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887 posts categorized "Illuminated manuscripts"

28 July 2017

Summer illuminations at the British Library

There is no need for fireworks this summer – the best illuminations are on the British Library website , in our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts! And they will still be around to light up the winter months too. A new upload to the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts has just gone live, with 25 new manuscript masterpieces and almost 400 new images online.  

Some of the most stunning new images, including the image of a summer boat ride below, come from the Hastings Hours. This Book of Hours is believed to have been made for King Edward IV and later owned by one of his most loyal courtiers and Lord Chamberlain, William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings. Although Hastings was executed for treason by Richard III after Edward’s death, the manuscript's vivid colors and lively artwork survives.

Add_ms_54782_f054r
Lovers or musicians in a barge, with a city and tower behind, from the ‘Hastings Hours’, c. 1480, Low Countries (Ghent?), Add MS 54782, f. 54r

Another outstanding masterpiece of medieval illumination,  the Gorleston Psalter, has dazzling displays on every page. It was made in East Anglia in the second decade of the 14th century.

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Doeg and the priests, with a full border incorporating hybrid creatures, coats of arms and a monkey at the beginning of Psalm 51, from the Gorleston Psalter, between 1310 and 1324, England, East Anglia, Add MS 49622, f. 68v  

A number of Spanish manuscripts have also been added in the recent uploads, including  a late 15th-century Book of Hours, believed to be from Toledo, with vibrant images and crowded borders. In the margins of f. 70v and f. 71r are profile portraits of a man and a woman, perhaps the original owners.

Add MS 50004  f. 70v
Mary holding Christ before the Cross and a full border with a diamond-shaped medallion with a man's head in profile, from a Book of Hours, 4th quarter of the 15th century, Spain, Central (?Toledo), Add MS 50004, f. 70v

Another Spanish manuscript is the Poncii Bible, made in Catalonia, includes mnemonic verses and a version of the Prophecy of the Tenth Sibyl. See our blogpost on this text for more information. It is named after its scribe, Johannes Poncii (Juan Ponce). 

Additional 50003   f. 93v
Detail of A historiated initial 'F'(it) of Hannah praying to God in the clouds, with a dog above and hybrid creatures below, from the Poncii Bible, 1273, Catalonia,
Add MS 50003, f. 93v

After so many pious images, some may prefer vice. The diagram below from the ‘Peter of Poitiers roll’  provides a handy guide to the vices available, with all the possible pitfalls. It follows a series of images from the life of Christ in the Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi, a text on the genealogy of Christ. 

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Diagram of the Vices: Luxuria, Gula, Avaricia, Accidia, Invidia, Ira, Inanis gloria, and descriptions of their attributes, from the ‘Peter of Poitiers roll’, England, S., approximately 1250-60, Add MS 60628/1, image 10

Meanwhile, the vice of drunkenness is illustrated in a description of the properties of the vine in Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum (On the properties of things).

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Three figures at a vineyard, one of whom has fallen to the ground, presumably in drunkenness; the women on either side hold containers of red and white wine; from Book 17, ‘On herbs and plants’, De proprietatibus rerum, Italy, N. (Mantua), before 1309, Add MS 8785, f. 257r

Some important textual manuscripts have been added to the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts as well. These include the Ceolfrith Bible leaves, an early copy of a work by Julian of Norwich,  and copies of texts by Roger Bacon. The new additions are listed in full at the end of this post.

Some of these manuscripts are fully digitised on our Digitised Manuscripts website. The Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, by contrast, contains a selection of images and allows for searching according to date, place of production, scribe and even image descriptions.  For example, a search for the subject ‘mermaid’ in the 'Image description' field of the 'Advanced Search' page, produces an amazing variety of mermaids of all shapes and sizes, such as this one from the margins of the Office of Vespers in a Book of Hours that has just been uploaded.

Additional 50005   f. 67
A mermaid and an elephant from a Book of Hours, c. 1420, Netherlands, N. (Utrecht or Guelders), Add MS 50005, f. 67r

Another is from the ‘Alphonso Psalter’, commissioned in London, probably to celebrate the marriage of Alphonso (b. 1273, d. 1284), son of King Edward I, to Margaret, daughter of Florent V, Count of Holland.  Sadly, the marriage did not take place as Alphonso died in August 1284 at only 11 years old; but luckily the manuscript survives, containing a veritable feast of marginalia.

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Bas-de-page scene of a mermaid suckling her child and an acrobatic monkey on her tail , the ‘Alphonso Psalter’, London (Westminster), c.1284 to c. 1316, the Alfonso Psalter, Add MS 24686, f. 13r

In addition, all the images in the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts can be downloaded for research purposes. For guidance on the use of these images in the public domain, please see http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/reuse.asp. These include glorious images of from the Holkham Bible Picture Book and the Secretum Secretorum and many others.

