I’ve had a go at transcribing the “Life” of St Botolph from this medieval breviary, but frankly my paleography is not great. Would anyone else like to have a go, or a bit of one? I’ll upload i mages of the two pages in .jpg form. If you click on the picture, you’ll get the full size image (about 300k in size, so not enormous).
Alternatively you can use this PDF and this .docx word file of what follows:
The first page (folio 14r) starts with two prayers, which I have found elsewhere. Then the “Life” begins with “lco = lectio”. Ignore the hole in the page, and the stuff peeking through it from below!
Here’s my go at this:
De sancto Botholpho ad ??
Iste sanctus digne in memoria vertitur hominum
qui ad gaudia tu@sset (=transiit) an-
gelorum quia in hac peregri-
natione solo corpore consti-
tutus cogitatione & avi-
ditate in illa aeterna patria
conversatus a@ (= est?). a@ gt Coll. (Coll. =Collecta, the collect:)Deus, omnium regnorum
gubernator et rector,
qui famulis tuis annuum (the tilted c above the q indicating abbreviation of some sort)
beati Botholphi abbatis
largiaris sollemnitur cele- (mu with macron = m)
brare festa nostrorum dele
clementius pec-
camini vulne-
ra ut a te
mereamur
percipere ga-
udia reprom-
issa. Per dom.
The “per dom. is short for the “Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum” which appears at the end of a collect in a breviary. The “Tu autem” that follows each reading = lection is another standard prayer.
Lectio.
Beatus Botolphus
natus est de saxoni-
ae gente qui Brytaneam bel-
lica acquisierat virtute
ubi puer bone indolis nu-
t@ebatur. Qui cum adole-
uiss; ad antiquam stirpis
sue asit@rem transsiu sax-
oniae per diu@sos (=diversos) doctores
in fide christiane religionis
ioboiatam. Tu autem… Lectio Scda.De@ ibi levius adisce[re]t (not sure have abbrev right above adisc…)
& sce@ fidei gratias & sce@
@u@statoi@s in ap@loris isti
tutonibus disciplin@et Lau-
dem attonsus coma capitis
exuit hitum mundi & ind-
uit armaturam dei et
grados ascendit sar@ et
divis. Tu autem… lectio tria.Beatus ias p[at]er Botolp-
hus divina est fretus
pictare ut natic@ pri@e (=proprie?)
tue prodessus doctrina & sca@
@u@saroe@. Postquam vo@ di@
gr[ati]a & diutino perfic@et
sce@ feruore religionis
disposuit iam ad anglie (n often written u)
pio ravitatis studio re-
pedare. Tu autem… lco quad.Erant autem in eodem mo-
nasterio quo moraba-
tur sorores due ethel-
mundi regis qui tunc
australibus praeerat angl-
is. Diligebant praecipue (the mu symbol = p. prem = patrem)
p[at]rem Botholphum sicut
doctorem sanctitatis & casti[m]o-
nie & pl[uri]mum ob studium
gentis sue. Tu autem... Lco ?? [This sentence straight from Folcard.]Ad huc siquidem soro-
res dicte tenellule
fuerant misse ultra mare (iu = m)
ad discendam scilz (= scilicet) in
monasteriali gymnasio
disciplinam celestis
sophie. Audientes btui (=beatum)
& dilaum (= dilectum) doctorem velle
repaatriare merentes m-
andata imponunt. lco vi.R@usius tandem btus (=beatus)
Botholphus in nati@-
am (= nativam) priam (=patriam) suam imperitis
eatenus vite regula-
ris (= regularis) attulit normam & @@
guacui@ amicos & pri@
avi serveti@ fide oer ao@
re dei de@liquid terre-
na contempsit ut celes-
tia acq@rerus. Tu autem…[I think possibly prayers from here on??]
& wan@ vigilate q@
super by@ a@ @utt@essio do@
beati Botolphus confessoris
tui mos ebu@ @etific;
ut @@ memoriam recoliq
eius prioribus aduuiemet??? Gre bo-
tolphe iccede per nob@
ut co@@ites glorai sanctorum
tecum effici mereamus. [Intercede for us?]Deus qui scam ub De sco
u@ diei sollepita
te@ in honore sci@ Kanu-
ti regis & viris tui@
consecrasti ad esto @@@
The next column starts with De Sancto Kanuto Rege, Concerning Saint King Canute.
All thoughts, even the smallest, gratefully received!
The Breviarium Lincopense was edited by K. Peters and published in 1950-1958. Two short reviews:
https://archive.org/details/Irenikon/Irenikon/Irenikon-36-%281963%29/page/286/mode/2up
https://archive.org/details/per_ephemerides-liturgicae_ephemerides-liturgicae_1959_73/page/58/mode/2up
Whether this is accessible at all is another matter.
