London, British Library, Royal 12 C.xii
England |
London |
British Library |
Royal 12 C.xii |
|
s. xiv1 |
English |
Scribal dialect: Herefordshire, Ludlow (Zettle 1935; Revard 2000, p. 21). Linguistic Atlas Grid Reference: Not mapped and only ff. 62-68 analysed (McIntosh, Samuels and Benskin 1986, p. 200).
|
An early fourteenth-century collection (c. 1320-40 (Warner and Gilson 1921, p. 29); 1316-40 (Revard 2000, p. 58)) of miscellaneous texts including the
Brut, hymns, prayers and prophecies in Latin, French and English. Texts are mainly Latin with a number of French texts and some English texts. For views with regard to the scribe see Revard 2000, p. 86, O'Rourke 2000, p. 220 and O'Farrell-Tate 2002, pp. 54-55.
Item: 1f. 1r-v |
Liturgical pieces |
'Gaude thoma ducum decus lucerna lancastrie'. |
|
A collection of liturgical pieces in Latin, in honour of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. |
Wright 1839, p. 268.
|
Item: 2f. 1v |
Verse satire on the corruption of the law courts |
'Beati qui esuriunt et faciunt iusticiam'. |
|
Printed from London, British Library, MS Harley 913 in Wright 1839, pp. 224, 382.
|
Item: 3ff. 2r-3v |
Exemptions granted to the Hospitallers |
|
|
Copy of inspeximus by Edward II of an inspeximus by Edward I, dated 8th June, 1280, of two charters of Henry III, dated 20, 23 June, 1253, granting franchises to the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. Dat. Chertsey, 22 Sept. ao2 [1308]. |
|
Item: 4.1f. 4r |
Hymn to the Virgin with indulgence followed by a prayer |
'Sanctus edmundus composuit et contulit dicenti triginta dies venie'.Prayer begins, 'Aue, uirgo virginum fons et maris stella'. |
|
Cf. Chevalier 1892-1919, no. 2267.
|
Item: 4.2f. 4r-v |
Hymn to the Virgin |
'Le angle a marie entra en la chamber celee'. |
|
|
Item: 4.3ff. 4v-5r |
Hymn with indulgence |
'Aue viuens hostia veritas et vita'. |
|
'Simplex meditatio de sacramento altaris quicumque eam deuote dixerit dum secretum misse agitur a fratre iohanne de peccham quondam archiepiscopo cantuariensi qui eam composuit xl. dies venie possidebit'. |
Cf. Chevalier 1892-19, no. 2278.
|
Item: 5.1f. 4v |
One line on the virtues of caraway |
|
|
|
Item: 5.2ff. 4v-5r |
Rules to interpret dreams |
|
|
|
Item: 5.3f. 5r-v |
Twenty proverbial lines |
'Clericus es fronte si vertice laycus es tu'. |
|
|
Item: 5.4f. 5v |
Three lines on troubles in the reign of Henry II |
'Per menses ter sex vexatus ab hostibus est rex'. |
|
|
Item: 5.5f. 5v |
Ten lines on phlebotomy |
'Estas ver dextras autumpnus yempsque sinistras'. |
|
|
Item: 5.6ff. 5v-6r |
Recipes for dyeing linen |
'Si vus volez linge toylle auer iaune'. |
|
|
Item: 5.7f. 6r |
Virtues of celandine |
|
|
|
Item: 5.8f. 6r |
Prophecy for 1325 (corrected to 1326) |
'Anno mille c. ter x. bis quinto [sexto] dabit ether'. |
|
|
Item: 5.9f. 6r |
Charms against mice in a granary |
'Accipe quatuor lapides crete'. |
|
|
Item: 5.10f. 6r |
Brief questions on the sacraments |
'Quid facit baptismus mundat ab originali peccato'. |
|
|
Item: 6.1f. 6v |
Chronological, prophetical and other verses |
|
|
|
Item: 6.2f. 6v |
Couplet on Adam's stay in Hell |
|
|
|
Item: 6.3f. 6v |
Couplet giving details of the foundation of the Cistercian order |
|
|
|
Item: 6.4f. 6v |
Couplet on the length of time between the Creation and the Incarnation |
|
|
|
Item: 6.5f. 6v |
Five lines on the murder of St. Thomas Becket |
'Quis moritur presul cur pro grege qualiter ense'. |
|
Erased by a sixteenth-century hand with note 'vacat. falsum fuit'. |
|
Item: 6.6f. 6v |
Verses supposed to be addressed by Emperor Frederick II to the Pope (perhaps Gregory IX) and the Pope's reply |
'Fata monent stellaque docent auiumque volatus'. |
|
|
Item: 6.7f. 6v |
Prophecy for 1293 |
'Gallorum leuitas germanos iustificabit'. |
|
Another copy in London, British Library, MS Cotton MS Titus D. vii, f. 30r. Versions adapted to later years - London, British Library, MS Lansdowne 762, f. 48r, London, British Library, MS Sloane 429, f. 24v. |
|
Item: 7f. 7r |
Macaronic satirical verses, partly alliterative |
'Quant homne deit parler videat que verba loquatur'. |
|
Printed in Wright 1839, p. 251.
