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

MS. Digby 166

Summary Catalogue no.: 1767

Contents

Scientific and poetic anthology

Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Extent: 110 leaves
Dimensions (leaf): 250 × 180 mm.
(trimmed)
Foliation: Modern foliation.

Collation

Variations in hand and layout, blank leaves at the end of quires (fols. 20v, 35v, 45v, *45, 50vb, 74rb, 74v, 89v–90v), and wear and tear (especially between sections of Part VIII) show that the manuscript is a compilation of originally separate booklets. This is also indicated by the prices on the first recto pages of Parts I–IV and VI: fol. 1r, ‘ij s.’; fol. 13r, ‘iij s.’; fol. 21r, ‘iij s.’; fol. 36r, ‘val. iij s.’; fol. 51r, ‘iij s.’ These are presumably the retail prices of the individual booklets.

Hand(s)

Rigg identifies the hands in the manuscript as A through F:

Parts I and II were written by A, a semi-cursive hand of the mid-fourteenth century. This scribe writes above the top line of the frame.

An Anglicana business hand B was, at various times, responsible for several parts of the manuscript: B1 wrote Part III fols. 21ra–26vb (No. 5, Sacrobosco De sphera); B2 wrote Part IV fols. 36ra–44rb to near the end of No. 10 (Odoric of Pordenone); in Part V B3 wrote the first two items (Nos. 11–12, fols. 46ra–48va) and B4 wrote the next two (Nos. 13–14, fols. 48vb–50va); in Part VI B5 wrote No. 44 (fols. 68rb–71va), followed by B6 who wrote Nos. 45–47 on fols. 71va–74rb. These varieties of B’s script differ only in size and thickness of ink and are, Rigg believes, by one scribe, writing probably in the later part of the fourteenth century (certainly after 1330, the date of No. 10).

Another Anglicana hand, C1, augmented Part III and wrote Nos. 6–9 on fols. 27ra–30rb; No. 9 was completed by a similar but distinct hand, C2, on fols. 30va–35ra.

In Part IV, where B2 had left the text of No. 10 incomplete on fol. 44rb, a fifteenth-century hand D completed it and finished on fol. 45rb.

The original poems of Part VI (the collection related to Bodley 603) were written by two hands, also late fourteenth-century: E1 (fols. 51ra–58ra, Nos. 15–23) writes a Textura, with ‘biting’ and a habit of drawing doodles and small faces from the ascenders on the top line; E1 (fols. 58rb–68ra, Nos. 23–43) is similar to E but without the doodles.

One hand, F, wrote the fifteenth-century Parts VII–VIII.

Titles (where supplied) are usually by the scribe who wrote the text (as in Part I), but that on fol. 13r is by a somewhat later hand. The title of No. 13 (fol. 48vb) is perhaps by the fifteenth-century hand F.

At the foot of fol. 51r (perhaps referring to No. 16) is written ‘amonicio quedam ut caueamus male age’ (? agere, agendo); at the foot of fol. 53vb (referring to No. 18) is written ‘incipiunt sermones golie’: these notes may be by the hand which wrote the prices (below).

On fol. 61ra an extra line has been added (see No. 30).

In blank space on fol. 74rb is written: ‘In isto libro continentur: Algorismus prosaicus’; this incipient contents list, written in the fourteenth century, perhaps shows that Part II was once the first booklet in what was by now perceived as a single book.

On fol. 74v is a diagram of the winds and a short extract from Isidore (No. 48).

Binding

Standard binding of the Digby collection, between 1632 and 1634: light brown leather, stamped on each cover in gilt with the large armorial stamp of Sir Kenelm Digby, with his arms in a laurel leaf within a pointed oval frame which carries the legend ‘INSIGNIA KENELMI DIGBY EQVITIS AURATI’; two clasps.

History

Origin:

Rigg argues that the volume was assembled in the late 14th century from six booklets, purchased from a bookseller; and augmented by another set of booklets in the fifteenth century. He draws attention to the phrase ‘val. iij s.’ on fol. 36r as indicating value rather than copying cost. See Rigg, ‘Medieval Latin Poetic Anthologies (III)’, p. 476.

The hands of Parts I–VI are of the late fourteenth century. Odoric’s Travels (No. 10) gives a date of 1330; the Battle of Najara (No. 52) notes 1366. Rigg dates hand F to the fifteenth century. Rigg suggests that the contents point to a university provenance: ‘Oxford offers itself as the ideal milieu for the circulation and cross­fertilization of poetic anthologies’ (p. 505). He notes that Digby 166, Part VI is linked textually with MS. Bodley 603, and that ‘the prose satire in Part V, the additions to Parts III and VI, and the poems of Part VIII bring Digby 166 thematically into association with Cotton MS. Titus A. xx, MS. Rawlinson B. 214, and MS. Bodley 851’ (p. 469). Andrew G. Watson, ‘Thomas Allen of Oxford and His Manuscripts’ in Medieval Scribes, Manuscripts and Libraries: Essays Presented to N. R. Ker, ed. M. B. Parkes and Andrew G. Watson (London, 1978), pp. 279–314, notes that some of Allen’s Oxford manuscripts ‘may have been in Oxford since long before Allen’s time, having been brought to the University by student monks. … when we consider his Benedictine manuscripts (which are by far the commonest) it is more than tempting to recollect that Allen’s residence, Gloucester Hall, was the descendant of a college which had a special place among houses of the Benedictine order’ (p. 286).

Rigg hypothesizes: ‘a fourteenth-century bookseller offered for sale five booklets: mathematical commentaries (Part I), Peter Dacia on the Algorismus (Part II), Sacrobosco De sphera (Part III, quire iii only), the Travels of Odoric of Pordenone (Part IV, incomplete), and a collection of satirical poems (Part VI). To these he added a collection of prose satire (Part V) in a scrappy booklet of two bifolia and an extra leaf: this was perhaps included in the price of Part IV. As one hand B was responsible for Parts III, IV, V and the two extra sets of poems in Part VI, this scribe may have been a principal scrivener in the bookseller’s operation. Both Text and Court Hands are found in Digby 166, but the Textura section by hands E1 and E2 (Part VI, fols. 51–68ra) could have been obtained separately. The fact that the booklets were prepared for, but did not receive, illumination, suggests that they were not commissioned by the purchaser. The bookseller may also have been responsible for the title of No. 4, the notes on the poems (fols. 51r, 53vb), the start of the contents list on fol. 74r, and the added line on fol. 61ra’ (pp. 471–473).

Provenance and Acquisition

At some stage Part III was augmented by the addition of an extra quire and the ‘Trojan’ entries by hands C1 and C2. The fact that two scribes were involved suggests that this was done while the booklets were still with the bookseller; on the other hand, the removal of the last leaf from quire iii shows that that booklet was once regarded as complete as it stood. Clearly, the addition was an afterthought: the parchment of quire iv is thicker and coarser than that in the rest of Parts I–VI.

In the fifteenth century someone supplied the missing end of the text of Odoric (No. 10) and added an extra bifolium. The quire signatures a–b–c–d–a on quires x–xiv show that Parts VII–VIII were originally quite separate from Parts I–VI, and also that the final quire (Part VIII C) was once the first booklet in a compilation. On the other hand, the union of Parts I–VI with VII–VIII must have taken place in the fifteenth century, especially if the title on fol. 48vb is by hand F. The whole codex was supplied with quire signatures a–o. By error, fol. 45r was signed T: this is the first leaf of the bifolium attached to quire v to take the missing text of No. 10, but must have been counted with quire vi, which consists of only five leaves.

Throughout the manuscript are various notes and scribbles, such as a student’s notes on fols. 1r and 2r, and the scribe’s notes in No. 5.

Monogram ‘G.I.’ and other scribbles on fols. 50v and 90v.

Thomas Allen (1542–1632): his inventory number, ‘A.174’, appears on fol. 1r; ‘MS. 4º 37’ in his catalogue.

Kenelm Digby, 1603–1665

Donated to the Bodleian, 1634.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 1–12 – part I

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. (fols. 1r–6v)
Michael Scot (?), Commentary on Johannes de Sacro Bosco, Tractatus de sphaera
Rubric: Exposicio tractatus sperarum
Incipit: ⟨V⟩t ait plato in thimeo mundus iste sensibilis factus est
Explicit: et demum martirizatus
Final rubric: Explicit exposicio tractatus sperarum quem tractatum sequi debet theorica planetarum secundum communem modum discendi uel docendi in astrorum sciencia que dupliciter appellatur astronomia uel astrologia

Ed. L. Thorndike, The Sphere of Sacrobosco and Its Commentators (Chicago, 1949), pp. 247–342, citing Digby 166 variants: the Digby 166 version is shorter.

eTK 1613D
2. (fols. 6v–8r)
Introduction to the Practice of Geometry
Rubric: Una bona generalis introduccio in practicam geometrie
Incipit: ⟨P⟩auca potens conpilare aliorum facta sibi non debet attribuere
Explicit: sine magna difficultate intelligere ualebit
Final rubric: Explicit una bona generalis introduccio in practicam geometrie
eTK 1030B
3. (fols. 8v–12v)
Canons on the Triangle of Pythagoras
Rubric: Canones in triangulum pictagoricum de mensuris practice geometrie
Incipit: ⟨P⟩aucis uerbis paupertatis libellus est scribendus
Explicit: mediocribus et maximis requisitis
Final rubric: Explicit canon talis qualis trianguli pictagorici de mensuris continue
Rubric: Quantitatis
eTK 1030E

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 245 × 180 mm.

Collation

i12. Catchword incorrectly given on fol. 11v.

Layout

writing area 200 × 140 mm. , single frame (double line on left margin), ruled, long-line format; writing above top ruled line (unusual for this period); 46 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand A.

Decoration

2-line spaces left for initials; space left for text-figure on fol. 7v.

History

Origin: 14th century, late

Provenance

Price: ij s.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 13–20 – part II

Contents

Language(s): Latin

4. (fol. 13r–20v)
Petrus de Dacia, Commentary on Johannes de Sacro Bosco, Algorismus
Rubric: Exposicio magistri petri de dacia super algorismum prosaicum
Incipit: ⟨O⟩mnia que a primeua et cetera. In hoc tractatu determinatur
Explicit: qui ante erant si recte fecisti
eTK 0681D

Ed. M. Curtze, Petri Philomeni de Dacia in Algorismum Vulgarem Johannis de Sacrobosco commentarius una cum Algorismo ipso (Copenhagen, 1897), pp. 20–92, from two Munich MSS. The Digby 166 text, which is shorter and much altered from the Curtze text, ends on p. 87, line 29, of that edition. Thorndike’s edition of Sacrobosco De sphera (see Digby 166 No. 1); A. G. Little, Initia operum latinorum quae saeculis XIII, XIV, XV attribuuntur (Manchester, 1904), cited as Little; Carmina Burana, ed. A. Hilka – O. Schumann – B. Bischoff, 1/1–3, 2/1 (Heidelberg, 1930–70); Analecta hymnica, ed. G. M. Dreves and C. Blume, 55 vols. (Leipzig, 1886–1922); U. Chevalier, Repertorium hymnologicum, 6 vols. (Louvain, 1892–1912), cited as Chevalier; Strecker’s edition of Walter of Chatillon, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte; J. Stohlmann, ‘Nachtrage zu Hans Walther Initia carminum … IV’, Mitteliateinisches Jahrbuch 12 (1977) 297–315.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): × mm.

