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Royal MS 8 A XXI

Record Id:

040-002106311

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-002105724

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000277.0x0002c0

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Royal MS 8 A XXI

Title:

Theological miscellany

Scope & Content:

THEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS, in Latin, perhaps connected with St. Peter's Abbey at Gloucester, viz. :-

ff. 4r-16v: De contemptu mundi (also known as De monachis or De vita monachorum), 'Quid deceat monachum vel qualis debeat esse'. ecllIt has been less improbably assigned to Roger of Caen (Hauréau's Not. el Extr. i, p. 78) or to Nigel Wireker (Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 691); but a Rouen MS. (Omont's Catalogue, no. 670) gives it the title 'Claudianus ad monachos', which might be interpreted as meaning that it is the work of a Gloucester monk (cf. art. 3, below).

2. Verses (125 hexameters), of unknown authorship, on the symbolism of the offices of the church. Most of them occur in Cotton MS. Vesp. D. III on the flyleaves (ff. 211-212); cf. also Hauréau, Mélanges podtiques d'Hildebert (Paris, 1882), p. 214. Beg. 'Matutinali dampnatur tempore Christus'. f. 16.

3. ff. 17r-: 'Tractatus quidam de penitencia et de virtutibus et viciis' (so table of contents): a Summa compiled from many authors, including Chrysostom, Jerome, Bede, Alcuin, Angelomus, Anselm, Petrus Cantor, and 'Osbernus Pinnoc'. The last is the Gloucester monk whose works are in 6 D. IX and two of the rather numerous excerpts from his commentaries on the Old Testament will be found there at ff. 113, 115. Beg. 'Circa penitentiam quatuor sunt inquirenda'; ends (apparently) 'nullatenus consistit'. f. 17.

4. Commonplaces from Petrus Lombardus and elsewhere. Beg. 'Cum uenit plenitudo [Gal. iv. 4]: Tempus plenitudinis'[Sent. iii, cap. i]. f. 84.

5. The so-called Summa S. Hieronymi de Essentia et Invisibilitate et Immensitate Dei, a tract on the sense in which corporeal attributes are applicable to God (cf 5 A. XII, art. 6, &c.). Incomplete or shorter than the printed texts. Without title. Beg. 'Omnipotens deus pater et filius et spiritus sanctus unus atque trinus', and ends (Migne, xlii. i205) 'mandata mea an non'. f. 85.

6. Commentary on some passages in Ecclesiastes. Beg. 'Omnia flumina intrant in mare [Eccl. i. 7], id est omnes homines'. f. 88 b.

7. Distinctiones and commonplaces of theology. Beg. 'Exaltatus est Christus in incarnatione'. f. 93.

8. Homily in the form of a dialogue between a Bene. dictine monk and the Deity. Beg. 'Dominus dicit in euangelio Negociamini dum uenio [Luke xix. 13], quia nisi in hoc seculo'. f. 98.

9. Further distinctiones and commonplaces. Nearly all these notes, like artt. 4-8, are written continuously with art. 3; but the last page (f. 104) belongs to the next quire and is in a different hand. Beg. 'Tribus de causis precipue reseruauit dominus cicatrices'. f. 99 b.

10. 'Incipit liber de miseria condicionis humane editus a Lothario diacono cardinali sanctorum Sergii et Bachi martyrum, qui postea Innocencius tercius dictus est': the three books De Contemptu Mundi of Pope Innocent III, written before his accession, dedicated to Peter, Cardinal-bishopof Porto 1190-1211 (ib. ccxvii.

701). As compared with the printed text this MS. has the same transpositions as 7 D. xvii (art. 5) and one other (lib. i, capp. vi and vii following cap. viii), which appears also in 13 A. XIV. Prologue beg. 'Domino patri karissimo P. . . . modicum ocii'; and text, 'Quare de uulua malris, &c. [Jer. xx. 18]: Si talia de se locutus est'. f. 104 b.

11. 'Tractatus breuis de coloribus rethorice cum exemplis eorumdem versificatus notabilis' (so table of contents): the Liber de Ornamentis Verborum of Marbodus, Bishop of Rennes 1096-1124? (ib. clxxi. 1687). The text differs from the edition, including examples in prose as well as poetry. The order of the lines in the epilogue is also different. The title is mutilated. Beg. 'Uersificaturo quedam tibi tradere curo'. f. 114 b.

