Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Royal MS 17 F II
- Record Id:
- 040-002107409
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002105724
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000338.0x000228
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Royal MS 17 F II
- Title:
-
La Grande histoire César (Les faits des Romains, with additional texts)
- Scope & Content:
-
The Grande histoire César is a revision of the Faits des Romains which was probably made specifically for Edward IV (see colophon below), but the presence of the drawn arms of Louis of Gruuthuse in the Royal volume (f. 9r) suggests Gruuthuse’s role in its production.
The manuscript includes:
- A list of contents (ff. 1r-8v), incipit: 'Cy aprez sensuivent les rubriches de ce present volume intitule la grant hystoire Cesar.' The table and the text both extend to the reign of Augustus (the prologue mentions a continuation to Domitian).
- Les faits des Romains (ff. 9r-346v), incipit (Prologue) 'Chaseun homme a qui dieu'.
- A continuation including a history of Augustus (passages from the Chronicle of Baldwin of Avesnes) (ff. 346v-353v), incipit: 'Pour ce que aprez la mort de si grant homme et si renomme comme Julius Cesar estoit'; explicit: 'au salut des ames de tous Crestiens'. Colophon, 'Icy fine la grande histoire Cesar tiree de pluiseurs acteurs comme Lucan Suetoine Orose Saluste Julius Celsus et autres, laquelle a este faicte a Bruges du commandement de treshault tresexcellent et tresvictorieux prince le roy Edouard quatrieme de ce nom lan de grace mil cccc.lxxix.'
- A summary history of emperors from Augustus to Frederic II (ff. 354r-359v); rubric: 'Sensieut le sommaire de tous les empereurs qui regnerent aprez Julle Cesar combien ilz regnerent, et de leur mort'; preface incipit: 'Aprez ce que cy dessus ont este escriptes et mis'; text incipit: 'Pour entrer en matiere donques nous commencerons a Octovian Auguste quy fut empereur aprez Cesar xlii ans auant la nativite'; explicit: 'fist mourir de diverses paines'.
Decoration:
1 large miniature in colours and gold with a full foliate border with the arms of Edward IV and an initial in colours with penwork decoration in gold, at the beginning of the prologue (f. 9r). 39 one-column miniatures in colours and gold with partial borders (ff. 21v, 37r, 47v, 54r, 60v, 70r, 79r, 85v, 94v, 101r, 111r, 116v, 125v, 133v, 140v, 146v, 156r, 164v, 167r, 180v, 194r, 204v, 211r, 219r, 228r, 234v, 243v, 251r, 258r, 267v, 271r, 284v, 290v, 299r, 308v, 320v, 330r, 333r, 344r), some with instruction to illuminators (e.g., f. 344r). Initials in gold with pen-flourishing in black or in blue with pen-flourishing in red. Line-fillers in blue and gold.
According to Brinkmann 1997, the artist of the frontispiece (f. 9r) is the same who executed a miniature of Royal MS 15 D I, f. 66v. The majority of one-column miniatures have been attributed to the Master of Edward IV.
The subjects of the miniatures are:
f. 9r, Birth of Caesar; border including the arms of Edward IV, with Garter, and of his two sons, differenced, Yorkist badge of the rose en soleil, the arms of St George, St Edmund, and St Edward the Confessor.
f. 21v, Arrest of Catalinarians; border including the arms of Edward IV supported by a winged heart.
f. 37r, Hircanus attacking Jerusalem.
f. 47v, Defeat of Helvetii.
f. 54r, Meeting of Caesar and Ariovistus.
f. 60v, Retreat of the Belgae.
f. 70r, Siege of Vennes.
f. 79r, Bridging the Rhine.
f. 85v, Surrender of Trier.
f. 94v, Death of Sabinus and Cotta.
f. 101r, Death of Indutiomarus.
f. 111r, Ambiorix attacking the legion of Quintus Cicero.
f. 116v, Winter march of Caesar's army.
f. 125v, Rebuilding of Avaricum.
f. 133v, Caesar crossing the Loire.
f. 140v, Siege of Alesia.
f. 146v, Capture of Alesia.
f. 156r, Combat of Caesar and Drappes.
f. 164v, Siege of Uxellodunum.
f. 167r, Combat of Commius and Quadratus.
f. 180v, Terror in Rome at Caesar's approach.
f. 194r, Caesar entering Rome.
f. 204v, Naval fight off Massilia.
f. 211r, Siege of Ilerda.
f. 219r, Fighting in Libya.
f. 228r, Caesar addressing his troops.
f. 234v, Siege of Dyrrhachium.
f. 243v, Sextus Pompeius consulting Erichtho, and devils.
f. 251r, Battle of Pharsalia.
f. 258r, Combat of Caesar and Pompeius.
f. 267v, Pompeius and Deiotarus.
f. 271r, Death of Pompeius.
f. 287r, Cato refusing a drink of water.
f. 290v, Publius rescued from a dragon.
f. 299r, Banquet of Caesar and Cleopatra.
f. 308v, Escape of Arsinoe.
f. 320v, Capture of Juba.
f. 330r, Triumph ot Caesar.
f. 333r, Caesar and his court.
f. 344r, Murder of Caesar.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Royal Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002105724
040-002107409 - Is part of:
- Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X : Royal Manuscripts
Royal MS 17 F II : La Grande histoire César (Les faits des Romains, with additional texts) - Hierarchy:
- 032-002105724[1568]/040-002107409
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Royal MS 1 A I-20 E X
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
359 folios.
