The following descriptions are available for this manuscript

  • Description by Álvaro Cancela (Universidad Complutense, Madrid) for e-codices, 2016.
    (Standard description, currently displayed)
  • Bruckner Albert, Scriptoria Medii Aevi Helvetica 3, Schreibschulen der Diözese Konstanz, St. Gallen II, Genf 1938, S. 89-90.
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  • Scherrer Gustav, Verzeichniss der Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen, Halle 1875, S. 101.
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St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 269
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Description by Álvaro Cancela (Universidad Complutense, Madrid) for e-codices, 2016.

Manuscript title: Isidore of Seville’s Synonyma; Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo’s corpus; Fulgentius of Ruspe’s De fide; Alcuin’s works.
Date of origin: early 10th c. according to Bruckner.
Support: Parchment.
Extent: 562 pp. (numbered 561 pp.: p. 82 is numbered twice; see p. 82 and p. 82a).
Format: 150-1 × 202-4 mm (writing surface: 115 [103] × 143 mm).
Collation: 15IV249 + IV-1263 + 17IV535 + IV+1553 + III-2561 (with no loss of text).
Page layout: one column, 18 lines per page.
Writing and hands:
  • Caroline minuscule written by one regular hand using a dark ink. The text was afterwards corrected using a different brown ink and a thinner writing instrument (see for example p. 47 in marg., p. 54 in marg., p. 141 lines 2-3 or lower margin, p. 143 last line, p. 188 ninth line or p. 201 fourth line, etc.; see also the signe de renvoi, /:, p. 202 and the abbreviations h(ic) d(eest), p. 47 and p. 54). The writing of these corrections is so similar to that of the scribe that it seems to be his own revision; see for example the &, the st ligature, the –bus abbreviation or the form of r, a, g or t. Both G and Gp.c. write rt as the st ligature with an additional horn (on this particular form in this period, see Bischoff, Latin Palaeography, p. 119). Corrections, some of which may have been made in rasura, are richer in abbreviations (qui, quia, sequi with superscripted i, midę = misericordiae), but this is likely due to trying to fit the text post correctionem into the available blank space. Note also that the e seems slightly different in the corrections: no horizontal end stroke was tacked on to the e of the main script (G), whereas the e of the corrections (Gp.c.) systematically presents it (both types can be seen on p. 141, on the last line, where the e of indulge and mise- do not have this horizontal end stroke, while those of –rere, ne or parce do). Since the rest of the script is remarkably similar, this feature could be the result of faster, less careful writing. At least for Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo’s corpus, no correction attests to the usage of another exemplar; evidence points to the scribe revising by using the same model that he had employed for copying.
  • Capital script is employed for titles of each work (see p. 130 or pp. 149-150), for the first line or two of each work (p. 120 or p. 264), for the title of each chapter (pp. 313, 315, 370, 371 etc.), for the Homo and Anima interactions in the Synonyma, as well as for the initials of each verse or stanza (see Miserere p. 179 or Lamentum p. 139, p. 144 or p. 145). Uncial script is reserved for the initial letter of each work (p. 150 Deus with uncial d or p. 229 Epistolam with uncial e) or each chapter (see p. 313 Eorum, p. 307 Decem, p. 357 Hoc; sometimes capital is used as well: see p. 380 Multis).
  • Later marginalia and corrections were introduced by a 13th-century scribe.
Decoration: Rubricated titles of works and chapters, as well as in the beatitudines of the Adesto hymn (pp. 419-423); rubricated initials in the first word of each item in the capitulation of Alcuin’s De fide, in each verse in the Miserere, in each stanza in the Lamentum, as well as in the first letter of each work.
Binding: Wood and leather original dark brown binding provided by 2 leather lockers. The old title written on the spine is almost illegible in some parts.
Contents:
  • p. 1 originally left blank, it was used later to add a table of contents of the volume.
  • 1. pp. 2-120 [Isidore of Seville: Synonyma].
    • 1a. (pp. 2-3) [Posthumous prologues: Synonyma I, 1-2] In nomine dei summi. In subsequenti hoc …–… in sęcula seculorum. Amen.
      On its authenticity, see Elfassi, Isidori Synonyma, pp. VIII-IX, n. 8-9.
    • 1b. (pp. 3-4) [Isidorian preface: Synonyma I, 2-4] >Incipit prefatio Synonima Ysidori< Venit nuper ad manus …–… hominis et rationis consolantis.
