The Godescalc Evangelistary

King Charlemagne and his wife, Hildegard, commissioned the Godescalc Evangelistary in the year 781 AD.  The Godescalc Evangelistary is the earliest known manuscript produced in the scriptorium (which literally means “a place for writing”) at Charlemagne’s Court School in Aachen, Germany. The manuscript was to commemorate Charlemagne’s journey to Italy to meet Pope Adrian the First and to remember the baptism of his son Pepin. The illuminations of the manuscripts were a product of the Carolingian Renaissance and the fusion of Insular Anglo-Saxon, early Christian, and Byzantine styles. Each motif of the opening page of the Gospel is based heavily on the Saxon origin, while the people were based on the Byzantine models. The manuscript contains the new Carolinian minuscule script, which becomes the foundation of Carolingian manuscripts thereafter.  The manuscript also contains the four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).  The Godescalc Evangelistary outlines prayers services and sections in the Gospel to be read at Mass. It was also used as an important part of Charlemagne’s educational reform.

One may look at this and noticed that the pages are dyed purple. That person would notice that 127 pages are purple parchment and that all the ink is written in gold or something. So that means this manuscript is extremely expensive. The manuscript being commissioned by King was lavish in the script, parchment, and illuminations.  Unlike other lavished manuscripts the Godescalc Evangelistary was to be read to the public. You heard right, it was meant to be read to the public and not to sit on a shelf collecting dust while looking pretty. King Charlemagne commissioned the manuscript to be a cultural renewal of the Carolingian people. He did it for the people, although some of the illuminations had some images in his favor. The script is written in gold and silver to be long lasting just like the spiritual content of the manuscript. Gold and other precious metals were considered a gift from God in the Carolinian Kingdom. The manuscript even has a little poem and dedicated to the art of the script:

“Golden words are painted [here] on purple pages,

The Thunderer’s shining kingdoms of the starry heavens,

Revealed in rose-red blood, disclose the joys of heaven,

And the eloquence of God glittering with fitting brilliance

Promises the splendid rewards of martyrdom to be gained” (Wiki Page).

This shows the authors’ intentions to represent God in the art of script. If Christ is the Word, then He must be represented in the text, and that is what Godescalc (one of the authors) tried to achieve with the Godescalc Evangelistary.

Notice the manuscript is named after one person, but was written by more than one person. That is true that Godescalc worked on the piece, but he had the help of a huge staff. There was a team of writers, parchment makers, editor, painters, illuminators, and a bookbinder. Godescalc started a trend of heavily decorated Biblical manuscripts, but none as lavish as the Godescalc Evangelistary. The manuscript looks like it was made for a king and that are because it is. His work offered a new style of illuminations for Carolingian scribes and illuminators. The Godescalc Evangelistary offered a new form of writing that was so successful that all manuscripts of the area (even in France) adopted it after the year 800.

Other than the script there was six essential illuminations in the Godescalc Evangelistary.  The four Evangelists are represented in their own illumination.  Each has their motif (the symbols of each Gospel writer) and a book (mostly recognized as their Gospel) in hand. Each represents God’s power over them to write the Gospels. King Charlemagne wanted to use the illuminations to raise educational value in the people’s eyes; convince people that education is an important aspect of daily life. Not only that, Godescalc makes the St. John illumination sit next to Jesus, but in a throne. Well, who sits on a throne? The king. It hints at the subtle detail that Charlemagne’s imperial authority is over that of the Church.  The fifth illumination is a picture of a young Jesus Christ holding a book in his left arm while blessing with his right. The anatomy of Christ is heavily influenced by Roman art such as the paintings in the Lateran Basilica where Pepin was baptized. Christ is also sitting on a cushioned bench, much less than the Illumination of St. John on the same folio. The sixth illumination was the fountain of life, which could be found in much older manuscripts. It is used to represent the birth of Christ as the eternal life promised by the fountain. The shrine of the fountain is heavily influenced by Pepin’s baptism in the Lateran Basilica in Rome. The Folio containing the fountain talks about the eternal life and the golden kingdom. The illuminators and scribes went all out on this folio bringing the symbolism to the forefront and to appease the King.  The birds and the plants show the fountain is the source of the rivers of paradise. These rivers identified with the four Gospels. The peacock in the illumination a symbol of immortality and the waterfowl are symbol of the apostles. Waterfowls in Eastern theological commentaries were seen as “fishers of men”, which is why they are seen as a symbol of the apostles. On the page next to the illumination is the Virgil of Christmas, which promises a golden kingdom and golden words.

