Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 480

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11833

Introduction: This Greek Psalter, probably copied in the first half of the 12th century, arrived in England at a very early date, receiving Latin annotations in the 13th century. As was very commonly the case, the Psalms are followed by the Odes, the sequence of hymns excerpted from various Biblical books, also known as canticles, which in the Orthodox tradition constitute a separate book of the Bible. More unusually, this content is followed by a series of other brief Christian texts: the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer and the Nicene Creed, which was copied twice. There are also assorted hymns and prayers. The manuscript has been annotated by a variety of Latin hands of an English style, the earliest of which can be dated stylistically to the 13th century. These are believed to indicate that it had been acquired by the English scholar Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Bishop of Lincoln, a scholar of Greek at a time when the language was not generally studied in western Europe, or by a member of his circle, though none of the notes are in his hand. In the mid-15th century the manuscript was marked in Greek letters with the name of John Farley, who served as scribe or registrar of Oxford University in 1458-1464. In the 16th century it became part of the large manuscript collection of the Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker (1504-1575), who probably acquired it in Canterbury, since he erroneously identified it, along with other Greek manuscripts in his possession, as having been brought to England by his distant predecessor Theodore of Tarsus (602-690). Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-255r

Psalms

Rubric: f. 1r Ψαλτήριον τερπνὸν εἰς Θεὸν μέλος

Incipit: f. 1r Μακάριος ἀνὴρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθην ἐν βουλῆ ἀσεβῶν

Explicit: f. 255r καὶ ἦρα ὄνειδος ἐξ υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ

TLG 0527.027

f. 113r-113v, a later inserted folio, is blank apart from a note on f. 113v

2. ff. 255v-280r

Odes

Contains all fourteen Odes in the order 1-14

Incipit: f. 255v Ἄσωμεν τῶι Κυρίωι ἐνδόξως γὰρ δὲ δόξασται

Explicit: ff. 279v-280r παράτεινον τὸ ἔλεός σου τοῖς γινωσκουσί[sic] σε· ἅγιος ὁ Θεὸς· ἅγιος ἰσχυρὸς· ἅγιος ἀθάνατος ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς

TLG 0527.028

3. f. 280r-280v

The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:3-12

Rubric: f. 280r Μακαριμοὶ[sic] ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίου

Incipit: f. 280r Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῶ πνεύματι

Explicit: f. 280v Χαίρεται[sic] καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθε ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς

TLG 0031.001

3. ff. 280v-284v

Hymns and prayers

Rubric: f. 280v Ὕμνος ἐσπερινός

Incipit: f. 280v Φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀθανάτου Πατρὸς

Explicit: f. 284v μελετοῦντας τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἀλληλούϊα

4. ff. 284v-285v

Nicene Creed

Rubric: f. 284vΣύμβολον ἅγιον ἐκτεθὲν παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ἐν τῆ ἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ

Incipit: f. 284v Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα

Explicit: f. 285v καὶ ζωὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰώνος· ἀμήν

5. ff. 285v-286r

Lord's Prayer

Rubric: f. 285v Διδασκαλία τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ματθαίου εὐαγγελίου

Incipit: f. 285v Πατὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου

Explicit: f. 286r ἀλλὰ ρύσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ

6. ff. 286r-288r

Nicene Creed

Rubric: f. 286r

Incipit: f. 286r

Explicit: f. 288r

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Extent: Codex: ii + 3 + 288 + 2 + ii leaves. 118 × 95 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers a-b + i-iii + 1-288 + iv-v + c-d, in Arabic and Roman numerals and Latin letters, in pencil, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 21 quires, all quaternia.

Quires 1-13⁸ ff. 1-104
Quire 14⁸⁺¹ ff. 105-113 An additional later folio of thin parchment has been adhered to the end of this quire
Quire 15^10-3 ff. 114-120 The fourth, eighth and tenth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
Quire 16^8-2 ff. 121-126 The fifth and eighth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
Quires 17-35⁸ ff. 127-278
Quires 36¹⁰ ff. 279-288 The quire is bound out of order: the folios are currently in the order 1-2, 7-9, 3-6, 10

There are quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right. They survive on Quires 2-36.

Condition

There is mild pest damage to the outermost folios. Some folios have suffered minor tears to their edges. Damage to the tail of f. 1 has been repaired with a parchment patch. There are holes through ff. 286-287 and iv-v, accompanied by rust stains on ff. 284r-v verso, perhaps due to metal fittings on a former binding. There is some creasing and areas of dirt.

Layout

A single column of 17 lines. 77 × 60 mm. Pricking survives in all three margins, but has often been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 9, type Leroy 00C1. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The manuscript was copied in an inelegant mixed minuscule script, upright or slanting slightly to the right, in brown ink, with little variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are both angular and round, and mute iota is adscript. Use of the double dot is functional only, and there is accentuation of all nomina sacra .

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points and full stop.

Headings are written in the same style in red ink. The heading at the beginning of the text is written in epigraphic display majuscule, in red ink (f. 1r).

Decoration

The beginning of the text is preceded by a pyle in red ink (f. 1r).

Psalms and Odes begin with minor initials in red ink. Smaller initials in red ink begin each brief section.

Additions

A note in Greek regarding inauspicious days in September and October has been added to f. 288v.

There are numerous marginal Latin annotations, the oldest by 13th-century hands, along with Greek annotations by one of the same hands.

