Girona, Arxiu Capitular, ms. 4

Library	Girona, Arxiu Capitular
Shelfmark	ms. (4) I,f,5
Century	saec X
Century 2	saec XI
Provenance	Girona
European region of origin	Southern France
Collection	Collectio Hispana
Collection 2	Tabulae Hispanae
Digital Images	not online as of October 2025
Description at	mirabileweb.it
Description at 2	arxiuadg.org (PDF p. 2)
Author	Bruno Schalekamp
Author	Lotte Kéry

Girona, Arxiu Capitular, ms. (4) I,f,5 (also known as Codex Gerundensis) is a late tenth or eleventh century manuscript of 389 folios (X + 369 + X) in 2 cols. (365 x 285 mm). Its codicological composition consists of 49 quires excluding the twenty flyleaves and a singleton, structured as follows: (I - 1)¹ + 48 x IV³⁶⁵ + III³⁶⁹, with quire signatures starting with Q(ua)t(ernio) .I.⁹ until .XLVIIII.³⁶⁹. Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in distinct black ink on the recto side of each folio, which does not completely adhere to the actual folio ordering. The binding is from the eighteenth century.

It was written by one main hand, with another hand on the first and last folio, all in late Caroline minuscule and probably in Girona or southern France. Its was probably written in saec. XIⁱⁿ according to De Puig and Keefe, XI^ex according to DÍez, XIⁱⁿ according to Scherer, or a bit earlier in saec. X^4/4 according to Tischler. Its provenance is from the same area as where it was produced, which is why it is also known as the Codex Gerundensis or simply as the "Códice Conciliar" of the Girona archive, without any shelf mark.

The dating of the manuscript is slightly confused. In the edition, it seems to be dated saec. IXⁱⁿ, but as Scherer, Forschen p. 10 noted, this in all likelihood is a typo for "s. XI^ex". She asserts the manuscript was written in the first half of the eleventh century. However, Tischler pp. 89-91 argued for a date between 970 and 984 (citing Roura i Güibas for an even earlier date) and, based on palaeographical research, identified the scribe as Atto of Vic (not to be confused with the eponymous canon who became bishop of Vic). He also pointed to the list of ecclesiastical provinces on fol. 2r which he links with the contentious issue of the "emancipation" of the Catalan churches from Narbonne and the creation of an archdiocese of Vic in 970.

The manuscript’s parchment is preserved in very good condition. Its top marginal corners, however, start deteriorating from fol. 344 onward due to an unknown type of damage. On the microfilm, the damage appears as water damage but from fol. 366 onward points to fire damage due to blackened spotting and tears in the parchment.

Contents

folios	content
	Front cover, including notices of provenance from saec. XVII
	Ten flyleaves, of which the first includes the title ANTIQUISSIMVS ECCLESIAE HISPANIAE LIBER CANONVM in an early modern hand, probably saec. XVI-XVII
1rv	'Girona constitution of peace and truce' from c. 1068
2r	List of Hispanic ecclesiastical provinces
2v-3r	Dialogon epigrammatum in libro canonum
3v-23rb	Tabulae Hispanae, which includes a decorative illustration of its ten books on fol. 3v
23rb-366va	Main body of the Collectio Hispana, Vulgata-recension
366va-367ra	Pope Leo I: epistle 28, ad alios episcopos Betice
367rb-368rb	Councils of Girona (1068/1078). In all probability added by a later hand in the eleventh century
368v	Unknown epistle by a bishop of Tarragona, as well as a few probationes pennae
369rv	Blank folio, except for quatern-numbering on verso side
	Ten flyleaves
	Back cover

Literature

De Puig, ‘La Constitucio de Pau i Teva del MS. 4 de l’Arxiu Capitular de Girona’ (2022), p. 97-122 esp. 108-120; Keefe, Catalogue (2012), p. 238; Kéry, Canonical Collections (1999), pp. 63, 71; Martínez Díez / Rodríguez, La Coleccion vol. 1, pp. 141-142; Scherer,‘Forschen ohne historisch-kritische Textgrundlage’ (2016), p. 10 (https://doi.org/10.26498/zrgka-2016-0104); Tischler, Carolingian Canon Law Collections in Early Medieval Catalonia’ (2024), p. 89-91 (https://doi.org/10.1484/M.RELMIN-EB.5.138026).