Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 308

Hrabanus Maurus, Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, IX-XVIII.

Contents

Introduction: Thanks to dedication inscriptions written across the end of one quire and the beginning of another, we know that the manuscript was donated to Reims Cathedral by its archbishop, Hincmar: these read 'Hincmarus archiepiscopus dedit sanctae mariae remensi' ('Archbishop Hincmar gave [this] to Saint Mary of Reims' - the cathedral being thus dedicated to the Virgin Mary). Hincmar served as archbishop between 845 and 882, which enables us to date the production of the manuscript to within this 37-year period. The survival of manuscripts whose production is dated or is datable is of great value to palaeographers, since it makes possible a more precise understanding of the chronology of the evolution in styles of medieval handwriting. The interest of this manuscript to students of codicology, furthermore, is how clearly it illustrates the archetypical model of medieval book production in a monastic context. In order to make a book in the medieval period, one first had to obtain another copy from somewhere: this is known as the exemplar. The source of the exemplar for this manuscript is not known, nor is it known to have survived. However, it was most likely disbound and its quires divided into portions and shared among a team of scribes. These scribes were then provided with blank quires of parchment and tasked with making a copy, each working concurrently with the others and thereby speeding up the pace of production. The evidence for this may be found in a series of inscriptions at the beginning and ends of quires, presumably made by the head of the cathedral scriptorium who was co-ordinating the work, and which name the monks responsible for the copying each of these sections: first Iotsmar, then Salmon, Hrannigil, Bernard, Hrotald, Haimon, Adelrad and finally Ausold. Although all of the scribes are writing in the same style of handwriting - Caroline minuscule - their hands all differ slightly from one another, as may be seen most clearly at the transition from one scribe's stint to the next. Once their work was completed, the quires were gathered together and bound. Thomson (supplement, 2022) has suggested that the partial erasure of 'dedit Sanctae Mariae Remensi' on f. 1r indicates that 'at least a leaf [is] missing from before Quire 1'. However, the preceding part of that inscription, 'Hincmar archiepiscopus', where it occurs elsewhere in the manuscript does so on the verso of the last leaf of the preceding quire - so it is unlikely that whatever leaf originally bore the first half of the inscription was ever structurally part of the first quire of this manuscript. The evidence in the rest of the manuscript points to the quires having been made up as a batch, and the dedication added in a similar manner, before any copying took place: this is illustrated by the loss of the second half of the inscription where the first leaf of Quire 2 has been cancelled but the text continues uninterrupted (see ff. 8v-9r). Given that this volume contains only Books IX-XVIII of Hrabanus Maurus's Commentary, one might more reasonably deduce that the preceding part of the inscription was found on the closing leaf of the preceding quire, presumably the last in an accompanying volume that bore Hrabanus's Commentary on Books I-VIII and which has been lost or remains unidentified. The partial erasure of the inscription on f. 1r might be explained by the change in ownership in the manuscript: the removal of 'dedit' and 'Remensi' reduced the inscription from the dedication of this manuscript to a more general declaration of piety by invoking the name of the Virgin Mary. The first of the two stubs that remain after Quire 1 is most likely attached to the remains of the pastedown (now f. i recto); the second is the aforementioned cancelled leaf in Quire 2. We know that the manuscript was later in the possession of Ely Cathedral from inscriptions at the front and back of the manuscript, as well as a pressmark on f. 1r that resembles a large letter I. Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge speculated that this manuscript might have been one of several brought from Reims to England by Grimbald of Saint-Bertin (c. 820s-901), however, as Pam Robinson notes, there is no evidence for this in the manuscript. Dr James Freeman| Medieval Manuscripts Specialist| Cambridge University Library
1r-256v
Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, IX-XVIII Hrabanus Maurus
Language(s): Latin
1.1. 1r
Argumentum
Rubric: 1r: Argumentum primae epistole Pauli apostoli ad Corinthios
Incipit: 1r: Corinthi sunt Achiui et hi similiter
Explicit: 1r: quae in corpore uidebuntur
Final rubric: 1r: Explicit argumentum
1.2. 1r-2v
Capitula
1.3. 2v-256v
Books IX-XVIII
Rubric: 2v: Incipit liber nonus explanationis epistolarum pauli apostoli
Incipit: 2v: Paulus uocatus apostolus christi ihesu
Explicit: 256v: qui diligunt eum in incorruptione
Final rubric: 256v: Explicit liber xviii

