Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 243
Knighthood and Battle
Contents
Versified paraphrase and translation of Vegetius, De re militari.
Text also preserved in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 45, Part 2 and London, British Library, Cotton MS Titus A.xxiii, ff. 2r-53v.
Physical Description
21st-century foliation:
[a-b] + 1-56 + [c-d]
Numbering in pencil.15th-century foliation:
[1]-53 (for ff. 3-55, numbering commencing with 2 on f. 4r).
Collation
- Quires 1-68 (ff. 1-48)
- Quire 78-1 (ff. 49-55: 8th leaf excised, after f. 55, probably blank)
Leaf signatures in the usual late medieval form.
Catchwords, framed.Condition
Layout
165 × 95 mm. Single columns, frame ruling in ink with dividing lines for stanzas, 28 lines in four stanzas, written below top line.
Running headers in paratext.
Hand(s)
Written in secretary script by one scribe.
Decoration
At the opening of the proheme, a large cadel in brown ink (f. 1r).
Five- to eleven-line initials in blue, with infill and marginal flourishing in red.
Highlighting in red.
Additions
Pen-trials throughout, including, on f. 56r, parts of two documents.
Scribbles in crayon in the margins of ff. 50r-50v and 53r).
Binding
19th-century binding, by Hawes.
Folio 56 perhaps formerly the rear pastedown of the medieval binding, now lifted.
History
According to P.R. Robinson, 'The translation seems to have been completed in the years 1458-59. Its proem, lines 1-88 (ff. 1r-2v), celebrates the triumphant entry of Henry VI into London on 25 March 1458, and in lines 978-1026 (ff. 19r-19v) the poet refers to the political situation after the Yorkist defeat at the battle of Ludiford, in October 1459. However, there is no mention of Henry's defeat and capture in 1460 or the ensuing events that led to Edward IV's accession. In the only other two copies...the proem is omitted...and the name of Edward IV is substituted for that of Henry in lines 121 and 2880 (ff. 3v and 53r). This would suggest that the Pembroke copy was made before March 1461 when Henry was deposed, and certainly before his death in 1471.'
Provenance and Acquisition
1v: 'Thomas bynder', written upside-down in the lower margin (late 15th century) ('Thomas' repeated in similar fashion on f. 20r).
56r: copy of a warrant made out for Richarde Artur, addressed to the Keeper of the park at Wanstead, to take one buck, dated 13 Aug. 23 (most likely Hen VIII, i.e. 1531/32).
Scribbled names: 'Glyntham' (i.e. Glentham, Lincs.), 'Brantyngthorp' (i.e. Bruntingthorpe, Lincs.) and 'Lyncoln' (16th century).
First noted as part of the collection of Pembroke College by H. Schenkl, Bibliotheca Patrum Latinorum Britannica, II/2 (Vienna, 1898), p. 5.
Additional Information
Record Sources
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)
Knyghthode and bataile: a XVth century verse paraphrase of Flavius Vesetius Renatus'
treatise
<hi rend="italics">De re militari</hi> Knyghthode and bataile Early English Text Society
/ Original series, (London, Published for the Early English Text Society, by H Milford, Oxford University
Press, 1935)
Catalogue of dated and datable manuscripts c. 737-1600 in Cambridge libraries, Robinson, P.R. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 1988)
Scholarly scribes and the creation of <hi rend="italics">Knyghthode and
Bataile</hi> English Manuscript Studies: 1100-1700, Wakelin, Daniel (12, 26-45, 2005)
Of knyghthode and bataile, (2021)
A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Thomson, Rodney M. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 2022)
Funding of Cataloguing
Anstruther Trust (digitisation)
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
