The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220

Elaine Treharne

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 116

MS Items

pp. 1/1-18/15, pp. 18/15-34/12, pp. 34/12-41/9, pp. 41/9-51/11, pp. 55/11-73/6, pp. 73/6-92/12, pp. 92/12-112/1, pp. 112/1-136/5, pp. 136/6-132/11, pp. 152/12-155/1, pp. 155/1-179/12, pp. 179/12-198/18, pp. 198/18-219/6, pp. 219/7-239/20, pp. 239/20-252/20, 279/1-290/17, pp. 290/17-294/20, 253/1-261/21, pp. 261/21-278/21, 295/1-300/21, pp. 300/21-329/6, pp. 329/6-347/11, pp. 347/11-365/8, pp. 365/8-373/13, pp. 373/14-377/18, pp. 377/18-379/1, pp. 379/1-380/15, pp. 380/15-381/21, pp. 382/1-395/16, pp. 395/17-395/21, p. 397 and p. 398.

Physical Description

Object Description

Hand Description

Decoration Description

Binding Description

Accompanying Material

History

Additional Information

Administration Information

Surrogates

Bibliography

Back to List of MSS and Descriptions

Homilies

Date: s. xiimed; s. xiii1

Summary:

A collection of homilies datable to the second quarter of the twelfth century (perhaps about 1140 or so). Begins with a homily on St. Chad (pp. 1-18), which is unique. Fols 18-152, 179-252, 279-90 are homilies for Saints' Days from 24 June to 30 November, from Ælfric's First Series of Sermones Catholici. Pages 253-78, 290-395 are catechetical and mainly Ælfrician, and most also occur in Hatton 115. Glosses in Latin and English throughout are in the Tremulous Hand.

Manuscript Items:

Item: pp. 1/1-18/15
Item: pp. 18/15-34/12
Item: pp. 34/12-41/9
Item: pp. 41/9-51/11
Item: pp. 55/11-73/6
Item: pp. 73/6-92/12
Item: pp. 92/12-112/1
Item: pp. 112/1-136/5
Item: pp. 136/6-132/11
Item: pp. 152/12-155/1
Item: pp. 155/1-179/12
Item: pp. 179/12-198/18
Item: pp. 198/18-219/6
Item: pp. 219/7-239/20
Item: pp. 239/20-252/20, 279/1-290/17
Item: pp. 290/17-294/20, 253/1-261/21
Item: pp. 261/21-278/21, 295/1-300/21
Item: pp. 300/21-329/6
Item: pp. 329/6-347/11
Item: pp. 347/11-365/8
Item: pp. 365/8-373/13
Item: pp. 373/14-377/18
Item: pp. 377/18-379/1
Item: pp. 379/1-380/15
Item: pp. 380/15-381/21
Item: pp. 382/1-395/16
Item: pp. 395/17-395/21
Item: p. 397
Item: p. 398

Physical Description:

Object Description:

Form: Codex

Support: Pages i-vi, 403-8 are paper leaves of the date of binding. Pages 399-402 are parchment end-leaves taken over from the medieval binding (see above).

Extent:

260 mm x 180 mm (dimensions of all - size of leaves)

ca. 195-203 mm x 135 mm (dimensions of all - size of written space)

Foliation and/or Pagination:

Pages iii+201+v, paginated i-vi, 1-84, 84a, b, 85-160, 160a, b, 161-408. Another pagination, 1-396, of s. xvi(?), is on rectos only.

Collation:

Quires:

Note:

Tremulous Hand

Hand description:

Number of hands:

Hand:

