Elias of Evesham, ‘Quadrilogus’ Version of the Vita Beati Thome Archiepiscopi et Martiris ; Herbert of Bosham, Catalogus Eruditorum Beati Thomae ; Causa Exilii et Martirii ; Thomas Becket and Alexander III, Letters; Vita Sancti Wilhelmi [Guillelmi] Eboracensis Archiepiscopi ; Eustace of Faversham, Vita Sancti Edmundi Cantuariensis ; William of Malmesbury, De Gesta Pontificum (imperfect); Vita et Miracula Sancti Johannis Patriarche sive Eleemosynarii ; Pseudo-Gregory of Tours, Liber de Miraculis Beati Andreas Apostoli ; Vita Sancte Mariae Magdalenae cum Translatione Eiusdem ; Vita de Sancta Martha ; St Augustine, Sermo de Igne Purgatorii ; Innocent III, De Missarum Mysteriis ; St Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones super Cantica Canticorum (Sermons: 44-58); Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, De Effectibus Virtutum (imperfect and complete version with diagrams); De Aversione a Summo Bono
Agent
Preferred form
Thomas Becket (saint, 1120-1170)
Original form
Becket, Thomas, ?1120-1170, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury
This manuscript contains ten parts that were written in England
during the 2nd half of the 12th century or the 1st half of the 13th
century and most likely were once part of different manuscripts
(this, for example, is suggested by a quire mark (‘III’) on f.
257v). A (? late) 13th-century table of contents that lists all
their contents indicates that the different parts were joined
together soon after their production. These parts may have been
written and bound together at the Augustinian abbey of
Thornton-on-Humber in Lincolnshire, which certainly owned the
manuscript by the 14th or 15th century. In the early 16th century,
the manuscript was selected by Henry VIII for acquisition for the
Royal Library and possibly annotated by him as well. The manuscript
contains saints’ lives, sermons and an incomplete copy of the
Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (Deeds of the Bishops of the English) by
the Benedictine monk William of Malmesbury (b. c. 1080, d. 1143).
The Life of St Edmund by Eustace of Faversham is linguistically
interesting since it cites the saint’s last words (f. 94v) in
Early Middle English. Contents: ff. 1r-69r: Elias of Evesham (fl.
c. 1200), 'Quadrilogus' compilation of materials related to the
life of St Thomas Becket, here entitled Vita Beati Thome
Archiepiscopi et Martiris (Life of Thomas, Archbishop and Martyr).
ff. 69r-71v: Herbert of Bosham (d. after 1189), Catalogus
Eruditorum Beati Thomae (Catalogue of Teachers of St Thomas),
beginning 'Et quoniam in historia hac de eruditis Thomae nunc
domini et gloriosi'. ff. 71v-73vr: Causa Exilii et Martirii (Cause
of Exile and Martyrdom), listing the Constitutions of Clarendon of
1164 that caused the conflict between Thomas Becket and Henry II
(b. 1133, d. 1189). ff. 73v-75r: Letters sent by Thomas Becket (d.
1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, to a friend (ed. by Duggan, The
Correspondence (2000), II, p. 238), and by Pope Alexander III
(Rolando Bandinelli) (b. c. 1100, d. 1181) to Thomas Becket and
other English clergymen. ff. 76r-87v: Anonymous, Vita Sancti
Wilhelmi [Guillelmi] Eboracensis Archiepiscopi (Life of William,
Archbishop of York), including a section of miracles (ff. 80v-87v).
