Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, St John's College, MS E.6

Thomas Betson's Notebook

Contents

Introduction: The Syon Abbey Herbal, contained in this manuscript, is notable as the last such text to be compiled in a religious house before the Dissolution in 1539. Also remarkable is the fact that we know the identity of its author – Thomas Betson – and, unusually for even late-medieval members of the religious orders, many details of Betson's life survive. His origins remain obscure, but dialectal evidence from one his writings suggests that he may have come from near Billericay in Essex. Over the course of eight years, he studied civil and canon law at Cambridge and practised as a church lawyer. He also worked as an ordained priest, latterly for fifteen years as rector of the small parish of Wimbish. Probably in the summer of 1481, aged about 45, Betson left this post and the secular world, joining Syon Abbey as a monk. There he lived out his days until his death on 20 February 1516/17. During that time, Betson published A ryght profytable treatise, a devotional work printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1500 (see, for example, Cambridge, University Library, Inc.5.J.1.2[3560] ). He was evidently an active copyist, with four other manuscripts by or containing his hand surviving. An early printed portrait in a broadsheet produced for Syon is probably identifiable as Betson, thanks to the 'tb' monogram that accompanies the kneeling figure (see below). Syon Abbey was a Bridgettine foundation, established by Henry V in 1415. It was first located on a site near the present Twickenham Bridge, and the foundation stone was laid by Henry on 22nd February 1415. This house proved too small and damp for habitation and new quarters were built nearby at what is now Syon House. The intended complement of these 'mixed' Bridgettine Abbeys was 60 sisters and 25 brothers, the brothers to include 13 priests – though its population never reached these numbers. Notably, all were subject to the Abbess. Syon became a centre for pilgrimage, preaching and learning, and even the publishing of printed devotional books. It was enmeshed in the divorce of Catherine of Aragon in 1533, whom it supported, and the Oath of Supremacy to Henry VIII in 1535, which it opposed. It was closed down in the Dissolution of 1539. Betson kept the notebook shown here during his time at Syon, probably from 1500 onwards (see f. [vi] verso). It is small and almost square, only 145mm in height and 110mm in width. The skin on the wooden boards is off-white, but beneath it, particularly against the inside rear wooden board, lies what may be a typical Syon deep pink binding, now much faded. The text is on paper, with a few added sheets of parchment. The paper was sourced from at least eight different stocks. The handwriting varies from the neat to the illegible, which might reflect its compilation over many years by an increasingly elderly Betson. The contents of the notebook are highly varied, with many short texts, the majority medical, but also religious, devotional, legal, experimental and others besides. The notebook contains an alphabetical list of the names of 700 herbal plants, many not native to Britain; they were written in Latin, French and Middle English, with some transcribed from Greek and even Arabic. Betson grouped Latin or English synonyms for these herbs under the main name, which he wrote in a larger script. To this 'Herbarium', he then added a selection of herbal remedies, a passage wholly in Latin on the use of urine for diagnosis, particularly of women's conditions, and another on herbal essences preserved in alcohol. Betson's lists of remedies were less well-organised: they appear to be in no particular order, with rubrics usually written in larger script and underlined, but often spilling into the margin. Manicules or the letters 'NB' often point out entries of apparent importance. None of these systems provided a good finding-aid for a particular illness or remedy, except for someone closely familiar with the book's contents and organisation. Given this, and its small, portable size, the likelihood is that the notebook was only ever intended for personal use. Betson also compiled a catalogue, or 'Registrum', of Syon's books, which survives as Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 141 (see Bateson (1898) and Gillespie (2001)). It records 1,747 volumes, both manuscript and printed, and often containing multiple texts. Medical texts are especially well represented, with most of the current European medical, medical-astrological and herbal texts attested therein. In the section marked 'B', there are writings from both the medieval and classical periods, as well as translations of works originally written in Greek and Arabic. They include texts such as the Antidotarium Nicholai and the Circa instans of Platearius, both widely circulated and required reading for any trained physician. Despite these rich resources being readily to hand, Betson seems to have used almost none of the medical, astrological or herbal books in Syon's library in compiling his own herbal. Instead he used texts that he must have acquired or borrowed from elsewhere, perhaps other religious houses. Among them was the Sinonima de nominibus herbarum of John Bray (d. 1381), physician to Edward III, perhaps in the copy preserved in London, British Library, MS Sloane 282, ff. 167v-173v (one of six surviving manuscripts). This provided the list of plants for the 'Herbarium', with some omissions (notably the poisonous mandrake; 'mandragora' in Bray). Bray's work was also the source of of the 450 remedies that Betson's notebook contains, though there does not appear to be a correspondence between the plants cited in the 'Herbarium' and those listed in the remedies. By far the largest number are for eye problems (24), fevers and stomach problems (21 each), gout (9) and toothache (7). A number of these remedies are widely attested and were evidently common folk remedies. The phrase 'Expertum est' is sometimes written into the margins, attesting to the treatment's efficacy, but this may have been copied by Betson from his source rather than being a personal judgement. Elsewhere, Betson used the Urina rufa and Colamentum sanguinis – two early medieval texts in wide circulation – for his section on urine flasks. For recipes for medicinal waters, Betson may have used the Breviarium Bartholomaei of John Mirfield (fl. 1390), of St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, which contains fifty such preparations. Betson's purpose in compiling the 'Herbarium' was perhaps straightforward: to create a convenient reference book that could aid understanding of the various plant-names in the library's several herbals. The notebook makes no reference to the habitat or appearance of the plants it cites, contains no illustrations, nor instructions as to when to gather or how to store plants, or the length of their efficacy. There is no 'quid pro quo' section, a common addition to herbals that suggested possible substitutions. The resources of the library and Betson's notebook suggest that members of the Syon community possessed detailed medical, botanical and herbal knowledge, but no evidence survives of its members, male or female, putting these to practical use. An audit of the Syon Gardens by the naturalist William Turner in the late 1550s suggests that there may have been a herb garden there, though none has been located. Only 44 books from Syon's immense library are known to survive. John Adams and Stuart Forbes| Syon Abbey Research Associates | Contact: [web@amcd.co.uk] | Website: The Syon Abbey Society References:
  • John Adams, 'Syon Abbey: Its Herbal, Medical Books and Care of the Sick: Healthcare in a Mixed Mediaeval Monastery' (Syon Abbey Society [Online publication], 2015): available online
  • The Syon Abbey Herbal: The Last Monastic Herbal in England, c. AD 1517: From St. John's College, Cambridge, Manuscript 109 (E.6) (London: AMCD, 2015)

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper and parchment
Extent: Codex: 4 | 124 | 4 leaves.
Foliation:

Foliated in the 20th century.

[i]-[iv] | 1-124 | [v]-[viii]

Partial foliation in pencil in the upper outer corner of the first recto of each quire from Quire 2 onward. Folio numbers [i]-[iv] and [v]-[viii] were assigned to unfoliated leaves for the purposes of this electronic record when the manuscript was examined in 2023 for the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project.

Collation

  • Quires 1-210 (ff. 1-20)
  • Quire 38 (ff. 21-28)
  • Quire 412 (ff. 29-40)
  • Quire 5-118 (ff. 41-96)
  • Quire 1212 (ff. 97-108)
  • Quires 13-148 (ff. 109-124)

1-210 38 412 5-118 1212 138 148

Additions

A 16th- or 17th-century hand has made a selective table of contents for ff. 1r-43v, listing the: ‘Casus Papales’, ‘Casus Episcopales’, ‘Decretum abbreviatum’, ‘De officio vicarii’ and ‘Bonifacius De regulis Juris’. The first three titles have subsequently been struck out, but a 17th-century hand has rewritten the title of the: ‘Decretum abbreviatum’.

