This manuscript was originally bound together with Add MS 16979,
containing a necrology from the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Gilles
and the Rule of St Benedict. The original manuscript was copied by
scribe who identifies himself as 'Petrus Guillelmus', a Benedictine
monk from Saint-Gilles, and who dates his work to the year 1129 in
a colophon on f. 62r. This manuscript contains the martyrology of
Usuard (d. c. 875), a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and lections for Sundays and liturgical
feasts. This indicates that the manuscript was used for communal
worship in the Divine Office. Contents:ff. 1r-74r: Usuard,
Martyrology, beginning: ‘INCIPIT PRAEFATIO USUARDI MONACHI [...]
AD KAROLUM AUGUSTUM SUPER MARTIR [...]’. ff. 74v-98r: Lection for
Sundays and feasts, beginning ‘INCIPIUNT LECCIONES EVANGELORUM
QUE IN CAPITULO LEGUNTUR’.f. 98v: An instruction to pray thirty
masses and perform devotional practices for deceased brothers,
attributed to an abbot named ‘Bertranus’. Decoration: 1 large
initial in colours in a golden frame (oxidised) on f. 1r; 1 large
initial in colours with knotwork and foliate decoration on f. 74v.
Large initials in blue and green with red penwork decoration and
large initials in blue with green penwork decoration throughout the
manuscript. Large display capitals in red and green on f. 1r and f.
74v.
