This late 12th-century Cistercian manuscript contains a ‘Winter
missal’, so-called because its Temporale begins on Pentecost XIX
(the 19th Sunday after Trinity) and runs to Quinquagesima . The
style of the decorated initials suggests that the manuscript was
produced at a Cistercian abbey in Northern England, possibly
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. Contents: ff. 1r-48r:
Temporale: Pentecost XIX – Quinquagesima . ff. 48v-52v: Preface
of the Apostles, Common Preface and Canon of the Mass.ff. 53r-88r:
Sanctorale: St Michael (29 September) - St Agatha (5 February).ff.
88r-97r: Votive Masses, Mass and collects for the dead and general
collects: a Cistercian feature is the Offertory 'Verbum Crucis' in
the Mass of the Cross (f. 92r).[f. v verso is blank]. The
manuscript contains a number of additions: ff. ii recto, ii verso,
viii recto, viii verso: Leaves from a Cistercian missal (Use of
York) written before 1218 when the Feast of St John and St Paul
(added in margin, f. ii verso) was authorized for the Cistercian
Order. f. vi verso: A note on the manuscript: ‘Hic liber omnium
librorum optimo depingitur (ut videri habet) puritatis venustatis
more pingentis calamo’, added in the late 12th century; copied
twice on f. vi verso in the 15th century. f. vii verso: A note on
the Temporale : ‘Iste liber incipit in dominica nonadecima et
durat usque in capite ieiunii.’, added in the late 12th century;
a note on the manuscript (same as on f. vi verso), added in a
15th-century hand. ff. 97r-97v: Collects for St Etheldreda and All
Saints, added in a hand of the first half of the 13th century. ff.
iii recto-v recto: A letter (ff. iii recto-iv verso) concerning and
a description (f. v recto) of the manuscript, added in the 20th
century. Decoration:3 large initials in green and red with
arabesque penwork decoration in red, blue and green (ff. 48v [2x],
49r). Medium and small initials in red, green, and blue, some with
arabesque penwork decoration in the same colour or penwork
decoration (some with foliate motifs) inside the letter in the
opposite colour. Rubrics and Roman numerals in red.
