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Cotton MS Titus A XXVII
- Record Id:
- 040-001103518
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001101582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001273.0x00032a
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100064372960.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton MS Titus A XXVII
- Title:
-
Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Brittaniae; Note on British genealogies; Note on place-names in the Historia Regum Brittaniae; Quadripartitus; Instituta Cnuti Aliorumque Regum Anglorum; Marbod of Rennes, De Lapidibus; ‘Prester John’, Epistola Manueli Comneno imperatori Graecorum; Anonymous chronicle of England; Gesta Alexandri Pseudo-Alexander, Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem de Situ Indie; Epitaphium Alexandri; Epigram on Alexander
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains three parts that were produced in the same style in the late 12th or early 13th century and joined together at an early stage (ff. 2v-88r; 89r-174v; 176r-217v). The manuscript most likely originates from St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, where it was listed in a 15th-century catalogue of the Abbey’s library (see St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, ed. by Barker-Benfield (2008), 2, pp. 927-28 (BA1.895)).
The manuscript contains one of the three copies of the full version of the Quadripartitus (Four Parts), a Latin collection of Old English laws that became especially popular in the 12th century, supplemented with the Instituta Cnuti aliorumque regum Anglorum (Laws of Cnut and other English Kings) (see O’Brien, ‘Instituta Cnuti’ (2003), pp. 177-98). It also contains a Latin copy of the Historia Regum Brittaniae ('The History of the Kings of Britain') by Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. 1154/55), bishop of St Asaph and historian. The work, presenting a pseudo-historical account of the kings of Britain, survives in 217 manuscripts (see Crick, The Historia Regum Britannie, 4 (1991), pp. 196-217).
The manuscript also includes a Latin copy of a letter (c. 1150) attributed to 'Prester John' that survives in about 100 manuscripts (see Wagner, Epistola presbiteri Johannis (2000)). The text presents a letter from a certain Christian priest-king named ‘John’ who writes to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (b. 1118, d. 11180) about the treasures and marvels of a kingdom that he would have established in the ‘East’. The manuscript ends with various texts concerning Alexander the Great (b. 356 BC, d. 323 BC), including a spurious letter describing the wonders of India that Alexander would have sent to Aristotle (b. 384 BC, d. 322 BC) that survives in more than 60 manuscripts (see Boer, Epistola Alexandri (1953), pp. iii-xxi).
The manuscript also contains two previously unidentified lists of chapters from the Summa de matrimonio (Compendium on Marriage) that Raymond of Peñafort (b. c. 1180, d. 1275) wrote around 1235. The lists may have been copied from a copy of the Summa that was at St Augustine’s Abbey (see St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, ed. by Barker-Benfield (2008), 2, p. 2578 (BA1.1772b)).
Contents:
ff. 2v-8r: A table of contents for the Historia Regum Brittaniae.
ff. 9r-87r: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Brittaniae.
ff. 87r-87v: A note on British genealogies, beginning ‘Alii asserunt alium fuisse Brutum a quo Britannia dicta est’.
ff. 87v-88r: A note on place-names in the Historia Regum Brittaniae, beginning ‘Amorica sive Latavia id est Minor Britannia’.
ff. 89r-105v: Quadripartitus [see Liebermann, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, I (1903), pp. 83-99].
ff. 105v-174v: Instituta Cnuti aliorumque regum Anglorum (Laws of Cnut and other English Kings), with a table of contents [see Liebermann, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, I (1903), pp. 112-18, 119-22, 122-24, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130-31, 132, 133, 134-35, 137-38, 139, 140-42, 143-49, 150-66].
ff. 176r-181v: Marbod of Rennes (b. 1035, d. 1123), De Lapidibus (On Stones) [see Patrologia Latina, 171, 1737-70].
ff. 182r-185r: Iohannes presbyter ('Prester John'), Epistola Manueli Comneno imperatori Graecorum (Letter to Manuel I Komnenos, Emperor of the Greeks), known as ‘The Prester John Letter’ [Redaction B].
ff. 185-186v: Anonymous chronicle of England, beginning: ‘[B]ritannia insula autem quodam Bruto consule Romano dicta est’ [see Dumville, Histories and Pseudo-Histories (1990)].
ff. 187v-206r: Gesta Alexandri (The Deeds of Alexander) [see Kuebler, Iuli Valeri Alexandri Polemi Res Gestae Alexandri Macedonis (1888), pp. 1-168].
ff. 206v-216v: Pseudo-Alexander, Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem de situ Indie (Alexander’s Letter to Aristotle on India) [see Boer, Epistola Alexandri (1953), pp. 1-60].
f. 216v: Epitaphium Alexandri (Epitaph of Alexander).
ff. 216v-217r: Epigram on Alexander, beginning ‘[Q]uicquid in humanis constat virtutibus altis’.