|
Item: 8.1f. 7v |
Medical commonplaces |
'Auycenna dicit quod mors naturalis est infra lxx annos'. |
|
|
Item: 8.2f. 7v |
Three lines on phlebotomy |
'Festa valentini nos docent flegbotomari'. |
|
|
Item: 9ff. 8r-11r |
Puzzles |
'Destinet aliquis super denarium'. |
|
Eighteen arithmetical and other puzzles. |
|
Item: 10ff. 11r-13r |
Cookery recipes |
'Blanc desirree let de alemaundes flur de rys'. |
|
|
Item: 11ff. 13r-14r |
A ficticious letter |
'Ad flagellum humani generis'. |
'primo patefacta sunt hec in estate anno dom. milesimo trescentesimo tricesimo quinto'. |
Letter describing the rise of a false prophet calling himself Christus Nazarenus. |
|
Item: 12ff. 14r-15r |
Prophecy |
'Quoniam superbis'. |
|
'Quia antiqui mistice loqui cupientes'. |
Prophecy for four years (the early part of reign of Edward III) with preceding explanation. |
Ward 1910, p. 316.
|
Item: 13f. 15r |
Prophecy attributed to St. Methodius, Bishop of Patra |
'Methodius dicit'. |
|
|
Item: 14f. 15r |
Prophecy attributed to St. Methodius |
'Ni pax formetur draco candidus egredictur'. |
|
'Isti versus inuenti sunt scripti in quadam rupe excelsa in monte sancti michaelis in cornubia in quadam vetustissima cedula'.
|
|
Item: 15f. 15v |
Prophecy of Merlin Silvester |
'Catulus lintheus in lupum rapidum'. |
|
'Extractum de libro merlini siluestris qui wallice est conscriptus et in cambria prophetauit sic'. |
As in London, British Library, MS Cotton Faust. A. viii, f. 116r (see Ward 1910). |
|
Item: 16f. 16r |
Prophecy - Lily and Lion |
'Catulus lintheus in lupum rapidum'. |
|
|
Item: 17f. 16v |
Vision of consecration oil |
|
|
'Quando ego thomas beket cantuariensis archiepiscopus exul ab anglia'. |
Vision of consecration oil etc. seen by Thomas Becket at Sens. |
|
Item: 18ff. 17r-30v |
Speculum Ecclesiae |
|
|
'Videte euocationem uestram'. |
|
Item: 19ff. 30v-32v |
Treatise on the mass giving subjects for contemplation during the celebration. |
'Nostre seygnur iesu crist quaunt il uolet partir de cest secle'. |
'poez vus partyr a dieu'. |
|
Item: 20ff. 33r-60v |
Fouke le Fitz Waryn |
'En le temps de aueryl e may'. |
|
|
Item: 21f. 61r |
Hymn |
'Iesu nostra refeccio panis potus fidelium'. |
|
'In festo solennitatis corporis christe ad completorium ympnus'. |
|
Item: 22ff. 62r-68r |
Abridged English Metrical Brut (IMEV 1105) |
'Herkneş hideward lordynges ?e şat wolleş here of kynges'. |
'At gaueressich ?e mowe wyte şer his heued wes of smyte'. |
Printed in O'Farrell-Tate 2002.
|
Item: 23ff. 69r-76r |
Amys and Amylion |
'Qi voet oyr chaunzon damur de leaute e de graunt doucour'. |
|
Printed in Hofmann 1852.
