Neumed Boethian metra from Canterbury: a newly recovered leaf of Cambridge, University Library, Gg. 5.35 (the ‘Cambridge Songs’ manuscript)

1983 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 141-152
Author(s):  
M. T. Gibson ◽  
M. Lapidge ◽  
C. Page
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Musical Notation ◽  
Detached Leaf ◽  
University Library ◽  
The Subject

Frankfurt, Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, Fragm. lat. I. 56, a single detached leaf written in Anglo-Caroline minuscule of mid-eleventh-century date and containing a number of neumed metra of Boethius, was recently brought to the attention of Dr M. T. Gibson1 by the Keeper of Manuscripts in Frankfurt, Dr Gerhard Powitz.2 Dr C. Page identified it as part of the ‘Cambridge Songs’ manuscript, Cambridge, University Library, Gg. 5. 35 (fols. 432–41). The leaf throws valuable new light not only on the subject of musical notation in late Anglo-Saxon England, but also on the composition of one of the best-known collections of medieval Latin lyrics.3

Three Latin poems from Æthelwold's school at Winchester

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 85-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lapidge
Keyword(s):  
Cambridge University ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
University Library

I present here an edition of three Anglo-Latin poems from a Cambridge University Library manuscript, Kk. 5.34, 71r–80r. In addition to these three poems the manuscript contains important recensions of theAetna, theCulex, Ausonius'sTechnopaegnionand the late LatinCarmen de ponderibus. These recensions have occupied the interest of previous editors and almost no attention has been given to the Anglo-Latin poems. These Anglo-Latin poems are nevertheless of considerable interest to the study of Anglo-Latinity and of medieval Latin in general. I have named them theAltercatio magistri et discipuli, theResponsio discipuliand theCarmen de libero arbitriorespectively, for reasons which will become clear in the following discussion.

Archangel in the Margins: St. Michael in the Homilies of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41

Traditio ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 63-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Ninth Century ◽  
Devotional Literature ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
The South ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Corpus Christi ◽  
University Library ◽  
The North ◽  
Devotional Practices

In the preface to his edition of the ninth-century Book of Cerne (Cambridge, University Library, MS L1. 1.10), A. B. Kuypers notes “two great currents of influence, two distinct spirits, Irish and Roman” at work in the composition of the prayers in this private devotional book. Moreover, Kuypers asserts that “these influences are traceable through the whole range of the strictly devotional literature of the period.” Since it is generally acknowledged that the two great forces shaping the early Anglo-Saxon church were the Roman missionaries in the south and Irish monks in the north, it is reasonable to suspect that the Anglo-Saxon devotional practices to St. Michael the Archangel were also influenced by both traditions.

Changing Thegns: Cnut's Conquest and the English Aristocracy

1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharin Mack
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Norman Conquest ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Edward The Confessor

England was conquered twice in the eleventh century: first in 1016 by Cnut the Dane and again in 1066 by William Duke of Normandy. The influence of the Norman Conquest has been the subject of scholarly warfare ever since E.A. Freeman published the first volume of his History of the Norman Conquest of England in 1867—and indeed, long before. The consequences of Cnut's conquest, on the other hand, have not been subjected to the same scrutiny. Because England was conquered twice in less than fifty years, historians have often succumbed to the temptation of comparing the two events. But since Cnut's reign is poorly documented and was followed quickly by the restoration of the house of Cerdic in the person of Edward the Confessor, such studies have tended to judge 1016 by the standards of 1066. While such comparisons are useful, they have imposed a model on Cnut's reign which has distorted the importance of the Anglo-Scandinavian period. If, however, Cnut's reign is compared with the Anglo-Saxon past rather than the Anglo-Norman future, the influence of 1016 can be more fairly assessed.

CHARTING BOETHIUS: MUSIC AND THE DIAGRAMMATIC TREE IN THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY’S DE INSTITUTIONE ARITHMETICA, MS II.3.12

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel K. S. Walden
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Schematic Diagram ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Working Through ◽  
University Library ◽  
Full Page ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Mathematics

AbstractThis article discusses a full-page schematic diagram contained in a twelfth-century manuscript of Boethius’ De institutione arithmetica and De institutione musica from Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury (Cambridge University Library MS Ii.3.12), which has not yet been the subject of any significant musicological study despite its remarkable scope and comprehensiveness. This diagrammatic tree, or arbor, maps the precepts of the first book of De institutione arithmetica into a unified whole, depicting the ways music and arithmetic are interrelated as sub-branches of the quadrivium. I suggest that this schematic diagram served not only as a conceptual and interpretative device for the scribe working through Boethius’ complex theoretical material, but also as a mnemonic guide to assist the medieval pedagogue wishing to instruct students in the mathematics of musica speculativa. The diagram constitutes a fully developed theoretical exercise in its own right, while also demonstrating the roles Boethian philosophy and mathematics played in twelfth-century musical scholarship.

