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Egerton MS 3028
- Record Id:
- 032-001985150
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001985150
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000057.0x000365
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Egerton MS 3028
- Title:
-
Roman de Brut, with continuation to Edward III; La Destruction de Rome; Fierabras
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 1r-56v: An abridged version of Wace's Roman de Brut, beginning at line 4883 of the longer version (Weiss ed. (2002), p. 124); the first quire is misbound so the correct order of the text is ff. 2, 8, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1 (mostly illegible), 9. The text is imperfect at the beginning: the lost leaves (probably five gatherings of 8 leaves, or about 2080 lines) corresponded to ll. 1-4999 of Wace's Brut and the last 10301 lines of Wace are represented here by about 2800 lines, to the death of Cadwalader (f. 56r).
ff. 56v-63r: Continuation from Egbert to Edward III (1338-39). Some of the historical details are incorrect, for example Henry II is described as the son of Stephen. Edward II is highly praised and of Edward III the account is as follows: 'Apres li regne sun fiz qe or est Ke dieu li garde se li plest Edward li noble conquerour Ki fort et pruz est en estour Cil ad grant guere comence Pur ses dreitures sen est pene Encontre le Roi de France eit sa terre Dieu qi tot poet iustiser Li doint grace et power Qil poet la victorie auer. Amen. Explicit Brutus.'
Two epics of the Charlemagne cycle:
ff. 64r-83r: La Destruccion de Rome, an introductory poem in 1000 lines describing the siege and sack of Rome by the Sultan Laban and his son Fierabras (or Fierenbras), in vengeance for the seizure by the Romans of a merchant ship sailing from Babylon to Spain, the carrying off by the Saracens of holy relics from St. Peter's, and Charlemagne's organization of punitive expedition against Laban's Spanish capital Aigremore. The poem in a different recension occurs in a manuscript (perhaps of English origin) in Hanover municipal library, MS 578. Incipit, 'Seignurs ore fetes pees Frank gent honnoree Gardez qe il ni eit noise Ne corouce ne melle Si orrez bone chancon De bien enlumine Ni auera fable dit Ne mensoine priue.' Ends 'Charls li Roi de France sesteit vauntes Ke li veulz veillarz qil aueit amenez Vssent meultz combati qe les iuuenes asses Pur sun dit fu Rollant durement corouces Ore mescotez seignurs franc chiualers Chanceon fier et orible plest vous a escoters Vnkes en vostre viuant noistes plus fiers Et tant en facez qe cilence moi seit dones.'
ff. 84r-118v: Chanson de Fierabras, in 1760 lines, a shorter version than the one edited by A. Kroeber and G. Servois in F. Guessard's Anciens Poètes de la France (Paris, 1860), incipit, 'Seignurs ore fetes pees Et lessez le noiser Chanchon fier et orrible Vous plest a escouter. Ceo est del Roi Charls Ke Fraunce ad a bailer, Cum il reconquist les relikes Au verrai justiser'. Explicit, 'Guenes li traitre fu puis pendu et treine. Tottedis irrunt traitres a mal destine. Ou auant ou apres ia nauerunt dure. Charls voit a Saint Denis, lescu ad presente, .iii. iours en soiourna en ladmirable cite, Puis sen voit a Orliens. la chanchon est fine.' Colophon, 'Ici define la romance de Fierembras de Alisaundre li noble conquerrour.'
Decoration:
2 full-page miniatures, accompanied by large decorated initials with partial foliate borders on the facing page, in colours (ff. 63v, 84). Numerous coloured pen-drawings (on recto of each leaf from ff. 1-63, 64v, on recto of each leaf from ff. 66-83, 84v, on recto of each leaf from ff. 86-118), some with imaginary heraldry. Small initials in plain red.
The subjects are :
f. 1r: Maurice talks with Maximilian;
f. 2r: The Nativity;
f. 3r: Claudius and Arviragus embrace;
f. 4: Lucius' messenger received by Pope Eleutherius.;
f. 5r: Battle in which Coel kills King Asclepiadoc;
f. 6r: Constantine receives complaints;
f. 7r: Trahern and the King of Norway.
