Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 288

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11888

Introduction: This manuscript, probably copied in the 17th century, contains a treatise on papal primacy by Barlaam of Calabria, a 14th-century Orthodox monk from Seminara in Calabria, and a native of the Greek-speaking communities of southern Italy who later moved to Constantinople. Barlaam is best known for igniting the most serious internal theological controversy in the Orthodox Church during the last centuries of Byzantium, through his criticism of the theories of Gregory Palamas , which impinged on the theological underpinning of the meditative practice known as hesychasm. Following the official condemnation of his views in the Palamite controversy, Barlaam returned to Italy, and later converted to Catholicism. However, he had previously written polemical works against the Catholic Church, reflecting the ongoing schism between East and West, and it was his attacks on the role of Aristotelian logic in Latin theology that indirectly sparked Barlaam's dispute with Palamas and the hesychast controversy. These works included three treatises refuting papal claims to supreme ecclesiastical authority. The longest of these is the one copied here, which incorporates all the arguments found in the other two and is structured as a dialogue. Elegantly written on English paper, this manuscript may well have been produced in England, in which case its reproduction perhaps reflects the usefulness of arguments against papal authority for the polemical purposes of English Protestantism. Unusually, the scribe has filled any space between the end of the text of each line and the ruling line delineating the margin with an ornamental curved stroke, seemingly as an aesthetic device to avoid any unevenness in the length of lines. A more peculiar detail is that the last line of text on most pages ends with a substantial space of varying extent, likewise filled with a horizontal stroke. There is no obvious logic to the point at which the text breaks off on each occasion, since this often occurs in the middle of a phrase. This arrangement may reflect a desire to maintain the page-breaks of the manuscript's exemplar. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

ff. 1r-22v

Barlaam Calabro, approximately 1290-1348, Treatise on papal primacy

AL 21

Rubric: f. 1r Τοῦ σοφωτάτου Βαρλαὰμ λόγος περὶ τῆς τοῦ Πάπα ἀρχῆς

Incipit: f. 1r Οἱ περὶ τὰς ἐπιστήμας δεινοὶ, ὦ χρηστὲ Φραγκίσκε

Explicit: f. 22v ἐξ ὧν εἴπομεν ἀρχῶν, καὶ μακροθύμως ἀκουσόμεθά σου

Final rubric: f. 22v Τέλος, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ χάρις

TLG 3159.011

Ed. Tia M. Kolbaba, Barlaam the Calabrian. Three treatises on papal primacy: introduction, edition and translation, Revue des études byzantines 53 (1995), pp. 93-115. This manuscript is omitted from Kolbaba's list of those containing this text.

ff. 23r-28v are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Western paper, folded in quarto . Watermark: Armorial ( c. 70 × 40 mm. ) in the gutter, displaying a shield surrounded by the Order of the Garter bearing the motto ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’.

Extent: Codex: 1 + 28 leaves. 210 × 137 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers i + 1-28 in pencil, in Arabic and Roman numerals, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 7 quires, all binia.

Quires 1-7⁴ ff. 1-28

Condition

The stub of a second endleaf survives after f. i. The upper part of f. i and the outer part of f. 27 have been torn away, and there are tears to the edges of other folios. There is significant insect damage in the gutter to ff. 23-28. There is creasing to ff. i and 28, and f. 28 is stuck to the binding. There is some orange staining due to mould on ff. i recto-3v.

Layout

A single column of 14 lines. 141 × 92 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 12, type Leroy 00D1. Text stands on the lines. At the end of most pages much of the last line is left free of text and filled with a horizontal stroke.

Hand(s)

The manuscript was copied in a mixed minuscule script, upright or slanting slightly to the right, in black ink. There is moderate variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings are very rare, but appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. Use of the double dot is functional only, while nomina sacra are not contracted. Accents are sometimes joined to letters. Marginal quotation marks are in use.

The modern eta, modern nu, sigma telikon and loop epsilon are present, and there are inclusions of letters within omicron.

Punctuation used includes the lower point, lower comma, question mark and full stop.

The same hand has added the heading, subscription, names of persons in the dialogue and numbers of listed points in the same style in red ink.

Short curved lines fill any space between the end of a line of text and the marginal ruling line.

Additions

Most openings, but not all, have been marked with a pair of identical Greek letters in the lower right-hand corner of both verso and recto. These form a single alphabetical sequence through the volume. Where they are absent from an opening, the sequence resumes with the letter following the last one present.

Binding

Bound in a 17th-century limp vellum binding. Four green ribbons have been inserted through holes in the cover for fastening, of which one is intact while only the attachments of the other three inside the cover remain. The classmark and the author's name ‘Barlaam’ are written in ink on the spine.

200 × 146 × 10 mm.

History

Origin: The characteristics of the script suggest that the manuscript was probably copied in the 17th century, while the watermark suggests that it may have been produced in ; England.

Additional Information

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)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 288

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