Montpellier, BIU. Section de Médecine, H 137
| Library | Montpellier, Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire. Section de Médecine |
|---|---|
| Shelfmark | H 137 |
| Century | saec. IX/X/XI |
| General region of origin | France |
| Collection | Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii) |
| Collection 2 | Collectio CCCXLII capitulorum |
| Collection 3 | Collectio Dacheriana |
| Collection 4 | Pseudoisidore |
| Digital Images | ged.scdi-montpellier |
| Description at | arca.irht.cnrs |
| Description at 2 | data.biblissima |
| Description at 3 | portail.biblissima |
| Main author | Bruno Schalekamp |
Montpellier, Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire. Section de Médecine (or BU Historique de Médecine), H. 137 is a composite manuscript with a total 320 folios; the individual parts date from the late ninth to (late) eleventh-centuries. The dates given in the literature are: saec. XI (fols. 1r-306v and 315r-320v) and saec. XI2 (fols. 307r-314r) (Kéry); saec. IX/X (fols. 106v-116r) (Kottje); A: IXex-X; B: saec. XI (Fournier/Mordek). It is written partly in long lines (fols. 1r-174v, 176r-268v, and 269v-320v), partly in two columns (fols. 175r-v and 269r). Its codicological composition and dimensions are unknown. No quire signatures have been included. Modern folio numbering in Arabic numerals in lead pencil are found on the recto side of each folio in a modern hand. Fournier has argued the manuscript consists of two parts, A (fols. 1-166v) and B (fols. 167r-320v). The manuscript was written by numerous (but unknown amount of) hands in either Caroline minuscule (part A) or late Caroline minuscule (part B)
The codex's origins are unknown but can be traced to France according to Mordek. Its provenance is known from the 16th century onwards, as it is known to have been in possession of Pierre Pithou (1539-1596). Nothing else known about both parts before his life and connection to the manuscript; according to Fournier, both parts - previously created separately - were probably bound together sometime in the 17th century.
Contents
Montpellier, BISM, H. 137 is a large codex and contains mostly patristic and canonical material, with some penitential additions. The patristic sources are dominated by sermons, originating from a wide range of authors including Caesarius of Arles and St. Augustine (or ascribed to him). Many of these sermons are - at the time of writing - of unknown authorship. Folios 1r-166v probably comprise a coherent (unknown?) collection of these sermons. The canonical material consists of the preface to the Collectio Dacheriana, the Collectio CCCXLII capitulorum, the preface to Pseudoisidore's False Capitularies, a few chapters of the Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii), and an unknown collection of 114 chapters. The penitential part includes works by Pseudo-Theodore, Halitgar of Cambrai, Fulbert of Chartres, and a penitential ascribed to pope Gregory III. The manuscript includes many other - sometimes unidentified - works, which can mostly be considered to be part of the previously mentioned categories. Some of these include, for example, a letter of Jerome 'on penance', excerpts from both Isidore de Seville and St. Augustine's large corpus of works, pope Gregory the Great's 25th homily, and the first two books of St. Augustine's The Soliloquies. See below for a complete preliminary overview of the identified and unidentified works.
This very large composite codex contains a remarkable mix of genres and an abundance of literary sources. The owner of part A of this large collection of patristic, canonical, and penitential sources, it can be said, must have had a clear interest in penance and confession. Many of the sources included expound on what these activities - be it spiritually or materially - mean and entail. Part B, however, also includes a penitential and some works relevant to penance, even though its contents are overwhelmingly canonical. It can, therefore, only with certainty be said that the 17th-century owner of both these parts had a very wide interest in the source material of penance and canon law.
Fournier adds the important note that Burchard of Worms, Liber decretorum did not influence these manuscripts in any way. Furthermore, Pseudoisidore’s False Decretals remarkably make no appearance here, whereas the False Capitularies do. One might suggest the second part of the manuscript (B) could be defined as a separate canonical ‘collection’ of sorts, as it includes much canonical material that is intertextually relevant, as well as could be associated with one another. On the other hand, the Collectio CCCXLII capitulorum is ‘its own section’, which criticizes such a possible suggestion.
