Medieval manuscripts blog: Medieval

12 October 2018

Harry Potter: A History of Magic at the New York Historical Society

Many of you will remember the British Library’s blockbuster exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, which explored the history, mythology and folklore behind the Harry Potter stories. Our North American readers may be excited to know that, like the self-renewing phoenix on the poster, the exhibition has been born again in New York. The new exhibition is now open at the New-York Historical Society, featuring rare books and manuscripts on loan from the British Library.

Here’s a selection of magical manuscripts that you can see in the show. All of these should be on the reading list of any aspiring student of witchcraft and wizardry.

An alchemist: Harley MS 3469, f. 4r

Harry Potter fans will know that the plot of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, centres on the use of alchemy. This beautifully illustrated manuscript, known as Splendor Solis (Splendour of the Sun), was made in Germany in 1582. This image shows an alchemist holding a flask filled with a golden liquid. A scroll fluttering from the flask bears the mystical inscription, ‘Eamus quesitum quatuor elementorum naturas’ (Let us ask the four elements of nature), which reflects the Classical idea that all earthly substances are made up of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Alchemists attempted to imitate the creative processes of nature to transform matter and even to restore life.

A centaur with the plant centaury: Harley MS 5294, f. 22r

Students at Hogwarts School take classes in Herbology to learn about which plants are most useful for potions and medicine. The manuscript shown above is a 12th-century herbal, describing different kinds of plants and their medicinal properties. This page describes the plant centauria minor, the lesser centaury, named after the wise centaur Chiron from Greek mythology. In the picture, Chiron hands some centaury plants to his pupil and foster son Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. The inscription below the snake explains that, ground to a powder or mixed in wine, centaury is a potent remedy against snake bites.

Harvesting a mandrake: Harley MS 3736, f. 59r

One of the most notorious plants listed in medieval herbals was the mandrake. The plant’s roots often resemble miniature humans, which were said to shriek when they were pulled out of the ground. According to ancient and medieval folklore, mandrakes could cure headaches, earaches, gout and insanity, but anyone who heard the mandrake’s scream would die. To harvest the mandrake without succumbing to its fatal shrieking, some herbals recommended a handy trick, as illustrated in this herbal made in the late 15th or early 16th century. You can read more about this process in our blogpost How to harvest a mandrake.

A phoenix rising from the ashes: Harley MS 4751, f. 45r

In the Harry Potter universe, witches and wizards learn about magical creatures by consulting the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. Medieval people learned about marvellous creatures by reading a bestiary, or book of beasts. This page in a 13th-century English bestiary describes and illustrates the phoenix. The text explains that this remarkable bird has the ability to resurrect itself in old age. It creates its own funeral pyre from branches and plants, then fans the flames with its own wings until it is consumed by the fire. After the ninth day, the phoenix rises again from the ashes.

The constellation Canis Major: Cotton MS Tiberius C I, f. 28r

The names of many characters in the Harry Potter books, such as Sirius Black and Draco Malfoy, were inspired by stars in the night sky. Medieval people also placed great importance on the stars, which they used for navigation, calculating dates and predicting the future. This 12th-century English manuscript contains a copy of Cicero’s Aratea, a Roman book about the stars. The page above shows the constellation Canis Major (the Greater Dog), in which is found Sirius, the 'dog star', the brightest star in the night sky.

The writing inside the dog’s body gives further information about the constellation, including its origin story from ancient Greek mythology. According to the tale, there was once a hound so swift that no prey could escape it, and also a fox so swift that it could never be caught. When the huntsman Cephalus sent the hound to catch the fox, it created such a paradox that the god Zeus had to turn them both to stone. Zeus then placed the hound in the sky where it became Canis Major.

To learn more about these manuscripts, please visit the Harry Potter exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, from 5 October 2018 until 27 January 2019. All the manuscripts described above are also featured on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site. There are lots of other ways to learn more about Harry Potter: A History of Magic, including the exhibition book, television documentary and our own pages hosted by Google Arts and Culture.

Eleanor Jackson

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Exhibitions , Harry Potter , Illuminated manuscripts , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 1)

09 October 2018

Jim Carter meets Bede

The second series of the Sky Arts documentary Treasures of the British Library concludes tonight with an episode following Jim Carter, the actor, as he explores items in the British Library’s collections. Since childhood, Jim has been fascinated by the early history of the British Isles, and particularly the history of Roman Britain. Jim was eager to discover what Julius Caesar found when he landed in Britain, and how this period of Roman rule left its mark on the British landscape.

