This manuscript from the Benedictine abbey of Stavelot in the
diocese of Liège contains a Psalter with commentary. It also
contains songs for the liturgy (canticles), a litany of saints,
including St Remaclus, the founder of Stavelot (c. 650), and an
exposition on the Athanasian Creed. It is part of a group of
manuscripts that was produced around the year 1000, probably during
the abbacy of Ravanger II (r. 980-1007), and illuminated in a
distinct Mosan style (Millar, The Library of A. Chester Beatty , I
(1927), pp. 66-67; Nordenfalk, Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis (1971),
pp. 141-42). This manuscript highlights the importance of the
Psalter both textually, through commentary that explains the
significance of the individual Psalms, and visually, through
decorated pages that highlight the Psalter’s threefold division.
The Psalter supported the monks of Stavelot in performing their
liturgical duties; the Benedictine Rule required them to communally
recite the entire Book of Psalms every week. That this manuscript
may have been used for communal worship is suggested by the fact
that the Psalter has been combined with liturgical songs.
Contents:ff. 4r-170v: A Latin Psalter with commentary following
each of the Psalms, beginning imperfectly in Psalm 1:1 (fifth
word).ff. 170v-177r: Canticles: the Canticles of Isaiah, Hezekiah,
Anna, Moses (Exodus), Habacuc, Moses (Deuteronomy), The Three
Children (Benedicite), Ambrosius and Augustinus (Te Deum),
Zechariah (Benedictus), the Virgin Mary (Magnificat), and Simeon
(Nunc Dimittis). ff. 177v-180r: A litany of saints, including St
Remaclus, founder of Stavelot, and St Hadelin, his disciple. f.
180v: The Pater Noster and Apostles Creed. ff. 181r-186r: An
exposition on the Athanasian Creed, ‘Fides Catholica Sancti
Athanasii’. The manuscript includes two later additions: f. 1r: A
19th-century description of the manuscript (French). ff. 2v-3r: An
unidentified 14th-century (?) Latin document. [ff. 1v, 2r and 3v
are blank]. Decoration:2 historiated initials on painted grounds
within full-page borders, of David and Goliath and a crowned
figure, at the beginning of Psalms 51 and 101 (ff. 64v and 114r).
Full decorated border around the text beginning with the fifth word
of Psalm 1 (abiit) (f. 4r); 2 large initials in colours and gold
(f. 64v and f. 114r); large and small initials in red throughout
the manuscript.
