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Cotton MS Tiberius A XV, ff 1–173

Record Id:

041-001102191

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-001101582

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000001630.0x000101

LARK:

SLARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100059098051.0x000004

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Cotton MS Tiberius A XV, ff 1–173

Title:

Alcuin, Epistolae and various other letters

Scope & Content:

These folios contain a series of letters copied in early 11th century, possibly at Canterbury. They were damaged in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731 and are illegible in some parts. The bulk of the manuscript contains around 126 letters of Alcuin (ff. 1-144v). Further letters by various authors were also included (ff. 144v–173r).

Contents:

ff. 1r-144v: Letters of Alcuin.

ff. 144v-145v: A letter from Lantfred of Fleury (fl. c. 974-984) to the monks of the Old Minster, Winchester.

ff. 145v-46v: A letter from Odbert, abbot of Saint-Bertin (r. 986-1007) to Sigeric (d. 994), archbishop of Canterbury.

ff. 146v-154r: A letter of St Augustine to Consentius.

ff. 154v-155r: A letter to St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of Canterbury including a poem in praise of Dunstan.

f. 155r-v: A letter from Halitgar, bishop of Cambrai (r. 817-831), to Ebbo (d. 851), archbishop of Rheims.

ff. 155v-156v: A letter from an unnamed bishop to be delivered by the bishop of Sherborne to Count Arnulf of Flanders, requesting help retrieving a stolen Gospel-book. Michael Lapidge has suggested that this bishop might be St Æthelwold (d. 984), bishop of Winchester, although this is not certain (see Lapidge, Anglo-Latin Literature, p. 191).

ff. 156v-157r: A letter from Wido (d. 986), abbot of Saint Peter's, Ghent to St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of Canterbury.

ff. 157r-158r: A letter recommending a Breton pilgrim during the reign of King Æthelstan (r. 924-939).

ff. 158r-v: A letter to St. Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of Canterbury, including verses in praise of Dunstan.

ff. 158v-159r: A letter from Falrad, abbot of Saint-Vaast to Æthelgar, archbishop of Canterbury, probably written between summer of 988 and January or February 990.

ff. 159v-160v: A letter of Count Arnulf of Flanders (either Arnulf I or Arnulf II) to Dunstan.

f. 160v: An anonymous letter, confirming that the writer is studying.

ff. 160v-161r: A letter to St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of Canterbury in verse form, wishing Dunstan farewell and encouraging charity.

ff. 161v-162v: A letter from Odbert, abbot of Saint-Bertin (r. from 986-1007) to Æthelgar, archbishop of Canterbury (r. 988-990).

ff. 162v-164r: A letter of 'B.' (fl. c. 988- c. 1006), probably the author of the earliest Vita Sancti Dunstani, to Æthelgar, archbishop of Canterbury (r. 988-990).

ff. 164r-v: A letter to Sigeric (d. 994), archbishop of Canterbury.

ff. 164v-165v: A letter to St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of Canterbury, thanking him for his help; possibly written by 'B.' (see Lapidge and Winterbottom, Early Lives, pp. 158-59).

ff. 165v-166r: Verses in praise of Dunstan.

f. 166r: A letter to Wulfhelm (d. 941), archbishop of Canterbury, in verse form.

ff. 166r-167r: A letter from Archbishop Ebbo of Rheims to Bishop Halitgar.

ff. 167r-168r: A letter from St Geneviève's, Paris, to Edgar (d. 975), king of England.

f. 168r-v: A letter from 'L' (probably Lantfred of Fleury) to St Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury (d. 988).

ff. 168v-169r: Verses.

f. 169r: Verses, beginning 'Quis quis amat dictis absentum rodere vitam' and ending 'Si cupiat verbis aliorum carpere vitam'.

ff. 169r-v: An anonymous letter to an unidentified recipient; the author of the letter is in trouble and needs to pay or he will be sold.

ff. 169v-170r: A letter of Pope John [possibly Pope John XV] to Ealdorman Ælfric.

ff. 170r-172v: A letter of Ælfweard (fl. c. 975-1009), abbot of Glastonbury, to Sigeric (d. 994), archbishop of Canterbury, with verses.

ff. 172v-173r: A letter of Pope John XV (d. 996) to the English.

