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

St John's College MS 203

Sermon outlines and themata; Guillaume de Conches, ‘Moralium dogma philosophorum’

Physical Description

Comprising four originally separate MSS
Form: codex
Support: all on vellum (the first two HSOS/HFFH, the last two FSOS/FHHF)
Extent: Fols. iii + 247 + iii (numbered fols. iv–vi).
Dimensions (leaf): 154 × 115 mm.

Binding

A modern rebinding. Sewn on four thongs. At the front, a marbled paper leaf (dated ‘1838’ on the verso) and two modern paper flyleaves; at the rear, two modern paper flyleaves and another marbled paper leaf (iv–vi).

History

Origin: s. xiii/xiv and xiv ; England

Provenance and Acquisition

Iohannes White de Suthwyke in Comitatu Sutht armiger dedit hunc librum Thome White [milit⟨ ⟩] de london’ milit’ ad vsum Colegij per ipsum de nouo erecti in oxon Anno 1555’ (fol. 25, lower margin).

Manuscript 1 = Fols. 1–10

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1.

A commonplace book: notes, distinctiones, sermon divisions. Fol. 10v has a contents table for the following material, a list of the themata, at the end ‘omnes ⟨hos?⟩ sermones sunt in quaterno sequenti’.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Memorandum
Foliation: A medieval pagination 55–65, [66], 99–105, [106].

Collation

110.

Hand(s)

Written in anglicana and gothic textura semiquadrata, s. xiv in.

History

Origin: s. xiv in.

Manuscript 2 = Fols. 11–24

Contents

Language(s): Latin

2. Fols. 11–24v:
a series of at least twenty-two sermon outlines or themata,

none corresponding to anything in Schneyer. The first five items begin:

(i) Fol. 11: ‘Est filia melior filia ecclesciastici 36. Scimus sicut didicimus ab aristotele in liber de […]

(ii) Fol. 11v:[a rubric in crayon: ‘Dominica in septuagesima] Pet⟨ra⟩ autem erat cristus corinthiorum 10. cristus dicitur lapis siue petra hic et alibi […]

(iii) Fol. 12: ‘Fili recordare quod recepta beata In vita tua etc. Abraham vbi filium vocat […]

(iv) Fol. 12v: ‘Nostra conuersatio in celis est philippensium 3. set dicit quid eet [sic for esset] celi dominio […]

(v) Fol. 12v: ‘Humilibus dat graciam etc. prou’ Est autem gracia ut donum gratuiter […]

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: donec
Extent: Fols. 14.
Dimensions (leaf): Pages smaller than the remainder of the book, about 146 mm high.
Foliation: A medieval pagination [25], 26–52.

Collation

214.

Layout

In long lines, 54 lines to the page. No prickings; bounded in brown crayon, no rules.

Hand(s)

Written in minute anglicana, s. xiii/xiv. Punctuation by point.

Decoration

Alternate red and blue paraphs, modestly flourished in the other colour, at the head of each sermon.

History

Origin: s. xiii/xiv

Manuscript 3 = Fols. 25–225

Contents

Language(s): Latin

3.

A contents table, added later, in the concluding quire, fols. 220va–3ra ‘Iste collationes subscripte continentur superius in libro isto’, numbers the contents to 153 items (a marginal numeration imposed on the contents at that time). Most, but not all, are sermons, with a few short bits which appear to be exempla. None appear to be in Schneyer; incipits of the first five items are:

(i) Fol. 25: ‘Videte quomodo caute ambuletis etc. Effesii 5. Scitis quod visus duo facit discernit […]

(ii) Fols. 25v–9: ‘Oculi sapientis in capite eius Ecclesiastice 7. In hiis illis 4. occurunt consideranda […]

(iii) Fols. 29–35v: ‘Numquid produces luciferum in tempore suo Iob 30. In his verbis prout competunt predicatori […] ’ A boundary with another text may have occurred on the lost leaf following fol. 32.

