MS. Rawl. C. 641
Summary Catalogue no.: 12487
A Proverbs, legal texts, etc., in Latin and Anglo-Norman; England, late 12th century. B Assize of Clarendon, Inquest of sheriffs, Magna Carta; England, early 13th century. C Instituta Knuti, Coronation Charter of Henry I, etc. England, late 12th century.
Physical Description
Collation
Binding
17th- or 18th- century calf over pasteboards, extensively repaired in the 19th century. Pricks marking out the medieval sewing stations are visible, especially in parts A and C.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Apparently made up from three independent units (A fols. 1-18, B fols. 19-27, C fols. 30-45), perhaps only combined in the 16th century when the legal contents of all three parts were heavily annotated by a single hand. Unit C, fols. 30-45, was apparently in the fifteenth century part of a larger legal manuscript; see further item 12 below. Parts A and C may however have shared a common earlier provenance based on similarities of script and decoration and prickings for binding.
The annotator collated the text of item 2 against 'Mr Lucas boke' and quoted 'Fabian' as an authority (fol. 30r).
Richard Rawlinson, 1690–1755; his source of acquisition not known.
Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1755
MS. Rawl. C. 641, fols. 1-18
Contents
Sentences and questions associated with the school of Anselm of Laon (i-ii, v), two short extracts from Augustine (iii-iv), and maxims (vi-vii). The sources and circulation of vi-vii are discussed by Michael Reeve, 'The Florilegium Angelicum and ‘Seneca’, De moribus', in Et Amicorum: Essays on Renaissance Humanism and Philosophy (2018), 262-80; additionally iv-vi circulate together in Cambridge, Trinity College, MS. B. 1. 30.
Anselmi Laudunensis et Radulfi fratri ejus sententias excerptas, ed. G. Lefèvre (1895), pp. 13-17, here ending differently (cf. D. O. Lottin, 'Pour une édition critique du «Liber Pancrisis»', Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 13 (1946), 185-201, no. 147)
Cf. PL 153.303 and D. O. Lottin, 'Nouveaux fragments théologiques de l'école d'Anselme de Laon: Manuscrits de Munich', Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 13 (1946), 202-221, no. 292
Short extract from Augustine, Serm. Frangipane 2 (PL 46.961).
Second version.
ed. E. Walberg (1922), ll. 2391-2490 (fol. 11v line 25), 2505-2555 (fol. 12v line 12), (in a darker ink) 1401-1410, 751-770.
Rest of fol. 13r blank.
Some attributed to Serlo of Wilton.
Ker notes two Middle English proverbs on fol. 13v.
Physical Description
Layout
31 lines. Ruled in leadpoint, ruled space 140 × 92–95 mm. (inner bounding lines). In one column except for fols. 13v-15r, two columns.
Hand(s)
Protogothic; several hands (probably six: fols.1r-7r; 7v-10r; 10v-12v12; 12v13-13r; 13v-14v; 15r-18v).
Decoration
(fols. 1r-4r) plain initials with minor arabesque decoration in the ink of the text
(fols. 10r-13r) plain coloured initials alternating green and red.
History
MS. Rawl. C. 641, fols. 19-29
Contents
An addition, written slightly later than the preceding item.
The text (and later annotations) are discussed by David Carpenter, 'Magna Carta 1215', The Magna Carta Project: The Copies of Magna Carta, raising the possibility 'that the copy derives from an unofficial text of the Charter made on 16 June'
Rest of fol. 29r and fol. 29v blank.
Physical Description
Layout
29 long lines, written above top line. Two series of prickings in the outer margins, and pricking in the inner margins. Ruled space 130–5 × 90–5 mm. (inner bounding lines)
Hand(s)
Two hands: fols. 19r-21r; fols. 21v-29r.
Decoration
Plain coloured initials alternating light blue and red.
History
MS. Rawl. C. 641, fols. 30-45
Contents
One of the Latin translations of Cnut's code (I-II Cnut). There are six Old English glosses (fols. 32r, 33r, 34v, 40v: see Ker) also found in the Textus Roffensis but not in other copies.
So-called 'Rochester' version, i.e. that found in the Textus Roffensis.
14th-century table of contents: ‘In isto libro continentur infrascripta .1. Excerpta de legibus sinodis et conciliis paparum et aliorum in principio .2. Instituciones Knuti regis Angl' ante conquestum .3. Instituciones Henrici regis anno domini Mo Cmo primo in Latinam .4. Leges Willelmi conquestoris .5. Tractatus Henrici regis secundi de legibus et consuetudinibus Anglie \compositus per ranulphum Glanvillam/ .6. Assisa de Clarendon facta a rege Henrico secundo .7. Carta de Rovndmeide facto anno regni regis Johannis 17mo.’. Items 4-6 are later (late 14th- / early 15th-century) additions. Item 7 and the addition to item 5 are added by a 16th-century annotator (discussed above). Contrary to earlier commentators, only items 2-3 can be identified with certainty in the present manuscript; the rubrics on fols. 31r and 43r are in the same hand as the table of contents, a hand not found elsewhere in the manuscript.
Fol. 46r is blank.
Physical Description
Layout
31 long lines; ruled in leadpoint; written above top line; ruled space c. 140 × 90 mm. .
Hand(s)
Two hands: fols. 30r-35v; fols. 35v-45r, the second resembling that of fols. 12v-13r.
Decoration
1- and 2-line initials, alternating green and red, occasionally with arabesque decoration in the contrasting colour.
History
Provenance
Texts closely related to those found in the Textus Roffensis, perhaps suggesting an origin in Kent.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Bibliography
Online resources:
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2024-03: Description fully revised.