Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 28

Peter Lombard, Sententiarum libri IV

Introduction: The Four Books of Sentences of Peter Lombard was the foundational text for the study of theology in the later medieval period. As his toponym suggests, Peter was an Italian by birth, though little is known of his early life. He was probably born in the last years of the 11th century and an annotation in a manuscript made in Florence in the 13th century states that he came from the village of Lemononium, modern-day Lumellogno, a small town on the outskirts of Novara, about forty miles to the west of Milan. He was most likely educated in Lucca: a Master Otto who taught there produced a Summa sententiarum, which was one of the main sources for Peter's own work; and it was Bishop Hubert of that city who recommended him to Bernard of Clairvaux as Peter left for France to continue his studies. After a period at Reims in the 1130s, Peter went to Paris and became a master at the cathedral school of Notre Dame, where he established his reputation as a theologian. Towards the end of his life, he was consecrated Bishop of Paris, and died the following year in 1160. It was during his time at Notre Dame - specifically, in two phases in the mid-1150s - that he composed the Sentences: an attempt to provide a systematic theological investigation through the collection of patristic interpretations (or 'Sententiae') of Scripture. The importance of the Sentences to the study of theology is indicated by the surviving manuscripts, which number in excess of 600 and perhaps as many as 900 (no certain figure has yet been established). The copy shown here was probably made in Paris, in the late twelfth century, but ultimately came into the possession of the Benedictine abbey at Bury St Edmunds. The book may have been there from an early stage in its existence: a list of books at Bury was compiled in the late twelfth century and copied onto the leaves at the back of another Bury book, Pembroke College, MS 47, a glossed copy of Genesis and the Song of Songs from the first half of the 12th century. There is listed 'Sententie magistri Petri', against which a later annotator has added the number 'iii', indicating that the abbey came to own three copies of this work. This manuscript is presumably one of them; Pembroke College, MS 97 may have been one of the others. However, the inclusion of so many additional notes, apparently written by French hands, indicates that the manuscript must have come to Bury indirectly. As one would expect for such an important text, copies of the Sentences were often accompanied by a gloss, providing marginal explanations of and commentary upon Peter Lombard's text. The gloss in this manuscript appears to have been copied at or around the same time as the main text - though by a different hand and in a different script - perhaps as part of the main production of the book. There are further additions and annotations, however, some of which must have been added by the Bury monks themselves. One of these was Henry Kirkstede, who entered the monastery as a novice in the early 1330s and from 1338 to 1361 worked as custodian of the abbey's books (among other roles). He died at some point after 1378. Besides adding an ex libris and pressmark ('P. 64') on f. 1r, as is commonly found in surviving Bury books, Henry also added notes to f. 217v. The manuscript probably remained at Bury until its dissolution, passing subsequently - like so many others - into the hands of William Smart, who bequeathed it to Pembroke College. Dr James Freeman |Medieval Manuscripts Specialist |Cambridge University Library

Language(s): Latin

1. 1r-216v

Peter Lombard, Sententiarum libri IV

PL 192:521-962

Brady (1971-81), MS not used in edition

trans. Silano (2007-10)

1.1. 1r-1v

Prologue

Incipit: || 1r: ac tenuitate nostra cum paupercula in gazophilatium domini mittere

Explicit: 1v: singulorum librorum capitula distinguntur premisimus

Opening initial and single line of text (probably written in display script) have been excised.

1.2. 1v-3r

Capitula for Book 1

1.3. 3r-66v

Book 1

Incipit: 3r: Ueteris ac nove legis continentiam diligenti

Explicit: 66v: Veruntamen illi actum uoluerunt quem deus noluit

1.4. 66v-68v

Capitula for Book 2

1.5. 68v-119v

Book 2

Incipit: 68v: Creacionem omnium rerum insinuans scriptura

Explicit: 119v: Sic enim deus percepit ut in malis nulli potestati obediamus

1.6. 119v-121r

Capitula for Book 3

1.7. 121r-158r

Book 3

Incipit: 121r: Cum venit igitur plenitudo temporis ut ait apostolis misit deus filium suum

Explicit: 158r: sexui impositas que caritate tangende sunt ut uiciorum fere occidantur

1.8. 158r-159v

Capitula for Book 4

1.9. 160r-216v

Book 4

Incipit: 160r: Samaritanus enim uulnerato appropians curationi eius sacramentorum

Explicit: 216v: per media ad pedes usque uestra duce peruenit

Final rubric: 216v: Finit dictamen laudetur spiritus amen

2. 1r-216v

Marginal gloss, discontinuous

Refers to works of Seneca, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Gennadius, Athanasius, Eusebius, Sextus, Dionysius, John of Damascus, Boethius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory, Leo, Bede, John Chrysostom, Hilary, Isidore, Anselm, Hugh of Saint-Victor, Bernard of Clairvaux, Richard of Saint-Victor, Pope Alexander, Innocent, In extrauagantibus, Glossa, Pope Martin.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 4r: uel in enigmate

Form: codex

Support: Parchment (HFFH)

Extent: Codex: iii + 3 + 216 + 2 + iii leaves. 385 × 260 mm. Leaves have been retrimmed.