|
Item: 24.1f. 76v |
Hymn to Mary |
'Aue virgo uirginum mater iesu christi'. |
|
|
Item: 24.2f. 76v |
Poem on the vanity of life and the mercy of Christ |
'O mira christi pieta o quanta miseratio'. |
|
|
Item: 25.1ff. 77r-81v |
Lunationes |
First complete day begins, 'La disme lune est profitable'. |
|
Treatises on prognostications from the days of the month. |
|
Item: 25.2ff. 81v-86r |
Dictionary of Dreams |
'Arbores cum fructibus qui viderit'. |
|
'Incipit visio ac exposicio danielis prophete'. |
A dictionary of dreams in alphabetical order. |
|
Item: 26ff. 86r-88r |
Prognostications in Latin |
|
|
'Incipiunt signa ostensa osdree [sic] prophete'. |
|
Item: 26.1f. 86r-v |
Prognostication - from thunder |
'Si mense ianuario tonitruum sonuerit'. |
|
|
Item: 26.2ff. 86v-87r |
Prognostication - from the day of the week on which the first of January falls |
'Si kalende ianuarii fuerint die dominica yemps bona suauis et calida'. |
|
As in London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii, f. 36r. |
|
Item: 26.3f. 87r |
Prognostication - from the sky |
'Aurea ventos pallida nimbus alba serenum'. |
|
|
Item: 26.4f. 87r |
Prognostication - from birthdays |
'Beda dixit quod tres sunt dies'. |
|
|
Item: 26.5ff. 87r-88r |
Prognostication - from the week-day of Christmas |
'Si natiuitas domini die dominica euenerit yemps bona et ventosa'. |
|
Other copies in London, British Library, MS Harley 1811, f. 36v, London, British Library, MS Egerton 2852, f. 108v. |
|
Item: 27ff. 88r-89v |
Prognostication from January 1st attributed to the prophet Ezekiel |
'En terre de labour e de promissioun'. |
|
|
Item: 28.1ff. 89v-90r |
Diet for several months |
'En le mois de ienyuer vyn blanc iun beuez'. |
|
|
Item: 28.2f. 90r-v |
Times for bleeding |
'Fetes vous seigner chescun an'. |
|
|
Item: 28.3f. 90v |
Parlous days |
'Les mestres qe cest ait'. |
|
|
Item: 28.4f. 91r |
On Bleeding |
'In sene vel iuuene si vene sanguine plene'. |
|
|
Item: 28.5f. 91r |
Parlous days |
'Prima die nona nocet hora septima quinta'. |
|
|
Item: 29ff. 91v-94r |
Secreta Secretorum |
'Entre autre choses est cele qe besoignast'. |
|
'Le tretitz aristotle entitle segree des segretz'. |
Second section of the pseudo-Aristotelian Secreta Secretorum. |
|
Item: 30ff. 94v-98v |
A book of questions |
'Sire de tous bienz'. |
|
|
Item: 31ff. 98v-105v |
A book of questions |
'Le planete vus dit qe votre desire trouerez'. |
|
|
Item: 32.1ff. 105v-106r |
Medical notes on bleeding |
|
|
|
Item: 32.2f. 106r |
Medicine for the ear |
|
|
|
Item: 33f. 106r |
A short note on palmistry |
'Nota quod lynee naturals in palma sunt tres'. |
|
|
Item: 34ff. 106v-107v |
Two diagrams of the left and right hand, with explanation in Latin |
|
|
|
Item: 35f. 107v |
A charm (an insertion) |
'Haske furste şe nome of şe seke body'. |
|
'Optima medicina pro ?elworld'. |
|
Item: 36.1f. 108r |
Table preceding the 'Liber Experimentarius' or book of astrological sortes translated into Latin from the Arabic. |
'De uita quid erit'. |
|
|
Item: 36.2ff. 108r-123v |
Liber Experimentarius |
'Almazena primus. Hoc ornamentum decus est et fama parentum'. |
|
'Hic infallibilis liber incipit an tibi peius an ferat instabilis melius sors ars docet eius'. |
A book of astrological sortes translated into Latin from Arabic. |
|
Codex |
Parchment |
235 x 150 mm. |
Quires: 16 (plus one at end), ff. 1r-7v; 28 (plus one at beginning), ff. 8r-16v; 312, ff. 17r-28v; 44, ff. 29r-32v; 512, ff. 33r-44v; 610 (first leaf excised, stub visible), ff. 45r-43v; 78, ff. 54r-61v; 88 (last leaf excised, stub visible), ff. 62r-68v; 98, ff. 69r-76v; 108, ff. 77r-84v; 118, ff. 85r-92v; 128, ff. 93r-100v; 138 (lacks one at end), ff. 101r-107v (alternatively 6 plus one at beginning); 148, ff. 108r-115v; 158, ff. 116r-123v. |
Pricking varies. Writing space varies. Columns: ff. 1-16-single; ff. 17-32 - double; ff. 33-61-single; ff. 62-98v-double; ff. 99-end-single. Lines: c. 33. Ruling varies considerably. Left-hand margin vertical ruling usually visible. Horizontal ruling not always visible. Brut written in double columns. Most items are written across the writing space (See O'Farrell-Tate 2002, p. 51). |
The main scribe wrote all but Items 3, 18, 19, 23, 35 and 36. These texts were the work of six different scribes (O'Farrell-Tate 2002, p. 51, Ker 1965, p. xx) although O'Rourke states that there are 5 scribes with the same scribe writing Items 18 and 19, and Item 35 possibly the work of the main scribe (2000, pp. 217, 226). According to Revard the scribe worked around Ludlow, near Hereford, producing legal charters from 1314 and 1349, perhaps served as a parish chaplain in the Virgin's Chapel in the parish church of St Bartholomew (Revard 2000), perhaps at Ludlow. O'Rourke suggests a freelance clerk involved in the legal profession, rather than a household chaplain and secretary (O'Rourke 2000). See also O'Farrell-Tate 2002, pp. 54-55.
