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Harley MS 956

Record Id:

040-002046785

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002046785

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000652.0x0001ce

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 956

Title:

Theological treatises, including Raymond Peñafort, Summa de casibus poenitentiae and Summa de matrimonio; Hugh of Saint-Victor, Soliloquium de arra animae; Thomas of Hales, Vita Sancte Marie

Scope & Content:

The manuscript consists of four parts that were produced separately.

Part 1 (ff. 1r-98v) was written in the last quarter of the 12th or 1st quarter of the 13th century. Part 2 (ff. 99r-115v, 148r-157r) was written in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 13th century. Part 3 (ff. 116r-147v) was written in the 3rd quarter of the 13th century. Part 4 (ff. 148r-156v) was written in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 13th century.

Contents:

Part 1:

ff. 1r-24r: Raymond Peñafort, Summa de casibus poenitentiae; abridged version with a shortened version of Summa de matrimonio as book 4; imperfect at the beginning.

ff. 24r-34v: Anthology of theological poems beginning with 'De resolventibus Jus Thori' and ending with 'De stationibus sacerdotis ad Aram'.

f. 35r: Theological tracts on 'De natura hominis', 'De quatuor domibus hominis', 'De septem sacramentis Nove Legis', 'De discordia', 'De reconciliatione', 'De retributione', 'De Pentateucho', 'De remissione peccatorum'.

ff. 35v-98v: Untitled work on vices and virtues, with a table of contents (f. 35v), beginning: 'Augustinus: Quemcunque superbam videris: filium'.

Part 2:

ff. 99r-102v: De ecclesia, septem sacramentis et septem gradibus ecclesiasticis, beginning: 'Duplex est ecclesia militans scilicet et triumphans'; also in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1285.

ff. 102v-103r: De 8 partibus corporis Adae, beginning: 'Corpus Ade de octo partibus factum fuit'; also in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1285.

ff. 103v-112r: Exposition on the Canon of Mass, beginning: 'In virtute sancte crucis et in sacramento altaris magna est convenientia et magna efficacia'.

ff. 112v-115v: Hugh of Saint-Victor, Soliloquium de arra animae.

Part 3:

ff. 116r-145v: Thomas of Hales, Vita Sancte Marie; previously unidentified copy (not in Horrall, 'Thomas of Hales' (1986), p. 294).

ff. 146r-147v: Fifteen Joys of the Virgin ('Quindecim gaudia gloriose virginis Marie a serie evangelii simpliciter excepta scilicet canticum graduum Magnificat anima etc Pater noster etc. Ave Maria etc.'); beginning: 'O Dulcissima domina nostra sancta maria'.

Part 4:

ff. 148r-156v: Theological excerpts on the Virgin Mary, including references to Bernard of Clairvaux.

The manuscript contains later additions:

f. 98*recto: Liturgical annotations; added in the (?) 13th century.

ff. 156v-157r: Theological notes; added in the 13th century.

f. 157v: A theological note, beginning: 'Qui iurat per membra Christi quinque peccata committit'; written in the 14th century.

Decoration:

Part 1:

Coloured initials in red. Paraphs in red, occasionally with pen-flourishing (e.g., f. 43).

Part 3:

No decoration.

Part 3:

Initials in red or blue with pen-flourishing in the other colour. Capitals marked in red.

Part 4:

No decoration.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002046785", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 956: Theological treatises, including Raymond Peñafort, Summa de casibus poenitentiae and Summa de matrimonio; Hugh of Saint-Victor,…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002046785

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 956 : Theological treatises, including Raymond Peñafort, Summa de casibus poenitentiae and Summa de matrimonio; Hugh of…

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[0956]/040-002046785

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1175

End Date:

1274

Date Range:

4th quarter of the 12th century-3rd quarter of the 13th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 160 x 115 mm [Part 1]; 160 x 115 mm [Part 2]; 160 x 120 mm [Part 3]; 145-155 x 120 mm [Part 5] (text space: 110 x 80 mm [Part 1]; 110 x 70 mm [Part 2]; 110 x 80 mm [Part 3]; 115 x 80 mm [Part 4]).

Foliation: ff. 98* + 157 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning and 2 at the end); f. 98* is a piece of parchment bound after f. 98 with liturgical annotations written in an English cursive hand; 1 unfoliated parchment stub after f. 106.

Script: Gothic cursive, written above top line [Part 1]; Gothic, written below top line [Parts 2, 3, and 4].

Binding: British Museum in-house; green half leather with the Harleian arms gold stamped on the outside covers.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), II (1808), pp. 482-84 (no. 956).

Sarah M. Horrall, 'Thomas of Hales, O.F.M.: His Life and Works', Traditio, 42 (1986), 287-298 (p. 294) [without this manuscript].

Greti Dinkova-Brun, 'Notes on Poetic Composition in the Theological Schools ca. 1200 and the Latin Poetic Anthology from Ms. Harley 956: A Critical Edition', Sacris Erudiri, 43 (2004), 299-391.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot of Clairvaux, ?1090-1153,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000120962264,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/59875293
Hugh of Saint-Victor, c 1096-1141,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121201563,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/9865788
Raymond of Peñafort, Saint, Dominican friar and canonist, ?1175-1275
Thomas of Hales, Franciscan friar and ecclesiastical writer, c 1250,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000391406825,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/285275142

Places:

England