Letter from F.S. Haydon to W. Aldis Wright, Sep. 1869 with detailed description of this MS. inserted at front of MS.On p.1 (xvi) is written Cronica Diomedis.
Below it (xv) Liber cronicarum.
p.1 Diuturnitas legendi inducit lassitudinem.
Cronica grece latine temporum series, etc.
f.1 A Chronicle from Annus Domini 1 to 1364, in tabular form, sometimes in two columns
Ending p.29; p.30 is blank,
2. p.31 Prohemium of the Eulogium Historiarum
Forma uiuendi probitatis incentiuum.
p.34 is blank.
pp.35-87 Liber I.
p.88 is blank.
pp.89-126 Cronica domini nostri Ihesu Christi
Said by Mr Haydon to be in a different hand from the rest of the volume. But the writing is, I believe, really the same, though it may have been done either earlier or later than the rest, and subsequently inserted in this place. It consists of the Gesta Pilati (or Gospel of Nicodemus), to which are added the Vindicta Salvatoris and an appendix of fact and legend about the destruction of Jerusalem.
pp.127-198 Liber II., an erasure of several lines at the top of the first page
pp.199-286 Liber III
A blank leaf (p.235a) at the end.
pp.287-392 Liber IV.
At p.393 intervenes the tract called
Vade mecum in tribulatione, by Johannes de Rupe Scissa.
Ending p.413.
Then follows
p.413 De remediis tocius tribulacionis
On the descent of William I from the English Kings 416
p.422 An extract from Augustine de Civitate dei lib. xxi, etc.
pp.423-649 Liber V.
p.650 Descent of Edward III from Rollo
p.653 Table. Alfraganus -Vaticinium
The first sheet of this is misbound: the table begins on p.655.
p.662 Foundations of certain Monasteries
viz. Glastonbury, A.D. 63 and 660.
Peterborough, A.D. 655.
A. d. dc xxxv prima edificacio monasterii cy'cy'.
[In the preliminary chronicle (p.17) under 637 is: Eodem anno fundacio monasterii (erased).
I take it that in both places Malmesbury is meant.]
The others are: Abingdon, St Albans, Westminster, Hulme, Canterbury (Chr. Ch. and St Aug.'s), Winchcomb, Tewkesbury, Evesham, Rochester, Thorney, Battle, St Edmund's 1020, Colchester, Norwich, Ecclesia de Snap 1059 [Snape was a Benedictine priory in Suffolk, a cell to St John's Colchester, and really founded, it seems, in 1155.], Faversham, Lewes, Pershore, Gloucester (1181).
3 blank pages follow.
The James Catalogue of Western Manuscripts
| Shelfmark | R.7.2 |
|---|---|
| Manuscript Title | Eulogium Historiarum etc |
| Alternative Title | Eulogium Historiarum etc |
| James Number | 740 |
| Century | 14th |
| Physical Description | 30 lines to a page. In a curious, ugly, but plain hand. |
| Provenance | Given by Willmer. Probably from Malmesbury: events connected with that house receive special prominence throughout. Mr F. S. Haydon in his edition of the text in the Rolls Series advocates the view that this is the author's autograph, on what seem to be good grounds. |
| Second Folio | xl. herodes or compilacionem |
| Religious House | Malmesbury, Wiltshire, Benedictine Abbey |
| Donor | Wilmer, George (c.1583-1626), Alumnus Of Trinity (Matric 1598) |
| Size (cm) | 24 x 16.5 |
| Folio | 335 ff. (15+129+191) |
| Material | Parchment |
| Language | Latin |
| Collation | i10 (wants 1) ii6 || 14 212 312 410 (9 canc.) 58 64 (+4*) 712- 1212 132 148 (7 canc.) || 1512 1612 1710 186 196 (6 canc.?) 208-228 2312 248 (+8*) 258 268 2710 2812 2912 (+2) 3012 3112 3212 336 348 (wants 8: one sheet bound in wrong). |
| Notes | Blank p.235 between pp.286-287. Pages numbered incorrectly. |
| IIIF Manifest URL |  https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/R.7.2/manifest.json |
| Online Since | 15/04/2015 |
Contents
Bibliography
Haydon, F. S., Eulogium Historiarum sive Temporis Chronicon ab orbe condito usque ad annum domini 1366, 3 vols. (London, 1858-63), esp. at I.xii-xxii
Ker, N. R., Medieval Libraries of Great Britain, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks 3, 2nd edn (London, 1964)
Robinson, P., Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1988), no. 349, pl. 157 [datable 1362-1366, written at Malmesbury]
Smith, T. R., "The 'Cronica bona et compendiosa' and shorter fourteenth-century histories of England", Offprint from 'Bulletin of the John Rylands Library', 97:2 (2021)