So aside from the hint hint, wink winks of the authors to brown-nose imperial family, the manuscript was a educational and cultural success. It got one standard language for the Carolingian kingdom and created a new style of illumination.

Pictures Link

The Codex Amiatinus: An Ambassador for the English Nation

With pages measuring 27.5 by 20.5 inches and weighing in at 75 pounds, it is safe to say that this bad boy is huge. Not only massive in size, the Codex Amiatinus is also rich in history: it is a highly celebrated manuscript of the Latin Vulgate Bible, and is the oldest surviving copy of St. Jerome’s text, making the Codex the oldest complete bible to date. 

  

Written in the seventh century, the Codex was produced in the monastic scriptorium at Wearmouth-Jarrow by six scribes under the guidance of Abbot Ceolfrith. Ceolfrith’s predecessor, noble Benedict Biscop, established the double monastery and library in his native Northumbria after visiting Rome. It was at this monastery that the Venerable Bede, the prolific scholar and writer established himself; it is thought that Bede played a large role in the design and production of the Codex as well. A total of three copies of the Codex Amiatinus were produced in Latin calligraphy, however two of the copies are lost. Interestingly, the copy that travelled is the copy that survived. In AD 716 Abbot Ceolfrith and followers journeyed to Rome with a copy of the text, where it was to be given to Pope Gregory II. Unfortunately, the Abbot died en route, and it was not known to have reached its intended. Many years later, it was found in the monastery of San Salvatore in Italy, subsequently, it was sent to the Laurential Library in Florence where it has remained.

The Codex Amiatinus contains 1, 029 folios of vellum, arranged in quaternions (quires of four sheets). It is written in uncial characters in two columns on each page. There are roughly 43 to 44 lines per column. There is narrow spacing between words, with little punctuation. The text is divided into sections, with the initial line of each section written in different colored ink. There is very little ornamentation in the book, and few illuminated pages.

What has always fascinated me with manuscripts is the concept of someone meticulously copying text; as well as images, so another book can come to be. The process allows me to further appreciate printers. When I think of the Codex Amiantinus, I think that even though there were six scribes, each scribe had roughly 300 pages to copy for one book, and there were a total of three books made. To produce these texts, it takes a massive amount of time, effort, and patience, and the likelihood of your creation standing the test of time is not a sure thing. Only one is left, with bits of the other two copies found in odd places and used in other books. What especially drew me to this manuscript in particular, is the size of the codex and how beautifully it was made. Among the thousands of lines of consistent, clear, conscience, scrolling uncial text, I have discovered only two carefully illuminated pages from the text, as well as a lightly embellished dedication page. 

The first illuminated page is the frontispiece of the Bible. It depicts Ezra, an ancient scribe and writer, bent over a codex. He is busily writing, even though his eyes don’t appear to be on the page he is writing on. He has no irises, only tiny pupils in a sea of white: he looks terrified. Behind him is an open cupboard with nine red books on each shelf. I believe that this alludes to the nine volumed Bible written by Cassiodorus, which was obtained by Ceolfrith and Biscop at the time that the Codex Amiatinus was created.

