Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Cotton MS Tiberius E IV
- Record Id:
- 040-001102293
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001246.0x000290
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100055130429.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Tiberius E IV
- Title:
- Winchcombe Chronicle; Calendar; Bede, De Temporum Ratione; Bede, De Natura Rerum; Bede, De Temporibus; Abbo of Fleury, De Differentia Circuli et Sphere; Helperic of Auxerre, De Computo; Robert the Lotharingian, Excerptio de Chronica Mariani; Abbo of Fleury, Computus
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 1r-27v: The Winchcombe Chronicle, including the bull of Pope Leo III (pope between 795-816) to King Cenwulf of Mercia (reigned 796-821) and his heirs, regarding the monastery where Cenwulf would be buried (Winchcombe) and other monastic houses in England (f. 13v); the purported foundation charter of King Cenwulf of Mercia for Winchcombe abbey, 9 November 811 (ff. 13v-14r); a letter of King Cenwulf of Mercia to Pope Leo III on the rights of the see of Canterbury (ff. 14r-v); a letter of Pope Leo III to King Ceowulf of Mercia on the privileges granted to Archbishop Æthelheard of Canterbury (between 793-805), imperfect (f. 14v); a bull of Pope Paschal I (between 817-824) for King Cenwulf of Mercia and his heirs, confirming his monasteries and possessions (f. 15r).
ff. 27v-29v: Additions written by several late 13th-century and 14th-centuy English hands: two bulls of Pope Boniface VIII (between 1295-1303) (ff. 27v-28r) followed by the endorsement of the bull (f. 28r); a letter of Robert Winchesley, archbishop of Canterbury (between 1294-1313) forwarding Boniface's bull for publication, 10 December 1296 (f. 28r); a letter of King Edward I of England (reigned 1272-1307) (f. 28r); the award of Norham addressed to the abbot and convent of Winchcombe, attested by William March, treasurer, 9 July 1291, written mainly in Old French (f. 28v); a memorandum that Edward I adjudged the kingdom of Scotland to John Balliol (November 1292) (f. 29r); a bull of Pope Boniface VIII to Edward I, concerning the peace with the king of France, Lateran Palace, 19 February 1295 (f. 29r); a letter of Edward I to the abbot of Winchcombe, expelling alien religious, Westminster, 17 November 1295 (f. 29r); the abdication of John, king of Scots (between 1292-96), to Edward I, Brechin, 10 July 1296, written in Old French (f. 29v); a letter of Queen Margaret to the abbot of Winchcombe, announcing the birth of Thomas of Brotherton, 1 June 1300 (f. 29v).
ff. 29v-30r: Extract from Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae (book 13, chapter 11), prefacing a rota of the twelve winds
f. 30v: Added by a 14th-century English hand, a memorandum that Henry of Lancaster paid homage to King Edward II of England (1307-27) at Berwick for the earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester, Derby (de Ferrers), Lincoln and Salisbury, following the death of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (5 February 1311), dated 1310.
ff. 30v-31v: A concordance table of years of the Great Easter Cycle (AD 1064-1577), arranged in 10 columns.
ff. 32r-33r: A table of the Great Easter Cycle (AD 1086-1599) with accompanying tables.
f. 33v: A computistical table.
f. 34r: A table describing the cycle of the Moon.
f. 34v: A rota of the months with two sets of verse: the first is entitled 'Legitima cunctorum iiii ieiunia Christianorum' and the second is entitled: 'De vii embolisimis cicli xixnalis'.
ff. 35r-40v: A calendar with some metrical entries.
ff. 41r-v: A table of the lunar letters preceded by a preface (f. 41r).
f. 42r: Computus material.
ff. 43r-44r: Added by a 14th-century English hand, a memorandum of the foundation of Gloucester College, Oxford by a Benedictine General Chapter at Abingdon, 11 July 1290, confirmed at Salisbury, 11 September 1291.
