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Royal MS 14 E III
- Record Id:
- 040-002107004
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x00009a
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 14 E III
- Title:
- Estoire del Saint Graal, La Queste del Saint Graal, Morte Artu
- Scope & Content:
-
The present manuscript contains the three texts from the Lancelot-Grail Prose Cycle: Estoire del Saint Graal, incomplete, incipit (f. 3r):' Chil ki la hauteche:..', breaking off (f.88v) at: 'en a touchier a ses..'; La Queste del Saint Graal, incipit (ff. 89r) 'A la veille de pentecouste...' and an abridged version of the Morte Artu, incipit(ff. 140r): 'Apres che que maistres Gautiers Map...' (an attribution to Walter Map), breaking off (f. 89) at 'non mie quil ait paour..' These are the three texts of a religious nature from the cycle, while those containing Lancelot's courtly exploits and the Merlin legend are omitted from this collection. The manuscript is connected in style to Additional 10292-10294 and to former Amsterdam, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, MS 1 (sold at Sotheby's, December 2010, lot 33), both containing Lancelot-Grail cycles.
Decoration:
116 miniatures in colours and gold, at the beginning of chapters, some with instruction (e.g., ff. 7r, 109r), or sketches (f. 20r) for illuminators. Partial bar borders with hybrid creatures, animals and human figures, at the beginning of each text (ff. 3r, 89r, 140r). Initials in gold with purple pen-flourishing, or in blue with red pen-flourishing, with pen-flourished extensions in blue and red. Initials in gold on blue and rose grounds with penwork decoration in white (ff. 140r-161v).
The subjects of the miniatures and historiated initials are:
f. 3r, Miniature of the author as a hermit prostrating himself before the altar with a chalice, and the Manus Dei blessing him. Historiated initial 'C'(hil) of a young man with a dog. Miniature of a hermit speaking with God, following the rubric, 'Ensi que dieus eu une nue parole an hermite qui est devant son autel'. Partial border containing two angels and the Virgin with Child, a tournament scene with knights and musicians, a hunting scene, animals and hybrids.
f. 6v, Hermit writing at a desk.
f. 7r, Christ crucified between the two thieves, with the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist, and Joseph of Arimathea collecting Christ's blood in a dish.
f. 9r, Caiaphas in a boat, being abandoned at sea by Vespasian in revenge for the death of Christ.
f. 9v, Joseph of Arimathea preaching to his followers.
f. 11r, Joseph of Arimathea and his followers speaking to a Saracen king.
f. 11v, King Eralac awakening his chamberlain to witness an apparition.
f. 14r, Joseph praying to God, kneeling beside his bed.
f. 14v, God speaking to Joseph of Arimathea and his companions.
f. 15v, Joseph of Arimathea before an altar, speaking to a man; behind them, a hand holds a cross above the altar vessels.
f. 17v, Joseph of Arimathea being consecrated by God as his first bishop.
f. 19r, A messenger bringing letters to Evalac in the presence of Joseph of Arimathea.
f. 20r, A battle scene as king Evalac besieges Tholomers in the castle of Valacin.
f. 21r, A knight riding away from a castle, watched by king Evalac.
f. 24v, Two kings on horseback with knights.
f. 25v, Joseph of Arimathea, his father, and others, speaking to queen Sarrachine, wife of Evalac.
f. 28r, A kneeling Ptolemy offering his sword to Evalac.
f. 30r, Joseph of Arimathea seated before an altar while an angel thrusts a spear into his leg; king Nascien and his queen stand by.
f. 32r, King Mordrain and queen Giseult in bed.
f. 33v, The swooning queen Seraquinted being revived by king Nasciens.
f. 34r, Mordrain sitting on a rocky island in the sea.
f. 36r, Mordrain talking with a white-clad man who has arrived in a ship.
f. 42r, Nascien being led out of prison by a flaming hand.
f. 43v, A knight bringing his son before the Duchess, wife of Nasciens.
f. 45r, Nasciens, asleep on the isle of Tourneant, having a vision of birds.
f. 51r, Nasciens boarding an unmanned ship.
f. 52v, Two ships full of heathen knights approaching the island where Celidoine is sheltering.
