MS. Canon. Liturg. 356
Summary Catalogue no.: 19442
Secular Psalter with Antiphons; Italy, Pavia (?), late 13th or early 14th century, and 15th century, first quarter
Contents
Fols. i–ii are paper fly-leaves, blank apart from modern notes.
[items 1–2 occupy quire I]
Hymns for St Augustine, Magne pater Augustine (Chevalier, no. 10968) and Ciues celi applaudite (Chevalier, no. 3471), with rubrics and music for the opening lines of Magne pater (square notation on staves of four red lines), added in a 14th- or 15th-century hand. Ciues celi contains corrections in a post-medieval (?) hand. Words ‘Imnum nouum concinimus’ (pen trials (?)) written twice on ruled lines after the end of the hymns.
Hymns for the Transfiguration, Fons pietatis (Chevalier, no. 6446) and Yhesus postquam monstrauerat (Chevalier, no. 9736), added in a 15th-century (?) hand, with music for the opening lines of each hymn.
[item 3 occupies quire II]
Calendar, laid out one month per page, written in red and black, approximately half full, not graded, apart from the use of colour, though grading was added in a later hand on fol. 3r (January). Bartholomew (24 August) and Lawrence (10 August) are the only saints, apart from the apostles, whose feasts are in red with vigils and octaves in red. Also includes Christopher (7 January; 25 July), Vincent of Saragossa, Anastasius and Gaudentius of Novara (all 22 January), Severus of Ravenna (?) (1 February; relics in Pavia in early Middle Ages), Syrus of Pavia (17 May; and 9 December in black), Urban and Saviour (25 May), Gervasius and Protasius (19 June), Margaret (5 July) and Domninus of Fidenza (9 October), all in red; John Calybita (27 February) and Dalmatius of Pavia (5 December) in black. Contains some erasures and the following additions in a 15th-century hand: Vincent Ferrer (‘Sancti vincentij confessoris de ordine predicatorum’, 5 April), Isidore, martyr (16 April), Athanasius, bishop and confessor (4 May), Anthony of Padua (13 June) and the feast of Transfiguration (6 August; was authorized as a feast of the entire Catholic church by Pope Calixtus III after 1456). The months are headed by verses on the ‘Egyptian’ days similar to Hennig’s (1955) set I, and notes on the length of the solar and lunar months.
[items 4–8 occupy quires III–XXV]
Psalms 1–150, in the biblical order, written with each verse beginning on a new line, without titles. Punctuated throughout with punctus flexus used to mark minor pauses, punctus elevatus used to mark metrum, and punctus used to mark the ends of verses. Psalms are accompanied by antiphons, versicles, responses, etc. with music (square notation on staves of four red lines). Numbers of some psalms are added in the margins in a post-medieval hand.
There are many corrections, liturgical additions and notes in 17th-century (?) hands, in Latin and Italian (e.g. fols. 65v, 145v, 148r), with folio references to psalms and canticles in the psalter, following foliation in the lower right corner (see ‘Physical description’ (‘Foliation’)).
Fragments of parchment bookmarks or glue which used to hold them on the fore-edge of many leaves.
There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97, 109, 114, 118: 1, 118: 33, 118: 81, 118: 129, 121, 126, 131, 137 and 143 (see ‘Decoration’). Larger initials mark psalms appointed first for Matins and Vespers during the week, as well as for Prime, Terce, Sext and None, all in the secular use. Psalm 109 starts on a new quire with a particularly richly decorated initial (the preceding quire has 10 leaves instead of 8, usual elsewhere in the manuscript). Subdivisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from psalm 118, subdivided into twenty-two 8-verse units.
Weekly canticles without titles, followed by antiphons with music, without rubrics:
- (1) Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12);
- (2) Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21);
- (3) Exultauit cor meum (1 Samuel 2: 1–11);
- (4) Cantemus domino (Exodus 15: 1–20);
- (5) Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3);
- (6) Audite celi (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44).
Daily canticles without titles:
- (1) Benedicite omnia opera (fol. 179r);
- (2) Te deum laudamus (fol. 180r);
- (3) Benedictus dominus deus (fol. 181r);
- (4) Magnificat (fol. 181v);
- (5) Nunc dimittis (fol. 182r);
- (6) Gloria in excelsis (fol. 182v);
- (7) Pater noster (fol. 182v);
- (8) Apostles’ Creed (Credo in deum ... ) (fol. 183r);
- (9) Nicene Creed (Credo in unum deum ... ) (fol. 183r);
- (10) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ... ) (fol. 184r).
