i (parchment)+ 80+ i (parchment) folios on parchment, modern foliation in pencil, top outer corner recto, beginning with the first flyleaf as f. 1, and concluding with the endleaf as f. 82, original structure has not been established, now seriously mis-bound (present collation i8 [beginning f. 2] ii-x8), no catchwords or signatures, ruling indiscernible, (justification 80-83 x 59-62 mm.), written in a southern Gothic bookhand in 22 long lines, red rubrics, small gold besants outlined in red or blue occasionally used to mark textual divisions, 2-line red or blue initials with pen decoration in the contrasting color, or sometimes in both, 5-line blue penwork initial on f. 1, FOUR FULL-PAGE ADDED MINIATURES on ff. 13, 27, 42, and 69 (nineteenth century) painted on original leaves that may have been scraped to remove earlier text, some marginal staining and cockling, modern (19th century?) red velvet binding, somewhat worn at the edges and on the spine, but in good overall condition. Dimensions 135 x 102 mm.
In modern times someone redesigned this pocket-sized miscellany adding four full-page miniatures and rebinding it in an apparently random order. Originally the small volume must have been made by Franciscans, who compiled an impressive number of texts for use when preaching and for spiritual edification, including, most importantly, numerous exempla (moral stories). Exempla are unique sources, offering precious insights into popular religion and daily life. This is a perfect book for scholarly sleuthing with its engaging contents and its quirky miniatures (from a yet-unidentified source), paired with the challenge of putting it back together in the correct order.
Provenance
1. Written in Italy, likely Central or Southern Italy, in the later fourteenth century, c. 1375-1400 as suggested by the style of the penwork initials (we thank Professor Francesca Manzari for her expertise). Evidence of the texts suggest that this was likely a unique miscellany, compiled by Franciscan Friars for personal spiritual edification and the preparation of sermons.
2. “Giov. Batta,”18th-century(?) inscription, outer margin, f. 49v.
3. In the nineteenth century, this manuscript was refashioned as a small luxury object; four miniatures of religious subjects were added, perhaps on text leaves that were scraped clean for the paintings, and the manuscript was bound in velvet. This transformation is an interesting example of modern re-use of a medieval object, in this case with no understanding or even interest in the text. The subject of the added miniatures are not directly related to the contents of the manuscript, and the leaves were bound in a random order.
4. Inside back cover, “Inv 299,” in pencil.
5. Belonged to Marvin Colker (1927-2020), Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, and renowned paleographer, who catalogued the manuscripts of Trinity College Library, Dublin, and who assembled an impressive collection of medieval material; his MS 6 (front flyleaf, “MLC 6” in pencil; front cover, round label “6”); acquired from Hoepli in 1947 (Faye and Bond, 1962, p. 516).
Text
[f. 1rv, blank endleaf]; f. 2rv, Que sunt que ducunt hominem ad contemplationis quietem, incipit, “Si ad contemplationis quietem volueris pervenire … tuis melos sue eloquencie//”;
James of Milan, Stimulus divini amoris, Distelbrink, 1975, no. 217-219, edited with Bonaventure’s works in St. Bonaventure, Opera omnia, ed. A. C. Peltier, vol. 12, pp. 631-703, here with Part 3, chapter 1, ed. p. 677.
f. 3rv, incipit, “//tribulaciones habemus. Cum etiam mater … cum lacrimis deo gratias//”;
Ps.-Bonaventure (Johannes de Caulibus?), Meditationes vitae Christi, ch. 14; Peltier, ed. vol. 12, p. 530; critical edition Stallings-Taney, 1997; for a review of the lively debate around the origin an authorship of this medieval bestseller, see McNamer, 2018.
f. 4rv, incipit, “//cuis reliquntur servandi …; De murmure claustralium, incipit, “Sequitur uidere de murmure …”; De commendacione scilentii, [sic, for silentii], Ad commendationem silencii ualent … se obmutescet//”;
Guillelmus Peraldus, Summa de Vitiis, from tractactus 9, ch. 2, de murmure (de tribus divisionibus murmure), edition sections 383b-385a (Online Resources); then continuing with Que valent ad commendationem silentii claustralium, tractatus 9, pars iii (edition sections 418 and 418b).
