St Margaret’s Gospel Book: A Book Too Clean? It Might be a Miracle.
Posted: May 3, 2012 Filed under: Scottish Manuscripts | Tags: biblical manuscripts, bodleian, manuscript collections, manuscript culture, manuscripts, medieval manuscripts, miracles, scotland, st margaret Leave a comment »I am not one for the scientific explanation of miracles. Other do. Some of their suggestions I find more plausible (temporary blindness and medieval diet), others less (algae, volcanic eruption and the Ten Plagues). It is simply not my way.
That’s why, when recently asked at a paper in Dunfermline whether I thought St Margaret’s Gospel Book (click HERE for images, which I am reluctant to imbed for copyright reasons) had been the object of a miracle, I had to take a moment to think. The medieval account tells that while was the book was transported to facilitate an oath, it fell into a river. The book then laid open on the riverbed, the water playing with its leaves. It was later recovered and miraculously survived intact.
A few months ago I much enjoyed examining the manuscript in person at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. After looking at a few medieval Gospel Books, I was surprised to see how clean this one was. Not only showing no marks of submersion, but also lacking the staining typical of continuous use in oath-rituals (as in the York Gospels). In my eyes three options can explain the state of the book:
1. This is a miracle. Not an option I can take as an historian. But one I did raise at the paper, saying that if the book had emerged in this pristine condition after being fully submerged, this is probably a mircale.
2. The book was thoroughly cleaned during its time in Oxford. This was suggested to me by Richard Gameson (whose article ’The Gospels of Margaret of Scotland and the Literacy of an Early Medieval Queen’, in Women and the Book: Assessing the Visual Evidence, ed. Lesley Smith and Jane H. M. Taylor [London, 1996], pp. 149-71, is a treat), and can explain the nineteenth-century evidence for the cockling of leaves, no longer evident today.
3. However, one part of the story kept bothering me. The leaves turning in the water. Why did the narrator choose to expand upon this peculiar feature? Why was it important to mention that the water reached individual leaves. One explanation is that they might have not. That is – to think of a Scottish Cumdach. These Irish book-shrines (see HERE) are ornate boxes, in which Gospel Books and Missals were often kept. Much like reliquaries, they became a container for sacred objects; and like reliquaries, they limited access to the book itself.
Could it be that the Irish influence on Scotland extended to this custom as well? That St Margaret’s Gospel Book was kept in a shrine, hence surviving its water ordeal and preventing further signs of use? There is no indication for this in our sources. The lack of sources from medieval Scotland, primarily of sacrists records, does not assist in validating this hypothesis. However (having just finished a chapter on sacred books and their bindings in medieval England), our modern reckoning of book binding does not apply to many medieval Gospel Books. Numerous examples from across Europe tell of bindings of gold and precious stones. We even know that Malcolm, Margaret’s husband, adorned her sacred books with gold and jewels as a sign of his love.
There is much to do before any authoritative claim could be made. But I suspect there’s more than meet the eye in this story.
Head’s Up
Posted: April 14, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »If you’re interested in seeing the Glasgow Bible for yourself, or hear more about the Bible in Medieval Scotland, you may want to join one (or both) of the coming events next week:
- Thursday, 19 April, 18:00 at Abbot House, Dunfermline (http://www.abbothouse.co.uk/), I’ll be giving a paper on the medieval Bible in Scotland.
- Friday, 20 April, 14:00 at Glasgow University Library, Special Collections (12th Floor), I’ll be running a workshop on the Late Medieval Bible, based on items from GUL’s collection. Highlights to include a Bible from Cambuskenneth Abbey and a Wycliffite New Testament.
When Bibles Go Naughty
Posted: April 14, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment »With a romanic plot and erotic imagery, the Song of Songs is not your ordinary biblical book. Why it is in the biblical canon, is not completely clear. It may be due to the strong allegorical interpretation of its love statements as the connection between God and his people; it may also be (at least for the Jewish side of things) the love felt by a certain rabbi Akiva for his wife, a love that reverberated in one of the most beautiful stories of the Babylonian Talmud.