Part of the daily litanies with a rubric ‘Sic dicuntur letanie in .ij. et iiij. feria’; much is missing because of the loss of leaves after fol. 186. Followed by a versicle, responses and collects (fol. 187r–v):
- (1) Concede quesumus omnipotens deus ut intercessio nos sancte dei ...
- (2) Domine deus omnipotens piissime pater suscipe propicius hos psalmos ...
- (3) Benignus et misericors deus qui reuocas errantes et saluas penitentes ...
Hymn Pange lingua gloriosi corporis misterium (Chevalier, no. 14467), added in a 15th-century (?) hand, which also added hymns for Corpus Christi on fols. 242r–v. Rubric ‘Ad vesperas ymnus’.
[items 9–11 occupy quires XXVI–XXXII]
Hymnal with rubrics and music (square notation on staves of four red lines), comprising hymns for the year, beginning with the hymns for Sundays, followed by those for Matins, Lauds and Vespers on days of the week, and the hymns for the temporale, sanctorale (including Sts Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary and Michael) and for the Common of Saints. The last hymn is for John the Evangelist, with staves originally left blank, but music later supplied in smaller notes than usual elsewhere in the manuscript, possibly in a contemporary hand. Liturgical additions and notes in the margins in 17th-century (?) hands, with folio references to psalms and canticles in the psalter, following foliation in the lower right corner. Primo dierum omnium (Chevalier, no. 15450), Eterne rerum conditor (Chevalier, no. 647), Nocte surgentes uigilemus (Chevalier, no. 12035), Ecce iam noctis tenuatur umbra (Chevalier, no. 5129), Iam lucis orto sidere (Chevalier, no. 9272), Nunc sancte nobis spiritus (Chevalier, no. 12586), Nunc sancte nobis spiritus (Chevalier, no. 12586), opening lines of the same hymn with the same music, with rubric ‘Priuatis diebus ymnus’, Rector potens uerax deus (Chevalier, no. 17061), Rerum deus tenax uigor (Chevalier, no. 17328), Lucis creator optime (Chevalier, no. 1068), Te lucis ante terminum (Chevalier, no. 20138), Sompno refectis artubus (Chevalier, no. 19210), Splendor paterne (Chevalier, no. 19349), Immense celi conditor (Chevalier, no. 8453), Consors paterni luminis (Chevalier, no. 3830), Ales diei nuncius (Chevalier, no. 795), Teluris ingens conditor (Chevalier, no. 20268), Rerum creator optime (Chevalier, no. 17322), Nox et tenebre et nubila (Chevalier, no. 12402), Celi deus sanctissime (Chevalier, no. 3484), Nox atra rerum (Chevalier, no. 12396), Lux ecce surgit (Chevalier, no. 10811), Magne deus potentie (Chevalier, no. 10934), Trinitatis unitas (Chevalier, no. 20713), Eterna celi gloria (Chevalier, no. 609), Psalmator hominis deus qui cuncta solus ordinans (Chevalier, no. 14968), Summe deus clementie (Chevalier, no. 19636), Aurora iam sparsit (Chevalier, no. 1633), O lux beata trinitas (Chevalier, no. 13150), Conditor alme (Chevalier, no. 3733), Uerbum supernum prodiens a patre (Chevalier, no. 29391), Uox clara ecce intonat (Chevalier, no. 22199), Ueni redemptor gentium (Chevalier, no. 21243), Christe redemptor omnium ex patre (Chevalier, no. 2960), A solis ortus cardine (Chevalier, no. 26), Hostis herodes impie (Chevalier, no. 8073), Enixa est puerpera (Chevalier, no. 549), Audi benigne conditor (Chevalier, no. 1449), Ex more docti mistico (Chevalier, no. 5610), Iam christe sol iusticie (Chevalier, no. 9205), Aures ad nostras deitatis (Chevalier, no. 1612), Clarum decus ieiunij (Chevalier, no. 3362), Uexilla regis (Chevalier, no. 21481), O crux aue spes (Chevalier, no. 12842), Pange lingua gloriosi prelium (Chevalier, no. 14481), Rex angelorum (Chevalier, no. 17389), Lustris sex qui iam peractis (Chevalier, no. 10765), Ad cenam agni prouidi (Chevalier, no. 110), Uita sanctorum deus angelorum (Chevalier, no. 21977), Rex eterne domine (Chevalier, no. 17393), Aurora lucis rutilat (Chevalier, no. 1644), Tristes erant apostoli de nece (Chevalier, no. 20589), Festum nunc celebre (Chevalier, no. 6264), Iesu nostra redemptio (Chevalier, no. 9582), Eterne rex altissime (Chevalier, no. 654), Ueni creator spiritus (Chevalier, no. 21204), Iam christus astra (Chevalier, no. 