f. 8r: Arviragus, having assumed the crown, mounts his horse;
f. 9r: Conan is crowned;
f. 10r: Shipwreck of the 11,000 virgins;
f. 11r: Invasion of Britain by Scots and Danes;
f. 12r : Departure of the Romans;
f. 13r: Archbishop Guincelin appeals to King Aldrogen;
f. 14r: King Constantins assassinated;
f. 15r: Vortigern gives counsel to King Constans;
f. 16r: The Scots kill King Constans;
f. 17r: Hengist explains his arrival to Vortigern;
f. 18r: King Hengist drives away the Picts;
f. 19r: Hengist prepares a bull's hide;
f. 20r: Rowona gives Vortigern the wassail cup;
f. 21r: The Saxons (defeated by Vortimer) sail away;
f. 22r: Massacre at Amesbury;
f. 23r: Vortigern takes counsel of the priests about his building;
f. 24r: The child Merlin and his mother before Vortigern;
f. 25r: Red and white dragons found beneath the castle foundation;
f. 26r: Bretons land at Dartmouth;
f. 27r: Hengist takes refuge at Conisborough;
f. 28r: Octa (Octha), in chains, pleads to Vortigern;
f. 29r: Merlin advises Vortigern;
f 30r: Stonehenge is built, with Merlin's aid;
f. 31r: The King of Ireland's troops sail to aid Pascens;
f. 32r: Appas, in monkish habit, gives poison to King Ambrosius;
f. 33r: Merlin comforts Uther;
f. 34r: Octa is imprisoned in the Tower of London;
f. 35r: King Uther comes to Tintagel;
f. 36r: Octa and Eosa ravage Northumberland;
f. 37r: Coronation of Arthur;
f. 38r: King Gillarmorus does homage to Arthur;
f. 39r: King Aschille does homage to Arthur;
f. 40r: Frolles, besieged in Paris, sends Arthur a challenge;
f. 41r: Arthur kills Frolles;
f.42r: Arthur arrives at Caerleon;
f. 43r: Messengers from Rome appear at Arthur's banquet;
f. 44r: Arthur protects the messengers from violence;
f. 45r: Arthur and Hoel discussing plans in a tower;
f. 46r: Arthur dictates and sends a letter;
f. 47r: The Emperor rides out of Rome;
f. 48r: Arthur, asleep on board a ship;
f. 49r: Arthur finds a giant roasting a pig;
f. 50r: Arthur and the King of Scotland ride to battle against Rome;
f. 51r: Fight between Arthur and the Emperor;
f. 52r: The Emperor is wounded, the King of Scots and others;
f. 53r: Arthur is mortally wounded;
f. 54r: Gurguint and the Saxons on a ship;
f. 55r: Audeberd [Ethelbert] baptized by St. Augustine;
f. 56r: Deaths from pestilence;
f. 57r: Burial of Athelstan, two bishops, one holding an aspergillum, sprinkling holy water on the body;
f. 58r: Cnut's ship;
f. 59r: The lame at Edward the Confessor's shrine;
f. 60r: Coronation of Henry I;
f. 61r: King John brought to Winchester for burial;
f. 62r: Edward I rides to London;
f. 63r: Tomb of Edward II;
f. 63v: Fierenbras, under a Gothic arch;
f. 64v: Laban and three kings offer birds to Termagant and Apollyon;
f. 66r: Laban sends Espiard on an errand;
f. 67r: Laban's ship and pavillion;
f. 68r: The Pope is appealed to for help;
f. 69r: Savaris slays a Saracen;
f. 70r: Lucafer brags to Laban, who holds an axe;
f. 71r: Fierenbras presents Mabon to Laban;
f. 72r: Naval assault on Rome repelled;
f. 73r: Savaris slays another Saracen;
f. 74r: The giant Estragot slays Savaris;
f. 75r: Estragot crushed by a portcullis;
f. 76r: Fight of Fierenbras and Huberd;
f. 77r: The Pope leads his army;
f. 78r: Laban sends Lucafer to Rome;
f. 79r: Isorez bringing the keys of Rome to Laban's tent;
f. 80r: Fierenbras takes the relics (the cross, crown, nails and lance) from St. Peter's altar;
f. 81r: Laban and Floripas aboard ship, the Cross at the stern;
f. 82r: Charlemagne arrives at the burning city of Rome;
f. 83r: Battle of Charlemagne and Fierenbras;
f. 83v: Charlemagne beneath a Gothic arch, above are hung two shields, with a leopard and a lion rampant;
f. 84v: Fierenbras before Charlemagne's tent;
f. 86r: Oliver finds Fierenbras resting, his horse tied to a tree;
f. 87r: Oliver and Fierenbras fight on horseback;
f. 88r: Fight continued on foot;
f. 89r: Charlemagne kneels before an altar;
f. 90r: Oliver wounds Fierenbras;
f. 91r: Oliver fights with Saracens;
f. 92r: Charlemagne finds Fierenbras lying under a Holm oak tree;
f. 93r: Roland and Oliver brought as prisoners before Laban;
f. 94r: Floripas listens outside the prison;
f. 95r: Floripas and Laban;
f. 96r: Charlemagne in his tent gives orders to Guy of Burgundy;
f. 97r: Charlemagne's knights riding forth;
f. 98r: Charlemagne's army defeat the Saracens;
f. 99r: A castle;
f. 100r: Lucafer breaks down the door of a castle;
f. 101r: The hot coal hung on a string; Lucafer is cast into the fire;
f. 102r: Laban besieges a castle;
f. 103r: The giant Agolafre holds the drawbridge;
f. 105r: Laban sends Maupin to steal the girdle;
f. 105r: Oliver and knights ride out of the castle;
f. 106r: A trébuchet employed in a siege;
f. 107r: Guy is led, bound, to the gallows;
f. 108r: Richard of Normandy riding for help;
f. 109r: The sultan's plate is thrown from the walls;
f.110r: Gonnelun (Gonelon) talks to Charlemagne;
f. 111r: Charlemagne rides with Richard to Aigremore;
f. 112r: Agolafre stops Richard;
f. 113r: Charlemagne and Richard slay Agolafre;
f. 114r: Fierenbras reproves Gonnelun;
f. 115r: Charlemagne and Richard come to Aigremore;
f. 116r: Charlemagne and his army fight against Laban;
f. 117r: Turpin prepares to baptize Laban;
f. 118: Charlemagne sails homeward with the Cross.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Egerton Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-001985150", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Egerton MS 3028: Roman de Brut, with continuation to Edward III; La Destruction de Rome; Fierabras" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001985150
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-001985150
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex, 118 folios
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Egerton_MS_3028 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Anglo-Norman
French - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1325
- End Date:
- 1349
- Date Range:
- 2nd quarter of the 14th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: parchment.
