This manuscript contains a Latin copy of the Historia Regum
Brittaniae ('The History of the Kings of Britain') by Geoffrey of
Monmouth (d. 1154/55), bishop of St Asaph and historian. The work
presents a pseudo-historical account of the kings of Britain; it
opens with a legend that tells of how Brutus, a descendant of
Aeneas, travelled to an island named Albion after the Trojan War.
After defeating a host of giants, he renamed the island after
himself ('Britain'). It also includes the prophecies of Merlin
concerning the future King Arthur and tells a legendary history of
his reign. Geoffrey claims to have translated the Historia from an
old British book he had received from Walter, archdeacon of Oxford.
Geoffrey finished his work at some point between 1123 and 1139. It
soon became popular and was widely disseminated in England, the Low
Countries and Northern France, especially among aristocratic and
monastic audiences; out of the 217 extant manuscripts listed by
Julia C. Crick, at least fifty-eight copies were produced in the
twelfth century (see Crick, The Historia Regum Britannie , IV
(1991), pp. 196-217). This manuscript testifies to the long-lasting
popularity of the Historia on the Continent: it was, most likely,
written in Northern France, and was owned by Cambrai Cathedral
during the fourteenth century. It remained in France until at least
1530, when notes about the death of Charles the Bold (b. 1433, d.
1477), Duke of Burgundy, were added to a flyleaf (f. 123v).
Contents: ff. 2r-85r: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum
Britaniae , beginning ‘Cum mecum multa et de multis sepius animo
revolvens · in hystoriam regum britannie inciderem; in mirum
contuli quod infra mentionem quam de eis gildas et beda luculento
tractatu fecerant; nichil de regibus qui ante incarnationem Christi
inhabitaverant; nichil etiam de arturo ceterisque compluribus qui
post incarnationem succeserunt repperissem; cum et gesta eorum
digna eternitate laude constarent; et a multis populis quasi
inscripta iocunde et memoriter predicentur [etc.]’. [ff. 1r, 1v,
[1a] recto, [1a] verso, 122v, 123r, 123v are blank, aside from
added notes].Decoration:2 large initials in gold enclosing red and
blue decoration (f. 1v and f. 2v). Small initials alternately in
blue with red decoration, or vice versa. Verse initials alternately
in red or blue.
Place
Preferred form
France, Northern
Original form
Northern France
Other form
Nord de la France
Nord de la France (?) (Fichier Avril)
Nord de la France (?)
France (Nord).
France (Nord)
France (Nord) (?)
France (nord)
France (Nord : voir Faral, Bastin, Œuvres complètes de Rutebeuf, p. 26-27).
France (Nord de la France ?)
Nordfrankreich
França (nord)
Francia (norte)
Frankrijk (noorden)
Laon
France (nord : Laon ?)
França (nord: Laon?)
Nordfrankreich (Laon?)
Northern France (Laon?)
Francia (norte: Laon?)
Northern France (Paris?)
France, North, Chelles (nunnery) or Jouarre (nunnery) (?)
