Detail of an historiated initial 'C'(olor), of an artist mixing colours, from James le Palmer's Omne Bonum, England (London), c. 1360 - c. 1375, Royal 6 E. vi, f. 396

It has been very interesting - and extremely gratifying - to hear about the new discoveries and exciting research recently undertaken on items from the British Library's collection of medieval and earlier manuscripts (see here, for example, for Adam Cohen's guest post on Arundel 155, and here for my own work on Parc Abbey Bible, Additional 14788 - 14790).

In this light, we'd like to encourage any researchers interested in manuscript production to have a look at the call for papers for the 2013 Kalamazoo International Congress on Medieval Studies recently announced by the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence.  The always-excellent RGME is sponsoring and co-sponsoring a total of seven sessions, with three focusing specifically on material culture, methods of production, and technological investigations of illuminated manuscripts.

Within this group will be sessions on medieval writing materials, current issues in Middle English palaeography, and one on the making of medieval manuscripts.  This latter session, which I will be organising, looks to highlight new and ongoing technological research on medieval manuscripts, particularly focusing on new discoveries or interpretations of pigment use.  We are interested in studies from all stages of the research process, including works in progress or experimental techniques; please email me at sejbiggs [at] gmail [dot] com for more details, or see the Call for Papers here.

The RGME will also be offering a session on medieval manuscript collections in North America, in conjunction with King Alfred's Notebook LLC.  Three more, organised with the Societas Magica, have the following focuses: Astrology and Magic; Magic, Material Culture, and Technology; and Water as Symbol, Sign, and Trial: Aquatic Semantics in the Middle Ages.

Please have a look at the CFP, and get in touch with the RGME or myself with any questions.  And also let us know if you are interested in publicising your work on any British Library manuscripts here on the blog; we have a number of guest posts lined up for the future and are always happy to showcase new research.

- Sarah J Biggs

 

Over the last few days London has welcomed more than 10,000 athletes from around the world to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the time of writing, the opening ceremony is just hours away; and during the next weeks many of the spectators will head to the Olympic Park on trains leaving St Pancras station, adjacent to the British Library. But how many of those spectators will realise that among the British Library's collections is a papyrus fragment containing a list of victors at the ancient Olympic Games?

The list is found on the verso of Papyrus 1185, written in the early 3rd century AD, and it includes the names of athletes and the events they won from the 75th to the 78th Olympiads (480 BC-468 BC), and again from the 81st to 83rd Olympiads (456 BC–448 BC). Some of the thirteen events listed will be familiar to modern spectators (boxing, wrestling, sprinting), while others are quite different from the ones we are looking forward to this summer. Wouldn't it be great if chariot racing was reinstated in the programme?! Let's start a petition to introduce the pancration (combined wrestling and boxing) to the modern Games. We guess that Usain Bolt would have been one of the favourites for the stadion had he competed at the ancient Olympiads! 

στάδιον	stadion (192.27 metre sprint)
δίαυλος	2 stadia
δόλιχος	dolichos (2000 metre)
πένταθλον	pentathlon
πάλη	wrestling
πύξ	boxing
παγκράτιον	pancration (combined wrestling & boxing)
παίδων στάδιον	boys’ stadio
παίδων πάλη	boys’ wrestling
παίδων πύξ	boys’ boxing
ὁπλίτης	hoplite (race in armour)
τέθριππον	four horse chariot race
κέλης	courser, horse-riding

On the recto of the papyrus are some money accounts, dating from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. The list of Olympian victors on the verso is a fortuitous survival.

Detail of a miniature of Louis IX sailing off on his second crusade, from the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis, France (Paris), after 1332 and before 1350, Royal 16 G. vi, f. 437v

 

Sailing and rowing are among the oldest of Olympic events; both have been part of the Games from the beginning of the modern summer Olympics.  The origins of these sports, of course, are much older, and like archery, reach back to a time when they were vital aspects of warfare, as well as necessities for transportation, trade, and exploration.

The images in the British Library's illuminated manuscript collection reflect these ancient uses. Many miniatures of ships show them full of soldiers, heading for war or conquest (as above, depicting Louis IX and his army heading off on his second crusade), or ferrying pilgrims, saints, or explorers (see below, for an historiated initial of Dante setting sail for Purgatory).