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: de nuptiis iteratis 3r: -rasti mihi
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH)
Extent: Codex: v + 1 + 256 + v leaves. 295 × 210 mm.
Foliation:

19th-/20th-century foliation:

[a-e] + i + 1-256 + [f-j]

Written in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the recto side of each leaf.

Collation

The manuscript comprises 33 quires, copied by a team of scribes, whose stints were divided as follows (see the description of handwriting for further details):

  • Iotsmar: Quires 1-6
  • Salmon: Quires 7-9
  • Hrannigil: Quires 10-12
  • Bernard: Quires 13-15
  • Hrotald: Quires 16-19
  • Haimon: Quires 20-22
  • Adelrad: Quires 23-26
  • Ausold: Quires 27-29
  • 'Common portion': Quires 30-33

The quires are mostly of eight leaves.

  • Quire 18 (ff. 1-8)
  • Quire 210-1 (ff. 9-17: 1st leaf, before f. 9, cancelled)
  • Quires 3-58 (ff. 18-41)
  • Quire 66 (ff. 42-47)
  • Quires 7-148 (ff. 48-111)
  • Quire 1510 (ff. 112-121)
  • Quires 16-258 (ff. 122-201)
  • Quire 264-1 (ff. 202-204: 4th leaf, after f. 204, cancelled)
  • Quires 27-328 (ff. 205-252)
  • Quire 338-4 (ff. 253-256: 5th-8th leaves, after f. 246, excised, probably blank)

18 210-1 (1 cancelled) 3-58 66 7-148 1510 16-258 264-1 (4 cancelled) 27-328 338-4 (5-8 excised, probably blank)

No leaf signatures.

Quire numbers in the lower margin of the verso of the last leaf of each quire.

 No catchwords.

Layout

230 × 150 mm. Single columns of 35 lines, frame and line ruling in hardpoint, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by at least eight scribes, each writing Caroline minuscule of the Reims school, probably early in Hincmar's period (see 'History' for further details). The beginning and end of each scribal stint, and the scribe responsible, is noted on the opening and closing leaves, which are always at the beginning and end of quires (see 'Collation' for further details).

  • 1r: Hic incoat portio Iotsmari
  • 47v: Et hic finit
  • 48r: Hic incipit portio Salmoni
  • 71v: Et hic finit
  • 72r: Hic incipit portio Hrannigili
  • 95v: Et hic finit
  • 96r: Hic Incipit portio Bernardi
  • 121v: Et hic finit
  • 122r: Incipit portio Hrotaldi
  • 153v: Finit portio Hrotaldi
  • 154r: Incipit portio Haimoni
  • 177v: Et hic finit
  • 178r: Incipit portio Adelradi
  • 205r: Incipit portio Ausoldi
  • 229r: Incipit portio communis

On ff. 72r-100r, 154r-160r and 178r-180r, scriptural passages are written in rustic capitals.

Additions

Running headers inserted by late medieval hands.

Binding

19th-century binding: Stoakley and Son, late Hawes.

Evidence of a chain-staple on a former binding, in the form of two adjacent holes and rust marks in the lower part of the fore-edge margin of the closing leaves of the manuscript (ff. 252-256).

History

Origin: 845×882. ; France, Reims Cathedral.

One of twenty-two manuscripts made at Reims and given to the Cathedral by Archbishop Hincmar (c. 806-882; reg. 845-882).