Jim Carter of Downton Abbey fame at the British Library

A fascinating resource for the history of Roman Britain is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed by the Anglo-Saxon monk Bede in 731. Although Bede was a scholar with many strings to his bow, the Ecclesiastical History is undoubtedly his most famous work, earning him the unofficial title the ‘Father of English History’. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History is written in five books, beginning with an account of Roman Britain and ending with a summary of events in Bede’s own day.

Late 12th-century image of a scribe, possibly representing Bede himself, from the Lives of St Cuthbert, Durham, 4th quarter of the 12th century: Yates Thompson MS 26, f. 2r

During his visit to the British Library, Jim was able to view one of the earliest surviving copies of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. This manuscript was copied in the first half of the 9th century in a southern English scriptorium, most likely Canterbury. The manuscript features a distinct style of insular interlace decoration, cleverly interwoven with the heads of small beasts, which is used to write the first letter of each of the five books in Bede’s narrative. This wonderfully decorated letter ‘B’ begins the opening passage of the whole text, Brittania Oceani insula ('Britain, an island of the Ocean').

The beginning of Book I of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History: Cotton MS Tiberius C II, f. 5v

The first book of the Ecclesiastical History begins with the arrival of Julius Caesar, and charts the successes and failures of the Roman campaigns in Britain. Bede vividly described the advancement of Caesar’s cavalry as they marched north. Upon reaching the River Thames, they encountered the sharp, wooden defensive stakes which the native Britons had laid into the riverbank. According to Bede, traces of these stakes were still visible in his own day, and he compared them to the thickness of a man’s thigh.

Bede also described the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. Bede stated that the Wall was 8 feet wide and 12 feet high, and marvelled that it, too, was still standing in his own day. Bede’s knowledge may have been drawn from first-hand observation, since he was writing from his monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow, located a few miles from the Wall itself. The two Roman walls in the north of Britain would later be depicted in the map of Britain produced by Matthew Paris in the 13th century.

Matthew Paris’ map of Britain: Cotton MS Claudius D VI/1, f. 12v

When speaking of his visit to the British Library, Jim was amazed by what he had learned from the venerable Bede. This lavishly decorated copy of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History will be on display in the Library's forthcoming Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition. Visitors may be able to discover, just as Jim did, what Bede and this splendid manuscript can reveal about the early history of Britain. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition runs from 19 October 2018 to 19 February 2019.

Becky Lawton

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Anglo-Saxons , Exhibitions , Latin , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 1)

06 October 2018

A female doctor

A few months ago, when it was announced that Jodie Whitaker would be the new ‘Doctor Who’, we tweeted an image of a 1000-year-old school-book that anticipated this situation. It included a word for a female doctor: ‘doctrix’.

Detail of ‘Doctrix’, from a copy of Priscian’s Grammar, possibly made at Abingdon, 11th century: Add MS 32246, f. 11r

The main text of this manuscript contains excerpts from a Latin grammar by the North African scholar Priscian (fl. c. 500). This was one of the standard textbooks for teaching Latin in the Middle Ages. The passage that mentions ‘doctrix’ shows how to make the feminine equivalent of masculine words. For example, rex (king) becomes regina (queen), leo (lion) becomes leona (lioness). A different ending is needed for a female doctor (teacher) or medicus (medical doctor), because doctrina means teaching and medicina means medicine. And so a female doctor is a doctrix.

Passage on making masculine nouns feminine: Add MS 32246, f. 11r

This school-book was made around AD 1000. It belonged to the monastery at Abingdon, which was a major intellectual centre. Around the edges of its pages, a student or teacher has added in vocabulary lists and even a schoolroom exercise: a dialogue designed to help young students practice their Latin.

