Harley MS 5436

This manuscript contains a collection of theological works written in the 15th century. It also contains fragments from other manuscripts that have been reused as flyleaves for this manuscript. Among these are two previously unidentified leaves from Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon, which survives in more than one hundred manuscripts. They also include fragments from much rarer philosophical texts, clearly originating from another manuscript. These include sections of the Sophismata of Richard Kilvington [Kylmington] (b. c. 1305, d. 1361), and a text apparently derived from De Scire et Dubitare by William Heytesbury (d. 1372/3). The former has been identified in 20 manuscripts; for another copy, see Royal MS 12 F XIX, ff. 153r-174v; on the manuscript tradition see Kretzmann and Kretzmann, The Sophismata of Richard Kilvington (1990), pp. xv-xix. The latter is known to survive in about 10 manuscripts (see 'William Heytesbury', in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [published online 19 January 2018] [accessed 13 August 2021].

Contents:

ff. 5r-36r: 'Tabula super Bibliam'.

ff. 36v-40v: Origen, Sermon on St Mary Magdalen; ending with a 'Nota condiciones boni sacerdotis'; beginning: 'Sis castus iustus sanctus sobriusque benignus / Recta docens bene disponens sine fastu'.

ff. 41r-136v: Gulielmus Brito, Expositiones Vocabulorum Biblie, beginning: 'Frater Ambrosius etc. Ad evidentiam huius epistolae quam scribit'.

ff. 137r-150r: Honorius of Autun, Elucidarium (attributed to William of Coventry by an early modern hand).

ff. 150v-152v: Pseudo-Seneca, Epistola ad Paulum et invicem.

f. 152v: An astronomical circular diagram, showing the months and their constellations, with above a legend for the letters 'a' (attractiva), 'd' (digestiva), 'e' (expulsiva), and 'r' (retractiva).

The manuscript contains several additions:

ff. 1r-1v: A fragment of Richard Kilvington's Sophismata; Sophisma 21-23: 'beginning: 'A incipit intendere aliquam partem proportionalem in B'; and ending: 'Et hoc est oppositum secundae partis sophistmatis'.

ff. 2r-3v: A fragment of Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon, beginning: 'ut describerent et mensurarent terras aquas nemora plana concava montes colles atque itinerarium maritimumque'; and ending: 'Hij domos non edificant sed per vastam solitudinem vagantes tabernacula inhabitanta de praedis et venacionibus victum'; written in the 15th century.

ff. 4r-4v: A fragment of (?) William Heytesbury De Scire et Dubitare [a fragment of Chapter 2 of his Regulae solvendi sophismata]; beginning: 'absque hesitatione et consideras utrum percipias'; with two added notes in Latin; written in the 15th century.

f. 5r (lower margin): A title inscription: 'Tractatis Theologicus ordine Alphabetico'; added in the (?) 17th century.

f. 137r (upper margin): A title inscription: 'Pars Elucidarij Guil. Coventr: I'; added in the (?) 17th century.

ff. 153r-156v: A fragment of Richard Kilvington's Sophismata; Sophisma 1-14, beginning: '[A]d utrumque dubitare potentes facile speculabimur verum et falsum, ut dicit Aristoteles'; ending: 'alio modo potest intelligi sic: facilius est cicius'; written in the 15th century.

Decoration:

Simple large (2- or 3-line) or small (1-line) initials in red, one with a hybrid creature (f. 30v), one with penwork decoration in brown ink (f. 36v). Capitals (1 line) highlighted in red. Rubrics, underlining, and paraphs in red ink. Catchwords occasionally in frames of red ink. A full-page astronomical circular diagram in brown ink with text and numerals in brown and red ink (f. 152v). Decorated frames for catchwords in brown and red ink, some representing banderols.