Scope: sole
Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
Ker reference: Ker 333 SC1
Description: Pages 1-395. 'A handsome, round, large hand of a type found commonly in West of England manuscripts of s. xii' (Ker 1957, p. 406). This Worcester hand is rounded, but degrees of angularity are also creeping in. The general aspect is slightly backward-leaning. The bodies of the letters are large in relation to the ascenders and descenders. The LUNA dates the manuscript to the second half of the twelfth century, but that is almost certainly too late, since the manuscript is blind-ruled. Worcester manuscripts (which this is) are crayon-ruled from about the 1130s and 40s. Treharne (2000) dates this hand and manuscript to s. xii2/4 (pp. 25-26). That dating is re-confirmed here, probably closer to the middle of the century than earlier, even though the ruling is blind. Palaeographical affinities can be found with the Worcester manuscripts, Worcester Cathedral Libary F. 82 and F. 83, both datable to s. xiimed. Small extracts of these manuscripts appear in Thomson 2001 (pl. 42 (a)-(f)).
See Ker 1957, p. 406; Treharne 2000, pp. 25-26
Summary of the characteristics of the hand:
a is Caroline, where the bow sometimes touches the preceding letter.
The e of æ is very slightly taller than the top of a.
Insular, rounded d is used in English, but with relatively high back, slightly shorter than that of ð; straight-backed d with an oblique serif to the right is used in Latin.
f is Caroline and sits on the line, with the mid-stroke often touching the following letter in ligature. The head of f is occasionally slightly flattened.
g is Caroline with a closed bowl, and is thus eight-shaped, one of Ker's (1957) defining characteristics of s. xiimed hands. From its top bow, it often ligatures with the following letter.
h is Caroline.
p has a well-defined horizontal foot (again, typical of mid-twelfth-century hands).
r is consistently Caroline, with a curved serif.
s is Caroline, with a determined onset stroke. Its head is occasionally slightly flattened.
The cross-bar of the t is often pierced by the stem, a feature seen in mid-twelfth-century script.
þ has a large bowl, and a descender that is slightly short in relation to the rest of the graph.
The ascender of ð is higher than other ascenders, and the cross-bar curves up on the right.
ƿ has a large pointed bowl, and short, straight descender.
y is rounded, sits just on the line, or slightly below, and is consistently dotted in the middle of the v-shaped limbs.
ascenders end in oblique serif rising from the left to the right or have a wedge.
descenders are generally short and straight, with the exception of p, which has a straight foot across the descender. Occasionally, descenders curve gently to the left.
Punctuation:
Punctuation in the form of a semicolon at the end of a sentence occurs regularly up to p. 19, but seldom after that.
The punctus is frequently used, and sits on the line.
hyphens are used throughout at line ends, and at placed at a slight angle.
Abbreviations:
Abbreviation marks are curved at the right, ending in a blob.
The abbreviation for 'that' consists of a þ with the abbreviation mark to the right of the ascender.
'Men' is abbreviated to M (often uncial in shape) with a macron above it.
'leofestan' is usually abbreviated simply to l with a line through it.
'Drihten' is abbreviated with a macron over the t.
The ˥ is formed with a 45º angle between headstroke and descender, and usually with a pronounced upward tick to the left of the headstroke.The tail tends to curve just below the line to the left.
Ligatures:
The st ligature is used but not consistently.
The or ligature where the r is 2-shaped is used but not consistently.
Litterae Notabiliores:
The Litterae Notabiliores are closely related to those seen in other Worcester manuscripts of this date, and slightly earlier. They are red, pen-drawn, and display little roundels in the leg or the bowl.

Hand:

Scope: minor
Scribe: Tremulous Scribe
Script: English Vernacular Minuscule
Description: There are several layers of glosses by the Tremulous Hand.
Date: xiii1

Decoration Description:

Initials and titles in red. Titles in rustic capitals or minuscules.

Additions:

The collect 'Deus qui dedisti legem Moisi in summitate montis Sinay. et illic / per angelum tuum corpus Katerine uirginis. mirabiliter / collocasti. tribue quesumus. ut eius meritis et intercessione ad montem qui Cristus est ualeamus peruenire. ' and antiphon 'Ecce crucem domini. fugite partes aduerse de tribu Juda radix David. Alleluia.' were added slightly later in s. xii in the five lines remaining blank on p. 395. A note in Thomas Barlow's hand identifies the collect with that in Roman and Sarum service-books for 25th November, St. Katherine's day, specifically concerning her reception by angels. The antiphon was used as an exorcism or healing formula. It is interesting to note this addition for St. Katherine in a manuscript associated with the region that produced the early thireenth-century manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 34, containing the Katherine-Group of Saints' lives and other texts.

Binding Description:

Bound in s. xvii/xviii uniformly with Hatton 115. The rust-mark from a nail which held the strap of an earlier binding in position shows on pp. 391-402.

Accompanying Material:

Pages 399-402 are two waste leaves, a bifolium of a copy of a Summa of the Decretum of Gratian, s. xiiex, used as a pastedown and flyleaf.