f. 5rv-6rv, [Exempla focused on the Virgin Mary], incipit, “//set beatam uirginem corpus …; De beata maria uirgine, incipit, “Miles quidam de anglia … quod stulte egi. Sed// [continuing, f. 6rv], “permite me semper te …, De beata maria, Miles vero quidam …, De beata maria, Quedam nobilis dominia habens in camera ymagine beate marie depictam. ipsam codidie//;
f. 7rv, incipit, “//et non apperiet os suo. Pilato uel herodi… iam levavit se super statum hunc//”;
Guillelmus Peraldus, Summa de vitiis, tractatus 9, section iii (edition sections 418 and 418b, Online Resources).
f. 8rv, incipit, “//et deridebant dicentes … super omnes alias//”;
Pseudo-Bonaventure, Meditationes vitae christi, ch. 15 (see f. 3rv).
f. 9rv, incipit, “//conditor omnipotens rex uniuersorum/ …/ Postmodum … sex annorum//”;
Pseudo-Hugh of St Victor, Verses on the Life of Christ, Migne, PL v. 149, col. 591-602, beginning below, f. 24v.
f. 10rv, incipit, “//perfecte orationis … Sed quod periculosius//”;
Bonaventure, Regula novitiorum, ch. 2, “De oratione”; ed. 1882-1902, vol. 8, p. 476.
f. 11rv, incipit, “//<?diens> accepta peccunia iret ad stadium …; De stulticia hominis, incipit, “Quidam Sagittarius auiculam paruam … non potest//”;
Compare Aesop’s fable, “De Philomela et Sagittario.”
f. 12rv, incipit, “//tor in quodam …; De castitate, Quidam enim rex anglie ….; De castitate, “Romanorum testimonium didicimus et in commentariis pontificalibus scriptum invenimus … celebraret//”;
Two exempla on chastity, the second drawing on Pseudo-Johannes Gobius, Scala celi; and the first telling a tale of a certain “Richard king of England” and nuns.
ff. 13-16v, [Added miniature], Christ in majesty; f. 13v, [Exemplum focused on the Virgin Mary], incipit, “//tantum stecisset … servivit; De beata virgine maria, Relacione quorumdam religiosorum virorum veraciter intellexi … … pictorem//”; [f. 14], incipit, “//cuius formositas cunctas excellent …factum est autem//”; [f. 15], [Exempla on chastity], incipit, “//fratrum venisset ad eam et demon … demonis liberata; De castitate, Fuit quidam vir nobilis dives valde …//”; [f. 16], incipit, “//-ritudine mariam ad propria .. ubi iste transgressor//”;
f. 17rv, incipit, “//umaret. Tunc dixit pater …; De prelatis, Regula prelatorum est … //”;
From Jacobus de Voragine, sermon for Feria III secunde hebdomade quadragesime (Online Resources, http://sermones.net/thesaurus/document.php?id=jvor_222&list_noml=1, IB-IB3).
f. 18rv, incipit, “//est peccando …; De uana gloria, Notandum est quod secundum crysostum quod vana …; De petiticione, Ecclesia constructa est ad orandum …Dicit tamen beda//”;
f. 19rv, incipit, “//dillex[it?] quod passa est corpus …; De religiosis, Assimilari debet religiosus mortuo… ut pos-//”;
From Jacobus de Voragine, sermon for Sabbato Pasche (Online Resources, http://sermones.net/thesaurus/document.php?id=jvor_285, 1 of 2, IID iii-IIID).
ff. 20-23v, incipit, “//Similiter de capillis … quod dum eos//”; [f. 21], incipit, “//misterium mulier …celestem//”; [f. 22], incipit, “//manum altera …; De castitate, Accidit semel in yspania quod quedam domina fratribus minoribus devota …. Cum lector dictorum//”; [f. 23r], incipit, “//custodire volunt … De for-//”;
f. 24, incipit, “//sit dicere cum propheta …; De loquella spirituali, Ex hec cognoscitur …”;
f. 24v, Hoc opus factum fuit per ugonem de sancto victore ad laudem domini nostri ihesu christi, incipit, “Desere iam anima lectulum ….//”;
Pseudo-Hugh of St Victor, Verses on the Life of Christ, ed. Migne, PL v. 149, col. 591-602, abbreviated; see above, f. 9rv, and below, f. 73rv.