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_17_F_II (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1479
- End Date:
- 1479
- Date Range:
- 1479
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment codex.
Dimensions: 480 x 330 mm (text space: 295 x 205 mm).
Foliation: ff. iii + 359 + vii (2 unfoliated flyleaves at the beginning and at the end are modern paper leaves, 1 unfoliated flyleaves at the beginning and 5 at the end are medieval parchment leaves). Original foliation i-cccli in red beginning on f. 9r includes 4 unfoliated leaves at the end.
Collation: i8+1, ii-xx8, xxi6, xxii-xli8, xlii6, xliii-xlv8, xlvi8 (including 4 unfoliated leaves at the end). Catchwords and bifolium signatures.
Layout: written in two columns of 37 lines.
Script: Gothis hybrid (bastarda).
Binding: British Museum/British Library in-house binding. Rebound in 1972.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Southern Netherlands (Bruges).
Provenance:
Louis of Gruuthuse (or Lodewijk van Brugge) (b. c. 1427, d. 1492), earl of Winchester, courtier and diplomat: underdrawing for his arms under the royal arms of England (f. 9r).
Edward IV (b. 1442, d. 1483), king of England and lord of Ireland, adapted for him in Bruges in 1479: colophon 'Icy fine la grande histoire / cesar tiree de pluiseurs ac/teurs comme lucan suetonie oro/se saluste iulius celsus et autres / laquelle a este faitte a bruges du / commandement de treshault tres / excellent et tres victorieux prince / le roy Edouard quatrieme de ce / nom lan de grace mil cccc lxxix' (f. 353v); the royal arms of England surmounted by a crowned helm with mantling in Edward's colours of red and blue and surrounded by the Garter, with two escutcheons bearing the royal arms differenced by labels of three or five points for his sons, Edward, Prince of Wales and Richard, Duke of York, the arms of the saints patron of England: George, Edmund and Edward the Confessor, and the Yorkist badge of the white rose-en-soleil with a motto 'Dieu et mon droit' (f. 9r).
The Old Royal Library (the English Royal Library): included in the list of books at Richmond Palace of 1535, no. 30; and in the catalogue of 1666, Royal Appendix 71, f. 14v.
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, see Digitised Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
- Publications:
-
H. Omont, 'Les manuscrits français des rois d'Angleterre au château de Richmond', in Etudes romanes dédiés à Gaston Paris (Paris: É. Bouillon, 1891), pp. 1-13 (p. 6).
H. P. Cholmeley, John of Gaddesden and the Rosa Medicinae (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912), p. 125.
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, pp. 261-62.
Louis-Fernand Flutre, Les Manuscrits des Faits des Romains (Paris: Hachette, 1932), pp. 42-44.
Loren MacKinney, Medical Illustrations in Medieval Manuscripts, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 5, 2 parts bound together (London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1965), with Thomas Herndon, Part II, Medical Miniatures in Extant Manuscripts: A Checklist, no. 59.
Margaret Kekewich, 'Edward IV, William Caxton, and Literary Patronage in Yorkist England', The Modern Language Review, 66 (1971) 481-87 (p. 484).
Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts: The British Library, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1979), I, no.905.
J. J. G. Alexander, 'Painting and Manuscript Illumination for Royal Patrons in the Later Middle Ages', in English Court Culture in the Later Middle Ages, ed. by V. J. Scattergood and J. W. Sherborne (London: Duckworth, 1983), pp. 141-62 (p. 152, pl. 14).
Janet Backhouse, 'Founders of the Royal Library: Edward IV and Henry VII as Collectors of Illuminated Manuscripts', in England in the Fifteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1986 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by David Williams (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1987), pp. 23-42 (pp. 27, 39, pl. 6).
McKendrick, Scot, ‘La Grande Histoire Cesar and the Manuscripts of Edward IV’, in English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700, 2, ed. by Peter Beal and Jeremy Griffiths, (London: British Library, 1990), pp. 109-38, (pp. 109-10, 113-17 and passim).
Scot McKendrick, 'Lodewijk van Gruuthuse en de Librije van Edward IV', in Lodewijk van Gruuthuse, Mecenas en Europees Diplomaats ca. 1427-1492, ed. by M. P. J. Marten (Bruges: Stichting, 1992), pp. 153-59 (pp. 154, 159, ns 89, 96, 98).
Scot McKendrick, 'The Romuléon and the Manuscripts of Edward IV', in England in the Fifteenth Century, ed. by Nicholas Rogers, Harlaxton Medieval Studies, 4 (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1994), pp. 149-69 (pp. 149, 161, n. 68, 162, ns 75, 77, 165, n. 101).
Michelle P. Brown, 'The Role of the Wax Tablets in Medieval Literacy: A Reconsideration in Light of a Recent Find from York', The British Library Journal, 20 (1994) 1-16 (p. 9, pl. 7).
Bodo Brinkmann, Die flämische Buchmalerei am Ende des Burgunderreichs: der Meister des Dresdener Gebetbuchs und die Miniaturisten seiner Zeit (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997), p. 295, n. 25, fig. 35.
The Libraries of King Henry VIII, ed. by J. P. Carley, Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, 7 (London: The British Library, 2000), H1.30.
Scot McKendrick, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts 1400-1550 (London: British Library, 2003), pl. 47.
Sophie Page, Magic in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2004), pp. 16-17, pl. 15.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)