06 June 2017
In an artistic league of its own
No matter how long you’ve worked with medieval manuscripts, there's always one that completely surprises you. One manuscript that has astonished many scholars, and still inspires debate, is the combination of music, texts and images in the mid-11th-century portion of Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, known as the Caligula Troper or Cotton Troper. The Caligula Troper has been described as ‘completely unexpected in a mid-eleventh-century English context’ (T.A. Heslop, ‘Manuscript illumination at Worcester, c. 1055–1065’, in The Cambridge Illuminations: The Conference Papers ed. by Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2007), p. 69). Not only is it illustrated, which is unusual for surviving early English musical manuscripts, but the style of its illustrations is unparalleled elsewhere.
St Martin identifying a devil trying to disguise himself as Christ, from the Caligula Troper, England (?Western England), mid-11th century, Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 29r
The Caligula Toper is so-called because it was housed in the section of Sir Robert Cotton's library named after the Roman emperor Caligula and it contains the text for tropes: that is, chants which would have been added to the mass on special days, like saints’ days or major holidays. The volume’s slim size — it fits in your palm — suggests it could have been used by a single person, such as a soloist. The text is accompanied by musical notation, called ‘neumes’. Although some neumes look like modern musical notes, they had a slightly different use and functioned more as an aide-mémoire for someone who already knew the tune.
Tropes for Christmas, from Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 2r
The Caligula Troper also contains illustrations of Biblical scenes and scenes from the lives of the saints mentioned in the text, ‘captioned’ by verses which run around the edges of the images.
Miniature of Peter being released from prison, to accompany music from the feast of St Peter in Chains, Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 22r
It is these illustrations that make the Caligula Troper so unusual. While the script and the musical notation seem to be English, the style of the illustrations is rather different from the artistic style which dominated de luxe English book productions during the late 10th and early 11th century. This style emphasized curved figures, round faces, and extremely fluttery drapery, as shown in the drawings below, which may have been made at about the same time as or shortly before the Troper.
Miniature of Orion, from Cicero's Aratea, Southern England, mid-11th century, Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1, f. 39r; Miniature of the Crucifixion, from Ælfwine's Prayerbook, Cotton MS Titus D XXVII, f. 65v
By contrast, the artist or artists of the Caligula Troper had a very geometric style, especially for the figures’ long faces, stylized hair-dos and triangular or diamond-shaped hemlines. The artist(s)’ use of bold colours, particularly red and yellow, is also striking, given that most surviving 11th-century English manuscripts favoured a range of colours or tinted line drawings. The artist(s) also used tonal modelling, or gradients of colour and shading, in a more decisive way than is found in other surviving English manuscripts.
A group of virgins, from Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 36r
This contrast can be seen particularly in images like the Ascension or the naming of John the Baptist. There, the artist(s) of the Caligula Troper copied the cast of characters and even the gestures found in late 10th- and 11th-century English manucripts, but with a totally different effect due to the more angular features on the figures and the sharper gradient of colours.
The Ascension, three ways: ‘Winchester-style’ painting from the Benedictional of St Æthelwold, England (Winchester or Thorney), c. 963-984, Add MS 49598, f. 64; Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 18r; tinted line-drawing from the Tiberius Psalter, England (Winchester?), mid-11th century, Cotton MS Tiberius C VI, f. 15r
The naming of John the Baptist, from Cotton MS Caligula A XIV, f. 20v and a detail of the naming of John the Baptist, from Add MS 49598, f. 92v
Because of this unusual artistic style, no one knows for sure where it was made. This manuscript has been associated with various religious houses, including Hereford, Gloucester, and the Old Minster, Winchester. Its date is also debated. Even if we could establish where the Caligula Troper was made, that still does not explain where the artist or artists were inspired to create such distinctive artwork. Some scholars have suggested that they spent time in mainland Europe or had access to continental manuscripts brought by travelling bishops. Others have suggest that the artist(s) were trained at Canterbury, and may even have known Eadwig [Eadui] Basan, the prolific scribe of several gilded service books.
Wherever and by whomever the Caligula Troper was made, Elizabeth Teviotdale has shown that it was used into the 13th-century, possibly at Worcester. Although the 11th-century portion that survives is missing some of its pages, it was added to a 12th-century Troper and Proser by the 13th-century, when the same hand annotated it. By the 12th-century, some musical notations and styles had changed — notably, notation now included lines to help indicate pitches — but the beautiful and unusual 11th-century troper continued to be valued and possibly even used for centuries to come. Thanks to its recent digitisation by The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700–1200, hopefully this distinctive manuscript can continue to intrigue and surprise viewers for many, many years to come.
