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Theological and devotional treatises, Written in the late 12th century in England

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MS. Fairfax 17
Held at the Weston Library

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Theological and devotional treatises, comprising:

  1. Fol. 1. Hugh of St. Victor 'de arra anime': beg. (imperfectly) '... diceret? qui humanitatis oblitus et societatis' with 16th-cent. marginalia
  2. Fol. 13. 'Sententia sancti Ambrosii episcopi de amicitia': beg. 'Nichil honestati preferendum est', printed in Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. xvi, col. 180
  3. Fol. 14v. the four homilies of st. Bernard on 'Missus est': prol. beg. 'Scribere me aliquid', text beg. 'Missus est angelus Gabriel', printed in Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. clxxxiii, col. 55
  4. Fol. 33. a sermon on 'Cum esset desponsata' (Matth. i. 18): beg. 'Propositum nobis est'
  5. Fol. 38v. a sermon on 'Intrauit Jhesus in quoddam castellum' (Luke x. 38), here attributed to st. Bernard, but rejected in Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. clxxxiv, col. 1004: beg. 'Quod dominus ac saluator noster'
  6. Fol. 44. the pseudo-gospel of Nicodemus, in an abbreviated version, without the prologue and with many variants (cf. Constantine Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, 1853, p. 314): beg. 'Factum est in anno nono decimo imperatoris'
  7. Fols. 55-7 are a 13th-cent. copy of the 'Cura Sanitatis Tiberii' printed in Ernst von Dobschütz, Christusbilder, 163**-189**
  8. Fol. 54v. the Latin version of the Finding of the Cross by st. Helen, printed in Napier's edition of the History of the Holy Rood for the Early English Text Society, vol. 103, pp. 41 ff.
  9. Fol. 64. the first half of Lanfranc's Sentences for monks (Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. cl, col. 637), with a commentary, beg. 'Octo sunt que si diligenter'
  10. Fol. 64. 'Lamentacio G[ervasii] abbatis quam fecit paulo antequam moreretur': beg. 'Recordare miser homo, recordare et noli obliuioni tradere', followed by a life of Gervase, first abbot of the Cistercian foundation of Louth Park in Lincolnshire (fl. 1139): beg. 'Primordialis causa doloris mei' (fol. 67v), written apparently by a contemporary, and a letter of Gervase announcing his resignation: beg. 'Ego fratres carissimi' (fol. 72)
  11. Fol. 73. 'Incipit de duodecim sociis toto anno girantibus', a miraculous story elsewhere attributed to Bruno bishop of Toul: beg. 'In nocte natalis domini lucifera qua lux seculorum est orta', hence printed in Mon. Germ. Hist., vol. xxvi, pp. 28-9
  12. Fol. 747. a letter from 'S. presbyter indignus' to Symeon, monk and precentor of St. Cuthbert's, Durham, relating the vision of Orm assigned (fol. 77) to the year 1125: beg. 'Domine frater visionem adolescentis Orm' and text beg. 'Quando inquid posuerunt me' (fol. 75)
  13. Fol. 78. letter from 'Aleuus seruus fratrum de Mailros' to M. canon of Kirkham, relating the vision of a lay brother, assigned to the year 1159: beg. 'Quidem conversus iuvenis etate non moribus' followed by three other visions, the last of which (fol. 83) is the 'Visio Drichtelmi', beg. 'Erat ergo paterfamilias', derived from Bede's Ecclesiastical History, v. 12

Dates

  • Creation: Written in the late 12th century in England

Extent

85 Leaves

Language of Materials

  • Latin

Shelfmark

MS. Fairfax 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. II, no. 3897

Custodial History

'Elibris C. Fairfax ex dono Henrici Cholmley 16 ...' (fol. 85v). Fairfax believed that the MS. came from the Cistercian priory of Louth Park in Lincolnshire, concerning which special knowledge is shown in art. j above.

Physical Facet

On parchment, binding, white leather on boards, with fragment of later green leather strap, and one central boss, 14th-cent. English work

Dimensions

10 1/5 × 6 1/2 in.

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

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Weston Library
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Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom