Royal MS 11 B III

THEOLOGICAL TRACTS, &c., in Latin, with a 14th cent. table of contents by a Bury librarian (f. 1), viz.:-

1. Constitution of Urban IV [11 Aug. 1264], instituting the festival of Corpus Christi (Potthast, Regesta, no. 18999). Beg. 'Transiturus'. f. 1 b.

2. Short tract or series of excerpts on the Eucharist, possibly imperfect at the beginning. Beg. 'Huius sacramenti figura precessit'; ends 'usque ad patriam reducit'. One passage (f. 4 b, col. 2, foot) is from Gennadius, De ecclesiasticis dogmatibus. f. 3.

3. Index rerum to artt. 5 and 7, spaced for many more entries than are actually made. f. 9.

4. Table of contents to art. 5, as in 10 B. 11, f. 5. Beg. 'Presens opus habet quinque partes'. f. 27.

5. 'Summa de virtutibus integra compilata per quendam fratrem predicatorem'(so table of contents): the work of Guillelmus Peraldus on the Virtues (cf. 10 B. II, art. 1). Preface beg. 'Cum circa vtilia studere'; text, 'Si separaueris preciosum a uili'. Ends 'celestem hereditatem. Tractatus virtutum explicit '. f. 29. Art. 6 is a subsequent insertion, in a charter-hand, on a blank half-page.

6. Miracle of the Virgin, Aves seen as roses (see Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, pp. 668, 672). Beg. 'Fllit quidam iuuenis in quadam prouincia'. f. 226.

7. 'Alia summa de viciis' (so table of contents): a work of uncertain authorship (cf. 8 A. X, art. 12). Beg. 'Primo videndum est quid sit peccatum'; ends 'adhuc agit quod plangit. Hec est finis operis. Deo sit laus et salus animabus. amen'. f. 226 b. An inserted slip which contain (f. 233 b) an omitted passage of the text of art. 7 has also upon it art. 8.

8. Miracie of the Virgin, sins outweighed by a drop of blood (see Cat. of Rom. ii, p. 685). Beg. 'Accidit quod quidam monachus'. f. 233.

9. Extracts from lives of SS. Eustace, Margaret, Denys (cf. art. 25), Christopher, Giles (f. 276 b), and Pantaleon, and from epist. liv of S. Jerome (Migne, xxii. 557). f.277.

10. 'De septem gradibus contemplacionis': a short tract probably by Robert Grosseteste (cf. 6 E. V, f. 124 b, 7 E. II, f. 377, 7 F. II, f. 106 b). Sometimes attributed to S. Bonaventura and printed in hisworks (ed. Peltier, 1868), xii, p. 183, but rejected by the Quaracchi editors, viii, p. cxiv. Without author's name. Beg. 'Contempla. tiuorum aquilinos obrutus'. f. 277.

11. 'Adaptaciones omnium sermonum in hoe libello contentorum prout competunt sabbatis dominicis et , feriis totius anni' (and afterwards) 'martiribus virginibus et confessoribus' : a table of references probably meant to accompany the summa in art. 5, although the references are vaguely given to subject-headings, e. g. 'capitulo de aspectu dei', 'capitulo de ambulacione', not to the numbered paragraphs of the text. f. 278.

12. S. Bonaventura, Lignum Vitae, or, as the later title gives it, 'Conpilatio de actibus Christi secundum Bonauenturam': a treatise on the Fruits of the Cross, followed by a corresponding drawing of the Crucifixion. Printed in S. Bonaventurae Opera (Quaracchi, 1898), viii, p. 68. The chapter-headings form a poem (I2 x 4 lines) beg. 'Iesus ex deo genitus', which is repeated (f. 289) in the margin of the drawing; and another (3 x 4 lines), beg. '0 crux, fructus saluificus', is contained on ff. 28i, 288 b. Extracts from other hymns ('Arbor decora', from 'Vexilla regis', and 'Nulla silua talem profert'), and texts are also appended to the drawing. Beg. 'Christo confixussum cruci: Verus dei cultor Christique discipulus'. f. 281.

13. 'Tractatus decustodia cordis': a treatise of which several different versions or editions exist. It is often attributed to the Dominican Gérard de Litge (fl. 1270), under whose name it is said to be printed (Hist. Litt. de la France, xix, P. 130), both in Latin and French. The attribution to Robert Grosseteste (Camb. Univ. MS. Ff. iii. 24) may be a confusion with the tract De lingua et corde. The tract here is probably an abridgement, and begins 'Preparate corda uesira domino: Nota vii. instructiones'; ends 'debet fabulam reputare'. Colophon, 'Explicit tractatus de doctrina cordis'. Other copies are in Arundel MS. 320 (incomplete, a text described as 'editus a Gwidone'), Harley MS. 3152 and Add. MS. 23924 (full text), Egerton MS. 832 (full text wth added preface by Martialis Masurier), Harl. MS. 106 (abridgement). A French translation of part of the tract is in a Paris MS. (Bibl. Maz. 788). The text is preceded by a tabular analysis. f. 289.

14. Sermon on Matth. v. 3. Beg. 'Beati Pauperes spiritu: Videndum quot modis'. f. 316 b.

15. 'Summa de decem mandatis': the work of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln (cf. 6 E. V, art. 15). Beg. 'Utdicitapostolus, Plenitudo legis'. f. 319 b. Art. i6 is inserted on a blank space.