One way or another, the Song of Songs became an integral part of the medieval Bible, and one of the most fond books among monastic audiences. Numerous allegorical interpretations expanded upon this Book, seeing the love story as a map of salvation history, the romance between Christ and his church. In the early Middle Ages these allegorical interpretations were made into short rubrics – known as voices – which were integrated into the biblical page. Thus, readers of the book were presented not with ‘the naked text’ of the lovers (if you forgive the pun), but with a layout that mediated a specific understanding of the biblical text.
The opening line of the Book ‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love [the Latin has 'breasts' and not without reason] is better than wine’ was often introduced by a historiated initial. The letter ‘O’ (for the Latin ‘Osculetur’, let him kiss) provided illuminators with a good opportunity to present a specific understanding of this verse, most commonly in the form of Christ and Mary. Numerous images depict Mary with Christ the child on her lap, transforming the book into the innocent of a mother and child.
Glasgow University Euing MS 1 is a Latin Bible from thirteenth-century Italy. One of its early readers took the pains of carefully erasing one (and only) one image – that of the Osculetur.
It is evident that the reader found the picture offensive. It is also evident that he was careful to remove only the image, not damaging any of the surrounding letter (noticed by the keen eye of Marie-Pierre Gelin). This was probably not the work of a Reformer. Other images, of Christ and of the Creation, were left unscathed. The image is well-sraped, and it is difficult to learn what it was originally (I hope a UV examination next week will shed some light). However, other parallels might have the answer. In British Library, Egerton MS 2867, fol. 282v (a Bible 1230-1240 , probably from Canterbury), the proximity between Christ and Mary is stronger than in other images, a closeness that might have seemed slightly inappropriate given the nature of the biblical book.
The understanding of the Song of Songs as a love story between Christ and his church was beyond doubt, especially as a purely literal understanding was unaccepted. Could it be that a devote Catholic reader found this image too close to the biblical text?
Virtual Exhibition
Posted: March 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: technology Leave a comment »I recently had a meeting with Richard Bogle, a web designer, for the creation of a digital exhibition for the project. Circumnavigating the problems of transport, display, security and insurance, we aim at creating a virtual display of biblical manuscripts linked with medieval Scotland. It will probably be biased towards the later Middle Ages. At its crux will be interactive images, which will be superimposed with layers of information. Users will be able to examine (zoom, tilt, etc.) the
manuscript and then identify and retrieve comments for specific elements, hyperlinks, images of locations where these Bibles were created or used (just had an excursion to Cambuskenneth Abbeyto take pictures, recommended for picnics in the summer) etc.
The entry page will be a map of Scotland (hopefully this, if we’ll get permission) with a time line. Sliding on the timeline will reveal manuscript locations on the map according to their dates. This will enable users to quickly grasp the timeline of Bible use in Scotland (i.e. two surges in the early and later Middle Ages), as well as the uneven distribution of manuscripts in Scotland.
Here is an opportunity for the blog’s readers to leave their mark. The virtual exhibition is still very much in the planning stage. I’ll upload a test page once things are more advanced. But if there are any comments or suggestions, now is the right time. Richard and I are playing with possibilities and layouts, and we’ll be happy to have more ideas. The reply box awaits!
Book Archaeology, or The Number of the Beast in Aberdeen
Posted: March 4, 2012 Filed under: Late Medieval Bibles, Uncategorized | Tags: aberdeen university, biblical manuscripts, manuscript collections, manuscript culture, medieval bible, medieval manuscripts Leave a comment »This week I set out to Aberdeen for the project’s first manuscript examination and workshop. It was a delight. A surprising sunshine over the Granite City was matched by the kindness of the library staff. Of the several Bibles of note in the library one stood out in its compilation and reception.
MS 217 exemplifies the wealth of information encoded in the pages of a Late Medieval Bible: a variety of uses and reading strategies, generations of readers who engaged with the biblical text and with one another. A sample excavation reveals:
The foundational layer of the Bible as it left the stationer’s shop demonstrates an early sample, from c. 1230 England. Its chapter divisions are not yet firmly set, but served as a bone of contention between scribe and rubricator (the latter trying to rectify the former’s division by setting new chapter divisions and where no space for initials was provided). Such dating is confirmed by pricking, marginal chapter nos. and a five-colum layout for the Interpretations of Hebrew Names.
