Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.3.9

Gregory the Great, Homilies on Ezechiel

Introduction: The Benedictine cathedral priory of Christ Church Canterbury possessed one of the great libraries of medieval England. There survive today well over two hundred manuscripts, as well as some early printed books, that are known to have been part of this collection. This copy of Gregory the Great's Homilies on Ezechiel is one such survival, and one of twenty Christ Church books held at Cambridge University Library. It is one of two copies of the text known to have been at Christ Church; the other is now Windsor, St George's Chapel, MS 5. CUL MS Ff.3.9 was made in the late eleventh or twelfth century. The date of other surviving copies of this text indicates that it was little-known in England prior to the Norman Conquest, but that copies multiplied quickly thereafter. It may have been made at Christ Church itself, where it was to spend the next four or so centuries. However, Neil Ker has pointed to the close connections that must have existed at this time between Christ Church and Rochester cathedral priories - Ralph d'Escures, former bishop of Rochester, was archbishop at Canterbury 1114-22, while Ernulf, former prior of Canterbury, was bishop of Rochester 1115-24 - concluding that 'It is a priori likely that the Christ Church collection contained manuscripts which the Rochester monks copied in this period and perhaps to a lesser extent earlier.' Gregory's Homilies on Ezechiel is one of fourteen patristic texts to have existed in copies at both Christ Church and Rochester, and where these copies are known to have survived (the Rochester copy of the Homilies is now London, British Library, Royal MS 4 B.i ). According to C.R. Dodwell, the same artist was responsible for the decorated initials in both MS Ff.3.9 and Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.5.28 , and later scholarship has considered the production to be English (whether or not they are by the same hand). That Norman artists were also at work in Canterbury at this time, however, is shown by Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 291 : although the initials in CUL MS Ff.3.9 and Trinity MS B.5.28 also feature bright, hard colours and foliage and beast heads, those in Corpus MS 291 draw on Norman antecedents independent of Anglo-Saxon traditions of ornamental initials and were therefore likely executed by a Norman artist, working at the nearby abbey of St Augustine (see Morgan and Panayotova (2013) and Gameson (1995) for further details). Dr James Freeman| Medieval Manuscripts Specialist| Cambridge University Library

1r-102v

Homiliae in Ezechielem Gregory the Great

Language(s): Latin

PL 76:785-1072

Stegmüller 2643

Adriaen, CCSL 142 (1971)

CPL 1710

1.1. 1r-54v

Homilies on the first part of Ezechiel

Rubric: 1r: Incipit prima pars ezechielis prophetae quam beatus gregorius exponit

1.1.1. 1r-2r

Ezechiel 1:1-4:3

Incipit: 1r: Et factum est in tricesimo anno in quarto mense

Explicit: 2r: Signum est domui israel

1.1.2. 2r

Praefatio I

Incipit: 2r: Dilectissimo fratri mariniano episcopo gregorius seruus seruorum dei. Omelias quae in beatum ezechiel prophetam

Explicit: 2r: pro fastidio sumitur ; ad subtiliores epulas auidius redeatur

1.1.3. 2r-54v

Homilies 1-12

Rubric: 2r: Incipiunt omelie beati gregorii pape urbis rome super primam partem ezechielis prophetae

Incipit: 2r: Dei omnipotentis aspiratione de ezechiele propheta locuturus prius dedeo tempora

Explicit: 54v: qui sunt sine carne roborare

Explicit: iesus christus dominus noster qui uiuit et regnat cum patre inunitate spiritus sancti deus per omnia secula seculorum amen

Final rubric: 54v: Expliciunt omelie beati gregorii papae urbis romae super primam partem libri ezechielis prophetae

1.2. 55r-102v

Homilies on the latter part of Ezechiel

Rubric: 54v: Incipit extrema pars libri ezechielis prophetae

1.2.1. 55r-55v

Ezechiel 40:1-47

Incipit: 55r: In uicesimo et quinto anno transmigrationis nostrae . in exordio anni decimi die mensis quarto decimo anno postquam percussa est