folios texts
Front cover and multiple flyleaves
1r-166v Collection of various excerpts from sermons, letters, books, and other works from various patristic fathers and other relevant authors 1r-3v Unknown author (in Migne: Exhortatio poenitendi): Cur fluctuas anima merorum quassata procellis 3v-8v Unknown author (in Migne: Exhortatio poenitendi): Audi Christe tristem fletum amarumque canticum 8v-24r Unknown author (in Migne: Oratio pro correptione vitae): Deus omnium mirabilium auctor miseri 24v Blank page 25r-30r Epistle of St. Jerome to Rusticus, titled De Poenitentia 30r-40v Alleged sermon of St. Augustine (n. 351), titled De Poenitentia 41r-43r Alleged homilia of St. Augustine. Rather, probably a sermon ascribed to him (n. 258), titled De Agenda Poenitentia 43r-44r Sermon of pseudo-John Chrysostom, titled De Confessione 44r-46v Excerpt from St. Augustine’s De vera religione liber unus, chapter 55 46v-47v Excerpts from St. Augustine’s Libri contra Faustum, book 20, n. 21 47v-49v Sermon of St. Augustine (n. 350), titled De laude caritatis 49v-52v St. Cyprian's Exhortatio de paenitentia 52v-56v St. Ephraim the Syrian’s De judicio Dei et resurrectione, de Regno coelorum et munditia animae. Here mentioned as De munditia animae 57r-69r St. Augustine's De agone Christiano 69r-77v St. Augustine's Episcopi de patientia 78r-96r St. Jerome’s epistle (n. 22) to Eustochium, titled Libellus de virginitate servanda 96r-103r Gennadius of Marseille's De ecclesiasticis dogmatibus 103v Blank page 104r-105v Pope Gregory the Great’s 25th homily 105v-106r Alleged work of St. Augustine. Rather, probably the 11th chapter of Alcuin’s De virtutibus et vitiis, titled De compunctione cordis 106r-v St. Augustine's De confessione chapter 12 106v-107r Excerpts from Halitgar of Cambrai’s De poenitentiae 107r-117v Various excerpts from patristic fathers such as, among others (and allegedly?), St. Jerome, St. Augustine and Isidore de Seville 117v-118r Excerpts from St. Eucherius’ Instructiones, book 1 118r Excerpt from the 21st chapter of Alcuin’s De virtutibus et vitiis, chapter 21, titled De falsis testibus. Also an excerpt from Halitgar of Cambrai’s De poenitentiae 118r-v Various excerpts from biblical and patristic sources 118v Excerpt from Halitgar of Cambrai’s De poenitentiae. Also an excerpt from Alcuin’s De virtutibus et vitiis, chapter 19, titled De fraude cavenda 118v-119r Excerpts from Halitgar of Cambrai’s De poenitentiae, De furtu 119r Unknown excerpt ascribed to pope Gregory the Great's De discordia 119r-120v Sermon of Caesarius of Arles (n. 54) on methods of divination. Here ascribed to St. Augustine 120v-121r Unknown sermon, titled De detractione 121r Unknown sermon, titled De contentione 121r-122v Sermon of Caesarius of Arles (n. 57), titled De ebrietate. Here ascribed to St. Augustine 122v Excerpt from pope Gregory the Great’s Dialogues 123r Unknown sermon, titled De uerbo otioso 123r-v Unknown sermon, titled De cogitationibus malis 123v Unknown sermon ascribed to St. Augustine, titled De curiositate 123v-124r Unknown sermon, ascribed to pope Gregory the Great, titled De fructu digno penitentiae 124r-v Excerpt from Alcuin’s Opusculum de baptismi ceremoniis 124v-126r John Cassian's Conferences, book 3, chapters 8-11 126r-v Unknown sermon, titled De non celandis propriis peccatis 126v-127r Unknown sermon, titled De alienis peccatis non tacendis 127r-128r Excerpt from the Penitential of Cummean 128r-130r 30th canon of the Penitential of pseudo-Theodore with an expoundation 130r-132v Series of fragments of pope Gregory the Great concerning various topics. These were mostly excerpted from his Dialogues, book 4. Chapters in order of appearance include chapters 50, 39, 42, 43, 44, 25, 28, and 39 132v-133v Epistle of Hrabanus Maurus to Regimbald 133v-137r St. Ephrem's De iudicio extremo et de compunctione 137r-v Isidore de Seville's Sententiae, book 2, chapter 6 137v-147v John Chrysostom's De compunctione cordis 147v-166r St. Augustine's The Soliloquies, books 1 and 2 166r-v Excerpts from St. Augustine's The Soliloquies, which cuts off in the middle of a sentence 167r Beginning of a penitential ascribed to Fulbert of Chartres (952/970-1028), titled De diuersis criminibus et remediis eorum 167r-172r Penitential of 33 chapters ascribed to Gregory III (d. 741). This concerns a complete version of the work 172v-229r Collection of capitularies, which are excerpts from Ansegisus (c. 770-833/834) and Benedict Levita. According to Fournier, some were also taken from Isidore de Seville 229v-230v Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii), chapters I-VIII 230v-269r Preface to the Collectio Dacheriana, titled De utilitate penitentiae 269r Short table of a collation of the Greek and Latin alphabet with Roman numerals 269r-272v Canons 1 through 25 of the council of Meaux-Paris (845/846) 272v-306r Collectio CCCXLII capitulorum 306r-307r Excerpts from Pseudoisidore's False Capitularies, praefatio 307r-314r Unknown canonical collection consisting of 114 chapters 314r-v Epistle of Fulbert of Chartres (n. 13) and an excerpt from a council of Toledo 315r-316r Small collection of canons from councils at Toledo (III-IV), Agde, Orléans, Sevilla (II), Carthage (IV), Chalcedon, Tarragona and Arles (I), as well as a decretal by pope Siricius. Furthermore includes some chapters of Martin of Braga and of an unknown council, titled Concilia Orientalium patrum 316v-320v Series of epistles by Fulbert of Chartres (ns. 74, 55, 22, 56, 4, 87, 106, 58, 75, 11, 12, 842, 10, 95, 91, 16, 98, 18, 14, 17, 6, and 23)
Multiple flyleaves and back cover
Links
- Digital images (full ms) https://ged.scdi-montpellier.fr/florabium45/jsp/nodoc.jsp?NODOC=2014_DOC_MON1_MBUM_41
- basic description and some digital images: https://arca.irht.cnrs.fr/ark:/63955/md7634850266
- Biblissima
- note that ARCA and Biblissima do not link to the digital version
Literature
Catalogue général Vol. 1 (1849), p. 335-336; Fournier, ‘Notice sur le Manuscrit H.137’ (1897), p. 1-33; Kéry, Canonical Collections pp. 75, 81, 89, 122, and 181; Kottje, Die Bussbücher Halitgars von Cambrai (1980), p. 64; Meens, Penance (2014), p. 136; Mordek, Bibliotheca capitularium (1999), p. 127 and 524; Mordek, Kirchenrecht und Reform (1975), p. 181 n. 394 and 398, 194 n. 495, 259, and 262; Fowler-Magerl pp. 62-64; Rambaud-Buhot, ‘Un corpus inédit’ (1968), p. 271-281.
An edition of the Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii) is currently being prepared by Sven Meeder, Gideon de Jong, and Bruno Schalekamp.