ff. 25-43v, [On prayer], incipit, “//quod tribus de causis …et quia se no//”; [f. 26rv], incipit, “//uas cordis ...; De odio anime, Qui odit animam suam in hec mundo … et pro//”; [f. 27], [Added miniature], Saint preaching to monks in white robes; [f. 27v], incipit, “//miserabiliter laborantibus …; De superbia et ornatu capillorum,//”; [f. 28rv], incipit, “//autem qui nudum … super altare. Et an[te]//”; [f. 29rv], incipit, “//ymaginem crucifixi …; De beata maria virgine, Quidam clericus …ac odore in//”; [f. 30rv], incipit, “//ut cum abbas … liberandis//”; [f. 31rv], [Exemplum from the life of St. Francis], incipit, “//relicto solo abbate …; De beato Francisco, Semel transiens beatus Franciscus …; De beato Francisco, Quidam novitius ordinis minorum temptatus ...devotissima fratrum. Que//”; [f. 32rv], incipit, “//-titudine vero cordis …; De quibusdam peccatis …, …//”; [f. 33rv], incipit, “//-tintatem pauperum …; De gloria paradisi, Notandum est quod domus servus suis …//”; [f. 34rv], incipit, “//detirmentum …; De oratione, Cum dominus dicat in euangellio … beatus Gregorius dicit virtus//”; [ff. 35-37v], [each folio discontinuous, topics include], De oracione, [f. 35v], De occiositate, [f. 36], De dillacione confessionis, [f. 37rv], De accusatione falsa; De avaritia; [f. 38rv], [Exempla concerning the Virgin Mary], incipit, “//et alicui me …; De beata maria virgine, Fuit quidam monachus qui genu flectebat … [verso, second story, concluding], …non invento missus//”; [ff. 39-42v], [Each folio discontinuous; topics include], De falsitate demonis; [f. 39v], De fide Christi; [f. 40v], De penis inferni; [f. 41], De correctione; f. 42, [Added miniature], Kiss of Judas; f. 42v, “//et quod currebat ad martirium …. ipse yhesus benedicens, amen; De patientia//”; [f. 43], incipit, “// …; De purificatione uirginis, luc. ii, …”//;
ff. 44-45v, incipit, “//durum. Unde in vitas partum …; De murmure, Sequitur videre de murmure … in liberis pas-//”;
Guillelmus Peraldus, Summa de Vitiis, tractactus 9, ch. 2, de murmure (ed. 383b-385a, Online Resources).
ff. 46-48v, “//et habet deum … non didicit. [Peraldus, continuing from f. 7v, 418b; see above]; De amore dei, Dominus noster ihesus Christus volens suos devotos … uel amicis [f. 47] et huismodi. Si autem in aliquo istorum fuerit amor cordis tui … a caritate Christi tri-//; [f. 48], “//quod de vestimentis …facis volens//”;
ff. 49-58v, [Each folio discontinuous; topics include], De recordatione mortis; [f. 50], De vicio superbie; [f. 51v], De obediencia; [f. 52v], De peccatis que ex ira proveniunt [cf. Peraldus, De vitiis, tractatus VIII, pars 3, with the same title]; [f. 53v], De remediis contra iram propriam uel alienam; [f. 54], incipit, “//-bulatio in afflictio ….”//; [f. 56], incipit, “//…; De penis inferni, Quidam monachus …; De penis inferni, Fuit quidam miles …//”; [f. 58rv], [topics include], De accidia claustralium; De remediis contra accidiam;
f. 59rv, incipit, “Dulcis iesu memoria dans vera cordis gaudia/…”;
Hymn, Dulcis Iesu memoria, printed in Migne, PL, vol. 184, col. 1318; concluding on f. 62rv.
