Lichfield Gospels
Encyclopedia
Insular art
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of Ireland and Great Britain. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe...
Gospel Book
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
housed in Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
. There are 236 surviving folios, eight of which are illuminated. Another four contain framed text. The pages themselves measure 30.8 cm by 23.5 cm. The manuscript is also important because it includes, as marginalia
Marginalia
Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
, some of the earliest known examples of written Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
. Peter Lord dates the book at 730, placing it chronologically before the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
but after the Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...
.
The manuscript was rebound in 1962 by Roger Powell. At that time it was discovered that in the rebinding of 1862 the manuscript had been cut into single leaves and that the pages had been trimmed during the rebinding of 1707.
Text and Script
The manuscript contains the Gospels of MatthewGospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
and Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, and the early part of the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
. A second volume disappeared about the time of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The text is written in a single column and is based on the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. The manuscript has almost 2000 variances from the Vulgate, almost a third of which it shares with the Hereford Gospels
Hereford Gospels
The Hereford Gospels is an 8th century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book in insular script minuscule script, with large illuminated initials in the Insular style....
. There are fewer variations in the text which agree with the Macregal Gospels and the Book of Armagh
Book of Armagh
The Book of Armagh or Codex Ardmachanus , also known as the Canon of Patrick and the Liber Armachanus, is a 9th-century Irish manuscript written mainly in Latin. It is held by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin...
, 370 agree with the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
and 62 with the Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...
.
The script is predominantly Insular majuscule but has some uncial
Uncial
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters are written in either Greek, Latin, or Gothic.-Development:...
characteristics and is thus called semi-uncial. There was a single scribe. The script forms strong links between the Lichfield manuscript and Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n, Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
, and Irish manuscripts.
Decoration
The manuscript has two evangelist portraits (St. Mark and St. Luke), a carpet page, initial pages for Mathew ("Lib"), Mark (initium), and Luke (Quoniam), a Chi Rho monogram page, and a page with the Four evangelist symbols. The Genealogy of Christ is framed (3 pages) and the last page is framed.Marginalia
There are eight marginal inscriptions written in LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Old Welsh
Old Welsh language
Old Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from the British language around 550, has been called "Primitive Welsh".Many poems and some prose...
, which are some of the earliest written Welsh extant. The first records, in Latin, the gift of the manuscript "to God on the altar of St. Teilo" by a man named Gelhi, who, according to the inscription, had bought the manuscript for the price of his best horse from Cingal. The 'altar of St. Teilo" has in the past been associated with the monastery at Llandaff
Llandaff
Llandaff is a district in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales, having been incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Church in Wales Bishop of Llandaff, whose diocese covers the most populous area of South Wales. Much of the district is covered by parkland known as Llandaff...
. However, it has been determined that the third, fourth and sixth marginal inscriptions refer to lands within fifteen miles of Llandeilo Fawr. It is, therefore, now thought that the book was given not to Llandaff but to the church at Llandeilo
Llandeilo
Llandeilo is a town in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th century stone bridge. Its population is 1,731.The town is served by Llandeilo railway station on the Heart of Wales Line.- Early history :...
. The second marginal inscription is of some interest as it contains a unique example of early Welsh prose, which records the details of the resolution of a land dispute. The first two inscriptions have been dated to the mid ninth century. The third to eighth inscriptions date from the ninth and tenth centuries. The Latin and Welsh marginalia were edited by J. Gwenogvryn Evans, with John Rhys in their 1893 edition of the Book of Llan Dav.
As well as the marginalia, Gifford Thomas-Edwards and Helen McKee have identified 9 dry-point glosses. The first and final groups of three are decipherable as Anglo-Saxon personal names, and it is likely that the others are as well. In the order they appear in the glosses are as follows:
P.217 1. Wulfun, 2. Alchelm, 3. Eadric (All of these are at the lower left of the page.)