Modern quire numbers added in pencil to the lower right-hand corners of the first rectos of quires.

Binding

Late 15th-/early 16th-century binding. Dark varnished leather over wooden boards with the remains of a clasp at the centre of both boards: a triangular brass nail on the front board with the catch plate missing and a clip on the lower board. In the front cover is carved a drawing of a circular symbol with a flower resembling a hexafoil, probably with an apotropaic function; the spine features five raised bands with two modern labels printed with the shelfmark ('E' and '6'). The leather on the insides of the covers is white and reveals an older leather cover underneath the current one, perhaps dyed red or pink.

Binding height: 155mm; width: 105mm; depth: 40mm.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Compiled in the late 15th or early 16th century by Thomas Betson (d. 1516) , librarian of Syon Abbey (1481-1516), religious author, and compiler: his name inscribed on f. 2r: ‘Orate pro anima Thome Betson de Syon’. The list of books on f. 124v likely identifies titles that were in his private possession or in Syon Abbey's library. On Betson, see Doyle (1956), 115-118; and Becket (2015).

The manuscript may have been incorporated into the library of Syon Abbey after Betson's death: recorded in Ker (1964), p. 308; and as 'Collectanea T. Betson (Notebook)' in the MLGB3 (mlgb3.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/mlgb/book/5354/) [accessed 15 August 2023].

Owned or accessed in the 16th century by Starley, (fl. 16th century) , their surname inscribed on f. [ii] recto: ‘Starley’ [3x] and f. 15r [1x] and f. 19r [1x].

Owned or accessed in the 16th century by Thomas Blythman, (fl. 16th century) , his name inscribed on f. 35r: ‘Thomas Blythman’. His hand has previously not been noticed or transcribed. Perhaps Thomas Blithman, commissioner for first fruits and tenths within the Diocese of Durham, the Archdeaconry of Richmond, and Northumberland, and Westmorland (appointed in 1535) who was acquainted with Thomas Cromwell, Visitor-General of the Monasteries. As Chief Steward of Syon Abbey, a position he held from 1524, Cromwell was closely involved in the dissolution of the monastery. Perhaps Blithman acquired the manuscript directly from Cromwell. On Blithman, see Wilmott and Bryson (2013), pp. 140-142.

Purchased at an unknown time before 1624 by William Crashaw (1572-1626) , a lawyer, book collector, and former Johnian. Crashaw's collection numbered around 200 manuscripts and 1000 printed books.

The manuscripts and printed books owned by William Crashaw were purchased by Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) , at an unknown time before Wriothesley's death in 1624. Wriothesley had been a student-contemporary of Crashaw at St John's College and he purchased Crashaw's collection with the intention to present the volumes as a gift to the Library of St John's College. The library was still partly under construction at the time of the purchase resulting in the Wriothesley family storing Crashaw's collection and delivering it piecemeal to the College over a number of years.

After Henry Wriothesley's death in 1624 and William Crashaw's death in 1626, care of Crashaw's books and manuscripts passed to Wriothesley's son, Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (1607-1667) . Although Crashaw's printed books seem to have been passed to the College without incident, Thomas Wriothesley seems to have taken a particular interest in the manuscripts, adding his name typically in the form 'Tho: C. S.' for ‘Thomas comes southamptoniensis’ ('Thomas, Earl of Southampton') to most of them, and apparently exhibiting such reluctance to deliver the manuscripts that the College wrote to his mother, Elizabeth Vernon (1573-?1655) to ask her to encourage her son to hand over the volumes.

Given to St John’s College in 1635 by Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton on behalf of William Crashaw and Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton . The initials ‘Tho. C. S.’ in ink (for Thomas Comes Southamptoniensis) are present on the outside of the front cover. William Crashaw's bookplate recording the donation is present on the inside of the rear cover. St John's College's bookplate pasted on the inside of the front cover.

Part 1 [Cambridge, St John's College, MS E.6, ff. [i]-[iv], [vi]-[viii]]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and Middle English

1. [i] recto-[iv] verso
Liturgical songs
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || [i] recto Stabat iuxta Christi crucem
Explicit: [iv] verso quia tu es vere lucis. Tendens ad uer[a]||
2. [i] verso-[ii] recto
Note on tyranny
Language(s): Latin

Added by (?) Thomas Betson; not transcribed.

3. [i] verso-[ii] recto
Untranscribed verse or note
Language(s): French and French

Added by (?) Thomas Betson; not transcribed.

4. [iii] verso
Draft sentence
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [ii] verso Thomas manum yn

Full transcription; added by Thomas Betson (?), perhaps referring to a chant for St Thomas Becket: "Thomas manum mittit".

5. [iv] recto
Draft sentence
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [iv] recto Willelmus permissione diuinia

Full transcription; added by Thomas Betson (?).

6. [v] recto-[viii] verso
Liturgical songs
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || [v] recto -dentes que dat talem filium
Explicit: [viii] verso Immo ambo iam parentes in maria sunt g[audentes]||
7. [v] recto
Metamorphoses [excerpt] Ovid
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: [v] recto Ouidius ad metamorph.
Incipit: [v] recto Prona que conspectent animalia cetera terram / Deus homini sublime dedidt celumque uidere / Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere uultus

Added by Thomas Betson.

8. [v] recto
Note on fox grape
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [v] recto Labrusca: vitis silvestris inter spineta et mutilis

Full transcription; added by Thomas Betson.

9. [v] recto
Note on (?) applause
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [v] recto Complosus [...]

Full transcription; added by Thomas Betson.

10. [vi] verso
Prophecy for the year 1500
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [vi] verso Anno domini 1500 peribit omnis caro per ignem

Added by (?) Thomas Betson.

11. [vi] verso
Proverb
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [vi] verso Militat in teneris annis amor hospes amenus / Est in canicie ridiculosa venus

Added by Thomas Betson.

12. [vi] verso
Proverb
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [vi] verso Stulticia est que te non finit esse senem

Added by Thomas Betson.

13. [vi] verso
Proverb
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: [vi] verso Exultat leui puer gravitate senectus / Inter vtrumque manens stat iuuenile decus

Added by Thomas Betson; the text is followed by a note that has not been transcribed.

14. [vii] verso
Medical recipe (?)
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: [vii] verso The powder for the priste is made of þe fume of j li. of pych subtillie and demi pynt of oyle burnyng in a cloute vndir a pott the mowth beyng dounward And the licour is oyle of lynsede or vernyssh

Full transcription; added by a 15th-century hand.

Physical Description

Form: fragment
Support: Parchment
Extent: Fragments: 8 leaves. 145 × 100-105 mm. These measures are the dimensions of the leaves as they are currently presented in the manuscript (the eight leaves have been bound into the manuscript in such a way that the text is vertically oriented) and do not attempt to give an estimate of the size of the original larger leaves from which these fragments were taken.

Layout

Ruled in (?) leadpoint, frame only. Due to the fragmentary nature of the leaves, it is imposible to establish the number of lines to the page.

Hand(s)

The text accompanying the music notation has been copied by a single hand in Northern Textualis.

Most of the additions to the fragmentary leaves have been copied by a cursive hand, Thomas Betson, including both secretary and anglicana features.

