Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 005: John of Tynemouth, Historia aurea, Part I.

Title:

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 005: John of Tynemouth, Historia aurea, Part I.

Alternate Title:

Ioh. Tynemouth. Historia Aurea I

Language:

Latin

Extent:

ff. 284 + 14 + 4

Approximate Date:

[ca. 1400 - 1499]

Collection:

Parker Manuscripts

Table of contents:

Historia aurea, Part I

Description:

CCCC MS 5 is the first of a two-volume copy of the Historia aurea of John of Tynemouth (fl. c. 1350), dating from c. 1420-40, the second volume being in CCCC MS 6. This manuscript of the Historia contains a history of the world from creation to the death of Vespasian, but also includes a description of the world based on the writings of Marco Polo and the versified Itinerarium Cambriae. CCCC MS 5 was one of several manuscripts (others include CCCC MSS 6 and 7, BL MS Lansdowne 375 and Cambridge UL MS Ee.4.20) owned and, in some cases, commissioned by William Wintershill (d. c. 1435) the almoner of the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans in Hertfordshire. An inscription in this manuscript relates how Wintershill donated CCCC MS 5 and its companion, now CCCC MS 6, to the Abbey at his death.