Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 3020

Red Book of Thorney (vol. 1)

Contents

Introduction: Introduction Thorney Abbey was the smallest of three fenland monasteries re-founded by Bishop Aethelwold in the tenth century. Virtually nothing is known about the management of its estates and the 'Red Book of Thorney' (MSS Add. 3020 and 3021) is its sole surviving cartulary. Compiled in the early fourteenth century with later additions, many of which concern deeds omitted from the main sections, it is both elegant and, for the most part, highly organised. The main entries have contemporary folio and charter numbers in red ink. There are also headers and footers in red ink. Rubrics, again in red ink, indicate the subject matter of individual entries and also provide much incidental detail. The royal and topographical sections are divided into eight parts, followed by a ninth with miscellaneous fines, agreements and ecclesiastical documents, together with a particularly valuable De Gestis Abbatum. Annotations, contemporary and later, and cross references are frequent and indicate that the cartulary was designed to be used. The cartulary as a whole contains transcriptions of material from before the Conquest to 1531, with a special wealth of thirteenth-century charters. Witness lists are given but not usually in full. The black ink entries in De Gestis Abbatum record a rich mixture of documents relating inter alia to estates, advowsons, fen disputes and grants to the convent. The red ink entries, which describe each abbacy, contain much information about elections, vacancies, building works and land dealings. There is no printed edition of the cartulary. Its contents are examined in S. Raban, The Estates of Thorney and Crowland, University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy, Occasional Paper, 7 (1977) and S.G. Raban, 'The Property of Thorney and Crowland Abbeys' (unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge, 1972). Sandra Raban Conservation of the manuscript In 2015, thanks to a generous gift from Sandra and Tony Raban, members of the Friends of Cambridge University Library, both volumes of the Red Book of Thorney were conserved, digitised and rebound. The conservation and rebinding work was undertaken by Shaun Thompson, of the Library's Conservation and Collection Care Department. He described the process, as well as the materials and techniques applied, in a post on the Library's Special Collections Blog, Rebinding the Red Book of Thorney. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4H2qw_9cT7A?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Language(s): Latin and Middle French

1. 6r-9r
Chronological tables beginning in 1085
Language(s): Latin

The tables are arranged in 4 columns:

  • Year ('Series Annorum domini')
  • Regnal year of Kings of England ('Series Annorum Regum')
  • Abbatial year of Abbots of Thorney ('Series Annorum Abbatum')
  • Episcopal year of Bishops of Ely ('Series Annorum Episcoporum Eliensis')
The last entry is for 1466, although the dates in the first column run to 1501.

2. 12r-40r
Part One: Royal charters from Æthelstan to Edward I, with later additions to Henry VI
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r: Pars prima. Carte Regum

The section opens with two versions of Edgar's charter confirming the foundation endowment and general privileges including warren and freedom from tolls. There are also charters or writs relating to Bedford, Bolnhurst, Husborne Crawley (Beds.), Huntingdon, Yaxley, Farcet, Stanground, Woodston, Sibson, Stibbington, Wansford and Normancross hundred (Hunts), Twywell, Charwelton, Pipewell, Stoke Albany, Raunds (Northants.), Whittlesey, Tydd (Cambs.), Wing (Rutland), Fleet, Holbeach, Whaplode, Stamford (Lincs.), Wolfhampcote (Warwicks.).

See Additions for further details.

C.R. Hart, The Early Charters of Eastern England (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1966), 146-209
Sawyer (1968 and online), nos 792, 792x, 931, 847, 943, 437, 948, 556, 595, 1523, 792, 936, 983
3. 41r-163r
Part Two: Huntingdonshire
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 41r: Pars secunda. Comitatus Huntingdon'. Hic incipiunt Carte et Scripta de terris et tenementis ac redditibus pertinentibus ad Ecclesiam sancte Marie et sancti Botulphi Thorneye in Comitatu Huntendone
3.1. 41r-42r
Huntingdon, with later additions
Language(s): Latin

See Additions for further details.

3.2. 42v-74v
Yaxley and Woodston, with later additions
Language(s): Latin

Three stubs between ff. 74 and 75 probably indicate where the missing section for Haddon has been lost. There is a single charter for Haddon in a later hand at f. 130r.

See Additions for further details.

3.4. 77r-83v
Assorted charters for Sawtry, Folksworth, Stilton, Chesterton, Yaxley, Botolphbridge, Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville, Fenstanton, Grafham, Stilton, and Copthorn (?).
Language(s): Latin
3.5. 84r-108v
Stanground and Northey, with later additions
Language(s): Latin

See Additions for further details.

3.6. 114r-129r
Woodston and Copthorn (?), with later additions
Language(s): Latin

See Additions for further details.

