Bentinck, Margaret Cavendish, 11 Feb 1715-17 Jul 1785, duchess of Portland, née Harley, collector of art and natural history specimens and patron of arts and sciences
This manuscript contains the Liber pontificalis (the Book of the
Popes), a collection of biographies of popes from St Peter until
Pope Clement III (b. 1130, d. 1191), attributed to Anastasius
Bibliothecarius (b. c. 810, d. c. 878). It also contains the
Decretales Pseudo-Isidorianae (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals), a set
of medieval forgeries composed in the 9th century. ff. 1r-2r: A
list of popes from St Peter to Lucius II (d. 1145), followed by
details regarding each papacy, with the names only for popes from
Eugene III (d. 1153) to Gregory VIII (d. 1187): the names of Urban
III (d. 1187) and Gregory VIII (d. 1187) have been written by a
different hand. ff. 4r-71r: Pseudo-Anastasius Bibliothecarius,
Liber pontificalis , beginning: ‘Beatissimo Damaso Ieronimus’,
preceded by the incipit: ‘Incipit liber pontificalis in quo
continentur acta beatorum pontificum urbis rome'. The texts
incorporate several papal decretals from the Collectio Lanfranci
(The Collection of Lanfranc). According to Thompson, the portion of
the text covering the years 757-1119 in this copy of the Liber
pontificalis and in Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk. 4.6
derive from the exemplar compiled by William of Malmesbury (b. c.
1080, d. 1143) (see Thompson, William of Malmesbury (1987), pp.
120-21). ff. 72r-89r: Pseudo-Isidore (Isidore Mercator), Decretales
pseudo-Isidorianae , excerpt including three epistles of Clement,
beginning: 'Clemens urbis rome episcopus Jacobo ierosolimorum
episcopo'. [ff. 1*v, 2v-3r, 71v-[71b]v, 89v-90r are blank].
Decoration:2 large initials in colours and gold, with foliate
decoration, the red oxidised (ff. 4r, 72r). Initials in blue or
green with red penwork decoration, or in red with blue penwork
decoration. Small initials in blue or red.
