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Cotton MS Nero A I
- Record Id:
- 040-001102576
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001246.0x00037b
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100104917774.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Nero A I
- Title:
-
Early modern index; Anglo-Saxon law codes I Cnut, II Cnut, II-III Edgar, the law codes of Alfred and of Ine (imperfect), Romscot, and Judex; completion of the law codes of Alfred and of Ine by John Joscelyn (d. 1603); Wulfstan of York, Institutes of Polity; Wulfstan of York, Homilies, including Sermo lupi ad Anglos; other additions, including an Easter table, the law codes I Æthelstan, I Edmund (imperfect), III Edgar (imperfect), V Æthelred; a law code beginning 'Godes grið', in the style of Wulfstan of York; VIII Æthelred; excerpts on the role of a bishop, (imperfect); Excerptiones Pseudo-Ecgberti; excerpts on canon law; hymn; sermons by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
- Scope & Content:
-
This codex contains Anglo-Saxon law codes and writings related to Wulfstan (d. 1023), bishop of Worcester and archbishop of York.
The manuscript includes:
ff. 1r-v: early modern table of contents;
ff. 2r-v, 178r-180v: early modern index, entitled 'De ordinatione Presbiterii';
ff. 3r-57v: Anglo-Saxon law codes I Cnut, II Cnut, II-III Edgar, the law codes of Alfred and of Ine (imperfect), Romscot, and Judex, copied in the 3rd quarter of the 11th century;
ff. 58r-69v: completion of the law codes of Alfred and of Ine by John Joscelyn (d. 1603), written in the 2nd half of the 16th century;
ff. 70r-177v: Wulfstan of York, Institutes of Polity; Wulfstan of York, Homilies, including Sermo lupi ad Anglos; other additions, including an Easter table, the law codes I Æthelstan, I Edmund (imperfect), III Edgar (imperfect), V Æthelred; a law code beginning 'Godes grið', in the style of Wulfstan of York; VIII Æthelred; excerpts on the role of a bishop, beginning 'Bonus itaque pastor...' (imperfect); Excerptiones Ecgberti, first recension; excerpts on canon law, beginning 'Satis igitur manifestum est non posse filios Adam...', copied in the 1st quarter of the 11th century; a hymn; sermons by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés; additions made through the 13th century.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001102576 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Nero A I : Early modern index; Anglo-Saxon law codes I Cnut, II Cnut, II-III Edgar, the law codes of Alfred and of Ine (imperfect),… - Contains:
- Cotton MS Nero A I, ff 2r-v, 178r-180v : Early modern index (A–V)
Cotton MS Nero A I, ff 3–57 : Anglo-Saxon law-codes I Cnut; II Cnut; II-III Edgar; law codes of Alfred and Ine; Romscot; Judex
Cotton MS Nero A I, ff 58–69 : Anglo-Saxon law codes of Alfred and Ine, in the hand of John Joscelyn (d. 1603)
Cotton MS Nero A I, ff 70–177 : Wulfstan of York, Institutes of Polity; Wulfstan of York, Homilies, including Sermo lupi ad Anglos;…
Cotton MS Nero A I, ff 178–180 : Early modern index (E–V)
Click here to View / search full list of parts of Cotton MS Nero A I - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0604]/040-001102576
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 parchment codex
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100104917774.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English, Old
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1000
- End Date:
- 1599
- Date Range:
- 11th-16th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment and ink.
Dimensions: binding 175 × 120 mm.
Foliation: fos. i + 180 (where ff. i, 1 are early modern endleaves, + 4 unfoliated modern paper leaves and 1 unfoliated parchment leaf at the beginning and at the end, + 1 blank unfoliated leaf after f. 41, 2 blank unfoliated leaves after f. 69, 2 blank unfoliated leaves after f. 96, 1 blank unfoliated endleaf after f. 121).
Script: Anglo-Saxon vernaculare minuscule; Protogothic; Gothic.
Binding: BM/BL in-house, rebound in 1865.
- Custodial History:
-
Provenance:
John Joscelyn (b. 1529, d. 1603), Old English scholar and Church of England clergyman: annotated throughout; owned by 1580, according to William Lambarde (Cotton MS Julius C II, f. 52).
? William Lambarde (1536–1601), antiquary and lawyer: owned (according to Harley MS 6018, no. 21.4); copied extracts, (Cotton MS Julius C II; see Tite, Records (2003), p. 130).
? Sir Thomas Crompton (1558–1609), civil lawyer: owned (according to Harley MS 6018, no. 21.4; see Tite, Records (2003), p. 130).
? Francis Tate (1560–1616), judge and antiquary: perhaps owned by him, if a loan of 'Saxons, Lawes Manuscript' refers to Cotton Nero A I and not Cotton Julius C II (according to Harley MS 6018, no. 23.4; see Tite, Records (2003), p. 130).
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: inscribed with his name (f. 3r). 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:
-
Loyn, Henry R. (ed.), A Wulfstan Manuscript containing Institutes, Laws and Homilies: British Museum Cotton Nero A.I, Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, 17 (Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1971).
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk.manuscripts.
- Publications:
-
[Planta, J.], A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library, Deposited in the British Museum (London, 1802), p. 201.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, ed. by Claire Breay and Joanna Story (London: The British Library, 2018), no. 146 [exhibition catalogue].
Johnson, David F., ‘The transmission and reception of Alfredian “Apocrypha”’, in Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and Connections, ed. by Claire Breay and Joanna Story with Eleanor Jackson (Dublin: Four Courts, 2021), pp. 98-107 (98 n. 1).
Sharpe, Richard (ed.), 'Manuscript G', Early English Laws, website (accessed 11 January 2016) [http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/manuscripts/g/] [includes links to editions].
Tite, Colin, The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton's Library: Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: British Library, 2003), p. 130.
Wilcox, Jonathan, ‘The Wolf at work: uncovering Wulfstan’s compositional method’, in Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and Connections, ed. by Claire Breay and Joanna Story with Eleanor Jackson (Dublin: Four Courts, 2021), pp. 141-153 (pp. 141, 145, 146–7, 150, 152–3; fig. 10.3).
- Exhibitions:
- Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, British Library, London, 19 October 2018 - 19 February 2019
Magna Carta, (online), 10 March 2015- - Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Notes:
- Law-code of King Cnut. Exhibited: Magna Carta, (online), 10 March 2015-.