- 26
Gospels of Sts Luke and John, in Greek [12th century, first half?]
Description
- ink on vellum
Catalogue Note
(1) A modern Greek proverb copied (in the same direction or upside in relation to the writing of the text) on the top and bottom margins of the NT manuscript in a later (19th century) hand throughout the manuscript in part or in whole, μαθημάτων φρόντιζε καὶ μὴ καλὰ μαθήματα φέρουσιν τὰ χρήματα, recorded as early as the mid-19th century on the island of Amorgos might attest to the Greek origin of the manuscript. On the basis of the proverb, it might be assumed that the text later served as a copy used by young readers/scholars for educational purposes. The latter part of the manuscript seems to have been copied by a similar 12th hand (NB page with ledger with width and height measurement and some four digit figures is the first page where the second hand is shown). See also the charming decorative cross (as in the symbol of the Christian faith) with the imperative φίλα (“kiss”) on page 64, which may further attest to the geographical origin and use of this MS, and a few more scribbles in the same archaising 19th century style of handwriting here and there. (2) Found at the Château de Chacenay in the 1980s. For the castle see Abbé Charles Lalore, Les sires et les barons de Chacenay, 1885. The Château de Chacenay is situated in the Aube département of France. Recorded since 1075, it was the fief of numerous important families over the years. Construction of the castle began in the 13th century. Sited at the heart of a forest, in the Middle Ages it formed an impregnable fortress thanks to its ramparts, keep (now destroyed), ditches, drawbridge and towers. It was the meeting grounds for one of many of the crusades that happened throughout Europe. Destroyed by fire during the French Revolution, the castle was rebuilt in the mid-19th century. The reconstruction of the Chateau was initiated by the brothers Edmond and Arthur Bertherand who were passionate about the Middle Ages. The manuscript could have entered the Chateau in the mid-19th century.
TEXT
The manuscript has been dated on the basis of palaeographical considerations (GA 535, GA 537GA 538, GA2445; GA is the numbering system that Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece 28th ed. use in referring to the vast majority of NT minuscule manuscripts: minuscules 535 and 538 manuscripts at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor USA; minuscule 2445 is in the Munich Bible Center]. The text is divided according to chapters or sections (paragraphs), accompanied by heavily abbreviated beginnings (incipits) that are duplicated in the top and bottom margins in a contemporary (if not the same) hand in red and serve as titles or subheadings to aid reading the text out (cf. e.g. Luke 4:1, 16, 31, 22, Luke 5:1, 12, 17, 27, Luke 6:1, 12, 17, 24, 31, 37, 46 etc.). Each chapter-beginning within the text is marked by space and the abbreviation ἀρχ, i.e. ἀρχ(ή), in red to indicate to the reader where a new section/paragraph is starting (sometimes the abbreviation is wrongly placed in the middle of the sentence beginning the chapter and/or paragraph). Nomina sacra are abbreviated in the standard way. There is also a division (according to the smaller Ammonian sections?) matching the division indicated between chapters and sections (paragraphs) within the main body of the text, whose numerical symbols (represented by letters in red) are given at the side margins. The text contains lectional marks in the right and left margins (in red), ornamental letters set in ekthesis (i.e. written beginning inset into the left margin) and marginalia (in the same hand) recording alternative readings at the side margins. The text represents the longer version of the Byzantine text-type, with many alternative variants recorded in the margins and between the lines of writing. This was perhaps a text that was adapted for ecclesiastical reading.