3.7. 131r-163r
Assorted charters for Water Newton, Sibson, Yaxley, Stibbington, and Wansford, with later additions
Language(s): Latin

See Additions for further details.

4. 166r-204r
Part Three: Cambridgeshire
Language(s): Latin, with some Middle French
Rubric: 166r: [Pars Tercia.] Comitatus Cantebrigiensis. Hic incipit tertia pars huius libri in qua continentur scripta et Monimenta Episcoporum et Conuentus de Ely necnon et aliorum tam Archiepiscoporum quam Episcoporum de Libertatibus et diuersis eorundem concessionibus Ecclesie sancte Marie sanctique Botulphi de Thorneya collatis et confirmatis...
4.1. 166r-173r
Documents involving Bishops of Ely, Lincoln, Rochester, London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, prior and convent of Ely and the archdeacon of Ely, relating inter alia to Whittlesey, Throckenholt (Cambs.), Yaxley (Hunts.) and Swineshead (Lincs.)
Language(s): Latin
4.2. 173r-177r
Marshland ('De bundis et diuersis marisci')
Language(s): Latin
4.3. 171v-181v
Whittlesey, with later additions
Language(s): Latin

See Additions for further details.

4.4. 182r-204r
Assorted charters for Leverington, Trokenholt, Wisbech, Elm, Outwell, Papworth, Cambridge, Tydd St Giles, Northey fen, King's Delph, Water Newton and Barton-on-Humber (Lincs.)
Language(s): Latin, with one charter in Middle French (f. 200r)
5. removed piece of parchment
Orthographia gallica
Language(s): Latin, with some words in Middle French
Incipit: Regula prima dictio gallica habens primam sillabam
Explicit: quam respectum ad latinum habere et hoc quod||

Blank on the verso.

Imperfect copy of the Short Version (ends with S16), copied by a hand of the 15th century. Not recorded among the manuscripts discussed by Johnston, nor does it fully follow the copies of the Short Version found therein.

For a copy of the Long Version, see Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.4.20 (ff. 152v-154v).

Johnston (1987)

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: iv + 2 + 3 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 193 + iv leaves. This count does not include a piece of parchment that was removed when the manuscript was rebound. It is shown here as 'removed piece of parchment'. It is now kept separately from the manuscript, housed in melinex and bound into a conservation volume containing endleaves, sewing remnants, boards and other materials retained from the previous binding. (See Contents, Binding and Custodial History for further details). The endleaves and a later endleaf, f. 10a, have not been digitised. 350 × 245 mm.
Foliation:

19th/20th-century foliation:

[a-d] + 1, 1a + 2-4 + 5 + 6-10 + 10a + 11-75, 77-204 + [e-h]

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, by various hands. 76 omitted.
Foliation:

Early fourteenth-century foliation:

Original foliation of each part, contemporary with the production of the manuscript, in the top corner of both rectos and versos in the same red ink used for rubrics in Roman numerals.

  • Part 1 i-xvii
  • part 2 i-ciiii
  • part 3 i-xxxii

This foliation is often continued for additional material in each part in Roman or Arabic numerals in brown ink or in red and black.

Collation

The manuscript comprises 19 quires, as follows:

  • Quire 1eight (ff. 2r-4v, 6r-10v: structure uncertain. Folios 2-4 are medieval parchment endleaves; f. 5 is a modern leaf of parchment inserted during conservation. The quire is preceded by an early modern paper leaf (f. 1) and a leaf inserted during conservation (f. 1a) and followed by a modern leaf of paper inserted during conservation (f. 10a)).
  • Quire 212+1 (ff. 11-23: 1st leaf (f. 11) inserted, before f. 12)
  • Quire 312-2 (ff. 24-33: 11th and 12th leaves cancelled, after f. 33)
  • Quire 412-5 (ff. 34-40: 8th-12th leaves excised, probably blank, after f. 40)
  • Quire 516-2 (ff. 41-54: 15th and 16th leaves cancelled, after f. 54)
  • Quire 612 (ff. 55-66)
  • Quire 712-3 (ff. 67-75: 9th-11th leaves excised, probably blank, after f. 74)
  • Quire 8-912 (ff. 77-100)
  • Quire 1012+4 (ff. 101-116: 10th-13th leaves (ff. 110-113) a separate quire of two bifolia, added after f. 109
  • Quire 1112 (ff. 117-128)
  • Quire 12two (ff. 129-130: the quire signature 'n xii' suggests that the 1st leaf at least was originally part of a quire of 12; the second leaf, bearing a single charter relating to Haddon, may have been bound out of place at an earlier date)
  • Quire 13-1412 (ff. 131-154)
  • Quire 1512-1 (ff. 155-165: 11th leaf excised, probably blank)
  • Quire 16-1812 (ff. 166-201)
  • Quire 1912-9 (ff. 202-204: 4th-12th leaves excised, probably blank)

