The Book of Cerne (
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
, MS Ll. 1. 10) is an early ninth-century Insular or
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
personal prayer book with
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
components. It belongs to a group of four such early prayer books, the others being the
Royal Prayerbook, the
Harleian prayerbook
The Harley Prayer Book (British Library, Harley MS 7653) is one of a group of four early Anglo-Saxon prayer books produced in Mercia, likely around Worcester. The others are the Royal Prayer Book, the Book of Cerne, and the Book of Nunnaminster.
...
, and the
Book of Nunnaminster
The Book of Nunnaminster (London, British Library, Harley MS 2965) is a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon prayerbook. It was written in the kingdom of Mercia, using an " insular" hand (as used in the British Isles), related to Carolingian minuscule. It was ...
. It is now commonly believed to have been produced sometime between ca. 820 and 840 AD in the
Southumbrian
The Southumbrians or 'Suðanhymbre' were the Anglo-Saxon people occupying northern Mercia. The term might not have been used by the Mercians and was instead possibly coined by the Deiran or Bernician people as a territorial response to their ow ...
/
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
n region of England. The original book contains a collection of several different texts, including New Testament Gospel excerpts, a selection of prayers and hymns with a version of the ''Lorica of Laidcenn'', an abbreviated or ''Breviate Psalter'', and a text of the ''
Harrowing of Hell
In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell ( la, Descensus Christi ad Inferos, "the descent of Christ into Hell" or Hades) is an Old English and Middle English term referring to the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his re ...
'' liturgical drama, which were combined to provide a source used for private devotion and contemplation. Based on stylistic and palaeographical features, the Book of Cerne has been included within the Canterbury or Tiberius group of manuscripts that were manufactured in southern England in the 8th and 9th centuries AD associated with the Mercian hegemony in Anglo-Saxon England. This Anglo-Saxon manuscript is considered to be the most sophisticated and elaborate of this group. The Book of Cerne exhibits various Irish/Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Continental, and Mediterranean influences in its texts, ornamentation, and embellishment.
Recent research of this manuscript by Michelle P. Brown suggests that the various Anglo-Saxon component sections of this book are conceptually inter-related and primarily associated with the doctrine of the
Communion of Saints
The communion of saints (), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, but excluding the damned. They are all part of a single " mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which ...
("''communio sanctorum''"). This doctrine is found in the Ninth Article of the
Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith".
The creed most likely originated in 5th-century Ga ...
(''"Symbolum Apostolorum"'') and is based on the spiritual union between each Christian, living and dead, and Christ, and between each other Christian, which ultimately derives its origins in the "''vita apostolica''" and the inter-relationships or fellowship of the Early Christian congregations. This doctrine is found in the Anglo-Saxon Creed dating to the 9th century. However, in addition to the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, other themes are embedded in the texts and images that include a penitential and
Paschal
Paschal is used as a name. Paschal, a variant of Pascal, from Latin ''Paschalis'', is an adjective describing either the Easter or Passover holidays.
People known as Paschal include:
Popes and religious figures
* Antipope Paschal (687), a riv ...
element that emphasizes baptism and communion (
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
), as well as notions of forgiveness and salvation.
Manuscript Organization and Contents
Contents and Organization
The original early medieval Anglo-Saxon "core" of this codex is composed of six different, but conceptually inter-related sections or texts. In collational sequence, these sections are:
An Old English Exhortation to Prayer on folio 2 recto (r)
Written in an Old English dialect, presumably Mercian, this text was to introduce the reader of this book to the main purpose of the following devotional texts. According to Brown the purpose of this exhortation was to emphasize the unity of the Communion of Saints in the form of the
Roman Church
Holy Roman Church, Roman Church, Church of Rome or Church in Rome may refer to:
* The Diocese of Rome or the Holy See
* The Latin Church
* Churches of Rome (buildings)
In historical contexts ''Roman Church'' may also refer to:
* The Catholic Chur ...
on earth and in heaven. This introductory exhortation prayer is considered to be the earliest known extent example of Old English prose.