 

Detail of an historiated initial 'P' of Dante setting sail for Purgatory, by Priamo della Quercia, from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Italy (Tuscany or Siena?), between 1444 and c. 1450, Yates Thompson 36, f. 65

 

Competitors in the London 2012 sailing events - which was called yachting until 1996 - will take to the open waters at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour in Dorset, in a carefully designed venue.  These events will run from 29 July to 11 August, and one would imagine that today's Olympic sailors won't need to be concerned about encountering any of the medieval nautical hazards detailed in our manuscripts (two of which can be seen below).

 

Miniature of a whale and a sailing boat, from a Bestiary, with extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis on Irish birds, England (Salisbury?), 2nd quarter of the 13th century, Harley 4751, f. 69

 

The first miniature comes from a bestiary (or book of beasts) in an entry about whales.  According to the text, whales were so large that ships occasionally would mistake one for an island, and land on its back.  As soon as the crew built a fire, however, the whale would awaken and dive to the depths; this miniature shows the moment when the whale descends, and the unready (and, strangely, partly unclothed) crew are scrambling with their sails and rigging.  Below is an image of another 'common' maritime danger - a siren.  In this scene, she has seized hold of a ship and collapsed its mast; one crewman tries to close his ears to her song while another grabs hold of an oar to effect an escape.

 

Detail of a miniature of a siren, from a Bestiary, with extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis on Irish birds, England (Salisbury?), 2nd quarter of the 13th century, Harley 4751, f. 47v

Medieval manuscripts often show rowers in the context of river crossings and trade (when their skills were not necessary to escape a destructive siren).  One of the most famous rivers in the Middle Ages was a mythical one - the river Acheron which was said to form the borders of Hell.  According to myth, Charon was the ferryman designated to carry souls across to perdition and depictions of him doing so were common (see below).

 

Detail of a miniature of Dante and Virgil being rowed by Charon across the river Acheron, by Priamo della Quercia, from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Italy (Tuscany or Siena?), between 1444 and c. 1450, Yates Thompson 36, f. 6

 

2012 Olympic rowing events will take place in Eton Dorney, Buckinghamshire, near the River Thames, so we were particularly pleased to come across two images of medieval rowers on England's most famous river.  Both of these are from a 15th century version of John Lydgate's Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, and show helpful rivermen returning a fallen infant to its mother, and rescuing a boy who has fallen from London Bridge.

 

Detail of a miniature of a riverman returning a fallen infant to its mother, from John Lydgate’s Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, England (Bury St Edmunds?), between 1461 and c. 1475, Yates Thompson 47, f. 97

Detail of a miniature of a boy, fallen from London Bridge after being pushed by cattle, being rescued by rivermen on the Thames, from John Lydgate’s Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund, England (Bury St Edmunds?), between 1461 and c. 1475, Yates Thompson 47, f. 94v

 

How many people will wake up on the morning of 15th June and say to themselves, "Gosh, it's only 797 years since Magna Carta was first issued"? If you're one of those few, congratulate yourself on having studied too much medieval history! If not, then you didn't already know that on 15 June 1215, in the meadow at Runnymede, King John of England (1199-1215), before a gathering of barons and clerics, issued the charter of customs and liberties which is now called conventionally "Magna Carta".

Coloured drawing of King John in Sir Thomas Holme's Book of Arms: England, c. 1445-1450 (London, British Library, MS. Harley 4205, f. 4r).

Magna Carta has attained worldwide status, on account of some of its clauses protecting the rights of the individual, most notably "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." Few people realise that the original charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III on 24 August 1215, barely 10 weeks after it had been issued; but a revised version was published in 1216 in the name of King Henry III (1216-1272), and following further revisions Magna Carta was entered onto the Statute Roll in 1297.

At the British Library we are already gearing up to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015. Magna Carta will form the centrepiece of our major exhibition in that year, for which we already have funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to work with Professor Nicholas Vincent (University of East Anglia) and others. In the coming months and years we'll be telling you more about this exciting work, and our plans for the future. And it's all down to those events in an English meadow beside the River Thames, 797 years ago.

Don't forget that you can view Magna Carta on our dedicated webpages.

