The Durham ''Liber Vitae'' is a
confraternity book
A confraternity book (german: Verbrüderungsbuch, la, liber confraternitatum or ''confraternitatis''), also called a ''liber memorialis'' (memorial book) or ''liber vitae'' (book of life), is a medieval register of the names of people who had ente ...
produced in north-eastern England in the Middle Ages. It records the names of visitors to the church of the bishopric of Durham, and its predecessor
sees at
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 ...
and
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at Sun ...
. In England, it is the oldest book of this type, although it is paralleled by later English confraternity books, most notably the
New Minster Liber Vitae
The New Minster ''Liber Vitae'' is a confraternity book produced in Winchester, in southern England, in 1031. It records the names of visitors to the New Minster, Winchester and contains other information too, as well as a celebrated image of King ...
.
Original Anglo-Saxon ''Liber Vitae''
The text was originally of the 9th century, but was continually supplemented thereafter by entries made in the 10th century and later.
The 9th-century core constitutes folios 15–45, with folio 47.
[Rollason & Rollason (eds.), ''The Durham'' Liber Vitae, p. 7.] It is generally believed by scholars that it was produced in the church 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 ...
, though
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow monasteries have also been suggested.
[Briggs, "Original Core", p. 64; Gerchow, "Origins", p. 47.] This had been composed ''c''. 840. It has been damaged over time, and the original binding is now lost.
[Rollason & Rollason (eds.), ''The Durham'' Liber Vitae, p. 11.] It consisted of parchment sheets on which were written lists of names, followed by blank sections for future additions.
[Rollason & Rollason (eds.), ''The Durham'' Liber Vitae, p. 18.]
The book was at Durham by the later 11th century, as indicated by the list of Durham monks on folio 45 from the episcopate of
Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard ...
.
[ Later additions to the early core were made to folios 24r, 36r, 44v and 45r.
]
High and Later Middle Ages
The book was reorganised in the third quarter of the 12th century, and it is likely that many of the names originally there did not survive.[ The form it attained at that point appears to be the one it kept until the 15th century, although it was continually updated with new entries.][ After 1300 very few names were added to the original core.
The ''Liber Vitae'' is currently in the ]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 ...
, where it is classified as BL, MS Cotton Domitian vii. The manuscript itself is 205 x 142 mm.[Rollason & Rollason (eds.), ''The Durham'' ]Liber Vitae
A confraternity book (german: Verbrüderungsbuch, la, liber confraternitatum or ''confraternitatis''), also called a ''liber memorialis'' (memorial book) or ''liber vitae'' (book of life), is a medieval register of the names of people who had ente ...
, p. 6.
Notes
Sources
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Also available from Internet Archive
Further reading
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*{{Citation , editor1-first=A. Hamilton , editor1-last=Thompson , title=Liber Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis. A Collotype facsimile of the original Manuscript, with introductory essays and notes, vol. I , series=Surtees Society 136 , year=1923 . Facsimile edition, now superseded by the digital facsimile edition prepared by David and Lynda Rollason.
Online facsilime
at the British Library
External links
History of Durham, England
History of Northumberland
Northumbria
Religion in County Durham
Christianity in medieval England
English manuscripts
9th-century manuscripts
Cotton Library