The New Testament Gospel Extracts on folios 2 verso (v) to 40r
This section is composed of extracts of the
Passion and
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
narratives from the four
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Kuypers noted that these extracts were from a Vulgate text with some anomalies or peculiarities. They do have some affinities to Celtic Gospel books, but with corrections. A full-page polychrome evangelist miniature with Latin inscriptions precedes each Gospel text (see below).
An Acrostic Poem on folio 21r
This consists of a poem written in Latin with each line written in different alternating colored inks of red, purple, blue, and orange. This poem names Ædeluald Bishop ("''Aedeluald episcopus''"). It seems that this poem was placed to fill in a blank page caused by a scribal miscalculation.
A series of Prayers and Hymns on folios 43r to 87v
These seventy-one prayers and hymns, including the ''Lorica of Laidcenn'' (folios 43r-44v) were written in Latin, with Old English glosses. Thirteen prayers (Numbers 7, 10, 16, 26, 31–32, 63, 67–68, 70, and 72–74) exhibit Irish influences, seven prayers (Numbers 18–19, 53–54, 61–62, and 66) contain apocryphal content, and Marian devotion is found in six (Numbers 1, 15, 18, and 56–58) prayers.
A ''Breviate Psalter'' on folios 87v to 98r
This section is composed of a selection of abbreviated Old Testament Psalm verses that are so ordered as to form a continuous prayer. The Book of Cerne only contains 272 verses, not the full 365 verses that are commonly found in these early Psalters. Psalms 118 to 136 are missing from this book, which may be due to errors in the exemplar from which it was copied, or these missing verses may not have suited the scribe's or patron's intentions. This form of abridged Psalm verses may suggest Irish influences, however, the Psalm texts used are from the
Old Latin Romanum Psalter version, which supports the inference for an Anglo-Saxon composition. This section is introduced by a rubric in Latin "''hoc argumentum forsorum
ic. versorumoeðelpald episcopus decrepsit''" ("Bishop Ædeluald has worn out these lines of proof").
The ''Harrowing of Hell'' text on folios 98v to 99v
The text of this liturgical drama is in a form of an apocryphal dialogue between the narrator,
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, and
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
, with a choir/chorus that is indicated in the text by alternating black and red inks. This extra New Testament story tells of when
Jesus went into Hell between the
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...
and his
resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
for the salvation of all the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world. However, the existing text may be incomplete with its ending now lost. According to Dumville this liturgical drama seems to be one of the earliest known examples of this text, influenced by the text of the ''Descensus ad Infernos'' found in the Latin version of the extra New Testament ''
Gospel of Nicodemus
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
'', as well as a now lost Latin
pseudo-Augustinian Pseudo-Augustine is the name given by scholars to the authors, collectively, of works falsely attributed to Augustine of Hippo. Augustine himself in his ''Retractiones'' lists many of his works, while his disciple Possidius tried to provide a compl ...
homily that has survived in an Old English version found in the ''
Blickling Homilies
The Blickling Homilies is the name given to a collection of anonymous homilies from Anglo-Saxon England. They are written in Old English, and were written down at some point before the end of the tenth century, making them one of the oldest colle ...
'' (Princeton, Princeton University Library, W.H. Schelde Collection, Blickling Homilies), and the Roman Psalter. There is a conceptual or compositional relationship between this section and the preceding ''Breviate Psalter'' verses, as this ''Harrowing of Hell'' is a pastiche of verses from the Psalms. An Irish influence is suggested by the metrical structure of the hymns as well as the inclusion of the ''Breviate Psalter''.
Later Accretions
This early medieval core is sandwiched between two later sets of accretions dating from the 14th to the early 16th century AD that relate to the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
Cerne Abbey
Cerne Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 987 in the town now called Cerne Abbas, Dorset, by Æthelmær the Stout.