f. 60v, incipit, “// …; De falsitate demonis, Fuit quedam domina uxor comitis tholosani …//”;
f. 61, incipit, “//resonabit … uisitat excelenti” [James of Milan, Stimulis divini amoris; continuing from f. 2v; with part 3, chapter 1]; [f. 61rv], Contra Superbiam, Superbe. O luciferi imitator respondum numquid … si ergo a te tantum malum//” [James of Milan, Stimulis divini amoris, part 3, chapter 10, ed. pp. 685-686];
f. 62rv, [Conclusion of Dulcis Iesu memoria; see above f. 59rv];
f. 63, [Exemplum about a knight]; incipit, “// … Miles quidam rex prodigus ex multa ... //”;
f. 64, incipit, “//et a deo tantum bonum …. O immensitas bonitatis. Quid//” [James of Milan, Stimulus divini amoris, part 3, chapter 10, ed. p. 686, col. b; continuing from f. 61v].
f. 65, incipit, “//-mo in lectis ….; De inobediencia eorum qui solemnitates non observant, incipit, “Sequitur de inobedientia eorum qui sollempnitates ….datus fuit; De remediis contra superbiam, incipit, “Positis diversis …que parti//”;
De inobedientia, is part of Peraldus, De vitiis, De superbia (tractatus vi), although the text here is longer and not identical to the printed text; see public.asu.edu/~rnewhaus/peraldus_project/superbit.html).
f. 67, incipit, “// ….; De saluacione virginis, Quidam … miles fuit ualde malus …; De saluatione uirginis, …//”;
ff. 68v-72v, [Each folio is discontinuous, topics include], De saluatione ihesu christi; [f. 69], Added miniature, Archangel Michael slaying the dragon; [f. 69v], De duricia confessorum; [f. 71], De stigmatibus beati Francisci; [f. 72], De superbia;
f. 73rv, [Pseudo-Hugh of St Victor, Verses on the Life of Christ; Migne, PL vol. 149, 591-602; see above, beginning f. 24v, continuing f. 9rv];
ff. 74-80v, [Each folio is discontinuous, topics include], De ascenssione [sic] domini, mt xvi, lux xxiiii; [f. 76], De beato virgine maria; [f. 78], De beata maria v.; [f. 78v], De beata maria v.; [f. 79v], De beato Francisco, incipit, “Fuit vir q[uon]dam nobilis …”; [f. 80v], De missione spiritus sancti, actuum secundo capitulo;
f. 81, incipit, “//eos repleas consoleris robores …. qui est super omnia deus benedictus et laudabilis in secula seculorum, Amen”; [ending mid folio; remainder blank].
It has proven to be very challenging to reconstruct anything that resembles the original order of this manuscript, although it should be possible, given enough time. Here is a partial reconstruction of the order of a handful of related leaves:
ff. 2rv, 61rv, 64, James of Milan, Stimulus divini amoris, Distelbrink, no. 217-219, edited with Bonaventure’s works in St. Bonaventure, Opera omnia, ed. A. C. Peltier, vol. 12, pp. 631-703, here with Part 3, chapter 1, ed. p. 677 [ending mid.-col. b], concluding on f. 61; followed on f. 61rv by part 3, chapter 10, ed. pp. 685-686, and continuing on f. 64, with part 3, chapter 10, ed. p. 686, col. b.
f. 3rv, f. 8rv, Two sections from different chapters of Ps. Bonaventure (Johannes de Caulibus?), Meditationes vitae Christi, the first section is from ch. 14, followed by a section from chapter 15 (Online Resources, https://www.ultramontes.pl/bonaventura_14.htm; Quid Dominus fecit a duodecimo anno usque ad tricesimum (ultramontes.pl)).
ff. 44-45v, 4rv, 7rv, 46-47v, and perhaps continuing on f. 54?, Guillelmus Peraldus, De vitiis, from tractatus 9, ch. 2, De murmure (De tribus divisionibus murmure), edition sections 383b-385a (Online Resources), beginning ff. 44-45v, continuing on f. 4rv; then continuing with Que valent ad commendationem silentii claustralium, tractatus 9, section iii (edition sections 418 and 418b).
ff. 5-6v, Exemplum centering on the Virgin Mary (continuing f. 29 or f. 13?).
f. 19rv, f. 24rv, Jacobus de Voragine, Sermon for Sabbato Pasche, 1 of 2, IID iii-IIID (Online Resources, http://sermones.net/thesaurus/document.php?id=jvor_285).
ff. 24v, 9rv, 73rv, Pseudo-Hugh of St Victor, Verses on the Life of Christ, printed in Migne, PL vol. 149, col. 591-602, the text here abbreviated.
f. 10rv, f. 18rv, Bonaventure, Regula novitiorum, ed. 1882-1902, vol. 8, p. 476.