    • 1c. (pp. 4-120) [Synonyma. Book I: pp. 4-55; Book 2: pp. 55-120 ] >Sinonima ab Ysidoro iuniore spanensis ecclesie antiste edita< Anima mea in angustiis …–… in secula seculorum. Amen
      References: Díaz y Díaz, Index, no 105; Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 1203. Edition: Elfassi, Isidori Synonyma. Manuscript listed in Elfassi, Les «Synonyma» (Thèse), manuscript no 399.
  • 2. pp. 120-228 [Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo’s works].
    Traditionally printed among the dubious or spurious works of Isidore of Seville, these three works are today known as Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo’s corpus due to Pérez de Urbel’s 1926 attribution of the Lamentum to the Visigothic bishop Sisbert of Toledo (end of the 7th century). This attribution has been rejected, but his name remains as a useful, widespread denomination. See Elfassi, “El corpus”; Iranzo, “Pseudo-Sisberto”.
    • 2a. (pp. 120-130) [Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo: Exhortatio poenitendi] >Exortatio poenitentis cum consolatione et misericordia dei ad animam futura iudicia formidantem< Cur fluctuas anima …–… cultores efferunt mundi.
      References: Díaz y Díaz, Index, no 305; Schaller - Könsgen, Initia, no 3217; Machielsen, Clavis, vol. II B, no 3435; Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 1227. Edition: Strecker, MGH Poet., t. IV/2-3, pp. 760-768 (Cod. Sang. 269 = G is used). A new critical edition is under preparation by Á. Cancela.
    • 2b. (pp. 130-149) [Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo: Lamentum poenitentiae] >Incipit Lamentum penitentie duplici alfebeto [sic] editum · exceptis tribus literis · A · B · et H · In quibus aliquantis uersibus multiplicatur · tibi · exorabit pro indulgentia peccatorum< Audi christe triste fletum …–… laus et potestas in ęterna saecula.
      References: Díaz y Díaz, Index, no 304; Schaller - Könsgen, Initia, no 1314; Machielsen, Clavis, vol. II B, no 3436; Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 1533. Edition: Strecker, MGH Poet., t. IV/2-3, pp. 769-783 (Cod. Sang. 269 = G is used). A new critical edition is under preparation by Á. Cancela.
    • 2c. (pp. 149-228) [Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo: Oratio pro correptione uitae] >Incipit oratio cuius supra pro correptione uitę et propter flenda semper peccata< Deus omnium mirabilium auctor …–… potestas in sęcula seculorum. Amen.
      References: Díaz y Díaz, Index, no 306; Machielsen, Clavis, vol. II B, no 3437; Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 1228. Edition: Arévalo, Isidori opera, t. VII, pp. 358-373 (= Migne, PL 83, cols. 1261-1274). A critical edition is under preparation by Á. Cancela.
  • 3. pp. 229-263 [Fulgentius of Ruspe: De fide ad Petrum] >Incipit Liber s. augustini ad petrum diaconum de fide< Epistolam fili petre tuę …–… sermonis inopia permisit inserui.
    References: Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 826; Machielsen, Clavis, vol. II B, no 152. Edition: Fraipont, Fulgentii opera, pp. 709-760 (Cod. Sang. 269 is not used).
    The work is generally transmitted under a false attribution to Augustine of Hippo, attested by this manuscript as well. The manuscript is a partial witness to the text, containing chapters 1-24 (lines 1- 468 of Fraipont’s edition), until inserui. The break and omission of the rest of the work is probably deliberate: the chapters 1-24 deal with the Trinity (see at the end: haec pauca de fide sanctae trinitate inserui, lines 466-468); whereas the next passage deals with the creation (Nunc de creatura intimabo, lines 468-469). Since Alcuin’s works copied in this manuscript are concerned with the Trinitarian doctrine as well, only chapters 1-24 were probably considered relevant to the subject.
  • 4. p. 264-428 [Alcuin: De fide sanctae et indiuiduae Trinitatis].
    • (p. 263) A later hand used the second half of the page, originally left blank, to write the title and author of the work: De Sanctissima Trinitate libellus …–… Augustum Carolum magnum.
    • 4a. (pp. 264-270) [Alcuin: Letter of dedication to Charlemagne] Domino glorioso karolo imperatori () Dum dignitas imperialis …–… pia commoneat semper amare deum.
      Reference: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 257, p. 414-416.
    • 4b. (pp. 270-276) [Index of chapters of the three books].
    • 4c. (pp. 276-419) [Alcuin: De fide sanctae et indiuiduae Trinitatis. Book 1: pp. 276-311; Book 2: pp. 311-362; Book 3: pp. 362-419 ] >Incipit textus in nomine domini< Quamuis enim in huius …–… regnum cuius nullus est finis.
    • 4d. (pp. 419-423) [Alcuin: Inuocatio ad sanctam Trinitatem] Adęsto lumen uerum pater …–… gratiarum actio in secula sempiterna · o beata trinitas.
      Reference: Schaller – Könsgen, Initia, no 289.
    • 4e. (pp. 423-428) [Alcuin: Symbolum fidei de sancta Trinitate] Credimus sanctam trinitatem · id est …–… sit ista confitenti in omnia sęcula sęculorum.
    References: Julien – Perelman, Clavis, vol. 2, Alc 28, pp. 135-139. Edition: Knibbs – Matter, Alcuini Eboracensis, pp. 5-147 (edition of the whole work; Cod. Sang. 269 is not used).
  • 5. pp. 428-443 [Alcuin: Quaestiones de trinitate ad Fredegisum].
    • 5a. (pp. 428-430) [Alcuin: Letter of dedication to Fredegisum]. Desiderantissimo filio fredegiso albinus salutem. Placuit …–… in perpetua fulgebunt claritate.
      Reference: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 289, pp. 447-448.
    • 5b. (pp. 430-443) [Alcuin: De Trinitate ad Fredegisum] Interrogatio· Quomodo deus uere sit …–… dum emisit spiritum christus in cruce
      References: Jullien – Perelman, Clavis, vol. 2, Alc 36, pp. 151-153. Edition: Knibbs – Matter, Alcuini Eboracensis, pp. 149-162 (edition of the whole work; Cod. Sang. 269 is not used); Duemmler, Epistolae, no 289, pp. 447-448 (only the letter).
  • 6. pp. 443-479 [Alcuinus: De animae ratione ad Eulaliam].
    • 6a. (pp. 443-473) [Alcuinus: De animae ratione ad Eulaliam] Carissimę in christi caritate sorori …–… perfecta meritorum claritate.
      Reference: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 309 (whole work).
    • 6b. (pp. 473-475) [Alcuin: Hymn Qui mare] Qui mare qui terram …–… inclita sponsa Deo.
      Reference: Schaller – Könsgen, Initia, no 13293. Duemmler, MGH Poet. I, no 85, 1.
    • 6c. (pp. 475-476) [Alcuin: Hymn Te homo] Te homo laudet …–… uita perennis · Gloria perpes.
      Reference: Schaller – Könsgen, Initia, no 16078. Duemmler, MGH Poet. I, no 85, 2.
    • 6d. (pp. 476-478) [Alcuin: Laudes Caroli] Hoc carmen tibi cecini …–… propter filias hierusalem.
    • 6d. (pp. 478-479) [Alcuin: Litanies] Miserere domine miserere …–… semper ubique in secula sempiterna · Amen
      Reference: Duemmler, MGH Poet. I, no 85, 3.
    References: Jullien – Perelman, Clavis, vol. 2, Alc 17, pp. 121-125. Edition: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 309, pp. 473-478 (whole work), Duemmler, MGH Poet. I, no 85.1-3 pp. 302-3 (carmina). Other editions: Curry, Alcuin. De animae ratione, and Jaffé† – WattenbachDuemmler, Monumenta Alcuiniana, pp. 780-787; according to JullienPerelman, an edition is under preparation for Corpus ChristianorumContinuatio Medievalis.
  • p. 480 blank.
  • 7. pp. 481-559 [Alcuin: De uirtutibus et uitiis ad Widonem comitem].
    • 7a. (pp. 481-483) : [Alcuin: letter to Wido] >Incipit Instructio Alcuuini magistri adque abbatis< Dilectissimo filio uuitoni comiti () Memor petitionis tuę …–… dignetur dilectissime fili.
      Reference: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 305[a], p. 464.
      • 7b. (pp. 483-557) [Alcuin: De uirtutibus et uitiis] De sapientia. Primo omnium querendum …–… possidere dignetur efficietur.
      • 7c. (pp. 557-558) [Alcuin: letter to Wido = uirt. et uit. cap. 36 peroratio] Hęc tibi dulcissime fili uuito breui …–… operis perpetua coronabitur gloria.
        Reference: Duemmler, Epistolae, no 305[b], p. 464-465.
      • 7d. (pp. 558-559) [Eccli. 6, 5-20] >Salomon dixit< uerbum dulce multiplicat amicos …–… ipsius exiguum laborabis.
        Biblical addition common to a family within the manuscript tradition of the work. See Jullien – Perelman, Clavis, p. 153.