Explicit: 55v: Et mensus est atrium longitudine centum cubitorum et latitudine centum cubitorum per quadrum et altare ante faciem templi

1.2.2. 56r

Praefatio II

Incipit: 56r: Quoniam multis curis prementibus ezechielis prophetae librum coram uestra caritate totum per ordinem

Explicit: 56r: Obscurum quidem ualde est opus quod aggredimur sed ponamus in animo quia nocturnum iter agimus restat ergo ut hoc palpando carpamus

56r-102v

Homilies 1-12

Rubric: 56r: Incipiunt omeliae beati gregorii pape super extremam partem ezechielis prophetae

Incipit: 56r: In uicesimo et quinto anno transmigrationis mostrae in exordio anni decima die mensis quarto decimo anno postquam percussa est

Incipit: 56r: Dicturus mystica narrationem hystoricam permittit ut figat ex tempore quod credatur ex reuelatione

Explicit: 102v: Et aliquando filios pane nutrit aliquando flagello corrigitur quia per dolores innumeros ad hereditatem perpetuam erudit

Explicit: 102v: Sit itaque gloria omnipotenti domino nostro ihesu christo qui uiuit et regnat cum patre in unitate spiritus sancti deus per omnia secula seculorum amen

Final rubric: 102v: Expliciunt omeliae beati gregorii papae super extremam partem ezechielis prophetae

Rubric written before the beginning of the quotation from Ezechiel.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: ille non peccauerit

Form: codex

Support: Parchment (HFFH)

Extent: Codex: i + 2 + 102 + 1 + i leaves. 325 × 225 mm.

Foliation:

Mid-20th-century foliation:

[a] + i-ii + 1-102 + iii + [b]

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos.

Collation

Quires 1-12⁸ (ff. 1-96)
Quire 13^8-2 (ff. 97-102: 7th and 8th leaves after f. 102 excised, probably blank)

1-12⁸; 13^8-2 (7th-8th excised, probably blank)

Medieval quire signatures in ink, Roman numerals on the verso of the last leaf of the quire, from Quire 'III' (f. 24v) onwards.

Condition

The manuscript is in good condition overall, however the decorated initial on f. 2r has been rubbed and creased resulting in the loss of some pigment.

Layout

245 × 155 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, in a single column, frame only (except for a few leaves at the beginning of the volume, where lines are ruled as well), 39 lines to the page, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Caroline minuscule, by perhaps two hands.

Rubrics, headings and opening lines of text written in rustic capitals, in red or black ink.

Decoration

Eleven- or twelve-line initials in blue, entwined in scrolls of green, orange and rose foliage, hybrid creatures and a human head on red or red and blue ground, at the (ff. 2r, 56r).

Seven-line initial in red, with red floral patterns on green ground (f. 1r).

Four- to ten-line initials in blue, green and red, at chapter divisions.

Two-line initials in red within the text.

Additions

Annotations throughout the volume, in plummet and ink, by hands of the 12th-15th centuries, presumably by the monks of Christ Church Cathedral Priory in Canterbury. There are also present the 'ice-cream cone' style of marginal markings commonly found in manuscripts from Christ Church library (see ff. 25v, 56r-58r).

Scattered annotations in pencil by a 17th-century hand, perhaps that of Abraham Wheelocke (see, for example, ff. 12r, 13r, 14v-18r, 19v and elsewhere, throughout the manuscript).

Note of the contents added by an unidentified 18th-century hand (front pastedown).

Collation formula written on the rear pastedown by H.L. Pink.

Binding

Blind-tooled speckled calfskin (17th/18th century), with blind-tooled three-line fillet along the edges. Rebacked. Repaired by Douglas Cockerell and Son , Grantchester, May 1966.

History

Origin: Late 11th / 12th century. ; England, probably Canterbury, at Christ Church Cathedral Priory, Canterbury , but perhaps at Rochester Cathedral Priory .

The manuscript is dated to the late 11th century by Gneuss, Gameson and Dodwell, and to the 12th century by Ker.

Provenance and Acquisition

1r: Pressmark 'TR' (in monogram form), characteristic of manuscripts belonging to Christ Church Cathedral Priory, Canterbury in the 12th century. (See: James, The Ancient Libraries of Canterbury and Dover The Catalogues of the Libraries of Christ Church Priory and St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury and of St. Martin's Priory at Dover (Cambridge: at the University Press, 1903), pp. xxxi-xxxv).

Marginal markings characteristic of manuscripts belonging to Christ Church : 'ice cream cone', diagonal arrangement of dots, sometimes with descending lines of dots alongside the text.

Recorded in the list of books at Christ Church , compiled during the time of Prior Henry of Eastry (Prior 1284-1331). No. 144 in M.R. James's edition (see: James, Ancient Libraries , pp. 32, 507).

Recorded in the list compiled by William Ingram, custos of the shrine of St Thomas, of books repaired at Christ Church in 1508. No. 130 in M.R. James's edition (see: James, Ancient Libraries , pp. 157, 507).

One of the manuscripts of Richard Holdsworth (1590-1649), Master of Emmanuel College .

Acquired by the University Library in July 1664: no. 56 in the inventory of Holdsworth's manuscripts compiled by William Crowe (MS Ff.4.27 / Dd.8.45) (number written on f. i recto).

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by Paul Binski and Patrick Zutshi, with the collaboration of Stella Panayotova, Western Illuminated Manuscripts: A Catalogue of the Collection in Cambridge University Library (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011) (used here by kind permission of Cambridge University Press), and an unpublished description of the manuscript composed between 1947 and 1970 by H.L. Pink, now held in the University Archives (ULIB 7/3/75).

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.

Bibliography

A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge Catalogue of manuscripts (Ee-Ff), (Cambridge, 2: Ee-Ff, Cambridge University Press, 1857)

The Canterbury school of illumination, 1066-1200, Dodwell, C.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1954)

English manuscripts in the century after the Norman Conquest, Ker, N.R. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1960)

Medieval libraries of Great Britain: a list of surviving books Medieval libraries of Great Britain Royal Historical Society guides and handbooks, Ker, N.R. (London, Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1964)

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)

Registrum Anglie de libris doctorum et auctorum veterum Corpus of British medieval library catalogues, (London, British Library in association with the British Academy, 1991)

English manuscript art in the late eleventh century: Canterbury and its context Canterbury and the Norman conquest: churches, saints, and scholars, 1066-1109, Gameson, Richard (London, 95-144, Hambledon Press, 1995)

The manuscripts of early Norman England (c.1066-1130), Gameson, Richard (Oxford, Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1999)

The early English manuscripts of Gregory the Great's <hi rend="italics">Homilies on the Gospel</hi> and <hi rend="italics">Homilies on Ezechiel</hi>: a preliminary survey Rome and the North: the early reception of Gregory the Great in Germanic Europe Mediaevalia Groningana, new series, Hall, T.N. (Leuven, 115-136, Peeters, 2001)

Western illuminated manuscripts: a catalogue of the collection in Cambridge University Library, Binski, PaulZutshi, Patrick (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011)

A catalogue of western book illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge colleges Illuminated manuscripts in Cambridge, (London, 1: Insular and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, c. 700-c. 1100, Harvey Miller, 2013)

Anglo-Saxon manuscripts: a bibliographical handlist of manuscripts and manuscript fragments written or owned in England up to 1100 Toronto Anglo-Saxon series, Gneuss, HelmutLapidge, Michael (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2014)

Bibliotheca Gregorii Magni manuscripta: censimento dei manoscritti di Gregorio Magno e della sua fortuna (epitomi, florilegi, agiografie, liturgia) = census of manuscripts of Gregory the Great and his fortune (epitomes, anthologies, hagiographies, liturgy) Biblioteche e archivi, (Firenze, SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2015)

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.3.9

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