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

MS. Ash. Rolls 50

Summary Catalogue no.: 8465sss

Former shelfmark: MS. Ashmole 1773

Contents

Genealogy of the Kings of England to Edward I and the kings of Scotland to John Balliol
Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: roll
Support: parchment
Dimensions (roll): c. 1920 × 500 mm.

Decoration

Fine miniatures (coloured drawings). Incomplete. (Pächt and Alexander iii. 519, pl. XLIX)

Seven medallions (first torn away, second damaged) illustrating the story of Brutus. Seven rows, each containing 14 small medallions with portraits of kings. Seven columns, each filled with small medallions containing portraits of the Anglo-Saxon kings of the Heptarchy. Two rows, each containing 14 small medallions with portraits of kings from Aethelwulf to Edward I. Family tree, illustrated with small medallions containing portraits of the ancestors of Edward I.

History

Origin: 1292 × 1307 ; English

Provenance and Acquisition

Written before the death of Edward I in 1307; the number of his regnal years is not inserted. John Balliol, king of Scotland, 1292–6, is the last Scottish king shown. Closely related to MS. Bodl. Rolls 3.

Elias Ashmole, 1617–1692.

Bequeathed by him to the Ashmolean Museum.

Transferred to the Bodleian Library in 1860.

Record Sources

Description adapted (2018) from Watson and Pächt and Alexander (see bibliography), incorporating additional description of decoration by Elizabeth Solopova, c. 2000. Previously described in the Quarto Catalogue (W. H. Black, A descriptive, analytical, and critical catalogue of the manuscripts bequeathed unto the University of Oxford by Elias Ashmole Esq...., Quarto Catalogues X, 1845).

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (4 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Last Substantive Revision

2017-07-01: First online publication.