      References: Jullien – Perelman, Clavis, vol. 2, Alc 37, pp. 153-159. Listed by Szarmach, “A Preliminary Handlist”, p. 139. Edition: Frobenius, Beati Flacci Albini Opera = reprinted by J. P. Migne, PL vol. 101 col. 613-638 (whole work); Duemmler, Epistolae, no 305[a-b], p. 464-465 (only the letters to Wido). According to Jullien – Perelman, an edition is under preparation for Corpus ChristianorumContinuatio Medievalis.
  • 8. pp. 559-561 [Defensor of Ligugé: excerpta from Scintillarum liber, chap. 8] >De confessione< Omnis ergo qui confitebit me …–… per dignam poenitentiam praua facta accusat.
    No indication of Defensor of Ligugé (7th century) is provided in the text, but every excerptum is found in the same order as in chapter 8 (De confessione) of his biblical and patristic anthology entitled Scintillarum liber (7th century). It contains Scintillae no 1-5 (= Matth. 10, 32; Rom. 10, 10; Iac. 5, 16; Prou. 28, 13; I Ioh. 1, 8-9), no 15 (Ambrose? Unidentified citation), no 28 (Isidore? Unidentified citation) and no 32 (= Isidore of Seville, Sententiae, 2, 13, 3).
    Reference: Dekkers & Gaar, Clavis, no 1302. Edition: Rochais, Liber scintillarum.
Origin of the manuscript: The codex seems to have been copied in Saint Gall, both on palaeographical grounds (Bruckner) and according to the history of some of the texts it contains. On the one hand, the exemplar(s) of the Alcuinian treatises could already have been present there. There are two 9th-century St. Gall manuscripts transmitting Alcuin’s De fide, Quaestiones and De ratione animae: Cod. Sang. 276 and 272, belonging to two different branches of the tradition (see Knibbs – Matter p. XXI-XXII). Cod. Sang. 272 transmits a brief text (Candida florigeris, see Knibbs – Matter), which is absent both from Cod. Sang. 276 and 269; however, both Cod. Sang. 272 and 269 also have Alcuin’s De uirtutitibus et uitiis, which is not contained in Cod. Sang. 276. A collation of the four works would cast light upon the model(s) used. On the other hand, the combination of Synonyma and Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo’s corpus is typical for a family in the transmission of both texts (see Elfassi, “El corpus”). The most important witnesses of this family were copied in the ninth or tenth centuries in northern Italy, eastern France or in Saint Gall itself. It is highly likely that more than one book transmitting this combination (and maybe even the hyparchetype of the family) was found and copied in the Saint Gall area during this period (see Cancela, “¿Una edición contaminada?”). As shown by this analysis of contents, Cod. Sang. 269 is the result of joining two previous corpora: on the one hand, Isidore and Pseudo-Sisbert; on the other hand, Alcuin, to which the partial copy of Fulgentius’s De fide was added so as to create a corpus of Trinitarian doctrine.
Provenance of the manuscript: The manuscript seems to have been held and used in Saint Gall. In the twelfth century, the second codicological unit of Cod. Sang. 223 was copied from the pp. 1-228 of this manuscript; in the same century all its contents were transcribed into the manuscript Wien, ÖNB, lat. 794 (12th c.), even if the order of the texts was partially altered (Meyer, “Anfang und Ursprung” established the dependence of manuscripts for the Exhortatio and Lamentum, and Strecker accepts this observation. My study of the whole corpus arrives at the same conclusion). In the thirteenth century, the ex libris Liber S. Galli Synonima was added on the front pastedown. On p. 1 a table of contents was added; it matches that of the 1461 catalogue of St. Gall (Cod. Sang. 1399, f. 2vb), edited by Lehmann, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge, p. 114:
E 14 Sinonima Ysidori; item consolacio, instructio, oracio peni|tentis; Augustinus de fide ad Petrum dyaconum; Alcuinus ad Karolum imperatorem de fide libri III; Albinus de trinitate; | instructio Alchwini de uirtutibus et uiciis
On provenance see also the stamp on p. 1 and 561.
Bibliography:
  • Arévalo, F., Sancti Isidori Hispalensis episcopi opera omnia, T. 7, Roma: apud Antonium Fulgonium, 1803.
  • Bischoff, B., Latin Palaeography. Antiquity and the Middle Ages (translation by D. Ó Cróinín and D. Ganz), Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Bruckner A., Scriptoria Medii Aevi Helvetica 3, Schreibschulen der Diözese Konstanz, St. Gallen II, Genf: Verlag Roto-Sadag 1938, pp. 89-90.
