A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges

Merton College MS. 129

Former shelfmark: L. 1. 1

ROBERT KILWARDBY, THOMAS OF IRELAND &c.; S. XIV in. (before 1347)

Contents

Language(s): Latin

fols. i-ii blank.

(fol. iiv)
Table of contents, s. xiv

Includes items now lost from the end: 'tabula super apocalipsim | tabula super epistolas canonicas | tabula super libros Salomonis.’ See MS 197 art. 1.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Quod sicut de maioribus
Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: 151 leaves (ii + 149)
Dimensions (leaf): 350 × 220 mm.
The edges retrimmed and spattered with red. Fols. i-ii are of thick, stiff parchment. Originally two independent volumes, I split by the insertion of II early on.

Collation

A bifolium, 1–212 / 3–912, 1010, 1112, 126 / 1312, a singleton; catchwords; leaf-numbers in I. At least one quire is missing after 13.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, sewn on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i and 149 were pastedowns in a binding sewn on six bands. Near the foot of fol. 149 is the mark of the large brass chain-staple.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

On fol. iiv, s. xiv, ‘Liber quondam M. Roberti de Gillynham in sacra pagina professoris et uicarii beati Petri in oriente Oxon. Legatus domui aule de Mertone ad incatenandum in librario [sic] eiusdem domus.’ Gillingham (BRUO 770) was fellow 1327–33, d. Jan. 1346.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with ‘E. 4, 4’ (canc.) and a table of contents, s. xvii, the College bookplate pasted over.

On the board itself is ‘O. 3. 1. Art:’, s. xvii, canc. and replaced with ‘L. 1. 1 (CXXIX)’ in red.

At the head of fol. 1 is the James no. ‘41’, s. xvii in.

Merton College MS 129 – Part I (fols. 1–24v, 137–48v)

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. (fols. 1–24v)
ROBERT KILWARDBY OP, Tabula de Concordantiis Librorum Sententiarum
Incipit: Abraham. Quare Christus non dicitur decimatus in Abraham sicut in Leui
Explicit: (Ypostasis) Quomodo proprietates determinant ypostases non substanciam uel naturam.

Ed. G. Haverling (München, 1995); Stegmüller, Sent. 10, 1; 743; Glorieux, Arts, 411ae; Sharpe, Handlist, p. 562.

3. (fols. 137–48v)
Indexes to the Pauline Epistles, Acts and Gospels respectively
Incipit: Abba idem est quod pater
Explicit: (fol. 144v Ypocrisis) per repromissionem.
Incipit: Abrahe egresso corporaliter de terra sua
Explicit: (fol. 145v Xtus) primo a Anthiochie xi. g. omnes.
Incipit: Absolon qualiter sacerdos
Explicit: (ends impf. in Tribulatio) quanta erit in fine mundi. Math. 24a (catchword consurget)

The first two are Stegmüller, Bibl. 8729–30, reporting two German copies containing both. 8729, or a similar version, is also in MS 197 art. 1.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Dimensions (written): 280 × 160 mm.

Layout

Ruled with pencil in 2 cols (arts 1–2) and 3 cols (art. 4) of 74 lines.

Hand(s)

In a low-grade English gothic rotunda bookhand.

Decoration

Blue initials flourished in red; plain blue or red initials; large and small red or blue paraphs.

History

Origin: S. XIV in. (before 1347) ; script of English appearance

Merton College MS. 129 – Part II (fols. 25–136v)

Contents

Language(s): Latin

2. (fols. 25–133v)
2.1. (fols. 25–132v)
THOMAS OF IRELAND, Manipulus Florum
Rubric: Incipit tabula originalium siue manipulus florum secundum ordinem alphabeti extracta a libris scilicet xxxvi auctorum.
Incipit: Abiit in agrum ...; Ruth paupercula non habens messem propriam ad colligendum
Incipit: Abstinencia. Bonum est in cybo gratiarum actione percipere
Explicit: b humilitas b parentes o.
Final rubric: Explicit manipulus florum compilatus a magistro Thoma de Hybernia quondam socio de Serbona; et incipit [sic] super Iohannes Galensis ordinis fratrum minorum doctor in theologia istam tabulam et magister Thomas finiuit.

Pr. Piacenza 1483 &c; R. H. and M. A. Rouse, Preachers, Florilegia and Sermons; Studies on the Manipulus Florum of Thomas of Ireland (Toronto, 1979); Glorieux, Théol. 322x; Bloomfield 0091.

2.2. (fols. 132v-3)
An alphabetical subject-index
Final rubric: Explicit tabula aurea.

In 4 cols.

(fols. 133v-6v)
A list of authors and works
Incipit: ⟨N⟩otandum quod librorum originalium sanctorum
Explicit: fluminum dulcis gustus

Added in a slightly later and less formal hand.

See J. de Ghellinck, 'Un catalogue des œuvres de Hugues de St-Victor', Revue néoscolastique de philosophie 20 (1913), 226–32.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Dimensions (written): 280 × 180 mm.

Layout

Frame-ruled with crayon in 2 cols; written in c. 60 lines.

Hand(s)

In anglicana hand.

Decoration

Blue initials flourished in red; red or blue paraphs; red highlighting, underlining and line-fillers. Decoration lacks on fols. 133v-36v. At the foot of fols. 98v and 118v are pencilled ‘littere 33 | paraffi 620 | 602’ and ‘Continet 400 paraffi et x’.

History

Origin: S. XIV in. (before 1347) ; script of English appearance

Merton College MS 129 - endleaf (fol. 149)

Contents

Language(s): Latin

(fol. 149)
Work on canon law

A bifolium, flattened and bound in sideways, from the last quire of a copy of a work on canon law.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 240 × 170 mm.
Dimensions (written): 200 × 130 mm.

Layout

Written in 2 cols of 45 lines.

Hand(s)

Written in a small low-grade English gothic rotunda bookhand.

Decoration

Lacking.

History

Origin: s. xiii script; script of English appearance.

Provenance

Orig. sides A and C written on; B filled with text in an anglicana hand; D originally blank, the top half with four cautiones, s. xiv, largely obliterated by glue. The lowest two are dated 1347, the first by M. Willelmus de Fritheby in the Warwick chest, the second by the same and Hugo clericalis, Iohannes Denton and Edmund clericalis in ‘antiqua cista uniuersitatis’. ‘Et tradatur predicto M. Willelmo Fritheby’, followed by ‘Fritheby’ in slightly larger script, evidently a note of ownership. The position of these cautiones shows that they relate to the original book of which fol. 149 is the remnant, not to the rest of MS 129. None of the individuals appear in BRUO.

Additional Information

Record Sources

R. M. Thomson, A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer), 2009.

Availability

For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact Merton College Library.

Bibliography

    Coxe, p. 57; Powicke, no. 343; Rouse and Rouse, Preachers, Florilegia and Sermons; Studies on the Manipulus Florum of Thomas of Ireland, pp. 366–7.

Funding of Cataloguing

Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Warden and Fellows of Merton College .

Last Substantive Revision

2019-06-07: First online publication

See the Availability section of this record for information on viewing the item in a reading room.