The manuscript contains a number of later additions:
f. 175v: A complete list of chapter titles for the Summa de Matrimonio by Raymond of Peñafort, added in the 14th century, possibly at St Augustine’s Abbey; Barker-Benfield does not identify the list’s source and suggests that it may have been added by Andrew Horn (b. c. 1275, d. 1328), administrator and chronicler (see St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, ed. by Barker-Benfield (2008), p. 927).
f. 217v: An incomplete list of chapter titles (‘De sponsalibus – De matrimonio – De errore’) from the Summa de Matrimonio by Raymond of Peñafort, added in the 14th century by the same hand that copied the list on f. 175v.
f. 1r: A table of contents, added by William Dugdale (b. 1605, d. 1686), antiquary and herald (see Tite, The Early Records (2002), p. 126).
[ff. 1v, 2r, 8v, 88v, 175r, 187r, 218r, 218v, 219r, 219v are blank].
Decoration:
Large initials in green or red with penwork decoration in both colours on f. 9r (x2). Numerous medium and small initials in blue, green, purple or red, often with minor penwork decoration in the other colour; small initials in blue, green or red; small (one-line) initials highlighted in red. Display script highlighted in red. Rubrics in red. Paraphs in red or highlighted in red. Aside from 2 medium-size initials in red, there is no decoration on ff. 187v-217r.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001101582
040-001103518 - Is part of:
- Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Titus A XXVII : Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Brittaniae; Note on British genealogies; Note on place-names in the Historia… - Hierarchy:
- 032-001101582[1058]/040-001103518
- 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_100064372960.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1175
- End Date:
- 1224
- Date Range:
- 4th quarter of the 12th century-1st quarter of the 13th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Condition: Leaves damaged by fire in 1731.
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 190 x 145 mm (text space: 145-160 x 95-105 mm; ff. 176r-181v in 2 columns).
Foliation: ff. 219 ( + 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning + 2 unfliated paper flyleaves at the end); f. 1 is an early modern flyleaf with a watermark (grapevine); ff. 218-219 originally were flyleaves; 1 paper pastedown on the inside upper cover (bibliographical notes)
Script: Protogothic.
Materials: British Museum/British Library in-house: re-bound on 2 November 1962. Brown half-leather binding; Cotton’s bookplate gold-stamped on the upper and lower covers, the spine inscribed in gold at the British Museum: ‘Geoffrey of Monmouth. Chronicle, ETC.’.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: ?Canterbury, Southeastern England.
Provenance:
The Benedictine abbey of St Augustine, Canterbury (St Augustine’s Abbey), founded in 598: recorded in its 15th-century catalogue of manuscripts (see Ker, Medieval Libraries (1964), p. 43; St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, ed. by Barker-Benfield (2008), 2, pp. 927-28 (BA1.895)).
? John Twyne (b. c. 1505, d. 1581), schoolmaster and antiquary: acquired 12 to 14 manuscripts from St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury; owned a manuscript, listed by John Joscelin [Joscelyn] (b. 1529, d. 1603) in 1567, with an incipit that matches that of the Historia Regum Britannie in Cotton MS Titus A XXVII (see Graham and Watson, The Recovery of the Past (1998), pp. 82-83 (J2.62b)).
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician: listed in his catalogue; his bookplates gold-stamped on the upper and lower covers; his pressmark on f. 1r, added by by William Dugdale (b. 1605, d. 1686); possibly added the asterisks in pencil on f. 139r (see Tite, The Early Records (2003), p. 193).
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/.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript (ff. 98v-174v): see 'Manuscript T', in Early English Laws (University of London, Institute of Historical Research / King's College London) [accessed 20 August 2018].
- Publications:
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Boer, Walther W., Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem, ad codicum fidem edidit et commentario critico instruxit (The Hague: Excelsior, 1953) [on the text].
Brewer, Keagan, Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, Crusade Texts in Translation, 27 (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015), p. 304 (no. 68).
A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library Deposited in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1802), p. 516.
Crick, Julia C., The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth, 5 vols (Cambridge: Brewer, 1985-1991), III (1989): A Summary Catalogue of the Manuscripts, pp. 156-58 (no. 95); IV (1991): Dissemination and Reception in the later Middle Ages, pp. 16 n. 21, 25-27, 62, 76, 78, 89, 94, 107, 123, 145, 152, 168, 175, 180-81, 199, 206.
Dumville, David Norman, 'The Textual History of the Welsh-Latin Historia Brittonum' (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 141-43 (as 'A').
Dumville, David Norman, Histories and Pseudo-Histories of the Insular Middle Ages, Variorum Collected Studies Series, 316 (Aldershot: Variorum, 1990), p. 109.