Foliation:

21st-century foliation:

[a-c] + i-iii + 1-216 + 217-218 + [d-f]

Numbering in pencil.

Collation

The manuscript is formed of 27 quires of 8 leaves, preceded by three medieval endleaves, all singletons (the first formerly the front pastedown), and followed by two medieval endleaves, a bifolium. There are also three modern paper endleaves at the front and back of the manuscript.

Quires 1-27⁸ (ff. 1-216)

No leaf signatures.

Quire signatures written in plummet, in Roman numerals, on the verso of the last leaf of each quire. The first that is clearly visible is 'iiij' on f. 32v.

No catchwords.

Condition

Folio i detached. The former front pastedown is heavily wormed, with some of the holes extending through the adjoining endleaves and opening leaves of the text-block. A similar pattern of worming is visible at the back of the manuscript. The opening initial has been cut out.

Layout

245 × 145 mm. Ruled in plummet, frame and line, in two columns of 40 lines. Written above top line.

Gloss ruled for in plummet ad hoc in neat blocks.

Hand(s)

Text written by one proficient French protogothic bookhand.

Gloss written mainly in a single, low-grade but neat early gothic bookhand.

Decoration

Eleven- to thirteen-line initials in colours and gold, in 'Channel Style', with foliage, lions and birds, at the opening of the prologue and each book (ff. 1r (excised), 3r, 68v, 121r and 160r).

Two-line (occasionally three- or four-line) initials, alternating in red or blue, with contrasting penwork infill and marginal flourishing in blue or red.

One-line plain initials, alternating in red or blue, at the opening of each entry in lists of capitula.

Capitula written alternately in red or black ink.

Rubrics and marginal guides written in red ink.

Opening words of books written in display capitals, alternating in red and blue.

Distinctio numbers written in colours in the margin.

Additions

Paragraph of gloss on the Song of Songs, surrounded by another gloss (f. ii recto.

Table of quaestiones in the Sententiae, written in a French scholastic note-hand of the early 13th century (ff. ii recto-iii verso and continuing on ff. 218r-218v).

An erased inscription of three lines, underneath which is a pencilled list of books (head of f. iii verso).

Early additions to the marginal gloss, throughout, including by the same hand as that responsible for ff. ii recto-iii verso.

Informal notes and distinctiones in various hands of c. 1200 and later, up to the 15th century. One is a prayer invoking Thomas Becket. One on f. 217v is by Henry Kirkstede . Folio 218v is mostly pasted over with modern paper, but evidently bore further notes, some of which can be seen through a window in the paper mounting.

Quire signatures have been added by a modern hand (19th/20th century), in pencil, in the lower margin of the recto of the first leaf of each quire. However, they appear to be out of sequence with the medieval quire signatures visible on the facing verso. For example, f. 32v is the last leaf of the fourth quire and was marked 'iiij' by a medieval hand in plummet; f. 33r, however, has been marked 'VI' by the modern hand.

Binding

Mark of a chain-staple from the medieval binding at the foot of f. i.

Stoakley and Son, late Hawes.

History

Origin: Late 12th century, probably made in ; Paris.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds . Ex libris and press-mark (P. 64), written by the hand of Henry Kirkstede (f. 1r). It may be one of the three copies of the Sentences recorded in the list of books at Bury compiled in the late 12th century, and with later additions (entered on the leaves at the back of Pembroke College, MS 47, a glossed copy of Genesis and the Song of Songs from the first half of the 12th century). See CBMLC 4, B13.234. Another copy may be Pembroke College, MS 97.

Given to Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1599 by William Smart (d. 1599) . See note of gift on f. 1r.

James, Ecloga, no. 90

Wren List 9

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by Rodney M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts at Pembroke College, Cambridge (forthcoming, 2021) (used here by kind permission of the author).

Availability

Researchers should note that Pembroke College's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Pembroke College manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, James, M.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1905)

Magistri Petri Lombardi Sententiae in IV libris distinctae Spicilegium Bonaventurianum, (Grottaferrata, Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1971)

The library and archives of Bury St Edmunds abbey, Thomson, Rodney M. (1974, unpublished PhD dissertation)

Some manuscripts in Cambridge from Bury St Edmunds Abbey: exhibition catalogue Bury St Edmunds: medieval art, architecture, archaeology and economy British Archaeological Association conference transactions, Gransden, Antonia ([S.l.], 228-285, British Archaeological Association, 1998)

The Sentences Mediaeval sources in translation, , (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2007)

A catalogue of western book illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge colleges Illuminated manuscripts in Cambridge, (London, 1: c. 1000-c. 1250, Harvey Miller, 2015)

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 28

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