Priscian’s Grammar was very influential in early England, and it was used by the writer Ælfric to create an English-Latin textbook and glossary. Ælfric was the most prolific Old English writer and extremely influential. You can learn more about him in the British Library's upcoming Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition. Ælfric's Grammar and Glossary is the earliest surviving textbook written in English. It includes a list of feminine forms of masculine nouns:

Modern English	Latin (m)	Latin (f)	Old English (m)	Old English (f)
Teacher	Doctor	Doctrix	Lareow	—
Victorious ruler	Victor rex	Victrix regina	Sigefaesta cyning	Sigefaeste cwen
Reader	Lector	Lectrix	Raedere	Raedestre
Singer	Cantor	Cantrix	Sangere	Sangestre

How to make masculine nouns feminine, from Ælfric’s Grammar, England, late 11th century: Cotton MS Faustina A X, f. 17v

Ælfric was hardly a feminist: he probably included all these female equivalents just to show off his Latin. However, in his other works he did write about female saints who instructed or taught, such as St Cecilia. Female leaders and teachers were prominent figures in Old English epic poetry as well: hopefully the new Doctor will get to meet some of them on her new adventures.

This 1000-year-old school-book has had its own adventures. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, it seems to have been sold, with part of the manuscript ending up in the possession of Jan Moretus, a printer in Antwerp. Moretus worked for his father-in-law, Christoffel Plantin, and their manuscript collections show what sorts of script they were interested in, as they commissioned new typefaces from the French designer Robert Granjon. One of these typefaces — which resembles the Caroline-style script of 11th-century English manuscripts — became the basis for the Plantin typeface. A modified version, known as Times New Roman, was used by the Times of London from the 1930s. Times New Roman was then turned into a computer font, and it was the default font in many Microsoft programmes until 2007.

The monks of Abingdon would probably would have recognized this font. They might have been astonished by the concept of computers and televisions but, to judge by this school-book, they would not have been surprised by the idea that a Doctor could be a woman.

Alison Hudson

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 8:04 PM in Anglo-Saxons , English , Exhibitions , Latin , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 1)

02 October 2018

The Harley Bible moralisée on display in New York

During the reigns of Louis VIII (1223–1226), his formidable wife Blanche of Castile (d. 1252) and their son, Louis IX (1226–1270), Paris was the artistic centre of Europe. Among the most spectacular artistic creations of their reigns were moralized picture Bibles known as Bibles moralisées. Each contains literally thousands of richly painted and gilded images, designed (in the words of Professor John Lowden) to ‘create an impression of unsurpassed magnificence’.

The One seated on the throne, in Revelation 4:6–5:8: Harley 1527, f. 120v

These books are known as moralized Bibles because biblical scenes in roundels are paired with their symbolic or theological interpretation or ‘moralizations’ below, with a short biblical extract or explanatory moralisation added next to each picture. Each was made as a royal commission for a member of the French royal family or a close relative.

Two of the manuscripts include an image of a king and queen, or a king, as well as an artist at work on a book with roundels like those in the Bibles moralisées. It has been suggested that the first two copies, now both in Vienna, were made for Blanche and Louis’s own use (one in French, and the second latinized from French).

(i) Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 1179

(ii) Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 2554

The other two early copies, one now split between Oxford, Paris and the Harley collection at the British Library, and its twin, now in Toledo (with a small portion in New York), are even more ambitious undertakings. They were perhaps commissioned by Blanche as wedding presents for her son, Louis IX, and his bride Margaret of Provence (1221–1295) on their marriage in 1234.

(iii) Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 270B + Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11560 + London, British Library Harley MS 1527

(iv) Toledo, Tesoro del Catedral + New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.240

The book of Seven Seals with the four living creatures and the twenty-four Elders with moralisations, in Revelation 4:6–5:8: Harley 1527, f. 121r

These moralized Bibles are indeed extraordinary creations in every way. Their production in a workshop in Paris must have been a massive and extremely expensive undertaking, as the books appear to have been made in rapid succession, within a period of about ten years, from around 1225 to 1235. Each illustrated page has eight roundels, and faces another page with the same layout, so that the viewer is confronted with sixteen images on each illustrated opening. The astonishing complexity of the images, their moralisations and the accompanying texts suggests that the royal recipients of the Bibles moralisées would have viewed and/or read them in the company of their personal chaplains or priests.

The Wise and Foolish Virgins: Harley MS 1527, f. 46r

One volume of the British Library's Harley Bible moralisée is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, as part of the Armenia! exhibition, which opened on 22 September. The exhibition is the first to examine the remarkable artistic contribution of the Armenians in a global context.

An important aspect of the exhibition is the exploration of the connections between the arts of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia and the court of Louis IX. The Franciscan friar William of Rubruck (Willem van Ruysbroeck) (c. 1210–c. 1270) took illuminated manuscripts with him on his mission to the Mongols in 1253, including a Bible given to him by Louis IX and a Psalter given by Queen Margaret of Provence (d. 1295). It may be that these manuscripts influenced the style and compositions of one of the most accomplished of Armenian painters, T‘oros Roslin (active 1256–1268).

