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 Ff.4.42

Contents

Introduction: Cambridge University Library Ms Ff.4.42, informally known as the Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript, principally contains a ninth-century copy of the fourth-century poet Juvencus’s Euangeliorum libri IV, a retelling of the Gospel narrative in Virgilian hexameters. In addition to this text, the outermost pages of the book contain extracts from other Latin works, as well as pieces of Latin and Old Welsh poetry, all contributed by later ninth- and tenth-century Insular scribes. Interlinear glosses in Latin, Old Welsh and Old Irish are found throughout, as are assorted pieces of marginalia, including a second important survival of Old Welsh verse. Although the exact provenance of the manuscript is unknown, it has been determined on palaeographical and codicological grounds that it was produced somewhere in Wales, making it an exceptional survival. Extraordinarily, we also know by whom most of the manuscript was copied: a scribe by the name of Núadu. In what is an exceedingly rare colophon for a manuscript of Welsh provenance, Núadu signs his work: ‘Araut dinuadu’, ‘A prayer for Núadu’. Although the colophon was written in Old Welsh, its structure follows an Irish formula. Because the name Núadu is also Irish, this may be taken as evidence for an Irish scribe working in Wales during the tenth century. In total, there were thirteen early medieval scribes who added to the Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript after Núadu had completed his work. The contributions of these scribes are important for understanding the history of the book, including by providing further indication of Irish and Welsh links, as well as tentative evidence for a more specific localisation of the place of its production. On fol. 36r, for example, there is a cryptogram which is of an Irish type but when solved reveals the Welsh name Cymelliauc as part of its message. Cymelliauc, the cryptogram tells us, was a priest, and it is possible that he was also the creator of this particular puzzle. Only one Cymelliauc is known from the period during which the manuscript was being copied and glossed, a bishop who worked around the lower Usk and the lower Wye valleys and who the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records as having been ransomed for £40 after his capture by Vikings in 914. It has been suggested that these two Cymelliaucs may have been one and the same, and given the apparent rarity of the name this is certainly a possibility. If so, this would present tentative evidence for localising the production of the Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript to south-east Wales. A location near the border between Wales and England may be supported by an error in a gloss made by Scribe G on fol. 20r, where the third letter p in the Old Welsh ‘papep bi’ must have been a þ representing th in the exemplar from which the scribe was copying. The Anglo-Saxon letter form þ suggests that this exemplar would have been produced somewhere near or in England. Another scribe, Scribe C, was responsible for adding both of the pieces of Welsh verse included in the manuscript, as well as some Latin hexameters located on fol. 55v. One of these hexameters includes several instances of the Irish name Féthgna, which may suggest an interest in Irish material on the part of this scribe. Compellingly, Scribe C makes some errors in the Old Welsh verses that may indicate that he was in fact an Irish speaker. The Old Welsh verses, commonly referred to as the ‘Juvencus Nine’ and the ‘Juvencus Three’ are located on fols. 1r and 25v–26v, respectively. Of all aspects of the Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript, these and the glosses have arguably received the most academic attention, and understandably so. While the glosses may provide valuable insight into the process of Latin learning in Medieval Wales, the Old Welsh verses, composed in the englyn metre, are the oldest examples of Welsh poetry according to manuscript date that remain to us and are representative of both religious and ‘saga’ verse. Indeed, they are of such significance that, when faced with them in the early eighteenth century, a scholar and antiquary named Edward Lhuyd (1660-1709) could not contain his excitement and took a knife to folios 25 and 26, removing the upper margins which contained the ‘Juvencus 3’. Upon Lhuyd’s death, the precious slips of vellum were found and eventually returned to the University Library, where they were restored to their rightful positions in the manuscript. Myriah Williams |Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic| University of Cambridge.
1. 1r
Set of Old Welsh verses known as the ‘Juvencus Nine’ Juvencus Nine
Language(s): Old Welsh
Incipit: 1r Omnipotens auctor ti dicones
Explicit: 1r nitguorgnim molim map meir

Scribe C

2. 1r
Matthus in Iudea
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1r Matthus in Iudea in tempore regis G in Romæ scripsit euangelium
Explicit: 1r curite lumen uestræ habetis

‘The Matthus in Iudea scribe’

3. 1r-v
Notes on the evangelists
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1r Protessis est aposio [] ad principium dictionis litere aut [lla] ut gnato pro nato
Explicit: 1v angelium adnuntiatio dicitur unde et angelus nuntius interpretatur

Scribe E

Many of these notes derive from the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville or the De viris inlustribus of Jerome