Illustration
Four miniatures were added to the manuscript in the nineteenth century, perhaps copying thirteenth-century Umbrian miniatures (once again, we thank Professor Manzari for her expertise). An interesting, and worthwhile, project would be to identify the exact models for the miniatures – either from originals or from reproductions available to the copyist. The miniatures were painted on original leaves that may have been scraped blank (the text on the verso is intact):
f. 13, Christ in Majesty;
f. 27, Saint preaching to a group of white-robed monks;
f. 42, Kiss of Judas;
f. 69, Archangel Michael slaying a dragon.
A complete analysis of the texts included in this manuscript remains for future scholars; the usual complexity of identifying numerous texts in a miscellany is here compounded by the fact that the volume is now bound in what appears to be almost a random order, and the first step for future researchers will, of course, be to reconstruct the original order of the manuscript. This task is certainly worth doing, given the unusually engaging contents of this miscellany, which includes (among other texts), numerous short moral tales, or exempla, which were used by medieval preachers to enliven their sermons.
Jacques Le Goff defined an exemplum as “Un récit bref donné comme veridique et destiné à être inséré dans un discours (en général un sermon) pour convaincre un auditoire par un leçon salutaire” (A brief story, told as if it is true, and intended for use in a longer discourse, in general a sermon, to convince an audience by means of a salutary lesson; Polo de Beaulieu, et al., 1982, p. 19, cited from Bremond, Le Goff, and Schmitt, 1982). In the nineteenth century, T. F. Crane simply called it an “illustrative story.” An essential part of Christian teaching from the beginning, in the Middle Ages the importance of the exemplum grew steadily in the later twelfth and thirteenth centuries, coinciding with the growth of preaching. Many written collections of exempla for the use of preachers were compiled by Franciscan and Dominican Friars; one of the earliest was by Stephen of Bourbon, a Dominican (d. c. 1260). Modern scholarship on the topic has flourished since the 1980s (in addition to the works cited above, see Haug and Wachinger, 1991; and Polo de Beaulieu, et al., 1998 and 2010). There is now an online repertory, “THema” of medieval exempla (Online resources), and an earlier print publication by Tubach (Tubach, 1969).
Exempla offer scholars and students an important way to engage with medieval culture, offering precious insight into popular religion and daily life, which very few other types of sources offer. In our manuscript, exempla can be found on ff. 5, 6v (2), 11v, 12, 13v, 15v, 22, 29, 31v (two), 35rv, 36, 37rv, 38rv, 39rv, 40v, 49v, 51v, 56rv, 60rv, 63, 67rv, 68v, 77v, 71, 72, 76, 78rv, 79v (this is a partial list, including here only folios where there is a rubric and a clear beginning of a story). We have not studied their sources, nor tried to identify them in the repertories mentioned above (Online Resources; Tubach, 1969). St. Francis features in stories on ff. 31v, 71, and 79v; others are stories about monks (in one case a Cistercian monk is specified) or knights; Bede is mentioned as a source for one; there are many featuring the Virgin Mary, and several that are probably from the lives of the Desert Hermits. Careful study of the exempla in this manuscript may reveal the source(s) used by the compilers of our manuscript.
