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Cotton Roll XIV 12
- Record Id:
- 040-003420139
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003202582
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100063189685.0x000001
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100172078180.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Cotton Roll XIV 12
- Title:
-
Universal roll chronicle
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript may also be referred to as Cotton Charter XIV 12. Order as Cotton Roll XIV 12.
Contents:
A Universal Roll Chronicle consisting of excerpts from historical texts, genealogical and other diagrams, tables and commentaries.
Face of the roll:
Membrane 1: A text on the Four Ages of the World and passages on the Lord’s Prayer, incipit: 'Linee iste quattuor exteriores que faciu[n]t', explicit: 'eum omnis caro et igitur eum pupugerunt'; the Septenarium Pictum, a circular diagram with accompanying commentary and captions.
Membranes 2-30: Universal Chronicle with the following content:
Membranes 2-15: Peter of Poitiers’ Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi, which traces the parallel lineages of biblical persons, legendary kings and emperors of the biblical and classical world by text in columns accompanied by diagrams, incipit 'Adam in agro Damasceno (columns 3 and 4 on right). The Compendium includes an excerpt from De excidio Troiae historia and Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae, book I and beginning of book II, abridged;
Membranes 16-30: Lines of succession continuing with popes, Eastern emperors, Frankish kings, Carolingian kings and Holy Roman emperors, Eastern Roman emperors, archbishops of Canterbury from Augustine, Anglo-Saxon kings, dukes of Normandy, kings of England to William Rufus, Capetian kings of France to Philip I, and bibliographical notices of ecclesiastical notables such as Bede and Alcuin (nos 18r-35r). Included is an account of the foundation and construction of Battle Abbey (c. 1076-1095) and the foundation of its dependent priory at Brecon, given by Bernard of Newmarch and his wife Agnes (whose lineage is traced in separate diagram), possibly based on the Chronicle of Battle Abbey, incipit, '(I)ste Willelmus interfecto Haraldo', explicit, 'in navi ecclesie ante altare crucifixi sepelitur'. The chronicle ends abruptly during account of William Rufus’ reign, in the year 1091. Incipit: 'Adam in agro Damasceno formatus', explicit, 'tunc inter suos cariores assumpsit. Cum itaque obsidio'.
Dorse of the roll (dorse abbreviated as d):
The texts on the verso have been numbered from 1 to 15 in pencil in the left margin, and this is referred to here in brackets at the end of each description:
Membrane 1d: A circular diagram of the eight paths to Salvation with additional illustrations (1).
Membrane 2d: Tables of consanguinity and affinity to the fourth degree (2).
Membrane 3d: A text on consanguinity tables, excerpted from Raymond of Peñafort, Quia tractare intendimus, incipit, 'Arborem consanguinitatis describas hoc modo', explicit, 'matrem ex alio et sic de aliis ascendentibus' (edited in S. Worby, Law and Kinship (2010), appendix 1, p. 152); a text on consanguinity diagrams, beginning two thirds down the membrane with the rubric, ‘Descripcio arboris [consanguinitati] in ratio eiusdem’ (3).
Membrane 4d: Pseudo-Methodius, Revelationes, abridged version, incipit, 'Sciendum est nobis quomodo in principio creavit deus', explicit, 'iuvit et regnat deus per infinita secula seculorum amen.' (ed. by B. Garstad, Apocalypse, 2012) (4).
Membranes 4d-5d: A text about the ten Sibyls (incomplete), including the Prophecy of the Tenth Sibyl, incipit, 'Quarta cimera ytalia', explicit, 'augustinus in libro de civitate dei; intonuit dicens' (5).
Membrane 5d: A verse on the Day of Judgement in 4 columns, with a two-line prose supplement, incipit, [I]udicii signum', explicit, 'amen sine meta dicant nunc omnia Letia' (6).
Membranes 5d-7d: Julius Valerius’ translation into Latin of the Greek Historia Alexandri Magni, also known as Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis, abridged version, incipit, [E]gypti sapientes fati genere divino primi feruntur, explicit, 'A.L.T.A.H. Et qui ferro superari non potuit. veneno fuct' (7).
Membranes 7d-8d: Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem, an apocryphal letter from Alexander the Great to Aristotle about his campaigns in India, incipit, '[A]exander rex. Aristotili preceptori.', explicit, 'et anima et industria optime aristatues ponderar ' (ed. by W. W. Boer, Epistola Alexandri, 1973) (8).