To see the Harley manuscript in New York, visit the Armenia! Exhibition, open until 13 January 2019. To view it online, please visit the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site. We also discussed this manuscript in a previous blogpost.

Kathleen Doyle

A calendar page for October 2018

It's October! That means it is only 19 days until the British Library's Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition opens. Visitors will see a treasure trove of manuscripts, from spectacular art to early examples of English literature. Book your tickets now!

You’ll also be able to see this calendar, made in England over 1000 years ago. Of course, the makers of this manuscript did not anticipate that — a millennium later — the opening of an exhibition in London would be important, and so they didn’t mention ‘exhibition viewing’ as the ultimate October activity. Instead, hawking and falconry are depicted on the page for October.

A calendar page for October, made in England in the mid-11th century: Cotton MS Julius A VI, f. 7v

Falconry was a popular pastime throughout the Middle Ages, and has been illustrated in most of the previous calendars featured on this blog, albeit at different months. 11th-century English noblemen who enjoyed hawking may have included King Harold II, who was depicted with a hawk on the Bayeux Tapestry. After the Norman Conquest, Earl Hugh of Chester may have arranged his entire property portfolio around hawking: records of his lands in Domesday Book include an above-average number of hawks and deer parks. (Did we mention that Domesday Book will also be on display in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition?)

Detail of a man with a bird, Cotton MS Julius A VI, f. 7v

A striking feature of the hawking scene in Cotton MS Julius A VI is how recognisable the birds are to a modern eye. While the artist(s) of this calendar depicted plants and trees in a highly stylized manner, the birds in these images look very similar to ducks and cranes today. This parallels are even clearer in the colourful image of the same scene found in another illustrated 11th-century calendar, Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1.

Detail of men hawking on foot and on horseback, from a calendar in a scientific miscellany from 11th-century England: Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1, f. 7v

The rest of the calendar contains the usual astronomical, astrological and time-keeping information. Libra is portrayed as a man wearing a cloak and holding scales in a roundel at the top of the page. There is only one feast-day marked out with a gold cross: the feast of St Simon and St Jude on 28 October. Today these saints are considered to be the patrons of lost causes.

Alfred mentioned in the calendar (first line in the image) that was added to a Psalter in England in the early 10th century: Cotton MS Galba A XVIII, f. 12v

There is someone missing from this calendar and its poem that describes every day of the year. The earliest surviving manuscript of this poem commemorates the death of King Alfred of Wessex (871–899) on 26 October. The calendar in Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1, which was made in the 11th century, also commemorates Alfred. But the mid-11th century Julius Work Calendar does not, nor does it commemorate the death of Alfred’s wife, Ealhswith, on December 5.

There are several possible explanations for this omission. First, the scribe of this calendar could have been copying an earlier version of the poem, perhaps composed before Alfred and Ealhswith died. Alternatively, Alfred and Ealhswith could have been replaced in later versions of the poem. While Alfred the Great is arguably the best known Anglo-Saxon king today, he was not necessarily so well remembered in the centuries after his death. In the mid-11th century, his grandson Æthelstan and his great-grandson Edgar were the kings who were fondly remembered in speeches and chronicles. Moreover, these calendars were probably made at monasteries, and specific monasteries took different views of Alfred. While Alfred and his wife were well-remembered in the history of the New Minster, Winchester (where they were buried), the monks of Abingdon in Oxfordshire believed that he had stolen from them.

Instead of Alfred, on 26 October this calendar commemorates the deaths of Maximian and St Amand (Amandus). Amand (d. 675) was a bishop who founded monasteries in Ghent and elsewhere in Flanders, and these churches had close links to English houses in the 10th and 11th centuries. Amand is also remembered today as the patron saint of beer, brewers and bartenders.

To learn more about all these people — and to see some of the books associated with Alfred, Ealhswith and Æthelstan — please come to the British Library’s Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition between 19 October and 19 February. It promises to be a once-in-1302-years experience.

