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Cotton MS Vespasian B XX
- Record Id:
- 040-001103259
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001273.0x0002b6
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100056027804.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Vespasian B XX
- Title:
- Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Lives of the Canterbury saints etc; charters and privileges allegedly granted to the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine, Canterbury
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 2r–v: Charter of Augustine, archbishop of Canterbury (between 597-604), granting privileges to the Benedictine monastery of St Peter and St Paul (St Augustine’s, Canterbury).
ff. 3r–18v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (Canterbury), Historia minor de adventu sancti Augustini, preceded by a prologue (f. 3r) and capitula (f. 3r-4v).
ff. 18v–23v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Historia miracula et translatio sancti Augustini.
ff. 26r–60r: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Historia maior de adventu sancti Augustini, preceded by a prologue (ff. 26r-27r) and capitula (ff. 27r-29v).
ff. 61r–85v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Historia maior de miraculis sancti Augustini, preceded by capitula (ff. 61r-v).
ff. 86r–93v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Sermo in festivitate sancti Augustini Anglorum apostoli.
ff. 93v–141v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Historia translationis sancti Augustini, preceded by a prologue (ff. 93v-94r) and capitula (ff. 94r-95v), the two books are preceded by prologues, prologue of book 1 (f. 125v) and prologue of book 2 (ff. 125v-141v).
ff. 143r–163v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Vita Sancte Mildrethae virginis, preceded by a prologue (f. 143r) and capitula (ff. 143r-144r).
ff. 163v–166r: Lectiones in festivitate virginis Mildrethe.
ff. 166r–196v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Translatio Sanctae Mildrethae virginis cum miraculorum attestatione, preceded by capitula (ff. 166r-167r).
ff. 197r–248v: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Lives of the early archbishops of Canterbury and of Abbot Hadrian including Relatio venerabilis Bede presbiteri de sanctissimo Christi confessore Laurentio Anglorum archiepiscopo (ff. 197r-203); the Vita Sancti Melliti (ff. 203r-212v); the Vita Sancti Iusti (ff. 214r-217r); the Vita Sancti Honorii (ff. 217r-220r); the Vita Sancti Deusdedit (ff. 220r-221v); the Vita Sancti Theodori (ff. 222r-231r); the Vita Sancti Adriani (ff. 233r-241v) and the Translatio Sancti Adriani (ff. 241v-248v).
ff. 251v–259v: Gregory the Great, Libellus responsionum followed by an epitaph for St Augustine.
ff. 260r–276r: Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Libellus contra usurpatores Sancte Mildrethe, preceded by capitula (ff. 260r-v) and a prologue (f. 261r).
ff. 276r-279r: Series of spurious charters allegedly granted to the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine (originally St Peter and St Paul) (see Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters (1968), nos. 1048, 1244, 4, 3), it includes: a charter of King Edward the Confessor of England (reigned 1042-1066) granting land to the Benedictine abbey of St Peter and St Paul (St Augustine abbey, Canterbury), written by a 15th-century hand (ff. 276r-v); a charter of King Æthelberht I of Kent (reigned 560-616) granting land to the Benedictine abbey of St Peter and St Paul (St Augustine abbey, Canterbury) (ff. 277r-v); a charter of King Æthelberht I for the Benedictine abbey of St Peter and St Paul (St Augustine abbey, Canterbury) (ff. 277v-279r).
ff. 279r-284v: Series of spurious privileges allegedly granted to the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine (originally St Peter and St Paul) (see Ambrose, 'the Social Context and Cultural Complexities of Goscelin' (2012), 367-68), it includes: a privilege of Pope Boniface IV (between 608-15) for King Æthelberht of Kent, 27 February 611 (ff. 279r-280v); a privilege of Pope Adeodatus (between 672-76) for Abbot Hadrian of St Augustine’s (between 669/70-708), 23 December (673) (ff. 280v-281v); a privilege of Pope Agatho (between 678-81) for Abbot Hadrian of St Augustine’s, 15 May 679 ( ff. 281v-282r); a privilege of Pope John XII (between 955-63) addressed to King Eadred of England (between 946-55), 22 April (?956) (ff. 282r-283r); a privilege of Pope John (between 955-63) for King Eadred (between 946-55) and Archbishop Oda of Canterbury (between 941-58), (?956) (ff. 283r-284r); a privilege of Pope Calixtus II (between 1119-24) for Abbot Hugh de Flori of St Augustine’s, Canterbury (d. 1126), 1120 (imperfect) (f. 284v).
ff. 285r–286v: An added miracle of St Augustine of Canterbury written by a 13h-century English hand.
f. 286v: Added, 16th century, Versus de Sancta Maria matre Christi in ecclesia Augustini.
Decoration:
Large decorated initials in purple, red, green and/or blue with interlace (ff. 2r, 5v, 30r, 62r passim). Display initials in blue, red and purple (ff. 2r, 5v, 30r). Secondary initials in blue, red and green. Capitals in red and green. Rubrics in red. Letters highlighted in red.
