Add MS 5208

SYON ABBEY: rules, etc., of the Bridgettine Abbey of Syon, co. Midd.; late 15th-early 16th cent. Latin. Origin: England. For other manuscripts of rules of this house, in English, see: Arundel MS. 146;- St Paul's Cathedral MS. no. 5, N. R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, i, London (1969), pp. 243-244. Marginalia throughout, 15th-16th centt. Heavily excised material on fly-leaf (f. 1v). Item

M. 72 in the library catalogue of Syon Abbey, Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS. 141: see M. Bateson, ed., Catalogue of the Library of Syon Monastery, Isleworth (1898). 'John [basaynby?]' written in a 16th cent. hand, f. 128v. Purchased from Grimr Jonsson Thorkelin, Icelandic scholar, 1788.

Vellum; ff. 129. 15th cent. foliation 12-122 throughout ff. 20-129 (old folio 34 lacking between ff. 41-42, with no loss of text). Sec. fol. '[tu]nica et cuculla quod quidem'. Composite MS. In the Syon library catalogue, written probably soon after 1504 (Bateson, op. cit., pp. v, 109), the order of articles 1 and 2 is reversed. This accords with the 15th cent. contents list in the MS. (f. 1v), which gives foliation for articles 1 and 2 in the series still extant in articles 3-5 as follows: 'Regula sancti augustini fo. 1. Regula sancti saluatoris fo. 4'. This suggests that the original first two articles in the MS. were replaced by the present articles 1 and 2 early in the 16th cent. 290 x 225mm. Gatherings of 8 (xiv lacks 8; ff. 19-22, 39-41 irregular; fly-leaves ff. 2, 129; original end-paper, f. 1). Catchwords generally regular throughout. Decorative catchword f. 10v. Signatures: art. 3. c i-iiij,

ff. 23-26;- articles 4-5. a i-iiij - l i-iiij (j not used) regular from f. 42. Single columns. Three main hands: (A) Articles 1, 2 apparently written by Thomas Betson (d.1516), early 16th cent., and prefixed to ff. 20-129 (see above). See: Bateson, op. cit., pp. v, xvii, xxiii, n.5, 109;- A. I. Doyle, 'Thomas Betson of Syon Abbey', The Library, Series 5, xi (1956), pp. 115-118;- (B) Art. 3. Mid 15th-cent. hand;- (C) Articles 4, 5 (quires v-xiv) apparently written by Clement Maidstone (d.1456). See Doyle, p. 117 and Add. 22285, f. 55. Decoration: articles 1, 2. Initials and headings in red and blue. Historiated initials with penwork borders, ff. 3v (initial incomplete), 15, decorated initial f. 10v;- articles 3-5. Initials and headings in red and blue.

Contents:

1. ff. 3v-15. Rule of Our Saviour, 'De humilitate castitate et paupertate Regule sancti saluatoris'; early 16th cent. Beg. 'Principium itaque huius religionis'. Corresponds to chs. ii-xxvii in the 'rule' printed in the first edition of the 'Revelations of St Bridget' (Lübeck, 1492), BL IB 9861. See also G. J. Aungier, The history and antiquities of Syon Monastery . . . (1840), pp. 243-245.

2. ff. 15v-19v. Rule of St Augustine, 'Regule beati augustini episcopi'; early 16th cent. Beg. 'Ante omnia fratres karissimi diligatur deus'. Migne, PL, xxxii, 1377-1384. In the margins are arabic numerals referring to items in articles 3 and 4 below.

3. ff. 20-41v. Commentary on the rule of St Augustine by Hugh of St Victor (d.1141); mid 15th cent. 'Incipit exposicio regule sancti augustini per venerabilem hugonem de sancto victore canonicum sancti victoris parisiensis.' Beg. 'Ante omnia fratres karissimi diligatur deus . . .: hec igitur sunt . . .' 'Hec sunt que ut obseruetis precipimus . . .: ad hec nobis diuina precepta'. Migne, PL, clxxvi, 881-923. Minor variations, with omissions of commentary in chs. xi and xii.

4. ff. 42-117. Commentary on the rule of St Augustine by Nicholas Trevet (d.1328); mid 15th cent., bef. 1456. 'Exposicio regule beati Augustini secundum fratrum Nicholaus Treuet'. Beg. 'Prologue. Inter multas et varias religiosa profitencium'. Printed in Les commentateurs Dominicains de la Règle de S. Augustin du XIIIe au XVIe siècle, II.A., ed. R. Creytens, Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 34 (1964), pp. 107-153.

5. ff. 117b-128. Dialogue between reason and the soul; mid 15th cent. Beg. 'Secretis interrogacionibus pulsabo animam meam'. A version in 18 chs. of the text 'Soliloquiorum de instructione Anime' ascribed to Adamus Scotus. The present text has significant variations from that printed in Migne, PL, cxcviii, 843-871. Followed (f. 128) by two lines of verse, beg. 'Nil proprium mihi dico meum communia queque'.

6. f. 128v. Memorandum of decision made in 1431 concerning requiem masses to be said annually for founders, etc.; late 15th cent.