ff. 88r-97r: Eustace of Faversham (fl. 1242-1244), Vita Sancti
Edmundi Cantuariensis (Life of St Edmund of Canterbury), composed
c. 1242-44, begining 'Beatus Eadmundus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus
ex piis parentibus Abendione genitus' [Quotes Edmund's last words
in Middle English on f. 94v: 'Men seith gamen gamen goth in wombe,
ac ich saie gamen gamen goth in hert']. ff. 98r-171r: William of
Malmesbury, De Gesta Pontificum , Book I, Prologue of Book II, ends
abruptly. ff. 172r-196r: Anonymous, Vita et Miracula Sancti
Johannis Patriarche sive Eleemosynarii (The Life and Miracles of St
John the Merciful, Patriarch [of Alexandria]). f. 197v: A quotation
from Matthew 12:30 (‘ qui non est mecum contra me est ’), added
in a (?) 13th-century script. ff. 198r-208v: Pseudo-Gregory of
Tours [here not attributed], Liber de Miraculis Beati Andreas
Apostoli (Book of Miracles of St Andrew the Apostle), beginning
'Igitur post illum dominicae ascensionis nobile gloriosumque
triumphum', imperfect. ff. 209r-212r: Anonymous or unidentified
author, Vita Sancte Mariae Magdalenae cum Translatione Eiusdem
(Life of St Mary Magdalene and her Translation), beginning 'Fuit
igitur secundum saeculi fastum clarissimis beata Maria natalibus
orta'. ff. 212r-213r: Anonymous or unidentified author, Vita de
Sancta Martha (Life of St Martha), beginning ‘Martha
ierosolimitana opido bethanico regali pro sapia patre syro eucharia
matre oriunda’. ff. 213r-215r: St Augustine (b. 354, d. 430),
Bishop of Hippo, Sermo de Igne Purgatorii (Sermon on the Fire of
Purgatory), beginning 'In lectione apostolica que nobis paulo ante
recitata est'. ff. 216r-233r: Innocent III (Lotharius de Segnis)
(b. 1160/61, d. 1216), De Missarum Mysteriis (On the Mysteries of
the Mass), here entitled ‘De Missarum Solempniis’, beginning
'Tria sunt quibus praecipue lex divina consistit'. ff. 234r-261v:
St Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones super Cantica Canticorum ,
Sermons: 44-58. ff. 262r-263r: Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, De
Effectibus Virtutum (On the Effects of the Virtues), beginning
‘Nichil fit in terra sine causa dicit Job .v. et ita omne quod
sit propter aliquid fit’, ends imperfect on f. 263r. ff.
264r-266r: Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, De Effectibus Virtutum ,
beginning ‘Nichil fit in terra sine causa dicit Job .v. et ita
omne quod sit propter aliquid fit’ (complete text). ff.
266r-269r: Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, diagrams showing the effects
of the preceding virtues and vices. ff. 269v-287r: Pseudo-Robert
Grosseteste, De Aversione a Summo Bono (On Turning Away from the
Highest Good), beginning 'Primum in via mali est aversio actualis a
summo bono quod patet'. ff. 287v-288r: Pen trials and Latin
quotations, added in 13th- to 15th-century scripts. [ff. 75v, 97v,
171v, 215v, 233v, [260a]recto, [260a]verso, 263v, 287v, 288r, 288v
are blank]. Decoration:Large and medium initials in blue with
penwork decoration in red, or in red with penwork decoration in
blue. Small initials in red or blue. Rubrics in red. 1 medium
puzzle initial in blue and red with blue penwork decoration (f.
76r); medium initials in red or blue, some with arabesque motifs.
Rubrics in red; 1 medium puzzle initial in blue and red with blue
and red filigree penwork decoration (f. 88r); 1 medium initial in
blue (f. 93r). 1 rubrics in red or green and red (f. 88r); Large
and medium initials in red, two with added decoration in black ink
and penwork decoration in red (ff. 99v, 100r). Rubrics in red.
Spaces have been left empty for coloured initials but have not been
filled. Manicules in brown ink added to the margins. Medium
initials in blue or red, one with penwork decoration in the other
colour (f. 172r) and one with penwork decoration in the same colour
(f. 193r). Human faces in brown ink have been added to ascenders
and descenders of minuscule letters (ff. 174r, 189r, 191v, 194v)
and paraph marks (ff. 178r, 182r); A rubric in red on f. 198r.
Empty spaces have been left empty for coloured initials but have
not been filled. Small initials in blue or red. Rubrics in red.
Rubrics in red. Small (one-line) initials in red. Empty spaces have
been left for coloured initials but have not been filled. Manicules
added in drypoint in the margins. Medium initials in blue or red.
Small (one-line) initials highlighted in yellow or red. Rubrics in
red.