9215), Beata nobis gaudia (Chevalier, no. 2339), Doctor egregie paule mores (Chevalier, no. 4791), Quodcunque uinclis super terram (Chevalier, no. 4791), Iam bone pastor petre clemens (Chevalier, no. 9196), Ut queant laxis resonare (Chevalier, no. 21039), Antra deserti teneris (Chevalier, no. 1214), O nimis felix meritique celsi (Chevalier, no. 13311), Aurea luce et decore (Chevalier, no. 1596), Iam bone pastor petre clemens (Chevalier, no. 9196), Doctor egregie paule mores (Chevalier, no. 4791) and Exultet celum laudibus (Chevalier, no. 5832), the opening lines only of both hymns with music ‘In sancti pauli ad uesperam et ad nocturnum’, Nardi maria pistici (Chevalier, no. 11846), Huius optentu deus alme (Chevalier, no. 8162), followed by the opening lines of the same hymn with a stave, musical notation not filled in, without rubric, Petrus beatus catenarum (Chevalier, no. 14885), Iam bone pastor petre (Chevalier, no. 9196), followed by the opening lines of the same hymn with music ‘in cathedra sancti petri’, Aue maris stella (Chevalier, no. 1889), Quem terra pontus ethera (Chevalier, no. 16347), O gloriosa domina excelsa (Chevalier, no. 13042), Tibi christe splendor (Chevalier, no. 20455), Christe sanctorum decus (Chevalier, no. 3000), Christe redemptor omnium conserua tuos famulos (Chevalier, no. 2959), Iesu saluator seculi redemptis (Chevalier, no. 9677), Exultet celum laudibus (Chevalier, no. 5832), Eterna christi munera apostolorum gloriam (Chevalier, no. 590), Sanctorum meritis inclita gaudia (Chevalier, no. 18607), Eterna christi munera et martirum uictorias (Chevalier, no. 598), Rex gloriose martirum (Chevalier, no. 17453), Deus tuorum militum (Chevalier, no. 4533), Martir dei qui unicum patris (Chevalier, no. 11228), Iste confessor domini sacratus (Chevalier, no. 9136), Iesu redemptor omnium perpes (Chevalier, no. 9628), Iesu corona celsior (Chevalier, no. 9494), Iesu corona uirginum (Chevalier, no. 9507), Uirginis proles opifexque matris (Chevalier, no. 21703), Urbs beata ierusalem dicta pacis (Chevalier, no. 20918), Angularis fundamentum (Chevalier, no. 1082), Solemnis dies aduenit (Chevalier, no. 19153).
Prayers to John the Evangelist, the Virgin Mary, Paul, Peter, Stephen and Lawrence:
- (1) O intemerata et in eternum benedicta singularis atque incomparabilis uirgo ...(masculine grammatical forms)
- (2) Deus qui per unigenitum filium tuum beatam mariam semper uirginem ac beatum iohannem ...
- (3) Pietate tua quesumus domine nostrorum solue omnia uincula ...(invocations of Peter and Paul, Stephen, Lawrence)
- (4) O beata et benedicta uirgo maria per te accessum habeamus ad filium ... , with a rubric ‘Oratio sancti bernardi ad uirginem mariam’
- (5) Liberator animarum mundi redemptor ...
- (6) Domine ihesu christe fili dei unii per quem facta sunt omnia ...(masculine grammatical forms).
Hymns for Corpus Christi: Sacris solemniis (Chevalier, no. 17713) and Uerbum supernum prodiens nec patris (Chevalier, no. 21398), added in a 15th-century (?) hand which also added Pange lingua gloriosi corporis misterium on fol. 188r–v. Fols. 243–244 are blank paper fly-leaves.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruling very faint, apparently in plummet, with single vertical bounding lines extending the full height of page (visible on fols. 42v, 43r, 44v, 45r); 19 lines per page; prickings survive on some leaves (e.g. 108v, 110v); written below the top line; written space: c. 185 × 125 mm.
Hand(s)
Large formal Gothic book hand, black ink; antiphons, etc. are in a smaller script.
Square notation on staves of four red lines.
Decoration
Red and blue KL monograms, decorated with contrasting purple and red penwork in the calendar.
Historiated initials and borders at liturgical divisions.
- fol. 9r, Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)), Two-thirds of the page, on gold background (flaking), decorated with coiled tendrils, interlace, acanthus leaves and animal head. Half-figure of God, holding a book and blessing, and half-figure of a kneeling patron (?) in blue robe and hat (both defaced, flaking, underdrawing visible).