History
The abbey was founded in 987 by Æthelmær the Stout. Ælfric of Eynsham, the most prolific writer in Old Eng ...
in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, and have provided this codex with its current name. The top set of accretions preceding the core is composed of 26 leaves containing between forty and fifty charters pertaining to the Abbey at
Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dorchest ...
and a prayer attributed to
St. Augustine that date to the 14th century. The bottom set of accretions following the core is composed of 28 leaves that include a text of the ''De Beata Maria'' and an inventory of the relics contained within the abbey dating between the 14th century and the early 16th century (pre-Dissolution).
Script
The basic script in the Book of Cerne uses a Southumbrian/Mercian pointed
minuscule
Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...
that is consistent with Phase II Minuscule type identified by T.J. Brown. Throughout the original ninth century Anglo-Saxon texts there is little variation seen in the relatively high quality script, conforming to a "cursive media" grade script or basic cursive minuscule lettering. Although minuscule letters are found throughout the majority of the text, there are variant examples that were used on higher grade letters, such as capitals, uncials, and half-uncials, that are occasionally embedded within the text to emphasize certain points, such as indicating punctuation marks to emphasize pauses. Based on the palaeographical evidence in this codex, it is inferred that only a single scribe was involved in the writing of the original Anglo-Saxon text.
Illumination and Decoration
This manuscript was decorated and embellished with four painted full-page miniatures, major and minor letters, continuing panels, and litterae notibiliores. The ornamental elements include zoomorphic/animal, floral, interlace, and curvilinear motifs and designs. The color palette employed by the artist/illuminator consisted of pigments of gold, purple, blues, red, red/brown, yellow, green, white, and black. The pigment binding medium was clarified egg white or clarea.
The Evangelist Miniatures
In the Book of Cerne the illuminations of the four evangelists precede each Gospel section containing the selected extracts from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These miniatures are found on the verso (v) sides of folios 2 (Matthew), 12 (Mark), 21 (Luke), and 31 (John). All four illuminations are consistent using the same format, but with nuanced variations that help to visually discern and introduce each Gospel section. The miniatures exhibit a more linear figural style. In the top center set within a circular medallion or roundel is a partial frontal human bust of the
Evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
who is beardless and has a halo or nimbus. He holds his Gospel book in his left hand, while the right hand is variable in each image. This medallion is located at the apex of an arched frame that is supported by two verticals or columns with capitals. These rest on or without a base on a bottom horizontal floor. Each set of capitals in these illuminations is different from each other. Set within the arch is a full-length figure is the particular
tetramorph
A tetramorph is a symbolic arrangement of four differing elements, or the combination of four disparate elements in one unit. The term is derived from the Greek ''tetra'', meaning four, and ''morph'', shape.
In Christian art, the tetramorph is t ...
beast symbol of each particular Evangelist – Human/Angel (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Ox/Calf (Luke), and Eagle (John) – inspired by the vision found in the Old Testament
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during t ...
1.10. All four evangelical beast symbols are all winged and haloed or nimbed, and each beast symbol holds a book in its fore or hind limbs. Each miniature is also accompanied by a set of two Latin inscriptions written in capital letters, one at the top flanking the human bust and the other at the bottom flanking the beast symbol.
The Gospel of Matthew Miniature on folio 2v
Within the top roundel of this miniature the Evangelist is shown with his right hand in a gesture of benediction with his two index fingers pointing to his Gospel book that he holds in his left hand. His tetramorph beast symbol within the arch consists of a full-figure frontal standing angel. The capitals or column heads from which the arches spring consisting of simple double rings or cusps, and the columns rest on two stepped bases. This miniature is artistically more elaborate that the other three illuminations, thus emphasizing its important status as first Gospel book. This elaboration includes the additional architectural elements (bases) as well as the inclusion of Celtic/Irish Ultimate La Tène trumpet-spiral and pelta infill designs or motifis in the spandrels. The Latin inscriptions for this miniature read: top "''+ HIC MATHEVS IN HUMANITATE''” (“Here Matthew is in his human form”), and bottom “''+ HIC MATHEVS IN ANGELICA ASSPECTV VIDETVR''” (“Here Matthew is seen in his angelic aspect”).