ff. 44v-45v: Additions written by a 14th-century English hand, a papal bull concerning the clergy in France, undated (f. 44v); a letter of Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury (from 1245-70), addressed to the Holy Church, concerning the vacancy in the see of Worcester, 28 July 1268 (f. 45r); a letter of Archbishop Robert Winchelsey of Canterbury (from 1294-1313), addressed to the prior of Worcester, concerning the vacancy in the see of Worcester, 13 March 1301/2 (f. 45v); a decree of Archbishop Robert Winchelsey of Canterbury, addressed to the vicar of the bishop of Worcester, concerning the archbishop of York, 7 May 1309 (f. 45v).
ff. 46r-125r: Bede, De temporum ratione, preceded by the preface (ff. 46r-v) and capitula (ff. 46v-47r), ending at chapter 65 (f. 95r) and followed by Bede, Epistola ad Wicthedum presbiterum (ff. 95r-97v); Bede's De temporum ratione continues from chapter 66 to the end (ff. 97v-125r).
ff. 125r-131v: Bede, De natura rerum preceded by a verse-preface (f. 125r).
ff. 131v-134v: Bede, De temporibus, imperfect, ending at chapter 15.
ff. 134v-135r: Computus material consisting of two anonymous texts, one untitled (f. 134v) and the other titled De ratione unciarum, akin to Bede's De temporum ratione (ff. 134v-135r).
ff. 136r-138r: Dionysius Exiguus, computistical letter addressed to Bishop Petronius.
ff. 140r-142v: Abbo of Fleury, De differentia circuli et sphere, followed by five lines of verse (f. 142v).
ff. 144v-161r: Helperic of Auxerre, De computo preceded by a preface (ff. 144v-145r) and capitula (ff. 145r-v).
ff. 161r: A 12th-century added note on Jerusalem.
ff. 162r-176r: Robert the Lotharingian, Excerptio de chronica Mariani, preceded by capitula (f. 162r).
ff. 176r-178v: Walcher of Malvern, De lunationibus, beginning imperfectly, due to damage.
ff. 179r-180r: Abbo of Fleury, Computus, including a set of acrostic verses (f. 180r).
f. 181r: A computistical table.
ff. 182r-183v: A geographical compendium.
f. 185v: 15th-century and early-modern notes.
ff. 186r-v: An index written by an early 14th-century.
f. 187r: Added 15th-century notes.
The original core of this manuscript is ff. 46–181 (perhaps including as its endleaves ff. 43–45 and ff. 182–187), to which ff. 1–42 is a very early addition.
Decoration:
Red, green, purple, ochre and blue initials. Red rubrics.
Roman numerals and highlighted letters in red. KL monograms in red, green, purple and blue (ff. 35r-40v). Rota of the twelve winds, each comprising a human head, with ‘ASIA, EUROPA, AFFRICA’ at the centre of the wheel, decorated in red, green and ochre (f. 30r). Computistical tables comprising architectural arcades, decorated in red, green and purple (ff. 30v-31v, 33v-34r, 42r). Tables, decorated in red, green and purple (ff. 32r-33r, 41v). A wheel, outlined in red, green and purple (f. 34v). A full-page border in purple, green and red (f. 41r).
Large arabesque initials outlined in various colours (ff. 46r-181r).
An added 12th-century pen-drawn map of Jerusalem (f. 143r).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001102293 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Tiberius E IV : Winchcombe Chronicle; Calendar; Bede, De Temporum Ratione; Bede, De Natura Rerum; Bede, De Temporibus; Abbo of Fleury,… - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0481]/040-001102293
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100055130429.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Old
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1100
- End Date:
- 1324
- Date Range:
- 1st half of the 12th century-1st quarter of the 14th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Condition: leaves damaged by fire in 1731.
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 400 × 290 mm (paper), 325 x 225 mm (parchment), (text space: approximately 245/55 x 165/95 mm, but varies considerably).
Foliation: ff. 187 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end).
Script: Caroline minuscule and Gothic.
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house. Rebound in 1845, repaired in 1914.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Winchcombe, Southwestern England.