4. 1v
Glosses on Evangeliorum libri IV
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1v proelia Christi .i. bella contra dial[o]n que de Christo narrantur in euaqngelio eius
Explicit: 1v gloria eius soli filio cum spu [sic] paracleto et nunc et in prefetua. amen

Scribe F

5. 2r-55r
Juvencus, Caius Vettius Aquilinus, Evangeliorum libri IV Evangeliorum libri quattuor
Language(s): Latin with glosses in Latin, Old Welsh and Old Irish
Rubric: 2r Incipit prolologus Damasii
Incipit: 2r Mattheus instituit uirtutum tramite mores / Et bene uiuendi iusto dedite ordine leges
Explicit: 2r Iohannes fremet ore leoni similis rugienti / Intonat aeternae pandens misteria uitæ
Rubric: 2r Incipit prologus Iuuenci
Incipit: 2r Inmortale nihil mundi compage tenetur / non orbis non regna hominum non aurea Roma
Explicit: 2v Spiritus et puro mentem riget amne canentis / Dulcis Iordanis ut Christo digna loquamur
Rubric: 2v Incipit liber primus
Incipit: 2v Rex fuit Erodes Iudea in gente cruentus / Sub quo seruator iusti templique sacerdos
Explicit: 55r Aeternam capiat diuina in saecula uitam / Per Dominum lucis Christum qui in saecula regnat
Final rubric: 55r Expliciunt quattuor euangelia a Iuuenco presbytero. Deo gratias ago. pene ad uerbum translata
Colophon: 55r Araut dinuadu

Núadu

The text is preceded by a brief prologue attributed to the fourth-century writer Damasus. Book 1 begins on fol. 2v, Book 2 on fol. 16v, Book 3 on fol. 31r and Book 4 on fol. 43v.

6. 25v-26v
Set of Old Welsh verses known as ‘The Juvencus Three’ Juvencus Three
Language(s): Old Welsh
Incipit: 25v niguorcosam nemheunaur henoid
Explicit: 26v dou nam riceus unguetid

Scribe C

7. 36r
Cymelliauc’s Cryptogram Cryptogram
Language(s): Latin encoded in Greek letters
Incipit: 25v ΓεΙβεΙαΙαθακΓ ΙεΙζκδεΙΓΙΗ ΙεΙζεΙΗΙεθΙθεΙζ
Explicit: 26v ΙδΙζαΙθε ΙεΙζ[Ι]δ Ιβε [ ]ΙβΙθΙζ

Presumably written by Cymelliauc

The cryptogram uses a code based on the Greek letters used for the numbers 1-23, each of which replaces the appropriste Latin letter in the inscription. It was apparently first decoded by John Rhŷs (1840-1915) and his daughter Olwen in the last decade of the nineteenth century. (McKee 2000:27).

The cryptogram can be decoded: Cemelliauc prudens prespiter Hec [ ] leniter Deum fratres firmiter Orate pro me [ ]mtr.

It can be translated: Cyfeilliog the learned priest [ ] this without any trouble To God, brothers, constantly, Pray for me [ ]. The folio is damaged and it is not possible to read some of the letters.

8. 55v
Verses in hexameter
Language(s): Latin

Scribe C

As McKee notes, these verses are seriously abraded and large portions are almost unreadable. She discerns four separate poems on the page. See McKee 2000:410-411.

9. 55v
Arbor eterna diua summa apostolorum
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 55v Arbor eterna diua summa apostolorum
Explicit: 55v lactis ubera que peti prosentemur absque macula regis intrando uita

Scribe D

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support:

Parchment of frequently poor quality. McKee comments that some sheets are fairly thin and flexible, others are extremely stiff and leathery. Various factors point to the use of older-than-average animals in the manufacture of the parchment: several folia are unpleasantly greasy and yellow, while others are unusually thick. She also points out that eighteen (one-third) of the folios contain holes or other flaws that were present before the manuscript was written (McKee 2000:33).

Extent: 55 folios
Dimensions (leaf): 260 × 195 mm.
Dimensions (written): 215-240 × 150-160 mm.
Foliation:

The manuscript is paginated on the upper right corner of each recto in red pencil in a sixteenth-century hand. There is also a modern pencil foliation.

Collation

The manuscript consists of six quires as follows:

  • 1 vellum flyleaf (fol. 1)
  • Quire 110 (fols 2-11)
  • Quire 212 leaves 3 and 11 are cancelled (fols 12-21)
  • Quire 38 (fols 22-29)
  • Quire 410 lacking the first and last leaves (fols 31-38)
  • Quire 58 (fols 40-47)
  • Quire 68 (fols 48-44)

The end of the first quire is signed a in the bottom right margin of fol. 11v and the start of the second quire is signed b in the bottom left margin of fol. 12r; both are in the hand of the main scribe, Núadu. In the nineteenth century, Henry Bradshaw (1831-1886) added quire signatures a-f in pencil in the bottom right recto of the first leaf of each quire. He also added a cross to the recto of the first leaf of the second half of each quire.

