Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
252 folios on paper, a dozen watermarks, all situated mid-leaf, ff. 1-12 and 62-88: bull’s head, Briquet no. 14960 (Perpignan, 1439/1440), ff. 15-36: bull’s head similar to Briquet no. 14337 (Ambérieu, 1449) or 14332 (Pinerolo, 1456), ff. 41 and 43: blackamoor’s head similar to Briquet nos. 15634 (Provence, 1448), 15636 (Sion, 1480/1487), 15637 (Savoie, 1459), ff. 46 and 48: pair of shears similar to Briquet no. 3754 (Palermo, 1456), ff. 49-56: man’s head similar to Briquet no. 15678 (Genève, 1485), ff. 91-138: man’s head similar to Briquet no. 15682 (Narbonne, 1503), ff. 139-162, 172-206, and 214-220: one-handled pewter pot similar to Briquet no. 12539 (Vouvry, 1500) or 12540 (Sion, 1520), ff. 164-168: hand of benediction with scalloped cuff of 5 tabs (no match in Briquet or Piccard), ff. 209-210: hand, surmounted by a crown, with scalloped cuff (no match in Briquet or Piccard), ff. 213 + 223-240: man’s head similar to Briquet no. 15682 (Narbonne, 1503), ff. 218 and 231-232: bird (goose, duck, or swan) (no match in Briquet or Piccard), ff. 249-250: two-handled pot with flowers (no match in Briquet or Piccard), and f. 251: letters ‘PERV’ or ‘PBRV’ in a cartouche (no match in Briquet or Piccard), modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals [cited in this description], upper fore-edge recto, 1-251, first pages of constituent major sections labelled at upper fore-edge, in brown ink, in an early modern hand, “No. 1,” “No. 2,” “No. 3,” “No. 4” (ff. 1, 62, 90, 139), No. 3 foliated with late 15th- or early 16th-century Roman numerals, in brown ink, at upper fore-edge recto, i-xlviij (ff. 90-136), No. 4 foliated with early 16th-century Roman numerals, in brown ink, at upper fore-edge recto, i-xxxij (ff. 170-201) and i-xxxviij (ff. 211-248), missing eleven leaves (collation i8 ii6 iii24 iv6 [-1, f. 6] v8 [-2 leaves, ff. 6-7] vi12 vii28 viii48 [-1, f. 43] ix26 [-1, f. incert.] x6 xi40 [-1, f. 39] xii46 [-5 leaves, ff. 42-46], xiii4), final leaf pasted down, signatures at lower fore-edge recto, ff. 1-5 (ruled space c.188 × 120 mm.), elsewhere no ruling nor lineation (justification highly variable, 110-150 x 220-255 mm.), written in multiple hands including a Gothic semi-hybrida (ff. 1-6v) and several very current Gothic cursiva hands, some with Secretary features, executed with varying levels of care, in 48-50 long lines, most entries opening with enlarged majuscules in brown ink, sublineation and marginal annotations in darker brown and black inks, with occasional maniculae (pointing hands) (e.g., ff. 25, 56, 57, 220v), with especially heavy annotation ff. 90-136, first leaf detached, occasional water staining and ink blurring with some loss of text. In an early stiff vellum binding, detached at left board to reveal three bands, with two undyed ties of woven linen ribbon, c.23-25 mm wide, threaded through each board; on spine, ten lines of text copied in faded black ink,“[illegible] de tout les Biens et droits du Chapitre des Amiee[ns] 14[] 1496 1500.” Dimensions c.310-315 × 225-230 mm (but ff. 139-248: c.300 × 215 mm).
A collection of administrative records recording the arrentements (a type of lease) of the chapter of the Cathédrale Saint-Trophime d’Arles, spanning the late 15th through the early 16th centuries, and naming multiple canons and other officials associated with the Cathedral. Bound in an early limp vellum binding, and copied and annotated in numerous hands, this remarkable historical source perhaps represents several sets of records joined together into a single volume. This is a treasure-trove for researchers of late medieval Provence, French ecclesiastical administration, and 15th-16th century paper.
1. Manuscript assembled over time in Arles, France, in the late 15th- through early 16th-century based on watermarks plus paleographical and textual evidence; texts date from 1476-1503.
