Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Emmanuel College, MS 66

Ecclesiastical law and penance

Contents

Introduction: This is a composite manuscript, comprising two parts. The first was probably made in England in the second half of the 15th century and is a copy of the 'short' version of William Lyndwood's Constitutiones, i.e. without an accompanying commentary. The second part was perhaps made in France in the second half of the 13th century or the early 14th century and contains a copy of one of the recensions of the Dominican Raymund of Peñafort's Summa de casibus poenitentiae, a guide for confessors on hearing confession and considering an appropriate penance. The manuscript was donated to Emmanuel College by Thomas Leigh (d. 1686) , fellow of Emmanuel c. 1657-1665, who inscribed his name in the upper margin of f. 1:1r. Although the date of Leigh's donation of this manuscript is not known, Leigh gave other manuscripts to Emmanuel in 1667 and MS 66 may have joined the Emmanuel library collection at the same time. Both parts were probably joined together by then, and certainly by 1697 when both were noted by Edward Bernard in his Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697) as '‘Provinciales Conftituiones Angliae cum Tabula, Chartaceus liber ; cui tamen alia quaedam adduntur in membranis optime descripta’' (Part 1 of the manuscript is written on paper, and Part 2 on well-made parchment, i.e., the 'membranis optime descripta' in Bernard's description). The closing endleaves ff. [v] verso-[vi] recto in the volume have been used for notes and annotations, in this case to record medical recipes mostly in Latin, and one in Middle English, written by several 15th-century hands. Dr Sarah Gilbert| Project Cataloguer| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries References: |
Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: uel alios
Form: codex
Support: Parchment endleaves, paper leaves in Part 1, parchment leaves in Part 2.
Extent: Codex: 3 + 59 | 95 + 3 leaves. 195 × 140 mm.
Foliation:

Late 20th- or early 21st-century foliation

[i]-[iii] + 1-59 | 1-95 + [iv]-[vi]

Foliated in pencil in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of the first recto of each quire beginning at Quire 2 (f. 1:13). The unfoliated endleaves were assigned the designations ff. [i] - [iii] and [iv] - [vi] in order to prepare a TEI-XML catalogue record for this item during the Curious Cures project, these designations are enclosed in [square brackets] throughout the record. As the foliation sequence restarts at the beginning of Part 2, folio references to Part 1 are given in the form 1:1r etc., and folio references to Part 2 are given in the form 2:1r etc.

Collation

A composite volume in two Parts, the quires arranged as follows:

  • Quire 112 (ff. 1:1-1:12)
  • Quire 212-1 (1st leaf missing; ff. 1:13-1:23)
  • Quires 3-512 (ff. 1:24-1:59) |
  • Quire 612-1 (1st leaf excised; ff. 2:1-11)
  • Quires 7-1312 (ff. 2:12-2:95)

112 212-1 (1st leaf missing) 3-512 | 612-1 (1st leaf excised) 7-1312

No leaf signatures common to the entire volume.

No quire signatures common to the entire volume.

No catchwords common to the entire volume.

Additions

Quire signatures ('1-5 | 1-8') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/20th century.

Binding

Mid-17th century binding. Fully bound in leather over pulp-boards with matching decoration in blind to front and rear covers. Covers are decorated with a triple-fillet frame with Oxford corners set at the perimeter of the boards. Head and tail bands visible, perhaps yarn over a cord core, but heavily stained with glue and red pigment. Four raised bands on spine, each with a single-fillet through their centre across the width of the spine. Spine compartments are decorated with a double fillet at their upper and lower perimeters and at the upper and lower openings of the spine. Four printed paper labels fixed to the spine with an adhesive, 'MSS.', '1', '3', '14', for a former shelfmark.

Head, fore, and tail edges of the bookblock sprinkled with red.

Pastedowns have been lifted and the inner faces of the boards are exposed. The inside of the rear cover is blank. The inside of the front cover contains the following items:

  • The number '70' in pencil set in a lozenge frame for the M. R. James Catalogue number of the volume
  • The former shelfmark 'MSS 1. 3. 14' in ink and pencil
  • An Emmanuel College armorial bookplate by Metcalfe of Cambridge: a lion rampant in the right paw a laurel wreath with the motto "ΕΜΜΑΝΟΥΗΛ" (the Greek form of 'Emmanuel') on the escutcheon and the words 'Collegii Emmanuelis Liber' below

The endleaves ff. [i] and [vi] are former pastedowns, and both bear traces of adhesive on their outermost faces. The endleaf f. [iii] verso contains the following items:

  • The number '54' in ink
  • A description of the contents of the volume in ink in a humanist hand 'Provinciale Guilielmi Lynwood'

Dimensions (L x W x D): 205 x 145 x 50 mm.

Housed in a dark blue box with a label 'MS 66' stamped in gold and bearing a label on the inside of the box '‘This box was made using a generous donation from Mark Drinkwater 2014’'.

Evidence of two metal clasps belonging to a former binding visible on f. [i] recto as small green metallic-oxide stains along the fore edge of the leaf.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

The name 'William James' written in ink on f. [vi] recto by a 17th-century hand.

Owned by Thomas Leigh (d. 1686) , fellow of Emmanuel c. 1657-1665. Leigh's name is present in the upper margin of f. 1:1r as 'Tho: Leigh.'

Venn:ACAD LH650T

Given to Emmanuel College probably in 1667 by Thomas Leigh (d. 1686) , fellow of Emmanuel c. 1657-1665.

