NOTES ET MATERIAUX
THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION OF OLD FRENCH PROSE BRUT ROLLS
Manuscript 75 A 2/2 of the Royal Library in the Hague features on its recto the Old French prose Brut, a genealogical chronicle of the kings of England which derives its name from Brutus, England's legendary first king, and exists in French, English and Latin, the French version being generally accepted as the earliest. (l) This manuscript is one of the most attractive examples of the French version, a text which was immensely popular throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, and which survives in numerous manuscripts, both codices and rolls, dating from the thirteenth to the late sixteenth centuries. (2) The rolls feature text together with a genealogical tree consisting of interconnected roundels. It is my purpose here to look at these rolls from the physical, textual and iconographical aspects, in order to determine what unites or divides the corpus. (3)
The rolls to be studied are: sigla
Cambridge Corpus Christi College MS 98 Cl
Emmanuel College MS 232 C2
University Library MS Dd.III.57 C3
University Library MS Dd.III.58 C4
University Library MS Oo.VII.32 C5
London British Library MS Additional 8101 BL1
MS Additional 11713 BL2
MS Additional 21368 BL3
MS Additional 47170 BL4
MS Cotton Roll XV.7 BL5 MS Lansdowne Charters Rot. 3 BL6
MS Royal 14 B v BL7
(1) I am indebted to Erik Kooper who first drew my attention to this manuscript, and provided me with a photograph of it. See E. Kooper and A. Kruijshoop, 'Of English Kings and Arms', In Other Words, J.L. Mackenzie and R.K. Todd eds (Dordrecht, 1989) 45-54.
(2) See D.B. Tyson, 'Handlist of Manuscripts containing the French prose Brut Chronicle', Scriptorium XLVIII (1994), 333-44 and D. B. Tyson, 'The Old French Brut rolls in the London College of Arms', Guerres, voyages et quêtes. Mélanges offerts à Jean-Claude Faucon (Paris, 2000) 421-427. For a brief discussion of the genre, see D.B. Tyson, 'Les manuscrits français de la bibliothèque Parker', Actes du Colloque 24-27 mars 1993, Nigel Wilkins éd., Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1993, 101-120.
(3) See also W.H. Monroe, 'Thirteenth and early fourteenth century illustrated genealogical manuscripts in roll and codex : Peter of Poitiers' Compendium, universal histories and chronicles of the kings of England', 2 vols and 1 microfilm, unpublished PhD thesis, University of London/Courtauld Institute of Arts, 1990 ; F. Fossier, 'Chroniques universelles en forme de rouleau à la fin du Moyen Age', Bulletin de la Société nationale des de France (1980-81), 166-67 ; O. de Laborderie, 'Les généalogies des rois d'Angleterre sur rouleaux manuscrits (milieu xme siècle-début xve siècle) Conception, diffusion et fonctions', 120e congrès des sociétés historiques et scientifiques, Aix-en-Provence, 24-26 octobre 1995, pp. 181-99. I am indebted to M. de for notifying me of the existence of BL10 and CA3. I have edited my quotations from the rolls in with modern principles, the aim being easy intelligibility. Mentions of rolls showing certain features do not necessarily include all the instances of such features.
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