The name of John Farley is written in Greek script on f. 288v, possibly an ownership note: ‘Φαλεί Ιωαννής Φαρλει’.

A note by Archbishop Matthew Parker on f. iii verso erroneously identifies this as the former property of Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602-690) : ‘Liber quondam Theodori Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis’. Another note by Parker pasted to f. 1r identifies it, also incorrectly, as the work of the same scribe as Cambridge, Uniersity Library, MS Ff.1.24 (once also in Parker's possession and donated by him to the University Library in 1574): ‘Hic liber scriptus per eum qui scripsit ypomnisticon grecem’.

Binding

Half-leather binding with paper covers over millboards and plain pastedowns. Rebound in 1952 by J.S. Wilson and Son, as indicated by a stamp on the left pastedown and a note on f. a recto. The classmark is tooled in gold on the spine.

128 × 115 × 107 mm.

History

Origin: The manuscript was probably produced during the first half of the 12th century, as suggested by the characteristics of the script.

Provenance and Acquisition

In England in the 13th century, owned by the English scholar Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253) , Bishop of Lincoln, or someone in his circle, as indicated by the early Latin annotations.

Possibly owned in the 15th century by John Farley , Regstrar or scribe of the University of Oxford 1458-1464, as suggested by the presence of his name on f. 288v.

Owned by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1504-1575)

Donated to Corpus Christi College by Parker in 1574.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description draws on Montague Rhodes James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1912), vol. 2, pp. 422-424.

Availability

Visitors to Corpus Christi College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Parker Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Parker Library: Information for Readers.

Bibliography

Ecloga Oxonio-Cantabrigiensis, tributa in libros duos; quorum prior continet catalogum confusum librorum manuscriptorum in illustrissimis bibliothecis, duarum florentissimarum Academiarum, Oxoniae et Cantabrigiae. Posterior, catalogum eorundem distinctum et dispositum secundum quatuor facultates, obseruato tam in nominibus, quam in operibus ipsis, alphabetico literarum ordine, James, Thomas (London, George Bishop & John Norton, 1600)

Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum in bibliotheca Collegii Corporis Christi in Cantabrigia: quos legavit Matthæus Parkerus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum in bibliotheca Collegii Corporis Christi in Cantabrigia, Stanley, W. (London, 1722)

Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum quos Collegio Corporis Christi et B. Mariæ Virginis in Academia Cantabrigiensi legavit reverendissimus Matthæus Parker, archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, (Cambridge, Typis Academicis, 1777)

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge : The library., Lewis, Samuel Savage (S.l.], [S.l.], 1890)

The Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, Lewis, Samuel Savage (1-3, 121-125, 1891)

The Sources of Archbishop Parker's Collection of MSS at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, with a Reprint of the Catalogue of Thomas Markaunt’s Library, James, Montague Rhodes (Cambridge, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1899)

The ancient libraries of Canterbury and Dover: the catalogues of the libraries of Christ Church Priory and St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury and of St. Martin's Priory at Dover, James, Montague Rhodes (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1903, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511920097)

A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, James, Montague Rhodes (Cambridge, University Press, 1912)

The wanderings and homes of manuscripts Helps for Students of History, James, M.R. (London; New York, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; Macmillan, 1919)

Guide to an exhibition of historical authorities illustrative of British history comp. from the manuscripts of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Butler, Geoffrey G. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1920)

The writings of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln 1235-1253, Harrison Thomson, Samuel (London, Cambridge University Press, 1940)

Review of The Writings of Robert Grosseteste by S. Harrison Thomson, Robert Grosseteste The English Historical Review, Little, A. G. (56, 306-309, 1941)

Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum. Tomus IX Pars II. Codices Britannicos, Weinstock, Stefan (Bruxelles, In aedibus Academiae, 1953)

The library of Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste, scholar and bishop, Hunt, R. W. (Oxford, 121-145, Clarendon Press, 1955)

Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, Ker, N.R. (London, Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1964)

Duke Humfrey and English humanism in the fifteenth century: catalogue of an exhibition held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford Duke Humfrey and English humanism in the fifteenth century, De la Mare, Albinia C.Hunt, Richard William (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1970)

Medieval and humanist Greek: collected essays, Weiss, Roberto (Padua, Antenore, 1977)

Before palaeography: notes on early descriptions and datings of Greek manuscripts Studia Codicologica, Easterling, P.E. (124, 179-88, 1977)

On the Greek studies of Robert Grosseteste The Uses of Greek and Latin, Dionisotti, A.C. (London, 19-39, Warburg Institute, 1988)

Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman manuscript art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: an illustrated catalogue, Budny, MildredPage, R.I.Wilson, David M. (Kalamazoo, Mich., Medieval Institute Publications, 1997)

From Britain to Byzantium: the study of Greek manuscripts Through the looking glass: Byzantium through British eyes. Papers from the twenty-ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, March 1995 Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies publications, Easterling, Patricia E. (Aldershot, 107-120, Ashgate, 2000)

Byzantium through illustrated manuscripts Through the looking glass: Byzantium through British eyes: papers from the twenty-ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, March 1995, Lowden, John (Aldershot, 85-106, Ashgate, 2000)

Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments Bible. Old Testament. Supplementum. Greek. Septuagint. 1931, Rahlfs, AlfredRahlfs, Alfred (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2004)

Towards a History of Byzantine Psalters ca. 850-1350 AD, Parpulov, Georgi (Plovdiv, 2014)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation (cataloguing).

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (digital images).

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 480

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