Venn:ACAD LH650T

Part 1 [Cambridge, Emmanuel College, MS 66, ff. 1:1-1:59 ]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 1:1r-1:59r
Prouinciale William Lyndwood
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 1:1r De summa trinitate et fide ⟨catholica⟩
Incipit: 1:1r Ignorancia sacerdotum etcetera . Ne quis per ignoranciam se excuset
Explicit: 1:55r praecepimus obseruari
Final rubric: 1:55r Explicit Prouinciale Guilielmi Linwood

There are two main versions of this text: copies of the Constitutiones with additional commentary, and copies of the Constitutiones alone; this is the latter of the two main types. Titles to the individual Constitutiones are written in ink in the upper margin on most leaves, and most have been partially damaged by later trimming.

Index to the laws and where they were made on ff. 1:55v-1:59r. Folio 1:59v is blank.

Edition (not based on this MS) Provinciale (seu Constitutiones Angliæ,) (Oxford, 1679)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 1:2r: uel alios
Form: codex
Support: Paper, no watermarks visible
Extent: Codex: 59 leaves.

Collation

  • Quire 112 (ff. 1:1-1:12)
  • Quire 212-1 (ff. 1:13-1:23: 1st leaf missing)
  • Quires 3-512 (ff. 1:24-1:59)

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

 Catchwords in ink in the lower margin of the last verso of each quire, and on occasional non-end-of-quire versos throughout the Part, see e.g., f. 35v and f. 18v.

Condition

In good condition although somewhat tightly bound; some text near the inner margins is difficult to read. Some marginal annotations damaged by or lost to trimming.

Layout

150 × 95 mm. Folios 1:1r-1:55r ruled in ink, frame only. Ruled in single-column format, typically 28 lines to the page and written below top line.

150 × 95 mm. Folios 1:55v-1:59r ruled in ink, frame only. Ruled in triple-column format for an index, typically 28 lines to the page and written below top line.

Hand(s)

Written in a cursiva libraria with many anglicana and secretary features.

Decoration

Plain initals in red or blue at the major and minor divisions of the text.

History

Origin: 15th century, probably second half. ; England.

Date and location of production based on palaeographical features.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Emmanuel College, MS 66, ff. 2:1-2:95 (plus endleaves)]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 2:1r-2:95v
Summa de casibus poenitentiae Raymund of Peñafort
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 2:1r Distinguitur hoc opus in tres particulas
Incipit: (text) 2:1r Quoniam inter crimina ecclesiastica
Explicit: 2:95r et ineffabilem iocunditatis vocem illam . Venite benedicte patres mei percipite r⟨egnum⟩ etc
Final rubric: 2:95r Finito libro sit laus et gloria christo hic liber est scriptus qui scripsit sit benedictus

In three books. List of capitula to Book 1 on f. 2:1r, Book 2 begins on f. 2:24r with a list of capitula, and Book 3 begins on f. 2:42r with no list of capitula.

Not listed among the surviving copies of this text in L. Robles, 'Escritores dominicos de la Corona de Aragón (siglos XIII–XV)', in Repertorio de historia de las ciencias eclesiásticas en España (Salamanca, 1967-1979), pp. 14-31.

Edition, not based on this MS in Universa bibliotheca iuris 1B, ed. by X. Ochoa and A. Diez (Rome, 1976)
2. [v] verso
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

For the stone (printed in IMEP 22, p. 13) and for an uncertain purpose. Written by two 15th-century hands.

3. [v] verso
Note on dispensations.
Language(s): Latin

Written by a 15th-century hand.

4. [vi] recto
Various notes
Language(s): Latin

Including a note on wounds: 'Vulnerare pastore quis curandum...'. Written by various 15th-century hands.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2:2r: principaliter occulum
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH)
Extent: Codex: 95 leaves.

Collation

  • Quire 612-1 (ff. 2:1-11: 1st leaf excised)
  • Quires 7-1312 (ff. 2:12-2:95)

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

 No catchwords particular to this Part.

Condition

In generally good condition, but too tightly bound and text adjacent to the inner margins is difficult to read. There is liquid damage to the lower half of the leaves in this Part, but legibility is not significantly impaired by the stain. Some leaves have a slightly irregular shape or size, typically because their lower margin has been trimmed carelessly, which has caused the loss of some text, see e.g., ff. 2:60r-2:63v.

Layout

155 × 105 mm. Ruled in ink, frame and lines, line ruling very faint. Ruled in two-column format, typically 48 lines to the column and written below top line.

Hand(s)

Written in a small and precise northern textualis libraria.

Decoration

Flourished initials in red and blue at the major and some minor divisions of the text, a particularly ornate initial on f. 2:1r.

Plain initials in red or blue at some minor divisions of the text.

Chapter headings in red.

Paraph marks in red or blue.

History

Origin: 13th century, probably second half. ; Perhaps France.

Date and location of production based on palaeographical features.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by M. R. James in The Western manuscripts in the library of Emmanuel College A descriptive catalogue (Cambridge, 1904), no. 66.

Availability

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

Custodial History

Recorded as no. 29 in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697)

Bibliography

    Manuscripts in Christ's, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Colleges, Trinity Hall, Cambridge Index of Middle English prose, Lucas, Angela M. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 2016) The First Readers of Lyndwood's Provinciale Ecclesiastical Law Journal, Cavill, Paul (24, 1, 2-13, 2022, https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0956618X21000570/type/journal_article)

Funding of Cataloguing

Wellcome

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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