Decoration

Large plain initials in blue or red ink.

Paraphs in blue ink.

Five-line music staves drawn with red ink.

History

Origin: 14th century. ; England.

Part 2 [Cambridge, St John's College, MS E.6, ff. 1-124]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and Middle English

1. 1r-2r
Tract on law
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1r Pro intellectu tocius liber Institucionum
Explicit: 2r Quarta regula est iusticia vult tribuere ius vnicumque qualiter hoc deb||

Unfinished.

2. 2r
Alphabet,

'a'-'z', '[ampersand]', '[est]', '[rum]'

Added by the same hand that added a prayer to St Peter below the alphabet.

3. 2r
Prayer to St Peter
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2r Sancte Petre Princeps Apostolorum; Ora Pro Nobis:

Added by the same hand that added an alphabet above the prayer.

4. 2r
Verse
Language(s): Italian
Incipit: 2r ytalice: La vita el fin et il di lodo la sero / Vitam finis et diem laudat vesper

Added by the same hand as the below verse.

5. 2r
Verse
Language(s): Italian and Latin
Incipit: 2r ben sta chi proua / bene stat qui probat

Added by the same hand as the above verse.

6. 2v
Tract on multiple births
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Argumentatur iuris consultus per Aristotilem ff desolacione si pater vbi probat quod quinque sunt receptacula vulne mulieris
Explicit: 2v et tempore celesti quedam mulier de dacia confessa quod simul peperit nouiem prout legitur ingestis Ecclesie Romane
7. 2v
Verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Nota: per faciliora habemus ingredi deficiliora / Qui vadit plane vadit sane / Notandum quod frusta spectatur euentus cuius nullus sequatur effectus

Full transcription.

8. 2v
Verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Versus: Dicitur agnatus ex patris tibi in
Explicit: 2v Eius filius est quod nupcie demonstr[a]nt
9. 2v
Verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Versus: Liber erat vivus sed serus morte latinus / Atque dedicios cum nece liber erat

Full transcription.

10. 2v
Verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v serui [...] Iure civili vt liber patitur se venundari / Iure vt liber patitur se Iure gentium qui ab hostibus capiuntur

Full transcription.

11. 2v
Verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Qui ab ancillis nostris nascuntur

Full transcription.

12. 2v-4v
Verses and notes
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2v Qui non potest bursa soluere l[...]et mihi corpore
Explicit: 4v Muneribus dandis attendas quattuor ifta / Qui dans quisue petens res qui causa petendi

Full transcription.

13. 4v
Cisiojanus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 4v Bina gerit flores escis decies boat autes / Gumiferi frondes : detur cortex bidualis / Hanc fouet exiguum: dape cerciter appeto gustum

Full transcription.

14. 4v
Note
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 4v Nota sicut in vocalibus sic in [...] post [...] benedicti

Full transcription.

15. 4v
Runic alphabet
Language(s): Latin

The corresponding letter of the Roman alphabet have been written above the runes.

'4v, middle of page of St. John’s College E. 6, St. John's College, Library', in Runische Schriftlichkeit in den germanischen Sprachen (RuneS) [accessed 15 August 2023]
Bauer (2021), p. 71
16. 4v-10r
Experiments for making illusions, secret and invisible writing, knife tricks, and changing the taste of food and drink
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 4v De dioletica de quo tractatur ad tale signum potes facere speculum
Incipit: 4v De visu et qualiter decipitur in quo vno visu apperebunt multe ymagines
Explicit: 10r et primum secundum diuersum situm apperibit diuersa ymago etcaetera. Tunc procedas ante in 6o foliis ad talem signum [symbol]

For invisible writing, one text is encoded by replacing all its letters for their next letters in the alphabet. This method for secret writing is similar to the method in which only the vowels are replaced for their next letters in the alphabet, which is described on f. 7r. This text in question on f. 7v reads: ‘Aliud modus cum xskobn [vrinam]: cum pulueri spargendo scribendo + Non + et notatur in secretis 7 [?] horis’.

Similar tricks can be found in London, British Library, Harley MS 866, ff. 1r-7v.

17. 6v
John 13:20 in cypher
Language(s): Latin

‘Amen dico vobis’ is written (in the lower margin) in cypher as: ‘1m2n d3c4 54b3s’.

18. 10v
Explanation of the Ten Commandments
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 10v x mandata
Incipit: 10v Worship no fals goddes: ffirst pater noster aue and credo. In þis is forbodun al maner mawmatry wichecraft . Enchaunmentes. Redyng of dremys and alle mysbileue
Explicit: 10v Desire not þi neiȝbouris thyng: house . londe . Beste. seruaunt . ne no þing þat is his.
Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
19. 10v-11r
Tract on the Seven Deadly Sins
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 10v Pride: Bookyng . proude beryng displesyng . Scornyng hiȝte hert. Gay array . Pride of richesse ffairnesse
Explicit: 11r Lechery: þought will werk sight ffelyng dede doyng with syngull with comonis with widowis with maidenis with wifes with gossips goddouȝtris with [crossed out: religiouse] or eny oþere oute of wedloke and ayens kynde etcaetera
Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
20. 11r
Tract on the Five Bodily Wits
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 11r þe v bodyly wittes
Incipit: 11r Siȝt . heryng tastyng handlyng geynis[?]

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
21. 11r
Tract on the Five Spiritual Wits
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 11r þe v goostly wittes
Incipit: 11r Wille mynde vndirstondyng ymaginacioun and resoun

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
22. 11r
Tract on the Seven Bodily Works of Mercy
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 11r The vij bodily dedis of mercy
Incipit: 11r Fede þe hungry . Yeue drink to þe þristy . Clothe þe nakid . Herborowe þe houslesse . Visite þe sike . Delyuere prisoners and berie þe pore

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
23. 11r
Tract on the Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 11r þe vij goostly dedys of mercy
Incipit: 11r Yeue gode counsel to hem þat asken
Explicit: 11r tech hym þan can not of our salvacioun þe which stondiþ in thie[?] þinges

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
24. 11v
Mnemonic of the Twelve Articles of Faith
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 11v 12 articuli
Incipit: 11v Deus pater
Explicit: 11v Vita eterna

Written in the left margin of the page.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
25. 11v
Tract on the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: || 11v in þe vnite of þe godhede in þre persones / In þe manhede of criste / And in þe sacramentes of þe holy church
Explicit: 11v Mesure Temperancia: þis is a mene bitwene to moche and to litell and it stondith in takyng sufficiently þat ne dith And in refusyng vttirly þat is to moche orto litill
Final rubric: 11v Bi þese þynges shcal eche man and woman knowe god almyȝty - Betson

Full transcription. the first gift lacks its heading ('Faith') and definition.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
26. 12r
The names of the Twelve Apostles
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 12r Petir
Explicit: 12r Math.

