Royal MS 7 D XV

SERMONS and 'Dicta' of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln 1235-1253, and other works, with letters and accounts relating to the Cistercian abbey of Revesby, co. Linc., viz.:-

1. 'Sermo venerabilis patris domini R. Grostest episcopi Linc. de signis celestibus'. This rubric introduces a series of about twenty-four sermons or dicta, most of which are attributed to Grosseteste. They include the following, according to the numeration of Grosseteste's works in 6 E. v (cf. 7 E. II and 7 F. II), viz. Dicta, nos. ii, f. 44, iv, f. 48 b, vi, f. 49 b, x, f. 8, xi, f. 8 b, xxi, f. 2 b, xliii, f. 9 b, 1, f. 42, lxxii, f. 40, lxxxvii, f. 39, cxix, f. 45 b, cxxxi, f. 34; Sermones, nos. i, f. 16 b, ii, f. 1, vi, f. 14, vii, f. 21 b, xiii, f. 15; and the memorial to Pope Innocent IV, f. 28 b. The last (cf. 6 E. v, f. 126, and Cotton MS. Vitell. C. xiv, f. 1), here called 'sermo ... habitus in concilio Lugdunensi' is printed in Edward Brown's appendix to Gratius' Fasciculus Rerum Expetendarum (London, 1690), p. 250. Some of the sermons are greatly abridged. Beg. 'Erunt signa in sole et luna, &c. : Signum dupliciter dicitur'. f. 1.

2. Sermon at a visitation. Beg. 'Visitans visitavi, &c. [Exod. iii. 16]: Vos audite parabolam seminantis. Verba vltimo posita'. f. Si.

3. Two sermons for festivals of the Virgin, viz. (a) For the Purification, beg. 'Optulerunt, &c.: Hodie celebrat ecclesia'. f. 55;-(b) Beg. 'Eleuata est nubes, &c. Num. x. [ii]: In quinta visione'. f. 57.

4. Copy of a letter from R[ichard de Gravesend] Bishop of London, to R[obert Burnell] Bishop of Bath and Wells, transmitting a letter of J[ohn Peckham], Archbishop of Canterbury, dated 'apud Montelabrum' (sic, for Mortlake), 22 Dec. 1291, transmitting two letters of Pope Nicholas IV, both dated 18 Aug 1291 (Potthast, nos. 23783, 23786), about the capture of Acre and the proposed fusion of the Templars and Hospitallers. Dat. Glastonbury, 26 Dec. 1291. Lat. f. 61.

5. Copy of a letter from P[hilip de Bedwinde] Abbot of Waverley [in co. Surrey], and A[dam ?], Abbot of Quarr [in the Isle of Wight], to the Cistercian abbots in the province of Canterbury, transmitting a letter of Thomas (sic, for Theobaldus, of Sancey), Abbot ot Citeaux, to enforce the duty of each house of twenty monks and upwards to send a scholar to Oxford with a bursa of 60s., dated 'tempore capituli generalis'. 1292. Lat. f. 64.

6. Sermon, probably for a general chapter, beg. 'Isti sunt due oliue, &c.: Ista uerba dicta sunt de Enoch'. f. 65.

7. Copies or forms of letters in Latin, viz.:-(a) Oliver [Sutton], Bishop of Lincoln (1280-1299), to the Abbot of Revesby, relating the penance he has imposed on Simon de Steping, a layman, for shooting at his servants at Claxeby grange [Claxby or Claxby Pluckacre, co. Linc.] and directing penance to be imposed on Simon de Thorn, a 'conversus' of Revesby, for instigating Simon of Steeping. Dated at Lafford [Sleaford] 22 June, 1291. f. 68;-(b) P., Abbot of M., to T[heobald], &c., for excuse from attending the Cistercian general chapter, having to attend the King of Scotland on business, n. d. [1286-1293]. f. 68 b;-(c) W., Abbot of X., to the same for similar excuse, being taken suddenly in on the journey, n.d. f. 69;-(d) Hugo, Abbot of Revesby, to the same for similar excuse, being detained by litigation in the King's court. f. 69 b;-(e) Power of attorney by Thomas filius W.. de X. to John de Harington, clerk, in a suit for lesser tithes brought against him by A., rector of B., the seal of the dean of Bolingbroke to be appended. f. 69 b.

8. Theological commonplaces. Beg. 'Sublimitas eius conuersa est in luctum, Macha. 1^o, Luctum vntigeniti fac tibi, jer. 6: Unigenitus dicitur praeter quem'. f. 70 b.

9. 'Meditaciones beati Bernardi abbatis' (so later title): the work, of uncertain authorship, sometimes called Hugonis de S. Victore Liber de Anima (Migne, Patr. Lat. clxxxiv. 485, cf. clxxvii. 165). Imperfect, ending in ch. x. For other copies see 6 B. XI, art. 9, &c. Beg. 'Multi multa sciunt et semetipsos nesciunt'. f. 75.

10. Fragments, originally part of the binding, of a roll of accompts of Revesby Abbey, for 1344-5 (?). Included is an entry 'pro reparacione horologli'. f. 83.

Vellum; ff. go. 6 in. x 41/4 in. End of XIII cent. Gatherings of 12 leaves (i¹³). Written in small charter-hands' Sec. fol.'Christi obfuscatus'. Initials in blue and red. Belonged to Revesby Abbey ('Liber de Revesby', f. 1), where it was seen by Leland (cf. Roy. App. 69, f. 8 b). Old Royal press-mark 'no. 837' (Westm. invent. of 1542, Add. MS. 25469, f. 25); cat. of 1666, f. 16; CMA. 7872 and 8173.

includes:

• ff. 83-90 Accounts: Compotus-roll of Revesby Abbey: 1345: Fragm.