Introduction:
This manuscript, probably copied near the end of the
16th century or in the first half of the 17th, contains a selection
of Christian religious texts. These include visions
of the afterlife and hortatory works on sin and penance, as well as
texts on the basic topics of the Ten Commandments and the Twelve
Articles of Faith. The prevailing theme is a cautionary one of the
punishments in store for sin and the importance of repentance.
The manuscript includes texts written in both classical
and vernacular Greek, some of which were of recent composition.
Others are attributed to patristic authors and based on known works
that circulated under their names, but contain other material as
well, while some of the hagiographical texts also diverge
significantly from their most common form.
The most notable of these texts is an account of a
vision of the afterlife, with a particular focus on the punishment
of corrupt clergy. This vision is supposed to have been shown to
Demetrios, a miner from the village of Isvoros or Siderokausia, near
Mount Athos, in the year 1579/80, and related by him to a priest
named Metrophanes, who wrote down his account. The text is
unattributed here, but it survives in at least two other copies, in
St Petersburg, Rossijskaja
Akademija Nauk, Biblioteka (BAN), MS Dmitirevski 23 and
St Petersburg, Russkij
arheologičeskij institut v Konstantinopole, MS N 130,
both copied around the same time as this manuscript, in the first
half of the 17th century. These attribute the composition of the
work in its present form to the priest and monk Laurentios, who is
supposed to have adapted Metrophanes's narrative into more
accessible language.
Christopher Wright
Language(s): Greek
1. ff. 1r-29v
Damaskēnos, ho Stouditēs, Metropolitan
of Naupaktos and Artē -1577 ,
Sermon on the Ten Commandments
Rubric:
f. 1r Δαμασκηνοῦ ἀρχιερέως λόγος
πεζῆ φράσει εἰς τὴν δεκάλογον τοῦ Μωϋσέως
Incipit:
f. 1r Δέκα παραγγελίας εἶναι ὁποῦ
ὅρισυν ὁ Θεὸς
Explicit:
f. 29v καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ
καὶ ζωοποιῶ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματι· νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν
αἰώνων, ἀμήν
2. ff. 30r-49r
Theophanes, monk and rhetor of Hagia Sophia ,
Tract on the Twelve Articles of Faith
Rubric:
f. 30r Θεοφάνους μοναχοῦ καὶ
ῥήτορος διδασκαλία προς[sic] Χριστιανοὺς πεζῆ φράσει εἰς τὰ
δώδεκα ἄρθρα τῆς πίστεως Χριστιανικῶν πολλειτομάτων[sic]
Incipit:
f. 30r Πρῶτον πρέπει τῷ ἀληθινῷ
Χριστιανῷ, νὰ πιστεύειν καὶ νὰ ὁμολογεῖν
Explicit:
f. 49r ὡς διαβολικὰ ἔργα νὰ
λείπωσιν ἀπὸ τὰ παιδία· καὶ ἀπὸ πάντας τοὺς εὐσεβοὺς
Χριστιανούς
4. ff. 49r-70v
Vision of Zosimos
Defective at the end
Rubric:
f. 49r Διήγησις ὠφέλειμος τοῦ
ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ζωσιμᾶ· τῆς πολιτείας τῶν ἁγίων μακάρων· εὐλόγησον
Πατὲρ
Incipit:
f. 49r Κατ'ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν
ὑπῆρχε τίς ἀνὴρ ἐν τῇ ἐσωτέρα ἐρήμω ὀνόματι Ζωσιμᾶς
Explicit:
f. 70v ὑπὲρ τὸν ἥλιον
ἀστράπτουσαν κατησπάζοντο ἀνερ||
Similar to but distinct from BHG 1890d
5. ff. 71r-106r
Life of Xenophon, his wife Maria and their
children John and Arcadius
Rubric:
f. 71r Βίος καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ
ὁσίου καὶ θεοφόρου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ξενοοφῶντος τοῦ ὁσίου· καὶ τῆς
γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας καὶ τῶν τέκνων αὐτοῦ, Ἰωάννου καὶ Ἀρκαδίου·
μηνὶ Ἰαννουαρίου· κϛʹ
Incipit:
f. 71r Διηγήσατο τίς ἄγιος
γέρωντας μέγας ἦτον καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι ἕνας ἄνθρωπος ἦτον εἰς τὴν
Κωνσταντινούπολιν
Explicit:
f. 106r ἀπολέσομεν τὰ
ἡτοιμασμένα ἡμῖν ἀγαθὰ ὐπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· αὐτῷ ἡ
δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν
Vernacular Greek
Similar to but distinct from BHG 1877y
5. ff. 106v-134v
Laurentios, hieromonachos,
Vision of Demetrios of Isboros
Ed. Sergey A. Ivanov and Lora Gerd, 'An unpublished
post-Byzantine journey to the other world', Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 39 (2015), pp.