The Gospel of Mark Miniature on Folio 12v
Within the top roundel of this miniature the Evangelist is depicted with his right hand in a gesture of benediction with his two index fingers pointing to his Gospel book he holds in his left hand. Below, his beast symbol within the arch consists of a full-figure, three-quarter profile figure of a winged lion that stands on its hind legs. The capitals from which the arches spring consist of single tablet capitals topped by floral buds. In addition to the arches, a pointed floral leaf-shaped bud with two shoots that also spring from these two capitals. The flanking two columns rest on the floor or ground, lacking bases. The Latin inscriptions for this miniature read: top "''+ HIC MARCVS IN HUMANITATE''" ("Here Mark is in his human form"), and bottom "''+ HIC MARCVS IMAGINEM TENET LEONIS''" ("Here Mark has the image of a lion").
The Gospel of Luke Miniature on folio 21v
Within the top roundel the Evangelist is shown holding a stylus in his right hand and an open Gospel book he holds in his left hand. His beast symbol within the arch consists of a full-figure, three-quarter profile figure of a winged horned calf/ox standing on its hind hooves. The hindquarters of this beast symbol appears to have been borrowed or copied from elsewhere, and the upper half of the calf was influenced by either a Carolingian or Mediterranean exemplar or model, thereby creating a hybrid image. The capitals from which the arches spring consist of simple double tablet capitals painted in reddish brown and blue. Here again, the flanking columns rest directly on the floor or ground lacking bases. The Latin inscriptions for this miniature read: top = “''+ HIC LUCAS IN HUMANITATE''” (“Here Luke is in his human form”), and bottom “''+ HIC LVCAS FORMAM ACCEPIT VITULI''” (“Here Luke has taken the shape of a calf”).
The Gospel of John Miniature on folio 31v
Within the top roundel the Evangelist is depicted with both his hands holding his closed Gospel book. His beast symbol within the arch consists of a full-figure frontal eagle figure with its head turned to its right in profile in an "imperial" fashion. The capitals consist of distinctive elaborate masks from which spring the arch as well as foliate and zoomorphic motifs. The Latin inscriptions for this miniature read: top “''+ HIC IOHANNIS IN HUMANITATE''” (“Here John is in his human form”), and bottom “''+ HIC IOHANNIS VERTIT FRONTEM IN AQVILAM''” (“Here John has transformed into the likeness of an eagle”).
Marginalia
On the outer margins outside the arched frames of the Evangelist illuminations for Matthew, Luke, and John are partial line drawings or “doodles” in black ink of the tetramorph beast symbols for these three Evangelists.
Decorative Letters and Motifs
Other decorative features are found throughout the textual components of this codex, and include the major and minor initials, continuing lettering, and litterae notabiliores. The types of decoration used consist of principally of both zoomorphic/animal and floral motifs. The zoomorphic decoration in the Book of Cerne is characteristically composed of “brontosaurus-like” beasts and grotesques that indicate
Hiberno-Saxon
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from ''insula'', the Latin language, Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland ...
, primarily Irish, origins with influences from the Mediterranean (
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
). Foliate decorative motifs are primarily found on exteriors and terminals of zoomorphic/animal elements, the frames of the continuation panels and, as described above, the architectural capitals on the arched frames of the Mark and John Evangelist illuminations.