Written in the left margin of the page

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
27. 12r
Poem on the Ten Commandments
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r x mandata
Incipit: 12r vnum crede deum ne iures vana per ipsum
Explicit: 12r Vicinique thorum resque caveto suas
Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
28. 12r
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Septem dona spiritus sunt
Incipit: 12r Sapiencia Intellectus Consillium ffortitudo Sciencia Pietas Timor [Domini]

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
29. 12r
The Seven Bodily Works of Mercy
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Septem opera misericordia corporalia
Incipit: 12r Visito infirmos, poto scicientes, cibo esurientes, tego nudos, Redimio captivos, colligo pauperes, condo mortuos

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
30. 12r
The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Septem opera misericordie spiritualia
Incipit: 12r Delinquenti ignoscere, Peccantem corripe, Ignorantem docere, Titubanti consulere, Mestum consolari Pro salute Christum orare

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
31. 12r
Seven important points
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Septem sunt que semper pre oculis habere debemus
Incipit: 12r Multiplicitas peccatorum que fecimus
Explicit: 12r Perdicio eterne glorie
Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
32. 12r
Humility
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Humilitas
Incipit: 12r Prudencia Fortitudo Justicia Temperancia Fides Spes Caritas
Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription].
33. 12r
De sex alis
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Cherubim
Incipit: 12r Dilectio dei Dilectio proximi Confessio Satisfacio Mundicia mentis Mundicia carnis

The text is entitled ‘Cherubim’ because it is associated with a drawing of an angel, although the latter is six-winged and therefore a seraph.

Adams and Forbes, The Draft Papers of Thomas Betson (no publication date) [full transcription but with minor differences]
34. 13v
Instructions for making light in the night
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 13v Si vis habere lucem per noctem
35. 13v
Instructions for driving flies from a house
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 13v Vt pulices exeant de domo
36. 13v
Four craft recipes
Language(s): Middle English

For making dyes in different colours. The recipes are headed: ‘To make rede turnsall’; ‘To make blew turnsall’; ‘To make yelow turnsall’; ‘To make grene turnsall’.

37. 13v
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 13v Ad faciendum aliquem vomere

To make someone vomit.

38. 14r-16v
Tract on canon law Paulus de Liazariis
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 14r Hic incipit decretum abbreuiatum
Incipit: 14r [L]iber decretorum distinctus est in tres partes
Explicit: 16v In prima an liceat

This work has been attributed to various authors, see Mirabile.

39. 17r
Theological tract
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 17r Insula Bragmannorum seu fidelium
Incipit: 17r Sunt multe Insule que nunquam habuerunt Regem neque legem sed viuiunt secundum racionem
Explicit: 17r et ad lucrandum tocium mundum sollicitus vt [...] etcaetera
40. 20r
Line from a (?) mystery play
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20r Ad me facta pater assit deus et sua mater

Elsewhere, this line appears to be found only in the Coventry Corpus Christi Pageants.

41. 20v
Line from a (?) mystery play
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20r Ad me facta pater assit deus et sua mater

Elsewhere, this line appears to be found only in the Coventry Corpus Christi Pageants.

42. 20v
Verse mnemonic for Ember Days
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20v Crux dat lucia civis et karismata dia / Ne sis in angaria quarta sequens feria

Full transcription.

43. 20v
Dietary advice from the Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20v Si tibi deficiant medici, medici tibi fiant / Hec tria mens leta labor moderata dieta

Full transcription.

eTK 1466E
44. 20v
Blessing for a fraternity
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20v Et vestram fraternitatem venerabilem dirigat iuxta vota elsior in caelis regnare et regemur universa
Final rubric: 20v Scripta Eboracensis vester ad nutum Jo. P."

Full transcription.

45. 20v
Model letter
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 20v Notandum
Incipit: 20v Honorande [? magister] debita recommendacione premissa cum graciarum accione
Explicit: 20v Et si quid erit ad vestrem placitum per me fieri posse deo amante promptissimum ad id me fore promitto
46. 20v
Unidentified tract
Language(s): Latin with a few (?) English words
Rubric: 20v [...] prouidentoris [?]
Incipit: 20v misas et expensas ad custos suas proprios
Explicit: 20v thrisfalowid
47. 21r
Verses from Ovid, Amores
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 21r Quos peciere duces animos in milite forti / Hos petit in socio bella puella

Full transcription.

48. 21r
A Sator [Arepo] Square
Language(s): Latin

Added by a later (16th-century) hand.

49. 21v
Legal notes from the Lex Authentica
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 21v Vxores coruscant radijs maritorum c. iiij. de conulibus § si vero
Explicit: 21v Imperatori deus leges subiecit lege animatam cum mittens hominibus

The first note identifeis the Lex Authentica as its source.

50. 22r-23v
Tract on law
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 22r De regulis iuris vt notantus ff. nono
Incipit: 22r Regula [crossed out: ‘est’] que rem que est breuiter enarrat non vt ex regula ius sumarum sed ex iure quod est regula fiat per regulam breuis narratio traditur ut et Sabinus quasi coniectio est que simul cum [crossed out: ‘est’] in aliquo uiciata est perdit officium suum
Explicit: 23v Inuitus nemo cogitur defendere rem de qua agitur. Cui damus accionem eidem excepcionem eidem competem multo magis quis dicet
51. 24r
Mnemonic of the dioceses in England
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 23r E.ly ba.[the] carlil can[terbery] chichester lin.[colne] lundon [sic] deorham ex.eter ebo[raci] wyn[chester] wor[chester] rimond ro[chester] Salus[bury] presules habet anglia tales

Full transcription. A similar mnemonic survives in London, British Library, Lansdowne MS 762, f. 95r [printed in Reliquiae antiquae, 1 (1845), pp. 287-288].

52. 24r
Note about money
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 24r Qui expendit in die vnum denarius
Explicit: 24r Hoc tamen excepto die quod expenditur vno
53. 24r
Two-line verse about priests
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 24r Presbiteri nati non possunt esse beati / Sunt infelices quia matres sunt meretrices

Full transcription.

54. 24r
Poem about priests
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 24r Responsio
Incipit: 24r Si male viuentes me progennere [sic] parentes
Explicit: 24r vel non est munda sacri baptismatis vnda
55. 24r
Note on simony
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 24r Nota de symonia
56. 24r
Theological notes
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 24r Omnibus hominibus vite est mors coll. j. et nullus
Explicit: 24r Castitas sola cum fiducia possibilis deo animas hominum presentare de lenonibus collacio iij § sancimus
57. 24v
Calculation of the distance between the earth and the stars
Rubric: 24v A terra vsque ad firmamentum sunt 54ml[...]
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription.

58. 24v
Star diagram
Rubric: 24v Pro australi
Language(s): Latin
59. 25r
Star diagram
Rubric: 25r Pro seytentone [sic: Septentrionali]
Language(s): Latin
60. 25v-27r, 28r
Casus papales episcopales et abbatiales
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 25v Casus papales episcopales et abbatiales
Incipit: 25v Primus casus papalis est in illo qui percutit enormiter clericum
Explicit: 28r Quintus est si est de consuetudine alicuius dyocesis quod certa crimina ad episcopum remittantur
Explicit: 28r Expliciunt casus episcopales

This copy is missing the section on abbots.

