Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 471: John of Howden, Rossignos
Alternate Title:
Ioh. Hoveden, le Rossignol
Language:
French, Middle (ca. 1400-1600), Latin, and English
Extent:
ff. 2 + 112
Dimensions:
150 Height (mm) and 109 Width (mm)
Approximate Date:
[ca. 1375 - 1399]
Table of contents:
Rossignos
Description:
CCCC MS 471, contains the unique copy of the devotional poem in Anglo-Norman by John of Howden (d. 1275), Rossignos, the manuscript dating to the late fourteenth century, some hundred years after the poem's original composition. Howden's exact identity is uncertain, but he was probably a royal clerk in the household of Queen Eleanor of Provence, consort of Henry III and the mother of Edward I. The poem is dedicated to Eleanor and is a reworking of Howden's earlier Latin work, Philomena. The manuscript was probably in Parker's possession by 1564, as revealed by a scribbled note bearing that date. Other notes record the name of 'Franciscus Aldriche', but it seems unlikely that this is the same man who attended Clare College in the 1580s and rose to be Master of Sidney Sussex College in 1608.