Major Initials and Continuation Panels
These are found at the opening of each of the four Gospel extract texts as well as the ''Suffragare'' panel that introduces ''Lorica of Laidcenn'' text on fol. 43 recto. Continuation panels are the decorative backgrounds or frames to the letters following the major initials. These elements exhibit the use of display capitals, zoomorphic, sub-zoomorphic, interlaced, and curvilinear decoration. The initials and continuation panels for the Gospel extract texts are distinguished by the use of gold and purple pigments, while the one in the Lorica text use the colors red, green, yellow, and blue.
Minor Initials
The minor initials within the text are decorated with interlace and curvilinear motifs with zoomorphic terminals.
''Litterae Notabiliores''
Almost all of these letters are ornamented with abstract zoomorphic/animal motifs, with the exception of one anthropomorphic image found on folio 91 verso.
Attribution and provenance
Like a number of other manuscripts that comprise the Canterbury/Tiberius group, the specific provenance or place (i.e., ''scriptorium'') of manufacture of the Book of Cerne is unknown. This issue of provenance has generated much academic debate within the literature of this Southumbian codex, especially with the two references to Bishop Ædeluald/Oeðelpald, presumably the patron of this codex, within its text. The issue partly revolves around the identity of Bishop Ædeluald/Oeðelpald mentioned in the texts. Some researchers believe that these texts refer to Bishop Ædiluald/
Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility
*King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655
*King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664
*King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria ...
(721-740 AD) of
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
in
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, while others have suggested that the name refers to Bishop Ædeluald (818-830 AD) of
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
in Mercia. As early as 1868
J.O. Westwood attributed the Book of Cerne to Lindisfarne in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Variants of this Lindisfarne recension theory have been supported by subsequent studies written by such scholars as Bishop, Henry, and Dumville. However, other researchers who favor a 9th-century Mercian original have contested this Lindisfarne hypothesis. In 1902 Kuypers recognized this issue in his study of this manuscript where he cautiously identified the patron as the Bishop of Lichfield. More recent studies of the Book of Cerne by Moorish, Wormald, Robinson, Brown, Walker, and Webster have supported the Southumbrian/Mercian hypothesis. Brown has inferred that even if this manuscript is linked to the earlier Bishop of Lindisfarne, the orthography of the acrostic poem suggests that it may have been produced with reference to Bishop Ædeluald of Lichfield, or it was changed with him in mind.
The other interpretive issue concerning the Book of Cerne pertains to attempts to identify a plausible scriptorium location or origin provenance in which this codex was produced. Generally, its Southumbian or Mercian origins are now commonly accepted based on palaeographic, codicological, and stylistic evidence, particularly the script type used and visual decorative elements of the miniatures and text. This manuscript has often been placed within a group of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts alternatively referred to as the Canterbury or Tiberius Group, which is composed of several other well-known examples, such as the ''
Vespasian Psalter
The Vespasian Psalter (London, British Library, Cotton Vespasian A I) is an Anglo-Saxon illuminated psalter decorated in a partly Insular style produced in the second or third quarter of the 8th century. It contains an interlinear gloss in Old En ...
'' (London,
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, Cotton Vespasian A.i.), the ''
Codex Aureus'' (Stockholm, Royal Library, MS A.135), the ''
Barberini Gospels'' (Rome, Vatican,
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
, MS lat.570), and the ''Royal Bible'' (London, British Library, Royal MS I.E.vi), to name a few. This group of manuscripts is distinguished by several characteristic elements that include:
* The use of minuscule script in later manuscripts in this group, as evident in the Book of Cerne;
* The use of an interlace display script in which each letter is joined to one another by means of brontosaurus-like beast heads; and
* The display of script with zoomorphic ornament that resembles contemporary 9th
Trewhiddle style
Trewhiddle style is a distinctive style in Anglo-Saxon art that takes its name from the Trewhiddle Hoard, discovered in Trewhiddle, Cornwall in 1770. Trewhiddle ornamentation includes the use of silver, niello inlay, and zoomorphic, plant and g ...
metalwork, which is characterized with the use of interlaced and contorted animals and leafy scrollwork.