Chaque manuscrit est singulier, mais on trouve parfois des manuscrits vraiment sans pareil. Ainsi, le ‘Caligula Troper’ est le seul manuscrit anglais du haut moyen âge qui contient à la fois de la musique et des images. De plus, le style de l’artiste de ce manuscrit ne ressemble pas à ce qu’on trouve dans les autres manuscrits créés en Angleterre au XIe siècle.
Alison Hudson
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03 June 2017
Methods of making Insular manuscripts
The Medieval Manuscripts section at the British Library is a partner in a new project, ‘Insular Manuscripts AD 650-850: Networks of Knowledge’, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The first of three international workshops at the heart of this project was held at the British Library on 24th and 25th April 2017. These workshops will support the future study of Insular manuscripts preserved in libraries around the world, which are becoming increasingly accessible via digital facsimiles.
Workshop participants at the British Library
The London workshop focused on ‘Methods of making: palaeographical problems, codicological challenges’. Through a mixture of presentations and group discussion, the workshop considered what is known about the origin, production and circulation of Insular manuscripts from AD 650 to 850.
St Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 60, p.5: Evangelium S. Johannis. Listed as one of the Libri scottice scripti (‘books in Irish script’) in the mid 9th century catalogue of books at St Gallen, Switzerland.
Beginning with the basics, the workshop opened with an examination of what it means to describe a manuscript as Insular. The term ‘Insular’ is used to describe a range of scripts which originated in Ireland in the 6th century. The higher grade manuscripts are characterised by elaborate initial letters decorated with interlace and zoomorphic designs, and smaller initials embellished with red dots.
St Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 126, p.296: Hieronymus, Commentarii in Matthaeum. In this book an Insular scribe wrote alongside another trained in the local Alemannic script.
The use of Insular script soon spread to Anglo-Saxon England, particularly Northumbria, and was taken to continental Europe by Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries where manuscripts written in Insular scripts continued to be produced well into the ninth century. Around 500 Insular manuscripts survive and 75% of these are now in continental European libraries, including about 40% in Germany and 10% in France. Some of these are very well known and are among the greatest treasures to survive from medieval Europe, but many more are much less studied and have much to reveal about the deep cultural connections between England, Ireland and continental Europe in the early Middle Ages.
A Prayer in elegiac verse, from the Royal Prayerbook, Southern England (Mercia), late 8th or early 9th century, Royal MS 2 A XX, f. 39r
Script is not the only feature of a manuscript which can be described as Insular. The workshop also explored distinctive Insular methods of making and preparing parchment. In the early medieval period, parchment was made from the skin of calves, sheep and goats. Monasteries often used certain skins for different purposes, and established their own methods of preparing and arranging the parchment in book production. By studying these book production techniques, it is possible to reveal important details such as where a manuscript was produced and what resources a monastery could draw upon.
An example of a stillborn lamb's hide mid-way through the preparation process. The bottom half is further advanced in the process to demonstrate that the colour of individual animals did not affect the parchment they produced. Courtesy of Jiri Vnoucek.
The influence of Insular parchment production and arrangement can even be seen in manuscripts which were written in a Roman style using Italian-influenced uncial script, as in the Ceolfrith Leaves, fragments of one of three great Bibles written at Wearmouth-Jarrow in the early 8th century. The Ceolfrith Leaves used calf skin in traditional insular style, but announcing an important discovery, Jiří Vnouček revealed that the sister manuscript known as the Codex Amiatinus (now Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana MS Amiat. 1) was made entirely from goat and sheep skin, mimicking the very best Italian book production in materials as well as script. The decision to produce Codex Amiatinus on Italian-style parchment fits into the overall ‘Romanizing’ character of the codex which was created as a gift for the pope.
Page from the Ceolfrith Leaves, England (Wearmouth-Jarrow), before September 716, Add MS 45025, f. 2r
Our modern understanding of Insular manuscripts and the monasteries which produced them is often defined by luxury manuscripts such as the Ceolfrith Leaves or the Lindisfarne Gospels, but these monasteries would also have produced many more ‘everyday’, utilitarian texts, which rarely survive.
Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew from the Lindisfarne Gospels, England, c. 700, Cotton MS Nero D IV, f.18v
One example of an ‘everyday’ text which does survive, written in Insular script, is a letter sent from the Bishop of London to the Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 704 or 705. This letter is the earliest original letter written on parchment to survive from the Christian West. Original letters rarely survive because they had no legal value, and so there was less reason to preserve the original. There are clear differences between the cursive Insular minuscule script used to write this letter, and the elaborate Insular majuscule (also known as Insular half-uncial) used to write the Lindisfarne Gospels.
Letter of Wealdhere, Bishop of London to Berhtwald, Archbishop of Canterbury, London, 704/705, Cotton MS Augustus II 18
Manuscripts are inherently portable objects and were often taken away from their centre of production. Many manuscripts written in Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England, using Insular script, were exchanged between the two countries and sent to and from institutions on the Continent.
One particular manuscript discussed in the workshop was the British Library’s Irish Pocket Gospel book. This tiny manuscript (130 mm x 105 mm) was produced in Ireland in the late 8th or early 9th century, and had made its way to Anglo-Saxon England by the 10th century. In England, the decoration surrounding some illuminated initials was scraped away and repainted. It is possible to see traces of the original design.
Incipit of Luke’s Gospel, made in Ireland in the late 8th or early 9th century and reworked in England in the 10th century, Add MS 40618, f. 23
An on-going point of discussion throughout the workshop was the wide geographical reach of Insular manuscripts and the pervasive legacy of their style. The people and places that produced and used these books, and the opportunities for study created by advances in digital technology will be at the forefront of the discussions of the next two workshops to be held in 2018 and 2019.
Beginning of Book II of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, England, late 8th or early 9th century, Cotton MS Tiberius A XIV, f. 39r
The participation of the Medieval Manuscripts section in the project complements the early medieval focus of recent digitisation projects. Over 175 Anglo-Saxon manuscripts have currently been digitised, and 400 more manuscripts produced before c. 1200 will be digitised thanks to The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700–1200.
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01 June 2017
A calendar page for June 2017
Happy June, medieval enthusiasts! We’re back with the calendar pages for June from the wonderful Additional MS 36684. For more information on the manuscript, take a peek at January’s post, and for an excellent general guide to medieval calendars, please see our original calendar post from 2011.
Calendar pages for June, from a Book of Hours, St Omer or Théouranne, c. 1320, Add MS 36684, ff. 6v–7r
The true stars of June’s calendar pages are — as usual with this unique manuscript — the marginal figures. Here are a few of our favourites, zoomed in so you can see them in better detail:
A long-necked beast with human legs being fed by a bird, Add MS 36684, f. 6v
A creature with a head atop a pair of long legs, Add MS 36684, f. 6v
A drummer, Add MS 36684, f. 6v
June’s labour of the month is a peasant at the harvest, carrying a bundle on his back, perhaps entertained by the music played by the drummer in the margin next to him.
Labour of the Month, Add MS 36684, f. 6v
The zodiac symbol for June is Cancer, traditionally represented as a crab. The fellow in the niche on folio 7r is not a typical crab, but rather — in the vein of the marginal figures on the preceding folio — a hybrid creature, with 6 splayed legs, a tail and a distinctly mammalian head. It is possible the artist had never seen a crab before; or he could have been following an artistic tradition. The typical medieval version of a crab usually looked either like a lobster — as you can see in last year’s Bedford Hours June calendar page — or like our friend here in Additional 36684. For another such example, see, for instance, the crab in Egerton MS 3088, made in southern England c. 1244.
Cancer, Add MS 36684, f. 7r
Don’t forget that you can digitally view every page of Additional MS 36684 online on Digitised Manuscripts. Happy harvesting!
Taylor McCall
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30 May 2017
Alchemy: The Great Art
The mystical art of alchemy — the traditional aim of which is to transform so-called ‘base’ metals like lead into ‘noble’ ones like gold — has fascinated and enthralled experimenters, philosophers and artists for thousands of years. The history of alchemy, known in the Middle Ages as the ‘Great Art’ (Ars magna), and its continuing impact on artists and culture today, is the focus of a new exhibition at the Kulturforum in Berlin, entitled Alchemy: The Great Art. The exhibition includes hundreds of objects and artworks dating to the past three millennia, dedicated to exploring the origins and enduring allure of alchemy.
The British Library is proud to have loaned two of our own alchemical manuscripts to the exhibition. Both were created in the later Middle Ages, when alchemy was understood as a God-given gift that went beyond the superficial desire to create gold, to a much more complicated and elevated pursuit of eternal life or inner enlightenment.
The earlier of the two manuscripts loaned by the British Library is Sloane MS 2560, a 15th-century copy of a popular alchemical text known as the Donum Dei (‘The Gift of God’), probably made in Germany or Austria. Copies of the Donum Dei are usually accompanied by twelve illustrations of flasks containing red and white stones and the changes they undergo throughout the alchemical process.
Page from Donum Dei, Central Europe, 15th century, Sloane MS 2560, f. 12r
The exhibition features f. 12r from Sloane MS 2560, an image of a flask showing the purification of water from the ‘black’, meaning death and darkness. The lower half of the flask is white and labelled aqua (water), symbolising purity and holiness (associated in the text with the Virgin’s milk).
The second British Library manuscript in the exhibition is Harley MS 3469, a manuscript dated to 1582, containing the alchemical text known as the Splendor Solis, the ‘Splendour of the Sun’, a well-known and highly decorated treatise. Scholars believe that the earliest version was produced in Germany, now in the Kupferstichkabinett in the Prussian State Museum in Berlin, and dated to 1532–35. The British Library’s magnificent copy is one of 5 copies of the original, in colours and gold on parchment.
The classical alchemical allegories of the Red King and White Queen, whose union represents the conjoining of opposites to create a whole, are personified in the Splendor Solis. The text describes the alchemical death and rebirth of the King, illustrated by a sequence of 22 elaborate images, framed by highly decorated borders. The folio displayed in the exhibition is 18r, showing the mystical rebirth of a swamp man, who is being helped out of the water by an angel.
Page from the Splendor Solis, Germany, 1582, Harley MS 3469, f. 18r
Alchemy: The Great Art is on at the Berlin Kulturforum until 23 July 2017. Do let us know if you go and visit our manuscripts! And remember, you can explore both Harley MS 3469 and Sloane MS 2540 on the British Library’s websites.
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28 May 2017
Guess whose handwriting
A major part of the manuscript curator's job involves analysing the age of handwriting and, if possible, identifying its scribe. (Handwriting analysis, along with our love of filter coffee, is only one of the ways in which the British Library's curators resemble the hardbitten detectives from 1950s crime novels.) It is rare to be able to identify the name of a scribe, and even rarer that they are a well-known historical figure: it does sometimes happen, however, that surviving manuscripts allow us an insight into famous people's writing, book collecting and annotating habits. For this week's competition, therefore, can you guess who is the serial scribbler in the margins of these manuscript? Hint: don't let the promises of eternal love fool you!
If you'd like to check if you have got the correct answer, just click on the links below. The annotator is listed in the 'Provenance' section of each manuscript. Alternatively, you can wait until we update this post with the answer.
Detail of an annotation, from Royal MS 2 A XVI, f. 59r
One of the volumes in which this person's writing appears in the margins is a Psalter. Their writing appears throughout the volume, commenting on the contents of Psalms and matters of faith.
Page from a Psalter, England (London), c. 1540–41, Royal MS 2 A XVI, f. 59r
Their writing also appears in the margins of this prayerbook. This time, however, they were not focusing on their devotions but composing a love letter. Writing to the prayerbook's owner, they said, 'If you remember my love in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours. [Name redacted] forever' ('Si silon mon affection la sufvenance sera en voz prieres ne seray gers oblie car vostre suis [name redacted] a jammays.')
Later annotations in a Book of Hours which had been made c. 1500, Kings MS 9, f. 231v
____________
Answer:
...
...
...
...
...
Well done to everyone who guessed Henry VIII! He was indeed the annotator who made notes in the Psalter (known as the Psalter of Henry VIII) and who penned love letters in the margin of Anne Boleyn's prayerbook. One of the Psalter's opening images portrays the king holding a book. Elsewhere in the Psalter, Henry and his fool appear, with Henry being depicted as King David.