Soiling patterns, plus the smaller format of ff. 139-248, and the broad array of watermarks, suggest that this volume may have begun its life as several manuscripts which were combined into a single codex at an early stage. In section No. 3 (ff. 90-138v), heavy dark ink annotation, including aggressive cancellation of entries, suggests an early attempt to consolidate or update this complex assemblage of records.
2. Added maniculae and annotations throughout in French, in brown ink, in 16th- and 17th-century hands: ff. 1, 10v, 11, 12v, 22, 38v (“Viens arenthamens des renthes du chapitre”), 39v, 41v, 50v, 57v, 218, and 220v.
3. Added maniculae and annotations in Latin and French, in black ink, in a 19th- or 20th-century hand at ff. 3v, 4v, 25, 62v, and 215v.
4. Added inscription in French, in black ink, in a 19th- or 20th-century hand on left board paste-down: “trouvé Dans Les papiers De M. <Dauffon> Notaire & Donné [two lines effaced] par <livre> philippe <Nolle>, notaire [illegible] <dedit M.> [illegible] notaire [illegible].”
5. Added dates in brown ink, in a 19th- or 20th-century hand at ff. 90 (“1400”), 139 (“1496”), and 170, 208, and 248v (“1500”); and in fuchsia ink, in a 20th-century hand, at ff. 50 (“1476”), 140 (“1496”), 211 (“1500”), and 247 (“1503”).
6. Added inscription in pencil, in a 20th-century hand, on left board paste-down: “Arles.”
7. Added inscription in faded pencil, in a 20th-century hand, on left board pastedown, including the date “27 avril 83.”
8. Private European Ccollection.
[f. 1, labelled “No. 1”]; ff. 1-48v, Capitula arrendamenti administrationis communis capitularis Arelatis ecclesie, incipit, “Et primo arrendant videlicet totalem … Item sed dabunt fideiussores et cetera ut primitus”; [ff. 26v-39; 49rv, blank];
ff. 50-61v, Arrendamentium administrationis capitularis sancte arelatensis ecclesie pro domino anthonio Sanxonis alias malcane sacrista [illeg.] sancte arelatensis ecclesie, incipit, “Anno domini Incarnationis millesimo Quadringentesimo Septuagesimo Sexto et die vicesima octaua mensis maii … [f. 61v] … Et sic adnis singulis durenti dicto arrendamento”; [ff. 62, 88-89v, blank];
For the sacristan Anthonio Sanxonis, alias Malcane, beginning May 28, 1476.
[f. 62rv, blank, labelled “No. 2”; ff. 88-89v, blank];
[f. 90, labelled “No. 3”]; ff. 90-136, Copia arrendamentium administranonis [sic] capitularis sancte Arelatensis ecclesie, incipit, “Anno domini mille quadringentesimo [blank space] et die [blank space] mensis [blank space] …”; [ff. 136v-138v, blank];
Dated 1500 (apparently forms with spaces left blank to be filled in later).
[f. 139rv, blank, labelled no. 4]; ff. 140-164, Arrendamentium administracionis capituli sancte arelatensis ecclesie, incipit, “Anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo nonagesimo sexto Et die tercia mensis [illeg.] …”; [ff. 164v-169v, blank];
Dated 1496.
ff. 170-198v, Arrendamentium administracionis Capitularis sancti arelatensis ecclesie pro domino petro corenhe cancellario, incipit, “Anno Incarnacionis domini millesimo quingentesimo et die decima Octaua mensis Octobris … De quibus [illeg.] ubi supra T. p. quibus supra Et” ; [ff. 199-200v, blank];
For the Chancellor Petro Corenhe, dated 1500.
ff. 201-210, Sequitur Rubice capitulorum arrendamenti communis administracionis venerabilis capituli sancte arelatensis ecclesie de tempore quo fuit primarius dominis petrus corenhe cancellario ….; ff. 204-205, 205v, 210v, blank];
The chancellor Petro Corenhe is also mentioned here.
ff. 211-245, Arrendamentum cummunis administrationis venerabilis capituli sancte arelatensis ecclesie pro domino petro corenhe <consta…> nota [illeg.] magistrum petrum barberii notarius arelatis, incipit, “Anno Incarnacionis domini millesimo quingentesimo Et die decima Octava mensis Octobris … Testibus ad permissa vocatis <spidaliter> et assumptis”; [ff. 245v-246v, 248-251v blank].
