Collectio Diessensis
| Title | Collectio Diessensis |
|---|---|
| Key | ? |
| Alternative title | Sammlung der Handschrift von Diessen |
| Century | saec. VIII |
| European region of origin | Southern Germany |
| Specific region of origin | Bavaria/Salzburg? |
| Author | Christof Rolker |
The Collectio Diessensis is extant only in München, BSB, Clm 5508 (fragments of which are now München, BSB, Clm 29550/4). In its present, albeit fragmentary form, the Collectio Diessensis consists of 66 documents in total, primarily including synodal acts (Greek, African, Roman and Gallican), papal letters (from Siricius to Hormisda) and a couple of Symmachan documents, which originated with the Laurentian schism in Rome at the beginning of the sixth century. The Diessensis, as we have it today, is only preserved fragmentarily. In total, eight quires are lost, among them the first two of the manuscript. Given that the documents are numbered continually, we can see how many of them are lost (e.g. as the manuscript begins with number VI, the Canones Apostolorum, there are five documents missing in the beginning).
In the only extant manuscript, the Collectio Diessensis (fols. 1r-130v) is followed by a partial copy of the Collectio Frisingensis I (fols. 131r-213r). As noted by Peter Landau, the extracts from the Frisingensis only draw on texts not contained in the Collectio Diessensis, apparently aiming to “supplement” that collection.
Contents
| No. | Numbering | Document | fols. |
| Text loss: nos. I–V | |||
| 1 | [VI] | Canones apostolorum (Dion. I) – end | 1ra–vb |
| 2 | VII | Antioch 341 (Isid.) | 1vb–5rb |
| 3 | VIII | Laodicaea 363/4 (Isid.) | 5rb–7rb |
| 4 | Constantinople 381 (Isid.) | 7rb–vb | |
| 5 | VIIII | Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua | 7vb–11ra |
| 6 | X–XI | Serdica 342 | 11ra–15vb |
| 7 | XII | Arles 314 | 15vb–17rb |
| 8 | XIII | Carthage, 25 May 419 | 17rb–23ra |
| 9 | XIIII–XVI | Regesta ecclesiae Carthaginensis excerpta – beginning | 23ra–39vb |
| Text loss: nos. XVII–XXI | |||
| 10 | [XXII] | Chalcedon 451 (Dion. I) – end | 40ra–va |
| 11 | XXIII | Siricius: „Directa ad decessorem“ (J3 605) | 40va–44rb |
| 12 | XXIIII | Epao 517 | 44va–46rb |
| 13 | XXV | Innocent I: „Etsi tibi frater“ (J3 665) – beginning | 46va–47vb |
| Text loss: nos. XXVI–XXVII | |||
| 14 | [XXVIII] | Innocent I: „Magna me gratulatio“ (J3 691) – end | 48ra |
| 15 | XXVIIII | Zosimus: „Exigit dilectio tua“ (J3 745) | 48ra–49ra |
| 16 | XXX | Boniface I: „Ecclesiae meae“ (J3 787) | 49ra–va |
| 17 | XXXI | Rescript of Emperor Honorius „Scripta beatitudinis“ | 49va–50ra |
| 18 | Celestine I: „Cuperemus quidem“ (J3 821) | 50ra–51vb | |
| 19 | XXXII | Celestine I: „Nulli sacerdotum“ (J3 823) | 51vb–52rb |
| 20 | XXXIII | Gesta de nomine Acacii | 52rb–55ra |
| 21 | XXXIIII | Leo I: „Quam laudabiliter pro“ (J3 919) | 55ra–60rb |
| 22 | XXXV | Leo I: „Diuinis praeceptis“ (J3 922) | 60rb–63ra |
| 23 | XXXVI | Leo I: „Regressus ad nos“ (J3 1086) | 63ra–64ra |
| 24 | XXXVII | Leo I: „Relatione sancti fratris“ (J3 897) | 64ra–65rb |
| 25 | XXXVIII | Leo I: „Lectis fraternitatis“ (J3 898) | 65rb–vb |
| 26 | XXXVIIII | Leo I: „Cum de ordinationibus“ (J3 916) | 65vb–68ra |
| 27 | XL | Gelasius I: „Necessaria rerum“ (J3 1270) | 68ra–73ra |
| 28 | XLI | Gelasius I: „Probabilibus desideriis“ (J3 1338) | 73rb–va |
| 29 | XLII | Gelasius I: „Diligenter inuestigauimus“ (J3 1322) – beginning | 73va–vb |
| Text loss | |||
| 30 | [XLIII] | Rome 499 – end | 74ra–75vb |
| 31 | Libellus Johannis diaconi | 75vb–76ra | |
| 32 | Rome 502 | 76ra–79rb | |
| 33 | Zosimus: „Ex relatione fratris“ (J3 750) | 79rb–va | |
| 34 | XLIIII–XLVIII | Rome 501 | 79va–85va |
| 35 | XLVIIII | Symmachus: „Hortatur nos“ (J3 1460) | 85va–86rb |
| 36 | L | Hormisda: „Benedicta Trinitas“ (J3 1530) | 86rb–87vb |
| 37 | LI | Edict of Emperor Glycerius „Supernae maiestatis“ | 87vb–88vb |
| 38 | LII | Order of publication by the PPO Italiae „Quemadmodum“ | 88vb–88ara |
| 39 | LIII | Leo I: „Epistolas fraternitatis“ (J3 1098) | 88ara–91ra |
| 40 | LIIII–LV | Valence 374 | 91ra–92rb |
| 41 | LVI | Turin 398 – beginning | 92rb–vb |
| Text loss: no. LVII | |||
| 42 | [LVIII] | Orange 441 – end | 93ra |
| 43 | LVIIII | Vaison 442 | 93ra–94rb |
| 44 | LX | Vaison 529 – beginning | 94rb–vb |
| Text loss: nos. LXI–LXVIIII | |||
| 45 | [LXX] | Ps.-Hieronymus: De septem gradibus Ecclesiae – end | 94ara–96vb |
| 46b | LXXI | Agde 506 (cc. 9b–49) | 96vb–100vb |
| 47 | LXXII | Vannes 461/91 | 100vb–102rb |
| 48 | LXXIII | Letter of the Amoritan bishops „Dominis beatissimis“ | 102rb–vb |
| 49 | LXXIIII | Éauze 551 | 102vb–103vb |
| 50 | LXXV | Paris 614 | 103vb–106ra |
| 51 | LXXVI | Clichy 627 | 106rb–107avb |
| 46a | LXXVII | Agde 506 (cc. 1–9a) | 107avb–108vb |
| 52 | LXXVIII | Letter of Lupus and Euphronius „Domino sancto“ | 108vb–109rb |
| 53 | LXXVIIII | Ps.-Vigilius of Thapsus: De Trinitate, book VI | 109rb–112ra |
| 54 | LXXX | Constitutum Silvestri | 112ra–114vb |
| 55 | LXXXI | Gesta Liberii | 114vb–117ra |
| 56 | LXXXII | Gesta de Syxti purgatione | 117ra–118rb |
| 57 | LXXXIII | Gesta de Polychronii Ierosolymitani | 118rb–120rb |
| 58 | LXXXIIII | Gesta synodi Sinuessanae de Marcellino | 120rb–123va |
| 59 | LXXXV | Ps.-Clement: „Quoniam sicut a“ (J3 †27) | 123va–124vb |
| 60 | LXXXVI | Dicta s. Ambrosii de die prima | 124vb–125vb |
| 61 | LXXXVII | Synodal letter from Serdica | 125vb–126vb |
| 62 | LXXXVIII | Definitio fidei from Chalcedon | 127ra–128va |
| 63 | LXXXVIIII | Symbolum Nicaenum (including the Tomus Damasi) | 128va–129vb |
| 64 | XC | Expositio fidei | 129vb–130ra |
| 65 | XCI | Sermo. Credimus Iesum Christum | 130ra–rb |
| 66 | XCII | De fide catholica. Nos patrem | 130rb–va |
| 67 | Colophon | 130va–vb | |
Sources
The Collectio Diessensis closes with a colophon (fol. 130v) by the scribe, stating that the collection was composed by drawing on “three books” (ex tribus libris):
EXPLICIVNT CANONES EX TRIBVS LIBRIS EDITAE, QVOD INCHOAVI KL̅ AP̅R ET CONSVMMAVI IDVS SEPT̅B, IDEST DIEBVS CLXVI EBDOMATIB(VS) XXIIII. LEGE LETANTER, INTELLEGE PRVDENT(ER), COMPLE EFFICACIT(ER). LEGENTI VITA, POSSIDENTI PAX P(ER)PETVA, SCRIPTORI PRAEMIA AETERNA. AMEN.
Given striking similarities to other collections, Maassen suggested that these three books had to be copies of the Dionysiana, the Teatina and the Sanblasiana. While one of the “three books“ might indeed have been a copy of the Sanblasiana, recent studies by Stüber, following up on findings by Wurm, have shown that the materials from the Dionysiana (canons from Chalcedon, Carthage and Canones Apostolorum) and the Teatina (mainly papal letters) reached the Diessensis via an intermediary source, namely an early version of the Collectio Remensis (having taken shape about 550 in South Eastern France; an eighth-century version of the Collectio Remensis is extant in Berlin, Phill. 1743). The primitive version of the Collectio Remensis did not only draw on the Dionysiana I/II and the Teatina, but it also contained forth-century Greek councils following the so-called Interpretatio Isidoriana (antiqua), alongside a number of Gallican church councils. As the Diessensis also includes a number of documents that are neither present in the Remensis nor the Sanblasiana (among them are the synods of Agde, Vannes, Éauze, Paris 614 and Clichy), these documents are probably taken from another source. Given that these texts include a letter by three bishops from the ecclesiastical province of Tours, alongside a letter to the bishop of Angers (likewise in the province of Tours), there is some likelihood that this exemplar took shape in that area. The three exemplars used by the compiler of the Diessensis were then probably the following:
1) A copy of the Collectio Sanblasiana
2) A copy of an early version of the Collectio Remensis
3) A “chronologically” ordered collection from Gaul (perhaps from the area of Tours), no longer extant
Date and place of composition
The most recent material are canons from Clichy 626 (Maassen, p. 631). Most scholars date the formation of the Collectio Diessensis shortly after its youngest component, the collection would then have been assembled in the first half of the seventh century (Gaudemet, p. 148 and Landau, p. 152). However, as some documents seem to have collated with a Dionysio-Hadriana, the collection is probably much younger than the documents contained therein. Given that the scribe of the colophon claims to have assembled the collection and written the manuscript all by himself, there is good reason to suppose that the codex unicus Munich 5508 is in fact the archetype of the Collectio Diessensis. This is supported by the observation of Bernhard Bischoff, who showed that the part of Munich 5508 containing the Collectio Diessensis was indeed written by a single scribe. If this hypothesis is correct, the Collectio Diessensis took shape in Salzburg at the end of the eighth century, during the pontificate of Arn, who, being likewise abbot of Saint-Amand in Northern France, had access to a fairly large number of canon law books.
Links
Literature
Maassen, pp. 624-636; Kéry, Collections pp. 3-4; Hoskin, Manuscripts p. 106.
