Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 201: Old English Religious and Legal Texts, many by Wulfstan (Parker Manuscripts)
CCCC MS 201 is a composite volume which can be divided chronologically into three parts, probably first bound together by Parker. Pp. 1-7 and 161-7 are the oldest, written in the early eleventh century; they contain a fragment of the Old English Regularis concordia, the code of monastic observance, and some Old English religious poems, most notably Judgement Day II, a translation of Bede's De die iudicii. The rest of the volume up to p. 178 was written probably in the first half or middle of the eleventh century, and contains a large number of sermons by Archbishop Wulfstan (d. 1023), as well as a collection of ecclesiastical material, mostly in the vernacular. It has been interpreted as a version of Archbishop Wulfstan's Handbook. It contains several law codes, predominantly the work of Wulfstan himself, the Old English tract on the resting places of saints, and the Old English romance Apollonius of Tyre. Bishop identified a scribe in this section of the book as working at the New Minster, Winchester, but a Worcester or York association has also been suggested, since these were the main seats of Wulfstan himself. The third part was written at Exeter in the time of Bishop Leofric (1050-72) and was probably once part of CCCC MS 196. It contains the bilingual version of Theodulf of Orléans (d. 821), Capitula, a homily, and part of the Martyrology of Usuard (fl. 841-58). This manuscript did not come to Corpus Christi with the rest of the Corpus Parkerian collection in 1575, and is not included in the Parker Register; instead it was one of the large number of books which Archbishop Parker gave to his son John Parker, who played an active role in his father's circle of scholarship. It had arrived at Corpus by 1600, before the later financial troubles which probably led to the majority of John Parker's books travelling to Trinity College via the gift of Neville. The manuscript later acquired a contents-list by the great Anglo-Saxonist Abraham Wheelock (d. 1653).
Regularis Concordia in Old English (incomplete) -- Anonymous homily Adam se ærest man -- The Six Ages of the World -- An Outline of History -- The Creed -- The Creed (continued) -- A Pastoral Letter -- A Pastoral Letter (continued) -- A Pastoral Letter (continued) -- A Pastoral Letter (continued) -- A Pastoral Letter (continued) -- Translation of the Pater Noster and the Creed (part), and anonymous homily To folce -- Anonymous homily To eallum folce -- Anonymous homily To eallum folce -- God's threat to sinning Israel and evil rulers -- Anonymous homily Be mistlican gelimpan -- Anonymous homily Her is git oþer [wynn]el god eaca -- A nationwide penance against the great (Viking) army -- First Old English Letter for Wulfstan -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 23 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 22 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 25 -- Norhymbra preosta lagu -- Lawcode II Eadgar -- Lawcode III Eadgar -- Lawcode V Æthelred -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 24 (part) -- The Christian Life (part) -- The Christian Life (part) -- The Christian Life (part) -- Lawcode I Æthelstan -- Latin sermon De christianitate (related to Wulfstan, The Christian Life) -- Latin sermon De christianitate (continued) -- The Christian Life (version of) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 25 (part commonly found in Wulfstan, The Christian Life) -- Isaiah on the punishment for sin -- Isaiah on the punishment for sin (continued) -- Gifts of the Holy Spirit -- Antichrist -- The last days -- Matthew on the last days -- Luke on the last days -- The deeds of Antichrist -- Anonymous homily De die iudicii -- Ezekiel on negligent priests, with extra material -- Sermo Lupi ad Anglos -- Evil rulers -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 2 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 3 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 4 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 10 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 6 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 11 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 19 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 23 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 13 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 14 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 15 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 16 and ch. 23 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 22 (part) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 17 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 25 -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 24 -- Lawcode VIII Æthelred -- Lawcode I Eadmund -- Canons of Edgar -- Geþyncðo (legal text) -- Norðleoda laga (legal text) -- Mircne laga (legal text) -- Að 1 (legal text) -- Að 2 (legal text). Hadbot (legal text) -- Baptism (Latin text) -- Baptism (Old English text) -- De ecclesiasticis gradibus -- The Benedictine Office (in Old English) -- The Benedictine Office (continued) -- Handbook for the Use of a Confessor -- Handbook for the Use of a Confessor (continued) -- Handbook for the Use of a Confessor (continued) -- Handbook for the Use of a Confessor (continued) -- Handbook for the Use of a Confessor (continued) -- De egris -- Lawcodes VIII Æthelred and I , II Cnut (parts) -- Institutes of Polity, ch. 19 (part), with additional material -- The Old English Apollonius of Tyre -- On the Resting Places of English Saints -- On the Resting Places of English Saints (continued) -- Old English Genesis (part) -- The Judgement Day II, Old English poem translated from Bede's De die iudicii -- An Exhortation to Christian Living (Old English poem) -- A summons to prayer (Old English and Latin macaronic poem) -- The Lord's Prayer II (Old English poem) -- The Gloria I (Old English poem) -- Forms of absolution and confession, etc. -- Capitula -- Anonymous homily Ic bidde eow -- Capitula (Old English version) -- Martyrologium (preface) -- Martyrologium (extract from Introduction)
xi
Rights: Images courtesy of The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For higher resolution images suitable for scholarly or commercial publication, either in print or in an electronic format, please contact the Parker Library directly at parker-library@corpus.cam.ac.uk
Rights: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).