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Cotton MS Claudius D VI
- Record Id:
- 040-001102532
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001246.0x00032b
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100058663012.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Claudius D VI
- Title:
-
Chronicles of England
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains Abbreviatio compendiosa chronicorum Anglie (Brief Abridgement of the Chronicles of England), Matthew Paris's summary of his Historia Anglorum, covering the history of England from 1000 to 1255. The rest of the manuscript is predominantly made up of fragmented historical treatises composed by another chronicler at the monastery of St Albans, William Rishanger (b. 1249/50, d. after 1312) (see Carley, ‘William Rishanger's chronicles' (1997), 71-102). In 1929, folio 12 (including a map of Britain drawn by Matthew Paris) was removed and is now kept separately as Cotton MS Claudius D VI/1. Three Psalter leaves were inserted into the manuscript by Robert Cotton
Contents:
f. 3: List of contents by Richard James.
f. 5v: Description of the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.
ff. 6r–9v: Images of the kings of England (including legendary rulers, such as King Arthur).
ff. 10v–11v: Abbreviated genealogy of the kings of England from Alfred to Harold.
ff. 13r–98v: Matthew Paris, Abbreviatio compendiosa chronicorum Anglie.
ff. 99r–100v are blank, but ruled as the Abbreviatio chronicorum, and presumably meant to be filled in with subsequent historical events.
ff. 101r–118v: William Rishanger, Chronica (continuation of Matthew Paris's Chronica maiora).
ff. 119r–137v: Liber chronicorum (continuation of Matthew Paris's Chronica maiora, for the years 1259-1293).
ff. 138r–186r: Annales (largely comprising accounts of the 'Great Cause' to choose a king of Scotland in 1291–1292, likely compiled by William Rishanger).
ff. 186v–187v are ruled with tinted borders but blank.
ff. 188r–193r: Two fragments of English history, dating from the time of Edward II and Edward III.
ff. 194r–212r: Annales regis Edwardi primi (Annals of King Edward I).
ff. 212r–217v: Chronica fratris Henrici de Blaneforde (Chronicle of Brother Henry of Blaneford), imperfect.
ff. 218r–219r: Kalendar of St Albans Abbey.
Decoration:
8 full-page tinted miniatures comprising 32 drawings of the kings of England, four per page, set into architectural arches, in green, orange, pale blue and pale yellow against blue and red-pink backgrounds (ff. 6r–9v). 1 column-width tinted miniature depicting King Offa in a roundel (f. 5v). 1 column-width diagram depicting the seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy in ink and green wash (f. 5v). 3 small tinted portraits of kings in roundels (ff. 10v-11v). Numerous marginal drawings, mostly comprising coats of arms but including depictions of crowns, in colours and tinted washes throughout. Tinted vertical bands separating the two text columns from the beginning of the manuscript through to the end of the Abbreviatio chronicorum Angliae (ff. 5v–100v) and throughout ff. 119r–193v and ff. 218r–219v. Puzzle initials with pen-flourishing in red and blue throughout.
Matthew Paris was involved in the production of the manuscript, as ff. 5v, 10v–11v, 12 (now kept separately) and 13–91 are in his hand (Morgan, Early Gothic Manuscripts (1986), no. 93). It is possible some of the portraits of kings (ff. 5v-9v) and marginal drawings in the Abbreviatio chronicorum Angliae (ff. 13r-98v) were made by Matthew, although several appear to be copies by a less-adept artist (Morgan, Early Gothic Manuscripts (1986), no. 93).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001102532 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Claudius D VI : Chronicles of England - Contains:
- Cotton MS Claudius D VI, ff 5–100 : Matthew Paris, chronicles
Cotton MS Claudius D VI, ff 101–217 : William Rishanger, chronicles
Cotton MS Claudius D VI, ff 218–219 : Kalendar of St Albans Abbey
Click here to View / search full list of parts of Cotton MS Claudius D VI - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0588]/040-001102532
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
Parchment codex
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100058663012.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Anglo-Norman
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1250
- End Date:
- 1259
- Date Range:
- c 1255-1259
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 325 × 215 mm (text space 250 × 60 mm), in two columns.
Foliation: ff. 221 (+ 4 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end; ff. 1, 4 and 221 are lacking; f. 2 is a parchment flyleaf; f. 12 is kept separately).
Script: Gothic, written below top line.
Binding: British Museum, 7 February 1929: at this time, f. 12 was removed from the manuscript, now Cotton MS Claudius D VI/1.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: England (St Albans).
Provenance:
The Benedictine Abbey of St Albans, c. 1255: the hand of Matthew Paris (d. 1259), monk, author and scribe (Morgan, Early Gothic Manuscripts (1986), no. 93); and 14th century: inscription, 'hic est liber sancti Albani' (f. 101) and St Albans calendar (ff. 218r–219v).
? John Stowe (b. 1525, d. 1605), historian: made extracts c.1575 and refers to the manuscript in his Collectanea (Morgan, Early Gothic Manuscripts (1986), no. 93).
Sir Richard Hutton (bap. 1561, d. 1639), judge: inscribed with his name (f. 9v).
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: his signature (f. 6r). 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, https://bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
Carley, James P., ‘William Rishanger's Chronicles and History Writing at St Albans’, in A Distinct Voice: Medieval Studies in Honor of Leonard E. Boyle, ed. by Jennifer Brown and William P. Stoneman (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997), pp. 71–102.
Carley, James P., & Colin G. C. Tite, ‘Sir Robert Cotton as Collector of Manuscripts and the Question of Dismemberment: British Library MSS Royal 13 D. I and Cotton Otho D. VIII’, The Library, 14 (1992), 94–99.
Ker, Neil. Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 166.
Lewis, Suzanne, The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica majora, California Studies in the History of Art, 21 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), pp. 9, 24, 115, 143-58, 441, 468-9, figs. 81-88, 93.
Morgan, Nigel, Early Gothic Manuscripts 1285-1285, 2 vols, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, 4 (London: Harvey Miller, 1986), part 1, no. 93 [with additional bibliography].
Planta, Joseph, Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library, deposited in the British Museum (London: The British Museum, 1802), pp. 196-97.
Tite, Colin G. C., ‘“Lost or Stolen or Strayed”: A Survey of Manuscripts Formerly in the Cotton Library’, in Sir Robert Cotton as Collector: Essays on an Early Stuart Courtier and his Legacy, ed. by C. J. Wright (London: The British Library, 1997), p. 290 and fig. 6.
Vaughan, Richard. Matthew Paris, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, New ser. 6 (Cambridge, 1958), pp. 113-14, 219, 223, 231-32.
Richard Löwenherz: König, Ritter, Gefangener, ed. by Alexander Schubert [exhibition catalogue, Stiftung Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer, 17 Sept. 2017 - 15 April 2018) (Regensburg: Schnell und Steiner, 2017), no. 30, p. 131.
- Exhibitions:
- Richard Löwenherz: König-Ritter-Gefangener, Historisches Museum der Pfalz, 17 September 2017 - 14 January 2018
The Wonders of Rome from a Northern Perspective: From Antiquity to the Present, Diözesanmuseum, Paderborn, 31 March 2017 - 13 August 2017 - Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)