The main scribe, Scribe 1, writes in an early Anglicana. Characteristics: occasional split topped ascenders (see facsimile O'Farrell-Tate 2002, p. 65, and pp. 52-53 for detail of script). Later Anglicana - characteristics: larger, split topped ascender almost absent. Letters on top line elongated.
Scribe 2: Item 3 is written in a contemporary business hand.
|
Red paraphs to f. 16v.
F. 17r - historiated blue initial A - head of St. Anselm?
ff. 17-32v - one-line red initials, red paraphs, two-line red initials, hands with cuffs pointing in ink; ff. 33r-60v - one- and two-line red initials, red paraphs; ff. 94-106r ruled lines visible.
Diagrams of the human hand, one on each page, ff. 106v-107r.
|
Not medieval. 235 x 150 mm. Covered in black/grey leather mitred and pasted onto pasteboard. Sewing unascertainable. Five raised bands across the spine. Decoration with a gold stamp with G. R. II beside a crown, the date 1757 and 'HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE'.
|
iii paper flyleaves + 123 + iii. |
|
Good condition but damage to some leaves. |
See 'Writing' above. |
The manuscript belonged to John, Lord Lumley (1534?-1609). On Lord Lumley's death in 1609 the library was purchased by James I. It later became part of the Royal library after the death of his son Henry, Prince of Wales. Despite being housed with the Cotton collection it was not seriously damaged in the fire of 1731. |
Acquired by the British Library in 1757. |
Catalogued and encoded: Rebecca Farnham, University of Birmingham, August 2003.
Related Manuscripts and other documents
Scribal
Main scribe also Scribe 2 of London, British Library, MS Harley 2253 (c. 1340) writing ff. 49-140 and London, British Library, MS Harley 273 (c. 1314) (O'Farrell-Tate, p. 51-53; Revard 2000, p. 58, 67; Turville-Petre 1996, p. 193).
- Chevalier, U. 1892-1919, rpt. 1971. Repertorium Hymnologicum: Catalogue de Charts, Hymnes, Proses, Sequences, Tropes en Usage dans lEglise Latine depuis les Origines jusqua nos Jours, Subsidia Hagiographica, 6 vols, Louvain-Brussels: Lefever, rpt. Hildesheim, 4.
- Hathaway, E. J., et al., ed, 1975. Fouke Le Fitz Waryn, Anglo-Norman Texts, 26-28, Oxford: Blackwell.
- Hofmann, C. 1882. Amis et Amiles, Erlange: Deichert.
- Ker, N., intro, 1965. Facsimile of British Museum MS. Harley 2253, EETS, os, 255, London: Oxford University Press.
- McIntosh, A., Samuels, M. L. and Benskin, M. 1986. A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English: County Dictionary, 4 vols, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 4.
- OFarrell-Tate, U. 2002. The Abridged English Metrical Brut edited from London, British Library MS Royal 12 C. XII, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pp. 46-50.
- ORourke, J. 2000. British Library, MS Royal 12 C.xii and the Problems of Patronage, Journal of the Early Book Society, 3, 216-26.
- Revard, C. 2000. Scribe and Provenance, in Fein, S. ed. Studies in the Harley Manuscript: The Scribes, Contents, and Social Contexts of British Library MS Harley 2253, Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, pp. 21-109.
- Turville-Petre, T. 1996. England the Nation: Language, Literature and National Identity, 1290-1340, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 108-141.
- Ward, H. 1910. Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum, London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1.
- Warner, G., W. and Gilson, J. P. 1921. Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and Kings Collections, 2 vols, London: Oxford University Press, 2, pp. 26-29.
- Wright, T. ed, 1839. Political Songs of England, John to Edward II, Camden Society, 6, London: Camden Society.
- Zettle, E., ed, 1935 for 1934, rpt. 1971. An Anonymous Short English Metrical Chronicle, EETS, os, 196, London: Oxford University Press.