f. 57r, Celidoine being cast adrift by heathens in a dinghy without a sail or oars, with a lion for company.
f. 58r, Celidoine encountering two men in another ship.
f. 58v, Messengers asking for news of Nasciens' whereabouts at a castle.
f. 66v, The Duchess Flagentine supervising the building of the 'Judgement Tombs'. Joseph of Arimathea laying down his shirt on the water for 150 people who are pure of heart to cross the sea.
f. 67v, Joseph of Arimathea and his followers kneeling in prayer.
f. 68r, An admiral in a passing ship giving Nascien some food. Nascien greeting his companions in a boat.
f. 69r, Joseph of Arimathea talking to the pagan Duke Gahors about Christian belief.
f. 69v, Joseph of Arimathea disputing with a ruler, while a man lies nearby on the ground.
f. 72v, Joseph of Arimathea being thrown into prison by king Crudens. Knights in a boat with a king and ladies.
f. 74r, King Mordrain and Duchess Flagentine meeting Clamacides and Aaron near the castle of Caleph.
f. 76r, Crudens, having strangled his brother and his son, strangling his wife. Joseph of Arimathea supervising the digging of a grave for Symen.
f. 76v, Seven hands appearing from heaven and casting fire on Moys (Moses) where he sits at the table of the Grail beside Joseph of Arimathea.
f. 77v, Joseph of Arimathea and his companions at the table of the Grail, while Alain le Gros kneels before it in prayer. A Saracen temple being destroyed because of Joseph's prayer.
f. 78v, Joseph of Arimathea and his companions crossing a river, having seen an omen of a white stag with four lions.
f. 79v, Joseph of Arimathea and his companions in a castle, while Simeon burns in flames in the dungeon below.
f. 81r, Joseph of Arimathea standing before the twelve graves of Chanaam's murdered brothers.
f. 81v, Joseph of Arimathea standing before a man on his deathbed; Joseph of Arimathea and his companions standing before twelve graves.
f. 82r, Pieron arriving by boat on an island, where he is found by the daughter of Orcans, a Saracen knight.
f. 84v, Joseph of Arimathea crowning a king.
f. 85r, Galahad on horseback, having taken a wrong path in the forest, coming upon Symens in fiery torment in a ditch.
f. 85v, King supervising the building of a church; Joseph of Arimathea on his deathbed making a red cross on a white shield with his own blood as a momento for Mordrain.
f. 86r, Joseph of Arimathea on his deathbed, entrusting the Grail to Alain; Alain bringing the Grail before a formerly pagan king who is being baptised.
f. 87r, King Alphasein in his bed; Alphasein in a boat with companions.
f. 87v, The forces of Celidoines destroying the invading forces of Sesnes.
f. 88v, Lancelot removing the head of his decapitated grandfather, the king, out of a boiling well; a building collapsing on two knights.
f. 89, Miniature of Arthur and Guinevere seated at a banquet table surrounded by vassals, with Lancelot kneeling before them, requesting permission to leave the court; historiated initial with head of bishop wearing mitre. Miniature of Lancelot arriving at a nunnery, where he is disarmed. Partial border and margins with rebec players, jousting, grotesques, a man shooting an arrow at a butterfly, hanging heraldic devices, and other scenes in the margins, at the beginning of the Quest for the Holy Grail.
f. 90r, An ancient and holy wise man entering Arthur's banqueting hall.
f. 91r, Galahad withdrawing a sword from a floating marble block, while a mounted young woman arrives to question Lancelot.
f. 91v, The hermit Nascien appearing at Arthur's banquet, bearing the Grail under a cover.
f. 93v. Arthur bidding farewell to his knights as they set forth on a quest for the Grail.
f. 94r, Knight in white armour defeating king Bagdemagus; he tells the king's squire to take the shield to Galahad.
f. 94v, Mounted White Knight recounting the history of the shield to a mounted Sir Galahad.
f. 95r, Sir Galahad casting out a fiend from a tomb in the abbey.
f. 96r, Sir Melyas being defeated in battle by an unknown knight, who takes away the gold crown which Sir Melyas found on a chair.