The other image is of a Maiestas Domini (Christ in Majesty). Christ is flanked by two angels in a series of concentric circles. It looks like there are open books with spines facing the viewer within the hedges of the circles. The circles are enclosed by a rectangle, with the four Evangelists and their respective symbols claiming the space created by the corner of the rectangle and the outer edge of the circle. This image precedes the beginning of the New Testament.

The dedication page features the text in the center of the page with a blue and yellow arch curving over the words. What is really neat about this particular page is that the identity of the book was reestablished because of the dedication. The codex had the inscription “Petrus Langobardorum” and was thought to have been an Italian work because it was donated to the Laurential Library from an Italian monastery. In 1886, G. B. di Rossi recognized that several names had been altered, and were written over words that had been removed. He discovered that the original donors name was “Ceolfridus Anglorum”, therefore establishing that the Codex was not Italian, but English. In this way the Codex is incredibly important to the English people, because the earliest known complete bible written in Latin was produced in that region. Thus allowing the English to have bragging rights. 

Fun Facts:

• The text is made with 1,030 folios of vellum, with an estimated 515 calf hides required to provide the material.
• The Codex is not exactly complete; it is missing the book of Baruch.

Wait, is that a Table of Contents?

I am fairly certain that it is a bad thing that the appearance of a table of contents is the first thing that I noticed in a centuries old codex, but I just can't help it. So yes, this is going to be more about the technical aspects of the gospels and the techniques used to construct them rather than their contextual significance. There are also a wide variety of very familiar tropes in books that we all know, such as chapter headings (in the forms of the images of the evangilists, elegantly painted with their usual symbols in a wide range of colors), prefaces concerning the authors work (f.90, Argumentum for St. Marcus), and quick reference guides for the reader "on-the-go" (f. 208, selected readings from St. Jon).

THERE IS A TABLE OF CONTENTS IN THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS.

THE "TABLE OF CONTENTS" f.11
Also important ot note that Eadfrith decided to use
arches to symbolize the gospels promoting
the idea that the gospels and thus the evangelists
 were the support that hold up the religion.
Very cool symbolism if I do say so myself.

I don't know why I found this so interesting, as I'm sure there are earlier examples of this in similar codices, but the initial appearance of the Gospels does not seem to lend itself to the practicality of a table of contents. The lavish illuminations in the interior and the exterior being as decorated as it is would seem to lead one to believe that it is a decorative piece of art rather than a piece of literature. However it is not nearly as lavish as it seems, as the majority of the illuminations are made using cheaper dying materials and the amount of gold inlay is actually fairly minimal for a display codex. The Lindisfarne Gospels, as beautiful and lavish as they are, are also practical. The ink as well as the illuminations are of lower quality than certain other regions were used to *coughcoughbyzantinecough* as the ink itself is a dark brown to blackish color that is closer to an ink made of charcoal rather than something like oak galls or precious materials like gold *coughbyzantinecough* that is more typical of display manuscripts. The large size lends me to suspect that this was used as a display manuscript for teaching the gospels, but the relative plainness of the images and straightforward nature of the texts and the "table of contents" lend me to believe that this was also a book used for reading aloud and on the the go. It is an example of medieval book makers providing a synthesis of beauty and practicality in one book.

St. Marc f.93v
The British Library brings up a solid point
about the Lindisfarne Gospels that is on this
page and that is that the lion is surprisingly
accurate compared to the other medieval
illuminations of the animal. The coloration
is surprisingly accurate, to which the library
supposes that the artist had actually seen
a lion before.
Asides from the wings of course.

LOOK AT THE PRETTY PICTURES!
The chapter headings of each book serve not only as a visual reminder to the reader(and probably the listeners) of what the symbols of these saints are, but they also serve as a manifestation of the physical nature of these men. The early Christian church was very concerned with ensuring that their followers and converts were very well aware that this is something very real and documented by non-members. Personally, I believe that this "realness" is part of what contributed to the rise of Christendom. Many of the pagans living on the edges of Christianity worshiped vast pantheons of deities where there were the major gods and the minor gods or even unidentifiable entities, so it's not that far fetched to say that a Norseman in Denmark finds some similarites between Odin and Thor Odinson and the Christian God and Jesus? Or even more so, pagans who worship nature and the natural world in general, where everything is connected, that ties directly into the Christian gospels with it's emphasis on non-harming and devotion to your "family" (as a culture, not as true family).