Decoration:

Large initial in black (?) and red, with capitals in red (f. 2r).

Initials and rubrics in red throughout.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-001101582
040-001102190
041-001102191

Is part of:

Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Tiberius A XV : A letterbook including Alcuin's Epistolae with other letters addressed to archbishops of Canterbury and others; a…

Cotton MS Tiberius A XV, ff 1–173 : Alcuin, Epistolae and various other letters

Hierarchy:

032-001101582[0444]/040-001102190[0001]/041-001102191

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS

Record Type (Level):

Item

Extent:

Part of Cotton MS Tiberius A XV

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1000

End Date:

1024

Date Range:

1st quarter of the 11th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

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Custodial History:

Origin: Canterbury or Glastonbury, Southern England.

Provenance:

This manuscript is usually attributed to Christ Church Canterbury, since the letters of archbishops of Canterbury are included, but the number of works relating to Dunstan have led some scholars to suggest that the manuscript was copied at Glastonbury, where Dunstan had been abbot (see Brett, 'A Breton Pilgrim' (1991), pp. 53-57).

? William of Malmesbury (fl. c. 1090-1142), historian, man of letters, and Benedictine monk: quoted from this letterbook or a close copy of it (see Carley and Petitmengin, 'Preconquest Manuscripts from Malmesbury' (2004), pp. 205-206; Thomson, William of Malmesbury (1987), pp. 104-07, 130-31, 135, 143, 159-63, 170, 172).

? Malmesbury Abbey: a volume of Alcuin's letters is listed there by John Leland in his Collecteana, ed. by Hearne, vol II, 392-404.

John Leland (d. 1552), poet and antiquary: marginalia in his hand (for example, f. 52r; for the identification see Carley and Petitmengin, 'Preconquest Manuscripts from Malmesbury' (2004), p. 205 and Brett, 'A Breton Pilgrim', (1991), p. 55).

Laurence Nowell (b. 1530, d. c.1570), antiquary: owned by him, according to John Joscelyn ('Haec... ex libro epistolarum Alcuini... et liber est in manibus m[agist]ri Nowell', Cotton MS Vitellius D VII, f. 143v).

John Joscelyn (b. 1529, d. 1603), Old English scholar and Church of England clergyman: quoted in his notebook (Cotton MS Vitellius D VII, f. 143); annotated by him (see, for example, ff. 34r, 34v, 67v); owned by him, according to one of Cotton's lists ('Epistolae Alcuini... of Mr Jocelins', Harley MS 6018, f. 159v).

Publications:

Brett, Caroline, ‘A Breton pilgrim in England in the reign of King Æthelstan’, in France and the British Isles in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: Essays by members of Girton College, Cambridge, in memory of Ruth Morgan, ed. by Gillian Jondorf and D. N. Dumville (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1991), pp. 43-70.

Carley, James P. and Pierre Petitmengin, ‘Pre-Conquest manuscripts from Malmesbury Abbey and John Leland’s letter to Beatus Rhenanus concerning a lost copy of Tertullian’s works’, Anglo-Saxon England, 33 (2004), 195-223 (pp. 204-08).

Gneuss, Helmut and Michael Lapidge, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014), no. 368.

Simon Keynes, ‘The “Canterbury letter-book”: Alcuin and after’, in Manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Cultures and Connections, ed. by Claire Breay and Joanna Story with Eleanor Jackson (Dublin: Four Courts, 2021), pp. 119-140 (pp. 120-25, 129, 131-40; figs 9.1-6).

Lapidge, Michael, The Cult of St Swithun (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), pp. 220, 241, 250.

Lapidge, Michael and Michael Winterbottom, The Early Lives of St Dunstan (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2012), p. 143 n. 98, 151, 159, 160 n. 50.

Thomson, Rodney, William of Malmesbury (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1987), pp. 104-07, 130-31, 135, 143, 159-63, 170, 172.

Vanderputten, Steven, ‘Canterbury and Flanders in the late tenth century’, Anglo-Saxon England, 35 (2006), 219–44.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Subjects:

History

Places:

Canterbury, England
Glastonbury, England

Related Material:

This item was formerly classified as Cotton MS Appendix XXXV, before being reunited with Cotton MS Tiberius A XV in 1850.