Second addenda and corrigenda to the Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 293-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Gneuss
Keyword(s):  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Personal Communications ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
Musical Notation ◽  
Draft Version ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

When the Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts was published ten years ago it was clear that it could not claim to be perfect or complete, not only because of the well-known problems and remaining uncertainties of the subject, but also on account of the ever-increasing research work on medieval manuscripts. As a result, a first set of addenda and corrigenda to the Handlist appeared in Anglo-Saxon England 32 (2003), 293–305, and the time has now come for a second supplement intended to update and, where necessary, to correct the Handlist.Like the first supplement, the second has profited from recent publications and, above all, from kindly provided information by friends and colleagues. Once again I owe a special debt of gratitude to Michael Gullick, who generously shared his expert knowledge with me and read a draft version of this article. What I owe to him this time is acknowledged in the individual entries; Appendices 2 and 3 could not have been written without his help and advice. I am grateful to Richard Gameson, Drew Hartzell and Rebecca Rushforth for letting me know about discoveries they made before these appeared in print. As always, Birgit Ebersperger helped to solve my bibliographical problems. All debts I have incurred, whether from personal communications or from publications, have been recorded in the respective entries. As most readers will have noted, a serious drawback of the Handlist – the lack of any references to musical notation – has been made good by Professor Hartzell's comprehensive Catalogue of Manuscripts Written or Owned in England up to 1200 Containing Music.

Liturgy or private devotion? Reappraising Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, I. 3311

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 265-284
Author(s):  
Gerald P. Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Musical Notation ◽  
Complementary Pattern ◽  
Private Devotion ◽  
Devotional Reading

AbstractScholars have typically characterized Warsaw, Biblioteka Narodowa, I. 3311, an unlocalized Anglo-Saxon gospel lectionary of the late tenth or early eleventh century, as a book intended for use in private devotional reading. Despite this, a study of the contents of the book indicates that it was used liturgically, possibly by an individual priest or a small clerical community. This article offers a reappraisal of the manuscript and its use based on the complementary pattern of gospel readings that is evident in the two sections of the book and the presence of previously unnoticed musical notation. It is argued that the volume was in fact used in the celebration of mass and should be added to the corpus of Anglo-Saxon liturgical books.

Junius's knowledge of the Old English poem Durham

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 231-245
Author(s):  
Daniel Paul O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Old English ◽  
British Library ◽  
Stanford University ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
English Poem ◽  
University Library ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Original Manuscript

Until recently, the late Old English poem Durham was known to have been copied in two manuscripts of the twelfth century: Cambridge, University Library, Ff. 1. 27 (C) and London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius D. xx (V). C has been transcribed frequently and serves as the basis for Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie's standard edition of the poem in the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records. V was almost completely destroyed in the Cottonian fire of 1731. Its version is known to us solely from George Hickes's 1705 edition (H).In a recent article, however, Donald K. Fry announced the discovery of a third medieval text of the poem. Like V, the original manuscript of this ‘third’ version is now lost and can be reconstructed only from an early modern transcription - in this case a copy by Francis Junius no win the Stanford University Library (Stanford University Libraries, Department of Special Collections, Misc. 010 [J1]). Unlike V, however, Junius's copy is our only record of this manuscript's existence. No other transcripts are known from medieval or early modern manuscript catalogues.

The First Riddle of Cynewulf

PMLA ◽  
1902 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-261
Author(s):  
William Witherle Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Exeter Book ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
De Se ◽  
Grammatical Construction ◽  
The Subject

There are few questions concerning Anglo-Saxon literature which have been more widely discussed than the interpretation of the so-called First Riddle of Cynewulf. The subject was introduced by Heinrich Leo in 1857, in his celebrated monograph Quae de se ipso Cynewulfus Poeta Anglosaxonicus tradiderit. Before that time the line shad attracted little attention. As is well known, they occur in the Exeter Book, the collection of verse left by Bishop Leofric to his cathedral church in the eleventh century. Thorpe, in his edition of this manuscript, did not venture to translate them, which is scarcely to be wondered at, since both language and grammatical construction are unusually obscure. The investigations of Leo, however, with those of his followers and opponents, at once gave great interest and importance to the almost unnoticed lines. It may be well to mention briefly the principal theories which have been founded on this bit of verse, some of which rival in ingenuity the familiar attempts to establish a Baconian cypher in the works of Shakespeare.

Art. XVI.—Description of an old Persian Commentary on the Ḳur'án

1894 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-524
Author(s):  
Edward G. Browne
Keyword(s):  
Small Proportion ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
University Library ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Old Persian

The collection of Persian manuscripts preserved in the Cambridge University Library is, compared with the collections of the British Museum or the Bodleian, sadly insignificant both in extent and value. The total number of volumes which it comprises scarcely exceeds 300, and of these only a small proportion is of any conspicuous worth or interest. Some few, however, there are which deserve to be made known to Orientalists, and amongst these is the manuscript which forms the subject of the present notice.

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