A full-page historiated initial 'I' depicting King Æthelberht I of Kent (reigned 560-616) holding a scroll in his right hand and a document in his left, sitting on a throne, his feet on a stool, outlined in purple and ornamented with green, red, purple, blue and ochre (277r).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001103259 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Vespasian B XX : Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, Lives of the Canterbury saints etc; charters and privileges allegedly granted to the… - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0942]/040-001103259
- 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_100056027804.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Old
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1100
- End Date:
- 1449
- Date Range:
- 1st quarter of the 12th century-1st half of the 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 245 x 155 mm (text space: 185 x 110 mm).
Foliation: ff. 288 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end).
Script: Caroline minuscule, Protogothic and Gothic.
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house. Rebound in the 19th century.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Canterbury, Southeastern England.
Provenance:
The Benedictine abbey of St Augustine, Canterbury (originally St Paul and St Peter): a pressmark, late 13th century 'Di[stinctio] Xa Gra[dus] I' (f. 1r) followed by titles 'Vita et virtutes sancti Augustini sociorumque huius ecclesie cum/ Sequitur tercium passionale/ In hoc libro continentur hec/ maior codex de vita et virtutibus sancti Augustini sociorum' followed by a late 14th-century owner inscription 'liber Sancti Augustini Cantuariensis' (f. 1r); an added 14th-century table of contents (f. 1v); charters and privileges allegedly granted to the abbey (ff. 2v; 276r-279r; 279r-284v).
Added notes, ?14th century in Old French in medieval pencil (f. 25r).
Added charter, 15th century (ff. 276r-v).
Added notes, 15th century memoranda and pen-trials (ff. 287r-v).
Added verse, early 16th century 'Versus de Sancta Maria matre Christi in ecclesia Augustini' (f. 286v).
Sir Walter Cope (b. 1553?, d. 1614), administrator: according to Watson, ‘The manuscript collection of Sir Walter Cope’ p. 289 (no. 184), acquired by Cotton by c. 1607.
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: his signature 'Ro. Cotton. Bruceus (f. 2r); titles added by him throughout (e. g., f. 3r).
Sir William Dugdale (b. 1605, d. 1686), antiquary and herald: a title written by him (f. 1v), see Tite, The Early Records (2003).
Nicholas Roscarrock (b. 1547/9, d. 1633/4), catholic activist and hagiographer: borrowed by him on the behalf of Lord William Howard (b. c. 1630, d. 1694), conspirator: cited in the Cotton catalogues, see Tite, The Early Records (2003), nos. 20.2 and 74.3.
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:
-
Ambrose, Shannon, 'The Social Context and Political Complexities of Goscelin's Sermon for the Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, the 'Apostle of the English'', Studies in Philology, 109:4 (2012), 364-80.
Charters of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, and Minster-in-Thanet, ed. by Kelly S. E, Anglo-Saxon Charters, IV (Oxford, 1995), pp. xxxix–xl.
Gameson, Richard, The Manuscripts of Early Norman England (c. 1066-1130) (Oxford, 1999), no. 414.
Gneuss, Helmut and Michael Lapidge, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), no. 387.
Ker, N. R., English Manuscripts in the Century after the Norman Conquest (Oxford, 1960), pp. 27, 29–30.
Macquarrie, Alan, 'An eleventh-century account of the foundation-legend of Laurencekirk, and of Queen Margaret’s pilgrimage there’, The Innes Review, 47 (1996), 95-109 (pp. 103-04).
Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, ed. by Ker, N. R (London: The Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 43.
Rollason, D. W., ‘Goscelin of Canterbury’s account of the translation and miracles of St. Mildrith (BHL 5961/4): an edition with notes’, Mediaeval Studies, 48 (1986), 139-210.
Rollason, D. W., The Mildrith Legend: A Study in Early Medieval Hagiography in England (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1982), pp. 20, 64, 105.
Sharpe, ‘Goscelin’s St Augustine and St Mildreth : hagiography and liturgy in context', Journal of Theological Studies, 41 (1990), 502-16 (pp. 506, 510-13), [cited as MS. A].
Sharpe, Richard and Willoughby, James, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain (Oxford: The Bodleian Libraries, 2015) http://mlgb3.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/mlgb/book/1491/?search_term=Cotton%20MS%20Vespasian%20B.xx&page_size=500 [accessed 7 September 2016].
Tite, Colin G. C, The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton’s Library: Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: The British Library, 2003), p. 178.
Watson, Andrew G., ‘The manuscript collection of Sir Walter Cope (d. 1614)’, Bodleian Library Record, 12 (1988), 262-97 (p. 289, no. 184).
Simon Keynes and others, The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters (London: King's College London, 2016) http://esawyer.org.uk/manuscript/334.html [accessed 17 October 2016].
- 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.