Membranes 9d-10d: Bede, De temporum ratione, an abridged version, incipit, '[D]e temporum ratione aliquid domino iuvante dicturi', explicit, 'Septutiam et octavam timescentium aliquando a domino percepturi. Amen' (edited by C. W. Jones, Bedae (1977) (9-10).
Membranes 11d-12d: Easter table, computed for the years 1065-1233 (11).
Membrane 13d: blank
Membrane 14d: A selection of precepts on virtues, citing, for example, Sallust, Solomon, Seneca, Juvenal, and Cicero, in three columns, accompanied by roundels, incipit: 'Consilium semper pervenire debet actum', explicit, 'vicium animi quod est iniusticia' (central column) (12).
Membranes 15d-24d: blank.
Membrane 25d: Three sections of text on the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy and the bishoprics of the different kingdoms, with the partially legible rubric, ‘Incipiunt Distinctiones Regnorum et episcopatuum Totius Anglie …’, incipit, 'Reges Merciorum proprie dominabantur in pagis', explicit, 'multifidus trames regnorum. in unum terminetur Westsaxonici' (based on William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum (book I), ed. by R.A. B. Mynors and others, Gesta regum Anglorum, (1998-99) (13).
Membranes 26d-30d: blank.
Membrane 31d: A text on the supremacy of the archbishops of Canterbury over the archbishops of York (imperfect), incipit, '[...]secundo. pontificatus autem domini alexandr[i]', explicit, 'noluerit in isto rege finem suum considerare poterit' (from William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum (book III, chapter 298) (14).
Membrane 31d-32d: A text relating to the reign of William Rufus, incipit, '[P]lura sub rege Willelmo rufo filio Willelmi Bastardi', explicit, 'eos in obsidione incesse offendunt. Ita [...]' (from William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum (book IV) (15).
Membrane 33d-34d: blank.
Decoration:
Two large circular diagrams, one of the Septenarium Pictum (membrane 1), the other of eight paths to Salvation and the battle between the virtues and vices, in brown, red and green (membrane 1d). Tables with illustrations in brown, red and green (membrane 2d). Roundels with scenes from the chronicle and numerous bust portraits of kings, biblical figures etc., and diagrams in brown, red and green, one with blue (membranes 2-25). Line drawings of cities (membranes 3, 5, 7, 9, 17), and historical figures (membrane 25d). Borders with foliate decoration in brown and red, one with zoomorphic decoration (membrane 6). Geometric patterns in brown between texts. Red and green line-patterns in Easter table (membrane 9d-10d). Rubrics, lines and initials in red or black. Spaces left for initials and empty roundels (membranes 25 onwards).
The subjects of the images include:
Membrane 1: Two knights in mail receiving a scroll from a female figure underneath seven doves with tongues of fire. In the central circle, God enthroned with tonsured figure on either side, with roundels containing representations of the seven cardinal sins surrounding it, and biblical scenes in each corner of the outer frame.
Membrane 3: City of Jerusalem (left), Noah and his wife and two cross sections of the ark, Nimrod the hunter with a horn and dog, and the city of Babylon (right).
Membrane 4: Abraham and Isaac.
Membrane 5: The city of Troy; diagrams of the resting places of the Israelites and of the Tribes of Israel (above).
Membrane 7: The cities of Ephesus and Carthage.
Membrane 9 : London (above) and York (below), King David playing his harp.
Membrane 11: Sedecias seated on a two-headed beast.
Membrane 12: A circular plan of Jerusalem and its gates.
Membrane 16: The Nativity.
Membrane 17: The Crucifixion, with roundel portraits of the disciples below; the city of Gloucester.
Membrane 23: Pope Gregory inspired by the Holy Spirit as a dove, with St Augustine ('angloru[m] apostolus) in a roundel to the left.
Membrane 33: Battle Abbey and Hastings.
Membrane 1d: Virtues, represented by a knight, an angel, eight crowned female figures with spears, vices represented by a line of female soldiers, a line of opposing demons, and, in the outer circle, angels and demons with naked souls. Beneath the circular diagram is a representation of the Trinity as God the Father, wearing a crown containing Christ, with the Spirit as a dove flying out of his mouth; beneath this is a scene of the Day of Judgment with scales to weigh the souls, now partly lost.
