Royal MS 20 B V

NEW TESTAMENT in French, bound with hymns and miscellaneous tracts in Latin and French. Contents:-

1. The New Testament in French, of the version made at Paris circ. 1250 (see 1 A. XX). Berger classes it (La Bible franç. au Moyen, Âge, p. 215) as part of a Bible historiale moyenne (cf. 19 D. II), which is possible, but there seems nothing definite to connect it with Des Moulins' work. Each chapter in the Gospels is headed with the first words of the Latin. of the Pauline Epistles, which follow next, Romans alone has a short preface; 2 Thess. and 1 Tim. are wrongly headed as if 1 Thess. and 2 Tim. The Acts, Canonical Epistles, and Apocalypse follow in their usual order. One gathering is misplaced by the binder, ff. 106-113 (end of S. John, beg. of Ep. to Romans), which should follow f. 56, being put near the end of the Apocalypse. Text beg. 'Liber generacionis Ihesu Christi filii Dauid: Li liures de la generacion Ihesu Crist filz Dauid fill Habraham'; ends 'La grace de nostre s[ei]gneur soit auoec vous tous. Amen. Ci fenist lapocalipse saint Iehan'.

Artt. 2-5 are in one hand, of rather later type than art. 1.

2. Latin hymns, with French translations in parallel columns. The hymns, 88 in number, are all contained in the Sarum Breviary (cf. Breviarium ad Usum Sarum, ed. F. Procter and C. Wordsworth, 1879-1886), under the following divisions:-(1) Temporale, Advent-Epiphany. Nos. 1-9. ff. 117-119;-(2) The hebdomadal arrangement of the Psalter. Nos. 10-37. ff. 119-124; -(3) Temporale, Lent-Corpus Christi. Nos. 38-63. ff. 124-130b;-(4) Sanctorale, S. John Baptist-All Saints. Nos. 64-76. ff. 131-133;-(5) Commune Sanctorum. Nos. 77-86. ff. 133 b-135;-(6) Dedicatio Ecclesiae. Nos. 87-88. f. 135 b. They are all contained in Harley MS. 2951, a hymnal, apparently of Sarum use, but with many variations in order. The French version, not identified elsewhere, beg. (Conditor alme syderum)

'Seynt fesour des esteiles lusantz. Durable lumere des creauntz. Crist. qanqest rechate auetz. Les prieres des humbles oyetz.'

3. 'Ici comencent les espististel (sic) sescretes del liuere Aristotle a Alisandre qest apele Secre des Secrez, et dist ensi Aristotle a Alisandre': abridged French version of the Pseudo-Aristotelian Secreta Secretorum (cf. 12 C. VI, art. 4, &c.). This abridgement, which includes very little of the medical section and only part of the introductory chapter of the physiognomy section (but see art. 6, below), appears to be independent of the translations contained in 16 F. X, art. 2 (see above) and Add. MS. 18179, and probably also of that of Geoffrey of Waterford (Paris MS. Bibl. Nat., fonds fr. 1822). See also Paul Meyer in Romania, xv, 1886, p. 190. Beg. 'Beauz fiz glorious dretturel emperers dieux te conferme et refreyne tes appetis desordenes'; ends 'sen partirent lescolers qestoyent venuz et furent bien paye de ly'. f. 136.

4. Abridged translation of the Tractatus de tribulatione, doubtfully attributed to Peter of Blois. The abridgement is perhaps made from the anonymous translation contained in 16 E. XII, art. 7, see above. Without title. Beg. 'Si tu veus repestre ton cuer en bones pastures, veetz ici dusse profitz'; ends 'dites a dieux debonerement da nobis, domine, auxilium de tribulatione. Ici finist la prise de confort encontre tribulation'. f. 141.

5. Narratives of the Passion and Resurrection, in French, viz.:-(a) Narrative of the Passion, purporting to be in the words of the Blessed Virgin. Without title. Beg. 'Nostre dame seynte Marie miere Ihesu Crist apres sa assention del quynzime iour de August (sic) vesquit quinze aunz'; ends 'Et toux iceux qi apres lescriuent lisent ou oyent heient mesme la beneceon et lour part en son regne qi oue son piere et fitz et seyiit espirit vist et regne sanz fyn. Amen'. f. 147;-(b) Narrative of the Resurrection: a paraphase of part of the Pseudevangelium Nicodemi (cf. Tischendorf, Evang. Apocrypha, 1876, pp. 367-390). It does not seem to agree with any of the translations mentioned by Wülcker, Das Ev. Nicodemi in der abendländischen Literatur, Paderborn, 1872, p. 27. Beg. 'Ly noble et ly vaylant prince Nichodemus qi priuement feust desciple'; ends 'moltz des genz de la commune qauoymt grace le creurent bien. Dieux 'nous doynt cele grace de ferm crere et bien morir. amen. amen. amen.' f. 153 b.

Art. 6 is added in a charter-hand.