Dimensions: 200 x 120 mm (text space: 150 x 85 mm).
Foliation: ff. 118 (+ 3 paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end).
Collation: Quires of 8 folios. The first quire is misbound, the right order being ff. 2, 8, 3-7, 1, 9.
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. Gold-tooled brown leather; gilt edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: England.
Provenance:
Narcissus Luttrell (d. 1732), annalist, by 1693: his monogram and date (f. 1v).
Bought by the British Museum from W. C. Pendarves, 10 July 1920 (note on 2nd flyleaf), using the Bridgewater fund (£12,000 bequeathed in 1829 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829).
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
-
British Museum Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1916-1920 (London: British Museum, 1933), no. Eg. 3028.
A Guide to the Exhibition of Some Part of the Egerton Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1929), no. 111.
Rita Lejeune and Jacques Stiennon, La Legende de Roland dans l'art du Moyen-Age, 2 vols (Brussels: Editions de l'Arcade, 1966), I, pp. 215-18, II, pl. 174.
Suzanne Lewis, The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1987), no. 100, p. 485.
Visions of Stonehenge, 1350-1987, ed. by Christopher Chippendale (Southampton: Southampton City Art Gallery, 1987).
La Destructioun de Rome, ed. by L. Formisano, Anglo-Norman Text Society, Plain Series, 8 (London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1990) [an edition of the text, ff. 64r-83r].
Keith Sinclair, 'Fierabras in Anglo-Norman: Some Cultural Perspectives', in Anglo-Norman Anniversary Essays (London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1993), pp. 316-77 [on the text, ff. 84r-118v].
Judith Weiss, Wace's Roman de Brut, A History of the British: Text and Translation, Revised Edition, Exeter Medieval English Texts and Studies (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2002).
Christopher Chippendale, Stonehenge Complete (London: Thames and Hudson, 2004), p. 23.
Jean Blacker, 'Courtly Revision of Wace's Roman de Brut in British Library Egerton MS 3028' in Courtly Arts and the Art of Courtliness, ed. by Keith Busby and Christopher Kleinhenz (Cambridge: Brewer, 2006), pp. 237-58.
Timothy Darville, Stonehenge: The Biography of a Landscape (Stroud: Tempus, 2006).
Christian Heck, 'Histoire Mythique et Archéologie au Quinzième Siècle: Une Représentation Inédite de Stonehenge', in Tributes in Honor of James Marrow: Studies in Painting and Manuscript Illumination of the Late Middle Ages and Northern Renaissance, ed. by J. F. Hamburger and A. S. Korteweg (London: Harvey Miller, 2006), pp. 253-60 (pp. 253, 255-56, n. 11, 257).
Making History: Antiquaries in Britain, 1707-2007 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007), no. 155, p. 232 [exhibition catalogue].
La Légende du roi Arthur, ed. by Thierry Delcourt (Paris: Bibiothèque nationale de France, 2009), pl. on p. 14, p. 89 [exhibition catalogue].
Philippa Hardman and Marianne Ailes, 'Crusading, Chivalry and the Saracen World in Insular Romance', in Christianity and Romance in Medieval England, ed. by Rosalind Field, Phillipa Hardman and Michelle Sweeney (Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer, 2010), pp. 45-68 (pp. 47, 50, 59, 61).
- Exhibitions:
- Magna Carta, (online), 10 March 2015-
Picturing places, (online), 27 April 2017-
Stonehenge - A New Dawn, English Heritage, Stonehenge, 16 June 2014 - 14 September 2014 - Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Notes:
- Roman de Brut, 14th century. Exhibited: Stonehenge - A New Dawn, English Heritage, Stonehenge, 16 June 2014 - 14 September 2014