f. 97r, Sir Galahad being given keys to the Maiden's Castle by an old monk.
f. 97v, Sir Gawain, Sir Gareth, and Sir Ywain killing the Seven Knights.
f. 98v, Duke's daughter bidding farewell to Sir Galahad.
f. 99r, Sir Lancelot falling asleep in a chapel where five candles burn; a wounded knight in a litter is cured by kissing the Grail when it appears.
f. 101v, Sir Percivale arriving at a hermitage and knocking on the door.
f. 109r, Sir Lancelot speaking with a hermit inside a building.
f. 115r, Armoured Sir Gawain riding with Sir Ector de Marys.
f. 118r, Armoured Sir Bors meeting a holy man who is riding an ass.
f. 120v, Sir Bors defeating Sir Prydam in combat, in order to avenge a noblewoman whose lands had been usurped.
f. 123v, Sir Lionel killing a hermit and Sir Colgrevaunce, while Sir Bors is staggering about, dizzy from blows given to him by Sir Lionel.
f. 125r, Sir Galahad wounding Sir Gawain in a tournament he has entered, in defense of knights of a castle unable to hold their own against a visiting party.
f. 125v, Sir Galahad, Sir Percivale, and Sir Bors in a ship with a noblewoman, encountering another ship bearing a crown and a sword.
f. 127v, God commanding Eve to love Adam.
f. 128r, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sitting beneath a tree grown from one of the branches of the Tree of Knowledge.
f. 130v, Sir Percivale finding a wallet with a letter giving an account of a ship containing a crown and a sword
f. 131r, Galahad, Sir Percivale and Sir Bors killing the hostile knights of Carteloyse Castle; they see a priest enter, carrying a vessel of holy wine.
f. 133v, A tempest destroying a castle as Sir Galahad and his companions approach it; Sir Lancelot finding the body of Sir Percivale's sister in a boat, together with an account of her life and death.
f. 134v, White Knight arriving at the ship where Lancelot and Galahad live.
f. 136v, Sir Galahad taking the dying king Mordrains into his arms inside a building.
f. 138v, The silver table of the Grail being carried to Sarras by Sir Galahad and his companions; a cripple who is helping them is miraculously healed.
f. 140r, Miniature of King Arthur dictating to a scribe. Historiated initial with head of monk wearing a cowl. Full bar border and margins with decoration including men and animals engaging in combat.
f. 142v, Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris with a wounded man.
f. 146r, Lancelot in conversation with a lady who is holding a small black and white dog.
f. 150r, Lancelot being offered a token glove by a lady and her two male companions.
f. 151v, Sir Patrice eating poisoned apples intended for Sir Gawain at Guinevere's banquet.
f. 152v, Mordred accusing the queen of treason as she sits at a table with Arthur.
f. 153v, Arthur and his attendants discovering a ship bearing the corpse of the Maid of Astrolat.
f. 155r, Guinevere kneeling before Sir Lancelot.
f. 156v, Sir Lancelot fighting Sir Mados to defend the honour of Guinevere before Arthur, Guinevere, and the court.
f. 158v, Lancelot defending the queen against hostile knights.
f. 159r, Knights grieving over the dead on a battlefield during Mordred's rebellion.
f. 161r, Arthur seated in council with his knights.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
Royal Manuscripts Digitisation Project - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
040-002107004 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 14 E III : Estoire del Saint Graal, La Queste del Saint Graal, Morte Artu - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1203]/040-002107004
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_14_E_III (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French, Old
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1310
- End Date:
- 1325
- Date Range:
- c 1315-1325
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
-
Letter of introduction required to use this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimensions: 485 x 335mm (text space: 345 x 245mm).
Foliation: ff. 162 (ff. 1, 2, 162 are medieval parchment flyleaves; + 2 unfoliated modern paper flyleaves at the beginning and 2 at the end).