- (full border) Coiled tendrils with acanthus leaves and gold discs (flaking); King David playing harp in a medallion and a grotesque in the lower margin; kneeling tonsured figure in blue robe in the left margin; portrait head in a medallion in right margin; birds and grotesque in the upper margin.
- fol. 131r, Psalm 109 (initial D(ixit)), 8-line initial on gold background (flaking), decorated with grotesques, coiled tendrils and foliage, infilled with half-figure of Christ with cruciform halo, holding a book and blessing.
- (full border) Coiled tendrils with acanthus leaves and gold discs (flaking); leaping dog; nude figure with a shield and sword, seated on a decorative stem; medallion with a bust of a young man; birds; hybrid figure in a long tunic and cloak, with animal head, standing, holding a staff in raised hand; profile head with a decorative stem growing out of its mouth.
- fol. 138r, Psalm 118: 1 (initial B(eati)), 6-line initial on gold background (flaking), decorated with foliage, infilled with a half-figure of a tonsured cleric in black habit.
- (border, left and lower margins) Tendrils with acanthus leaves and gold discs (flaking); grotesques.
- fol. 189r, Hymnal (initial P(rimo)), Pink and green initial on blue background, occupying two-thirds of the page, decorated with acanthus leaves, infilled with half-figure of a bearded man, pointing to the text. Added in the 15th century, first quarter.
- (border, left, lower and upper margins) Coiled tendrils with acanthus leaves. Added in the 15th century, first quarter.
Historiated borders: see above.
8-line initials on gold background, decorated with coiled tendrils, foliage, grotesques and animal heads at the beginnings of psalms 26 (fol. 34r), 38 (fol. 50r), 52 (fol. 65r), 68 (fol. 79v), 80 (fol. 97v) and 97 (fol. 114r). Similar 4- to 5-line initials at the beginnings of psalms 114 (fol. 135r), 118: 33 (fol. 140r), 118: 81 (fol. 143r), 118: 129 (fol. 145v), 121 (fol. 149r), 126 (fol. 151v), 131 (fol. 153v), 137 (fol. 158r) and 143 (fol. 163v). The initials are accompanied by borders, decorated with coiled tendrils, acanthus leaves, gold discs, grotesques, birds, animal and human figures and heads. Erased standing figure in the left margin at psalm 38 (fol. 50r). The opening words of the psalms are written in gold capitals on blue and pink background.
2-line blue or red initials, decorated with contrasting red, purple or blue penwork, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles, litany and hymns.
1-line alternating plain red and blue initials at the beginnings of verses and periods in the psalter; 1-line alternating red and blue initials, decorated with simple blue or red penwork, at the beginnings of verses in the hymnal.
Guide-letters and words are often visible in the margins, set at a distance from the main text (e.g. fols. 43v–44r, 129v–130r, ‘Exultate’ on fol. 97v).
Rubrics in red ink.
Binding
Soranzo’s binding: parchment over pasteboard; small stiff flaps on the fore-edges of covers. ‘356’ written in black ink on spine. Brown leather label on spine, framed with gilt arabesque designs, with gilt lettering ‘KALEND. PSALT. || ET || HYMNARIUM || COD . MEMB.’. Fragment of Soranzo’s label on spine with ‘116[4]’ (i.e. number 1164 in folio in Soranzo’s catalogue (Mitchell, 1969)). Pastedowns and fly-leaves of stiff paper with burgundy, purple and yellow floral designs (carta bassanese). Further flyleaves made of 18th-century laid paper; no watermarks. Markings left by two clasps of an earlier binding on fols. 1–6.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Made for a secular church in or near Pavia (?): liturgical evidence.
15th-century additions: feasts in the calendar, including the feasts of Vincent Ferrer and Transfiguration; hymns for Transfiguration and Corpus Christi, initial at the beginning of the hymnal.
Post-medieval liturgical notes and additions, showing that the psalter was still used in Italy in the 17th century.
Jacopo Soranzo (1686–1761): binding. After Soranzo’s death by about 1780 at Cá Cornèr at San Maurizio (Mitchell, 1969).
Matteo Luigi Canonici of Venice (1727–c. 1806): bought soon after 1780.
Bodleian Library: bought in 1817 from Canonici’s nephew Giovanni Perissinotti. Earlier shelfmarks: ‘Miscell. Liturg. 356’ (fol. 3r).
Record Sources
Bibliography
Select bibliography to 2004:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2024-07: Encode full description from Solopova catalogue.