Collation

ii8.

Layout

As Part I, but writing area 210 × 148 mm. .

Hand(s)

Hand A.

Decoration

History

Origin: 14th century, late

Provenance

Price: iij s.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 21–35 – part III

Contents

Language(s): Latin

5. (fols. 21ra–26vb)
Johannes de Sacro Bosco, Tractatus de sphaera
Incipit: ⟨T⟩ractatum de spera quatuor capitulis distinguimus
Explicit: patitur aut mundana machina dissoluitur

Ed. Thorndike (No. 1 above), pp. 76–117, using Digby 166; translation, pp. 118–42; Little, p. 249.

eTK 1577L
6. (fol. 27ra)
Poem on Pride
Rubric: De fastu mundi
Incipit: Turpiter erratur quando fastus dominatur
Explicit: Sartor bubonem textor vespertilionem

15 lines

WIC 19574 eTK 1593F
7. (fol. 27ra–27vb)
Simon Chevre d’Or, Ilias
Rubric: De excidio troie
Incipit: Diuiciis ortu specie virtute triumphis
Explicit: Arteque non partu ligneus egit equus.
Final rubric: Explicit

WIC 4645. Digby 166 presents the short ‘Trojan Extract’, and according to M. M. Parrott is textually in the same group as Paris, BnF, MS. lat. 4126 (English origin); MS. Add. A. 365; British Library, Royal MS. 12. D. iii; and Lincoln Cathedral MS. 105. See No. 8 below.

8. (fols. 27vb–28ra)
Pergama flere volo
Rubric: Planctus hugonis prioris de monte acuto ad idem
Incipit: Pergama flere volo fato danais data solo
Explicit: Tot clades numero scribere si potero.
Final rubric: Explicit

WIC 13985; ed. Hilka–Schumann, Carmina Burana No. 101 (1/2.139–60); cf. MS. Bodley 851 No. 10. Digby 166 is in Schumann’s mu group (listed in No. 7 above); it omits stanzas 12 and 36, and has an extra stanza after 34; after 45 it has six couplets from ‘Viribus arte minis’ (Nos. 7, 12, 2, 34, 35, 42, as printed by Hilka–Schumann, p. 159).

9. (fol. 28rb–35ra)
Dares Phrygius, De excidio Troiae historia
Rubric: Historia daretis frigii. Incipit epistola cornelii ad salustium crispum in daretis historiam que a greco in latinum a cornelio facta est
Incipit: ⟨C⟩ornelius salustio cripo[sic] suo salutem. Cum multa athenis
Explicit: Andromachem et Helenum MCCC[sic].
Rubric: Hucusque daretis historia scripta est.
Incipit: Hector occidit prothesilaum
Explicit: tomoneum palamonem epistrophe||
Final rubric: Explicit historia daretis

Ed. F. Meister, Dares Phrygius: De excidio Troiae historia (Leipzig, 1873). The 12-line necrology (Meister, pp. viii–x) is badly garbled in Digby 166. The text ends in the first lines of fol. 35ra: the leaf has been cut down to a small fragment.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 235 × 180 mm.
Last leaf (fol. 35) cut down to a small fragment, after writing.

Collation

iii7, iv8. The last leaf of the quire was presumably removed when the De sphera was the sole contents. The booklet was augmented by the addition of another quire of stiffer parchment: blank leaves in quire iii were filled. Catchword on fol. 27v.

Layout

Fols. 21r–26v (No. 5, Sacrobosco De sphera): writing area 202 × 148 mm. . Two columns, framed (with narrow double outer lines) and ruled: 46 lines per column.

No. 6 follows the original ruling, but No. 7 occupies 51 lines on fol. 27rb.

Fol. 27v and quire iv have been ruled for 52 lines per column.

Hand(s)

Fols. 21r–26v: Hand B1.

Hands C1 and C2 (the latter beginning on fol. 30v).

Decoration

2- and 3-line gaps for initials. 2-line spaces for initials in No. 9 (Dares Phrygius).

History

Origin: 14th century, late Rigg observes several textual affiliations: ‘The two Troy poems. Nos. 7–8, added to Part III by C are in Hilka-Schumann’s mu group; No. 7 is in British Library, Cotton MS. Titus A. xx and MS. Rawlinson B. 214, No. 8 in MS. Bodley 851, but in both cases Digby 166 seems to be textually separate.’

Provenance

Price: iij s.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 36–45 – part IV

Contents

Language(s): Latin

10. (fol. 36ra–45rb)
Odoric of Pordenone, Relatio de mirabilibus orientalium Tatarorum
Incipit: Nouerint vniuersi quorum interest quod quidam Frater
Explicit: si placuerit deo meo.
Final rubric: Explicit qui scripsit sit beatus

Ed. A. van den Wyngaert, Itinera et relationes fratrum minorum saeculi xiii et xiv 1 (Florence, 1929), pp. 379–95; Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, 2 vols. (Hakluyt Soc. 36–37; London, 1866), 1.1–162, 2, Appendix I. i–xlii. Digby 166 has the William of Solagna epilogue, and differs from the published text. Odoric wrote this account of his voyage to China in 1330.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 180 mm.

Collation

v9 (eight-leaf quire plus singleton) plus an extra bifolium (fols. 45–*45 unnumbered). The quire signature T on fol. 45r implies incorrectly that fols. 45–50 form a gathering.

Layout

writing area 202 × 138 mm. ; ruling as in quire iii of Part III.

Hand(s)

Hand B2.

The text (No. 10, Odoric of Pordenone) breaks off incomplete on fol. 44rb, after which hand D (s. xv) has completed it by adding an extra bifolium: fols. 44 and 45 were pricked again, so that fol. 45 would match what had preceded.

History

Origin: 14th century, late

Provenance

Price: iij s.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 46–50 – part V

Contents

Language(s): Latin

11. (fol. 46ra–48rb)
Epistle of Satan
Rubric: Epistola sathane ad vniuersalem ecclesiam
Incipit: ⟨P⟩rinceps regionis iehennalis ecclesiarum prelatis et clericis
Explicit: miseri miserere minime

Ed. W. Wattenbach, ‘Uber erfundene Briefe in Handschriften des Mittelalters, besonders Teufelsbriefe’, Sitzungsberichte der koniglich preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Jahrgang 1892, Erster Band, pp. 91–123 (text, pp. 104–16). Digby 166 reverses sections 8 and 9, and ends at par. 11, line 7, of Wattenbach’s text (omitting the final date). An extract is found in MS. Bodley 851 No. 3.

12. (fol. 48rb–48va)
Lament of the Sacked Friars
Rubric: Epistola rectoris fratrum de penitencia iesu christi
Incipit: ⟨ V⟩ iris abiecte religionis vniuersis fratribus penitencie Jesu
Explicit: oracionibus et mansuetudine deuocius exorandus

This letter, previously unpublished and unnoticed, is to the Friars of the Penitence of Jesus Christ (‘The Friars of the Sack’) from Otto, rector of the Order, on the occasion of the Order’s dissolution by the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. See R. W. Emery, ‘The Friars of the Sack’, Speculum 18 (1943) 323–34; G. M. Giacomozzi, L’Ordine della Penitenza di Gesii Cristo (Rome, 1962); A. G. Rigg, ‘The Lament of the Friars of the Sack’, Speculum 55 (1980), pp. 84–90.

13. (fol. 48vb–50ra)
Walter Map, Dissuasio Valerii
Rubric: Dissuasio valerii ad ruffinum de vxore non ducenda
Incipit: Loqui prohibeor et tacere non possum. Grues odi
Explicit: Sed ne horrestem scripsisse uideat [sic for uidear] Valete semper

Ed. M. R. James, Walter Map: De nugis curialium (Anecdota Oxoniensia, Med. and Mod., ser. 14; Oxford, 1914), Dist. IV, chap, iv, pp. 143–58. The full De nugis is found only in MS. Bodley 851, but this antimatrimonial piece is very common.

14. (fol. 50ra–50va)
Theophrastus, Aureolus de nuptiis
Rubric: Aureleus[sic] teofrasti de nupciis
Incipit: Fertur aureolus theofrasti liber de nupciis in quo queritur
Explicit: Christianorum quorum conuersacio in celis est

Incorporated in Jerome, Adversus Jovinianum, PL 23.276–78, a frequent companion piece of No. 13.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 251 × 180 mm.

Collation

vi5, comprising a bifolium 46 + 48, with 47 inserted, and another bifolium 49 + 50.

Layout

Writing area 205 × 136 mm. ; two columns, framed with outer double lines on left of each column: ruling not visible; 61 lines per column (first hand), 63 lines per column (second hand).

Hand(s)

Hands B3 and B4.

Decoration

2- and 3-line spaces for initials in Nos. 11–12.

History

Origin: 14th century, late. Rigg notes a relationship to MS. Bodley 851: ‘In Part V No. 11 is the satirical Epistle of Satan, an extract from which is in MS. Bodley 851; also in Part V No. 13 is Walter Map’s antimatrimonial ‘Epistola Valerii’: this is part of the De nugis curialium, the unique text of which is in MS. Bodley 851.’

MS. Digby 166, fols. 51–74 – part VI

Contents

Language(s): Latin

15. (fol. 51ra)
Debate between Lover, Knight and Clerk
Incipit: ⟨T⟩ria sunt officia quibus laus honoris
Explicit: Ars amor milicia sic corroboratur

WIC 19427. Ed. K. Strecker, ‘Zwei mittellateinische Gedichten’, Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie 51 (1926) 117–19 from Digby 166 (unique copy).

16. (fol. 51rb–51rb)
Poem to the Virgin
Incipit: Et [sic for Vt] iocundas ceruus undas estuans desiderat
Explicit: Nam penitenti et gementi non negatur uenia

WIC 19809. Analecta hymnica 50.426–27, a very popular poem: Digby 166 has stanzas 1–19 only.

17. (fols. 51rb–53vb)
Apocalypsis Goliae
Incipit: ⟨A⟩ tauro torrida lampade cinthii
Explicit: Mentis uestigia fecisset lubrica

WIC 91. Ed. K. Strecker (Rome, 1928), not using Digby 166.

Walter of Châtillon, Carmina satirica
18. (fols. 53vb–54rb)
a.
Incipit: ⟨M⟩issus sum in uineam circa horam nonam
Explicit: Exagita[sic] procul non intrat femina limen
b. (fol. 54rb–54vb)
Incipit: Multiformis hominum fraus et iniusticia
Explicit: Ambitus et luxus et opum metuenda facultas

WIC 18646 (inc. ‘Stulti cum prudentibus’) and 11390. Ed. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte Nos. 4 and 5: written without a break in Digby 166. The opening ‘Missus sum’ is characteristic of Strecker’s group Y.

19. (fols. 54vb–55rb)
Incipit: ⟨E⟩cce nectar roseum populis irrorat
Explicit: De lacu miserie et de luto fecis

WIC 5115. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 14.

20. (fols. 55rb–56vb)
Incipit: ⟨I⟩n domino confido quomodo dicitis
Explicit: Prima generacio hominis contrahit culpam. Secunda

WIC 8902. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 3; ends incomplete at 36/6–7, rest of line blank but with no space for the remainder of the poem.

21. (fols. 56vb–57rb)
Incipit: ⟨T⟩anto uiro locuturi studeamus esse puri
Explicit: studeam de proprio

WIC 19018. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 1. Omits 23/4–6, with gap, as MS. Bodley 603.

22. (fols. 57rb–58ra)
Incipit: ⟨Q⟩uis furor o ciues que tanta licencia litis
Explicit: Diffusa est gracia in labiis tuis

WIC 16068. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 15.

23. (fol. 58ra–58rb)
Incipit: ⟨E⟩liconis riuulo modice respersus
Explicit: Sic ait et longo consumit gaudia uoto

WIC 7693. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 7.

24. (fol. 58rb–58vb)
Incipit: ⟨B⟩aculare sacramentum nec recenter est inuentum
Explicit: Dum nichil obiciam quibus esse uolo

WIC 2047. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 12.

25. (fols. 58vb–59va)
Incipit: ⟨D⟩um conteplor[sic] animo seculi tenorem
Explicit: At illi corripiunt fugam gemibundi

WIC 4845. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 16.

26. (fol. 59va–59vb)
Against Simony
Incipit: ⟨E⟩cce sonat in aperto
Explicit: amen ammen amen ammen

WIC 5149. Ed. Hilka–Schumann, Carmina Burana No. 10 (1/1.14–15; cf. 1/3.192), with readings from Digby 166.

27. (fols. 59vb–60rb)
The Incarnation
Incipit: ⟨M⟩ultis a confratribus pridie rogatus
Explicit: Sic sit saluus omnium et nunc et in fine

WIC 11395. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 31–36, without Digby 166, which omits 27–30, 35–42, 47–70, 83–94, 139–142, and places 107–114 after 118.

28. (fol. 60va–60vb)
‘Ad Christi sacerdotes’
Incipit: ⟨V⟩iri dilectissimi sacerdotes dei
Explicit: Induat nos dominus stolam eternalem. Amen

WIC 20572. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 45–47, without Digby 166, which omits 33–44, reverses 45–48 and 49–52, and has many textual differences.

29. (fol. 60vb)
Begging poem
Incipit: ⟨N⟩os per mundi climata ferimur uagantes
Explicit: Qui nouit petentibus bona data dare

WIC 12261, unique. Ed. Strecker (see No. 15 above).

30. (fols. 60vb–61ra)
Hugh Primas
Incipit: ⟨P⟩aupertatis fero pondus
Explicit: Vobis culpam hanc describo

WIC 13879. Three stanzas from ‘Dives eram et dilectus’, ed. W. Meyer, Die Oxforder Gedichte des Primas (Gottingen, 1907), No. 23, 70–81 + ‘Pauper sum et semper ero’ + 89–95. An extra line not in Meyer (‘Nunc ad claustrum meum ibo’) is added in the margin.

31. (fol. 61ra–61va)
Lamentation on the times
Incipit: ⟨T⟩empus acceptabile tempus est salutis
Explicit: Benedicti filii mecum congaudete. Ammen

WIC 19171. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 52–54; Digby 166 reverses 6–7 and differs slightly.

32. (fol. 61va–61vb)
‘Adhortatio ad terrorem omnium’
Incipit: ⟨A⟩d terrorem omnium surgam locuturus
Explicit: Gratis sed non digito uultis remouere

WIC 465. Analecta hymnica 33.289–92; Digby 166 has only stanzas 1–6 and 9–13.

33. (fol. 61vb)
De curia Romana
Incipit: ⟨I⟩n hoc consistorio si quis curam regat
Explicit: Et soluit contraria copia nummorum

WIC 8931. Ed. Hilka–Schumann, Carmina Burana No. 42 (1/1.82), with readings from Digby 166, which has stanzas 6–9 (8/3 after 9/4) + No. 45 III (‘Roma manus rodit’) + ‘Dantes exaudit’ + No. 42, stanzas 4–5.

34. (fol. 61vb)
Macaronic poem on Avarice
Incipit: Quando cadit qui posset ad hoc bene uiuere dol est
Explicit: Iussa dei pocius summi curauit ademplir

12 lines

WIC 15208; unedited.

35. (fol. 62ra)
Versified Pater Noster
Incipit: ⟨P⟩ater noster qui es in celis et in nobis esse uelis
Explicit: spes solamen in una potencia. Amen

WIC 13809. Ed. H. Walther, ‘Versifizierte Paternoster und Credo’, Revue du Moyen Age latin 20 (1964) 45–64, text 54–55; in Digby 166 only.

36. (fol. 62ra–62rb)
Penitential poem
Incipit: ⟨D⟩e profundis criminum profero clamorem
Explicit: Ut fuit antiquitus laudandi perita

WIC 4143. Ed. Walther (see on No. 35); in Digby 166 only.

37. (fol. 62rb–62vb)
Walter of Châtillon
Incipit: ⟨M⟩iserere mei deus quia miser ego reus
Explicit: magnum nomen domini

WIC 11102. Ed. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 18.

38. (fols. 62vb–63rb)
Archpoet’s Confession
Incipit: ⟨E⟩stuans intrinsecus ita [sic for ira] uehementi
Explicit: Feram quicquid iusseris animo libenti

WIC 627. Ed. Bischoff, Carmina Burana No. 191 (1/3.6–21); Digby 166 is in BischofTs’English group’ for stanza order, etc., but preserves the reading ‘electe colonice’; cf. Studi medievali, 3rd ser., 18 (1977) 72, 96, etc.

39. (fols. 63rb–66ra)
Life of Becket
Incipit: ⟨A⟩nte chaos iurgium indigeste molis
Explicit: Conchi’s’isis uasculis remeat ornatus

WIC 1284. Ed. J. A. Giles, Anecdota Bedae, Lanfranci et aliorum (Caxton Soc. 12; London, 1851), pp. 114–33, without Digby 166 and B: Digby 166 lacks the prologue but has many stanzas not in B.

40. (fol. 66rb)
Hymn to Becket
Incipit: ⟨P⟩refulgens sidus anglicum iubar ecclesiasticum
Explicit: Sit neumati paraclito per infinita secula. Amen

12 lines

Chevalier 31812. Analecta hymnica 19.263–64, from Digby 166 only.

41. (fol. 66rb)
Poem on Becket
Incipit: ⟨D⟩ux gregis egregie pastorum gloria pacis
Explicit: Iusticie iuris regula pastor aue

4 lines

WIC 5029; unique, unedited.

42. (fols. 66rb–68ra)
Poem to the Virgin
a. (fol. 66rb)
Incipit: ⟨L⟩audibus eximie sunt carmina plena marie
Explicit: spargitur uellus gedeonis
b. (fols. 66rb–68ra)
Incipit: ⟨V⟩enter puellaris expers tamen maris / Prophetarum predicta carmine
Explicit: Nobis autem perfecta gaudia / per infinita seculorum secula Amen

The prologue consists of a series of hymnological commonplaces in various metres; the scribe has provided spaces for initials for Laudibus , Cara (line 5), and Venter , but the poem proper begins at Prophetarum , continuing with seventy-six quatrains of ten-syllable lines (4p + 6pp). Only the line ‘Venter puellaris’, from here only, is recorded by WIC 20117 and Chevalier 21308. Unedited. In an unmetrical line in the prologue the author gives his name: ‘Que uobis mistica mito[sic] petrus’.

43. (fol. 68ra)
Hymn to the Virgin
Incipit: ⟨A⟩ve uirgo mater Christi templum saluatoris
Explicit: Rosa teste ieremia gemma uenustatis

Chevalier 23977. Analecta hymnica 32.59, from Digby 166 only.

44. (fols. 68rb–71va)
John Pecham, Mundus et Religio
Rubric: Pecham. Archiepiscopus cant’
Incipit: ⟨O⟩ Christe vicarie monarcha terrarum
Explicit: Nisi prius fecerit satisfaccionem

WIC 12544. Ed. C. L. Kingsford, ‘Defensio Fratrum Mendicantium’ in Fratris Johamis Pecham … Tractatus tres de paupertate (British Soc. of Franciscan Studies 2; Aberdeen, 1910), pp. 148–98, from five MSS. including Digby 166. See also P. L. Oliger, ‘Das Streitgedicht Mundus et Religio in einer Prosabearbeitung des 15. Jahrhunderts’ in Collectanea variae doctrinae Leoni S. Olschki (Munich, 1921), pp. 171–86, for more manuscripts of the poem. Cf. Walther, Das Streitgedicht, pp. 165–66.

45. (fol. 71va–71vb)
Dives and Lazarus
Incipit: ⟨A⟩udi pater senior audi me loquentem
Explicit: Parce michi senior tu michi parce deus

WIC 1705. Ed. J. Bolte, ‘Dyalogus de Divite et Lazaro’, Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum 35 [N.F. 23] (1891). 257–61 (see on British Library, Cotton MS. Titus A. xx, No. 9). Cf. also A. G. Rigg, ‘Authors and Antiquaries: The Supposed Works of Robert Baston, O.Carm.’ in Essays Presented to N. R. Ker, pp. 317–31, especially p. 329. See also Walther, Das Streitgedicht, pp. 124–26.

46. (fol. 71vb)
Body and Soul debate
a. (fol. 73ra)
Incipit: ⟨N⟩octis sub silendo tempore brumali
Explicit: Sed post factus impius viliter erraui

WIC 11894. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 95–106, without Digby 166, which has extra stanzas after 108 and 304, omits some lines to produce quatrains, and differs in other respects.

b. (fol. 73ra)
Incipit: Cultus dei viciis mundi iam sepultus
Explicit: Quid sum et quo propero quid michi paratur

13 stanzas

WIC 3548, from Digby 166 only; unedited.

Explicit: Vado mori misero sentencia dura beate / Grata mori sequitur viuere vado mori
Final rubric: Explicit disputacio corporis et anime
47. (fols. 73rb–74rb)
De coniuge non ducenda
Incipit: ⟨S⟩it deo gloria laus benediccio
Explicit: Respondi breuiter vobis consentio

WIC 18302. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 77–85; see British Library, Cotton MS. Titus A. xx, No. 5.

48. (fol. 74v)
Isidore, De ventis
Incipit: Nota Ysidorus 13 libro ca. 12 loquens de 12 ventis hic in circulo
Explicit: hoc est affricus vt dicit ysidorus

Based on Isidore, Etymologies 13.11.6–14 and accompanied by a diagram similar to, but simpler than, that in MS. Rawlinson B. 214 fol. 196v.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 253 × 170 mm.

Collation

vii8–ix8. Catchwords on fols. 58v and 66v.

Layout

Writing area 185 × 130 mm. , two columns, framed and ruled in ink, double lines on left-hand edge only, bottom of frame extends below writing; 41–44 lines per column; the final hand (B6, Nos. 45–47) ignores the ruling and writes up to 58 lines per column.

Hand(s)

Hands E1, E2, B5, and B6.

Decoration

2-line spaces for initials.

On fol. 74v is a diagram of the winds accompanied by an extract from Isidore (No. 48); on fol. 196v MS. Rawlinson B. 214 has a similar, but more detailed diagram, accompanied by a passage on the winds similar to one by William of Conches.

History

Origin: 14th century, late

Rigg argues, ‘The main collection of poems in Part VI by hands E1 and E2 (Nos. 15–43) is closely related textually to MS. Bodley 603, and, to a lesser extent, to Paris, BnF, MS. lat. 3245. Bodley 603 and Digby 166 share nine poems (eight of which are by Walter of Châtillon) in roughly the same order: they are textually very closely related and are cited as ‘alpha’ by K. Strecker, Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte Waiters von Chatillon (Heidelberg, 1929). In Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 4, Bodley 603, Digby 166, and Paris, BnF, MS. lat. 3245 share the ‘Missus sum’ opening characteristic of Strecker’s group Y; in Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte No. 1 Bodley 603 and Digby 166 omit 23/4–6 and leave a gap. On the other hand, neither Bodley 603 nor Digby 166 is copied from the other (date also rules out the possibility of B’s being copied from Digby 166): each manuscript had access to poems not contained in the other: Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte Nos. 2 and 11 (in Bodley 603 but not in Digby 166), and 16 and 18 (in Digby 166 but not in Bodley 603); Digby 166 lacks the 16-line prologue to ‘Ante chaos iurgium’ but has several stanzas not in Bodley 603 (but in the Grey’s Inn MS. used by Giles). Close textual examination of Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte Nos. 1,3,4 and 5 and ‘Ante chaos iurgium’ provides many examples of each manuscript diverging from a supported reading of the other. Clearly, Bodley 603, Digby 166, and Paris, BnF, MS. lat. 3245 are derived independently from an earlier Walter of Chatillon collection. Digby 166’s No. 17 and 27 are in other manuscripts. Surprisingly, none of Bodley 603’s poems is in any manuscript other than Digby 166.’

‘The additions to Part VI by B5 and B6 (Nos. 44–47) are all very common in the later Goliardic manuscripts. In no case is there clear evidence for textual relationship: in No. 47 (‘De coniuge non ducenda’) Digby 166’s text is in a quite different tradition from the family in British Library, Cotton MS. Titus A. xx; MS. Rawlinson B. 214; MS. Bodley 851; British Library, MS. Cotton Vespasian E. xi; Cambridge, Trinity College, MS. O.9.38; and MS. Add. A. 44.’

Provenance

Price: iij s.

MS. Digby 166, fols. 75–90 – part VII

Contents

Language(s): Latin

49. (fols. 75r–89r)
Honorius Augustodunensis, Imago mundi Book I
Incipit: Septiformi spiritu in trina fide illustrato
Incipit: (fols. 75v) ⟨M⟩undus dicitur quasi vndique motus
Explicit: in quo habitat Rex angelorum. Et sic finito sit laus et gloria Christo. Amen
eTK 1434A

PL 172.1 19–46; Little, p. 228. See H. Menhardt, ‘Der Nachlass des Honorius Augustodunensis’, Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum 89 (1958–59) 67–69.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 180 mm.
Foliation: Leaves numbered 1–4 in the first half of each quire.

Collation

x8–xi8. Catchword on fol. 82v. Quire xi is slightly narrower. Quire signatures: a, b.

Layout

Writing area 186 × 124 mm. , long-line format, 31 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand F.

Decoration

Red initial.

History

Origin: 15th century

MS. Digby 166, fols. 91–96 – part VIII A

Contents

Language(s): Latin

50. (fols. 91r–93v)
Walter of Peterborough
Incipit: Vix nodosum valeo nodum enodare
Explicit: Qui tot tuos docuit tantam feditatem
Final rubric: Epilogium fratris walteri de burgo super alanum in opere suo de planctu nature contra prelatum sodomitam

WIC 20763. Ed. P. Leyser, Historia poetarum et poematum medii aevi (Halle, 1721),pp. 1092–95; Digby 166 omits 93–96 and 125–128, but has a three-stanza epilogue by Walter of Peterborough on unnatural love, specifically sodomy. See M.-T. d’Alvemy, Alain de Lille: textes inedits (Paris, 1965), pp. 42–44, for a discussion and the text of the epilogue. See also R. Bossuat, ‘Un debat d’amour dans le roman de Cassiodorus’ in Etudes romanes dediees a Mario Roques (Paris, 1946), pp. 63–75 n. 74.

51. (fols. 93v–96v)
Miscellaneous proverbs
Incipit: Maior sum et ad maiora natus quam vt fiam mancipium corporis mei
Explicit: illa iuuenta gracior que similis est senecte

Most of the proverbs are in prose, often on the subject of silence.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 180 mm.
Foliation: Leaves numbered as Part VII.

Collation

xii6. Quire signature: c.

Layout

Writing area 180 × 135 mm. , long-line format, verse written well within frame, 28–33 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand F.

Decoration

Red initial.

History

Origin: 15th century Rigg observes textual affiliations:

Three poems in Part VIII (Nos. 52, 53(a), and 54) are in other manuscripts, but with no sign of direct textual relationship. No. 55 is part of ‘Prisciani regula’, which is distantly related to ‘Novus rumor Anglie’ (British Library, Cotton MS. Titus A. xx and MS. Rawlinson B. 214).

MS. Digby 166, fols. 97–105 – part VIII B

Contents

Language(s): Latin

52. (fols. 97r–105v)
Walter of Peterborough, Battle of Najara
Incipit: Bella referre paro fratrum de germine claro
Explicit: Munerat igne male te cocus absque sale
Final rubric: Explicit bellum nasoreum gestum et sic digestum anno domini Mᵐº CCCᵐº LXVIº Habens versus quingentos sexaginta per W. Burgensem

WIC 2121. Ed. Wright, Political Poems 1.97–122, from Digby 166 and MS. Rawlinson B. 214 (unique copies); see MS. Rawlinson B. 214, No. 27.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 180 mm.
Foliation: Leaves numbered as in Part VII.

Collation

xiii9 (last leaf cut out). Quire signature: d.

Layout

Layout as for Part VIII A, but writing area 180 × 130 mm. , 33 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand F.

History

Origin: 15th century

MS. Digby 166, fols. 106–110 – part VIII C

Contents

Language(s): Latin

53. (fols. 106r–109r)
Debate between Wine and Water
a. (fols. 106v–107v)
Incipit: Dum tenerent omnia medium tumultum
Explicit: Tunc cantabant gloria in excelsis deo

WIC 3834. Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 87–92, without Digby 166, which omits 73–80, 103–1 10, 123–146, reverses to the order 119–122, 115–118, 111–114, and continues without a break into the next poem.

b. (fols. 107v–109r)
Incipit: Tu scis linguas impedire / Titubando solet ire
Explicit: Et a Christo seperetur in eterno seculo

WIC 4254 (‘Denudata veritate’), beginning at stanza 9. Ed. Bischoff, Carmina Burana No. 193 (1/3.22–27), with readings from Digby 166.

54. (fol. 109r–109v)
Philip the Chancellor, Debate between Heart and Eye
Rubric: Disputacio inter cor et oculum
Incipit: Si quis cordis et oculi non sentit in se iurgia
Explicit: Nam cordi causam imputat occasionem occulo
Final rubric: Explicit disputacio inter cor et oculum
WIC 17915 eTK 1459H

Ed. Wright, Mapes, pp. 93–95, without Digby 166. Digby 166 and MS. Bodley 851 (No. 8) agree on reversing stanzas 9–10 and 11–12, but otherwise Digby 166 is closer to Wright’s text.

55. (fols. 109v–11Ov)
Convocacio sacerdotum
Incipit: Ita quidam presbiter cepit allegare
Explicit: Quisque dicat presbiter cum sua suaui

WIC 14734 (‘Prisciani regula’). Ed. Olga Dobiache-Rojdesvensky, Les poesies des Goliards (Paris, 1931), pp. 127–30 from the 1557 edition by Flacius Illyricus (identical in order of stanzas to that printed by John Bale, Scriptorum illustrium maioris Brytanniae … catalogus (Basel, 1557), 1.262–63 from a text supplied by John Pullan of Oxford). In comparison with this edition Digby 166 has: stanzas 2–4, 7, 5, 9–12, 6, one illegible stanza, 8, 11 (repeated), 13. This is similar to the order found in British Library, MS. Harley 200, fol. 144r, which has 2–4, 10–11, 7, 5, 9. The text printed by Wright, Mapes, pp. 171–73 is a conflation of Flacius’ text and Harley 3724, and gives an inaccurate account of what each text contains.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: parchment
Dimensions (leaf): 255 × 180 mm.

Collation

xiv5, comprising three singletons and a bifolium. Quire signature: a; leaves numbered.

Layout

Layout as for Part VIII B; writing area 180 × 130 mm. , 31 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand F.

History

Origin: 15th century

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description adapted (October 2021) from A.G. Rigg, ‘Medieval Latin Poetic Anthologies (III)’, Mediaeval Studies, 41 (1979), 468–505. Previously described by W.D. Macray, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae pars nona (Oxford, 1883), pp. 166–71; this is based ultimately on the earliest account in Bodleian MS. Langbaine 7, pp. 1–8, 149. See also K. Strecker, ‘Walther von Chatillon und seine Schule’, Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Altertum 64 (1927) 97–125 and 161–89, especially 109.

Last Substantive Revision

2021-10-22: Andrew Dunning Revised with consultation of original.