61. 27v
Item quaecunque (Constitution)
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 27v Fredericus Imperator Romanorum de libertatibus ecclesie in statute ad decus in §
Incipit: 27v Item quecumque comitas vel persona per animum in excommunicacione propter libertatem ecclesie perstiteruit ipse
Explicit: 27v si qui clericis vel persone ecclesiasticis iusticiam denegare presumpserint tercio requisiti suam iurisdictionem amittant etcaetera - In alia statuta habita
62. 27v
Theological note
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 27v [O]ptima lex pro clericis
Incipit: 27v Dignum namque in eis est estima minus vt cum cum bona facientes nostram laudem et prteccionem omnes mereantur eos quorum mundus illuminatur ad obediendum deo
Explicit: 27v et nota plus i.
63. 28v
Epitaph of the Duke of Buckingham
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28v Epitaphium ducis Buk.
Incipit: 28v Materiam flendi tullit heu mars atque dolendi
Explicit: 28v Et greget [...] hunc sine fine ducem
64. 28v
Epitaphium Terentii
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28v Epitaphium Teren
Incipit: 28v Natus in excelsis tectis carthaginis alte
Explicit: 28v sic puto cautus erit
65. 28v
Epitaph of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28v Epitaphium ll. Wallorum
Incipit: 28v Hic iacet anglorum tortor tutor venedorum
Explicit: 28v fforma futurorum . laus dux . lex lux populorum
66. 28v
Epitaph of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28v Responsio anglici in contemptu versuum preceden.
Incipit: 28v Hic iacet errorum princeps et predo viuorum
Explicit: 28v ffex troianorum stirps mendax causa malorum
67. 29r
Medical verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 29r Scabida facta pecus totum corrumpit [...] / Regna regunt vulne clamitat tota gens et simul ve
Explicit: 29r Inficiuntur oves velut ex vna scabiosa / Sic probus a reprobo fit viciosus g[...]

Full transcription.

68. 29v
Note on the practice of medicine
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 29v Habet in omne artificium in suo [...] de transactis ad que sequuntur experimentorum fidem sicut agricola sit pastor sic nauta
Explicit: 29v quibus omnibus stabilis et curiose omnis per elementorum motus temporum altaciones [sic] solis et lune atque stellarum cursus experimenta fidem faciunt
69. 29v
Method of determining a woman's pregnancy
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 29v De experimentis circa pregnantes
Incipit: 29v Habita namque suspicione pregnantis cum id experimento discernendum
Explicit: 29v Alio quoque modo acceptum [...] inter dignitos lac pregnantis si spissum viscosum que [...] masculi signum varum et liquidum femine
70. 29v
Medical note for women
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 29v Nota quando matrix ascendit mulier ponit super [...]

Full transcription.

71. 30r
Six aspects of Urine
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 30r Vrina habet signa vi
Incipit: 30r Per collorem per spumam per substantiam per quantitatem
Explicit: 30r per odorem per circulum per ypostasim per consistencia
Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 231 [full transcription].
72. 30r
Tract on red urine
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 30r Vrina rubea
Incipit: 30r In thysi in ydropisi in appoplexia in epilencia in periplimonia in paralisi in colica indifferenter significat mortem
Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 231 [full transcription].
73. 30r
Tract on Women's Urine
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 30r Vrina Mulieris
Incipit: 30r Virginis est lucida et serena
Explicit: 30r Pulvis silicis nigre bene prouocat vrinam vt expertum a quampluribus
Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 231 [full transcription].
74. 30v
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 30v Emigraniea
Incipit: 30v Medicina probatur ad tollendum emigram omnem
Explicit: 30v iacendo super cepe per duas horas vel per unam ad minus.

For treating migraine.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 231-232 [full transcription].
75. 30r
Definition of Cosmagraphia
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 30r Cosmagraphia est mappa mundi

Full transcription.

76. 30r
Poem
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 30r Bulgarus os auri martinus copia legum / Est hugo mens legis subtilior illius / Hoc opus magnum sui accurso non videlicet agnum

Full transcription.

77. 30v-31v
Theological notes on husbands and wives
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: Cosmagraphia est mappa mundi
Incipit: 30v [...] Nota inter fidem et iuramentum non facit deus differentiam
Explicit: 31v non plures si plures accedant et leuant omnes sunt spirituales to tio .c. si.
78. 32v
Tract on tenths
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 32v De decimis Que dicuntur dec[...]
79. 33r-34r
Tract on the office of vicar
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 33r De officio vicarij in questio [...]
80. 34r-34v
Tract on Wisdom based on Ecclesiastes
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 34r Sapiencie
81. 35v
Instructions to give a coin a gold colour
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 35 Vt denarius apperebit oreus
Explicit: 35 et durabit per annum et amplius
82. 36r
Household recipe to kill rats
Language(s): English recipe with a Latin heading
Rubric: 35v ffor to sle ratons
Incipit: 35v Take a procioun of fressh grece and a porcioun of grotes of otemele
Explicit: 36r and sett fere water and a bundel of hey or straw and in the morow thou shal fynd hem dede probatum est
83. 36r
Craft recipe to make a corrosive
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 36r Draw a corosif of j. litre of vitriole and j. litre and s. of sal peter
Explicit: 36r and it wole bole to gidere and whan it is lest boilyng it is sowditt and fast knyt togider
84. 36r
Craft recipe to make gilding water
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 36r A water to gild with
Incipit: 36r Draw a corosif of a pounde of virtriole
Explicit: 36r And thus þou may gilt siluer coper and glas pro duracione magna
85. 36v-38r
Instructions for planting and grafting
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 36v Take an ympe of two yeris growyng with oon knot and wryth hit and take awey þe berk þerof and þe knot and take a graf as gret as ye ympe is and graf þem to gider and þei shal sone prene
Explicit: 38r ffor to haue grapis assone ripe as peris or cheries take a ȝong vyne þat stonth be a ȝong plum tre or chery tre and at þe sesoun of vynes cuttyng bore a hole of grenes of þe vyne þe tre and put þe vyne þorug and stop it well in euery syd with clay þat no water enter it and whan it is growen with þe tre kut þe vyn tow and þe rote saf by þe tree
86. 38v
Notes on confession
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 38v De confessione notitia
Incipit: 38v Sit simplex humilis confessio pura fidelis
Explicit: 38v et ne desperet pre multitudine peccatorum extra de petro magdalenam etcaetera
87. 39v
Vado mori poem
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 39v Nota istos versus pro optimis mors
Incipit: 39v Equa lege capit magnos atque pusillos
Explicit: 39v Qui subito rapuit penituisse mori / Omne quod est nichil est preter amare deum
88. 40r-40v
Latin epigrams from Hermaphroditus (1425) Antonio Beccadelli
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || 40r Si qua tuus queritur parcissime lelphe caballus
Explicit: 40v Quo ruitis modo vos pellis et ossa manent
Final rubric: 40v Explicit vna epistola vnius Italici ad alterum [...]
89. 40v
Collection of verses
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 40v Hec abathia ruit opus est nimium michi triste / Intus ex extra pluit terribilis est locus iste
Explicit: 40v Stabilis in ecclesiae, humilis in congregacione et sagax in diuinorum administracione
90. 41r-43v
Liber V, Titulus XII from the Liber Sextus Decretalium Pope Boniface VIII
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 41r De regulis iuris Bonefacii in vje
Incipit: 41r Beneficium eclesiasticum non potest licite sine institucione obtineri
Explicit: 43v Certum est quod is committit in legem qui legis verba complectens contra legis nititur voluntatem
Final rubric: 43v Explicit bonefacius de Regulis iuris in sui 6to
91. 43v-45r
Canon law selections
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 43v Quod alicui licet non licet nomini alicuo non
Explicit: 45r Diaconissam in sancta ecclesia non ordinari prcecipimus que minor sit xl. annorum aut ad 2as venerit nupcias. Presbyterum minorem xxxv. annus fieri non permittimus sed neque diaconum aut subdiaconum minorem xxv. annis nec lectorem minorem xviij annis. Item episcopum minorem xxxv annis ordinari prohibeamur [...]
92. 45v-46r
Canon laws attributed to John Chrysostom
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 45v Johannes Crisostomus de Regulis iuris [? antiqui]
Incipit: 45v Omnis res per quascumque causas nascitur per eas dissoluitur
Explicit: 46r Propter actus virtuosos dantur dignitates

The text features another section with the header: ‘Idem in libro de penitencia’.