227-248
Rubric:
f. 106v Ὁπτασία πάνυ ὠφέλιμος.
Δημητρίου, τοῦ Ἰσβοριότου εὐλόγησον
Incipit:
f. 106v Ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες,
ἐλᾶτε νὰ ἀκούσετε φοβερὰ καὶ θαυμαστὰ μυστήρια
Explicit:
f. 134v δὲν κατοικᾶ κανένας
φόβος· ἵνα δόξα σοι ἀναπέμπω σὺν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίω Πνεύματι. νῦν
καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ἀμήν
Vernacular Greek
The text dates its events to the year 1579/80 (AM
7088) (f. 107r, lines
8-11)
6. ff. 135r-150r
Vision of Makarios of Egypt
Rubric:
f. 135r Διήγησις πάνυ ὠφέλιμος
τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου εὐλόγησον
Incipit:
f. 135r Πορευόμενος ποτὲ τινὰς
τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ἐν τῆ ἐρήμῳ, ἡκολούησεν αὐτῷ ἄγγελος
Κυρίου
Explicit:
f. 150r δοξάζων καὶ εὐλογῶν τὸν
Θεὸν· ὧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰὤνας[sic] ἀμήν
BHG 999r
7. ff. 150v-164r
Ephraem Graecus ,
Oratio in vanam vitam, et de paenitentia
Rubric:
f. 150v Τοῦ ὁσίου καὶ θεοφόρου
πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἐφραὶμ τοῦ Σύρου παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ
Χριστοῦ· εὐλόγησον Πατὲρ
Incipit:
f. 150v Ὅσοι τὰ τοῦ ματαίου
βίου, μάταια καὶ ἀπολλύμενα πράγματα κατελείπατε[sic]
Explicit:
f. 164r καὶ ἡ ἐκ πάντων
προσκύνησις. σὺν τῷ ἀνάρχω σου Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ καὶ
ζωοποιπω σου Πνεύματι· νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰωνας
τῷν[sic] αἰώνων ἀμήν
This is a very variant form of this text, while the heading
suggests a different work of Ephraem, In
secundum adventum domini nostri Iesu Christi (TLG 4138.048;
CPG 3920). The text has also been attributed to John
Chrysostom
TLG 4138.075
CPG 4031
CPG 4622
BHG 2103n
PG 60, coll. 735-738
8. ff. 164v-183v
Oration on sin and penitence
Rubric:
f. 164v Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς
ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου· λόγος πάνυ ὠφέλιμος εἰς πάντα ἄνθρωπον
Χριστιανὸν
Incipit:
f. 164v Δεῦτε πάντες πιστοὶ
ἀδελφοὶ, γνωρίσωμεν τὸν ποιήσαντα ἡμᾶς Κύριον
Explicit:
f. 183v οὐδένα ἔχεις κλάσμα
ἄρτου δός· ὅτι οὐδὲ τοῦ τοιούτ⟨ου⟩
...(?)θὸ ἀποώλειται· οὐδὲ
This text is attributed to
John Chrysostom (d. 407)
and incorporates the De oratione
traditionally attributed to him (TLG 2062.322; CPG 4668; PG 62,
coll. 737-740), but is considerably longer
Form: codex
Support:
Western paper, folded in octavo. Watermark: Crown (
c. 60 × c. 50 mm.
) at the
upper end of the gutter., similar but not
identical to Heawood 1131, whose
countermark differs from the one seen here. This example
is undated, but similar watermarks date from c. 1565 until the early 17th
century. The countermark resembles those of
Mošin 2106-2134, which are dated to
1585-1650.
Extent:
Codex:
ii + 184 + ii leaves.
136 × 100 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the
numbers [i-ii] + 1-74, [74a], 75-183 + [iii-iv], in pencil, in
Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.
Collation
The manuscript consists of 23 quires, of which one is a
quinion and the rest are quaternia.
- Quire 18-1
ff. 1-7
The first folio has been cancelled, without
loss of text.
