The Courtenay Compendium (now Copenhagen, Royal Danish Library, Acc. 2011/5) is a medieval English manuscript containing a
miscellany
A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose aim ...
of historical texts. It contains three blocks of texts. The first concerns British and English history. The second has an oriental focus and contains accounts of
Europeans in China, the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and the
rise of the Mongols. The third contains prophecies.
Provenance
The manuscript is of the late 14th century. It was probably created at
Breamore Priory
Breamore Priory was a priory of Austin canons in Breamore, Hampshire, England.
Foundation
The priory was founded some time towards the end of the reign of Henry I of England, Henry I by Baldwin de Redvers and his uncle Hugh de Redvers.
12th to ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. It was acquired by the
Earls of Devon
Earl of Devon was created several times in the English peerage, and was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the de Redvers (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.) family, and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be con ...
of the
House of Courtenay
The House of Courtenay is a medieval noble house, with branches in France, England and the Holy Land. One branch of the Courtenays became a Royal House of the Capetian Dynasty, cousins of the Bourbons and the Valois, and achieved the title o ...
, whence its name. It was rediscovered in the archives of
Powderham Castle
Powderham Castle is a fortified manor house situated within the parish and former manor of Powderham, within the former hundred of Exminster, Devon, about south of the city of Exeter and mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village of ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
during the time of the 18th earl,
Hugh Courtenay. On 3 December 2008, it was auctioned by
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
to a private dealer, who sold it at auction to the
Royal Danish Library
The Royal Library ( da, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries ...
in March 2010.
Physical description
The compendium consists of 230
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...
leaves bound as a
codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
and measuring . Its contents are written entirely in the same hand, in cursive
Anglicana script. The main text is dark brown, but there are
initial
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
s and paragraph markers in red ink by a different scribe. The manuscript was paginated in the
early modern period, by which time some pages were out of order.
Catchword
A catchword is a word placed at the foot of a handwritten or printed page that is meant to be bound along with other pages in a book. The word anticipates the first word of the following page. It was meant to help the bookbinder or printer make ...
s allow the proper order to be established. In the 18th century, the compendium was rebound. The cover is decorated with the Courtenay arms and the spine labelled
.
Contents
The contents of the manuscript are grouped into three sections, with three blank pages separating the first two and a single blank page between the second and third. The first section concerns the history of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
and Britain, the second concerns the Orient and the third is prophecies. The contents are:
#Trojan and British history
##Anonymous, ''
Daretis Phrygii de excidio Troiae historia
Dares Phrygius ( grc, Δάρης), according to Homer, was a Trojan priest of Hephaestus. He was supposed to have been the author of an account of the destruction of Troy, and to have lived before Homer. A work in Latin, purporting to be a transla ...
'' with an introductory letter attributed to
Cornelius Nepos
Cornelius Nepos (; c. 110 BC – c. 25 BC) was a Roman biographer. He was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona.
Biography
Nepos's Cisalpine birth is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him ''Padi a ...
##
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
, ''
Historia regum Brittanniae'', followed by a table of rulers, ''Tabula in historiis Britonum''
##
Gildas
Gildas (Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recounts ...
, ''
De excidio Britanniae
''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' ( la, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain, sometimes just ''On the Ruin of Britain'') is a work written in Latin by the 6th-century AD British cleric St Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning ...
''
##Anonymous, ''
Encomium Emmae Reginae
''Encomium Emmae Reginae'' or ''Gesta Cnutonis Regis'' is an 11th-century Latin encomium in honour of the English queen Emma of Normandy. It was written in 1041 or 1042, probably by a monk of Saint-Omer, Normandy.
Manuscripts
Until 2008, it w ...
'', which is called ''Tractatus de gestis regis Chnutonis'' in the
explicit
Explicit refers to something that is specific, clear, or detailed. It can also mean:
* Explicit knowledge, knowledge that can be readily articulated, codified and transmitted to others
* Explicit (text) The explicit (from Latin ''explicitus est'', ...
#The Orient
##
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
, ''
De conditionibus et consuetudinibus orientalium regionum'' (Latin translation of )
##
Odoric of Pordenone
Odoric of Pordenone, OFM (1286–1331), also known as Odorico Mattiussi/Mattiuzzi, Odoricus of Friuli or Orderic of Pordenone, was an Italian late-medieval Franciscan friar and missionary explorer. He traveled through India, the Greater Sunda Is ...
, ''De ritibus orientalium regionum''
##Peter, 'archbishop of Russia', ''
Tractatus de ortu Tartarorum
The ''Tractatus de ortu Tartarorum'' ("Treatise on the Rise of the Tartars") is a Latin treatise on the Mongol Empire, Mongols (Tartars), consisting of answers given by a Kievan Rus', Russian bishop named Peter to questions posed by Pope Innocent ...
'', including two other letters about the Mongols:
###A letter from a Hungarian bishop reporting the interrogation of two Mongol prisoners, a text that is also found in
Matthew of Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in ...
, ''
Chronica maiora
The ''Chronica Majora'' is the seminal work of Matthew Paris, a member of the English Benedictine community of St Albans and long-celebrated historian. The work begins with Creation and contains annals down to the year of Paris' death of 1259. ...
'', and in the ''
Annals of Waverley
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester.
Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a Floodplain, flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous ...
''
###A letter from
Raoul of Mérencourt
Raoul of Mérencourt (also called Ralph or Radulfus) was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1214 to 1224., succeeding the assassinated Albert Avogadro.
Early career in patriarchal service
Raoul was a native of the County of Champagne. He seems ...
, patriarch of Jerusalem, to
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...
outlining the Mongol threat around 1221
##Anonymous, ''
Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'', which is called ''Tractatus de ortu processu et actibus Machometi'' in the explicit rubric
##
William of Tripoli
William of Tripoli ( 1254–1273) was a Dominican friar active as a Christian missionary, missionary and papal nuncio in the Holy Land. He wrote two works about Islam, towards which he displayed an unusually Irenicism, irenic attitude for his time. ...
, ''Gesta Machometi'' (that is, ''De statu Sarracenorum'')
##Anonymous, ''
De Machometo''
#Prophecies
##26 prophetic texts in prose and verse all associated with and probably written in England
The compendium contains the only extant copy of the recension of the ''Encomium Emmae Reginae'' prepared for
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
.
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
{{refend
External links
Sotheby's catalogue notice
14th-century manuscripts
English manuscripts
Latin manuscripts
Royal Library, Denmark