Provenance:
The Benedictine abbey of St Kenelm, Winchcombe: the Winchcombe chronicle (ff. 1r-27v).
Added 12th-century pen-drawn map of Jerusalem (f. 143r).
Added text written by several late 13th-century and 14th-century English hands (ff. 27v-29v, 30v, 43r-45v).
Added 14th-century index (ff. 186r-v).
Added 15th-century and early-modern notes (ff. 185v, 187r).
?Sir Walter Cope (b. ?1553, d. 1614), administrator: see Watson, ‘The manuscript collection’ (1987), p. 280 (no. 13); Tite, The Early Records (2003), p. 112.
Robert Bowyer (b. c. 1560, d. 1621), parliamentary official and politician: acquired from him by Sir Robert Cotton no earlier than c. 1612 according to Tite, The Early Records (2003), nos. 13.13; 37.2; 49.23.
Patrick Young (b. 1584, d. 1652), librarian and scholar: loaned to him c. 1616, see Tite, The Early Records (2003), nos. 49.23 and 134.5.
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: owner inscription ): ‘R[obert] Cotton Bruc[eus]’ (f. 1r, upper margin, legible under ultra-violet light); cited in his catalogues, Harley 6018, no. 198; Additional 36789 (ff. 135v-137r) and Additional 36682, see Tite, The Early Records (2003), p. 112.
Cotton’s collection was augmented by his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), 2nd baronet, and his grandson, Sir John Cotton.
Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d. 1702), 3rd baronet: bequeathed the entire Cotton collection of books and manuscripts to trustees ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’, 12 and 13 William III, c. 7. Formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753.
- Information About Copies:
- Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk.manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Darlington, R. R., ‘Winchcombe Annals 1049–1181’, in A Medieval Miscellany for Doris Mary Stenton, ed. by Patricia M. Barnes and C. F. Slade, New Series, 36 (London: Pipe Roll Society, 1962), pp. 111–37.
Gameson, Richard, The Manuscripts of Early Norman England (c. 1066-1130) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), nos. 408–09.
Gullick, Michael, ‘The English-owned manuscripts of the Collectio Lanfranci (s. xi/xii)’, in The Legacy of M. R. James: Papers from the 1995 Cambridge Symposium, ed. by Lynda Dennison (Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2001), pp. 113–14 and n. 44.
Jones, C. W., ‘Manuscripts of Bede’s De Natura Rerum’, Isis, 27 (1937), 430-40 (p. 432).
Ker, N. R. (ed.), Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, 2nd edition (London: The Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 199.
Laistner, M. L. W., & H. H. King, A Hand-List of Bede Manuscripts (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1943), pp. 121, 141, 145, 149.
Liuzza, R. M, Anglo-Saxon Prognostics. An Edition and Translation of Texts from London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 2011), p. 73.
McGurk, Patrick, ‘Computus Helperici: its transmission in England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries’, Medium Ævum, 43 (1974), 1-5 (pp. 1–2).
Sharpe, Richard and Willoughby, James, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain (Oxford: The Bodleian Libraries, 2015) http://mlgb3.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/mlgb/book/5708/?search_term=Cotton%20Tiberius%20E.%20iv&page_size=500 [accessed 06 September 2016].
Thomson, Rodney, ‘Minor manuscript decoration from the West of England in the twelfth century’, in Reading Texts and Images: Essays in Medieval and Renaissance Art and Patronage in honour of Margaret M. Manion, ed. by Bernard J. Muir (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2002), pp. 19–34.
Tite, Colin G. C., The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton’s Library: Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: The British Library, 2003), p. 112.
Vorholt, Hannah, ‘Touching the tomb of Christ: notes on a twelfth-century map of Jerusalem from Winchcombe, Gloucestershire’, Imago Mundi, 61 (2009), 244–55.
Watson, Andrew G., Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts The British Library, 2 vols (London: The British Library, 1979), no. 560.
Watson, Andrew G., ‘The manuscript collection of Sir Walter Cope (d. 1614)’, Bodleian Library Record, 12 (1987), 262-97.
- 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.