Then, in (relatively) quick succession, three layers are discernible. They show how one
Bible was used across the medieval spectrum of reading strategies:
Exegesis. Only few notes survive preserving medieval glosses. Often short in nature, one of the lengthier explains the complexity of Revelation 13:18 (‘This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666′), in the image below.
Preaching. On the other side of the exegetical coin is its dissemination. Some marginal annotations would have been extremely useful for medieval preachers. A note accompanying Proverbs 14, expands upon the word fear (timor, 14:26-7).
Although barely legible without a UV light, the three distinct levels in which its accompanying words are preserved are indicative of the medieval distinctiones and the aesthetics of late medieval sermons. Such sermons employed major and minor divisions as means of amplifying a biblical nucleus, at times a single word.
Liturgy. The last side of this over-elaborate coin in the use of this Bible in public recitation. Throughout the biblical text there are indications for such reading strategy – specifically aimed at facilitating refectory readings.
Thus, next to Jeremiah ch. 51 the letters S[ecundus] and T[ertius] appear, dividing reading portions. They are accompanied by an indication of the liturgical occasion: the fourth day in the octave (feria) of Easter.
The last layer was added at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century. It demonstrates a deep engagement with the biblical text – re-writing incipits or giving titles to key parts. It also provides arabic numerals to replace the Roman numerals for some numerical descriptions, such as those found at the beginning of the Book of Numbers. And – my personal suspicion – that reader is also responsible for erasing most of the notes made by previous readers, evident throughout the Bible. Hard to qualify and substantiate, I suspect such a deep engagement with the biblical text left little space for previous generations of readers and their very medieval understanding of the Bible.
Lollardy in Medieval Scotland?
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: Late Medieval Bibles, Scottish Manuscripts 2 Comments »Ploughing through the marginal annotations of the Bible from the country house (promising this will be the last post on this MS for the time being), I was struck by a short comment affixed to Ezekiel 33:6-7. It was truncated by the modern binder, and currently reads:
no[ta] con[tra] lolla|
no[n] p[o]p[u]l[u]s t[erre sed]|
ego
This is only a [revised with a suggestion from Laura Light] tentative transcription. Abbreviations and truncation render expansions indecisive. Other options are possible, and suggestions most welcome.
The biblical location is also of importance. Ezekiel 33:6-7 discusses the watchman, who neglects to warn the people in the face of a looming threat.
I’m still working to fill in the gaps – both on the palaeography and the use of these verses in anti-Lollard polemics. More to come soon.
Taking Off the Gloves & the Pacman Ghost
Posted: February 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »On another chilly morning I found myself in the library of the country house. This time round the milder weather, a small heater and the running around of Joe (one of the family’s dogs) brought much comfort to the investigation. But the frozen landscape still made for a scenic walk from Innerleithen.
In-depth investigation of the manuscript turned out most revealing (and a nice support to the project’s rationale of inferring from the manuscript evidence on medieval Scotland).
Following the arrival of the Bible to Culross, notes in several hands were made. A fifteenth-century hand added the opening words of 1 Sam 25 (‘mortuus est autem Samuel’), which are lacking in the original. This is a testimony to an active reading of the biblical text at Culross, and to the existence of an additional Bible in the Monastery. Such a discovery is not a complete surprise, given the known activities at Culross. However, the lack of any library record makes any discovery of importance.
Several corrections to chapter divisions likewise support this hypothesis. As I’m growing quite anal about chapter divisions and their fluctuation (with thanks to Paul Saenger, the fons et origo of this obsession), it was good to see the attention given by medieval readers to these divisions, in an image of Exodus 16. 
A keen interest in the hymns and poetry of the Bible is also a mark of this Bible. This
can be traced to the original scribe, as in the previous image, in which the Song of the Sea (Shirat haYam, Ex 15) was written in alternating red and blue initials. This layout is usually reserved for the Psalms, and only rarely applied to other biblical hymns. The poetry of the Bible, and its role in the liturgy, continued to be a source of interest to subsequent readers of the this Bible. One such reader added a list of the Gallican Canticles at the end of 2 Paralipomenon. This list (I thank Laura Light for her assistance in its identification) employs an interesting reference system, one that makes use of book, chapter and page identification.
