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Add MS 15722
- Record Id:
- 032-002093407
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002093407
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000044.0x00018b
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100059052932.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 15722
- Title:
-
Liturgical hymns and sermons
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains a commentary on the penitential Psalms (ff. 1r-35r), dated to 1142 (f. 35r: ‘·cus·xlus·iius’), and a collection of sermons and hymns (ff. 36r-75v), that originate from the first quarter of the thirteenth century. Both parts were written at the Cistercian abbey of Cîteaux, where the manuscript most likely remained until the abbey was seized by French Revolutionary forces and dissolved in 1791. The manuscript contains a unique copy of a sermon on the prophecies of Isaiah that a certain ‘magister Humbertus de Balesma’ delivered at Paris, delivered during the Advent of 1192 or 1193, purportedly for a thousand scholars and masters (f. 47r: ‘in presentia circiter mille scolarium et magistrorum multorum’). The sermon is particularly interesting for its exposition on the positions of the signs of the Zodiac during the birth of the Virgin Mary and Christ. Humbertus combines biblical typology with astrology, particularly that of the Introductorium maius in astronomiam, a Latin translation of the Kitāb al‐mudkhal al‐kabīr (c. 848) by the Persian astrologor Abu Maʿshar (see d'Alverny, ‘Humbertus de Balesema’ (1985), pp. 127-91).
Contents:
ff. 1r-35r: A commentary on the Seven Penitential Psalms.
ff. 36r-43v: A sermon regarding the Virgin Mary, attributed to Humbertus de Balesma, ‘Sermo magistri hu[m]berti de balesma’.
ff. 43v-47r: An exposition on the sermon, ‘Expositio super obscuritatem huius sermonis’.
ff. 47r-48v: A hymn on the Nativity, ‘Sermo rithmice factus ad magistros scolares circa nativitatem domini’.
ff. 48v-49r: A hymn regarding the Incarnation, attributed to Alain de Lille, (b. c. 1128, d. 1202), Bishop of Auxerre and theologian, ‘Rithmus de incarnatione \editus a magistro Alano [Alan of Lille]/ septem liberales artes singulis singulos versus opponens’.
ff. 49r-49v: A hymn on the Incarnation, ‘De incarnatione domini’.
ff. 49v-50r: Peter of Blois (b. c. 1130, d. c. 1211), A hymn on the Incarnation, ‘De prodigo filio penitente et ad patrem revertente’.
f. 50r: A hymn on the Incarnation, ‘De incarnatione domini sive de nativitate’.
f. 50v: A hymn on the Purification, ‘De vocabulo purificationis beate marie’.
ff. 50v-51r: A hymn on the Virgin Mary’s birth, ‘De nativitate beate virginis marie’.
f. 51r: A hymn on the Virgin Mary’s virginity, ‘De partu virginis’.
ff. 51r-51v: A hymn on the Nativity, ‘De nativitate Domini’.
ff. 51v-52r: A hymn to St Peter, ‘Prosa de sancto Petro Apostolo’.
ff. 52r-52v: A hymn to Mary Magdalene, ‘De beata maria magdalena’.
ff. 52v-53r: A hymn to the Holy Spirit, ‘De spiritu sancto’.
ff. 53r-53v: Adam of St Victor (d. 1146), Salve, mater Salvatoris, ‘De beata virgine’.
ff. 53v-54r: A hymn to the Virgin Mary, ‘De beata maria’.
ff. 54r-54v: A hymn to the Trinity, ‘De sancta Trinitate’.
ff. 45v-55r: A hymn on the Resurrection, ‘Prosa de resurectione domini’.
f. 55r: A hymn on the Resurrection, ‘Item de resurrectione’.
ff. 55r-55v: A hymn on the Nativity, ‘De nativitate Domini’.
ff. 55v-56r: A hymn on the Nativity, ‘In nativitate sancti Stephani protomartiri'.
ff. 56r-56v: A hymn to the Evangelists, ‘Prosa de sanctis evangelistis’.
ff. 56v-57v: A hymn to Mary Magdalene, ‘Planctus magdalene ad pedes ihesu’.
ff. 57v-58v: A hymn to St Vincent, ‘Prosa de Sancto vincentio Martyre’.
ff. 58v-59r: A hymn to the Virgin Mary, beginning ‘Christe splendor dei patris . nobis servis tue matris’.
f. 59v: A hymn on the Cross, beginning ‘[Ch]riste via qui perducis ad superne lecem lucis purga labe labia’.
ff. 60r-62r: A sermon on the Nativity, ‘Sermo de nativitate domini’.
ff. 62r-63v: A sermon on Epiphany, ‘In epiphania domini’.
ff. 63v-66r: A sermon on Candlemass, ‘In purificatione beate Marie’.
ff. 66r-67v: A sermon attributed to St Benedict, beginning ‘Misit rex Salomon et tulit iram de Tyro’.
ff. 67v-69v: A sermon on the Annunciation, beginning ‘Aqua frigida anime sitienti nuntius bonus’.
ff. 69v-71r: An untitled sermon, beginning: ‘Tulit Elias pallium suum et involvit illud et percussit aquas Iordanis’.
ff. 71r-73r: An untitled sermon, beginning: ‘Et transierunt ambo per siccum’.
ff. 73r-75v: An untitled sermon, beginning: ‘Introduxerunt archam et posuerunt eam in locum suum’.
The manuscript contains a few additions:
f. 76r: Psalm 129, imperfect, written by a scribe in a 15th-century script.
ff. 58v, 59v, 66r, 67v contain titles added by a scribe writing in a 17th-century script.
[ff. 35v, [35a] recto, [35a] verso, 76v are blank].
Decoration:
Large initials in red and blue. Small initials in red (ff. 1r-35r); Large initials in red and green. Small initials in red. (ff. 36r-75v).
Neumes and clefs in black ink on line bars in red ink on ff. 57v-59r.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
England and France 700-1200 Project - Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002093407", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 15722: Liturgical hymns and sermons" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002093407
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002093407
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100059052932.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1125
- End Date:
- 1224
- Date Range:
- 2nd quarter of the 12th century - 1st quarter of the 13th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: approximately 190 x 125 mm (text space: 170 x 100 mm).
Foliation: ff. 76 ( + 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 1 unfoliated parchment flyleaf + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end); 1 unfoliated parchment leaf between f. 35 and f. 36 (f. [35a]); 1 unfoliated parchment stub between f. 8 and f. 9 and between f. 67 and f. 68; the quires have been mounted on paper guards.
Script: Protogothic.
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house, the spine inscribed in gold: ‘TRACTATUS VARII THEOLOGICI’.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, Eastern France.
Provenance:
The Cistercian abbey of Cîteaux (Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux), at least until 1739, but probably until it was dissolved in 1791: the abbey’s ownership inscription written in a 14th- or 15th-century script in the lower margins of ff. 1r, 44r and 75v (‘Liber cistercij’). The manuscript is recorded as no. 800 in Cîteaux Abbey’s manuscript catalogue written by Jean de Cirey (d. 1503), abbot of Cîteaux (1476-1501), at the end of the 15th century. It also is recorded in the notes for an unpublished catalogue of Cîteaux Abbey’s manuscripts dated to 1739 (see d'Alverny, ‘Humbertus de Balesema’ (1985), p. 190).
James Fletcher (fl. 1794-1846), London bookseller, in 1846: purchased by the British Museum on 8 February 1846 (f. [v] recto: ‘Purchased at Fletcher’s 8 February 1846 (Lot 137)’).
- Information About Copies:
- Complete digital coverage available for this manuscript; see Digitised Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1846-1847 (London: Woodfall and Kinder, 1864), p. 16.
A Guide to the Manuscripts and Printed Books Illustrating the Progress of Musical Notation, Exhibited in the Department of Manuscripts and the King's Library (London: Clowes, 1885), p. 92 (no. 62).
Guido Maria Dreves and Clemes Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 20 (1895), pp. 55 (no. 25), 150 (no. 191); 31 (1898), pp. 54-55; 37 (1901), p. 276-77; 40 (1902), pp. 97-98; 55 (1922), pp. 313-15.
Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1906-1965), I, p. 240.
Hans Walther, Initia carminum ac versuum Medii Aevi posterioris Latinorum: Alphabetisches Verzeichnis der Versanfänge mittellateinischer Dichtungen (Göttingen: VandenHoeck & Ruprecht, 1959), p. 1059 (no. 20190).
Christopher Page, The Owl and the Nightingale: Musical Life and Ideas in France 1100-1300 (London: Dent, 1989), pp. 167, fig. 12, 243 ns. 1, 254.
Peter Dronke, ‘Peter of Blois and Poetry at the Court of Henry II’, Mediaeval Studies, 38 (1976), 185-235 (p. 235).
Johannes Baptist Schneyer, Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters für die Zeit von 1180-1350, 11 vols (Münster: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1969-1990), VIII (1978), pp. 483-85.
Marie-Thérèse d'Alverny, ‘Humbertus de Balesema’, Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen âge, 51 (1985), 127-91 [esp. pp. 186-91 for further literature].
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Notes:
- This manuscript is part of The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700-1200.