Cotton MS Domitian A XII, ff 57–140

Origin: Leeds, Northern England.

Provenance:

The Cistercian abbey of Kirkstall in Leeds (West Yorkshire), perhaps wrote but certainly owned Cotton MS Domitian A XII ff. 57-140 in the 15th century: the chronicle was first associated with the Cistercian abbey of Kirkstall in Leeds by the Yorkshire antiquary Roger Dodsworth (b. 1585, d. 1654), who added the title ‘Cronica de Kirkstall’ to the item. Because the chronicle is concerned with national rather than local events and the manuscript contains no ex libris, its suggested place of origin is not evident from the manuscript itself. However, the fact that the continuation is identical to that of a chronicle in Harley MS 3600, a manuscript that belonged to the Cistercian abbey of Whalley (Lancashire), does suggest an origin at a Cistercian monastery in Northern England. Moreover, Krochalis (‘History and Legend at Kirkstall’ (1997), pp. 234-35) identifies the paper watermark of ff. 57-140 with that of Cotton MS Titus A XIX, a manuscript that contains many items that are concerned with local events at Kirkstall and may well have been written there. Krochalis also identifies the hand that has glossed, corrected and supplemented the chronicle in the late 15th century as the principal hand of the Titus manuscript. This indicates that Cotton MS Domitian A XII, ff. 57-140 was, at least, owned by Kirkstall Abbey at the end of the 15th century.

An unknown 16th-century English owner: added inscriptions on f. 7v and 56r in a 16th-century script (see Lyons, ‘Ancient Formula’ (1870), p. 152).