Here is the full is a list of the manuscripts published this week in the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts:

Add MS 8785                        De proprietatibus rerum

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7029&CollID=27&NStart=8785

Add MS 11662                     Chronicle of St Martin des Champs

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6843&CollID=27&NStart=11662

Add MS 17739                     Jumièges Gospels

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=18667&CollID=27&NStart=17739

Add MS 20787                     Alfonso X Law code

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6798&CollID=27&NStart=20787

Add MS 21247                     Livre des Quatre Dames

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6796&CollID=27&NStart=21247

Add MS 24686                     ‘Alphonso Psalter’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=96&CollID=27&NStart=24686


Add MS 27926                     Gospels of Luke and John (Halberstadt)

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7924&CollID=27&NStart=27926

Add MS 35318                     Book of Hours (Paris)

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6741&CollID=27&NStart=35318

Add MS 35321                     Boccaccio, Des cas de nobles hommes et femmes

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7425&CollID=27&NStart=35321

Additional 35254 Cuttings from the Hours of Louis XII

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=18749&CollID=27&NStart=35254

Add MS 37777                     ‘Ceolfrith Bible’ fragment

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6465&CollID=27&NStart=37777

Add MS 37790                     The ‘Amherst manuscript’, works by Richard of Rolle, Julian of Norwich etc.

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7754&CollID=27&NStart=37790

Add MS 47680                     Secretum Secretorum

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8818&CollID=27&NStart=47680

Add MS 47682                     ‘Holkham Bible Picture Book’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8743&CollID=27&NStart=47682

Add MS 49622                     ‘Gorleston Psalter’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6462&CollID=27&NStart=49622

Add MS 50001                     ‘Hours of Elizabeth the Queen’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6428&CollID=27&NStart=50001

Add MS 50002                     ‘Mirandola Hours’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8229&CollID=27&NStart=50002

Add MS 50003                     ‘Poncii Bible’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8315&CollID=27&NStart=50003

Add MS 50004                     Book of Hours (Spain)

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8168&CollID=27&NStart=50004 

Add MS 50005                     Book of Hours (Netherlands)

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=6488&CollID=27&NStart=50005   

Add MS 60628/1                 ‘Peter of Poitiers Roll’

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=3&CollID=27&NStart=60628   

Add MS 71118                     Leaves from a Book of Hours

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=19494&CollID=27&NStart=71118

Royal MS 7 F vii                    Works of Roger Bacon

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7473&CollID=16&NStart=70607

Royal MS 7 F viii   Works of Roger Bacon

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7431&CollID=16&NStart=70608

 Royal MS 18 A vi Medical treatises and recipes

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=5697&CollID=16&NStart=180106

                                                                                                                                Chantry Westwell

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26 July 2017

King David: life and soul of the Psalter

In a recent Twitter poll by @BLMedieval, 989 voters resoundingly agreed that, out of a choice of four medieval saints, the best to invite to a summer party would be King David (his knack for the harp being stuff of legend). In tribute to this endearing decision — which spurned St Lawrence and his griddle, St John the Baptist and his lamb, and St Catherine with her wheel (for the pyrotechnics) — we thought it would be interesting to look at images of David and his harp in the decorated initial ‘B’ of medieval Psalters. Sometimes it demands great concentration to decipher letters decorated with scenes (historiated initials) but some have such delicately crafted meanings that the rewards are well worth it. They can be visual puzzles, with a message.

Harley MS 48041 f004r 12th

A decorated initial for Psalm 1 with an image of King David and his harp: Harley MS 4804/1, f. 4r (detail). Chartres, 1st half of the 12th century.

Psalm 1 in the Vulgate Bible opens Beatus Vir, ‘Blessed is the man’. The text proceeds, ‘who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.’ The Psalms, widely believed to have been composed by King David himself, were recited by monks each day in religious services and the words were absorbed in the memory; they could have fallen out of diligent monastic mouths without a second thought. Psalters (books of the Psalms with prayers and other texts) were produced as stand-alone volumes, so the first words of Psalm 1 also mark the beginning of the heart of the book. Decorated initials at the start of major divisions helped the reader to navigate the manuscript and inspired a meditative spirit, reminding the reader to contemplate the familiar text.

In England and France, from the mid-11th century, initials were often inhabited by the author of the Psalms, namely our coveted dinner party guest, King David.  

Arundel MS 60 f.13r 11th-12thc

A decorated initial containing an image of King David and his harp beneath a male figure representing the subject of the Psalm: Arundel MS 60, f. 13r (detail). Winchester, 4th quarter of the 11th century

In a Psalter from late 11th-century Winchester, the initial ‘B’ shows two figures suspended in and inhabiting ornate vegetal scrolls. The lower figure holds a harp on his lap and wears a crown. He looks across to the words of the Psalm. Here is David. The figure above perhaps represents the blessed man discussed by the Psalm.

Decorated initials could contain even more complex meanings. Look closely at an astonishing initial in a 12th-century English Psalter. The annotated interactive version below explains how its artists used the ‘B’ initial to frame a subtly wrought cosmic drama expressing Christ’s victory over Satan. This is all the more astonishing since this ‘B’ is no bigger than the palm of your hand.

Hold your mouse over the image to reveal interactive annotations and explore the

decorated initial of Add MS 17392, f. 1r. Western England, 3rd quarter of the 12th century.

The life of Christ is held by Christians to fulfil the prophecies made in Old Testament Scripture, which includes the Psalms. Thus, inside the upper register is an image that may be Christ in Judgement before a crowd of the Blessed with the book of life, or perhaps preaching to his followers. David is beneath, at his harp, seated beside another male figure, perhaps again the blessed man of the Psalm. Both David and the man point up at Christ. The figures express Christ’s fulfilment of the words composed by David, his ancestor. At the same time (medieval artworks can often be interpreted in a variety of ways), it may be a reference to verse 1 and the blessed man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, on which he meditates day and night.

The plot thickens if we observe how, to David’s left, forming the curved bow of the lower half of the ‘B’, a human soul is being pulled up towards Christ by an angel and hell-wards, feet-first, by a devil. But the devil’s feet are in the mouth of a lion, which is, in turn, being trodden on by David. The possible meaning of this will become clear.

A male figure emerges from behind the lion, passing a scroll up the spine of the initial. It almost touches the end of another scroll, which is being held by a second depiction of Christ. Identifiable by his halo with a cross, Christ is holding a cross-staff, adorned with a flag; the attribute he is often given in images of his Resurrection. So here may be another reference to the New Testament fulfilment of the Old.

At first glance, this initial may just look whimsical interplay of human figures, beasts and plant scrolls. Never underestimate medieval art, because the web of meanings does not end here. If you look just below the crowd of souls in the upper register, you will see that the resurrected Christ’s staff is stabbing a serpent or basilisk and the image of Christ is trampling a dragon. The serpent, asp, basilisk, lion and dragon could be read as symbols of evil, which is the influence of the devil. Psalm 91 reads, 'Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.' In the initial, all of these creatures are shown being vanquished. Thus the male figure next to David, probably the man with whom the Psalm is concerned, is a role-model; ‘blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly’. His feet, too, rest on the back of the devil in the lower border, the one wrestling a soul from the grip of an angel. In this way, the initial could be a powerful call-to-action, telling the reader to follow the example of the blessed man and, in so doing, to hope to overcome the malevolent forces described in the text.

In short, good call for keeping David on the guest-list (and not just because of his untold skills on the harp).

 

Amy Jeffs

Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval

 

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La première lettre du texte des psautiers médiévaux latins est un ‘B’ car le premier psaume de la Vulgate commence ‘Beatus Vir’ (‘Bienheureux l'homme’). Dans la période romane, cette initiale est souvent fortement décorée avec des motifs végétaux, des bêtes et des figures. Une figure qu’on trouve est le Roi David, avec sa harpe, regardant les mots qui suivent.

On croit généralement que David a composé les psaumes, donc l’image est un portrait d’auteur. Mais la formule est développée pour inclure des scènes théologiques complexes. L’initiale décorée d’un psautier anglais du douzième siècle (Add MS 17392) affiche un drame cosmologique à l'intérieur de la lettre. Si on scrute l’image, on voit des connections subtiles, proclamant la victoire du Christ contre le diable.

                                                                                                   

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22 July 2017

Job opportunities with the England and France 700-1200 Project

We are pleased to announce that the British Library is recruiting for two new positions for The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700-1200. Both positions are full time, fixed term positions, for 1 year, in the Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts section of the Western Heritage Department. Full details of the posts and how to apply can be found on bl.uk/careers.

Add_ms_46487_f043v

Page with St Mark  holding an empty scroll, from the Sherborne Cartulary which also contains account of the Passion by the four Evangelists, 2nd quarter of the 12th century, England (Sherborne), Add MS 46487, f. 43v.

The British Library is collaborating with the Bibliothèque nationale de France to enhance access to and promote 800 pre-1200 manuscripts, half of which are held by each Library. In addition to digitising and cataloguing 400 pre-1200 illuminated manuscripts held at the British Library, we will also create a new interpretative website to highlight and interpret some of the exceptional manuscripts in the project.

(1) England and France 700-1200 Project Cataloguer and Researcher (Reference COL 01328)

The first new role is for a Project Cataloguer and Researcher. This post is to catalogue and research the manuscripts in the project and enhance existing catalogue records. Other tasks will include the preparation of short summaries of the digitised manuscripts to be placed on the interpretative website. Further responsibilities may include preparing blog posts, checking and publishing images, answering enquiries, presenting medieval manuscripts to specialist and non-specialist audiences, and other activities promoting the project. Full details and how to apply for Project Cataloguer and Researcher.

(2) Curatorial Web Officer, The Polonsky England and France Project (Reference COL 01360)

The second position is for a Curatorial Web Officer. This post is to process, edit and prepare articles, manuscript descriptions and images of selected project manuscripts for the interpretative website, and to assist in the selection and description of images and the uploading of them on the website. The website will also include several films about the manuscripts in the project, and this post-holder will assist in the organisation for and scripting of those films, at least one of which will be animated. The duties of this position may also include the promotion of the website and project through blogs and presentations for researchers and general audiences. Full details and how to apply for Curatorial Web Officer.

Both positions are one year, fixed term contracts, beginning in September 2017, dependent on the necessary security clearances being obtained. The positions are only open to applicants with the right to work in the UK.

The deadline for both applications is 16 August 2017.

The interviews for the Cataloguer and Researcher will be held on 4 September 2017 and for the Curatorial Web Officer on 5 September 2017. The selection processes may include questions about the date and origin of a particular manuscript to be shown at the interview, and a short written exercise.


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Bede, De temporum ratione, beginning of the prologue in a manuscript made either in Northern France or in England in the 11th or 12th century; Royal MS 13 A XI, f. 30v.

Tuija Ainonen

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12 July 2017

The Lindisfarne Gospels in the Treasures Gallery

As regular readers of this Blog will know, the display of the Lindisfarne Gospels follows a conservation programme recommended by an international committee of experts. When it is out in the Library’s Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery, we turn a page every three months, in order to show visitors a different view of it, and to limit the amount of light on any one opening. In the spring, we displayed one of the book’s wonderful canon tables, but from this month you can see the beginning of the summary for the Gospel of John. 

1_cotton_ms_nero_d_iv_f203v

Decorated word ‘Johannes’ (John) with the word ‘evangelista’ (evangelist) below, from Cotton MS Nero D IV, f. 203v

The Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the most well-known of all English manuscripts, renowned both for the intricacy and beauty of its decoration, and for its importance as the earliest surviving example of the Gospels in English. The Gospels was written by one scribe, who was probably also responsible for the remarkable initials throughout the volume.  According to an inscription added at the end of the manuscript in the late 10th century, that scribe and artist was a monk called Eadfrith, who served as bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721. 

The man who added the inscription, Aldred, the provost at Chester-le-Street just north of Durham, also added Old English words above the Latin text. Throughout the text is divided into two columns, with Aldred’s Old English translation above each Latin word in small letters.

In the opening now on display in the gallery, visitors can see the decorated word is ‘Iohannes’ (John), and just below it, the word ‘evangelista’ (evangelist), which is translated by the English word ‘godspellere’ directly above it. On the opposite page, the opening words of a summary of John’s Gospel ‘In the beginning’ are so highly decorated that they can be difficult to make out: ‘In Prin[cipio]’ with the last part of the word on the next line (The ‘P’ looks a bit like a modern ‘B’).

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Decorated words ‘In Prin[cipio]’ (In the beginning), opening words of John’s Gospel, from Cotton MS Nero D IV, f. 204r

If you can’t make it to London to see this display, check it out online on our Digitised Manuscripts site. You can use the terrific zoom feature to really analyse the text and the wonderful initials.

The manuscript is also included as the second entry in a recent publication featuring some of the most beautiful Bibles in the Library’s collections, The Art of the Bible (Thames and Hudson and the British Library, 2016).

Kathleen Doyle

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01 July 2017

A calendar page for July 2017

It’s July, which means 2017 is now halfway through — time to check in with the fantastic calendar of Additional MS 36684 for a look at the 7th month! If you’d like to know more about this Book of Hours, check out January’s post, and for more on medieval calendars in general, please see our calendar post from 2011. 

Fig 2_add_ms_36684_f008r Fig 2_add_ms_36684_f008r
Calendar pages for July, from a Book of Hours, St Omer or Théouranne, c. 1320, Add MS 36684, ff. 7v–8r

The marginal decoration for July is a riotous combination of brightly-coloured birds and butterflies, contorted human/animal hybrids, and a few marginal figures participating in warm-weather activities. The first is the man (or woman?) taking a nice relaxing bath in the lower left margin of the first calendar page.

Bathing man_add_ms_36684_f007v
Detail of a figure bathing, Add MS 36684, f. 7v

The second figure, to the right of the labour of the month (more on him in a minute), holds what appears to be a candle in each hand, perhaps a reference to the necessity of making candles in the summer, while the days are longer, in preparation for the dark winter months.

Candles_add_ms_36684_f007v
Detail of a figure holding candles, Add MS 36684, f. 7v

The labour of the month, dressed for warm weather in a short tunic and hat, holds the two handles on the shaft of his long, curved scythe. Within his architectural niche, he is pictured on grass, against a gold background reminiscent of the wheat traditionally harvested by July’s labour of the month.

Labour_add_ms_36684_f007v
Detail of a labour of the month for July, Add MS 36684, f. 7v

On the following folio, below the many saints’ days celebrated in the latter part of July — including St James the Apostle and Mary Magdalene — is the zodiac figure of Leo in his tiny Gothic niche. Leo, traditionally a symbol of fortitude, looks particularly happy in this instance, and rather than being painted a usual golden colour, is instead a dark grey with white accents — likely to contrast with the gold leaf background. Leo is flanked by two green hybrid animals and their instruments, posted on either side of his niche.

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Detail of Leo, Add MS 36684, f. 8r

We hope you enjoy exploring the many figures and decoration for the July calendar pages in Additional MS 36684 – let us know your favourite! And remember, you can see all of Additional MS 36684 online on Digitised Manuscripts. Stay cool, medieval enthusiasts!

Taylor McCall
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23 June 2017

The language of love (and poetry and history)

Old Occitan or Langue d’oc, the language of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the troubadours, was claimed by Dante to be the perfect language for verse. It is still spoken in southern France and in pockets of Italy and northern Spain. Early genres and themes first developed by the troubadour poets of Provence and the surrounding regions were adopted by French trouveres and German minnesanger. Occitan literature of the 12th and 13th centuries is arguably ‘a primary reference for the medieval literatures of what we now call France, Spain, Italy and Germany’ (Burgwinkle, ‘The troubadours’ (2011)).

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The seven virtues and vices of lovers, from the Breviari d’Amor, mid-14th century; France, S. (Toulouse?), Harley MS 4940, f. 227r

As we mentioned in a previous blogpost, the British Library's earliest manuscript containing Old Occitan is Harley MS 2928, probably copied in the 12th century. Many of our Occitan manuscripts date from the 13th and 14th centuries. The Breviari d’Amor, the Vie de St Honorat and the Somme le Roi  are the most popular surviving texts, along with Chansonniers or collections of lyrics, many of which were copied in Italy and Catalunya. Three of our 14th-century manuscripts, all from southern France, have recently been digitised; two of them contain the Breviari d’Amors and a third is an Occitan version of an illustrated almanac.

The Breviari d’Amors

Royal_ms_19_c_i_f007r
The author, Matfre, holding a large book from which he is instructing four crowned figures with books or scrolls, from the Breviari d’Amor, early 14th century; France, S. (Toulouse?), Royal MS 19 C I, f. 7r

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The Devil incites people to the sins of robbery, lust, violence and avarice and brings disaster to a ship at sea, from the Breviari d’Amor, mid-14th century; France, S. (Toulouse?), Harley MS 4940, f. 27r

The Breviari d’Amors is a poetic work composed by Matfre Ermengaud in 1288–1292. Ermengaud described himself as a senher en leys e d’amor sers, in other words a master or doctor of law but also a poet who serves the ideal of love. His work contains a compendium of contemporary knowledge under the umbrella of faith, seen as a manifestation of God’s love.

Royal_ms_19_c_i_f030v
The hierarchy of angels adoring the Trinity from the Breviari d’Amor, Royal MS 19 C I, f. 30v

Both volumes in our collections are believed to have been copied in Toulouse in the 14th century. They are filled with remarkable illuminations showing God and Love at the centre of all creation. They are in a unique style associated with southern Europe in this period.

Royal_ms_19_c_i_f011v
The Tree of Love from the Breviari d’Amor, Royal MS 19 C I, f. 11v

Scientific topics focus on astronomy and meteorology, while spiritual matters such as theology, angelology, demonology, mystical anthropology, sacred and scriptural studies are treated at length, together with the art of living on earth, and the subject of human love. Love is the metaphysical link between the spiritual realm and the created universe.