12. 'Tractatulus versificatus de allegoriis euangeliorum paruus' (so table of contents): moralizations, in hexameter or elegiac verse, not only on the Gospels but also on Old Testament history. Nearly all are printed, though in a different order, among the works of Hildebert, Bishop of Le Mans 1097, Archbishop of Tours 1125-1133 (ib. clxxi. 1263, 1273, 1440). The authorship, however, is doubtful. Beg. 'Dat magus aurum, thus, mirram, rex suscipit aurum'. f. 116b.

13. Rhyming verses (6 x 4 + 2 lines) on the Crusades. Beg. 'Quisquis gerit ita cru[cem] 'Uel per noctem uel per lu[cem]'. f. 119.

14. A diagram of some game played on a board of 64 squares. On the board are sixteen pieces, four being similarly placed on each quarter of the whole board, viz. on the corner squares of each such quarter, top left and right miles and domina, bottom left and right armiger and generosa. These names are in a hand of 14th-15th cent. f. 119.

15. 'Incipit liber sentenciarum de diuersis uoluminibus, uel sic, Incipit liber scintillarum': the compilation attributed to Defensor (see 6 D. V, 7 C. IV, and, for other suggested authors, 8 B. XVIII). Preceded by a table of 81 chapters (as in 7 C. IV). Beg. 'Dominus dicit in Evangelio Maiorem caritatem'. f. 119 b.

16. 'Hic pauca incipiunt de uiciis et peccatis apostrapha' : the same additions to the above from Ecclesiasticus and Isidore as in the older MS. 7 C. iv, art. 2 (cf. 6 D. V, art. 3). Beg. 'Omnis plaga tristicia cordis est'. At the end after the words 'in rebus pessimis' is added 'Leo Papa. Qui alios ab errore non reuocat, seipsum errare demonstrat. Liber scintillarum explicit'. f. 150 b.

17. 'Tractatulus super ps. 44, Eructauit, et versu Speciosus forma' (so table of contents): an exposition of Ps. xliv. 3, 9, 10 (xlv. 2, 8, 9). Beg. 'Specious forma pre filiis hom., &c.: Speciosus speciosior speciosissimus'. f. 152.

18. Seventeen rhyming hexameters de misericordia, the same rhyme running throughout. Beg. 'Dum poteris, miser, o miseris cur non misererts'. f. 153 b.

19. 'Tractatus de racionali misteriorum misse' (so table of contents): two tracts written continuously and without title, viz.:-(a) The Expositio Canonis Missae of Odo, Bishop of Cambrai 1105-1113 (Migne, clx. 1055, cf. 11 B. II, art. 13). The preface is wanting. Beg. 'Quia dignum et iustum est equum et salutare'. f. 154;-(b) Part (capp. ii-x with some considerable alterations) of the tract De Canone Mystici Libaminis, printed in the Appendix to the works of Hugo de S. Victore (ib. clxxvii. 455) as by john of Cornwall, the true author of which is probably (see Hauréau in Notices et Extraits, 1876, xxiv, Pt. ii, p. 145) Richard, a Premonstratensian monk of Wedinghausen (cf. 8 A. XI, art. 2, 8 A. XV, art. 5). Beg. 'In primo ordine canonis tria apponimus'. f. 157 b.

20. Theological commonplaces, including a note on the interpretation of Hebrew names, which beg. 'Iesus Ebraicum nomen est et interpretatur Latine saluator'. f. 160.

21. 'Tractatus ad docendum ordinem sacre scripture compendiosus et vtilis' (so table of contents): apparently an extract from some larger work. Beg. 'Accedentibus ad diuinam scripturam primo considerandum est que sit'. At the end are some other theological notes. f. i6o b.

22. 'Sermo super illud euangelii Iohannis Verbum caro factum' (so table of contents): a sermon beg. 'Verbum caro, &c. : Inuoluta malis et de malis in mala'. f. 162.

23. 'Tractatus ad probandum resurrectionem' (so table of contents): a brief tract beg. 'Triste nimis et ualde lugubre' and ending 'sola est in miraculis racio potencia facientis'. f. 162 b.