The year 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne. Elizabeth succeeded her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. In order to mark this momentous occasion, the British Library has put on display in its Treasures Gallery a number of items associated with the coronation of monarchs from Henry I to the present day.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of the British Library's Royal exhibition in November 2011

The Coronation Gospels (Cotton MS Tiberius A. II): this gospel-book, once owned by King Æthelstan (924-939), was later assumed to have been the book on which Anglo-Saxon kings swore their coronation oaths. In February 1626, Sir Robert Cotton (d. 1631) stood on the bank of the River Thames at Westminster, ready to present the manuscript to Charles I (1625-1649) en route to his coronation. Charles saw Cotton standing on the shore, and ordered the royal barge to land further upstream, snubbing Cotton in the process.

The Coronation Gospels: London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A. II

The English Coronation Order (Cotton MS Claudius A. III): a 12th-century manuscript depicting the coronation of King Henry I (1100-1135) at Westminster Abbey on 5 August 1100. Henry's coronation charter, based on earlier royal oaths, was the first to be committed to writing; in it he promised to reform the abuses of the previous regime and to restore “the law of King Edward the Confessor”.

The Coronation of Henry III (Cotton MS Vitellius A. XIII): an account in verse of the kings of England, containing an illustration of the coronation of King Henry III (1216-1272). Henry succeeded to the throne aged just 9 years old, against a background of civil war and invasion by the French. His coronation took place at Gloucester Abbey on 28 October 1216, where he was anointed by the bishops of Winchester, Worcester and Exeter, and crowned with a lady’s chaplet (a circular wreath or garland).

Thomas More and Henry VIII (Cotton MS Titus D. IV): on 24 June 1509, the archbishop of Canterbury crowned Henry VIII (1491-1547) and his first wife, Katherine of Aragón (1485-1536), in Westminster Abbey. Expectations ran high: ‘this day’, wrote Thomas More, ‘is the end of our slavery, the fount of our liberty, the beginning of joy. Now the people, liberated, run before their king with bright faces.’  More also composed a ‘coronation suite’ of Latin poems for presentation to the newly-crowned king.

Thomas More's Coronation Suite: London, British Library, MS Cotton Titus D. IV

Parliamentary procession roll (Additional MS 22306): a 17th-century copy of a contemporary roll, showing the new king Henry VIII on the way to open Parliament. The procession was led by the mitred abbots, followed by the bishops; next came Henry carrying a sceptre, under a canopy decorated with a Tudor rose, then the secular peers in their robes.

The Parliamentary procession roll for Henry VIII: London, British Library, MS Additional 22306

Anne Boleyn's coronation (Royal MS 18 A. LXIV): in 1533, a visibly pregnant Anne Boleyn made her entry into the City of London in anticipation of her coronation. As the procession wound its way through the streets, Anne was entertained with a series of spectacular displays that had been prepared in her honour by the City Guilds. At Leaden Hall, in Gracechurch Street, Anne was addressed with the following verse: ‘Honour and grace bee to our queene Anne / ffor whose cause an anngell Celestiall / descendeth the ffalcon as white as swanne / to croun with a diademe Imperiall. / In hir honour reioyce wee all, / ffor it cummeth from God, and not of man. / Honour and grace bee to our Queene Anne!’

Anne Boleyn's coronation feast (Harley MS 41): Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1 June 1533, and that evening a grand feast was held in Westminster Hall. A sketch of the seating plan shows Anne at the high table with the archbishop of Canterbury seated on her right. On Anne’s right stood the Dowager Countess of Oxford and on her left the Countess of Worcester, whose task was to hold up a cloth to Anne’s face if she wished ‘to spit or do otherwise’. Henry VIII watched from the royal closet with the French and Venetian ambassadors.

Elizabeth I's coronation procession (Egerton MS 3320): Elizabeth I (1558-1603) ascended the throne on 17 November 1558. Her coronation took place just two months later, on 15 January 1559, an auspicious date chosen by the astrologer, Dr John Dee. This drawing shows part of the procession as Elizabeth rode through London on the day before the coronation, with Robert Dudley, as master of the horse, following immediately behind the queen.