1eight 212+1 (1st inserted) 312-2 (11th-12th cancelled) 412-5 (8th-12th cancelled) 516-2 (15th-16th cancelled) 612 712-3 (9th-11th cancelled) 8-912 1012+4 (10th-13th added) 1112 12two 13-1412 1512-1 (11th excised) 16-1812 1912-9 (4th-12th excised)

Two types of quire signature are found in the manuscript:

  • In the left-hand corner of the lower margin on the recto of the first leaf of a quire, written in plummet: a lower case letter, followed by a number in Roman numerals, giving the number of leaves in that quire. See, for example, ff. 24r ('d x'), 34r ('e xii'), 41r ('f xiiii'), etc. That these figures reflect the total after additions (see Quire 10 ('l xvi'), for example) indicates that they were added after those changes to the manuscript's structure had been made. It is likely, however, in the case of Quire 10, that the additions made here and elsewhere by the same hand were probably close in date to the production of the manuscript. Contrast with Quire 4 ('e xii') and Quire 15 ('q xii'), where changes occured after the signature had been written in, and therefore likely after binding.
  • In the middle of the lower margin on the recto of the first leaf of a quire, written in plummet: a number in Roman numerals, giving the position of that quire in the order of the volume as a whole. See, for example, ff. 143r and 190r.

 Catchwords, written in ink (e.g. ff. 33v, 54v, 100v) or plummet (e.g. f. 142v). In Quire 5, the last two leaves are cancelled; a catchword on f. 54v matches the opening words on f. 55r.

Condition

The manuscript is generally in good condition. There is some staining, particularly to the edges of leaves, some holes and tears in the parchment, many of which bear traces of early repair; see for example the tears on ff. 97 and 98 and the repair on f. 135, which retains its original sewing thread.

Layout

230-240 × 145-150 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Single column, 40 lines to the page, written below top line. Pricking marks at the bottom of the leaves.

Paratext: Headings and running titles for the original entries are written in red in the upper and lower margins. Additional line ruling provided for these.

Hand(s)

Written in littera textualis.

Decoration

12-line geometric or puzzle initial in red and blue, with infill and marginal pen flourishing in red and blue ink, with zoomorphic beasts, vine leaves and looped foliage within the initial, at the beginning of the first charter (f. 12r).

Rectilinear border in red and blue, descending from the geometric initial and running along the left-hand side of the text-block (f. 12r).

Two-line, and occasionally three-, four-, or five-line, plain initials, alternating in red or blue (occasionally in two colours), sometimes with simple internal void decoration. Versions executed in imitation where further documents have been added to the contents at a later date, or gaps left for initials to be completed later.

Litterae notabiliores are touched in red. Some sections have alternating red and blue paragraph marks.

Additions

Later hands of the 14th century, 15th century and early 16th century have copied the text of charters at the end of several sections of the cartulary, as follows:

  • Royal charters (ff. 33v-40r).
  • Huntingdon (f. 42r).
  • Norman Cross (f. 63r).
  • Yaxley (ff. 63r-74v).
  • Stanground, Northey (ff. 108v-110v).
  • Bolnhurst (Beds.), 'Walscheslade', 'Hacchefeld' (?Hatchfield), Stanground, Whittlesey, Northey, King's Delph, Farcet Fen (f. 110v-113v).
  • Woodston, Cat's Water (ff. 128v-129r).
  • Haddon (f. 130r).
  • Water Newton (f. 159v).
  • Gift of money (ff. 160r-160v).
  • Stibbington, Sibson, Water Newton (ff. 160v-161v).
  • Royal charter, granting lands in Stanground, Farcet, Whittlesey, Woodston (ff. 161v-162r).
  • Stanground, Farcet, Whittlesey (ff. 162r-163r).
  • Land (named 'Latreshale') near Eastrea/Whittlesey (ff. 181r-181v).
  • Whittlesey, Throckenholt (f. 181v).
  • Warden Abbey (Beds.) (f. 197r).
  • Grants of an annual shipload of wood from woodlands known as 'Oldegore' (f. 197r).
  • Northey, Whittlesey, King's Delph, Farcet Fen (ff. 197v-204r).

The main supplementer of the 14th century recorded nothing after 1341 (see: Raban, 'The property of Thorney and Crowland Abbeys', p. 6).

Family descent of Thurstan of Stanground added by a hand of the 14th century (f. 75v).

A static page marker has been sewn into the fore-edge margin of f. 189.

Occasional marginal notes throughout in a range of later hands of the 14th century and 15th century.

Binding

Conserved and rebound at Cambridge University Library by Shaun Thompson in 2014. Alum-tawed goatskin dyed red with Brazil wood over quarter-sewn oak boards, sewn on four supports. New endleaves of two parchment bifolia, with linen and alum-tawed hinges, sewn all along in herringbone technique with 3-ply seaming twine on four double 8-ply cord supports. Primary endbands sewn with 3-ply seaming twine through a slit tawed bonnet liner.

Formerly bound in pigskin by Stoakley and Son (Cambridge, 1890). This binding has been retained and is stored with the manuscript. The boards and spine have been digitised.

Formerly bound in calfskin (according to the description of the manuscript by Jayne Ringrose - see Source for further details).

History

Origin: Early fourteenth century. ; Thorney, Cambridgeshire.

The original entries were compiled during the abbacy of William of Clopton (1305-1323).

Provenance and Acquisition

Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire : contents of the cartulary relate to the landholdings, property and rights of the abbey, with additions made by several hands during the fourteenth, fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries (see Additions for further details).

Apparently in the possession of Sir Francis Fane (1579-1629), 1st earl of Westmorland , by 1621, when it was recorded among others in 'A note of Divers Manuscriptts I am promised to have gotten for me this 30. April 1621' by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) : 'Liber Cartarum monasterii Thorney the red book. Sir Fr: Vane' (see: London, British Library, Harley MS 6018, f. 150v; Tite (2003), p. 37 ([3.17])). There is no evidence that Cotton received or had possession of the manuscript, and further inscriptions by the Fane family confirm that it remained in their possession (see below).

Two inscriptions by a hand of the 17th century - ‘W. Virtue non vi. Mildmay’ and ‘M. Ferende vincam. Westmorland’ - probably the mottoes of Mildmay Fane (1601-1666), 2nd earl of Westmorland and his second wife Mary (1611-1669), countess of Westmorland (f. 11r).

Francis Fane (1825-1891), 12th earl of Westmorland : his sale (sale of 'a nobleman'), Sotheby's, 13 July 1887, lot 134.

Purchased by Bernard Quaritch : no. 15 in Handlist of illuminated and historical manuscripts on exhibition ... 4-14 June 1889.

Purchased by Cambridge University Library from Quaritch, 22 November 1890, with funds from the gift of Tobias Rustat (bap. 1608, d. 1694) (the 'Rustat Benefaction') and from Samuel Sandars (1837-1894) .

Additional Information

Record Sources

The description of the contents of this manuscript was prepared by Dr Sandra Raban . The description of its physical characteristics, origin and provenance draws on Jayne Ringrose, Summary Catalogue of the Additional Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge University Library acquired before 1940 (Woodbridge, 2009), by kind permission of the Boydell Press.

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card. 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.

Custodial History

The manuscript was conserved and rebound in 2014 by Shaun Thompson of the Conservation and Collection Care Department at Cambridge University Library, and digitised in full by the Library's Digital Content Unit, thanks to a donation made by Sandra and Tony Raban via the Friends of Cambridge University Library.

Bibliography

    Orthographia gallica: ältester Traktat über französische Aussprache und Orthographie...zum ersten Mal Altfranzösische Bibliothek, Stürzinger, Jakob (Heilbronn, Gebr. Henninger, 1884) Feudal documents from the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds British Academy records of social and economic history, Douglas, D.C. (London, Oxford University Press, 1932) The early charters of eastern England Studies in early English history, Hart, C.R. (Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1966) Anglo-Saxon charters: an annotated list and bibliography Royal Historical Society guides and handbooks, Sawyer, P.H. (London, Royal Historical Society, 1968, https://esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk/about/index.html) The organisation of material in mediaeval cartularies The study of medieval records: essays in honour of Kathleen Major, Walker, D. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971) The property of Thorney and Crowland Abbeys: a study in purchase and patronage, Raban, Sandra Gilham (Cambridge, 1972, unpublished PhD dissertation) The estates of Thorney and Crowland: a study in medieval monastic land tenure Occasional paper: University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy, Raban, Sandra (Cambridge, University of Cambridge Department of Land Economy, 1977) English episcopal acta. 1, Lincoln, 1067-1185, Smith, David M., (London, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1980) Orthographia Gallica Plain texts series (Anglo-Norman Text Society), Johnston, R. C. (London, Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1987) Catalogue of sources for a linguistic atlas of early medieval English, Laing, Margaret (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 1993) The early records of Sir Robert Cotton's Library: formation, cataloguing, use, Tite, Colin G.C. (London, British Library, 2003, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cam/detail.action?docID=3544031) Summary catalogue of the additional medieval manuscripts in Cambridge University Library acquired before 1940, Ringrose, Jayne (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2009) Medieval cartularies of Great Britain and Ireland, Davis, G.R.C.Breay, ClaireHarrison, JulianSmith, David M. (London, British Library, 2010)

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge