Paris, BnF, lat. 12444

Library	Paris, BnF
Shelfmark	lat. 12444
Olim shelfmark	Sangerm. 938
Century	saec. VIII/IX
Provenance	Corbie
Place of origin	Fleury
European region of origin	Northwestern France
Collection	Collectio Sangermanensis XXI titulorum
Collection 2	Sangermanensis abridgement
Author	Bruno Schalekamp

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12444 (olim Sangerm. 938) is a late eighth to early ninth century manuscript of 136 fols. in 1 col. (230-240 x 135-140 mm) in 29 lines. Its codicological composition reads as follows: (III + 1)⁷ + 2 x IV²³ + III²⁹ + 5 x IV⁶⁹ + II⁷³ + I⁷⁴ + III⁸⁰ + 7 x IV¹³⁶. Quire signatures are presented in (capital) letters of the alphabet on verso sides - sometimes imprinted on the recto side of the subsequent folio - in the following order: A⁷, B¹⁵, C²³, d²⁹, F³⁷, G⁴⁵, H⁵³, I⁶¹, K⁶⁹, M⁸⁰, N⁸⁸, O⁹⁶, E¹⁰⁴, P¹¹², Q¹²⁰, R¹²⁸, and S¹³⁶, with L missing. Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in black ink are found on the recto side of each folio. The manuscript was written in pre-Caroline minuscule, including distinct 'insular' g's, mostly by a single hand but with a few smaller parts and many marginalia by different, sometimes later hands.

It was probably written in saec. VIII^ex-IXⁱⁿ according to Stadelmaier and Stein, or more generally in saec. IX^½ according to Bischoff. Its place of origin is Northern France, probably Fleury according to the general scholarly consensus established and reaffirmed by Bischoff, Mostert, Stadelmaier, and Stein. Later, the manuscript would be moved to and housed in Corbie according to Stadelmaier and Stein, according to a signature that reads 424.

Contents

The manuscript includes predominantly canonical and related material, including some penitential interpolations. It includes the sole complete copy of the late eighth century Collectio Sangermanensis XXI titulorum, as well as the Sangermanensis abridgement, which take up nearly all folios. In between these collections, however, an unknown smaller collection of canonical and penitential material was added by a later hand. According to Stadelmaier, it concerns a ‘Texte unterschiedlicher Provenienz: Bussbestimmungen, gallische Konzilskanones (von verschiedenen Händen)’. He dates these additions to saec. IX². If Stadelmaier's dating is correct, more research on this small part of the manuscript would greatly enhance our knowledge of its use and relevance in later ninth century Francia.

Fol. 8v of the manuscript, depicting various interpretations of feline fauna

The codex is a true work of art, including beautifully illustrated capitals spread over all its folios. These illustrations include depictions of animals, which may have been produced by the main hand in conjunction with the main text. Concerning its later history, according to Mostert, the manuscript ‘was used by Abbo for his Collectio canonum’, which would point to the significant influence of the codex in the development of Carolingian and post-Carolingian canon law. Stadelmaier, however, dismisses Mostert’s observation, as, according to him, Mostert simply based his view on ‘Bischoff’s localisation’.

Codicologically, we can observe a quire has been misplaced, as fols. 97r-104v should appear between 29v and 30r instead of their current position. The misplacement must have been done sometime before its modern foliation. Furthermore, a different hand takes over on fols. 74v-75r, which also made additions to the main text in the margins on fols. 72v-73r. According to Bischoff, the manuscript may be related to Bern, Burgerbibliothek, ms. 599. More research would shed light on the manuscript's intertextual relationship to other Carolingian codices.

The manuscript has not been digitized as of late 2025.

folios	content
	Front cover. Fragment of musical annotation included on the inside of the cover as protective layer.
1r-72r and 97r-104v	Collectio Sangermanensis XXI titulorum. 97r-104v originally formed the fifth quire, right after 29v.
72v-75r	Unknown additions of canonical and penitential material by a later hand, which seems to have been relevant to the Sangermanensis collections.
75v-96v and 105r-136v	The Sangermanensis abridgement.
	Back cover. Fragment of musical annotation included on the inside of the cover as protective layer.

Literature

Bischoff, Frühkarolingische Handschriften (1968), p. 312; Bischoff, Ebersperger, Katalog der festländischen Handschriften 1 (1998), p. 130; Bischoff, Ebersperger, Katalog der festländische Handschriften 3 (2014), p. 198 n. 4833; Bischoff, Gorman (transl.), Manuscripts and libraries (1995), p. 32 n. 53; Delisle, Inventaire des manuscrits 2 (1868 repr. 1974), p. 52; Finsterwalder, Canones Theodori (1888), p. 76; Gaudemet, Les sources (1993), p. 27; Jasper, Fuhrmann, Papal letters (2001), p. 162 n. 100; Keefe, Water and the Word 1 (2002), p. 139-146; Kéry, Canonical Collections (1999), pp. 76, 78, and 82; Keskiaho, Dreams and Visions (2015), p. 128 and 241; Lambert, ‘Exempla bibliques comme précédents judiciaires’ (2008), p. 41; Maassen, Bibliotheca 1.2 (1867), p. 282-283; McKitterick, The Frankish church (1977), p. 148; Mordek, Bibliotheca capitularium (1995), p. 340 and 898; Mordek, Kirchenrecht und Reform (1975), p. 144-147; Mostert, Library of Fleury (1989), p. 230; Reynolds, ‘Christ as Cleric’ (1999), p. 12; Siems, ‘Die Collectio Sangermanensis XXI titulorum’ (2009), p. 1-28; Stadelmaier, Die Collectio Sangermanensis XXI titulorum (2004), p. 97-100; Stein, 'Early medieval catechetic collections’ (2023), p. 334-335, 337-338 ns. 72 and 76, and 350; Wasserschleben, Irische Kanonensammlung (1874), p. XXVII-XXVIII.