Purple parchment
Encyclopedia
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
dyed purple, originally restricted for the use of Roman or Byzantine Emperors. The lettering may be in gold or silver. Later the practice was revived for some especially grand illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s produced for the Emperors in Carolingian art
Carolingian art
Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about AD 780 to 900 — during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs — popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for the court circle and a group of...
and Ottonian art
Ottonian art
In pre-romanesque Germany, the prevailing style was what has come to be known as Ottonian art. With Ottonian architecture, it is a key component of the Ottonian Renaissance named for the emperors Otto I, Otto II, and Otto III...
, in Anglo-Saxon England and elsewhere. Some just use purple parchment for sections of the work; the 8th century Anglo-Saxon Stockholm Codex Aureus
Stockholm Codex Aureus
The Stockholm Codex Aureus is an Insular Gospel book written in the mid-eighth century in Southumbria, probably in Canterbury...
alternates dyed and un-dyed pages.
The Purple Uncials or the Purple Codices is a well known group of these manuscripts, all 6th century New Testament Greek manuscripts:
- Codex Purpureus Petropolitanus N (022)
- Sinope GospelsSinope GospelsThe Sinope Gospels, designated by O or 023 , ε 21 , also known as the Codex Sinopensis, is a fragment of a 6th century illuminated Greek Gospel Book. Along with the Rossano Gospels, the Sinope Gospels has been dated, on the basis of the style of the miniatures, to the mid-6th century...
O (023) (illuminated) - Rossano GospelsRossano GospelsThe Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ , ε 18 , at the Cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian peninsula by the Byzantine Empire...
Σ (042) (illuminated) - Codex BeratinusCodex BeratinusCodex Purpureus Beratinus designated by Φ or 043 , ε 17 , is an uncial illuminated manuscript Gospel book written in Greek. Dated palaeographically to the 6th century, the manuscript is written in an uncial hand on purple vellum with silver ink. The codex is preserved at the Albanian National...
Φ (043) (illuminated) - Uncial 080Uncial 080Uncial 080 , ε 20 , is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated paleographically to the 6th century.- Description :...
There are two other purple New Testament Greek manuscripts, classified as minuscules:
- Minuscule 565Minuscule 565Minuscule 565 , ε 93 , also known as the Empress Theodora's Codex. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on purple parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century...
known as the Empress Theodora's Codex - Minuscule 1143Minuscule 1143Minuscule 1143 , ε 1035 , also known as the Beratinus 2, or Codex Aureus Anthimi. It is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament on purple parchment, dated paleographically to the 9th century...
known as Beratinus 2
There is a 9th century lectionary
Lectionary
A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...
:
- Codex NeapolitanusLectionary 46Lectionary 46, designated by sigla ℓ 46 , is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament, on purple parchment leaves. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 9th century. Formerly it was known as Codex Vindobonensis 2.- Description :The codex contains 19 lessons from the Gospels , on 182 purple...
, former Codex Vindobonensis 2
Another six purple parchments (a, b, e, f, i, j), also New Testament manuscripts, are in Latin and held at: Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Sarezzano
Sarezzano
Sarezzano is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 100 km east of Turin and about 25 km east of Alessandria...
and Trent
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
. Three of these use Vetus Latina
Vetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
texts.
- Codex VercellensisCodex VercellensisThe title Codex Vercellensis refers to two manuscript codices preserved in the cathedral library of Vercelli, in the Piedmont Region, Italy.- Old Latin Codex Vercellensis :...
- Codex VeronensisCodex VeronensisThe Codex Veronensis, designated by siglum b or 4 , is a 4th or 5th century Latin Gospel Book. The text, written on purple dyed vellum in silver and occasionally gold ink, is a version of the old Latin. The Gospels follow in the Western order.- Description :The manuscript contains the Latin text of...
- Codex PalatinusCodex PalatinusThe Codex Palatinus, designated by e or 2 , is a 4th or 5th century Latin Gospel Book. The text, written on purple dyed vellum in gold and silver ink , is a version of the old Latin.- Description :...
- Codex BrixianusCodex BrixianusThe Codex Brixianus , designated by f, is a 6th century Latin Gospel Book which was probably produced in Italy. The manuscript contains 419 folios. The text, written on purple dyed vellum in silver ink, is a version of the old Latin translation which seems to have been a source for the Gothic...
- Codex Purpureus SarzanensisCodex Purpureus SarzanensisThe Codex Sarzanensis, or Codex Saretianus, designated by j or 22 , is a 5th or 6th century Latin Gospel Book. The text, written on purple dyed vellum in silver ink , is a version of the old Latin....
- Codex Vindobonensis Lat. 1235Codex Vindobonensis Lat. 1235The Codex Vindobonensis Lat. 1235, designated by i or 17 , is a 6th century Latin Gospel Book. The manuscript contains 142 folios . The text, written on purple dyed vellum in silver ink , is a version of the old Latin. The Gospels follow in the Western order.It has numerous lacunae...
There is also one Gothic purple codex — Codex Argenteus
Codex Argenteus
The Codex Argenteus, "Silver Book", is a 6th century manuscript, originally containing bishop Ulfilas's 4th century translation of the Bible into the Gothic language. Of the original 336 folios, 188—including the Speyer fragment discovered in 1970—have been preserved, containing the...
(illuminated)
There is a purple manuscript of part of the Septuagint:
- Vienna GenesisVienna GenesisThe Vienna Genesis , designated by siglum L , is an illuminated manuscript, probably produced in Syria in the first half of the 6th Century. It is the oldest well-preserved, surviving, illustrated biblical codex.- Description :The text is a fragment of the Book of Genesis in the Greek Septuagint...
(illuminated)
Other illuminated manuscripts include the Godescalc Evangelistary
Godescalc Evangelistary
The Godescalc Evangelistary or Godescalc Gospel Lectionary is an illuminated manuscript Gospel Book made by the Frankish scribe Godescalc circa 781 - 783 C.E...
of 781-3, the Vienna Coronation Gospels
Vienna Coronation Gospels
See also Coronation Gospels for other manuscripts with the nameThe Vienna Coronation Gospels, also known as the Treasury Gospels is a late 8th Century illuminated Gospel Book...
(early 9th century) and a few pages of the 9th century La Cava Bible
La Cava Bible
The La Cava Bible or Codex Cavensis is a 9th century Latin illuminated Bible, which was produced in Spain, probably in the Kingdom of Asturias during the reign of Alfonso II...
from the Kingdom of Asturias
Kingdom of Asturias
The Kingdom of Asturias was a Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula founded in 718 by Visigothic nobles under the leadership of Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom after Islamic conquest of Hispania...
. Anglo-Saxon examples include a lost 7th century gospels commissioned by Saint Wilfrid.