Miniature of Henry VIII reading, from the Psalter of Henry VIII, Royal MS 2 A XVI, England (London), c. 1540–41, Royal MS 2 A XVI, f. 3r
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23 May 2017
Frying pans, forks and fever: Medieval book curses
Have you ever lost, forgotten to return or accidentally damaged a library book? If so, you may have been asked to pay a fee to replace or repair the book — but you still got away easy! During the Middle Ages, the fate of both your body and soul could have been at serious risk. Medieval librarians often added curses to their books upon those who did not return or damaged borrowed books, or stole them from their libraries. These curses usually invoked God, suggesting that these punishments would be made effective with divine authority.
The sort of fate medieval librarians wished on book thieves: detail of a miniature illustrating Gregory's Homily 40, of a man with two demons in Hell, from Les Omelies Saint Grégoire pape, Low Countries (Bruges), 2nd half of the 15th century, Royal MS 15 D V, f. 107v
Some book curses guaranteed an immediate, physical punishment. The British Library has recently digitised a Middle Dutch natural encyclopaedia and bestiary (Add MS 11390) that contains a ‘dear oath’ (‘dieren eet’) below an image of a cross, with which the borrower had to swear that he or she would return the book or die. At least one borrower, a woman who identified herself as a midwife (‘Abstetrix heifmoeder’), dared to subscribe to this oath.
The ‘dear (or dire) oath’ in Jacob van Maerlant’s The Flower of Nature (Der Nature Bloeme), Western Netherlands, 1st quarter of the 14th century, Add MS 11390, f. 94v
A similar curse is found in a manuscript with a commentary on the Harmony of the Gospels (Royal MS 4 E II) from Evesham Abbey. A colophon that praises the scribe’s work — and requests high-quality wine (‘vini nobilis haustum’) for him as a reward — ends with a curse in which the book’s thief is wished a ‘death from evil things: may the thief of this book die’ (Morteque malorum: raptor libri moriatur).
A colophon in which the scribe curses a book’s thief to death, from William of Nottingham’s Commentary on the Harmony of the Gospels, Evesham, c. 1381, Royal MS 4 E II, f. 471r
Other curses give us an insight into how some librarians imagined that the book thieves should die. A quickly scribbled curse in a liturgical manuscript (Add MS 30506) from the church of St Aldate in Gloucester states, ‘This book is of St Aldate: he that takes this book shall be hauled by the neck’ (f. 170r: ‘Thys boke ys sancht audatys; he þat stelys þe boke shall be haulynth by þe neck’). An even more harmful curse was issued by the Premonstratensian abbey of St Mary and St Nicholas in Arnstein. The so-called Arnstein Bible (Harley MS 2798), as noted by Marc Drogin (Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses), damned a book thief to a bloody death by torture, sickness and execution:
A book of [the Abbey of] SS Mary and Nicholas of Arnstein: If anyone steals it: may he die [the death], may he be roasted in a frying pan, may the falling sickness [i.e. epilepsy] and fever attack him, and may he be rotated [on the breaking wheel] and hanged. Amen.
(Liber sancte Marie sancti que Nycolai in Arrinstein Quem si quis abstulerit Morte moriatur in sartagine coquatur caducus morbus instet eum et febres · et rotatur et suspendatur Amen)
One of the most harmful book curses written in the Middle Ages? From the Arnstein Bible, W. Germany (Arnstein), c. 1172 Harley MS 2798, f. 235v
Other physical punishments were given explicit religious overtones, such as those that the Benedictine monastery of St Albans wished upon anyone who damaged one manuscript (Royal MS 8 G X) they loaned to monks studying at Gloucester College in Oxford:
A curse that identifies a book thief with Judas Iscariot, from ‘Doctrinale Antiquitatum Ecclesie Ihesu Christi contra blasfemios Wycleuistas’, mid-15th century, Royal MS 8 G X, f. 1v
This book is given in use to the brothers of Oxford by John Wethamstede, father of the flock of the proto-martyr of the English [St Alban]; if anyone secretly tears this inscription or removes it, may he feel Judas’s noose [around his neck] or forks [presumably handled by demons!].
(Fratribus Oxonie datur in munus liber iste Per \Johannem Whethamstede/patrem pecorum prothomartiris Angligenarum. Quem si quis raptat · raptim titulum ue[l] retractet uel Iude laqueum · uel furcas sensiat Amen.)