Those sources included a number by Franciscan authors; St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) is represented, as well as well-loved texts that circulated under his name, but other sources were used as well, including William Peraldus (d. 1271) On the Vices, and sermons by James of Voragine (d. 1298), both Dominicans. Several passages from the Stimulus divini amoris, or the Goad of Divine Love, are included. This mystical treatise by the Franciscan James of Milan was written sometime before 1293. The work concerns the contrast between divine love, especially as manifested in Christ’s Passion, and the sinful inadequacy of mankind’s response to it. The Stimulus amoris was one of the most frequently copied and influential medieval Franciscan texts; Eisermann describes some 500 Latin and 58 German manuscripts (Eisermann, 2001, pp. 64-209; see also Online Resources).
Literature
Bonaventure, Opera omnia, ed. A. C. Peltier, 15 vols, Paris, 1864-1871.
Bonaventure. Opera omnia … edita studio et cura PP. Collegii a S. Bonaventura ad plurimos codices …, Ad claras Aquas (Quaracchi), 1882-1902.
Bremond, Claude, Jacques Le Goff, and Jean Claude Schmitt. L’ “exemplum”, Typologie des sources du moyen âge occidental 40, Turnhout, 1982.
Distelbrink, B. Bonaventurae scripta authentica dubia vel spuria critice recensita, Rome, 1975.
Eisermann, F. “Stimulus amoris”: Inhalt, lateinische Überlieferung, deutsche Übersetzungen, Rezeption, Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen 118, Tübingen, 2001.
Faye, C. U. and Bond, Supplement to de Ricci’s Census, New York, 1962, p. 516 (when owned by Marvin Colker).
Haug, Walter, and Burghart Wachinger. Exempel und Exempelsammlungen. Tübingen, 1991.
James of Milan and Jean Peckam, Stimulis amoris Fr. Iacobi Mediolanensis. Canticum Pauperis Fr. Ioannis Peckam, Quaracchi (Florence), 1905.
Lecoy de la Marche, A. Anecdotes historiques, légendes et apologues tirés du recueil inédit d’Etienne de Bourbon, dominicain du XIIIe siècle, Paris, 1877.
McNamer, Sarah. “Meditationes Vitae Christi: Recent Arguments and Prospects for Future Research,” Archivum Franciscanum Historicum 111 (2018), pp. 65-112.
Polo de Beaulieu, Marie Anne, and Jacques Berlioz. Les Exempla médiévaux : introduction à la recherche. Suivie des tables critiques de l’"Index exemplorum" de Frederic C. Tubach, Carcassonne, 1991.
Polo de Beaulieu, Marie Anne. Les Exempla médiévaux : nouvelles perspectives, Paris and Genève, 1998.
Polo de Beaulieu, Marie Anne, Pascal Collomb and Jacques Berlioz, eds. Le tonnerre des exemples: exempla et médiation culturelle dans l’occident médiéval, Actes de trois colloques, Rennes, 2010.
Stallings-Taney, M. ed. Johannis de Caulibus Meditaciones vite Christi olim S. Bonaventuro attributae, Corpus christianorum. Continuatio mediaevalis 153, Turnhout, 1997.
Tubach, Frederic C. Index exemplorum; A Handbook of Medieval Religious Tales, Helsinki, 1969.
Welter, J.-Th. L’Exempla dans la littérature religieuse et didactique du Moyen Age, Paris, 1927.
Online Resources
Ps. Bonaventure (Johannes de Caulibus?), Meditationes vitae Christi
https://www.ultramontes.pl/bonaventura_15.htm
Jacobus de Voragine, Sermones
http://sermones.net/thesaurus/document.php?id=jvor_222&list_noml=1
Richard G. Newhauser, Siegfried Wenzel, Bridget K. Balint, and Edwin Craun, “Outline of William Peraldus, Summa on the Vices”
William Peraldus, Summa on the Vices - Outline (asu.edu)
Selected passages from the text are available online, scanned from the Lyon 1688 edition,
Index of /~rnewhaus/peraldus_project (asu.edu)
Stimulus amoris
https://archive.org/details/srecardinalissbo12bona/page/676/mode/2up?q=superbe&view=theater
Stimulus amoris in FAMA (IRHT, CNRS), a list of 500 copies
http://fama.irht.cnrs.fr/oeuvre/271060
Sample exempla (in English)
https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/346serm.html
Thesaurus exemplorum medii aevi (ThEMA)
https://thema.huma-num.fr/
TM 1288