History:

Origin:

Written in the West of England, almost certainly at Worcester. Whilst the manuscript shows characteristics common with manuscripts produced at Worcester, McIntyre 1978 points out that the style is regional, not just belonging to a single scriptorium (pp. 36-37). It must be borne in mind, however, that there are also many shared features with manuscripts produced in other centres in the West of England (Treharne 2000, p. 27).

Provenance:

At Worcester in the first half of the thirteenth century, as it was glossed by the Tremulous Hand. Remained in Worcester until at least 1622, as it is mentioned in Young's catalogue.

Acquisition:

Belonged to Christopher, Lord Hatton in 1644 and was acquired by the Bodleian Library in 1678.

Additional Information:

Administration Information:

Manuscript described by Elaine Treharne with the assistance of Hollie Morgan and George Younge (2010; 2013).

Surrogates:

LUNA (http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet; accessed August 2010)

Bibliography:

Assmann, Bruno, ed., Angelsächsischen Homilien und Heiligenleben, Bibliotek der angelsächsischen Prosa, 13 (Kassel: Wigand, 1889; repr. 1964)

Bazire, J., and J. E. Cross, eds, Eleven Old English Rogationtide Homilies, Toronto Old English Series (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982)

Clemoes, Peter, ed., Ælfric's Catholic Homilies: The First Series, Text, EETS, SS 17 (London: Oxford University Press, 1997)

Crawford, S. J., Exameron Anglice, or the Old English Hexameron, Bibliotek der angelsachsischen Prosa (Hamburg: H. Grand 1921), vol. 10

---, 'The Worcester Marks and Glosses of the Old English Manuscripts in the Bodleian, together with the Worcester Version of the Nicene Creed', Anglia, 52 (1928), 1-25

Förster, Max, 'Der Vercelli-Codex CXVII nebst Abdruck einiger altenglischer Homilien der Handschrift', Studien zur englischen Philologie, 1 (1913), 20

Franzen, Christine, The Tremulous Hand of Worcester: A Study of Old English in the Thirteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)

Ker, N. R., Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957; repr. 1990) item 333

---, English Manuscripts in the Century After the Norman Conquest, The Lyell Lectures, 1952-53 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960)

Kluge, F., Angelsächsiches Lesebuch, 2nd edn (1885; 1897)

LUNA, (http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet; accessed August 2010)

MacLean, G. E., Ælfric's Version of Alcuini Interrogationes Sigeuulfi in Genesin , Anglia (1883-1884), vol. 6, 7

McIntyre, E. A., 'Early-Twelfth-Century Worcester Cathedral Priory, with Special Reference to the Manuscripts Written There' (unpublished DPhil dissertation, University of Oxford, 1978)

Morris, Richard, ed., Old English Homilies of the 12th and 13th Centuries, EETS, 29, 34 (London: Oxford University Press, 1867-68; repr. as one volume, 1988)

Napier, Arthur Sampson, 'Ein altenglisches Leben des heiligen Chad', Anglia, 10 (1888), 131-56

---, ed., Wulfstan: Sammlung der ihm zugeschriebenen Homilien nebst Untersuchungen uber ihre Echtheit, Sammlung englischer Denkmaeler in Kritischen Ausgaben, 4 (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1883)

Pelteret, D. A. E., Catalogue of English Post-Conquest Vernacular Documents (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1990)

Pope, John C., ed., Homilies of Ælfric: A Supplementary Collection, EETS, 259, 260 (London: Oxford University Press, 1967-68)

Roberts, Jane, Guide to Scripts Used in English Writings up to 1500 (London: British Library, 2005)

Skeat, W. W., ed., Ælfric’s Lives of Saints, EETS, OS 76, 82, 94, 114 (London and Oxford: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1881-1900; repr. as 2 vols, 1966)

Thomson, R. M., A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in Worcester Cathedral Library (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2001)

Thorpe, B., ed., The Sermones Catholici or Homilies of Ælfric, Ælfric Society, 2 vols (London: Ælfric Society, 1844- 46)

Treharne, Elaine M., 'The Production and Script of Manuscripts containing English Religious Texts in the First Half of the Twelfth Century', in Rewriting Old English in the Twelfth Century, ed. by Mary Swan and Elaine M. Treharne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 11-39

Vleeskruyer, R., 'The Life of St. Chad' (unpublished thesis, Amsterdam, 1953)

Wanley, Humfrey, Antique Literature Septentrionalis Liber Alter (Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre, 1705)