The Gregorian Sacramentary is a 10th-century illuminated Latin manuscript containing a

sacramentary In the Western Church of the Early and High Middle Ages, a sacramentary was a book used for liturgical services and the mass by a bishop or priest. Sacramentaries include only the words spoken or sung by him, unlike the missals of later cent ...

. Since the 16th century it has been in the

Vatican Library 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 ...

, shelfmar
Vat. Lat. 3806

Description

It is made up of 307 leaves written in

Carolingian minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one reg ...

with

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...

s and

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

s. It measures 34 cm by 27 cm. It was produced by an Italian copyist and illuminator, probably at

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, since it includes a calendar with the usage of

Fulda Abbey The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedicti ...

and mass formularies used in the

diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ratisbonensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory seated in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. , ...

. Due to the archaic style of its first pages, it was once misattributed to

saint Gregory Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

, for example by

Angelo Rocca Angelo Rocca (1545, in Rocca, near Ancone – 8 April 1620, in Rome) was an Italian humanist, librarian and bishop, founder of the Angelica Library at Rome, afterwards accessible from 1604 as a public library. Biography Angelo Rocca is also kn ...

in 1593. The

canon tables Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into chapters and verses used in modern texts ...

are on a double page spread at the start (the recto of leaf 1 and the verso of leaf 2), decorated with arches with floral and geometric motifs reminiscent of peacocks (symbols of the resurrection of Christ) and half-palms. The first page is typical of

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of List of German monarchs, German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Empe ...

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

art. The incipit to ''In nomine Domini'' (folio 11, verso) is ornamented with a gold and silver volute initial on a green and blue background. The following leaves beginning with ''Per omnia saecula'' and the monograms for ''Vere dignum'' and ''Te igitur'' are in gold uncial text on a purple background, surrounded by gold and silver geometric borders. The book concludes (leaf 307, recto) with a pontifical mass dedicated to

pope Sylvester II Pope Sylvester II ( – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab and Gre ...

(999-1003).

Bibliography

''Cultural Interplay in the Eighth Century: The Trier Gospels and the Making of a Scriptorium at Echternach''
by Nancy Netzer (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1994), p 55-56 *{{in lang, de K. Gamber, ''Liturgie der Regensburger Kirche aus der Agilolfinger- und Karolingerzeit'', 1976

External links

Digital photographs of MS. Vat. lat. 3806
10th-century illuminated manuscripts Manuscripts of the Vatican Library