Robinson (1988), no. 277

Provenance and Acquisition

18v-19r, and passim: 'Hincmarus archiepiscopus dedit sanctae mariae remensi': donation inscription written across the verso of the final leaf of each quire and the recto of the first leaf of the following, recording the gift of the manuscript to Reims Cathedral by Archbishop Hincmar .

Perhaps in England by the 13th century. Inscription relating to the contents of the manuscript by an English hand: 'Rabanus super duas epistolas ad corinthios et epistolam ad galathas et epistolam ad ephesios' (f. i verso ).

At Ely Cathedral by the later medieval period. Ownership inscription on ff. i verso, 256v: 'Iste liber pertinet ecclesie Eliensi' (15th century). Ely pressmark on f. 1r).

In the lower right-hand margin of f. 2r, an unidentified ?pressmark: '97'.

Erased ?ownership inscription on f. 256v.

Given to Pembroke College by Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), Master 1589-1605.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the descriptions provided by Rodney M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Pembroke College, Cambridge (2022) and the subsequent Supplement of the same year (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) The scriptorium of Reims during the archbishopric of Hincmar (845-882 A.D.) Classical and mediæval studies in honor of Edward Kennard Rand: presented upon the completion of his fortieth year of teaching, Carey, F.M. (New York City, 41-60, Pubby the editor, 1938) La répartition du travail dans les « scriptoria » carolingiens Journal des Savants, Vezin, Jean (3, 1, 212-227, 1973, 2020-05-04T13:26:07Z, https://www.persee.fr/doc/jds_0021-8103_1973_num_3_1_1285) La composition de la bibliothèque de Moissac à la lumière d'un inventaire du XVIIe siècle nouvellement découvert Scriptorium, Dufour, Jean (35, 2, 175-226, 1981, 2016-08-04T16:30:50Z, http://www.persee.fr/doc/scrip_0036-9772_1981_num_35_2_1213) Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources Penguin classics, (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1983) Manuscripts from Anglo-Saxon England: an exhibition in the University Library Cambridge to mark the conference of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists, August 1985, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, 1985) Paläographie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters Grundlagen der Germanistik, Bischoff, Bernhard (Berlin, Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1986) Catalogue of dated and datable manuscripts c. 737-1600 in Cambridge libraries, Robinson, P.R. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 1988) Katalog der festländischen Handschriften des neunten Jahrhunderts: (mit Ausnahme der wisigotischen) Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für die Herausgabe der mittelalterlichen Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz, Bischoff, Bernhard (Wiesbaden, I: Aachen-Lambach, Harrassowitz, 1998) Latin palaeography: antiquity and the Middle Ages, Bischoff, Bernhard (Cambridge, University Press, 2003) History and memory in the Carolingian world, McKitterick, Rosamond (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004) The Cambridge Illuminations: ten centuries of book production in the medieval west, (London, Harvey Miller, 2005) The Anglo-Saxon library, Lapidge, Michael (Oxford, University Press, 2006, 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239696.001.0001) Their hands before our eyes: a closer look at scribes: the Lyell lectures delivered in the University of Oxford, 1999 Their hands before our eyes, Parkes, M.B. (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2008) The circulation of books between England and the Continent, c. 871-c. 1100 The Cambridge history of the book in Britain, Gameson, Richard (Cambridge, 1: c. 400-1100, 344-372, Cambridge University Press, 2011, https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-book-in-britain/circulation-of-books-between-england-and-the-continent-c-871-c-1100/21E856EB2ECBFCBC288374A33827D5F0) Exchanges between the British Isles and the Continent, c. 450-c. 900 The Cambridge history of the book in Britain, McKitterick, Rosamond (Cambridge, 1: c. 400-1100, 313-337, Cambridge University Press, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521583459.013) Verzeichnis der Handschriften mit den Werken des Hrabanus Maurus Monumenta Germaniae historica: Hilfsmittel, Kottje, Raymund (Hannover, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 2012) 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

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge