Royal MS 13 C VIII

MIRACLES of King Henry the Sixth, in Latin: a collection made by, or at the instance of, John Morgan, Dean of Windsor (1485-1496) and Bishop of St. Davids (1496-1504), and translated into Latin at his request by an anonymous monk. The translator's original copy, with many verbal corrections, and evidently compiled and continued at various times. Contents: 1. Dedication, without title or writer's name, but evidently addressed to Bishop Morgan (see below). Beg. 'Cum acceperis epistolam hanc, magister venerande'. f. 1.

2. 'Salutacio gloriosi militis Christi Henrici regis Anglie sexti cum oraciuncula brevi.' Beg. 'Salve, miles preciose, Rex Henrice gencrose'. The prayer beg. 'Salus et saluator omnium (&c.), qui dilectum famulum tuum regem Henricum variis tribulacionum pressuris opprimi voluisti'. f. 1 b.

3. 'Exemplar epistole a pauperculo quodammonacho olim directe ad preclarum virum dom. Iohannem Morgan, tunc decanum capelle collegialis castri de Wynde. sore, modo vero episcopum Meneuensem, cum infrascriptis quibusdam beati regis Henrici miraculis.' Beg. 'Eternam in Christo lesu quam sibimet salutem'. The writer states that he had received from Dean Morgan, by the hand of his friend Richard Combe [who is wrongly described in Casley's Catalogue as author of the whole work] several narratives in English of miracles wrought in the name of Henry VI (since his death), with a request that he should translate them into Latin. The dean's answer follows (f. 3 b), beg. 'Indeficientis votiua salutis preconia'; dated at Windsor, 2 January, s.a. f. 2.

4. Preface to the collection of miracles, by the translator. Beg. 'Solet plerumque lassascenti stomacho'. The preface implies that one object of the collection was that it might be submitted to the judgement of the rulers of the Church. f. 4 b.

5. Collection of 28 miracles, preceded by a table of contents. The date and circumstances of the miracles, and the names of the persons concerned, are minutely recorded. The dates are from 1481 to 1490. f. 6.

6. Second collection of miracles' preceded by a table of contents containing 67 miracles (ff. 27, 28, 32), and a prologue (f. 30), beg. 'Quanta ex florigero diuine plenitudinis agro'. The prologue states that this is a selection from about 300 miracles recorded (in English) in a book kept at Windsor, to which the reference is given in each case. This is followed by a dedicatory epistle (presumably to Bishop Morgan), beg. 'Quicquid gratie est in presente' (f. 33), and by a single miracle, which is not in the table of contents (f. 34 b); after which the first 30 out of the 67 narratives in the table follow in order; then (after 11 blank pages) the rest of the 67, and 38 which are not in the table. The dates are generally not given, but the year 1484 is mentioned. f. 26.

7. Third collection of miracles, 24 in number, numbered consecutively with those in the first collection (art. 5); preceded by a table of contents. In the margin are two other numerations, one applying to this collection alone, and the other a consecutive numeration (with some errors) of all three collections. These miracles belong to the first seven years of the reign of Henry VII (1485-1492). f. 86.

8. Fourth collection of 16 miracles, preceded by a table of contents, which, however, gives only the first 13. The last is dated in July, 1500. f. 101. The collection was probably compiled in connexion with the attempt made in the time of Henry VII to secure the canonization of Henry VI. It was evidently submitted to some authority for examination, for in the margin of many of the miracles are notes, in a different hand, such as 'probatum', 'non reperitur', 'non probatum', 'nullius effectus', which imply that some attempt had been made to test the evidence. It does not appear ever to have been published, but reference is made to it (and apparently to this identical MS.) by N. Harpsfield in his Historia Ecclesiastica, saec. xv, cap. 5. Harpsfield mentions both the original collection in English by Dean Morgan and Oliver King (Bishop of Exeter) and the Latin translation by a monk, whose name he had been unable to ascertain. He summarizes the contents of the book, and adds: 'Id etiam in hoc volumine observo, fuisse delectos quosdam qui post ista omnia quae commemoravimus exactiorem quandam de novo inquisitionem facerent, et tam eorum qui beneficium aliquod huiusmodi sensere, quam idoneorum testium iuramentis, qui rebus gerendis interfuere, rem omnem exquisitissime excuterent. Quod in multis praestari non potuit, qui aut interim obiere aut commode reperiri non potuere'. A possible author is John Blakman, a Carthusian monk, author of the short treatise 'De virtutibus et miraculis Henrici VI' printed in Hearne's Duo Rerum Anglicanarum Scriptores Veteres, 1732, i, p. 287. Paper ; ff. 112. 12³/₈ in. x 8¹/₂ in About A. D. 1500. Gatherings irregular. Belonged to Archbishop Cranmer and [John, Lord] Lumley (f. i). Lumley cat. f. 196; cat. of 1666, f. 6; CMA. 8079.