A poem de Caritate, composed in elegiac couplets, the two verses of each couplet rhyming, 13th cent.-1378
The prologue beg. 'Hoc nomen [sc. Caritas] liber iste loco non continet ullo', for metrical reasons: the text beg. 'Omnipotens eterne Deus patrumque meorum', or 'Omnibus hoc natura dedit quid quisque sequatur | Quid uelit in primis optio cuique datur.'
The writer appears to be a monk, or, as he speaks of a populus sibi subditus, perhaps an abbot or bishop, and invokes the intercession martiris eximij pontificisque Thome, which can only be St. Thomas of Canterbury (d. 1170). Several sections bear titles de superbia, de inuidia etc., and one (fol. 87) 'Perlege de Mortis titulata bono Ciprianum | Auctorem laudans Ambrosiique manum.'
Some 14th cent. medical recipes follow on fol. 101v.
At end, in a later hand, is 'Allo nome de Dio amen. anno Dominj millesimo lxxviij', perhaps A.D. 1378.
Dates
- Creation: 13th cent.-1378
Extent
103 Leaves
Language of Materials
- Latin
Shelfmark
MS. D'Orville 206
Former reference:
Auct. X. 1. 6. 17
Other Finding Aids
Falconer Madan, et al., A summary catalogue of western manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford which have not hitherto been catalogued in the Quarto series (7 vols. in 8 [vol. II in 2 parts], Oxford, 1895-1953; reprinted, with corrections in vols. I and VII, Munich, 1980), vol. IV, no 17084
Our best descriptions for medieval items in this collection are in Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries under MSS. D'Orville.
Physical Facet
On parchment
Dimensions
9 × 5 1/4 in.
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk