Harley Roll T 11

Contents:

A roll containing prayers with textual and image-based talismans, including measured illustrations of the Passion. The roll is designed to be the exact length of Christ's body and was perhaps made to be carried or worn as an amulet for protection, or as a birth girdle.

The first parchment leaf has three incantations in Middle English, based on the measurements of the Passion, with accompanying schematic diagrams:

1. On the length of Christ's body, accompanying a diagram of a Tau cross, with a numerical list of the great gifts received by one who bears or looks upon the cross. One of the earliest forms of this talisman is found in Latin in Cotton MS Titus D XXVI, f. 3. The rubric is, 'Worshipp thys crosse wyth saing off v paternoster v avez and a crede'; the first 20 lines of text are worn away so that it is only party legible, beginning, 'This crose Imete xv...ys the ...gh of our Lord'. It is followed by invocations in Latin against insomnia, pain, sudden death and other ills, calling on, among others, the child-and-mother saints, Quirricus ('Cerice') and Julitta, who are often invoked on birth girdles; begins 'Salve decus p[ar]vulor[um] miles reges' (upper part of image, f. 1r);

2. On the length of the nails used in the Crucifixion, accompanying a dimensional diagram of the three nails with blood drops forming the background, and promising protection from evil spirits and various illnesses; begins, 'Pope Innocent the viij hath g[ra]unted that who-so-ever, man or woman that beth, beryth the lenght of the naylis upon hy[m] & worshipith devoutly the IIj naylis of oure Lord ...'. It is followed by circular diagrams (lower part of image, f. 1r);

3. On the measurement of the spear wound in Christ's side, accompanying a dimensional diagram of the wound, promising protection for travellers against natural disasters or attack; begins, 'This is the measure of the blessyd wound[e] that our Lord Ih[es]u Crist had in his right syde, the whiche an angell brought to Charlamayn...'. It is followed by a series of benedictions in Latin (upper part of image, f. 2r).

Other rolls containing these three texts are New York, Morgan Library, MS Glazier 39, London, Welcome Library, MS 632 and Harley Roll 43 A 14.

The second parchment leaf has a series of texts in Latin:

4. Prayers for protection, based on the thirty-nine names of Christ and the ten Hebrew names, with four amulets or circular diagrams, the first acts against enemies, the second against thunder and lightning, the third claims that by it 'all things were made' and the fourth that it represents the name of God (mid part of image, f. 2r);

5. An 'epistola' and invocations to the Trinity, angels and saints, to be worn for protection against all enemies and evil, followed by a rubric in French, mostly illegible (lower part of image, f. 2r).

Decoration:

Three schematic representations from the Passion of Christ in red and green. 8 circular diagrams containing crosses of different shapes, including a Maltese-style cross. One large initial in red and green and one in red with cadells. Rubrics and decorated initials in red or green, marking the beginning of the 17 sections. Line fillers consisting of red and green crosses or wavy lines.

The circular diagrams are related to those found in collections of incantations such as those in the 'Book of Honorius' (Sloane MS 3826, ff. 57r-88v: see Rudy, 'Physical Rituals' , p. 45). The figures representing the Cross resemble amulets carved in stone, and may have had a similar apotropaic function.