‘Zadok the Priest’ (R.M.20.h.5): George Frideric Handel was appointed ‘Composer of Musick for the Chapel Royal’ in 1723, and composed the music for the coronation of George II on 11 October 1727. The words of the first anthem, ‘Zadok the Priest’, are taken from verses in the Bible (1 Kings 1: 38-40), which have have been included in the coronation service since the coronation of King Edgar in 973. Handel’s setting has been sung by the choir immediately before the anointing at every coronation since 1727.

The coronation of George III (Additional MS 42863): George III (1760-1820) became king at the age of 22 and would reign for 60 years, making him the 3rd-longest reigning monarch in British history after Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Unlike his two predecessors of the House of Hanover, George spoke English as his first language. In his accession speech to Parliament, he declared: ‘Born and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Britain.’ On display is an admission ticket to the coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte, which took place at Westminster Abbey on 22 September 1761.

George III's coronation procession (Maps Crace 11.39): a plan showing the route of George’s coronation procession to Westminster Abbey. According to eye-witness accounts, so many carriages battled to reach Westminster Abbey that many of them collided in chaos. George and Charlotte were carried to Westminster Hall separately in sedan chairs and then escorted into the abbey on foot, each under a canopy.

The coronation procession of King George III, with the route highlighted in green

The Delhi Durbar, 1911 (Photo 1/14 (28), MSS Eur G55/24): under The Royal Titles Act of 1876, Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India. The following year celebrations were held in Delhi, in what is known as the Delhi Durbar, at which Victoria was represented by the Viceroy of India. In December 1911, the Coronation Durbar of King George V and Queen Mary was held in the purpose-built Coronation Park in Delhi, and the sovereigns attended in person. As the law prohibited the removal of the British Crown Jewels from the United Kingdom, the Imperial Crown of India was created for George V to wear. On display is a photograph of George V and Queen Mary appearing in their coronation robes, and the address of welcome presented to King George.

The coronation of Elizabeth II (Additional MS 79866B): on 2 June 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon and Pakistan, as well as taking on the role of Head of the Commonwealth. Approximately 8,000 guests from across the Commonwealth of Nations attended the service, which took 16 months to organise and was the first ever to be broadcast on television. In our exhibition is Sir Laurence Olivier’s presentation copy of the order of service.

Detail of a miniature of a lecture, from Bartholomaeus Anglicus (translated by Jean Corbechon), De proprietatibus rerum (Livre des proprietez des choses), France (Paris?), 1st quarter of the 15th century, Royal 17 E. iii, f. 93v

As regular readers of this blog will have seen, the British Library is running a workshop to be held at the University of Durham on 6 June 2012 (that’s just one week away!). You are warmly invited to attend this workshop, which is free and open to the public. It will begin at 2pm and will take place in The Williams Library, St Chad’s College (click here for a map).

In addition to your attendance, we would welcome your feedback and responses to some of the questions posed below. Selected responses written into the comments section of this blog or emailed to royal-manuscripts-digitization@bl.uk will be read aloud at the workshop, and, of course, fully attributed if you choose to provide your name.

This workshop is structured so that guided presentations will blend with open discussion, allowing for a productive and mutually beneficial event for us here at the British Library and you, as researchers and users of our resources.

The workshop will be divided into two parts.

Part I:  Research using digital resources

A presentation by Dr Joanna Fronska, which gives insights into the ‘behind the scenes process of digitisation’, the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, and the British Library's new Digitised Manuscripts website.

After Dr Fronska’s presentation, discussion will be opened up to workshop participants, centring on the questions below. We would also welcome your responses to the following questions:

• How do you use digital resources in your research?
• What do you like / dislike about existing digital resources?
• Which websites are most useful?
• What are the respective merits of our Digital Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts versus our new Digitised Manuscripts website?
• What developments, such as annotation tools or inter-library searchability, would be most useful for your research?

After a coffee and tea break, the workshop will resume with part two.

Part II: Short Panel presentations on manuscripts in the Royal collection

A number of speakers will present brief papers that address following questions:  

• ‘How were the illuminated manuscripts in the royal library used and received by their owners?’  
• What are the characteristics of illustrated manuscripts collected by English monarchs?
• How did monastic manuscripts enter the royal collection, or what was their function within the library?
• How representative is what survives of the royal library, and why is there a relative lack of liturgical or private devotional books in Royal?