  • Cancela, A., “¿Una edición contaminada? El Par. Bnf lat. 2876 y la editio princeps de Pseudo-Sisberto de Toledo (Isidorus Hispalensis, Opera omnia, Jacques Du Breul, París 1601)”, to be published in Creneida 4 (2016).
  • Curry, J. J. M., Alcuin, ‘De ratione animae’: a text with introduction, critical apparatus and translation, Ph.D. Diss. Cornell University, 1966.
  • Díaz y Díaz, M., Index Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevi Hispanorum. Pars prior (Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1958).
  • Duemmler, E., Poetae Latini aevi Carolini, T. I. Berlin: Weidmann, 1881 (MGH Poet.), pp. 160–351.
  • Duemmler, E., Epistolae Karolini aevi, T. II, Berlin: Weidmann, 1895 (MGH epp. in Quart.).
  • Elfassi, J., Les “Synonyma” d'Isidore de Séville : édition critique et histoire du texte. Thèse de doctorat, sous la direction de François Dolbeau, Paris, EPHE, 2001.
  • Elfassi, J., Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Synonyma, Turnhout: Brepols, 2009 (CC SL 111B).
  • Elfassi, J., “El corpus atribuido a Sisberto de Toledo: algunas notas sobre su difusión y sus fuentes”, in Estudios de Latín Medieval Hispánico. Actas del V Congreso Internacional de Latín Medieval Hispánico (Barcelona, 7-10 de septiembre de 2009), ed. J. M. Gázquez et al., Firenze: Sismel – Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2011, pp. 53–60.
  • Fraipont, J., Sancti Fulgentii Episcopi Ruspensis Opera, vol. II, Turnhout: Brepols, 1968 (CC SL 91A).
  • Frobenius Foster, Beati Flacci Albini Seu Alcuini Abbatis, Caroli Magni Regis Ac Imperatoris, Magistri Opera, Ratisbone: Literis Ioannis Michaelis Englerth, 1777.
  • Iranzo, S., “Pseudo-Sisberto de Toledo”, in La Hispania visigótica y mozárabe. Dos épocas en su literatura, ed. C. Codoñer. Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2010.
  • Jaffé, Ph. † - Wattenbach W. - Duemmler, E., Monumenta Alcuiniana a Philippo Iaffeo praeparata ediderunt Wattenbach et Duemmler, Berlin: Weidmann, 1873, pp. 780-787.
  • Jullien, M.-H. - Perelman F., Clavis Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevi (Auctores Galliae 735-987). Clavis des auteurs latins du moyen âge (territoire français, 735-987), vol. II Alcuin, Turnhout: Brepols, 1999 (CC CM).
  • Knibbs, E. – Matter, E. A., De fide Sanctae Trinitatis et de incarnatione Christi. Quaestiones de Sancta Trinitate, Turnhout: Brepols, 2012 (CC CM 249).
  • Lehmann, P., Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz. Vol. I, München: C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1918.
  • Machielsen, J., Clavis patristica pseudoepigraphorum medii aevi, vol. II B, Turnhout: Brepols, 1995.
  • Meyer, W., “Anfang und Ursprung der lateinischen und griechischen rhythmischen Dichtung”, Abhandlungen der kgl. bayer. Akademie der Wissenschaften 1, Cl. 17, no 2 (1886), pp. 265-450.
  • Migne, J. P., Patrologia Latina (= PL), Paris, Sirou, 1844-1855 (indices 1862-1865).
  • Pérez de Urbel, J., “Origen de los himnos mozárabes”, Bulletin Hispanique 28 (1926), pp. 305-320, (esp. 308-311, the Lamentum and Sisbert of Toledo).
  • Rochais, H., Defensor Logiacensis monachi. Liber scintillarum, Turnhout: Brepols, 1957 (CC SL 117/1).
  • Schaller, D. – Könsgen, E., Initia carminum Latinorum saeculo undecimo antiquiorum, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1977.
  • Scherrer G., Verzeichniss der Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen, Halle: Verl. der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1875, p. 101.
  • Strecker, K., Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini, T. 4/2-3, Berlin: Weidmann, 1923 (MGH Poet.), esp. “CXLVII. Exhortatio poenitendi”, pp. 760-768; “CXLVIII. Lamentum poenitentiae”, pp. 769-783.
  • Szarmach, P. E., “A Preliminary Handlist of Manuscripts Containing Alcuin’s Liber de virtutibus et vitiis”, Manuscripta 25.3 (1981), pp. 131-140.