Condition

There is considerable damage to the edges of the pages throughout. The corners have been trimmed and rounded and there is black ink around the edges of many of the pages. In places the trimming has removed marginalia. There is considerable staining and wear to fols 1r and 55v at the beginning and end of the manuscript, probably from exposure and the ink on fol. 55v is partially eroded.

The edges of fols 8, 13, 21, 28, 37 and 55 have been cut unevenly. The lower right corner of fol. 19 has been cut and repaired. The lower portions of fols 24, 26, 47 and 51 have been removed; the cuts on fols 23v and 25v suggest that at least the first two of these were cut from the verso. The upper margins of fols 25 and 26 were cut off and later restored.

Layout

The manuscript is written in a single column and frame ruled; vertical bounding lines are visible in the outer margins of most folios but no horizontal lines appear to have been ruled. The line spacing consequently varies from 27-30 lines in quires 1-3, 29-31 lines in quire 4 and 31-36 lines in quires 5-6.

Hand(s)

A total of fourteen medieval hands have been identified in the manuscript; thirteen of them use insular minuscule with variations between them with respect to the use of set or cursive forms. At least one, probably English, scribe contributed glosses in an Anglo-Caroline minuscule no later than the early eleventh century.

The scribe of the main text, Núadu, names himself in a colophon on fol. 55r, ‘ Araut dinuadu’. Since the form of his name is Irish, it has been suggested that he was an Irish monk working in a Welsh scriptorium.

Seven of the thirteen Celtic scribes were first identified by Henry Bradshaw, who labeled them A–G, with A referring to Núadu. The remaining Celtic scribes were named ‘The First Revisor’, ‘The Second Revisor’, ‘The Matthus in Iudea scribe’, Cyfeilliog, ‘The Beginner’ and ‘“Antonius”, the Scribbler’ by Helen McKee. For further details on the scribes, see McKee 2000:9–31.

Additions

Numerous marginal and interlinear notes, glosses and corrections are added to the manuscript in Latin, Old Welsh and Old Irish by 13 different hands. A full discussion and edition of these glosses is found in McKee 2000.

There are copious annotations in the manuscript in an early seventeenth-century hand, for example, several lines, including the name ‘Mr Price’, at the foot of fol. 1v and the list of names at the foot of fol. 4r. Oates (1982) identified this as the hand of an early modern owner, Richard Amadas.

The shelfmarks ‘395’ and ‘Ff.4.42’ are added on the front inner board in ink.

There are pencil notes on the back inner board by Henry Bradshaw concerning the Welsh verses and the collation of the manuscript.

Binding

Binding of c. 1700 in brown calfskin with a blind-tooled frame on each cover. Rebacked in 1958 by W.H. Smith and Son Ltd, London, as noted on the front inner board. The previous spine from a rebacking c. 1800 is glued into the box in which the manuscript is stored; the title is given on it as ‘PARAPH IN 4 EVA MS 1233’.

Two leaves from Scrutinium scripturarum by Pablo de Santa Maria, Bishop of Burgos (Venales habetur parisijs: [sold by F. Regnault]: impr. per Anthonium bonne mere. Exp. Iohannis frellon, [ca. 1515]) are pasted to the inner front and back boards.

Accompanying Material

Tipped in on the front inner board is a note signed by the University Librarian William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) as follows: ‘On May 11, 1889 I examined the Juvencus MSS Ff.4.42, with Prof Cowell & found that the precious slips with Cymric vss. wh. according to Mr Bradshaw's pencil note on the cover ought to have been in their places were no longer there. Were they removed when he began to prepare the volume for the binder? If so they will probably be found between the leaves of some MS.’ A later librarian Francis Jenkinson (1853-1923) updated this note with a pencilled ‘Found FJ’.

History

Origin: after c. 850 with glosses added between the latter half of the ninth century and the early eleventh century ; Wales

Written in Wales; McKee tentatively suggests that the presence of the cryptogram on fol. 36r suggests that the manuscript may have been written in a monastery close to the court at Gwynedd where the code, devised by an Irishman, Dubthach, was known in the early ninth century or in the region of the lower Usk and lower Wye valleys where the bishop Cymelliauc was active (McKee 2000:28).

Provenance and Acquisition

By the early eleventh century, the manuscript was in England, possibly at Worcester, where fols 2-5 were glossed in an Anglo-Caroline hand (McKee 2000:38).