  Royal_ms_19_c_i_f053v
A circular diagram of the planets governing the days of the week, from the Breviari d’Amor, Royal MS 19 C I, f. 53v

For Ermengaud, angels are at the centre of many of the functions governing life on earth.

Royal_ms_19_c_i_f058v
The six ages of the world, with an angel in the centre, from the Breviari d’Amor, Royal MS 19 C I, f. 58v

There is a third copy of the Breviari  in our collections and also fully digitised (Yates Thompson MS 31) but it is in Catalan prose rather than Occitan, and was made in Catalunya (probably Girona) towards the end of the 14th century. The style of the illuminations is rather different. There are some rather elegant images of Hell-mouths (always a favourite subject on this blog) that almost look inviting!

Yates_thompson_ms_31_f250r
The Christ and the Harrowing of Hell, souls in Purgatory, unbaptised infants in Limbo and the Damned engulfed in flames, last quarter of the 14th century, Spain, E. (Catalonia, ?Gerona ), Yates Thompson MS 31, f. 250r

The Abreujamen de las Estorias

Egerton_ms_1500_f013v
Synchronic table of kings and emperors of the world with Alexander the Great and Ptolemy from the Abreujamen de las Estorias,  France, S. (Avignon); 2nd quarter of the 14th century (after 1323), Egerton MS 1500, f. 13v

Love, the universe and poetry were not the only topics of Occitan manuscripts. The Abreujamen de las Estorias (Egerton MS 1500) is a diagrammatic chronicle in Occitan, based on the Latin chronicle of Paolino (c. 1275–c. 1344), a Fransiscan friar and diplomat from Venice. It consists of genealogical diagrams with notes and synchronic tables of popes, emperors and kings, including English kings, and it marks the canonisation of Thomas Aquinas in 1323. Of special note is an account of the First Crusade, 'Passazia et auxilia Terre Sancte', inserted in the almanac, with miniatures and maps of Antioch and Jerusalem. This was featured in our recent blogpost on the Crusades.

Egerton_ms_1500_f053v
A synchronic table of kings including King John of England, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Roger of Sicily and Saladin, with scenes from the Crusades, from the Abreujamen de las Estorias,  Egerton MS 1500, f. 53v

Egerton_ms_1500_f049r
Map of Jerusalem from the Abreujamen de las Estorias, Egerton MS 1500, f. 49r

Brunel listed 11 manuscripts in Occitan then held at the British Museum (now in the British Library) and there are two more in our collections today. Of these 13 manuscripts, 4 have been digitised in full, as described above, and a selection of images of a further 5 are online on our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts:

Egerton MS 945: A liturgical collection in Norman French and Occitan 

Harley MS 3041: Eleucidarium with a page of lyrics in Occitan  

Harley MS 3183: A devotional manual from the Périgord 

Harley MS 4830: Laws of the city of Avignon 

Harley MS 7403: Religious texts, some in Occitan 

The remainder have descriptions in our Archives and Manuscripts catalogue:

Add MS 10323: La vie de St Honorat

Add MS 17920: A Collection of Historical works, formerly part of Egerton MS 1500 

Add MS 22636: Thesaurus Pauperum and a collection of medical texts in Latin, with a fragment of a poem in Occitan 

Chantry Westwell

Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval

Bibliography

Clovis Brunel, Bibliographie des manuscrits littéraires en ancien provençal, Société de publications Romanes et Françaises, 13 (Paris: Librairie E. Droz, 1935).

William Burgwinkle, ‘The troubadours : the Occitan model’, in The Cambridge History of French Literature, ed. by William Burgwinkle, Nicholas Hammond and Emma Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 20-27.

21 June 2017

Stay cool

This week in Britain, we have been enjoying some hot weather. For inspiration on how to beat the heat, why not turn to the fantastical stories northern Europeans used to tell each other about how people and creatures in warm places kept cool?

Royal 2 B VII   f. 118v
Detail of elephants and a dragon, from the Queen Mary Psalter, England, c. 1310–1320, Royal MS 2 B VII, f. 118v

Examples of such stories can be found in two groups of texts we’ve discussed before on the blog. These are copies of the Marvels of the East, descriptions of weird and wonderful creatures said to live beyond the known world, and bestiaries, collections describing various animals and their habits.

Cotton_ms_vitellius_a_xv_f104r
Panotii, from the Marvels of the East, England, late 10th or early 11th century, Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, f. 104r

The Marvels of the East focus on creatures found in warm climates, such as elephants and camels. The text may have been based on a variety of ancient sources, but like a game of telephone (or Chinese whispers), they had been much distorted by the time it was being copied and illustrated in the early Middle Ages.