24. Distinctiones, beg. 'Homo suggestione temptatur'. f. 163 b.

25. 'Questiones et soluciones' or (as in table of con. tents) 'Dubitanda super sermocinacione sacre scripture cum solucionibus'. Beg. 'Apostolus dicit Plus (sic) omnibus laboraui. Si distributiue'. f. 166.

26. 'Formula honeste vite', by Martinus, Bishop [of Braga in Portugal, d. 58o]. With prefatory letter to King M[iro] of the Suevian monarchy in Spain. Printed in Migne, lxxii. 21, and in Senecae Opera, ed. F. Haase (Teubner Series, I8S3), iii, p. 468. Other copies are in 5 A. VI, art. 7, 5 E. IV, art. 3, 8 C. IV, art. 3, 8 E. XVII, art. 3, 8 F. XIV, art. 14, 10 A. XII, art. 18. Prologue beg. Gloriosissimo et tranquilissimo, &c. Non ignoro'; text, 'Quatuor uirtutum species'. f. 168.

27. 'Liber qui tractat de difficilibus verbis in veteri testamento secundum grammaticam' (so table of contents): a tract imperfect at the beginning, most of f. 170 being torn away. In several cases the French equivalents are given. The note on 'inquilinus' gives as an example 'scolares Anglici qui Parisius student inquilini sunt'. Leviticus beg. 'In manibus uestris se sponte Leuiticus offert. Absque macula'. Maccabees ends 'unde topica localia dicuntur'. f. 170.

28. Brief extracts from various Fathers. Beg. 'Beda. Humiles spiritu quo magis humiliantur'. f. 184.

29. 'Liber qui intitulatur Synonima Ysydori vel soliloquia Sancti Ysydori' (so table of contents). printed in Migne, lxxxiii. 825 (cf. 5 E. I, art. 2, &c.). The 'prologus alter' of Migne is wanting, but a space was left between the prologue and text, which has been filled with excerpts like those of art. 28. Prologue beg. 'In subsequenti hoc libro qui nuncupatur synonima'; text, 'Anima mea in angustiis est'. Colophon, 'Explicit liber secundus Soliloqu[i]orum Sancti Ysidori'. f. 184b.

30. 'Notabilia' (so table of contents): theological commonplaces. Beg. 'Omnibus omnia est qui omnia administrat'. f. 197.

31. 'Epistole Eleberti (sic) Folyet numero 40' (so table of contents): letters of Gilbert Foliot, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop (1147) of Hereford and (1163) of London. The first leaf is torn away, but the collection originally comprised the following (Giles' numbers), 81, 2-8, 10-40, 80. The MS. was used by Giles for his edition (repr. in Migne, cxc. 745); cf. also Robertson's Materials for the Life of Becket (Rolls Series), vvii. f. 206.

32. 'Hic incipiunt distinctiones secundum alfabetum': an incomplete work comprising only A and part of B and C. Beg. 'Quare anima Christi dicatur unica. Propterimmunitatern'. f. 213.

33. Gnomic verses, sixteen hexameters, added in a hand Of circ. 1300. Beg. 'Contra uerbosos noli contendereuerbis'. f. 226.

f. 228r: A partially legible Latin text about confession.

On the fly-leaves and margins are:-(a) Memorandum that Securitatem pacis inuenit T. S. in cancell. dni. Regis, ut rememoratur in rotulo magistri Shelford quindecima Trinitatis, anno Regis Henrici Sexti xiii' [1435]. f. 1 b;-(b) English verses, two seven.

line stanzas, on food and drink, in a 15th cent. hand. Beg. 'With litill fode content ys nature'. f. 1 b;-(c) A couplet, 15th cent., on the tests of wine, beg. Hec sunt in vino tria perpendenda valore'. f. 16 b;-(d) Two lines of Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis', probably one known, being in a hand of the beginning of the 17th or end of the 16th cent., viz. 'Fayer flowers that are not gathered in there prime / Rot and consume themselves in littill Tyme' (see Furnivall, Shakspere Allusion-