All workshop participants will be invited to contribute to the conversation, while it is taking place among the panellists (in other words, we will not be holding questions till the end but creating an open discussion based around a prepared structure).

A summary of the discussions will be published on the Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts blog, with a possibility of papers being offered to the Electronic British Library Journal. 

We look forward to seeing you at the University of Durham!

Detail of an historiated initial 'C'(olor) of an artist mixing colours, from James le Palmer's Omne Bonum, England (London), c. 1360- c. 1375, Royal 6 E. vi, f. 329

The year 2015 marks the 800th anniversary since Magna Carta was issued by King John of England (1199-1216). As you may already be aware, the British Library holds two of the four surviving original Magna Cartas, produced in June 1215 (the others are at Salisbury Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral), together with other important documents relating to Magna Carta, including the Articles of the Barons and the papal bull of Innocent III by which the charter was annulled.

King John, in Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, St Albans, 1250-1259 (London, British Library, MS Royal 14 C VII, f. 9r).

We are delighted to announce that the British Library is partnering with the University of East Anglia in a new, three-year, AHRC-funded research project on Magna Carta. Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at UEA, is the Principal Investigator for the project, and Dr Claire Breay, Lead Curator of Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts at the British Library, is one of the co-investigators, as are Professor David Carpenter of King's College London, Dr Paul Brand of the University of Oxford, Dr Louise Wilkinson of Canterbury Christ Church University, and Professor Andy Day of UEA.

The project aims to expand public and scholarly understanding of the making and meaning of Magna Carta. The outputs of the project will be disseminated on the web, at a conference in June 2015, and through the British Library's major Magna Carta exhibition in 2015.

For more information about Magna Carta, please see our earlier post, Magna Carta in 500 words. You can also go to our dedicated Magna Carta webpages to view one of the original manuscripts, watch our virtual curator answer frequently asked questions, and read a translation of the document into English.

Wrestling is pretty unusual among the sports at the Summer Olympics: it has two separate disciplines, Freestyle and Greco-Roman; while Greco-Roman Wrestling is the sole event in which only men compete (women will contest Boxing for the first time in 2012). There is a subtle distinction between the two styles. In Greco-Roman Wrestling, holds below the waist are forbidden, resulting in a greater emphasis on throws, since a wrestler cannot attempt to trip their opponent. Freestyle Wrestling, as the name implies, gives the competitors more leeway into how to bring their fellow-contestant to the ground. The ultimate goal of both versions is to pin your opponent to the mat.

A decorated initial with two wrestling men (Oxford, 1st quarter of the 13th century): London, British Library, MS Arundel 157, f. 95v.

Although the name "Greco-Roman" suggests a connection with the Classical past, it's now believed that this form of wrestling was developed by a Napoleonic soldier, Jean Exbrayat (hence another name for the sport, "French Wrestling"). But this minor trifle needn't prevent us from including wrestling in another of our award-winning posts on medieval manuscripts and the Olympics (our own award, for the most tendentious connection with the Olympic Games).

Wrestling is an ages-old pursuit, and not surprisingly it's depicted in many ancient books. Here are some examples for your delectation -- the question is, can you guess whether these are freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestlers?

The wrestling of Hercules and Achelous, in a French translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Netherlands, 4th quarter of the 15th century): London, British Library, MS Royal 17 E. IV, f. 136r.

Image of wrestlers in a copy of Aristotle's Libri naturales (England, 3rd quarter of the 13th century): London, British Library, MS Harley 3487, f. 34r. 

And here is perhaps the most famous wrestling match of them all, Jacob and the angel, depicted in two manuscripts from England and Catalonia (the famous Golden Haggadah). Wrestling fans out there -- can you spot any arm drags, bear hugs or headlocks?

Jacob wrestling with the angel (Oxford, 1st quarter of the 13th century): London, British Library, MS Royal 1 D. X, f. 74v.

Jacob wrestling with an angel, from the Golden Haggadah (Catalonia, 2nd quarter of the 14th century): London, British Library, MS Additional 27210, f. 5r).

You may like to know that a day-conference, Sourcing Sport: Current Research, British Library Resources, is being held at the British Library on Monday, 21 May (10.00-17.30).