T. D. Kendrick observed that the Book of Cerne exhibits a distinctive style from the other manuscripts from the Canterbury group and suggested that it was possibly Mercian in origin. Later, in several articles dating between 1948 and 1957 there was a debate between S.M. Kuhn and
K. Sisam over the provenance of these manuscripts, including the Book of Cerne. Although the Book of Cerne has been periodically attributed with a possible Mercian origin, Kuhn postulated the direct link between this manuscript and the Bishop of Lichfield, and attributed the entire group of manuscripts to Mercia, particularly Lichfield. Sisam, on the other hand, dismissed Kuhn's interpretation by reasserting the Canterbury/Kentish association for this group of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. However, Sisam did realize that the Book of Cerne was different from the other manuscripts of this group, and he postulated that it could be a provincial or Mercian outlier. The recent in depth studies of the Book of Cerne by Brown has included this codex within the Canterbury/Tiberius group of manuscripts that she argues were produced in Mercia,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
in the 8th and 9th centuries CE, a region which she defines as a “Mercian Schriftprovinz”. Along with other manuscripts including the Barberini Gospels, Brown has placed the Book of Cerne in the Mercian school of the Tiberius group. She further concluded that this codex was the product of a scriptorium in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, or perhaps Lichfield.
Subsequent History
The subsequent history of this 9th-century AD Insular/Anglo-Saxon manuscript after its production is equally speculative. However, the existing evidence seems to suggest that at some point after its production in the later 9th and early 10th centuries this codex may have been subsequently relocated somewhere in unoccupied Mercia, presumably
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, or even Wessex. This evacuation, along with other ecclesiastical manuscripts, was to provide a safe environment or repository to protect the book from potential Viking raids and incursions.
Despite the attachment of accretionary texts to the original Insular/Anglo-Saxon book relating to the Benedictine Abbey at Cerne in Dorset, there are even questions concerning whether or not this codex was ever physically housed at this monastery. All one can say for certain based on codicological evidence is that at some point after the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, and by 1697, that these accretionary documents from Cerne Abbas were attached to the original Insular/Anglo-Saxon core.
The earliest historical account of the Book of Cerne is found in an inventory of the personal library of
John Moore, Bishop of Norwich (1691-1707) and Bishop of Ely (1707-1714) found in
Edward Bernard
Edward Bernard (1638 – 12 January 1697) was an English scholar and Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford, from 1673 to 1691.
Life
He was born at Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, ...
’s ''Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum'' dating to 1697. After Moore’s death in 1714 his library, along with the Book of Cerne, was purchased by
King George I (reigned 1714-1727) for 6,000
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
. The king then presented this library to Cambridge University as a royal gift on 20 September 1715.
[Brown 1996, pp. 30-31.]
Notes
References
Bernard, Edward. ''Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae in unum collecti cum indice alphabetico''. Volumes I-II. Oxford: Sheidonian, 1697.
Bishop, Edmund. ''Liturgica Historica: Papers on the Liturgy and Religious Life of the Western Church''. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1918. OCLC 2415132.
British Library. “Glossaries”. ''Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts''. British Library, Updated 13 August 2013. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/glossary.asp. Accessed 13 October 2013.
Brown, Michelle P. “The Book of Cerne”, in
Leslie Webster and
Janet Backhouse
Janet Moira Backhouse (8 February 1938 – 3 November 2004) was an English manuscripts curator at the British Museum, and a leading authority in the field of illuminated manuscripts.
Early life and education
Janet Backhouse was born in Corsha ...
, eds., ''The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900''. London, UK: British Museum Press, 1991. pp 211–213. .
Brown, Michelle P. ''The Book of Cerne: Prayer, Patronage and Power in Ninth-Century England''. London, UK: The British Library, 1996. .