16. Table of the Sacraments, their signs and significance. Beg. 'In baptismo sacramentum siue signum'. f. 328b. According to the 14th cent. table of contents (f. 1) and a 15th cent. note at foof of f. 328 b an article is lost here, viz. 'Quid tenendum sit de iv. libris sentenciarum'.

17. Tract on the Compotus or science of the Calendar, including many mnemonic verses, most of which are derived from the Massa Compoti of Alexander de Villa Dei. It is not, however, a mere commentary on that poem. Cf. also the treatises in Add. MS. 11872 (f. 137) and Harley MS. 2993 (f. 89, written probably circ. 1254 and attributed to 'mag. Bonus d[e] Lu[cc?]a'). Beg. 'Compotus est sciencia distinguens variaciones'. f. 329.

18. A few medical recipes and notes, one of which is quoted from Avicenna. f. 334.

19. 'Visio sancti Pauli' (cf. 8 B. X, art. 2, and Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 405). Beg. 'Interrogandum est quisprimus'. f. 334b.

20. 'Hic incipit forma confitendi siue interrogandi peccata mortalia secundum mag. Robertum [Grosseteste] Lincolniensem' [episcopum, 1235-1253]: a series of confessional questions of which variant copies are in 8 A. XV, art. 2, 8 B. X, art. 5, 8 C. VII, art. 15, 8 E. XVII, art. 5. Beg. 'Si locutus deum offendisti, quod est magna superbia'; ends 'si clericus contraxeris'. f. 335.

21. A similar form for self-examination. Beg. 'Si qua mihi fuerant de bonis'. f. 335 b.

22. Extracts from Seneca, viz. :-(a) 'De paupertate'; as printed by Haase, Senecae Opera (Teubner Ser. 1853), iii, p. 458 (cf. 15 C. II, art 5, and Add. MS. 34760, f. 118). Beg. 'Honesta, inquit Epicurus'. f. 337;-(b) 'De clemencia', from the two books De Clementia (ib. ii, p. 276). A fuller abridgement is in 10 A. XII, art. 19. Beg. 'Scribere de clemencia' ; ends 'propositum est'. f. 337 b;-(c) 'De beneficiis', from the seven books so entitled (ib. ii, p. i). Initium and ending as in the complete text. f. 338 b. Inserted at the foot of the page is:-

23. 'In vitis Patrum. Thaysis': life of S. Thais or Thaisis, an abridgement of that in 8 C. VI, art. 3 (Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxiii. 661). Beg. 'Legitur in uitis patrum quod fuit quedam meretrix'. f. 344.

24. 'Excerpta de tripartita historia': brief extracts from lib. i (capp. 1-9) of the work of Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (ib. lxix. 882-893). Beg. 'Aiunt te per diem quidem'. f. 344b.

25. 'In passione s. Dionisii': extract concerning the vision of S. Carpus from the life of S. Denys by Hilduinus, Abbot of S. Denys (814, d. 842), printed in Migne, cvi. 35. Beg. 'Cum essem aliquando secus Cretam'. f. 345.

26. Extracts from the romance of Barlaam and Josaphat (the Christianized life of Buddha). Described by Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 128. Beg. 'Qualiter persequebatur monachos. . . . Quidam regis archisa. trapa'. f. 345.

27. Note on Isaiah lv. 6. Beg. 'Querite dominum, &c. : His uerbis excitat propheta'. f. 349.

28. Table of the mystical significations of the feathers of the six wings of the cherubim (Isaiah vi. 2) as explained in the tract generally ascribed to Alanus de Insulis (Migne, CCX. 267), which is printed by Peltier among the works of S. Bonaventura (1868, xii, introd. p. xli), but is rejected by the Quaracchi editors (1898). viii, p. cxi. f. 349 b.

29. Notes on various texts, intended for sermons for Sundays from the eighth to the twenty-fifth after Trinity. Beg. 'Omnis arbor quenon, &c. : In scriptura comparatur frequenter homo'. f. 350.

30. Two hymns, in French, viz. :-(a) 27 stanzas on

the Passion, beg.'Ave duz Ihesii mon tres duz Seigneur'. There is another copy in Arund. MS. 288, f. 1. ff. 359, 361;-(b) On the Fifteen joys of the Virgin, beg. 'Recorder uoil la joie, primere'. f. 360 b. The name of the scribe of (b) is given, 'Frater Martinus me scripsit, cui Christus sitpropicius. Amen'.

31. Medical recipe for an ointmentcalled 'gratia dei'. f. 361 b.

Vellum; ff. 361. 101/4 in. x 71/4 in. Early XIV cent. Gatherings of 12 leaves (i⁸, ii²⁰, xx¹³, xxiii¹¹, xxviii⁸, xxx¹³). Sec.fol. 'homo in mortem' or (f. 29) 'nominat ratio'. Initials flourished in red and blue. The pages from f. 29 to f. 350 a have all been numbered and divided by letters (a-g) in a 14th cent. hand, probably for the purpose of the index in art. 3. Belonged to Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, 'Liber sancti Edmundi regis et martiris, si quis alienauerit anathema sit'. Press-mark v. 18 (see M. R. James, Abbey of S. Edmund, p. 81, no. 225); afterwards to [John, Lord] Lumicy. Lumley cat. f. 122; cat. of 1666, f. 4 b ; CMA. 8036, 8037.