In this twelfth-century Greek manuscript of the New Testament, divided in two parts (without the Apocalypse), the Epistles and Acts were surprisingly placed before the Gospels. Magnificently illuminated, this codex has initials that represent the epistolographers of the New Testament; one miniature depicts John the Evangelist and Christ's descent into Hell (f. 265v). In the fifteenth-century, John of Ragusa, a delegate from the Council of Basel, bought the codex in Constantinople; he then bequeathed it on his death to the Dominicans of Basel. The codex passed into the hands of Johannes Reuchlin, as well as those of Erasmus for his first edition of the Greek New Testament (1516). (mal)

Online Since: 09/26/2024

‘Venerable' is the term that comes to mind for describing this manuscript. In fact, it can be considered ‘venerable' due to its age since it is dated circa 825. Furthermore, the author of the main texts copied herein is Beda Venerabilis or the Venerable Bede (672/674, † 735), who was a monk at Jarrow Abbey in England. Copied in the Benedictine Abbey of Massay (France, Cher, near Bourges), the manuscript contains several of the Venerable Bede's scientific works such as the Easter cycle, also known as Bede's cycle, the De natura rerum, the De temporibus and the De temporum ratione. Various other texts were also inserted: the Annales Petaviani and the annals of the Abbey of Massay, calendar, fragments on the computus, letters. (jeg)

Online Since: 06/23/2014