GB 0103 MS GERM 12 - Rule of St Benedict

1 volume containing 104 leaves

The manuscript belonged to the Benedictine Abbey at Ottobeuren, Bavaria, and may subsequently have been at Bern (Berne), Switzerland. It later belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, an antiquary and bibliophile whose collection included c60,000 manuscripts of various kinds, some relating to the administration of Swiss towns. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. Formerly Phillipps MS 1244, bearing on folio 97r the Phillipps ex libris.
GB 0103 MS GERM 12 14th century Collection (fonds) 1 volume containing 104 leaves Unknown scribe
The Order of Saint Benedict comprises the confederated congregations of monks and lay brothers who follow the rule of life of St Benedict (c480-c547), written c535-540 with St Benedict's own abbey of Montecassino in mind. The rule, providing a complete directory for the government and spiritual and material well-being of a monastery, spread slowly in Italy and Gaul. By the late Middle Ages the Benedictine Rule had been translated into many languages owing to the diffusion of the order through many European countries.

The large abbey at Ottobeuren, near Memmingen, Bavaria, was founded in 764 and was among the most important early Benedictine monasteries, famous in the Middle Ages for its large library.

The manuscript belonged to the Benedictine Abbey at Ottobeuren, Bavaria, and may subsequently have been at Bern (Berne), Switzerland. It later belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, an antiquary and bibliophile whose collection included c60,000 manuscripts of various kinds, some relating to the administration of Swiss towns. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. Formerly Phillipps MS 1244, bearing on folio 97r the Phillipps ex libris.

Sold at Sotheby's in 1911 and presented to University College London by Sir Edgar Speyer, through Bernard Quaritch, in that year.

Late 14th century manuscript volume: Benediktinerregel (Rule of St Benedict), divided into 73 chapters (numbered in error as 72), each chapter consisting of a passage in Latin followed by the German translation. There are some ink sketches of monks (ff 6r, 37v, 38r, 82v) and one sketch of an abbot standing before a table (f 71r). The front cover bears a strip of parchment with the inscription: 'Regula Benedictj / Jn Theutunice'. The volume also contains a list of monastic orders with descriptions of the characteristic dress of each order (ff 94r-94v); the text of regulations, in Latin, containing many quotations from the Latin Rule (f 95r-97ra); and the later inscription 'Jste liber p[er]tinet ad mo[na]ste[r]iu[m] ot[e]nbure[n] (this book belongs to the monastery of Ottobeuren) (f 104r).

Open.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.
German (Swabian dialect) and Latin. Gothic cursive hand.
Paper manuscript in original binding of thick oak boards covered with leather and once having five metal knobs on front and back covers. One hand throughout. Initials, headings and chapter numbers in red. Some ink sketches. 22cm. Text partially illegible owing to stains.

Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); N R Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, i (London and Oxford, 1969); handlist at University College London Special Collections.

Photostatic copy made by the Modern Language Association of America and deposited by the MLA Committee on the Reproduction of Manuscripts and Rare Printed Books as no 304 in the Library of Congress before 1936.

The manuscript has been published as The London Benedictine Rule: an unpublished middle high German manuscript of the late fourteenth century, edited, with an introduction, by Carl Selmer (Studien und Mitteilungen sur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und Seiner Zweige, Heruasgegeben von der Bayerischen Benediktinerakademie 11: Ergänzungsheft, Munchen, 1936). See also Franz Simmler, 'Makrostrukturen in Lateinischen und Deuteschen Textüberlieferungen der Regula Benedicti', Sonderdruck aus Regulae Benedicti Studia Annuarium Internationale (1988). Copies of each at University College London Special Collections.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica online; The London Benedictine Rule: an unpublished middle high German manuscript of the late fourteenth century, ed Carl Selmer (Munchen, 1936). Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. 1999, revised Jul 2001 Ancient religions Bavaria Benedict , c 480-c 547 , Saint , pioneer of monasticism x Saint Benedict Benedictine order Christianity Europe Germany Monastic rules Ottobeuren Ottobeuren , Bavaria , Benedictine abbey Religion Religions Religious activities Religious communities Religious doctrines Religious groups Religious institutions Religious practice Religious texts Saints Theology Western Europe

Sold at Sotheby's in 1911 and presented to University College London by Sir Edgar Speyer, through Bernard Quaritch, in that year.

Late 14th century manuscript volume: Benediktinerregel (Rule of St Benedict), divided into 73 chapters (numbered in error as 72), each chapter consisting of a passage in Latin followed by the German translation. There are some ink sketches of monks (ff 6r, 37v, 38r, 82v) and one sketch of an abbot standing before a table (f 71r). The front cover bears a strip of parchment with the inscription: 'Regula Benedictj / Jn Theutunice'. The volume also contains a list of monastic orders with descriptions of the characteristic dress of each order (ff 94r-94v); the text of regulations, in Latin, containing many quotations from the Latin Rule (f 95r-97ra); and the later inscription 'Jste liber p[er]tinet ad mo[na]ste[r]iu[m] ot[e]nbure[n] (this book belongs to the monastery of Ottobeuren) (f 104r).

Open.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

• English

• Latin

German (Swabian dialect) and Latin. Gothic cursive hand.

Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); N R Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, i (London and Oxford, 1969); handlist at University College London Special Collections.

Photostatic copy made by the Modern Language Association of America and deposited by the MLA Committee on the Reproduction of Manuscripts and Rare Printed Books as no 304 in the Library of Congress before 1936.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English