Alison Hudson

Part of the Polonsky Digitisation Project

Supported by

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Anglo-Saxons , Calendars , Illuminated manuscripts , Latin , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 0)

20 September 2018

The Book of Durrow to be displayed at the British Library

It is now less than one month until the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition opens at the British Library on 19 October. Today, we are delighted to announce that the Book of Durrow will be on display in the exhibition, on loan from the Library of Trinity College Dublin. This manuscript, dated to the late 7th or turn of the 8th century, is believed to be the earliest fully decorated gospel-book to survive from Ireland or Britain.

The carpet page and opening of the Gospel of Mark, in the Book of Durrow (Trinity College Library, Dublin, MS 57, ff. 85v–86r). © The Board of Trinity College, Dublin.

The date and origin of the manuscript have long been debated. Strong parallels with early Anglo-Saxon metalwork, including objects from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, encouraged former attributions to Northumbria. A sword pommel from the Staffordshire Hoard, discovered in 2009, also closely resembles some aspects of the decoration in the Book of Durrow and will be on display in the exhibition. However these similarities seem to reflect the dispersal and durability of Anglo-Saxon metalwork, and the strong cultural and artistic connections between Ireland and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Book of Durrow is now generally considered to have been produced in the monastery of Durrow, Co. Offaly, or to have arrived there from Iona.

Our forthcoming exhibition will be the first opportunity to see the Book of Durrow in Britain since it was displayed at the Royal Academy in the ‘Treasures of Trinity College Dublin’ exhibition in 1961. The only loan to that exhibition was the Lindisfarne Gospels. Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms will be the first occasion on which the two manuscripts have been exhibited together for nearly 60 years. As we announced in November last year, the exhibition will also include Codex Amiatinus, which was made in Northumbria in the early 8th century and is returning to Britain for the first time since it was taken to Italy in 716.

The opening of the Gospel of Matthew, in the Lindisfarne Gospels (British Library Cotton MS Nero D IV, f. 27r).

The Book of Durrow contains the text of the four Gospels, adorned with spectacular decoration. Its artists drew inspiration from Ireland, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Pictland and as far away as the Mediterranean. Its designs are outstanding for their precise geometry, harmonious compositions and bold style of drawing. One of the most striking features of the manuscript is its ‘carpet pages’, so-called because they are completely covered with complex geometric designs. Putting abstract ornament centre stage was new to manuscript illumination, and went on to play an important role in Anglo-Saxon gospel-books such as the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The carpet page preceding the Gospel of John, in the Book of Durrow (Trinity College Library, Dublin, MS 57, f. 192v). © The Board of Trinity College, Dublin.

Other important elements of the manuscript’s artwork are the images of the evangelist symbols, the creatures that symbolise the gospel-writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Early Christian writers assigned the evangelists the symbols of the man, the lion, the ox/calf and the eagle based on the visions of Ezekiel and John the Evangelist in the Bible. The Book of Durrow is the first surviving manuscript in which each Gospel opens with a picture of the evangelist symbol instead of a portrait of the human evangelist. It is also the first surviving instance of a ‘four-symbols page’ in a manuscript, an image of all four evangelist symbols arranged in a cross shape. The linear style and flat blocks of colour suggest that the creatures were inspired by metalwork objects.

The eagle, acting as the Evangelist symbol of St Mark, in the Book of Durrow (Trinity College Library, Dublin, MS 57, f. 84v). © The Board of Trinity College, Dublin.

The Book of Durrow is one of the most spectacular surviving works of early medieval art and we are very grateful to Trinity College Dublin for loaning this manuscript to the exhibition. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition runs from 19 October 2018 to 19 February 2019.

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Anglo-Saxons , Decoration , Exhibitions , Illuminated manuscripts , Latin , Manuscripts , Medieval | Permalink | Comments( 1)

17 September 2018

Two new charters from Ramsey Abbey

In 2017, we were delighted to receive the gift of two 12th-century charters from Ramsey Abbey, generously donated to the British Library by Abbey College, Ramsey. These two charters have been conserved and photographed, and they can now be viewed on our Digitised Manuscripts site.

The charters were presented on behalf of the Trustees of the Ramsey Foundation by Robert Heal, Gordon Mather and a group of students from Ramsey Abbey College, pictured here with Andrea Clarke and Andrew Dunning of the British Library

Ramsey Abbey was one of the wealthiest and most influential monasteries in medieval England. It was founded by Oswald, bishop of Worcester and later archbishop of York, probably in the late 960s. With help from his benefactor, the nobleman Æthelwine, Oswald turned Ramsey into a major economic force and intellectual centre. It was even briefly home to Abbo of Fleury, one of the leading intellectuals in western Europe, who taught there for two years in the late 980s.

