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Cotton MS Vespasian E III
- Record Id:
- 040-001103394
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001273.0x0002eb
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100064366824.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Vespasian E III
- Title:
- Annals of Burton Abbey; an account of the Council of Oxford of 1222; St Cyprian, Confessio; Pseudo-Basil, Admonitio ad Filium Spiritualem; Isidore of Seville, Synonyma; Pseudo-Methodius, De Initio et Fine Saeculi; Alexander of Stainsby, Constitutiones; Honorius Augustodunensis, Imago Mundi; Invectivum Contra Regem Iohannem; Reginald of Canterbury, Vita Sancti Malchi
- Scope & Content:
-
This composite manuscript is made out of six parts that were produced separately in England. The first part (ff. 4-102) was produced at Burton Abbey in the early 13th century and contains the Annals of Burton Abbey. The second part (ff. 103-108) is an account of the Council of Oxford of 1222. The third part (ff. 109-116), containing the Confessio (Confession) of Saint Cyprian of Antioch (fl. 300), was written in the 11th century. The fourth part (ff. 117-170) contains the Admonitio ad Filium Spiritualem (Admonition to a Spiritual Son) attributed to St Basil (b. 330, d. 379); the Synonyma (Synonyms) of Isidore of Seville (d. 636); De Initio et Fine Saeculi (About the Beginning and the End of the World) attributed to Methodius, bishop of Olympus; the Constitutiones (Episcopal Constitutions) of Alexander of Stainsby (d. 1238), bishop of Coventry, and the Imago Mundi (Image of the World) by Honorius of Autun (b. c. 1080, d. 1137). The fifth part (ff. 171-178) contains the anonymous Invectivum Contra Regem Iohannem (The Barons’ Insult against King John), written in the first half of the 13th century. The sixth part (ff. 179-213) preserves the Vita Sancti Malchi (The Life of Saint Malchus) by Reginald of Canterbury (d. c. 1112) and was written in the 10th century.
Contents:
ff. 4r-102r: Burton Annals including the Provisions of Oxford of 1258 in Latin and French (ff. 91r-93v), beginning: ‘Anno ab incarnatione domini Mo.iiiio indictione secunda’.
ff. 103r-108r: An account of the Council of Oxford of 1222, beginning: ‘Autoritate Dei patris omnipotentis et beate Virginis Marie’.
ff. 109r-116v: Cyprian of Antioch, Confessio, beginning: ‘Quicumque in Christi misterus proficius meis intendite lacrimis’.
ff. 117r-123v: Pseudo-Basil, Admonitio ad Filium Spiritualem, beginning: ‘Audi fili admonitionem patris tui et inclina aurem tuam’.
ff. 124r-138v: Isidore of Seville, Synonyma, preceded by a prologue (f. 124r), beginning: ‘In subsequenti hoc libeo qui nuncupatur sinonima’.
ff. 139r-141v: Pseudo-Methodius, De Initio et Fine Saeculi, preceded by a prologue (f. 139r), beginning: ‘In nomine domini nostri Ihesu Christi incipit liber Methodii episcopi ecclesie paterenis’.
ff. 142r-153v: Alexander of Stainsby, Constitutiones, beginning: ‘Universis archidiaconis per Coventriam Brocesini constitutis’.
ff. 154r-170r: Honorius of Autun, Imago Mundi, beginning: ‘Ad instructionem multorum quibus deest copia librorum hic libellus edatur’.
ff. 171r-178v: Invectivum Contra Regem Iohannem.
ff. 179r-213v: Reginald of Canterbury, Vita S. Malchi, preceded by a prologue (f. 179r) and followed by Carmina (Poems), beginning: ‘Prelia gesturus’.
The manuscript also contains later additions:
f. 1r: A note written in 1839 relating to the purchase by Sir Robert Cotton from the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Canterbury of the section of the manuscript containing the Burton Annals.
f. 3r: A table of contents added by Sir Robert Cotton's librarian Richard James.
ff. 214r: Notes in a 17th-century hand.
[ff. 1v-2v, 3v, 102v, 108v, 170v, 214v are blank].
Decoration:
See Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff. 4-102, ff. 103-108; ff. 109-116; ff. 117-170; ff. 171-178; ff. 79-213.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001103394 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Vespasian E III : Annals of Burton Abbey; an account of the Council of Oxford of 1222; St Cyprian, Confessio; Pseudo-Basil, Admonitio… - Contains:
- Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 4–102 : The Annals of Burton Abbey
Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 103–108 : An account of the Council of Oxford of 1222
Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 109–116 : Cyprian of Antioch, Confessio
Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 117–170 : Pseudo-Basil, Admonitio ad Filium Spiritualem; Isidore of Seville, Synonyma; Pseudo-Methodius, De Initio…
Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 171–178 : Invectivum Contra Regem Iohannem
Cotton MS Vespasian E III, ff 179–213 : Reginald of Canterbury, Vita S. Malchi; Carmina
Click here to View / search full list of parts of Cotton MS Vespasian E III - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[0995]/040-001103394
- 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_100064366824.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Anglo-Norman
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 0900
- End Date:
- 1599
- Date Range:
- 10th century-2nd half of the 16th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Condition: Intact.
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: ff. 4-102: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 170 x 120mm, in 2 columns); ff. 103-108: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 170 x 110 mm, in 2 columns); ff. 109-116: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 205 x 130 mm); ff. 117-170: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 180 x 120 mm, in 2 columns); ff. 171-178: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 180 x 120 mm, in 2 columns); ff. 179-213: 220 x 155 mm (text space: 185 x 130, in 2 columns).
Foliation: ff. 213 (+ 5 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 5 at the end); 1 unfoliated blank parchment leaf between ff. 2 and 3.
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house. Rebound in 1974.
- Custodial History:
-
Provenance:
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: cited in Cotton's catalogues (see Tite, Early Records (2003), p. 185; table of contents written by his librarian Richard James (f. 3r); his bookplate (outside upper cover).
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.
- Publications:
-
Annales Monastici, ed. by Henry Richard Luard, Rolls Series, 4 vols (London: Longman, 1864), I, pp. xxvii-xxxii.
Bibliotheca Hagiographica Antiquae et Mediae Aetatis [BHL], Subsidia Hagiographica, 6, 2 vols (Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1898–1901; repr. 1992), ed. by Henricus Fros, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Antiquae et Mediae Aetatis: Novum Supplementum, Subsidia Hagiographica, 70 (Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1986).
Bloomfield, Morton W. and others, Incipits of Latin Works on the Virtues and Vices, 1100-1500 A.D. (Cambridge, Ma: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1979).
A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library Deposited in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1802), p. 479.
Jones, William R., ‘The Heavenly Letter in Medieval England’, Medievalia et Humanistica, New Series, 6 (1995), 163-78 (p. 170).
Ker, Neil Ripley, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, 2nd edn, Royal Socie Guides and Handbooks, 3 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 15.
Tite, Colin G. C., ''Lost or Stolen or Strayed': a Survey of Manuscripts Formerly in the Cotton Library', British Library Journal, 18 (1992), 107-47 (p. 113).
Tite, Colin G. C., The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton's Library. Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: British Library, 2003), p. 185.
Valente, Claire, ‘The Provisions of Oxford: assessing/assigning authority in time of unrest’, in The Experience of Power in Medieval Europe, 950-1350, ed. by Robert F. Berkhofer III, Alan Cooper and Adam J. Kosto (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), pp. 25-41.
- 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.