples from the Middle Ages of diagrams of
instruments and of treatments to be effected, closely co-ordinated with
the text. The illustrations performed a practical function in
demonstrating visually techniques and examples of plants and herbs to be
used in making up curative recipes; they were vital in the transmission
of the text, and were faithfully copied from manuscript to manuscript.
They would also have helped to give each page an individual layout,
making pages memorable and thereby aiding reader in find information
mnemonically. This manuscript has obviously been well used, and there
are extensive annotations by early readers, including additions of
medical recipes. |
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Cartulary of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate
England, London: 1425-1427
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Queen Matilda founded the Augustinian priory of the Holy Trinity in Aldgate in 1108. An important monastic house from its inception, it enjoyed royal patrons and the support of many of the citizens of London. This volume of its charters was put together by Brother Thomas de Axbridge between 1425 and 1427. In the introduction he explains that one of the reasons he made it was in order to facilitate the collection of rents, for, he says, 'the world has progressed to such evil and contradicts ancient facts unless copies of charters are everywhere produced in evidence'. He tells us that he made use of ancient books in its compilation, and arranged his work according to parishes. With its detailed record of leases, agreements, rentals and the like, the Cartulary provides a wealth of information, not only on the social and economic life of medieval London, but also on its topography and changing land use. A professional production, the decoration of the Aldgate Cartulary is rich when it is compared with other books of its type. Richly gilt and flourishing initials adorn many pages, and the openings of the main sections are particularly ornamental. An opening at the beginning of the section relating to the 'Soca extra Algate' is displayed below (folio 150r); as well being enhanced by painted initials and floral sprays, there is a tinted drawing of a mitred ecclesiastic: this is probably purely decorative and cannot be regarded as representing anybody. The manuscript fell into private hands after the dissolution of the priory in 1532. In the sixteenth century it belonged for a time to the Elizabethan antiquary, Stephen Batman, and was used by John Stow in his Survey of London (1598).
See also the
August 2002 'book of the
month' feature on this manuscript with further information and
images. |
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Letters patent
Westminster: 1589 MS
Gen 762
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'letters patent' refers to an open letter or document, usually from a
sovereign or person in authority. They could be issued for various
administrative purposes - such as recording a contract or agreement, to
confer a privilege or office, or to authorize or command something to be
done. They were delivered open with a seal attached and designed to be
read as a proclamation; hence they were open (or 'patent') for all to
read, as opposed to the type of document referred to as 'letters close',
which were sealed closed in order that only the recipient could read
them. They were similar to charters in administrative function, but
tended to be more wide ranging in nature and less formally composed.
This document is dated 8 February 1589. It
is written in a chancery script on a single side of vellum, and its
authority is conferred by the seal of Queen Elizabeth I. It relates to
the purchase in 1587 of Hertford Priory (formerly a Benedictine Priory)
by one Martin Stott. |
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