Collation: i2 (ff. 1-2), ii-v (A-D)12 (ff. 3-50), vi(E)8 (ff. 51-58), vii(F)10 (ff. 59-68), viii(G)12 (ff. 69-80), ix(H)6 (ff. 81-86), x(J)2 (ff. 87-88), xi(K)12 (ff. 89-100), xii(L)10 (ff.101-110), xiii-xiv(M-N)12 (ff. 111-134), xv(O)10-1 (ff. 135-143), xvi(P)10 (ff.144-153), xvii(Q) 8 (ff.154-161). f. 139 at the centre of quire xv lacks its conjugate leaf, of which a stub remains. Catchwords at the end of quire xvii (f. 143v). Leaf signatures, e.g. li-liiii (ff. 101-104).
Layout: Written in three columns of 51 lines.
Script: Gothic.
Binding: Post-1600. Binding of brown leather with royal arms, 1757.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: France, N. (Saint-Omer or Tournai?)
Provenance:
Charles V (b. 1338, d. 1380), King of France: listed in the catalogue of his library at Louvre composed after his death in 1380, no. 277.
Charles VI (b. 1368, d. 1422), King of France: inherited by him with the Louvre Library: listed in the inventories of 1411, no. 186, 1413, no. 228 and 1424, no. 219 (see Léopold Delisle, ~Recherches sur la Librairie de Charles V~, 2 vols (Paris: Champion, 1907), II, no 1113).
John [John of Lancaster], Duke of Bedford (b. 1389, d.1435), Regent of France and Prince, probably purchased by him with the entire library of Charles V after Charles VI's death.
Sir Richard Roos of Gedney (d. 1482): inscribed, 'Cest livre est a moy Richard Roos chivaler', with a partially erased list of contents in his hand mentioning a text of 'Tristan'. The inscription is as follows, 'The begynnyng of the first boke of sangrealle endureth to the ende of the iiii xx viii lefe this sig[ne]... [an]d endureth to the commyng in of [L]auncelot / And after that the boke of Tristram and launcelot ... ben the boke of paper [and] the olde boke of parchment and after the mort darthur ahere of the begynnynge ys yn this same boke and [beginneth] at...'(f. 2v).
Eleanor Haute, niece of Sir Richard Roos, wife of Sir Richard Haute: inscribed 'Thys boke is myne dame Alyanor Haute' (f. 162r); bequeathed to her in Sir Richard's Roos will, proved 2 April 1482, and described as 'grete booke called saint Grall bounde in boordes coverde with rede leder and plated with plates of laten' (see Sutton and Visser-Fuchs 1995).
Elisabeth Woodville (b. c. 1437, d. 1492), wife of Edward IV (or Edward Woodville, her brother): inscribed, 'E. Wydevyll' (f. 162r), with her children's names 'Elysabeth, the kyngys dowter and Cecyl the kyngys dowter.' (f. 1r).
Jane or Joan Grey, Elizabeth's Woodville sister, wife of Anthony Grey de Ruthin, heir of the Earl of Kent (d. 1491): inscribed, 'Jane Grey' (f. 1r).
The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): included in the list of books at Richmond Palace of 1535, no. 93 as 'Le Saint Gral donne a la royne'.
Presented to the British Museum by George II in 1757 as part of the Old Royal Library.
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript on Digitised MSS http/www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
-
H. L. D. Ward and J. A. Herbert, Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1883-1910), I, H. L. D. Ward, pp. 341-42, 354-54.
George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), II, p. 140.
C. E. Wright, 'Paleography and Manuscripts', The Year's Work in Librarianship, 15 (1948), 248-66 (p. 257).
Michael Murjanoff, 'Handschriftliches aus Leningrad', Vox Romanica: Annales Helvetici Explorandis Linguis Romanicis Destinati, 24 (1965) 82-87 (p. 82).
Elisabeth Remak-Honnef, 'Text and Image in the Estoire del Saint Graal: A Study of London, British Library MS Royal 14. E. iii' (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1987).
Alison Stones, 'Another Short Note on Rylands French I', in Romanesque and Gothic: Essays for George Zarnecki, 2 vols (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell, 1987), I, pp. 185-92 (pp. 187-88).
Alison Stones, 'Indications écrites et modèles picturaux, guides aux peintres de manuscrits enluminés aux environs de 1300', in Artistes, artisans et production artistique au Moyen Age: Colloque international, ed. by. Xavier Barral i Altet, 3 vols (Paris: Picard, 1986-90), III: Fabrication et consommation de l'oeuvre, pp. 321-49 (pp. 325, 326, 332).