Lastly, a symbol which I like to call ‘The Pacman Ghost’ appears at the very end of 2 Paralipomenon. It identifies the place of the apocryphal Prayer of Manasses
(oratio Manasses) which is supplied in full at the very last folio of the manuscripts. Such feature appears at times in Late Medieval Bibles, as in Huntington Library, HM 51, fol. 376v. But you must agree that the similarity between the manuscript and the computer game cannot be easily dismissed!
The Medieval Bible Roadshow
Posted: February 6, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: biblical manuscripts, manuscript collections, medieval bible, medieval manuscripts 2 Comments »In the last few weeks I went into small silence. The holidays were followed by the design of a biblical database, and I assumed that these will be of less interest for readers. If you are, however, keen about using FileMaker Pro scripts in the analysis of manuscript collation (or in family pictures from the Christmas market) – feel free to drop a line in the comments.
For the time being I thought of sending word that the medieval Bible is taking to the road. As part of the Carnegie project, I’ll be travelling between partner institutions and using local manuscript collections, wherever available, to discuss the unique features of the Late Medieval Bible, the challenges and merits of its digital analysis. The schedule at the moment is:
- Aberdeen 1 March, 14:00. Special Collections Centre Seminar Room, Lower Ground Floor, University Library
- St Andrews 14 March, 14:15
- Glasgow 16 March, 14:30. The level 12 Henry Heaney Seminar Room, University Library
The Aberdeen and Glasgow sessions will take place in Special Collections, using their medieval manuscripts. Edinburgh will not be neglected for long – I am putting together an extended workshop which will bring scholars from further afield to examine its biblical manuscripts.
More soon.
Eyal
Taming the Beast: A Study of Late Medieval Bibles
Posted: December 19, 2011 Filed under: Late Medieval Bibles, Uncategorized | Tags: edinburgh university library, library catalogues, manuscript culture Leave a comment »Latin Bibles written c. 1230-1450 are a peculiar breed. Highly uniform and mass-produced, they survive nowadays in hundreds of remarkably uniform manuscripts. In many ways they transformed the way we read the Bible – but this is a part of a book I’m working on, and is not the topic of the current blog.
The sheer number of manuscripts and the 
amount of textual and paratextual information in them appear to have prevented their investigation. There are only a handful of articles on their evolution and use (with an edited volume hopefully coming out next year!) and no efficient means for their classification and analysis beyond a group of Bibles linked to Paris.
The similarity of manuscripts is evident if you compare, for example, this page from Edinburgh University Library MS 4, to the Bible from the country house in the previous blog. Yet, key to the current project is the analysis of such manuscripts held in Scottish institutions.
Here the problem of current catalogues as means of taming the beast is evident. I have every respect and admiration for Anatole France’s fictive cademict-turn-detective Sylvestre Bonnard, and his mantra that ‘when in doubt consult a library catalogue’ has guided me for a very long time. Yet in this case library catalogues – medieval or modern – are of little use. They often describe these manuscripts as ‘Bibles, French/English mid-thirteenth century’, note illuminations and possibly the texts preceding each biblical books (the Prologues).
For Bibles, and possibly for other texts produced in large quantities (comments and suggestions welcome), there is a need to provide genre-specific information, elements that are unique to this type of manuscript and would assist in its classification. Just like ways in which the complexity of the biblical text influenced its portrayal in visual images, liturgy or preaching, so it can assist in the study of its manuscript culture. Thus, for example, the layout of specific biblical books, minor variations in rubrics or in textual divisions (as the ones currently examined by Paul Saenger), in select texts, or in selected addenda (such as the Summarium Biblie [explored by Lucie Dolezalova] or the Interpretations of Hebrew Names [which I'm currently examining]), are all immensely useful for the study of the LMB.
The medium, nature and usefulness of this information is something we’re going to play with this year. Probably starting off as a database, it should hopefully become something that will grown in time to expand beyond the Scottish evidence (fascinating and under-explored as it is).