Graham, Timothy and Andrew G. Watson, The Recovery of the Past in Early Elizabethan England: Documents by John Bale and Johyn Joscelyn from the Circle of Matthew Parker, Cambridge Bibliographical Society Monograph, 13 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library for the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 1998), pp. 82-83 (J2.62b)
Hanna, Ralph, London Literature 1300-1380 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 82-83, 85, 88, 101 n. 51.
Harvey, P. D. A., 'Rectitudines Singularum Personarum and Gerefa', The English Historical Review, 108:426 (1993), 1-22 (p. 2).
Hilka, Alfons, 'Eine zweite Handschrift der erweiterten Epitome des Julius Valerius', Romanische Forschungen, 29:1 (1911), 31-71 (p. 70).
Hill, Betty, 'Epitaphia Alexandri in English Medieval Manuscripts', Leeds Studies in English, 8 (1975), pp. 96-104 (as ‘T’).
Iuli Valeri Alexandri Polemi Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis translatae ex Aesopo graeco. Accedunt Collatio Alexandri cum Dindimo, rege Bragmanorum, per litteras facta et Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem, magistrum suum, de itinere suo et de situ Indiae, ed. by Bernardus Kuebler (Leipzig: Teubner, 1888), pp. 1-168.
James, Montague Rhodes, The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover: The Catalogues of the Libraries of Christ Church Priory and St Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury and of St Martin's Priory at Dover (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903), pp. 293 (no. 895), 518.
Liebermann, Felix, 'On the Instituta Cnuti Aliorumque Regum Anglorum', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, 7 (1893), 77-107 (p. 103; as 'T').
Liebermann, Felix, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 4 vols in 3 (Halle an der Saale: Niemeyer, 1903-1916), I, pp. xl, xli, 112-18, 119-22, 122-24, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130-31, 132, 133, 134-35, 137-38, 139, 140-42, 143-49, 150-66 (as ‘T’).
Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, ed. by N. R. Ker, 2nd edn, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, 3 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1964), p. 43.
'Manuscript T', in Early English Laws (University of London, Institute of Historical Research / King's College London) http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/manuscripts/t/?nb=2964&tp=ob [accessed 20 August 2018].
O'Brien, Bruce, 'The Instituta Cnuti and the Translation of English Law', in Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2002, ed. by John Gillingham, Anglo-Norman Studies, 25 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2003), pp. 177-98 (pp. 180, 182-83).
O'Brien, Bruce, 'Pre-Conquest Laws and Legislators in the Twelfth Century', in The Long Twelfth-Century View of the Anglo-Saxon Past, ed. by Martin Brett and David A. Woodman (Routledge: Abingdon, 2016), pp. 229-274 (p. 232 n. 6).
Quadripartitus: Ein englisches Rechtsbuch von 1114, ed. by Felix Liebermann (Halle: Niemeyer, 1892), pp. 63-64.
Rambaran-Olm, M. R., 'Trial by History's Jury: Examining II Æthelred's Legislative and Literary Legacy, AD 993–1006', English Studies, 95:7 (2014), 777-802 (p. 779 n. 8).
St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, ed. by Bruce C. Barker-Benfield, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 13, 3 vols (London: British Library, 2008), II: The Catalogue, Second Part, pp. 927-28 (BA1.895); p. 2578 (BA1.1772b).
Tite, Colin G. C., The Early Records of Sir Robert Cotton’s Library: Formation, Cataloguing, Use (London: The British Library, 2003), p. 193.
Wagner, Bettina, Die "Epistola presbiteri Johannis" lateinisch und deutsch: Überlieferung, Textgeschichte, Rezeption und Übertragungen im Mittelalter, Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters, 115 (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2000), pp. 21, 59, 161 n. 22, 164, n. 32, 167 n. 37, 169, 170, 174 n. 54, 240, 270, 286, 306 n. 148, 307 n. 157, 159, 310 n. 165 (as ‘L9’).
Wormald, Patrick, ‘Quadripartitus’, in Law and Government in Medieval england and Normandy: Essays in honour of Sir James Holt, ed. by George Garnett and John Hudson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 111-47 (pp. 117-18).
Wormald, Patrick, The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, I: Legislation and its Limits (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999), pp. 237, 550, 557, 631, 637.
Sharpe, Richard, ‘The Prefaces of ‘Quadripartitus’’, in Law and Government in Medieval england and Normandy: Essays in honour of Sir James Holt, ed. by George Garnett and John Hudson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 148-72 [on the text].
Zarncke, Friedrich, ‘Epistola Manueli Comneno imperatori Graecorum’, Abhandlungen der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften philologisch-historischen klasse, 7 (1879), 909-24.
- 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.