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GRATIAN'S DECRETUM FRAGMENT Ref 311 recto
This is a large fragment from “CONCORDIA DISCORDANTIUM CANONUM DECRETUM GRATIANI”, the CORPUS IURIS CANONICI DECRETUM MAGISTRI GRATIANI. It was probably written at Pontigny Abbey, Burgundy, France, c.1160-1170.
On the recto of the fragment is the opening of “Causa V”, which concerns a defamation against a bishop secretly documented and written at length by the public prosecutor to proceed where the Bishop, once invited by letter, on the day appointed for their cause was not in good health, the judge himself represented by proxy without synodal apptoval and the audience is criticized.
The size of the fragment is 230mm x 148mm (9ins. x 5 8/10ins.), approximately one quarter of a complete leaf. (The size of a complete leaf [Cleveland Museum of Art CMA 54.598] is 435mm x 336mm [17 1/4ins. x 13 1/4ins.]).
The initial “I” that opens Causa V has a total height the equivalent to 24 lines. It has a height of 163mm (6 4/10ins.) high and is 68mm (2 5/8ins.) across the top. It is of an interlace design of pink and shades of green and has terminals in pink, green, grey and beige. THIS INITIAL IS SUPERB.
PROVENANCE: -
1. Almost certainly from the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny, and probably from the “Volumine uno, Decreta Gratiani”, no. 153 in the late twelfth-century catalogue of Pontigny, no. 100 in the early seventeenth-century catalogue, no. 235 in the catalogue of 1778, no. 7 in the catalogue of 1791, and finally no. 73 in the list prepared after the sequestration of Pontigny at the French Revolution, described there as “in-folio atlantico, elegans et completus”; dismembered probably in Auxerre in the early nineteenth century.
2. The fragment was purchased from a member of a French family who believed it to be part of the remains of a Prayer Book from a former medieval convent that the family has owned since 1843.
OTHER FRAGMENTS AND LEAVES
At the time of writing, the whereabouts of ten other fragments and two complete leaves is known. They are all in either museums or public libraries and are: -
1. Pars secunda, Causa 1, Cleveland Museum of Art, MS 54.531 (complete leaf).
2. Pars secunda, Causa 2, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, MS 8985 A.
3. Pars secunda, Causa 3, Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis EM. 16: 9.
4. Pars secunda, Causa 10, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, MS 8985 E.
5. Pars secunda, Causa 14, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 F.
6. Pars secunda, Causae 19-20, Lilly Library, Bloomington, Ricketts 205.
7. Pars secunda, Causa 22, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 B.
8. Pars secunda, Causa 23, Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis EM. 16: 8.
9. Pars secunda, Causae 24-25, Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 4874 E, no. 2.
10. Pars secunda, Causa 26, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 C.
11. Pars secunda, Causa 27, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 D.
12. Pars secunda, Causa 35, Auxerre, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 269 (complete leaf).
As the text goes up to Causa 36, it is probable that there are still 24 large initials unaccounted for. These may be either lost or in private collections.
CONDITION: -
The condition of this fragment does exhibit some imperfections. It has quite evidently been attached to a wall or furniture with drawing pins. There are six holes, three down each side, and rust marks to go with them. Because of this exposure, there has been some fading and part of the recto text has become a little blurred. There are small losses of text at the four corners on both sides. There is also one line of text where the ink has eaten through the vellum. Even with these imperfections, the fragment is a delight to the eye.
GENERAL COMMENTS: -
Not withstanding the minor condition problems, this is a large fragment of a leaf from what must have been a magnificent manuscript of a text that was compiled and written in the 12th century and which retained legal force for more that 750 years (until 1917). The manuscript was probably produced in the important Cistercian monastery of Pontigny in Burgundy about 1160-1170. Because of his conflict with Henry II, Saint Thomas Becket spent a period of nearly two years in exile (from December 1164) at Pontigny where, rather than meditating on higher things, he spent his time studying canon law. It is quite possible that the manuscript from which this fragment came, and even the fragment itself, could have been consulted by the saint in his studies.