6. 'Icy comence phisonomye': text of the greater part of the physiognomy section of the Secreta Secretorum (omitted above in art. 3), in French. Beg. 'Situ vois ascun homme qi soit iaune et blaundes, fuetz ten de ly'; ends 'Alisaundre, ieo te pri qe tu gardes ceste doctrine car sole te vaudra en meynte cas et nostre sires garde tey et ton empiri in secula seculorum. Amen. Ici finist le secre de secres'. f. 156. Appended are (f. 156b) the following:-(a) 'Ceste chose qi siwyt dit Auicenne': a brief note of conferentia et nocentia, beg. '[L]es choses qi confortent lez nerfs';-(b) 'Salue regina, &c.' (and 'Eya ergo, &c.'): French version of this anthem, beg. '[H]onure soyet regne miere de pite'. Art. 7, forming two complete quires, has no certain connexion with the rest of the volume.

7. Barlaam and Josaphat (the Christianized life of Buddha): abridged French version. For abridged Latin versions see above, 11 B. III, art. 26, 12 E. I, art. 23, and for a fuller description of the present article, which seems to be abridged from the longer French version as in Egerton MS. 745, see Ward, Cat. of Romances, ii, p. 136. Imperfect at the end. Beg. '[E]n la terre de Inde feust vn roy qom apela Auenir'; breaks off 'Mes il se dona tut a dieux et a deuocion par qei il receust. . .'. f. 157.

Artt 8-10 apparently form a single quire, to which art. 11, though not in the same hand, was perhaps originally annexed.

8. 'Incipit libellus boni et veri religiosi': poem in leonine or rhyming hexameters (342 ll., including colophon). Another copy in Harley MS. 3067, f. 136 b, with a nine-line preface (beg. 'Religiosorum datur hec doctrina virorum') and other variations, bears the title 'Prefectus religiosorum a beato Bernhardo versifice editus'; but the attribution, though supported by MSS. at Rouen (no. 364) and Venice (S. Marco, no. 33), is very improbable (see Hauréau, Des Poèmes lat. attrib. à S. Bernard, 1890, p. 30). f. 173. Begins :-

'Suscipe viuendi doctrinam proficiendi Quam tibi descripsi qui seruulus es crucifixi.' Ends:-

'In cruce pendendo pro nobis et moriendo. Hoc opus expletur crucifixo gloria detur. amen.' The colophon here is :-

'Expliciunt versus doctrine proficiendi; Et quia recta docent ideo sunt corde tenendi. Qui legis hec cerne, mundana negotia sperne. Pro me dignare dominum quandoque rogare. Per quam vita datur crucifixi crux recolatur. Si vult dicat ita cui spes est crux benedicta: Crux me seruet' amen ; sit virtus atque iuuamen.' After this (f. 174 b) is a salutation to the Cross:-

'Salue crux sancta qua dantur munera tanta. Fac tua me velle; que sunt tibi noxia pelle. Da mihi virtutem semper pacemque salutem. Spes mini viuenti, protector sis morienti.' 9. De miraculis sancti Hieronyrni : the fictitious epistle of S. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, to S. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (see above, 6 E. III, art. 55; Bibl. Hag. Lat. no. 3868). Incomplete, capp. iiii only. Printed in Migne, Patr. Lat. xxii. 289, xxxiii. 1126, &c. Beg. 'Venerabili viro episcoporum eximio . . . illius sequi vestigia cuius in terris sanctitas radiare non cessat';-

ends 'prodigia eximii Ieronimi iam premissa'. At the end is repeated in another hand the same 'salutacio ad crucem' which is appended to art. 8. f. 175.

10. 'Notabilia libri Senece per beatum leronimum extracte (sic)', in colophon: really two collections, viz. :-(a) A collection of excerpts from Seneca, beg. Libenter feras quod necesse est. Dolorem patientia vincit'. f. 177;-(b) An alphabetical collection of aphorisms, beg. 'Proprium est stulticie aliena vicia cernere et suorum obliuisci. Amici vitia nisi feras facis tua'; ends (the last two are out of alphabetical order) 'Venari in alieno loco est iniustum. Naturam quandoque fortuna corrumpit. Optime ferunt miserias qui abscondunt'. f. 179 b.

Art. 11, in another hand, forms a separate gathering.

11. 'Meditaciones sancti patris nostri Augustini' : the Liber de diligendo Deo, falsely attributed to S. Augustine (see 7 C. I, art. 7). Printed in Migne, Patr. Lat. xl. 847. Beg. 'Vigili cura mente sollicita'; ends 'vna felicitas. Explicit Augustinus de diligendo rieum'. f. 181.

At the end (f. 189) are added in an early 15th cent. hand some Latin aphorisms copied from art. 10. The leaf is mutilated.

Vellum; ff. 189. 101/4 in. x 7 in. XIV cent. Gatherings in art. 1 of 8 leaves (viii misplaced, xv⁴); in artt. 2-6 of 12 (xviii¹⁶); in artt. 7-11, of 8 leaves. Catchwords in artt. 1-6. Double columns in artt. 1-7. Sec. fol. '-blera son froment'. Initials in art. 1 flourished in blue and red. Old Royal press-mark 'no. 1043'; cat. of 1666, f. 11; not in CMA.