Devils wielding implements which may include a fork, from Breviari d'Amor, Southern France (Toulouse?), 1st quarter of the 14th century, Royal MS 19 C I, f. 185v
Gruesome as these punishments seem, to most medieval readers the worst curses were those that put the eternal fate of their souls at risk rather than their bodily health. A spiritual condemnation was often expressed with the Greek ‘Anathema’, sometimes followed by the Aramaic formula ‘Maranatha’ (‘Come, Lord!’). Both terms were used in a curse that was added to a manuscript with spiritual letters and sermons (Royal MS 8 F XVII) from Lesnes Abbey:
This book belongs to the church of Thomas the Martyr of Lesnes. Anyone who removes it or does damage to it: if the same person does not repay the church sufficiently, may he be cursed [Anathema Maranatha]. Let it be done. Let it be done. Amen
(Hic liber est ecclessiae beati Thome martyris de Liesnes. Quem qui ei abstulerit . aut illi super eo fraudem fecerit . nisi eidem ecclesie plene satisfecerit ; anathema sit maranatha. fiat. fiat. Amen.)
A book curse with the Anathema-Maranatha formula, from a collection of Latin sermons and letters, 13th century, Royal MS 8 F XVII, f. 1r
A monk from Rochester Abbey emphasised the severity of the ‘Anathema’ by claiming that his book’s thief would be condemned by the entire religious community at Rochester Cathedral:
A volume of Aristotle’s Physics from the monastery of Rochester by John, prior of Rochester: whosoever steals this book from the monastery, conceals it, or erases this inscription, he incurs the curse of ‘Anathema’ for one long year from the Priory and the entire community of the Chapter of Rochester.
Volumen de naturalibus · aristotelis · de Claustro Roffensis · Per Johannem Priorem Roffensis Hunc librum quicumque alienauerit ab hoc cla[u]stro · alienatum celauerit · uel hunc titulum in fraudem deleuerit ; dampnacionem incurrit Anathematis lati singulis annis a Priore et totu cetu capituli Roffensis.
A year-long curse from the monastery of Rochester: Royal MS 12 G II, f. 1v
Other scribes gave weight to their curses by attributing them directly to God-Christ. The aforementioned liturgical manuscript from the church of St Aldate, for example, contains another book curse, written in Middle English, purportedly originating from Christ himself:
This book belongs to the church of St Aldate
This book is one and Christ’s curse is another
He that takes the one takes the other Amen.
(ISTE LIBER PERTINET AD SANCTUM ALDATUM
Thys boke ys one and chryst curse ys Anoþer
he þat take þe one take þe oþer Amen.)
Christ’s book curse: Add MS 30506, f. 169r
Just like physical punishments, scribes could also specify the particular spiritual punishments they had in mind for their books’ thieves. One example comes from a manuscript from St Albans Abbey whereby the thief was excommunicated. The latter could have learned about what this entailed simply by consulting the stolen book, since the topic of excommunication was discussed in its contents, the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX.
This book belongs to the monastery of St Albans, anyone who steals it from the said monastery should know that he will incur the punishment of excommunication.
(Hic est liber monasteri sancti Albani quem qui a dicto monasterio alienauerit sentenciam excommunicacionis se nouerit incursurum)
A book curse excommunicating a book thief, from a copy of Gregory’s Decretals, St Albans, mid-13th century, Royal MS 10 C XIII, f. 1r
Another monk from Rochester specified that the thief’s name would be deleted from the ‘Book of Life’. According to biblical sources, this records the names of those to be saved at the Last Judgement; stealing the manuscript would be turned into a one-way ticket to hell:
This book of the Distinctiones belongs to the monastery of Rochester: anyone who takes it from there, hides or keeps it, or damages or erases this inscription, or makes or causes it to be deleted, may his name be deleted from the Book of Life.
(Liber distinccionum de claustro Roffensis quem qui inde alienauerit · alienatum celauerit aut retinuerit · uel hunc titulum in fraudem deleueritur · deleri ue[l] fecerit aut procurauerit · deleatur nomen eius de libro uite · Amen ·)
A book curse for deleting a book thief’s name from the Book of Life, from the Distinctiones, 13th century, Royal MS 10 A XVI, f. 2r
The use of these book curses seemingly sits at odds with the monastic lifestyle. Medieval monks dedicated their lives to imitating Christ, including his virtues of patience, forgiveness and love for mankind. The fact that monks used these curses testifies to the immense material and spiritual value that they attributed to their libraries: their books had not only been extremely costly and labour-intensive to produce, but often they also contained the only copies of a particular work to which their communities had access. The loss of a book did not only mean a material loss, but it could have permanently deprived a religious community of a work of knowledge that was essential for preserving or developing its religious identity. This may explain why some religious communities went to great lengths to protect their books. Book curses were a radical but effective way of preserving their book collections.
