A collection of predominantly canon law and penitential texts, including: Liber ex Lege Moysi ; two recensions of Collectio Canonum Hibernensis ; St Patrick, Epistola ad Episcopos in Campo Hai ; Excerpta de Libris Romanorum et Francorum ; Pseudo-Adomnán, Canones Adomnani; Passio Septem Dormientium; Canones Theodori
This late 9th- or early 10th-century manuscript consists mostly of
canon law and penitential texts. Several of these texts are of
Irish origin; most notably the anonymous compilation known as
Collectio Canonum Hibernensis (The Irish Collection of Canon law).
The use of Insular versions of common abbreviations throughout,
even though the script used is Continental (Caroline minuscule), is
indicative of the close connections between the Insular world and
Breton scribes, and perhaps also reflects an Irish exemplar. There
are also several Old Breton glosses in the text of the Collectio
Canonum Hibernensis . The manuscript was damaged in the Ashburnham
House fire of 1731 and the leaves are illegible in some parts,
especially at the beginning and the end. Extracts copied from this
manuscript before it was damaged in the 1731 fire survive in two
manuscripts: one is a notebook of Archbishop James Ussher (b. 1581,
d. 1656), now Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS 780 (previously
D. 3. 10); Ussher also referenced his use of the manuscript in his
Brittannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates , published in 1639; the
other is a notebook of historian Sir James Ware (b. 1594, d. 1666),
now Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B. 479. Contents: ff.
3v-11r: A condensed recension of Liber ex Lege Moysi (The Book from
the Law of Moses), a selection of prescriptions from the books of
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, beginning: ‘Ego sum
Dominus Deus tuus qui eduxi te’. ff. 11v-128r: Recension A of
Collectio Canonum Hibernensis , augmented with excerpts from
recension B, imperfect at the beginning. There are 18 Old Breton
glosses throughout the text, edited by Stokes, Old Breton Glosses ,
pp. iv–v, 2, 17–20. ff. 128v-130v: An unidentified text on
canon law, imperfect at the beginning. ff. 131r-131v: Proceedings
of the Synod of Rome, 721, imperfect at the beginning. The first
legible sentence begins: ‘Post hanc omnium consonam
responsionem’. The synod referred to is clear from the specific
canons and the mention of Pope Gregory II (r. 715-731), despite
textual losses. The text includes various prohibitions regarding
marriage, ending with a prohibition against clerics letting their
hair grow. ff. 131v-132v: An unidentified text on canon law,
beginning: ‘Sinodus romana qui in die dominico’. ff. 132v-133r:
Possibly by St Patrick (fl. second half of the 5th century),
Epistola ad episcopos in Campo Hai (Letter to the Bishops in 'Campo
Hai'), imperfect. Beginning: ‘In libris Patrici .ii. episcopi
Cethianus et Conallus in campo hai’. Discussed by Grosjean,
‘Notes sur les documents anciens concernant S. Patrice’ (1944),
pp. 44-45. ff. 133r-136r: Further penitential material discussing
Old Testament law and prohibitions, beginning: ‘De his qui
contempnunt principem Dathan et Abiron et Corœ’. f. 136r: Short
prologue to Collectio canonum Hibernensis , beginning: ‘De nomine
sinodi in libris’. ff. 136v-139r: An unidentified text on canon
law, imperfect at the beginning. ff. 139r-141v: Excerpta de libris
Romanorum et Francorum (Excerpts from books of the Romans and
Franks), recension A, beginning: ‘Si quis homicidium comisseri
voluerit.’ This text is also known as Canones Wallici (The Welsh
Canons). Printed and translated by Bieler, ed., The Irish
Penitentials (1963), pp. 136-49. ff. 141v-143r: Pseudo-Adomnán,
Canones Adomnani (The Canons of Adomnan), regarding clean and
unclean foods, beginning: ‘Maritima animalia ad litora deleta’.
This short text tends to be transmitted under the name of St
Adomnán of Iona (d. 704), but there is little other evidence
supporting that attribution. Printed and translated by Bieler, ed.,
The Irish Penitentials (1963), pp. 176-81. ff. 146v-150r: Passio
septem dormientium (The Legend of the Seven Sleepers), imperfect at
the end. Beginning: ‘In illo tempore regnabat Decius’. ff.
150r-179v: Recension B of Collectio canonum Hibernensis , now
imperfect, beginning: ‘De eo quod in ministerium’. ff.
151r-151v: Imperfect fragment of Canones Theodori (Canons of
Theodore), also known as Paenitentiale Theodori (The Penitential of
Theodore), interrupting recension B of Collectio canonum
Hibernensis . The beginning is lacking and the folio is damaged.
The manuscript contains later additions:ff. 2v-3v: A preface and
list of contents for the collection, added at Canterbury in the
13th century. f. 1r: A list of contents probably added by the
librarian of Sir Robert Cotton, Richard James (b. 1592, d. 1638)
(see Tite, The Early Records (2003), p. 250), now mostly lost or
illegible, ending: ‘7 dormientibus’. [ff. 1v, 108r, 108v are
blank].Decoration:The first word of the new text on f. 3v consists
of one full-page initial and two medium initials in red with ink
outline, decorated with interlace as well as foliate motifs. Large
to medium initials (the upper parts of which are lost due to
damage) in red with ink outline and interlace and zoomorphic
motifs, marking the start of texts (ff. 2v, 11v, 15v). Throughout
ff. 8-147 the minor initials are highlighted in red or with simple
interlace or foliage decoration, marking the start of the separate
canons and other sections of the texts. As of f. 150r the minor
initials are no longer highlighted in red. Rubrics and certain
important words in the text are in red or highlighted in red.
Place
Preferred form
France, Western
Original form
Western France
Other form
Ouest de la France
France (Ouest) (?)
France (Ouest ?)
France (Ouest?)
France (Ouest)
France (Bretagne ?)
França (Bretanya?)
Frankreich (Bretagne?)
France (Brittany?)
Francia (Bretaña)
Frankrijk (Bretagne?)
France (ouest : Bretagne ?)
Western France (Brittany?)
França (oest: Bretanya?)
Francia (oeste: Bretaña?)
Frankrijk (westen) (Bretagne?)
Westfrankreich: Bretagne?
Bretagne
Bretanya
Bretaña
Brittany
Workshop located in the west of France, maybe in Nantes (France, Loire-Atlantique)