93. 46v
Excerpts from Ecclesiasticus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 46v Melius est a sapiente corripi quam stultorum adulacionibus decipi
Explicit: 46v Melior est pauper sanus et fortis viribus quam dives imbecillis et malicia flagellatus
94. 46v-47r
Excerpts from classical works (Sententiae)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 46v Dum furor in cursu est currenti cede furori
Explicit: 47r Omitte excusacionem nemo peccat invitus
95. 47r
Excerpts from Ecclesiastes
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 47r Ecclesiastes
Incipit: 47r Laborant multi in sapiencia doctrina
Explicit: 47r Deum time et mandata eius obserua: hoc est omnis homo. Cuncta que fiunt se sole adducet deus in iudiciumpro omni errato sive bonum siue malum
96. 47v
Extract from the Codex Justiniani
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 47v De Episcopis et clericis .C.
Incipit: 47v Si quemquam vel in hac urbe regia vel in ceteris provincijs que toto orbe diffuse sunt ad episcopatus gradum prouehi deo auctore contigerit
Explicit: 47v vt eos quos par facinus coinquinat et equat utrosque similis pena comitetur
97. 48r
Proverbia Senecae and other Sententiae
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 48r Discute quod audias et proba quod credas / Ab alio expectes alteri quod feceris
Explicit: 48r Mora omnis odiosa est sed facit sapienciam
98. 48v
Memorandum about a tamed lark
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 48v recolo quemdam satis nuper diebus per domasse alaudam si ac domitam catasta [=cage] claustrasse cum quandoque [?] parum [?] licencius volet: instinctu cum mori motus sui ad solitam edem revolans mox adeo dulciter modulatur ac si suo instilasse guttis [?] melipepo

Full transcription.

99. 48v
Definition of the word 'arbustum'
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 48v Arbustum est quedam species [?] peponis [...]
100. 48v
Proverbia Senecae and other Sententiae
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 48v Quis est pauper qui sibi videtur diues
Explicit: 48v Chilo tercius: Amicos dilige tanquam forte habiturus inimicos
101. 49r-67r
Summary of the Decretals of Gregory IX
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 49r Istud prothocolium de libris 5ti clementis et decretalium in summis eorum
Incipit: 49r Licet constitucio generalis non reuocat constituciones vel consuetidines locales nisi in ea caveatur expresse
Explicit: 67r Indignum exemplum patet de symonia capitulo ex diligenti
Final rubric: 67r Expliciunt partes summarum
102. 67v-70r
Treatise on planting and grafting trees
Language(s): Latin and Middle English
Rubric: 67v In secretis Cristol
Incipit: 67v In equinoxijs vbique terrarum terra magis dispo
Explicit: 70r et sepeliatur in terra pingus cum funo subtractis ligaturis ad profunditatem competem
103. Herbal
Thomas Betson's Herbarium
Language(s): Latin, Middle French, and Middle English
Rubric: 70r Jhesus
Incipit: 70r Alleluya Panis cuculi Wodesour Chemerek Steuenwort
Explicit: 83r Tintensa impetigo vt supra
eTK 0083H (t0015920000)
Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 86 [discussion], pp. 87-216 [full transcription].
104. 83r-83v
Medical, veterinary and household recipes
Language(s): Middle English

The collection includes medical recipes for ailments in humans, but also an equestrian medical recipe for a horse with saddle or harness galls ("For an hors is gallid"), and recipes for washing ("for a mole in a lynen cloth" and "For cloth þat is stemed").

They address the following:

  • f. 83r: for all manner of aches, for the womb, for a horse with galls, for saucefleme
  • f. 83v: for a stain ('mole') in a linen cloth, for a cloth that is stained, for differentiating between cold and hot dropsy, for all manner of sore eyes

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 220-222 [full transcription].
105. 84r-86r
Latin tract of uroscopic signs
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 84r De Vrinalibus
Incipit: 84r [V]rina Rufa significat salutem et bonam dispositionem corporis humani
Explicit: 86r Et aliquando sedimen est nigrum et tunc nisi fuerit per talem vrinam expulsio materie venenose signum est mortis
Final rubric: 86r Explicit
Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 223-224 [discussion], pp. 225-229 [full transcription].
106. 86r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English recipes with Latin headings

For the womb (a laxative), for morphea, for rupture/hernia ('For a man þat is bresten')

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 229-230 [full transcription].
107. 86v-88v
De planetis et eorum virtute (?) Walter Burley
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 86v Tractatus de disposicio hominis
Incipit: 86v [S]ciendum est igitur signis nascatur in aliqua hora diei in qua dominatur quis septem planetarum pronior erit ad bonum siue malum secundum influenciam illius planete in qua natus est
Explicit: 88v si vero sub maliuola constellatione natus fuerit a malo ad quod dispositus est seipsum declinet
Final rubric: 88v Explicit de dispocione hominis

See Gensler (2004), for an edition of the text from Lambeth, Palace Library, MS 70 and London, Lambeth Palace Library, MS 74. According to Gensler, the text has only been identified in these two manuscripts among texts of the 14th-century philosopher Walter Burley [Burleigh] (c. 1275-1344). However, more copies appear to exist: the same treatise also appears to survive in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 391 and Oxford, Bodleian Library, 4º D 21 Jur. .

108. 88v-89v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English with headings in Middle English or Latin

They address the following:

  • f. 88v: two for sciatica, two for the pestilence
  • f. 89r: for difficulty breathing and thickened phlegm, for all manner of fevers, a tisane for the stomach, for all coughs, for the felon, for jaundica

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 232-235 [full transcription].
109. 88v
Psalm 37:22 and 1 Peter 1:25)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 88v Ne derelinquas - Verbum domini manet in eternum

Full transcription; added to the lower margin (and written upside down) by a 16th-century hand.

110. 89r
Ecclesiasticus 10:2
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 89r habesque candide lector = Sicut Judex populi ita et ministri eius et qualis rector ciuitatis talis et inhabitantes

Full transcription; added to the lower margin (and written upside down) by a 16th-century hand.

111. 89v-90r
Three household recipes for making soap
Language(s): Middle English recipes with a Latin header
Incipit: 89v ffor to make white sope: Take ij. busshel of bone asshis or of wode and sift hem cleen ina faire flour
Explicit: 90r boile forth til it be white and not grecye nor smelling of tallowe þen cast it in amoldis and dresse it as þou wole haue it

The recipes are titled ‘ffor to make white sope’, ‘ffor toe make blak sope’, and ‘de albo sapone’.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 235-237 [full transcription].
112. 90r
Recipe for making Oil of Tartar
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 90r Oyle of tartary
Incipit: 90r Recipe: j li. of tarar made of lies of wyn put hem in an erden pot wel auelid and fire him strongly vntill he tunid into salt þan lete him be sette in a moist place til he relent into oyle

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 236 [full transcription].
113. 90r
Medical recipe for all ailments
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 90r ffor alle maner of euels in a mannys body
Incipit: 90r Recipe scabiose pimpernell turmentil and detaign wormode and fumiter golde make a water of all þiese and drink it

Full transcription.

Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 236 [full transcription].
114. 90v-94r
Treatise on the medicinal virtues of herbs
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 90v Materia Herbarum
Incipit: 90v mugworte moderworte id. ypocras seith it is hote and dry in the thirde degree this helpith to conceyue childe and clensith the womb and makith a woman to haue her flouris and destroyeth the emerodis þat growen in the fundament
Explicit: 94r Also stampe it with buttur and seth iti n white wyn and it shal make him þat is stokun in the breest forto delyuer glet and filth
Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 237-246 [full transcription].
115. 94r-94v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and/or Latin, with headings in Latin or Middle English

For dropsy, a pill for the pestilence, for heating of the liver, for burns, for protrusions and scab, for cleansing a wound, for healing a wound (continuing on f. 94v).

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 246-248 [full transcription].
116. 94v-95r
Culinary, household and craft recipes
Language(s): Latin

The collection includes (a) culinary recipes to make vinegar, prevent beer from going sour, to treat discoloured white wine, to preserve bread, to change vinegar into wine, to preserve roses and fruits; (b) recipes against vermin, including recipes to catch moles and snakes, and to rid malt of worms; and (c) recipes for inks, including recipes for writing on a knife, for writing gilded letters, and for writing letters that can be read during the night but not during the day.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 248-249 [full transcription].
117. 95r-102r
Medical and cosmetic recipes
Language(s): Middle English or Latin, with headings in Middle English or Latin

They address the following:

  • f. 95r: for the pestilence, for migraine, for breaking the stone, for colic, for a sore, to stop a sore from spreading, 'For him þat may not brouke' (?inability to eat), for agnails, for flux, for purging the breast of evil humours, for bad breath
  • f. 95v: for blood in the urine, for strangury, for hairloss/baldness, for dropsy, for pain in the feet, for spasm, for nosebleeds, for cough, for restoring speech, for aiding conception quickly, for morphea, for spasm, for whitening the teeth, for canker, for morphea
  • f. 96r: for headache, for cleansing the head, for dizziness ('For þe vanite of þe hede'), for deafness
  • f. 96v: for deafness, for worms that eat the eyelids, for web in the eye, for loss of speech, for spitting blood, for a purgation (continuing on f. 97r)
  • f. 97r: for loss of appetite, for all evils in a man's stomach, for a bad cough, two for menstrual pains ('For grynding and akyng in þe womb'), for a bad back, for flux
  • f. 97v: for the stone, for strangury, for inflammation/burning of the penis ('skaldidd pyntill'), for a laxative
  • f. 98r: for swollen feet, for shingles, for white or black morphea, for jaundica ('For þe gulsough')
  • f. 98v: for inducing breastmilk, for knowing whether a man with dysentery will live or die ('For to wite wheþer a man shal lif or dy þat hath þe menesoun'), for a sheep louse in a man's head or in an animal, for headache, for bleary eyes, for whitening the face, for sore eyes
  • f. 99r: for sore eyes, for web in the eye, for skull fracture, for migraine or dropsy or fever or ache in the head
  • f. 99v: for poisoning, for gout, for swollen penis, for swollen legs or feet
  • f. 100r: for aching legs, for wounds that are blackened/bruised but not broken, for jaundice, for sore and aching breasts, for wounds
  • f. 100v: for canker in a woman's breasts, for inducing sweating, for colic, for rotten teeth, for removing worms from the teeth, for congested stomach
  • f. 101r: for strengthening the stomach
  • f. 102r: for all manner of eye ailments

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. pp. 249-264 [full transcription].
118. 101v
Draft sentence
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 101v Qui tetigerit picem et qui in misericordia

Full transcription; added to the lower margin (and written upside down) by a 16th-century hand.

119. 101r-109v
Collection of recipes for medicinal oils and waters
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 102r For to make oyle Rosett
Explicit: 109v Take half a pounde of rosys þat ere gederid erly whilis þe dewe lastis
Final rubric: 109v Explicit de Aquis
Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 266-285 [full transcription].
120. 109v-111r
Collection of recipes for medicinal oils
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 109v Incipit de Oleis
Incipit: 109v Oleum Rosarum sic fit: Recipe flores Rosarum viridium et repleatur fiola de floribus
Explicit: 111r Oleum de sinapio valet in paralisi et contra emigraneum ex frigida causa Explicit
Final rubric: 111r Explicit
Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 286-289 [full transcription].
121. 111r-115r
Collection of recipes for medicinal unguents, plasters, potions, syrups, suppositories, and concoctions
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 111r Incipit
Incipit: 111r Vnguentum contra Guttam: Recipe vnum canem antiquum et pinguem valde in Autumpno inter festum assumpcionis et nativitatis Beate Marie corea eum et tolle intestina cum capite et pedibus sed non apponas aliquid aquam ad illum quando extrahis intestina
Explicit: 115r Valet multum antiquis hominibus quia habent confortari viscera
Final rubric: 115r Explicit Explicuit

The collection features a number of subdivisions, including a collection of recipes for medical syrups (‘Compositiones Siruporum’) on ff. 113v-114r; a collection of suppositories, pessaries and enemas (‘Suppositoria et Pessaria Compositiones clisterarum’) on ff. 114r-114v); and medical concoctions (‘Compositiones Confectionum’) on ff. 114v-115r.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 289-300 [full transcription].
122. 114v
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin with Middle English words
Rubric: 114v Secretum
Incipit: 114v Recipe 1 partem salis petri et aliam calcis vini \lyme/ et molle super marmoreum et ponatur vnum super [? octo lane] et [? venerit] et erit bonum et [? diminuendo] est calidum pon[a]tur in vergious

Added in the lower margin by a different hand. For an unspecified purpose.

Fully transcribed by Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 298 but with a few errors (‘sulphuri vive’ for ‘calcis vini’ [omittting the English gloss ‘lyme’]; ‘potatur urina’ for ‘ponatur vnum’) and leaving the last seven words untranscribed. Where Adams and Forbes transcribe ‘lune’ the text may read ‘lane’, referring to lana succida (alo spelled lane succide): unwashed sheep's wool that was used for the application of medical oils and ointments.
123. 115v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English

The recipes are for migraine and for a bruise or any pain.

Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 300 [full transcription].
124. 115v-116v
Collection of medical recipes (purgatives and laxatives)
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 300-302 [full transcription].
125. 116v
Verse on the astrological times for bloodletting
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 116v Est Aries minuendo bonus sic libra sagitta / Sic et aquarius est nec non pisces que taurus

Transcribed in Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 302 but with an errorenous transcription of ‘muniendo’ for ‘minuendo’ and leaving the words ‘que taurus’ untranscribed. The transcription also suggests that the two verse lines are continued with a list of herbs: ‘Politricum, Adiantos, Capillus Veneris, Centauria, Mirabolani’. However, this list is a continuation of the medical recipe on f. 116r.

126. 116v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

For colic, for migraine, to make hair grow, and for the colic.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 302-303 [full transcription].
127. 116v-117r
Almanac with dietary advice and prognostics for each month of the year
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 116v Mense Octobri Lac caprinum et muscum bibe propter sanguinem dulciendum et pulmonem curandum
Explicit: 117r Si tonitrum sonuerit habundanciam frugum et et ocasionem potentum significat
Adams and Forbes (2015), p. 303 [description]
128. 117v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

For aiding sleep/insomnia, for strengthening the stomach, for all fissures, for all fevers, for purging the stomach (including, perhaps, another written in the adjacent margin by a later hand and signed 'pro me')

Not transcribed in Adams and Forbes (2015).