Detail from the earliest account of the foundation of Ramsey (Ramsege), in Byrhtferth of Ramsey’s Vita sancti Oswaldi, written c. 996–1002 and preserved uniquely in the Cotton-Corpus Legendary, Worcester, 3rd quarter of the 11th century: Cotton MS Nero E/1, f. 11v

Most of our information about Ramsey's early years comes from one of Abbo’s students, Byrhtferth, a talented mathematician, author and teacher in his own right. The British Library has the only surviving copies of Byrhtferth’s Lives of St Oswald and St Ecgwine, as well as parts of three manuscripts that seem to have been based on the handbook he used in his teaching: Cotton MS Nero C VII, ff. 80–84; Harley MS 3667 + Cotton MS Tiberius C I, ff. 2–17; and Cotton MS Tiberius E IV. Ramsey remained an important intellectual centre throughout the Middle Ages, particularly for the study of Hebrew.

Byrhtferth’s diagram of the groups of four elements he believed made up the universe, copied at Peterborough, c. 1120–1140: Harley MS 3667, f. 7r

These artistic and intellectual achievements were financed by careful estate management, land acquisitions, protection of the abbey’s rights, record keeping and accounting. The monks kept track of their income and accounts by making charters and other documents, ensuring that the texts could be easily located. The large amounts of documentation surviving from Ramsey make it one of the best places to study life in medieval England, as shown in Ramsey: The Lives of an English Fenland Town, 1200–1600.

The first charter presented to the British Library (Add Ch 77736) is a notification of King Henry I of England (1100–1135), issued at Falaise between 1133 and 1135. It states that William de Houghton, Henry’s chamberlain, has restored to Ramsey Abbey the estate of ‘Bradenache’ (presumably Brandish Wood), along with land at Gidding. This charter features an impression of Henry's Great Seal, in white wax. Its text was also copied into one of the surviving Ramsey Abbey cartularies, Cotton MS Vespasian E II, f. 12r.

Notification by King Henry I: Add Ch 77736

The second charter (Add Ch 77737) is King Henry II's confirmation of this same grant, issued at Lincoln. Among the witnesses is Thomas Becket, the king’s chancellor (a position he held from 1155 until 1162).

Confirmation by King Henry II: Add Ch 77737

Until now, these charters had probably remained within a single hectare for the better part of a millennium. Most of Ramsey Abbey’s archives and library were dispersed at the abbey's dissolution in 1539. The British Library now holds the largest segment of their remnants, among which are many charters and cartularies and nineteen manuscripts, including the famous Ramsey Psalter. These two charters seem to have remained on the site, and were owned beyond living memory by Ramsey Abbey School, a grammar school first documented in 1656.

The Great Seal of King Henry I: Add Ch 77736

We are extremely grateful to Abbey College for its splendid gift to the nation.

Alison Hudson and Andrew Dunning

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Latin , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 0)

14 September 2018

Wynflaed and the price of fashion

Some of the most interesting texts in the British Library’s collections have deceptively unassuming appearances. For example, this fragile piece of parchment is the closest equivalent of the Vogue wardrobe for early medieval England. Written in Old English, it is one of the earliest wills which survive from England in the name of a woman only. It details bequests made by a noblewoman called Wynflæd sometime before the late 10th or early 11th century, and it describes her wardrobe as well as her estates, slaves, metalwork, livestock and familial relationships.

Will of Wynflæd, England, late 10th or early 11th century: Cotton Ch VIII 38

We can’t be sure as to Wynflæd's exact identity. One of King Edgar’s grandmothers was called Wynflæd, but this will could pertain to someone else with the same name. What we do know is that our Wynflaed was a widow, and that she had a daughter called Æthelflæd and a son called Eadmer. We also know that she was rich. Her will mentions several estates, bands of tamed and untamed horses, slaves, many coins, livestock, items in gold and silver, and even books (annoyingly for us, no further information is given). The compiler of her will described some of the other items, such as Wynflæd's ‘wooden cups decorated with dots’ and her ‘red tent’. Anglo-Saxon nobles often travelled around — Wynflæd may have had to travel to manage her estates — and they stayed in tents when doing so. The Durham Collectar, for instance (Durham Cathedral Library MS A.IV.19), mentions that some of its text was written before tierce (around 9 a.m.) on Wednesday, 10 August 10, ‘for Ælfsige the bishop [of the community of St Cuthbert] in his tent’ while he was travelling in Dorset.

Wynflæd's will also gives details about her attire, from her engraved bracelet to linen gowns to caps and headbands. Such detailed descriptions of clothes are relatively unusual in Old English texts. A particularly striking item among Wynflæd’s clothes is a ‘twilibrocenan cyrtel’. This garment has been alternatively interpreted as a ‘badger-skin dress’, an embroidered dress or even a dress that was only worn twice. Gale Owen-Crocker and Kate Thomas have already discussed Wynflæd’s clothes, if you’d like to learn more.

A badger? Detail of a decoration around a flaw in parchment, from the Tollemache Orosius, England (Winchester?), late 9th or early 10th century: Add MS 47967, f. 62v

Wynflæd may have taken religious vows towards the end of her life, but that does not seem to have impeded her fashion sense. Her will mentions a ‘holy veil’ and at the beginning it focuses on her donations to an unspecified church. This church seems to have housed women, since the first part of the will also specifies bequests to ‘slaves of God’ there with female names such as Ceolthryth, Othelbriht and Elsa. At least one of these names appears again towards the end of the will as the recipient of some of the finer pieces in Wynflæd's wardrobe: Ceolthryth was to receive ‘whichever she prefers of her black tunics and her best holy veil and best headband’ (translated by D. Whitelock, Anglo-Saxon Wills, Cambridge, 1930, p. 15). Nor were these the only fashionable religious women or nuns in late 10th-century England, if later stories about St Edith are to be believed.

A holy veil? An angel presents Queen Emma with a veil, from the New Minster Liber Vitae: Stowe MS 944, f. 6r

Wynflæd’s will highlights another important aspect of fashion history: who made the clothes. Wynflæd not only bequeathed her clothes to her relatives, but she also bequeathed the people who made them. To Eadgifu (possibly her granddaughter), she gave ‘a woman-weaver and a seamstress, the one [also] called Eadgifu, the other called Æthelgifu’. One gets the impression that her granddaughter Eadgifu was a favourite: she also received the ‘best bed-curtain’, ‘best dun tunic’, best cloak and an ‘old filigree brooch’, among other objects.

Eadgifu the weaver and Æthelgifu the seamstress were not so lucky. While Wynflæd freed some of her slaves in her will, these two may have been condemned by their skill. They are two of only four slaves whose professions are specified in the will, the others being a wright and a cook called Ælfsige. Wynflæd was — and is — not alone in exploiting garment makers. To this day, the fashion industry has an uncomfortably close relationship with exploitation and poor labour conditions in many parts of the world.

Detail of the names of Eadgifu (Edgyfu) and Æthelgifu (Æþelyfu): Cotton Ch VIII 38

Although Cotton Ch VIII 38 is a copy of the original will, it shows signs of how such a document might have been used. It is a single sheet, folded carefully in half, then lengthways, and then again into thirds, as if it has been used and been put away for safe keeping. The interlinear additions to the text are also intriguing: as these are meaningful pieces of text, rather than occasional words, they are clearly not just the result of scribal error, but were intended as clarifications, or to add extra information. For example, when Wynflaed bequeaths her cloak, an extra word is added to specify which one: it is 'hyre beteran mentel' (her better cloak). Many of these additions are concerned with what would happen to Wynflaed's slaves. The will specifies that 'at Faccombe Eadhelm and Man and Johanna and Sprow and his wife … and Gersand and Snel are to be freed,' with Sprow and his wife added between the lines; while elsewhere, where 'aelfferes dohtor' (Aelffere's daughter) is given to Aethelflaed, someone has added 'þa geonran' (the younger) between the lines, specifying which one of his daughters was to be Aethelflaed's slave. Needless to say, these additions had serious consequences for the futures of Sprow, his wife, and of Aelffere's daughter.

Detail of folds and interlinear additions: Cotton Ch VIII 38

The British Library's major exhibition, Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, opens on 19 October 2018.

Alison Hudson and Kate Thomas

Posted by Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at 12:01 AM in Anglo-Saxons , Animals , English , Exhibitions , Fashion , Manuscripts , Medieval , Medieval history | Permalink | Comments( 1)

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