Book, i, p. 216). f. 153 b. In the same hand are the following:-

Seventeenth-century inscription 'John Corbin' (f. 27r); 'W Coederay [William Couderay?] and his mother and his mises brother rain in the' ; 'Loving friend T hollmas'; 'James Howell son' (f. 69r); To my loving father John Corbin (f. 90r); 'To my loving father John Corbin att his house' (f. 93v, f. 94v); 'Loving Cosen Thomas Tayler my kind love remembere' (f. 115v); 'To my loving Cosen Thomas Tayler living at the George at Alsebury' (f. 116r, f. 184r));

(e) Two lines, 'Man, thy mirth haue measure in thy mynd; / For measure is treasure when mirth is at an ende', for which cf. Miss Toulmin Smith's A Commonplace Book of the Fifteenth Century, 1886, p. 14. f. 223;-(f) Scribbled names, &c., including 'James Howell son', 'To my louing father John Corbin', 'To my louing cosen Thomas Tayler liuing att the George at Alsebury' [Aylesbury, co. Bucks?], and texts of Scripture in English. ff. 69, 93 b, 116, 184. Vellum; ff. 228. 8 in. x 51/2 in. XIII cent. Gatherings of 6 to 12 leaves, numbered at the beginning or end. Sec.fol. 'si mansura'. Initials in red, blue and green. Belonged to Thomas Evans (f. 227), afterwards to john Theyer. Theyer sale-cat. no. 2a8; CMA. 6475.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Royal Collection

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002105724
040-002106311

Is part of:

Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts

Royal MS 8 A XXI : Theological miscellany

Hierarchy:

032-002105724[0544]/040-002106311

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

Parchment codex

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1200

End Date:

1299

Date Range:

13th century

Era:

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Physical Characteristics:

Dimensions: 195 × 135 mm (written area 152 × 93 mm).

Foliation: ff. 228 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Gothic.

Binding: British Museum.

Custodial History:

Information About Copies:

Full digital coverage: Digitised Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/manuscripts/.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Neckam, Alexander, scholar and abbot of Cirencester, 8 Sep 1157-31 Mar 1217

Related Material:

From George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson,Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royaland King’s Collections , 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), I, pp. 216-18:

'THEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS, in Latin, perhaps connected with St. Peter's Abbey at Gloucester, viz. :-

1. 'Liber metricus de contemptu mundi admonachos specialiter' (so table of contents in a late '4th cent. hand on f. 2): the elegiac poem, of uncertain authorship, formerly attributed to S. Anselm, Alexander Neckam (both suggested here in a 17th cent. hand), and others. It has been less improbably assigned to Roger of Caen (Hauréau's Not. el Extr. i, p. 78) or to Nigel Wireker (Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 691); but a Rouen MS. (Omont's Catalogue, no. 670) gives it the title 'Claudianus ad monachos', which might be interpreted as meaning that it is the work of a Gloucester monk (cf. art. 3, below). Printed in Migne, Patr. Lat. clviii. 687, and by T. Wright, Satirical Poems, ii, p. 175. Other copies are in Cotton MSS. Calig. A. XI, f. 207, Vesp. D. XIX, f. 25 (both shorter), and Add. MS. 16608, f. 314. About 750 lines. Beg. 'Quid deceat monachum uel qualis debeat esse'; ends 'cetera pondus habent. Explicit iste liber quem cura'. f. 4. At the foot of ff. 5b, 6 are six hexameters, perhaps in the same hand as the text, on casus reservati. Their origin mayperhaps be found in Grosseteste's Templum Domini (see 5 A. I, f. 100 b, 5 F. XV, f. 56, and 6 E. I, f. 12). Beg. 'Deditus usuris, faciens incendia, testis'.

3. 'Tractatus quidam de penitencia et de virtutibus et viciis' (so table of contents): a Summa compiled from many authors, including Chrysostom, Jerome, Bede, Alcuin, Angelomus, Anselm, Petrus Cantor, and 'Osbernus Pinnoc'. The last is the Gloucester monk whose works are in 6 D. IX, above, and two of the rather numerous excerpts from his commentaries on the Old Testament will be found there at ff. 113, 115. Beg. 'Circa penitentiam quatuor sunt inquirenda'; ends (apparently) 'nullatenus consistit'. f. 17.