GRATIAN'S DECRETUM FRAGMENT Ref 311 recto
This is a large fragment from “CONCORDIA DISCORDANTIUM CANONUM DECRETUM GRATIANI”, the CORPUS IURIS CANONICI DECRETUM MAGISTRI GRATIANI. It was probably written at Pontigny Abbey, Burgundy, France, c.1160-1170.
On the recto of the fragment is the opening of “Causa V”, which concerns a defamation against a bishop secretly documented and written at length by the public prosecutor to proceed where the Bishop, once invited by letter, on the day appointed for their cause was not in good health, the judge himself represented by proxy without synodal apptoval and the audience is criticized.
The size of the fragment is 230mm x 148mm (9ins. x 5 8/10ins.), approximately one quarter of a complete leaf. (The size of a complete leaf [Cleveland Museum of Art CMA 54.598] is 435mm x 336mm [17 1/4ins. x 13 1/4ins.]).
The initial “I” that opens Causa V has a total height the equivalent to 24 lines. It has a height of 163mm (6 4/10ins.) high and is 68mm (2 5/8ins.) across the top. It is of an interlace design of pink and shades of green and has terminals in pink, green, grey and beige. THIS INITIAL IS SUPERB.
PROVENANCE: -
1. Almost certainly from the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny, and probably from the “Volumine uno, Decreta Gratiani”, no. 153 in the late twelfth-century catalogue of Pontigny, no. 100 in the early seventeenth-century catalogue, no. 235 in the catalogue of 1778, no. 7 in the catalogue of 1791, and finally no. 73 in the list prepared after the sequestration of Pontigny at the French Revolution, described there as “in-folio atlantico, elegans et completus”; dismembered probably in Auxerre in the early nineteenth century.
2. The fragment was purchased from a member of a French family who believed it to be part of the remains of a Prayer Book from a former medieval convent that the family has owned since 1843.
OTHER FRAGMENTS AND LEAVES
At the time of writing, the whereabouts of ten other fragments and two complete leaves is known. They are all in either museums or public libraries and are: -
1. Pars secunda, Causa 1, Cleveland Museum of Art, MS 54.531 (complete leaf).
2. Pars secunda, Causa 2, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, MS 8985 A.
3. Pars secunda, Causa 3, Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis EM. 16: 9.
4. Pars secunda, Causa 10, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, MS 8985 E.
5. Pars secunda, Causa 14, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 F.
6. Pars secunda, Causae 19-20, Lilly Library, Bloomington, Ricketts 205.
7. Pars secunda, Causa 22, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 B.
8. Pars secunda, Causa 23, Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis EM. 16: 8.
9. Pars secunda, Causae 24-25, Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 4874 E, no. 2.
10. Pars secunda, Causa 26, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 C.
11. Pars secunda, Causa 27, London, Victoria & Albert Museum MS 8985 D.
12. Pars secunda, Causa 35, Auxerre, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 269 (complete leaf).
As the text goes up to Causa 36, it is probable that there are still 24 large initials unaccounted for. These may be either lost or in private collections.
CONDITION: -
The condition of this fragment does exhibit some imperfections. It has quite evidently been attached to a wall or furniture with drawing pins. There are six holes, three down each side, and rust marks to go with them. Because of this exposure, there has been some fading and part of the recto text has become a little blurred. There are small losses of text at the four corners on both sides. There is also one line of text where the ink has eaten through the vellum. Even with these imperfections, the fragment is a delight to the eye.
GENERAL COMMENTS: -
Not withstanding the minor condition problems, this is a large fragment of a leaf from what must have been a magnificent manuscript of a text that was compiled and written in the 12th century and which retained legal force for more that 750 years (until 1917). The manuscript was probably produced in the important Cistercian monastery of Pontigny in Burgundy about 1160-1170. Because of his conflict with Henry II, Saint Thomas Becket spent a period of nearly two years in exile (from December 1164) at Pontigny where, rather than meditating on higher things, he spent his time studying canon law. It is quite possible that the manuscript from which this fragment came, and even the fragment itself, could have been consulted by the saint in his studies.