Ralph de Diceto, Opuscula ; Letter to William de Longchamp; Abbreviationes Chronicorum (extracts); Letter to John of Poitiers; Ymagines Historiarum (excerpts); Geoffrey of Monmouth, Prophetia Merlini ; Anonymous prophecies
Agent
Preferred form
Geoffroi de Monmouth (1100?-1154)
Original form
Geoffrey of Monmouth, c 1100-c 1154, Bishop of St Asaph
Other form
Gaufridus Monumetensis
Geoffroi de Monmouth (1100?-1154)
Gaufridus Monemutensis
Galfridus Monemutensis (1100?-1154)
Gaufrido Monemuthensi
Gaufridus de Monemuta
Geoffroi de Monmouth 1100?-1154
Galfredus Monumetensis 1100-1154
Geoffrey, de Monmouth
Geoffrey, of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, 1100?-1154
This manuscript consists of letters and historical works written by
Ralph of Diceto (d. 1199/1200), chronicler, ecclesiastic and dean
of St Paul's Cathedral, London. This volume was probably produced
in the scriptorium of St Paul's. The prefatory letter to William de
Longchamp (d. 1197), chancellor of England and bishop of Ely, is
found only in this manuscript, suggesting that it might have been
the original copy presented to William de Longchamp (see Sharpe and
Willoughby, Medieval Libraries (2015)). The list of writers on f.
35v that ends with Ralph de Diceto states that he finished his
historical work in 1195 (see Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable
Manuscripts (1979)). Cotton MS Faustina A VIII (from the
Augustinian priory of St Mary Overy) and Cotton MS Tiberius A IX
(from the Augustinian abbey of Osney) have the same contents,
except the prefatory letter to William de Longchamp. Contents: ff.
5r-34v: Ralph de Diceto, Opuscula (Minor Works). It includes Ralph
de Diceto's prefatory letter to William de Longchamp, beginning:
Willelmo de Longo Campo Rad[ulfus] de Diceto. Sicut a multis
accepimus'. (ff. 5r-v); chronological tables of prelates, popes and
kings, including historical accounts of the history of Britons,
English and Normans, beginning: 'Apostolus ait: omnis anima
potestatibus subdita sit sublimioribus'. A life of St Thomas Becket
has been inserted between these lists (ff. 12r-15v), beginning:
'Quotiens inter enumeratos, ending: 'ab omnibus reportasse
triumphum' (ff. 6r-34v). ff. 35r-35v: Extract from Ralph de
Diceto's Abbreviationes Chronicorum (Abbreviations of Chronicles) ,
related to eminent writers, including Ralph de Diceto himself at
the end, beginning: 'De viris illustribus quo tempore scripserint.
Trogus Pompeius a tempore Nini regis Assiriorum', ending: 'Radulfus
Lundoniensis ecclesie decanus ab incarnatione anno M o C o XLVII
librum qui dicitur ymagines hystoriarum inchoavit et perduxit usque
ad annum MC [in the margin] XCV'. ff. 35v-36v: Nomina regionum XI
(Names of the Eleven Regions), also included in the Abbreviationes
Chronicorum of Ralph de Diceto. ff. 36v-37v: Ralph de Diceto,
Letter to John of Poitiers, archbishop of Lyons, relating to the
omission of Britain in the list of provinces, and his reply. These
two letters are followed by extracts from C. Iulius Caesar (b. 100
BC, d. 44 BC), L. Annaeus Florus (fl. early 2nd century), Hugh of
Saint-Victor (b. c 1096, d. 1141) and Bede (b. c. 673, d. 735) on
the provinces of Gaul (ff. 36v-37v), extracts preceded by a 5-line
introduction. ff. 37v-39r: Extract from Ralph de Diceto's
Abbreviationes Chronicorum, borrowed from two anonymous
compilations: the Commendatio Brittanie (Praise of Britain) , a
historical compilation about Britain (ff. 37v-38r), followed by the
De mirabilibus Brittanie (Wonders of Britain) (ff. 38v-39r). ff.
39r-39v: Genealogy of Henry II, beginning with Noah, excerpted from
Aelred of Rievaulx (b. 1109, d. 1167), De genealogia regum Anglorum
(On the genealogy of kings of England). Ralph de Diceto used this
genealogy in his Ymagines Historiarum (Images of History). f. 39v:
De situ Hibernie (On Ireland); excerpt on the description of
Ireland from Henry of Huntingdon (b. 1084, d. 1155), Historia
Anglorum (History of the English).Ralph de Diceto included this
description in his Ymagines Historiarum. Followed by the genealogy
of William the Lion, king of Scotland (imperfect), excerpted from
the Ymagines Historiarum (f. 39v). ff. 40r-41v: Geoffrey of
Monmouth (d. 1157), Prophetia Merlini (Prophecies of Merlin),
excerpted from the Historia regum Britanniae (History of the Kings
of Britain), Book VII, . f. 41v: Anonymous, Arbor fertilis (The
Tree of Fertility) , a prophecy attributed to Merlin Sylvester by
the rubric Prophecia Merlini Sylvestris. f. 42r: Anonymous, A
prophecy attributed to Merlin Sylvester that was revealed to Edward
the Confessor, beginning: 'Prophetia Merlini Silvestris Anglorum
Eadwardo regi Sancto nominis huius tertio revelata'. This text was
written by a 13th-century cursive hand. Decoration: Puzzle initials
in red and blue with pen-flourishing in green and brown, throughout
(e. g., ff. 2r, 7r); simple initials in red or blue, with green and
brown pen-flourishing and penwork decoration (e. g., ff. 12v, 21r,
23v); small initials in red or blue. Rubrics in red. A human figure
added in the margin of the text (f. 21r). Maniculae in the margin
(f. 22r).