These images serve as the centerpiece for the Catholic tradition, especially the early Catholic tradition, as the means for expansion and conversion.

Argumentum for Marcus f.90
Note that underneath the Latin script Eadfirth has
included the English translations in the local script
so that any regional religious leaders could just pick
up his copy of the gospels and start teaching to his
congregation on the go.
Also: Diminution in the lettering of Marcus.

ATTENTION SCRUBS, YOU'RE READING THE GOSPELS WRONG, HERE'S WHY
Though it was normal at the time for commentary to be written in the margins of the book as the author was going, but in the Lindisfarne gospels, Eadfrith has the brilliant foresight to include it from the get go. He's included a beautifully inscribed piece of art as the start for his argument (because let's face it, if the presidential debates opened up with an art contest, the US presidency would be a very different place) and goes on to identify who Marc was and what he did to deserve as much praise as he gets. Though it may seem like less of an argument to the modern eye, the reader needs to step into Eadfrith's shoes for a moment and realize that he was speaking to a group of people who have never heard of something as bizarre as communion or Israel. This argumentum is meant to be a quick reference guide to typical arguments posed by critics and querulous converts alike. It answers basic biographical questions and a handful of the philosophical nature, but it is mainly for defending fairly basic questions about who Marc was and what e said and what his master preached. Imagine if the questions the modern Christian church faced had such a quick and handy guide.

The Lindisfarne Gospels: One of the Middle Ages' Greatest Treasures

I find it hard to comprehend the amount of time that some manuscripts have survived, and moreover, how these manuscripts have changed the way history is perceived in present-day. The Lindisfarne Gospels is a wonderful example of a text that has survived for 1300 years. The text offers historical evidence of the spread of Christianity throughout the British Isles, and in addition, demonstrates the importance of Christianity in people's lives at the time. It is remarkable that this text can be referenced today simply by searching the name in a Google browser. I think that the Lindisfarne Gospels is incredible because of the amount of information about the past that is preserved within its binding. To begin my discussion, I will expound upon the information the book offers through the history of the text, and later, explain its importance as a historical document.

The history of the text dates back to around 698 (Christopher de Hamel) or between 715-20 (Michelle Brown). The scribe of the text, Eadfrith, a bishop of the island monastery of Lindisfarne (located in Northumberland in the northeastern part of England), also known as Holy Island, wrote the text. The text dates to the transition from the Greco-Roman period into the Middle ages.

Brown outlines five examples of influencers that are attributed to the production of the Gospels, which I believe are worth mentioning. First, "The monastery at Lindisfarne was established by monks from St Columba’s island monastery of Iona in Ireland." Monks from Ireland migrated to England and brought with them beliefs and practices which eventually filled the gospels. Second, "The native British people left in the wake of the Roman Empire." Following the destruction of the Roman Empire, people began to move out of Roman territories leaving the island somewhat vacant. Third, "The Germanic warlords and settlers… form[ed] England." England became a kingdom that was formed from the Germanic example. Fourth, "The legacy of Rome and its Early Christian Popes and missionaries' influenced the Gospels." After the fall of the Roman Empire, people did not wish to abandon Christianity. In fact, Christianity continued to spread even after the fall of the empire. And fifth, "The exotic, timeless mysticism of Byzantium, northern Africa and the Middle East." These far off places helped to create the elaborate illuminations that are present in the Gospels. These five influencers are responsible for the text that lies within the Lindisfarne Gospels. It is mind boggling to be able to trace them and link all that to one document.