Brown, Michelle P. “Mercian Manuscripts? The ‘Tiberius; Group and Its Historical Context,” in Michelle P. Brown and Carol A. Farr, eds, ''Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe''. London: Leicester University Press, 2001. pp. 278–291. .
Brown, Michelle P. ''Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. pp. 52–55, 72–73. .
Brown, T. Julian. “The Irish elements in the Insular system of scripts to c. A.D. 850”, in H. Löwe, ed., ''Iren und Europa im früheren Mittelalter Volume 1''. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1982. pp. 101–119. .
Davis, Godfrey Rupert Carless. ''Medieval Cartularies of Great Britain''. London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1958. OCLC 559480006.
Dumville, David N. “Liturgical Drama and Panegyric Responsory from the Eighth Century? A Re-examination of the Origin and Contents of the Ninth-Century Section of the Book of Cerne.” ''Journal of Theological Studies New Series'' XXIII (October 1972): 374–400.
Henry, Françoise. ''L’Art Irlandais''. St. Léger-Vauban: Zodiaque, 1964. ASIN B0018VL860.
Kendrick, Thomas Downing. ''Anglo-Saxon Art to A.D. 900''. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1938. Pp. 147, 165–18, 174–175. OCLC 891490.
Kuhn, S.M. “From Canterbury to Lichfield”. ''Speculum'' 23 (1948), pp. 619–627.
Kuhn, S.M. “Some Early Mercian Manuscripts.” ''Speculum New Series'' 8 (1957), pp. 355–370.
Kuypers, Dom. A.B., ed. ''The Prayer Book of Aedeluald the Bishop, Commonly Called the Book of Cerne''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1902. OCLC 2720621.
McNamara, Martin. ''The Apocrypha in the Irish Church''. Dublin: Institute of Advanced Studies, 1975. .
Moorish, Jennifer. ''An Examination of Literature and Learning in the 9th Century''. Cambridge: Unpublished D.Phil. Dissertation, 1982.
Robinson, Pamela R. ''Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c737-1600 in Cambridge Libraries Volume 1''. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer, 1988. .
Sisam, K. “Canterbury, Lichfield and the Vespasian Psalter.” ''Review of English Studies New Series'' 7 (1956), pp. 1–10, 113–131.
Sisam, K. “Canterbury, Lichfield and the Vespasian Psalter.” ''Review of English Studies New Series'' 8 (1957), pp. 372–373.
Walker, Ian W. ''Mercia and the Making of England''. Phoenix Mill, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2000. pp191–193. .
Webster, Leslie. ''Anglo-Saxon Art: A New History''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012. .
Westwood, John Obadiah. ''Facsimilies of the Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts''. London: B. Quaritch, 1868. OCLC 5957384.
Wormald, Francis. “The Miniatures in the Gospels of St. Augustine, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 286,” in
J. J. G. Alexander, T. J. Brown and Joan Gibbs, eds., ''Collected Writings Volume I: Studies in Medieval Art from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries''. London: Henry Miller Publishers, 1984. pp. 13–35.
Further reading
Dodwell, Charles R. ''Anglo-Saxon Art: a new perspective''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982.
Dodwell, Charles R. ''The Pictorial Arts of the West 800-1200''. Yale: Yale University Press, 1993. .
Webster, Leslie, Janet Backhouse, and Marion Archibald. ''The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture, AD 600-900''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.
Wilson, David M. ''Anglo-Saxon Art''. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1984. {{ISBN, 978-0-87951-976-6.
External links
Whole manuscript online, from Cambridge Digital Library*Cambridge University Library. “The Book of Cerne”, ''Exhibitions: Great Collections''. Cambridge University Library. https://web.archive.org/web/20120204061840/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions/GreatCollections/Ll.1.10.html, 2009–2012.
9th-century illuminated manuscripts
Christian prayer books
Christian illuminated manuscripts
Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts
Manuscripts in Cambridge
9th-century Latin books
9th-century English writers
Harrowing of Hell