Clarck Drieshen
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19 May 2017
King Arthur: not just a man of the sword?
Warning: this blogpost contains spoilers for all versions of the King Arthur Legend, medieval and modern
A popular hero of our blog, King Arthur, is once again in the news with this week's UK release of Guy Ritchie’s new film, King Arthur, Legend of the Sword. In yet another variation on the legend, the young Arthur in the film is a gangster in the back streets of Londinium, who is unaware of his royal lineage until he draws the sword Excalibur from the stone. He fights to conquer his inner demons, avenge his parents’ murder by defeating the tyrant Vortigern and win back his rightful crown. This all sounds rather violent, and violence is certainly a key element in the Arthurian tales. But there is so much more to the various legends of our favourite hero-king.
Of course, medieval stories about Arthur featured lots of fighting. Medieval manuscripts often depicted Arthur battling demons and giants, as well as heathen kings.
Arthur and the black beast, from L'estoire de Merlin, Northern France (Saint-Omer or Tournai), c. 1316, Add MS 10292, f. 209v
Drawing of King Arthur finding a giant roasting a pig, from Wace, Roman de Brut, England, c. 1325–1350, Egerton MS 3028, f. 49r
Miniature of King Arthur and three knights slaying the heathen kings England, from The Fall of Princes, South-East England (?Bury St Edmunds), Harley MS 1766, f. 218r
Sometimes Arthur and his followers fought to rescue a maiden.
A miniature of Arthur slaying the 'swine-eating' Spanish giant on the island of Mont St Michel, and rescuing Helena, niece of Hoel of Brittany, from Anciennes et nouvelles chroniques d'Angleterre, volume 1, Royal MS 15 E IV f. 156r
And sometimes they acted in self-defence.
King Arthur and knights are attacked, from Guiron le Courtois, Southern Italy, (Naples?), between 1352 and 1362, Add MS 12228, f. 126v
But often it seems he and his knights just enjoyed a good battle.
A battle, from La Queste del Saint Graal, Northern France (Saint-Omer or Tournai?), 1st quarter of the 14th century, Royal MS 14 E III, f. 125r
There are, however, differences between the modern film and common medieval stories about Arthur. Although the film focuses on Arthur’s youth, it does not include a character called 'Merlin', in contrast to medieval legends about Arthur's early life.
Merlin at Arthur's baptism, from Le Livre de Merlin, Northern France (Arras), 1310, Add MS 38117, f. 66r
This version of the sword in the stone incident is a bit different, too. For a start, it does not feature David Beckham!
Arthur removes the sword from the stone and is blessed by Archbishop Brice, from Le Livre de Merlin, France, N. (Arras), 1310, Add MS 38117, f. 73v
And in this version of the story, it is Merlin and two dragons who confront Vortigern, not Arthur.
Detail of Merlin showing Vortigern two dragons, in L'estoire de Merlin, France, N. (Saint-Omer or Tournai), c. 1316, Add MS 10292, f. 84v
There are many more stories about Arthur, and not all the incidents emphasize violence. This manuscript of the Chronicles of England features an image of Arthur’s coronation.
The coronation of King Arthur, from the Anciennes et nouvelles chroniques d'Angleterre, Netherlands, S. (Bruges); after 1471, before 1483, Royal MS 15 E IV, f. 141v
Once crowned, King Arthur is busy with many varied activities according to the legend, not all of them involving bloody battles.
King Arthur blowing a horn while hunting with Urien and Accalon, from the Suite de Merlin, Add MS 38117, f. 193r
Arthur dictating to a scribe, from Le Morte Artu, Northern France (Saint-Omer or Tournai?), Royal MS 14 E III, f. 140r
Arthur on the wheel of fortune, from Le Mort Artu, France, N. (Saint-Omer or Tournai), c. 1316, Add MS 10294, f. 89r
He seems to end up in prison quite often, although there tends to be a damsel to look after him on these occasions.
Arthur in prison, from Lancelot du Lac, France, N. (Saint-Omer or Tournai), c. 1316, Add MS 10293, f. 144v
And he also enjoys many a great banquet with Lancelot, Guinevere and his courtiers.
