This is the only extant manuscript from the Augustinian priory of
Saints Peter and Paul in Plympton. The manuscript contains a copy
of the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical
History of the English People) that Bede (d. 673, d. 735), a
Benedictine monk of the monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow,
completed in 731. Bede's Historia has been complemented with annals
from Plympton priory, listing details about its priors, the
Province of Canterbury, the kings and queens of England, and
astronomical phenomena. Contents: f. 2v: An excerpt from
Pseudo-Nennius, Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons), on the
division of the world among the sons of Noah, beginning ‘Tres
filii Noe diviserunt orbem in tres partes post diluvium’. ff.
3r-148r: Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , beginning
‘Incipit Prefatio Bede Presbiteri De Hystoria Gentis Anglorum’
(Books I-V). ff. 148v-150v: Plympton annals for the years
1066-1177. [ff. 1r-2r are blank]. Decoration: 1 large puzzle
initial in blue and green (f. 5r). 1 large red initial with penwork
decoration in red and blue (f. 84v). Large and small initials in
red, green or blue. Manicules in brown ink (added by different
owners) throughout the manuscript.