P.221 1. []DVLF, 2. 7 + Berht/elf (These are in the centre of the left-hand margin.)
3. [Pas]t [+icc] (This is in the bottom margin.)
P.226 1. Berhtfled, 2. Elfled, 3. Wulfild (All of these are in the bottom margin.)
Dry-point glosses are scratched into parchment without ink, so are only visible from an angle and are extremely hard to decipher. It is possible there are others on this text, and on other Insular gospel books, that have not yet been identified. The name themselves are only significant if they can be dated, as the provenance of the manuscript is disputed between Anglo-Saxon England and Wales. If they are from the eighth century, then it would confirm the Gospels' Anglo-Saxon origin but if they were added in the ninth century or later at Lichfield, then their appearance tells us very little.
The form of dry-point writing means it is difficult to determine if the same hand wrote the text that added the glosses but Charles-Edwards and McKee do not believe so. The letters contain elements of Insular minuscule, which appears to be a late-ninth century invention, in response to Carolingian minuscule, and continued in use until at least the eleventh century. It is therefore more likely these were additions after the Gospels had been moved to Lichfield.
Provenance
Paleographic and stylistic similarities link it to Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
and Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
. Links to the Hereford Gospels
Hereford Gospels
The Hereford Gospels is an 8th century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book in insular script minuscule script, with large illuminated initials in the Insular style....
suggest a Mercian origin. Many have argued that the manuscript was written in Wales, particularly due to the Welsh marginalia; if so, this would make it the only large gospel-book from Wales that survives. Some have argued that it was written at Lichfield. All except one line is in the same hand.
Although it is not known how the book came to be in Lichfield, it may have been there as early as the late tenth century and was almost certainly there by the early eleventh century. The opening folio contains a faded signature reading Wynsige presul which probably refers to the Wynsige who was Bishop of Lichfield from circa 963 to 972-5. Folio four contains a reference to Leofric
Leofric
Leofric may refer to:* Leofric , English religious leader* Leofric, Earl of Mercia , English noble and benefactor of churches...
who was bishop from 1020 to 1026.
It is hypothesized that, due to the similarities of the painting techniques to the Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...
and the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
, the actual creation of the book may be placed between 698 and 800. It is also interesting to note that the interlaced bird patterns seen on the cross-carpet page on page 216 of the book has a striking resemblance to the ornament on a cross-shaft of Aberlady
Aberlady
Aberlady is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian. On Aberlady Bay, it is five miles northwest of Haddington and approximately 18 miles east of Edinburgh, to which it is linked by the A198 Dunbar - Edinburgh road.Aberlady Parish Church dates back to the 15th century. It...
, Lothian, a Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n site of the mid 8th century. This suggests that the author/artist of the book and the sculptor of the cross-shaft ornament had a similar source for their designs.
Wherever it originated and however it came to Lichfield, it has, except for a brief period during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, been at Lichfield since the eleventh century. In 1646, during the Civil War, Lichfield Cathedral was sacked and the library looted. This is probably when the second volume of the Gospels was lost. Precentor Walter Higgins is credited with saving the remaining volume. They were given to Frances, Duchess of Somerset, who returned them in 1672 or 1673. They have remained at the cathedral ever since. They were put on public display in 1982. The bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance to the crown on the Lichfield Gospels.
Other Insular illuminated manuscripts of possible Welsh origin include the Ricemarch Psalter
Ricemarch Psalter
The Ricemarch Psalter is an 11th century Welsh illuminated psalter, in a late Insular style, that has been described as "Hiberno-Danish", instead of the usual "Hiberno-Saxon", as it reflects Viking influence. Its 159 pages are vellum, and include the following sections: Letter of St...
and the Hereford Gospels
Hereford Gospels
The Hereford Gospels is an 8th century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book in insular script minuscule script, with large illuminated initials in the Insular style....
.
External links
- The Celtic Literature Collective - Evans and Rhys edition of the marginalia, with a translation of the first and second records.