Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia, 1

Library	Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia
Shelfmark	Cod. 1
Century	s. XI¾, just before c. 1071
European region of origin	Italy
Collection	Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii)
Main author	Bruno Schalekamp
Main author	Lotte Kéry

Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia, Cod. 1 is a middle to third quarter eleventh-century manuscript, with a terminus ante quem of c. 1071 based on its contents. It consists of 450 pages 2 cols. and 44 lines, measuring 405 x 296 mm. It is made of parchment with paper flyleaves. Its codicological composition consists of 29 or 30 quires, with the following structure: 14 x IV²²⁴ + (III + 1)²³⁸ + 2 x IV²⁷⁰ + (II + 1)²⁷⁶ + (IV - 1)²⁹⁰ + III³⁰² + IV³¹⁸ + III³³² + 7 x IV⁴⁴⁴ + ?⁴⁵⁰. Quire signatures start at I¹⁶ through XVII²⁷⁰, with the signature of the supposed 18th quire missing or not included (if it may be considered as a quire), continuing with XVIII²⁹⁰ through XXIIII.³⁸⁰, with the signature of the 25th or 26th quire not included, and finalizing with XXVI⁴¹² through R(?)XXVIII⁴⁴⁴ + ?⁴⁵⁰. It is unknown of the 18th and the last quires should be considered quires at all, or form a different composition: this reconstruction is purely based on the signatures provided by the scribe. The manuscript needs more hands-on research to finalize the codicological composition. Modern pagination in Arabic numerals in black ink and lead pencil are found on each side of each page.

The relatively large codex was penned by multiple hands in Beneventan script. Its origins and provenance are unknown as yet, but can be suspected to be from Italy - based on its script - and probably also from Monte Cassino itself.

Contents

Aside from Montecassino, Archivio dell’Abbazia, Cod. 1's contents listed below, the manuscript includes many notae in the margins, also between columns, especially next to the works of Pseudoisidore. The codex was therefore probably used as the base text for a later compilation or collection; some parts may have been excerpted. The marginalia also include some additions and/or corrections by later readers and/or correctors.

Futhermore, in the far margins, on the top and corner side of pages, it seems scribes used the space for probationes pennae. These marginalia seem to have been tryouts for the actual text, as they include words relevant to the topic. At the same time, these may have been later notes by interested readers, as the ink is different, lighter, than the base text. Some of these hands are clearly early modern, so that may prove the latter observation instead of the former.

Lastly, some marginalia have not survived due to various forms of damage to the codex. We may suspect that includes water damage and tear-offs. A part of these damages have luckily been restored, as is the case with the torn top right side of every (uneven) page on pp. 1-192 – which becomes smaller and smaller later on in the codex until the start of the 13th quire. Some other forms of damage can be spotted further on.

For its digitization, see: https://omnes.dbseret.com/montecassino/view.jsp?cid=IT-FR0084_0001&did=IT-FR0084_0001_0009_pa_001.

folios	content
	Front cover
	Two flyleaves. The second includes early modern notations, including the shelf-mark and other short notations on the manuscript’s history.
pp. 1-402	Pseudoisidore, False Decretals.
	pp. 237-238 are cut in half.
pp. 402a-409b, 433, and 447-448	Capitula Angilramni
pp. 397-399 and 434-440	Gregory the Great's Registrum Epistolarum.
pp. 440-441	Pseudoisidore, Epistola ad Leudefredum episcopum.
p. 443a-b	Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii).
p. 450	Short excerpt of the Nicene Creed..
	Flyleaf
	Back cover

Literature

Bibliotheca Casinensis Vol. 1 (1874), p. 1-49; Kéry, Canonical Collections (1999), 75, 81, 102, and 115.; Meyvaert, ‘Peter The Deacon and the Tomb of Saint Benedict,’ (1995), p. 23-24 n. 1; Orofino and Casavecchia, Miniatura a Montecassino (2013); Schon, Die Capitula Angilramni (MGH 2006), p. 23; Valtorta, Clavis Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevi (2006), p. 68.

An edition of the Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii) is currently being prepared by Sven Meeder, Gideon de Jong, and Bruno Schalekamp.