129. 117v-119v
Extracts from chronicles
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 117v Incipiunt Cronice abstractiones
Incipit: 117v Iubal pater canencium in cithara et organo inuentor fuit musice consonanciarum
Explicit: 119v hoc tempore nati sunt pueros vnus quadrupes et aliter duos vertices habens
130. 119v
Reckoning of years from the Creation until the birth of Christ and for the Six Ages of the World
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 119v Anno ab origine mundi vsque ad incarnacionem vM C lxxxxix ann.
Explicit: 119v a Christo vsque adventum Christi ad judicium

The tract only includes five of the Six Ages of the World, excluding the fifth age from the Babylonian exile to the birth of Christ.

131. 119v-120r
Medical and culinary recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

They address the following:

  • f. 119v: for dissolving phlegm, for plaster to be lain on the body (but for unstated purpose) (continuing on f. 120r)
  • f. 120r: for milk of almonds, for a suppository, for a laxative powder for clearing blockages from the liver ('Poudur for a lax in causa opilationis epatis'), for aiding digestion and alleviating constipation

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 303-306 [full transcriptions].
132. 123r
Medical recipes
Language(s): English and Latin

Added in the (?) early 16th century; not transcribed by Adams and Forbes (2015). For saucefleme, for agnails, and for shingles/wildfire/erysipelas.

133. 123v
Epistola 41 Augustine
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 123v Augustinus de Deo gracias
Incipit: 123v Quid melius animo geramus et ore promamus et calamo explanemus exprimamus quam deo gracias. Hec nec dici breuius nec audiri le[t]ius nec intelligi grandius nec agi fructuosius potest
Final rubric: 123vSic semper deo gracias

Full transcription.

134. 124r-124v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

A syrup for all diseases in the stomach and another (signed 'Pro me') for unstated purpose (f. 124r); and for a pill for the pestilence, a note on the use of 'gracia dei' for swelling, for tertian fever), for pestilence and constipation, for the stone.

Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 305-306 [transcription of the recipes on f. 124r only].
135. 124r
Medical advice
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 124r Ieiuna, vigila, modicum bibe, sepe labore / Te calidum serva, si vis expellare flegma
136. 124v
List of books
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 124v Holcot super sapienciam / Distinciones boroston / Sermones Magdalene / Water[s]on Sermones - Cum biblia

Full transcription; the list refers to Robert Holcot's Super sapientiam Salomonis; Simon Boraston's Distinciones theologiae; Sermones domnicales seu Sermones Mawdelyen of John Felton (fl. 1430); and an unidentified sermon collection.

137. 124v
Epistulae [excerpt] Sidonius Apollinaris
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 124v Porro autem barbarismus est morum sermo iocundus et animus afflictus

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r nota juris prudencia est diuinarum
Form: codex
Support: Paper quires with outer and inner leaves of parchment. Paper, folded in octavo with various watermarks in the upper left margin of the folio, including a bull's head and grapes. See Adams and Forbes (2015), pp. 75-76 for a more detailed discussion of the eight watermarks they identify.
Extent: Codex: 124 leaves. 145 × 105 mm.

Collation

  • Quires 1-210 (ff. 1-20)
  • Quire 38 (ff. 21-28)
  • Quire 412 (ff. 29-40)
  • Quire 5-118 (ff. 41-96)
  • Quire 1212 (ff. 97-108)
  • Quires 13-148 (ff. 109-124)

Layout

110 × 70 mm. Folios 1r-40v have been ruled in ink. Mainly single columns, except for ff. 10v-11r which have two columns. 27-34 lines to the page, written below top line.

90 × 60 mm. Folios 41r-124v have been ruled in hardpoint, frames only. Mainly single columns, except for ff. 70r-83r which have two columns. 29-34 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

Largely copied in the cursive hand of Thomas Betson, featuring both secretary and anglicana features.

Decoration

Interlaced decorative motifs in brown ink added to the lower margin of f. 29v, the inner margin of f. 34v, and the originally empty page of f. 35r.

Drawing of fish in brown ink added to the upper and lower margin of f. 34v and the originally empty page of f. 35r.

Manicules in brown ink added to the margins of ff. 61v, 64v, and 65r.

Drawings of eyes in brown ink both in the upper margin of and inside the text on f. 96v, illustrating two medical recipe for ailments in the eyes.

A drawing of a medical instrument in brown ink in the inner margin of f. 112v.

Cadels in brown ink occasionally on the ascenders of letters on the top lines and descenders on letters of the bottom lines.

Two large circular star diagrams in brown ink on ff. 24v-25r.

Two large plain initials in red ink on f. 2r.

One large (7-line) initial in red ink in a frame of penwork in brown ink on f. 1r.

Display capitals on f. 1r highlighted in red.

Paraphs in red ink on ff. 10v-12r.

Underlining in red ink on ff. 10v-12r.

History

Origin: 1481×1516. ; Syon Abbey, Twickenham, London.

Copied by Thomas Betson during his time at Syon Abbey.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by M.R. James , Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of St John's College, Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1913).

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Visitors to St John's 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: St John's College: Old Library and Special Collections.

Bibliography

    A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of St John's College, Cambridge, James, M.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1913) Thomas Betson of Syon Abbey The Library, 5th series, Doyle, A. I. (11, 115–118, 1956) Syon Abbey; With the Libraries of the Carthusians Corpus of British Medieval Library Catalogues, (London, The British Library, 2001) Gualteri Burlaei Adscriptus Tractatus de Planetis et Eorum Virtute Studia Antyczne i Mediewistyczne, Gensler, Marek (37, 209-214, 2004, https://www.academia.edu/33874650/Marek_Gensler_Gualteri_Burlaei_Adscriptus_Tractatus_de_Planetis_et_Eorum_Virtute) The Draft Papers Of Thomas Betson, Last Known Librarian at Syon Abbey (d. AD 1517) Contained in his notebook MS 109 (E6) at St John’s College Cambridge, from Folio 10v to Folio 12r and used for pages 4-7 of his book A Ryght Profitable Treatyse, Printed by Wynkyn de Worde c.1500, (Syon Abbey Society [Online publication], 2012, https://syonabbeysociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/thomas-betson-x-manadata-ten-commandments.pdf) A Late Middle English remedy-book: (MS Wellcome 542, ff. 1r-20v): a scholarly edition Late Middle English texts, (Bern, Peter Lang, 2013, https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0351-0541-4) Syon Abbey: Its Herbal, Medical Books and Care of the Sick: Healthcare in a Mixed Mediaeval Monastery, Adams, John (Syon Abbey Society [Online publication], 2015, https://syonabbeysociety.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/syon-abbey-healthcare-and-medical-books-8-jan-2016.pdf) Betson, Thomas (d. 1516) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Becket, W.N.M. (2015, https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-53107) The Syon Abbey herbal: the last monastic herbal in England, c. AD 1517: from St. John's College, Cambridge manuscript 109 (E.6), (London, AMCD, 2015) Arbeiten mit Runica manuscripta: einige Über legungen zu Corpuserstellung und Vorgehensweise Reading Runes: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions, Nyköping, Sweden, 2–6 September 2014 Runrön: Runologiska bidrag utgivna av Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet, Bauer, Alessia (Uppsala, 67-80, Institutionen för nordiska språk Uppsala universitet, 2021)

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Wellcome

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