Lawrence of Durham, Consolatio de Morte Amici ; Hypognosticon ; Oratio pro Laurentio ; Oratio pro Naufragis ; Oratio pro Iuvenibus Compeditis (imperfect); Oratio pro Milone (imperfect); Maledictio
Agent
Preferred form
Laurent de Durham (111.-1154)
Original form
Lawrence of Durham, c 1114-1154, Prior of Durham Cathedral Priory
Other form
Lawrence of Durham OSB
Lawrence, of
Durham (approximately 1114-1154)
Lawrence,
of Durham (approximately 1114-1154)
Lawrence of
Durham (approximately 1114-1154)
Lawrence, of Durham (approximately 1114-1154), author
This 12th-century manuscript contains works by Lawrence of Durham
(b. c. 1110, d. 1154), poet, hagiographer, and prior of Durham
Cathedral Priory. The manuscript primarily contains the
Hypognosticon (‘Abbreviation’), a poem that recounts the
biblical history of mankind from its creation until present.
Lawrence wrote the poem as he served at the court of Rufus, bishop
of Durham, between 1133 and 1141. Contents: ff. 2r-16v: Lawrence of
Durham, Consolatio de Morte Amici (Consolation on the Death of a
Friend). ff. 16v-100r: Lawrence of Durham, Hypognosticon , with a
Prologue, Books I-IX. ff. 100r-102v: Lawrence of Durham, Oratio pro
Laurentio (Prayer for Lawrence). ff. 102v-105v: Lawrence of Durham,
Oratio pro Naufragiis (Prayer for the Shipwrecked). ff. 105v-107v:
Lawrence of Durham, Oratio pro Juvenibus Compeditis (Prayer for
Young Prisoners), imperfect. ff. 108r-108v: Lawrence of Durham,
Oratio pro Milone (Prayer for Milo), imperfect .The manuscript
contains a number of additions:ff. 108v-109r: A malediction,
beginning ‘Ex Auctoritate dei patris omnipotentis, et Filii et
Spiritus Sancti, atque ex vice beati Petri apostoli
excommunicamus’, added in a 12th-century script.f. 1r: A table of
contents, added by Richard James (b. 1592, d. 1638), librarian for
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631).f. 18r: A Latin saying,
added in a 15th-century script: ‘Vt ver, dat flores : flos,
fructum: fructus, odores: / Sic studium, mores: mos, senssum :
senssus, honores / Q[uod] W[e?]nkuslys’. f. 18r: A copy of the
15th-century inscription, in a 16th- or 17th-century script,
perhaps added by Richard Amadas. f. 18v: An excerpt from the Gesta
Romanorum (Deeds of the Romans), Chapter 163 (De timore
inordinato), ‘Nexus ovem geminam per spinam traxit equinam’,
added in a 12th-century script. f. 109v: A prayer for the deceased
(‘Deus, cujus miseracione animae requiescunt famulis et familabus
tuis omnibus hic et ubique in Christo quiescentibus, da propitius
veniam peccatorum, ut a cunctis reatibus absoliti, tecum sine sine
laetentur - per dominum’), added in the 14th or 15th century.f.
109v: A prayer for the deceased from the Office of the Dead
(‘Deus, qui inter Apostolicos sacerdotes famulos tuos pontificali
seu sacerdotali fecisti dignitate vigere: praesta quaesumus: ut
eorum quoque perpetuo aggregentur consortio – per Christum’),
in the 14th or 15th century.[f. 1v is empty].Decoration:Large and
medium initials in green, ochre and red, sometimes with arabesque
motifs in the same colour and penwork decoration in another colour.
Rubrics in red or red and ochre. Catchwords in red. Line-fillers in
red. Quotation marks, underlining, paraph markers, and quire marks
(first folios) in brown ink; ff. 69r-72v only: small (one-line)
initials highlighted in red and green; quotation marks in brown,
green and red. A drawing of a man added in brown ink to the upper
margin of f. 102v.
Place
Preferred form
Abbey Dore (Hereford and Worcester, United Kingdom)