(iv) Fols. 36–7: ‘Pater tenere diligit eum genesis 44. secundum Tullium amor est motus animi […]

(v) Fols. 37v–8v: ‘Exi a me quia homo peccator sum domine Luce 5. tanguntur 3a. potencie diuine confessio domine confitentis […]

At the end, fol. 223v is blank. The final leaves (fols. 224–5) are probably extraneous to the remainder, of s. xiv in. and covered with theological notes of various sorts, beginning with a fragment of a sermon, ‘Lingnum vite est hijs qui apprehenderunt eam .. 3a. sunt per quem sermocinantes frequenter animos attendunt […] ’ This scribe also adds material on blank leaves at the end of the next MS.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: labore
Extent: Fols. 201.
Dimensions (written): about 120 × 75 mm.
Foliation: A medieval foliation, in which fols. 25–220 = 1–196, fols. 224–5 = 198–9.

Collation

38 48 (–1) 5–1212 1314 14–1812 1914 202. Catchwords, often in the gutter (many cut away); no signatures. A catchword which does not match the following text at fol. 75v was noted by a reader of s. xiv, who wrote at the page foot ‘hic deficit nescio quid’; another note, ‘nichil deficit’, appears at fol. 123v.

Layout

In long lines, about 28 lines to the page (variable by the scribe). Very occasional prickings; bounded and ruled in black ink and lead.

Hand(s)

Written in various anglicanas, s. xiv1 or a little later; hands change at least at fols. 38 (corresponding with a possible booklet boundary), 63, 88, 123v (light ink and a crammed writing area, 38 lines to the page). A further possible booklet boundary occurs at the end of quire 18, where fol. 209rv is blank. There are a great many blank leaves and other signs of discontinuous production within quires. Punctuation by medial point.

Decoration

Incipits are underlined sermon themata; large blanks between texts, which might have been left for headings, are unfilled.

History

Origin: s. xiv1 or a little later

Manuscript 4 = Fols. 226–47

Contents

Language(s): Latin

4. Fols. 226–38:
Rubric: ⟨M⟩oralium dogma philosophorum etc.
Incipit: Quia fragilis res est memoria et rerum turbe non sufficit necesse
Explicit: sed rei magnitudo usum quoque exercitationemque desiderat
Incipit: aduersamini igitur vitia ut ait boecius in calce libri de consolacione Virtutes colite et ad rectas spes
Explicit: Indicta est et veritatis cum ante oculos uersemini Iudicis cunta cernentis.
GUILLAUME DE CONCHES, Moralium dogma philosophorum,

ed. John Holmberg, Das Moralium dogma philosophorum des Guillaume de Conches (Uppsala, 1929), 5–74, , concluding with two sentences from BOETHIUS, De consolatione Philosophiae, 5.p 6.47–8, ed. Ludwig Bieler, CC 94 (1984), 106., This is the only formal text in this section; the remainder presents a disorganized series of sermons and sermon notes, some in the hand responsible for fols. 224–5.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Cito
Extent: Fols. 22.
Dimensions (written): 115–20 × 78–80 mm.
Foliation: A medieval pagination, in which fols. 226v–38 = 2–25, then foliated, with fols. 239–46 = 26–33.

Collation

2114 (–14, probably blank) 2212? (if so, –10, –11, –12).

Layout

In long lines, about 39 lines to the page. No prickings; no bounds or rules.

Hand(s)

Written in gothic textura prescissa, s. xiv in. Punctuation by point and punctus elevatus.

Decoration

No decoration; a guide letter for a 2-line initial at the head of text 4, but the space is unfilled.

History

Origin: s. xiv in. ;

Additional Information

Record Sources

Ralph Hanna, A descriptive catalogue of the western medieval manuscripts of St. John's College, Oxford (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)

Availability

For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact St John's College Library.

Bibliography

    Ludwig Bieler (ed.), Boethi Philosophiae Consolatio, Corpus Christianorum 94 (1984).
    John Holmberg (ed.), Das Moralium dogma philosophorum des Guillaume de Conches (Uppsala, 1929).
    Johannes Baptist Schneyer, Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters für die Zeit von 1150–1350, 11 vols. (Münster i. W., 1969–90).

Funding of Cataloguing

Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Thompson Family Charitable Trust

Last Substantive Revision

2022-02: First online publication

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