Add MS 62925  f. 88v
Bas-de-page scene of a hybrid with a panotii (man with enormous ears), from the Rutland Psalter, England (London?), c. 1260, Add MS 62925, f. 88v

Among the creatures the text describes are the panotii, people with big ears ‘like fans’. Conveniently, the panotii's ears could also be used as blankets at night. Less conveniently, the panotii were said to be very shy, and they had to pick up their large ears when they ran away from company. 

Harley_ms_2799_f243r
Detail of a sciapod,  from the Arnstein Bible, North-West Germany, c. 1172, Harley MS 2799, f. 243r

Another of our favourite strategies for keeping cool comes from the people known as the sciapodes or sciopods: literally, the ‘Shady-feet’. (H/T to Sjoerd Levelt, who recently noted them on Twitter!) These people were said to lie on their backs and use their giant feet to shield them from the heat of sun. 

Harley 3954   f. 31
Sciapodes from John Mandeville’s Travels, England (East Anglia), c. 1425–1450, Harley MS 3954, f. 31r

This story continued to capture artists’ and writers’ imaginations, and sciapodes appear in manuscripts and maps throughout the Middle Ages. The story seems to have long roots, as well: the 5th-century BCE writer Scylax is credited with a similar story, which may ultimately be based on retellings of ancient Indian stories. On a day like today, one can certainly see the appeal of the idea!

Add_ms_11390_f013r
Detail of a dragon entangling an elephant, from the Flower of Nature, Low Countries, c. 1300-1325, Add MS 11390, f. 13r

Medieval writers also worried about how dragons coped with heat, given that some were believed to breathe fire. They were said to be born in the hottest parts of the world, where no cool places could be found, even on the mountaintops. There was a medieval tradition that overheated dragons solved their conundrum by eating elephants. According to these authors, elephants had cold blood, which dragons tried to drink to cool their ‘burning intestines’. (Please, please do not try this at home.)

Harley 4751   f. 58v
A dragon biting an elephant, from a bestiary, England (Salisbury?), c. 1225–1250, Harley MS 4751, f. 58v

So enjoy the hot weather, while it lasts, and keep cool!

Alison Hudson

Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval

16 June 2017

Old Occitan at the British Library

Old Occitan or langue d’Oc was a language widely spoken and written in southern France and parts of Italy up to the French Revolution. The name is based on the word for "yes": ‘òc’ as opposed to the ‘oïl’ (modern ‘oui’) of Paris and northern France. The earliest literary manuscripts date from the 11th century, though there was an earlier oral tradition, and written fragments found in official documents in Latin and responses in litanies date back to the 9th and 10th centuries.

Harley_ms_2928_f014v
The Lord in a mandorla surrounded by the four symbols of the Evangelists, from a Psalter, Breviary and other theological texts, 1075–1225, France, S. W., Harley MS 2928, f. 14v

Clovis Brunel’s Bibliographie des manuscrits littéraires en ancien provençal lists 376 literary manuscripts in Old Occitan (excluding legal and administrative documents),  of which only 8 are from the 11th and 12th centuries, though many of the key texts were composed in this period.

Harley_ms_2928_f190r
Text page of a passage from John’s gospel in Old Occitan, Harley MS 2928, f. 190r

One of the oldest surviving texts in Old Occitan prose is a translation of four chapters of John’s Gospel from a manuscript in the British Library's collections that has recently been digitised, along with many of our pre-1200 manuscripts, as part of the Polonsky digitisation project: Harley MS 2928

Harley_ms_2928_f074v
Historiated initial ‘D’(ixit dominus), at the beginning of Psalm 110, of the Lord enthroned with a human figure lying prostrate at his feet, Harley MS 2928, f. 74v

This late 11th- or early 12th-century manuscript from southern France (perhaps the town of Solignac in the Limousin) contains chapters 13 to 17 of John’s Gospel in Old Occitan (ff. 187v–191v). It is the only vernacular text in a collection of Latin liturgical texts including a psalter, litanies, prayers, and a book of Hymns (Expositio hymnorum).   

There are 11 historiated initials illustrating the most important Psalms. 

Harley_ms_2928_f077r
Historiated initial ‘B’(eati) of a ?pilgrim with a staff, at the beginning of Psalm 119, Harley MS 2928, f. 77r

The section of John’s Gospel in Occitan, pictured below, relates the events of the Last Supper, the washing of the feet and Christ’s sermon to the assembled Disciples. The rubric preceding the text is in Latin:

Incipit sermo domini nostri Ihesu Christi quem fecit in cena sua quando pedes lavit discipulis suis

(Here begins the sermon of our Lord Jesus Christ which he gave at his supper when he washed the feet of his disciples).

Harley_ms_2928_f187v
Text page with rubric at the beginning of John, Chapter 13 in Occitan, Harley MS 2928, f. 187v

The Old Occitan text begins:

Avan lo dia festal de la Pasca sabia lo Salvadre que la soa ora ve que traspasse da quest mun au Paer

(Before the feast of Passover when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart from this world to the Father)

This short extract contains several examples of key variations between Old Occitan and standard French:

  • final consonants in clusters like –nt and -nd fall away completely (in standard French they are nasalised) to produce  ‘avan’ instead of  ‘avant’ (before) and ‘mun’ instead of ‘monde’ (world)
  • some words are closer to modern Spanish than to French: ‘dia’ instead of ‘jour’ (day) and ‘sabia’ instead of ‘savait’ (knew)
  • vowel sounds differ in many common words: ‘lo’ for ‘le’ (masculine article), ‘Paer’ for ‘Père’ (father) and again ‘mun’ for ‘monde’

According to Wunderli , whose 1969 edition of the Occitan text is included in the bibliography, the dialect is from the Limousin or Périgord regions.

The Old Occitan section are not the only interesting parts of this manuscript. The Expositio Hymnorum (Hymnal or Book of Hymns) is arranged according to the liturgical day and year and includes collects from the Gospels and homilies of St Ambrose and St Gregory. It contains 12th-century musical notation, or neumes, from southern France on ff. 127r–187v.

Harley_ms_2928_f134r
Folio from the Expositio Hymnorum with 12th-century neumes, Harley MS 2928, f. 134r

4 full-page miniatures in colours, sadly rather worn (ff. 13v, 14v, 17r, 18r), precede the Psalms, which begin with the Prologue by Pseudo Augustin on f. 19r, 'Laus Psalmorum. Canticum psalmorum animas decorat'.  In one image, what appears to be of a kneeling saint, perhaps Saint Stephen, is being stoned by two figures in tunics, while  gazing at the sun, or perhaps watching a comet.

Harley_ms_2928_f013v
A kneeling saint is stoned, Harley MS 2928, f. 13v

4 more full-page miniatures of scenes from the New Testament (ff. 15r, 15v, 16r, 16v), were added in Bologna in the 13th century and have been attributed to the ‘Master of 1285’ (see Conti, La Miniature Bolognese (1981)).

Harley_ms_2928_f015r
Added miniature of the Raising of Lazarus, last quarter of the 13th century, Italy, N. (Bologna), Harley MS 2928, f. 15r

 

Harley MS 2928 contient un des plus anciens exemples écrits de la langue d’oc ou de l'occitan : il s'agit d'une traduction de quatre chapitres de l’Evangile de saint Jean. Désormais disponible en ligne, entièrement numérisé, sur notre site internet Digitised Manuscripts, ce manuscrit comprend aussi un psautier, une ‘Expositio hymnorum’, avec neumes du XIIe siècle et une collection liturgique en Latin. Selon Winderli, il fut copié dans le Limousin ou le Périgord à la fin du XIe ou début du XIIe siècle.  Quatre grandes enluminures occupent les feuillets ff. 13v, 14v, 17r et 18r et onze lettrines historiées illustrent le Psautier. L’usure a parfois rendu ces illustrations peu lisibles, mais le style est distinctif.  Quatre enluminures furent ajoutées à Bologne à la fin du XIIIe siècle.  L’extrait de l’évangile (Jean, chapitres 13 à 17) raconte les évènements du Jeudi saint et le discours de Jésus à ses disciples lors de la cène.

                                                                                                Chantry Westwell

Follow us on Twitter @BLMedieval

Bibliography

Clovis Brunel, Bibliographie des manuscrits littéraires en ancien provençal, Société de publications Romanes et Françaises, 13 (Paris: Librairie E. Droz, 1935).

William Burgwinkle, ‘The troubadours : the Occitan model’, in The Cambridge History of French Literature, ed. by William Burgwinkle, Nicholas Hammond and Emma Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 20-27.

Alessandro Conti, La Miniature Bolognese: Scuole e botteghe 1270-1340 (Bologna: ALFA, 1981), pp. 25–26.

Peter Wunderli, La plus ancienne traduction provençale (XIIe siecle) des chapitres XII à XVII del’évangile de saint Jean (BM Harley 2928), Bibliotheque Francaise et Romane, D.4 (Paris: Klincksieck, 1969).

 

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