British Library, Royal MS 1. B. VII is an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

Gospel Book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...

. It is closely related to the

Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...

, being either copied from it or from a common model. It is not as lavishly illuminated, and the decoration shows

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

influence. The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

contains the four Gospels in the

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 ...

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

translation, along with prefatory and explanatory matter. It was presented to

Christ Church, Canterbury Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Ch ...

in the 920s by King Athelstan, who had recorded in a note in

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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

(f.15v) that upon his accession to the throne in 925 he had freed one Eadelm and his family from slavery, the earliest recorded

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

in (post-Roman) England. The codex has 155

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

folios The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

and measures 11.25 by 8.5 inches. The folios are gathered into quires of eight leaves each, with a few exceptions. The ninth gathering has only seven leaves, but does not have a loss of text that would indicate a missing leaf. The fourteenth quire had ten leaves and the final quire has only four. The sixteenth gathering has lost one

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

. All but the second, sixth, and seventh gatherings have the first word of the next gathering (a catchword) at the bottom of the final page. This was done to ensure that the gatherings were placed in the proper order. The text includes, in addition to the Gospels, the letter of

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

to Pope Damasus (known by its first two words '' Novum opus''), the prologue to Jerome's commentary on the

Book of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and ...

, the letter of Eusebius of Caesarea to Carpianus (''

Ammonius quidam 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 ...

'') in which Eusebius explains the use of his Canon Tables, prologues to each of the Gospels, tables of capitula for each of the Gospels, tables for each of the Gospels indicating the festivals at which portions of that Gospel should be read, and the Eusebian

Canon table 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 ...

s. The manuscript was written in England, perhaps in a

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 ...

n monastery connected to Lindisfarne or Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, though "the Frankish influence in the decoration and display script ... might equally suggest origins in

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= , ...

". The text is written in insular half-

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, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...

in two columns. There are two or more hands found in the manuscript. Each chapter begins with a line of text written in red ink. There are markings for the Ammonian sections in the margins. The manuscript was copied either from the

, or from a common source. The text was originally almost identical to that of the Lindisfarne, however in this manuscript many readings, that are otherwise peculiar to Lindisfarne, have been erased and corrected. A significant variation from the Lindisfarne text is that after , this manuscript contains an addition which reads, in part, ''Vos autem queritis . . . erit tibi utilius''. This addition is not found in the Lindisfarne Gospels, however it is found in an early 10th-century manuscript, also in the British Library (Royal, 1 A. XVIII). The tables of the capitula for the Gospels of Luke and John are identical to those in the Lindisfarne Gospels, as are the tables for the festival readings. These tables include festivals which were celebrated only in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(The Nativity of St. Januarius and the Dedication of the Basilica of Stephen). The source of the text for this manuscript and the Lindisfarne Gospels was probably a hypothetical "Neapolitan Gospelbook" brought to England by

Adrian of Canterbury Adrian, also spelled Hadrian (born before 637, died 710), was a North African scholar in Anglo-Saxon England and the abbot of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's in Canterbury. He was a noted teacher and commentator of the Bible. Adrian was born betw ...

, a companion of

Theodore of Tarsus Theodore of Tarsus ( gr, Θεόδωρος Ταρσοῦ; 60219 September 690) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690. Theodore grew up in Tarsus, but fled to Constantinople after the Persian Empire conquered Tarsus and other cities. Afte ...

who according to Bede had been

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

Nisida Nisida is a volcanic islet of the Flegrean Islands archipelago, in southern Italy. It lies at a very short distance from Cape Posillipo, just north of Naples; it is now connected to the mainland by a stone bridge. The islet is almost circular, wi ...

, an (also hypothetical) monastery near Naples. Other books with the same textual character are the

Stonyhurst Gospel The St Cuthbert Gospel, also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel or the St Cuthbert Gospel of St John, is an early 8th-century pocket gospel book, written in Latin. Its finely decorated leather binding is the earliest known Western bookbinding to ...

and the St Petersburg Gospels.Brown, 52, 57 The illumination in the manuscript is limited to the Canon tables and four large

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. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as (the first verse after the

Genealogy of Jesus The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...

), are begun with enlarged initials decorated in black, red, yellow and green in an early Anglo-Saxon style. These initials are surrounded by small red dots, which is a common motif in many Insular manuscripts, including the Lindisfarne Gospels. The prologues and the Gospel of John begin with enlarged black initials which are also surrounded by red dots. The Canon Tables are under columns and arches of black lines decorated in colored designs. These texts appear in the following order. Note the eccentric order of the prefaces to the Gospel of Luke. *Folio 1r - The letter of Jerome (''Novum opus'') *Folio 2v - Prologue to Jerome's commentary on Matthew ('' Plures fuisse'') *Folio 3v - Letter of Eusebius (''Ammonius quidam'') *Folio 4v - Prologue to Matthew ('' Mattheus in Iudea'') *Folio 5r - Table of capitula for Matthew *Folio 8r - Table of festivals readings for Matthew (''Pridu (sic) natale Domini'') *Folio 9r - Eusebian Canon Tables *Folio 15r - Gospel of Matthew *Folio 52r - Prologue to Mark ('' Marchus euangelista Dei'') *Folio 52v - Table of capitula for Mark *Folio 54v - Table of festivals readings for Mark (''Sabbato sancto mane'') *Folio 55r - Gospel of Mark *Folio 78r - Table of festivals readings for Luke, titled ''Secundum Lucam'' (''In ieiunium sancti Iohannis'') *Folio 78v - Prologue to Luke ('' Lucas Syrus Antiochensis'') *Folio 79r - Table of capitula for Luke *Folio 84r -

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

*Folio 128r - Prologue to John ('' Iohannes euangelista unus'') *Folio 129r - Table of capitula for John *Folio 130r - Table of festivals readings for John titled ''Secundum Iohannem'' (''In sancti Iohannis apostoli'') *Folio 130v -

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

Notes

References

British Library catalogue entry
* Brown, Michelle P., ''Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age'', 2007, British Library, {{ISBN, 978-0-7123-0680-5 Gospel Books 8th-century biblical manuscripts Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts British Library Royal manuscripts