Harley MS 3768

Theological Miscellany relating to the Great Schism and including John of Wales, Communiloquium; after 1432. Latin and Middle English. Copy. Imperfect. This miscellaneous MS. contains material relating to the Great Schism and to the power of the pope and ecclesiastical councils. It can be dated after 1432 as it includes (f. 173) material from the Council of Basel bearing that date. The cataloguing of the MS. was funded by the Wellcome Trust and only John of Wales' treatise is itemised here. The MS. includes: - (1) John of Wales, Communiloquium sive Summa collationum ad omne genus hominum (ff. 1-127v; item 1); - (2) Nicholas Trevet, De officio missae (ff. 128-155); - (3) Pierre d'Ailly, De reformacione ecclesie (ff. 167-173v); - (4) Nicholas Fakenham, Determinatio de sedando schismate (ff. 188-196), for which see F. Bliemetzrieder, 'Traktat des Minoritensprovinzials von England Fr. Nikolaus de Fakenham (1395) über das grosse abendländische Schisma', Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 1 (1908), pp. 577-600, and 2 (1909), pp. 79-91; - (5) idem, Conclusiones et Quaestiones (ff. 196-196v), edited from this MS. in M. Harvey, 'Two 'Questiones' on the Great Schism by Nicholas Fakenham, O.F.M.', Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 70 (1977), pp. 97-127. Owned and annotated in brown or red ink (passim) in the 17th cent. by Samuel Knott (d. 1687), rector of Combe Raleigh and priest of Broad Hembury, co. Devon. Later owned by Robert Burscough (1650/51-1709), prebendary of Exeter in 1701, archdeacon of Barnstaple in 1703, rector of Cheriton Bishop in 1705, his MS. no. 40: see Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ in unum collecti … (Oxford, 1697), t. ii, pt. i, p. 233, no. 7659. For Burscough see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Acquired with other MSS. by Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, from Burscough's widow on 17 May 1715, as noted by Harley's librarian, Humfrey Wanley (1672-1726), on f. 1: for the negotiation preceding the purchase, see C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), i, p. 11 n. 6. For the provenance see also C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 88, 211, 435. Passed on to Robert Harley's son, Edward (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. Bequeathed with the Harleian library to Edward's widow, countess Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (1694-1755), during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785), duchess of Portland. Sold with the other Harley manuscripts 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 Harleian manuscripts became part of the collections of the British Library on its establishment in 1973. Harley shelfmarks '120.A.10 / 3768' in black ink and '20/I C' in pencil on f. i. The MS. is described in the A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (London, 1808-1812), iii, pp. 59-60.

Paper; ff. ii+235+ii. Modern foliation in pencil '1-235' (followed here; ff. 155v, 202v, 227 blank; ff. 228-235 damaged with partial loss of text). circa 273 x 200mm. Gatherings: i-x⁸, xi^8-1 (eighth missing), xii-xvii⁸, xviii^8-1 (fourth missing), xix⁸, xx^8-3 (sixth-eighth excised), xxi-xxv⁸, xxvi^8-1 (eighth cancelled), xxvii-xxviii⁸, xxix², xxx^8-1 (eighth cancelled), xxxi⁸, with horizontal catchwords. Written in black ink in cursive English gothic book hands ((littera cursiva libraria formata - Anglicana) by John Bobych in Exeter, his signed colophons on ff. 127v, 153, 155 ('scriptum Oxon.'), 187v, 217v, 220v; the same scribe also copied Oxford, Bodl. Library, Wood Empt. 15. Large initials (2-6 lines; ff. 1-155, 221, 228) in blue with penwork decoration and border extensions in red and blue; rubrics in red; paragraph marks (ff. 1-155) in alternating blue and red also for running titles. British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Contents relating to medicine as follows:

1. ff. 1-127v. Johannes Vallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa collationum ad omne genus hominum; after 1432. Latin. Copy. A vast handbook for preachers by John of Wales [alias John Wallensis or John Walleys] (d. 1285), Franciscan friar and theologian, including guidelines for a regimen of health. Inc. 'Cum doctor siue paedicator euangelicus sapientibus et insipientibus debitor sit', expl. 'studeat gracia salvatoris illuminan/te ad invenire / Explicit tractatus qui dicitur communeloquium / editus a fratre Johanne Wallense de ordine fratrum / minorum sacre theologie doctore, scriptus / per manus Johannis Bobych cancellaro scriptoris / Qui scripsit carmen sit benedictus Amen'. The text is divided into seven books. The MS. is not listed in J. Swanson, John of Wales. A Study of the Works and Ideas of a Thirteen-Century Friar (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 233-256. For the author and his text, see also R. Sharpe, A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland before 1540 (Turnhout, 1997; Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin, 1), pp. 337-338, with further bibliography. Keywords: regimen of health; diet.

Theology LATIN: John Bobych: Miscellany rel. to theology and the Great Schism , copied in Exeter by John Bobych: after 1432: Lat: Copy.

includes:

• ff. 1-127v Theology LATIN: Medicine and Surgery: John Walleys, alias Wallensis; Franciscan: Communiloquium sive Summa collationum ad omne genus hominum by John Walleys: after 1432: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 128-155 Theology LATIN: Nicholas Trevet: De officio missae by Nicholas Trevet: after 1432: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 188-196, 196-196v Theology LATIN: Nicholas Fakenham, d 1407 OFM: Determinatio de sedando schismate, followed by Conclusiones et Quaestiones by Nicholas Fakenham: after 1432: Lat: Copy.