Membrane 2d: A monster with a crowned head, labelled ‘Charrum’ beneath and wrapped around the tables, with roundels containing illustrations of the cardinal sins. inside its body. Roundels with personified virtues and representations of various sectors of society are incorporated in the tables.
Membrane 25d: Anglo-Saxon kings, bishops and archbishops.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Cotton Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003202582
040-003420139 - Is part of:
- Cotton Ch : Cotton Charters
Cotton Roll XIV 12 : Universal roll chronicle - Hierarchy:
- 032-003202582[0094]/040-003420139
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton Ch
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 roll
- Digitised Content:
- https://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100172078180.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1225
- End Date:
- 1249
- Date Range:
- 2nd quarter of the 13th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
-
Letter of introduction required to use this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment
Dimensions of the roll: 15, 945 x 315/50 mm (text width: 280/325mm); length of the individual membranes: 430/65 mm.
Layout: Recto written in two main columns, each divided into up to four columns in places; verso written in one column.
Arrangement: 34 membranes joined together end to end; these do not always correspond to the original membranes, as fire damage and restoration has resulted in subsequent joins and repairs. A modern parchment membrane has been added, forming a wrapper.
Script: Gothic, written by one scribe.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Southern England, perhaps Battle, Sussex.
Provenance: The Benedictine abbey of Battle (de Bello), Sussex, perhaps made for use at its dependent priory of St John the Evangelist, Brecon: the contents include text and images relating to these two institutions (membranes 32-33).
Added rubric and initial in a late-13th or early-14th century script.
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631), 1st baronet, antiquary and politician. Cotton’s collection was augmented by his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), 2nd baronet, and his grandson, Sir John Cotton. Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d. 1702), 3rd baronet: bequeathed the entire Cotton collection of books and manuscripts to trustees ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’, 12 and 13 William III, c. 7. Formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753.
A note by Sir Frederic Madden, dated 1830, on a blank piece of parchment (membrane 22), probably added at the time of restoration following fire-damage in 1731, refers to lost membranes in this position. Shelfmarks on the verso and sequencing with letters from A-M on the recto, have been added, perhaps at this time.
- Former Internal References:
- Cotton Ch XIV 12
- Publications:
-
Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, ed. by Richard Stoneman (London: British Library, 2022), p. 34, no. 10.
Apocalypse; An Alexandrian World Chronicle, ed. and trans. by B. Garstad, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, 14 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012), [an edition of the text].
Bedae Venerabilis Opera, Pars II, Opera Didascalica, ed. by C. W. Jones, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 123B (Turnhout: Brepols, 1977), [an edition of the text].
Cleaver, Laura, ‘Past, Present and Future for Thirteenth-Century Wales: Two Diagrams in British Library, Cotton Roll XIV.12', Electronic British Library Journal (2013), 1–26, online at: http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2013articles/pdf/ebljarticle132013.pdf [accessed 27 July 2018].
Daretis phrygii de excidio Troiae historia, ed. by F. Meister (Leipzig, 1873), [an edition of the text].
Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem, ed. by W. W. Boer, Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie, 50 (Meisenheim am Glan: A. Hain, 1973), [an edition of the text].
Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain: an Edition and Translation of De gestis Britonum (Historia Regum Britanniae), ed. by M. D. Reeve, trans.by N. Wright, Arthurian Studies, 69 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007) [an edition of the text].
Henderson, Emilia, ‘British Library, MS Cotton Roll XIV.12' (University College London: unpublished MA research, 2017).
Monroe, W. H., 'Thirteenth- and Early Fourteenth-Century Illustrated Genealogical Manuscripts in Roll and Codex: Peter of Poitiers’ Compendium, Universal Histories and Chronicles of the Kings of England', (unpubl. PhD thesis: University of London, 1989), pp. 516-19.
The Chronicle of Battle Abbey, ed. and trans. by E. Searle, The Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980).
William of Malmesbury’s Gesta regum Anglorum, ed. and trans. by R.A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993-99) [an edition of the text].
Worby, Sam, Law and Kinship in Thirteenth-Century England (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010), appendix 1, pp. 148-62, 183.
- Exhibitions:
- Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth, British Library, London, 21 October 2022 - 19 February 2022
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)