- Quires 2-88
ff. 8-63
- Quire 98-1
ff. 64-70
The last folio has been lost, with loss of
text.
- Quires 10-228
ff. 71-173
- Quire 2310
ff. 174-183
There are original quire signatures in
Greek numerals, in black ink, on the first folio of each
quire, recto, upper right, and the last folio of each quire,
verso, upper left. They survive on all quires (αʹ-κγʹ). A
cross is also marked in the centre of the upper margin on
the first folio of each quire, recto, and the last folio of
each quire, verso.
Catchwords appear on the last folio of each quire,
verso, lower left.
Condition
There are losses from the edges of ff. 1-9 and 183. Those to ff.
1-3, the most severe, bear old repairs with paper
patches. Other affected folios have received modern repair with
Japanese paper. A small number of worm-holes are present in ff.
1-9 and 183. There is some water staining, growing
more severe in the latter part of the manuscript, and some areas
of dirt. The edges of the leaves are soft. There is occasional
abrasion of ink.
Layout
A single column of 14 lines.
105 × 65 mm.
Hand(s)
The text was copied in mixed minuscule
script, slanting to the right and markedly angular, in black
ink, with moderate variation in letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscription of word endings appear
throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent or subscript. There is
decorative use of the double dot and accentuation of all
nomina sacra . Accents are
sometimes joined to letters, breathings, abbreviations and
nomina sacra strokes.
The modern eta, modern nu and sigma telikon are
present. Distinctive letter-forms include majuscule beta with angular and widely separated
loops and minuscule pi with the
horizontal formed by a stroke curving upwards from the left-hand
loop and connected to it by a vertical line.
Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower and
middle commas and full stop.
The same hand has added headings in the same style in red
ink.
Decoration
Each text is preceded by a headpiece in black
and red ink (e.g. ff. 1r, 49r, 71r, 106v).
Each text begins with an ornamented initial in
red ink. The beginning of some sections is also marked by an initial
in red ink, often smaller, with varying degrees of
ornamentation.
The letters of the word ‘ἀμήν’ at the end of some texts are enlarged, rendered in
black and red ink, and arranged in a pattern surrounding an asterisk
(e.g. ff. 29v, 134v).
Additions
The original scribe has added occasional marginal corrections (e.g.
ff. 154r, 156r).
There are brief devotional and other marginal notes, calculations and
pen-trials in Greek by various later hands (e.g. ff. 30v-31r, 47v-48r, 69v, 75r, 92r-93r). Some of these have been partially lost to
cropping. They include the repetition by one hand of a misspelt form
of the name Ioannes on each recto folio of ff. 166r-171r.
A number of rough drawings of faces, human figures, ewers and pieces
of non-figurative ornament have also been added (ff. 47v-48r, 51r, 106r-106v,
134v-135r, 140v-141r, 143r, 173v-174v), as well as a drawing of the Crucifixion
(f. 85v).
A note written upside-down on the right pastedown (evidently
placed there in error due to opening the book at the wrong end)
records the donation of the manuscript: ‘Presented
by WHDR July 10th 1940 (From Cos)’. The number Y.14, found
also in other Rouse manuscripts, has been marked on the left
pastedown and ff. [i] recto, [ii] verso and 1r. A
bookplate recording the manuscript's donation appears on the left
pastedown, marked with the present classmark and the
former classmarks J.16 and G.G.2.8.
Binding
19th-century full leather binding over couched-laminate boards,
with plain, wove paper pastedowns. The description ‘Greek MS’ is tooled in gold on
the
spine.
140 × 109 × 44 mm.
The inner joint has begun to split on the left, and there
is slight pest damage to the leather.
Accompanying Material
The outer pair of endleaves (ff. [i] and [iv]) belong to the most recent binding and
form a single sheet with the pastedowns. The inner pair ([ii] and [iii] survive from a
previous binding, but are of a different paper from the main body of the
manuscript.
Origin: The internal dating of the Life of Demetrios of Isboros (f. 107r, lines 8-11) indicates that
the manuscript must have been produced later than 1579/80. While the
watermark cannot be closely dated, the dating of similar examples
suggests that the manuscript was copied in the late 16th or
first half of the 17th century, which is consistent with
the style of script.
Provenance and Acquisition
Bought by the classicist and teacher
W.H.D. Rouse (1863-1950)
, Honorary Fellow of Christ's, on Kos, as indicated by the note
on the
right pastedown.
Presented to Christ's
College by
W.H.D. Rouse
, 10 July 1940.