For Petro Corenhe, via notary Petrum Barberii, dated October 18, 1500.
This codex holds records of ‘Arrentements,’ a form of lease, of the Chapter of the Cathédrale Saint-Trophime d’Arles (also known as ‘Trophimus’) covering c.1476-c.1503. Although firm verification has eluded our inquiries, we believe that these documents remain unpublished. A Romanesque cathedral – now minor basilica – erected in Arles between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, Trophimus was maintained by a non-monastic college of canons – clerics attending the bishop while managing the daily office and cathedral administration (Barrow, 2015) – and boasted a cloister, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (“Eglise Saint-Trophime”), where, from c.1210, the canons shared a dormitory like monks. While the 1355 transformation of the cathedral’s refectory, dormitory, and chapter house into storehouses and granaries prompted the canons to relocate to houses within the cathedral close (Paulet, 1910), the chapter and its administrative record-keeping persisted – as evidenced by the present manuscript.
An extended production unit gradually expanded from the late fifteenth through early sixteenth century, our manuscript names roughly two dozen of these canons including chancellor Petrus Corenhe (ff. 170, 201), archdeacon Guillelmus Parade, sacristan Johannes de Pomoyrolis, and the treasurer and apostolic prothonotary Alziario Autrici, along with Gaufridus Azani, Johannes De Turri, Johannes Laurentii, Alziarius Aguinaudi (f. 170), and others – all linked by other extant records to Saint-Trophime (see, for example, Chailan, 1907, pp. 220-221; Albanés, 1890, cols. 886, and 1412 ff.). Preceded in the role by Anthonio Sanxonis, alias Malcane (f. 50) and then by Guillelmus Monerii, Johanne de Pomayrolis was installed as sacristan on April 20th, 1497, holding the position until 1508 (Roure, 1905, p. 167; Albanés, 1890, cols. 886, 1414). Since Pomayrolis, also known by the cognomen ‘Tropini,’ acted as a scribe for the chapter (Roure, 1905, p. 169), our manuscript undoubtedly contains examples of his hand, along with additions by other copyists, including some external to the Arles chapter house. For instance, the signature of Petro Barberii – a public notary of Arles (Albanés, 1890, no. 2073, cols. 886-888) – appears on f. 164 as “Barbari notarius” (see also f. 211).
Providing insights into the daily operations of a cathedral community in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century France, these administrative documents will be of interest to ecclesiastical and administrative historians as well as researchers focusing on early modern Arles, and southern France more broadly.
Albanés, Joseph-Hyacinthe. Histoire des Archevêques, Évèchés, et Abbayes de France …: Arles (Archevêques, Conciles, Prévots, Statuts), Gallia Christiana Novissima, Valence, Drôme, 1890.
Barrow, Julia. “Clergy of Cathedral and Collegiate Churches,” The Clergy in the Medieval World: Secular Clerics, their Families and Careers in North-Western Europe, c.800-c.1200, Cambridge, 2015, pp. 269-309.
Online Resources
Briquet Online
https://briquet-online.at/
Chailan, M. “Les Livres Liturgiques d’Arles,” Congrès des Sociétés Savantes de Provence: Marseille (31 Juillet - 2 Août 1906): Comptes-Rendus et Mémoires, Aix-en-Provence, 1907, pp. 217-253
https://archive.org/details/publications00frangoog/
“Eglise Saint-Trophime”, notice no. PA00081139, POP: La Plateforme Ouverte du Patrimoine, Ministère Français de la Culture
https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00081139
Paulet, L. La Primatiale, ou Monographie historique et descriptive de la Basilique Saint-Trophime d’Arles, avec la collaboration pour les documents de Émile Fassin, Bergerac, 1910
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1650759
Piccard Online
https://www.piccard-online.de/
Roure, Baron du. “Notes pour servir l’histoire ecclésiastique d’Arles,” Bulletin de la Société des Amis du Vieil Arles 2, no. 4 (01 Apr 1905), pp. 155-171
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5545341t/texteBrut
TM 1239