Julia Walworth, 'Tristan in Medieval Art', in Tristan and Isolde: A Casebook, ed. by Joan Tasker Grimbert (New York: Garland, 1995), pp. 255-300 (p. 291, pl. 14).
Janet Backhouse, 'Illuminated Manuscripts Associated with Henry VII and Members of his Immediate Family', in The Reign of Henry VII: Proceedings of the 1993 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by Benjamin Thompson (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1995), pp. 175-87 (p. 181).
Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, 'A 'Most Benevolent Queen': Queen Elizabeth Woodville's Reputation, her Piety and her Books', The Ricardian: Journal of the Richard III Society, 10 (1995), 214-45 (pp. 228-30).
The Mythical Quest: In Search of Adventure, Romance and Enlightenment, intro. by Penelope Lively (London: British Library, 1996), pls on pp. 82, 84, 85, 86.
Anne F. Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs, Richard III’s Books: Ideals and Reality in the Life and Library of a Medieval Prince (Stroud, Gloucestershire, Sutton, 1997), pp. 35, 223.
Martine Meuwese, 'Three Illustrated Prose Lancelots from the same Atelier', in Text and Image: Studies in the French Illustrated Book from the Middle Ages to the Present Day, Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 81 (1999), 97-125 (pp. 98, 101, n. 6).
Maurits Smeyers, Flemish Miniatures from the 8th to the mid-16th Century (Leuven: Brepols, 1999), pl. 29, p. 131.
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), H1.93.
Medieval Mastery: Book Illumination from Charlemagne to Charles the Bold 800-1475 (Leuven: Brepols, 2002), no. 52 [exhibition catalogue].
Elizabeth B. Moore, 'The Urban Fabric and Framework of Ghent', in ’Als Ich Can’: Liber Amicorum in Memory of Professor Dr. Maurits Smeyers, ed. by Bert Cardon and others, 2 vols (Paris: Uitgeverij Peeters, 2002), pp. 983-1006 (p. 986 n. 18).
Martine Meuwese, 'Inaccurate Instructions and Incorrect Interpretations: Errors and Deliberate Discrepancies in Illustrated Prose Lancelot Manuscripts', Bibliographical Bulletin of the International Arthurian Society, 54 (2002), 319-44 (pp. 320, n. 3, 326, n. 15, 334, 342, figs 9, 10).
Alison Stones, ''Mise en page' in the French Lancelot-Grail: The First 150 Years of illustrative Tradition', in A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle (Cambridge: Brewer: 2003), pp. 125-44 (pp. 129, 131, 137).
Roger Middleton, 'Manuscripts of the Lancelot-Grail Cycle in England and Wales: Some Books and their Owners' in A Companion to the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, ed. by Carol Dover (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 2003), pp. 219-35 (p. 221).
Pamela Porter, Courtly Love in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2003), p. 48.
Douglas Gray, ‘Roos , Sir Richard (c.1410-1482)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37912, accessed 16 Feb 2010]
Elspeth Kennedy, 'The Relationship between Text and Image in three Manuscripts of the Estoire del Saint Graal' in Arthurian Studies in Honour of P.J.C. Field, ed. by Bonnie Wheeler (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2004), pp. 93-100.
Roger Middleton. 'The Manuscripts' in Arthur of the French, ed. by Glyn Burgess and Karen Pratt (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2006), pp. 8-92 (pp. 79, 85).
Deirdre Jackson, Marvellous to Behold: Miracles in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2007), p. 69, pl. 59.
Alison Stones, 'Fabrication et illustration des manuscrits arthuriens', in La légende du roi Arthur, ed. by Thierry Delcourt (Paris: Bibiothèque nationale de France, 2009), 19-30 (p. 24) [exhibition catalogue].
Scot McKendrick, John Lowden, and Kathleen Doyle, ~Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination~ (London: British Library, 2011), no. 132 [exhibition catalogue].
Irène Fabry-Tehranchi and Catherine Nicolas, L'iconographie du Lancelot-Graal (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021], pp. 16, 20, 28., 68.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)