There is no evidence of later medieval ownership.

The earliest known post-medieval owner is Richard Amadas (1585-1629) , rector of Hallingbury Magna, Essex, who annotated the manuscript in several places.

One of the manuscripts of Richard Holdsworth (1590-1649) , Master of Emmanuel College. Holdsworth acquired several other Amadas books, directly or indirectly.

Acquired by the University Library in July 1664: no. 49 in the inventory of Holdsworth's manuscripts compiled by William Crowe (MS Ff.4.27 / Dd.8.45).

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry was prepared by Myriah Williams and Suzanne Paul, drawing particularly on the introduction to Helen McKee's edition of the manuscript.

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

    Edition

    The Cambridge Juvencus manuscript glossed in Latin, Old Welsh, and Old Irish: text and commentary, (Aberystwyth, CMCS Publications, 2000)

Bibliography

    Facsimile

    Juvencus Codex Cantabrigiensis Ff.4.42: llawysgrif o'r nawfed ganrif gyda glosau Cymraeg, Gwyddeleg, a Lladin, (Aberystwyth, Cyhoeddiadau CMCS, 2000)

Bibliography

    Secondary literature

    Cambrica: 1. The Welsh glosses and verses in the Cambridge codex of Juvencus Transactions of the Philological Society, Stokes, Whitley (204-32, 1860) Die Glossen und Verse in dem Codex des Juvencus zu Cambridge Beiträge zur vergleichende Sprachforschung, Stokes, Whitley (4, 385-421, 1865) Collected papers, Bradshaw, Henry (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1889) Early Welsh script St. Andrews University publications, Lindsay, W. M. (Oxford, J. Parker and co., 1912) The Juvencus glosses Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, Parry-Williams, T. H. (1, 120-23, 1921) Dubthach's cryptogram: some notes in connexion with Brussels MS 9565-9566 L'Antiquité classique, Derolez, R. (21, 359-75, 1952) Language and history in early Britain: a chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, first to twelfth century A.D. Edinburgh University Publications. Language and literature, Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1953) The study of Latin texts in late Anglo-Saxon England. [1] The evidence of Latin glosses Latin and the Vernacular Languages in Early Medieval Britain. Papers Delivered to the Fifth Annual St. John's House Symposium, University of St. Andrews, 12 May 1979 Studies in the early history of Britain, Lapidge, Michael (Leicester, 99-140, Leicester University Press, 1982) Notes on the later history of the oldest manuscript of Welsh poetry: the Cambridge Juvencus Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, Oates, J. C. T. (3, 81-87, 1982) Englynion y Juvencus. Bardos: penodau ar y traddodiad barddol Cymreig a Cheltaidd cyflwynedig i J.E. Caerwyn Williams, Watkins, T. Arwyn (Cardiff, 29-43, University of Wales Press, 1982) A bibliography of Celtic-Latin literature 400-1200 Royal Irish Academy dictionary of medieval Latin from Celtic sources. Ancillary publications, Lapidge, MichaelSharpe, Richard (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1985) Latin learning in Dark Age Wales: some prolegomena. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress on Celtic Studies held at Oxford, from 10th to 15th July, 1983, Lapidge, Michael (Oxford, 91-107, D. Ellis Evans, Jesus College, 1986) Old English franca, 'spear': Welsh ffranc Notes and Queries, Breeze, Andrew (n.s. 38, 2, 149-151, 1991) The Cambridge Juvencus glosses -- evidence of Hiberno-Welsh literary interaction? Language Contact in the British Isles. Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Language Contact in Europe, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1988 Linguistische Arbeiten, Harvey, Anthony (Tübingen, 181-198, Niemeyer, 1991) Y Creawdwr Hollalluog Blodeugerdd Barddas o ganu crefyddol cynnar, Haycock, Marged (Felindre, Abertawe, 3-16, Barddas, 1994) Medieval Welsh manuscripts, Huws, Daniel (Cardiff, University of Wales Press and The National Library of Wales, 2000) Scribes and glosses from Dark Age Wales: the Cambridge Juvencus manuscript Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, McKee, Helen (39, 1-22, 2000) “There is no resurrection where there is no earth”: creation and resurrection as seen in early Welsh poetry Celts and Christians: New Approaches to the Religious Traditions of Britain and Ireland, Allchin, A. M. (Cardiff, 103-123, University of Wales Press, 2002) An habes linguam latinam? Non tam bene sapio: views of multilingualism from the early medieval West Multilingualism in the Graeco-Roman worlds, Russell, Paul (Cambridge, 193-224, Cambridge University Press, 2012)

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