The Lindisfarne Gospels contains the four gospels of Mark, Luke, John, and Matthew, which reference the life of Jesus Christ. There are five decorated pages of the manuscript, one of which that outlines St Jerome’s address to Pope Damascus across from a beautiful cross-carpet. 

The Gospels also contain sixteen pages that outline the canon that I find quite incredible. 

Something else that is really interesting is the fact that each evangelical is demonstrated at the start of their chapter with an illumination of them reading or writing their perspective gospel.

I think the history of the Gospels is really interesting as well because of the uniqueness of its initial purpose and eventual use. The Lindisfarne Gospels was originally used as a display piece. It is believed that the book was displayed for the first one hundred of its existence next to the remains of St Cuthbert. Around the year 875 the monks at Lindisfarne fled the Island due to a Viking advance. They took with them the Lindisfarne Gospels and the relics of St Cuthbert. This event mirrors the biblical account of Moses and the Israelites seeking the ‘promised land’ (Brown). During the movement of the Gospels, a myth arose about an encounter the monks had while they were at sea, reflecting the parting of the Red Sea during the Israelites escape from Egypt. The Gospel eventually made its way to Chester-le-Street, and was annotated into the Anglo-Saxon language around the 950s-60s, by a Christian called Alfred. He not only glossed the text but he also created a ‘colophon’ (a description of the production of the Gospels), which will be elaborated on later. The outline of production history remains one of the reasons the Gospels remain important today. Unlike most of the manuscripts that exist today from the early Middle Ages most books’ histories are somewhat unknown, whereas, the colophon present in the Lindisfarne Gospels offer a great deal of history that would otherwise be unknown.

An example of a book that was written around the time the Lindisfarne Gospels is the Book of Kells. One of the differences between the two books is that we know more historically about the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels, as opposed to the little we know about the Book of Kells. De Hamel mentions, “We know where it was made, who wrote it, why, who bound it, who decorated the binding, and who glossed the text. We know enough about the craftsmen to be able to date the manuscript fairly closely.’’ It is worth noting that the decorated binding was rather extraordinary. Originally it was leather bound by Ethelwald, and later, in the 8^th century, was redone with extravagant medals and jewels by Billfirth the Anchorite (London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero D.IV). It was again redone by Edward Maltby in 1852 and remains in that state today.

I think that the colophon that is found within the Lindisfarne Gospels is rather unique. I want to mention that not only is it physically present, but it also is thought of to be extremely accurate; this is something historians cannot say about other manuscripts from the era. De Hamel believes that there is no reason to doubt Alfred’s account of who wrote what and when. He alludes that “Eadfrith, bishop of the Lindisfarne Church, originally wrote this book, for God and for St Cuthbert and – jointly – for all the saints whose relics are in the island. And Ethelwald, bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders, impressed it on the outside and covered it – as well as he knew how to do. And Billifrith the anchorite, forged the ornaments…” It is unlikely to find the depth of background that is exhibited by this text in any other book from this time period.

The Lindisfarne Gospels represents a time period in remarkable accuracy. I believe they are worth learning about simply because they remain beautifully preserved today despite their age. 

The Vergilius Romanus or, The Roman Vergil

The Vergilius Romanus is one of the oldest surviving witnesses to classical literature, having been dated to the latter half of the fifth century. Moreover, it is the oldest complete witness of Vergil’s Aeneid and Georgics, making it a crucial link to the one of the most influential authors in the western world. The manuscript is written on 325mm (about 13”) square parchment in rustic capitals with a medial punctus separating words. The manuscript is illuminated, with flat, linear illustrations unlike other more more naturalist classical painters.

The Vergilius Romanus is housed in the Vatican Library, catalogued as Cod. Vat. Lat. 3867, where it was brought from St. Denis, Paris, some time in the early 15th century. Beyond that, its provenance is uncertain.