Arthur and Guinevere at a banquet, while Lancelot kneels before them, requesting permission to leave the court, La Queste del Saint Graal, Northern France (Saint-Omer or Tournai?), Royal MS 14 E III, f. 89r
Arthur engaged in conversation with his barons, while Lancelot and Guinevere are whispering together, and on the right, the king and queen presiding over a banquet, from Lancelot du Lac, Southern England (Pleshey Castle), c. 1360–1380, Royal MS 20 D IV, f. 1r
Finally (SPOILER ALERT), in medieval versions there is no happy ending. Arthur is killed at the Battle of Salisbury Plain and his noble vision of the Round Table is destroyed.
The death of Arthur, from Boccaccio, Des Cas des nobles hommes et femmes, Low Countries (Bruges), c. 1479–c.1480; Royal MS 14 E V, f. 439v
But the legend lives on …. on the British Library website. You can find a virtual exhibition of some of our Arthurian manuscripts here.
Of our large collection of Arthurian manuscripts, some are fully digitised online on Digitised Manuscripts:
Add MS 5474: Le Roman de Tristan en prose
Add MS 10292/Add MS 10293/Add MS 10294: The entire Prose Lancelot-Grail cycle
Add MS 12228: Guiron le Courtois
Add MS 23929: Le Roman de Tristan en prose
Add MS 23930: Guiron le Courtois
Add MS 32125: Wace, Roman de Brut; the Anglo-Norman Description of England; Estoire del Saint Graal; Robert de Boron, prose Merlin
Add MS 38117: Robert de Boron, Joseph d'Arimathie, Le Livre de Merlin, Suite de Merlin ('the Huth Manuscript')
Add MS 59678: Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur
Egerton MS 3028: Wace, Roman de Brut and other texts
Harley MS 4419: Lancelot du Lac
Lansdowne MS 757: Lancelot-Grail
Royal MS 14 E III: Estoire del Saint Graal, La Queste del Saint Graal, Morte Artu
Royal MS 20 A II: Peter of Langtoft's Chronicle, the Lament of Edward II, fragments of Arthurian romances
Royal MS 20 D IV: Lancelot du Lac
Prose Brut Chonicles
Royal MS 12 C XII: Prose Brut Chronicle and other texts
Royal MS 20 A III: Prose Brut Chronicle and other texts
Prophecies of Merlin
Add MS 25014: An excerpt from the prologue of the Prophecies of Merlin and other texts
Add MS 25434: Prophecies of Merlin
Arundel MS 66: Astrological compilation including Prophecies of Merlin
Harley MS 1629: Prophecies of Merlin
Harley MS 3908: Prophecies of Merlin and other texts
And others are partially digitised in the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, with downloadable and searchable images, including:
Chantry Westwell
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01 May 2017
A Calendar Page for May 2017
Spring has well and truly sprung — let’s celebrate with a look at the calendar pages for May in everyone’s favourite Additional MS 36684! For more information on the manuscript, take a peek at January’s post, and for an excellent general guide to medieval calendars, please see our original calendar post from 2011.
Calendar pages for May, from a Book of Hours, St Omer or Théouranne, c. 1320, Add MS 36684, ff. 5v–6r
While May doesn’t have quite as many frolicking nude figures as April, there is still plenty of fun going on. The labour of the month showcases the traditional aristocratic pastime of falconry (or hawking), with a gentleman astride his horse, a falcon perched on his right hand. A popular sport for the moneyed upper classes and royalty, falconry entailed using trained birds of prey to hunt small animals, and remained an elite status symbol for centuries.
Falconry, Add MS 36684, f. 5v
The marginal figures next to the falconer are the usual mash-up of animal and human hybrids, save for the man labouring at the bottom of the margin. As the page has been cut down some point after the manuscript was made, we can only guess what activity he might be up to.
Detail of marginalia, Add MS 36684, f. 5v
The zodiac symbol for May is Gemini, represented by a pair of human twins. In Additional MS 36684, the twins are — as was typical — partially nude, their lower halves modestly covered by a large red shield marked by a white bird (perhaps a pelican?). They embrace congenially — everyone is in a good mood in May, when the weather is nice!
Gemini, Add MS 36684, f. 6r
Don’t forget that you can digitally flip through all of Additional MS 36684 online on Digitised Manuscripts. See you back here on 1 June for more fun!
Taylor McCall
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