Philippe de Thaon, Comput ; De Singulis Mensibus ; Psalter with gloss and prologue in Anglo-Norman; List of perilous days; Instructions for masses; List of plant names; Roman d'Alexandre (fragment)
This composite manuscript contains four parts (ff. 1-6; ff. 7-161;
ff. 162-180; ff. 181-194) that were produced in England during the
12th and 13th centuries. The manuscript contains the single
surviving copy of an Anglo-Norman interlinear translation of the
Gallican version of the Psalter. The Psalter (ff. 7-161) may have
been produced at the Benedictine abbey of St Peter, St Paul and St
Andrew in Peterborough, as is suggested by the saints in its Litany
(ff. 157v-161r). The Kalendar (ff. 2r-5v), however, appears to have
been produced at the Benedictine abbey of St Mary the Virgin, St
Bartholomew, and St Guthlac at Crowland, in Lincolnshire, and may
have been added to the Psalter at a later point in time. The
manuscript’s Anglo-Norman texts (ff. 1r, 6r, 6v, 181r-194v) may
have come from Crowland as well. These include a copy of the Comput
(Computus), the oldest extant scientific text in the vernacular,
that Philippe de Thaon (fl. 1113-1150), the first Anglo-Norman
poet, composed in 1113. However, it is unknown when and where
exactly the four parts where joined together. Contents: f. 1r:
Philippe de Thaon, Comput , imperfect. f. 1v: Anonymous, De
singulis Mensibus (On Each Month), also known as De Duodecim
Mensibus (On the Twelve Months). ff. 2r-6v: Calendar. ff. 7r-146r:
The Book of Psalms, with an interlinear translation in
Anglo-Norman. ff. 146r-157v: Canticles and hymns with interlinear
translations in Anglo-Norman.ff. 157v-161r: A Litany of Saints. ff.
162r-180v: The Office of the Dead. ff. 182r-194v: Philippe de
Thaon, Comput. The manuscript contains a number of additions:f.
179r: A prayer for the soul of a deceased woman, 'Domine pro tua
pietate miserere animae famulae tuae atque a contagiis mortalitatis
exutam', added in the 13th century. f. 6r: A list of perilous days
(‘lunes’) followed by disasters (Anglo-Norman), added in the
2nd half of 13th century. f. 6r: The Prologue to the Psalter in
verse (Anglo-Norman), beginning ‘[C]es vers sunt de salu’,
added in the 2nd half of the 13th century. ff. 161r-161v, 157v,
174v: Latin prayers added in the 13th or 14th century. f. 6v: An
Anglo-Norman prose instruction for masses and pious acts for each
day of the week, for when one is in prison, poverty or illness
(‘Quy est en tristour prisone poverte out ciet en maladie face
dire messes’), added in the mid 14th century. f. 181r: A list of
plants in Anglo-Norman, added in the mid 14th century. f. 181v: A
small fragment of the Old French metrical Romance de Alexandre ,
added in the 14th century. f. 180v: A request for prayers in Middle
English for the souls of members from the Dygne family, added in
the 15th century. Decoration: See the separate descriptions of
Arundel MS 230, ff. 1-6, ff. 7-161, ff. 162-180, ff. 181-194.