As an aspiring classicist with a particular love of the Aeneid, these manuscripts from late antiquity fascinate me to no end. This and the two other Vergil manuscripts, which are housed in the Vatican, are our closest ties to the Roman author and are strong examples of just how delicate our ties to the past can be. Though the Vergilius Romanus is the most complete of the three, all of them show significant wear, as might be expected from a 1500+ year history, and with large swaths of its history unaccounted for, we are fantastically lucky to still have it. These manuscripts are the closest relics we have to Vergil himself. There are even illustrations of the poet confined in the codex, and although those pages weren’t painted until more than four centuries after his death, seeing his depiction creates a personal connection which causes me to cherish his works that much more.

The age of the physical artifact also reminds of the age of the words within, and in doing so creates a line from antiquity to the modern. When I study the works of Vergil, I am studying the same works as folks from antiquity, like the ones who commissioned this codex to be written and illustrated. It is one thing to understand this academically, but when I look at the manuscript, I am looking at the exact same text as these folks from the 5th century and onward. We may not know who held this manuscript for a thousand years following its composition, but it was held by someone who read it and understood it like us, and so we are connected to not only the author, but to every person who handled it and was influenced by it along the way. This manuscript is an embodiment of what the written word is for mankind, a bridge between different worlds, different people, and different times.

When looking at manuscripts like this, I have a tendency to read what I see aloud to get a feel for the text. It’s a way of familiarizing myself with the script and getting a sense of how it might have been read initially. It grants historical context. With poetry especially, this really helps emphasize the verbal component of these works. Though at first the letters may be difficult, with practice reading out loud the flow becomes apparent and the singsong rhythm leaps from the page almost more readily than the words themselves.

On folio 74v, Venus is depicted revealing herself to Aeneas, and it demonstrates a discernible shift in style from the typical Roman depictions, which are much more realistic, showing the body’s contours and shading. When I first saw the illustrations I did not think they were Roman, and according to Ken Dark as published by British Archaeology, they are most likely not, instead being more likely to come from Britain. And although it does not have the same refined curves and proportions which grant dimension, it bears its own beauty. I’m reminded much of later manuscripts, even as far forward as the 15th and 16th centuries, with the way the figures stand and the simplicity with which the face is depicted, either from head on or in profile. It’s curious seeing Venus depicted in this style, which I would be much more likely to associate with biblical figures. Indeed, her haloed and winged form seems to imply Christian influence, which is not something I associate with Britain that early in time. With Christianity well established all throughout the Roman empire, it is not surprising that the church was influential in the area. If it did originate in Britain, this would be the oldest surviving manuscript from the region, and if the work is so influenced by Christian tradition then it is fine evidence of the church’s role in bringing the codex to Britain.

The historical context implied is also of great interest. If the book is from late fifth century Britain then it was made within a century of Rome’s loss of control in the region. The continued influence and accepted value of Vergil’s works which would allow for the creation of this text is testament to what Rome brought to Britain, and what Vergil brought to Rome.

In 2014 the Vatican Library began the process of digitizing a large portion of its manuscripts. Though the Vergilius Romanus has not been digitized, its cousin the Vergilius Vaticanus has been. Created a bit earlier than the Vergilius Romanus, the Vaticanus demonstrates a similar script, having also been written in rustic capitals. If the Vatican Library doesn’t digitize the Romanus soon, examining the Vaticanus will at least give a similar sense of history and allow you to see the script in detail. I don’t know if the Romanus is up for digitization, but I certainly hope so. Otherwise, you may be able to find facsimiles if you dig hard enough, such as John Wright’s The Roman Vergil and the Origins of Medieval Book Design (2002), which provides reproductions of a number of the folia.

The Life Behind the St. Augustine Gospels

The St. Augustine Gospels were written in the late sixth century AD. Allow that to sink in one more time: the St. Augustine Gospels were written in the late 500s, over 1500 years ago. For almost the entirety of its existence, it has survived in England, where it still manages to be put to good use. The St. Augustine Gospels, which are sometimes referred to as “The Canterbury Gospels” –– however incorrectly, as will be discussed later –– are a treasure for a multitude of reasons: the pure historical value of the manuscript, plus its content and the fact that it is still in use today, make it undoubtedly one of the most priceless items in the modern world.