I’m not a paleographer, but I can venture a couple of guesses for column 1:
a@ gt: Dei gratia ?
nut@ebatur: nutrebatur
adoleuiss;: adoleuisset
asit@rem: alitricem
ioboiatam: roboratam
“alitrix” is particularly interesting since most dictionary only record the shorter form “altrix” (foster-mother, nourisher; motherland).
Thank you very much for this! I’d forgotten the Peters publication, about which I never knew anything. Thank you for the reviews. It is not the most accessible publication, indeed.
Appreciate the guesses – which is all I am doing!
De sancto Botholpho ad Vesperas super Magnificat.
It starts off with the antiphon for the Magnificat canticle.
Iste sanctus digne in memoria vertitur hominum
qui ad gaudia transsit an-
gelorum quia in hac peregri-
natione solo corpore consti-
tutus cogitatione & avi-
ditate in illa aeterna patria
conversatus est.
The abbreviation after «ē» is Mgt with a superscript a, i.e. «Magnificat».
Collecta
Deus, omnium regnorum gubernator et rector,
qui famulis tuis annua
beati Botholphi abbatis
largiris sollemniter cele-
brare festa nostrorum dele
clementius pec-
caminum vulne-
ra ut a te
mereamur
percipere ga-
udia reprom-
issa. Per dom.
Just as it appears in the Corpus Orationum but without «quaesumus».
Lectio.
Beatus Botolphus
natus est de saxoni-
ae gente que Brytaneam bel-
lica acquisierat virtute
ubi puer bone indolis nu-
trebatur. Qui cum adole-
uisset ad antiquam stirpis
sue alitricem transsivit sax-
oniae per diversos doctores
in fide christiane religionis
roboratam. Tu autem [Domine miserere nobis: the usual conclusion of a Matins lesson].
Vere ibi lenius [I think the scribe forgot the initial “p”] adisceret [superscript r, i.e. addisceret]
& sanctae fidei gratias & sanctae
conversationis in apostolicis insti-
tutionibus disciplinam. Tan-
dem attonsus coma capitis
exuit habitum mundi & ind-
uit armaturam dei et
grados ascendit sacri or-
dinis. Tu autem…
Lectio tertia.
Beatus igitur pater Botolp-
hus divina est fretus
pietate ut nativae patriae
suae prodesset doctrina & sancta
conversatione. Postquam vero dei
gratia & diutino proficeret
sanctae fervore religionis
disposuit iam ad angliam
pio caritatis studio re-
pedare. Tu autem…
Lectio quarta.
Erant autem in eodem mo-
nasterio quo moraba-
tur sorores duae Ethel-
mundi regis qui tunc
australibus praeerat angl-
is. Diligebant praecipue
patrem Botholphum sicut
doctorem sanctitatis & castimo-
niae & plurimum ob studium
gentis suae. Tu autem…
Lectio Vª
Ad hunc siquidem soro-
res dictae tenellulae
fuerant missae ultra ma-
re ad discendam scilicet in
monasteriali gymnasio
disciplinam caelestis
sophyae. Audientes beatum [btm = beatum]
& dilectum doctorem velle
repatriare maerentes m-
andata imponunt.
Lectio VIª.
Reversus tandem beatus
Botholphus in nativ- [the macron indicates u/v]
am patriam suam imperitis
eatenus vitae regula-
ris attulit normam. Nam?
cognatorum [seems a scribal error for “cognatos”] amicos & patri-
am ferventi fide per amo-
re [scribal error, there should be a macron over “e” to indicate “amorem”] dei dereliquid [i.e. dereliquit, final t/d confusion common in Germanic countries] terre-
na contempsit ut caeles-
tia acquireret. Tu autem…
Ewangelium. Vigilate quia. [The 7th, 8th, and 9th readings are a sermon on the day’s Gospel. Since many saints shared the same Gospel, this incipit indicates to the reader that he should go to the place in the breviary where the sermon on the Gospel Vigilate quia is found, usually in the Common, of Confessors in this case].
Super Benedictus antiphona. [the antiphon for the Benedictus canticle said at the end of Lauds] Intercessio Domine
beati Botolphi confessoris
tui nos ubique laetificet
ut cuius memoriam recolimus
eius precibus adiuvemur.
[https://cantusindex.org/id/202606]
Super Magnificat antiphona [the antiphon for the Magnificat canticle at the end of second Vespers] Beate Bo-
tolphe intercede per nobis
ut consortes gloriae sanctorum
tecum effici mereamur.
[https://cantusindex.org/id/004718]
Then appears the collect for the feast of St. Canute King.
That is marvellous!!! Thank you so much. I am in awe.
I appreciate the explanations – I know nothing of the elements of the service, and it’s a new world!
Very good transcript by Gerhard Eger. One little correction: I read “transsiuit saxoniam” in first lesson. As for the printed Breviarium Lincopense, it is a reproduction of the early print of that breviary, whose lessons are entirely different from those in this ms. The first begins: “Beatus botulphus ex illustri prosapia scotorum oriundus”.