Pierre de Langtoft — 14th century, early; England

Title

Pierre de Langtoft — 14th century, early; England

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 120

Associated place

England

Place of origin

England

Date

14th century, early

Language

Anglo-Norman

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment

Physical extent

iii + 65leaves

Hands

Julia Marvin suggests that the manuscript is the work of a single scribe, making a copy in haste for personal use. The script is a current anglicana, 'with sporadic, awkward efforts at a more formal script' ('The Vitality of Anglo-Norman in Late Medieval England: The Case of the Prose Brut Chronicle' in Language and Culture in Medieval Britain: The French of England, c.1100–c.1500, ed. Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, et al. [Boydell, 2009], p. 305)

Acquisition

Bequeathed to the Bodleian in 1834

Provenance

George Neville third baron of Bergavenn of Abergavenny(d. 1535), a knight of the Garter and counsellor and friend to Henry VIII, inscribed: 'Thys boke is myn G. Bergavenny which J leve yn my chamber att London the xxjth day of October anno xjº H. viijth', i.e. 1519. The powerful Neville family also owned a fifteenth-century Middle English prose Brut, MS. Laud Misc. 733(see Marvin, 'The Vitality of Anglo-Norman in Late Medieval England: The Case of the Prose Brut Chronicle' in Language and Culture in Medieval Britain: The French of England, c.1100–c.1500, ed. Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, et al. [Boydell, 2009], p. 308)

A note by Francis Douce (fol. 1r) states that the manuscript was 'Bought at Dr. [John] Campbell's sale, May 1776'. This manuscript was MS. 13 in Campbell's sale and Douce paid 1s. 6d for it. Bought with MS. Douce 147 Part 1, for which Douce paid 4s., it is Douce's earliest datable purchase, acquired when he was eighteen. Douce's stamp (FD) is on fol. 1r

Francis Douce, 1757–1834. A note by Henry Petrie in 1819 about the volume is on the front inside cover.

Title

A chronicle of England from Brennus to about A.D. 1293, in French

Shelfmark

MS. Douce 120

Summary

A few leaves (before Brennus) are wanting at the beginning, and the text beg. 'com son frere feut ale en Norwage.' The latter part is stated to be from Langtoft's metrical chronicle, and ends imperfect: and Douce notes that the chronicle in general is 'the same as that usually called Caxton's. 'A note by Henry Petrie in 1819 about the volume is on the front inside cover.

'Thys boke is myn G. Bergavenny which J leve yn my chamber att London the xxjth day of October anno xjo H. viijth', i.e. A.D. 1519: George Neville earl of Abergavenny died in 1535.

Date

written early in the 14th cent. in England

Language

French

Physical facet

On parchment

Physical extent

65 Leaves

Custodial history

'Bought at Dr. [John] Campbell's sale, May 1776', Douce's note.