The St. Augustine Gospels started their journey in 597 AD, with the Gregorian mission (or Augustinian mission), which was sent by Pope Gregory to convert England’s non-Christian Anglo-Saxon population. The mission, which consisted of fewer than 50 missionaries (including, of course, St. Augustine) who were sent from Rome, set forth with the then-new Gospels of St. Augustine. It is debated as to whether or not the mission took the manuscript with them, rather than having it delivered at a later date, however the script is written in an Italian uncial script which is generally agreed to be tied to the sixth century, so it is plausible that the manuscript was fully completed before the mission left for England.

By analyzing the script, it can also be determined that the St. Augustine Gospels were in England by around the turn into the eighth century, for there are edits and amendments that have been made using insular script, which was developed by the Irish Christians in the seventh century, but hit popularity between 600 and 850 AD. From this point, we can determine that it reached its destination, St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury, in the 11th century, for this is the first it contained documentation related to the Abbey. This is where the name, “The Canterbury Gospels,” comes in. However, while it is widely referred to by this name, its official title is the St. Augustine Gospels, as "The Canterbury Gospels" is already used to describe a manuscript written at Canterbury in the eighth century.

But enough of the history of the manuscript; the content is where the real heart of the piece is. The St. Augustine Gospels contain few (surviving) images, though the ones that survive are, in my opinion, ones to be treasured. There were originally four miniatures for each of the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, however now only the image dedicated to Luke survives.

I would now like to bring the focus to my commentary on my personal favorite page in the manuscript, folio 125r (right), which contains 12 scenes from the Passion. I believed at first that they may be the 12 Stations of the Cross, however this is not the case. But upon my own observation (as best as I can tell on the screen of my computer), I can clearly see the depiction of the last supper (in the first row, second column) and of Jesus bearing his cross (last row, third column). Surrounding these 12 images is a very simple yet astoundingly beautiful frame. There appears to be stones, all perfectly smooth, held in place by diagonal wooden boards. Similar but thicker boards are what separates the 12 square images. Upon trying to describe the image in words, I recognize that it doesn’t sound like much, and maybe it’s not. But the splotchy and faded colors on the parchment from 1500 years gives that banal image more life than I can even imagine it having at the time of its production, for there is an authenticity and character that exists in that image that is beyond what the artist could have ever foreseen 1500 years ago.

Images are hardly the only interesting content of the St. Augustine Gospels, however. As was shown in the section of this post that discussed the history behind the manuscript, much can be determined by a close examination of the type of scripts used throughout its life. Unfortunately, I cannot speak to the relevance of the script on folio iii-r (left) specifically, however it is the most eye-catching to me personally. Based on a search of some of the popular scripts of the time, it appears to be most similar to Merovingian script (pictured below folio iii-r), though they are still clearly different (The style used in the St. Augustine Gospels seems freer, with more wild flourishes). There is a physical sharpness to the letters not found on the others throughout the text, and I find the backward slant aesthetically pleasing.

These inscriptions are potentially the latest additions to the St. Augustine Gospels, but this does not mean that the oldest surviving codex in England is not still being used for its intended religious purposes. Every time a new archbishop takes their oaths, the manuscript is removed from its home at the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, and it is taken into the procession, ultimately continuing the work it was meant to do.

In a video presented by BBC, Dr. de Hamel describes the feeling of walking the St. Augustine Gospels down through Canterbury Cathedral, and the energy that filled the room. “A Gothic cathedral, absolutely filled with people singing very loud, makes the air vibrate. And it had this extraordinary effect that the parchment in the book began to vibrate in time with the music. Now, had I been open to a spiritual experience, I would have said that the book itself was singing.”