Of the 490 pages of CCCC41, 108 pages exhibit a substantial amount of marginalia framing the manuscript's central text, the Old English Bede. The peripheral placement of these paratextual elements concerned the top, side and bottom margins; the areas of the manuscript page offering the greatest available space for a medieval scribe to supplement the main text (Genette). The abundance and sheer variety of marginalia in CCCC41 distinguishes it within the wider field of medieval manuscript studies, as Pulsiano remarks that in general, “The margins of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts seem…rather barren fields.” (189). Indeed, within the context of the Anglo-Saxon manuscript tradition, CCCC41 is unique in the level of textual variety exhibited in its margins.

Old English Marginalia

The marginal material of CCCC41 combines a considerable selection of texts from different genres of Old English and Latin literature. Covering an impressive range, the Old English marginal components of CCCC41 feature charms, a medicinal recipe, a wisdom poem, martyrologies and homiletic texts. There are three Old English charms in CCCC41 which consist of: a charm to settle a swarm of bees on page 182, a charm concerned with the theft of cattle on page 206, as well as a medicinal recipe for sore eyes on page 208 and a charm seeking physical and spiritual protection on a journey on pages 350-3. An extract from the opening lines of the Old English wisdom poem, Solomon and Saturn, which recounts the powers of the Pater Noster against the devil, fills the margins of CCCC41 on pages 196-8. A marginal fragment of the Old English Martyrology is preserved on pages 122-132 and consists of brief notices on the Birth of Christ, St Anastasia, St Eugenia, St Stephen, St John the Evangelist, The Holy Innocents and an incomplete account of St Silvester. The six Old English homiletic texts that enjoy a marginal existence in CCCC41 cover an equally wide thematic range that would have been of interest and use for communal worship, and include: the Soul and Body (pp.254-280); an account of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin (pp. 280-287); Judgement Day (pp. 287-295); the Harrowing of Hell for Easter Day (pp. 295-301); a homily describing the various roles attributed to the Archangel St Michael (pp. 402-417) and the Passion of Christ (pp. 484-488).

Latin Marginalia

Similarly, the Latin material of CCCC41 spans several genres of Latin literature, preserving five charms as well as a selection of devotional material comprised of masses, prayers and offices. The Latin charms of CCCC41 perpetuate the same concerns for personal physical and spiritual protection raised by their Old English counterparts and consist of a charm against evil spirits on pages 272, a charm for sore eyes, ears and great sickness on page 326, a charm for safe delivery in childbirth on page 329 as well as two bilingual charms relating to the theft of livestock on pages 206-8. The Latin masses found in the margins throughout CCCC41 share a similarity with mass items from the Leofric Missal, the Missal of Robert Jumièges and the Red Book of Darley (CCCC422), as each item is drawn from the Temporale, Sanctorale and Votive masses from the Roman Sacramentary of the tenth and eleventh centuries (Grant 27-50).

Works Cited

Genette, Gérard. 1997. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Literature, Culture, Theory 20.

Gneuss, Helmut. 2001. Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A List of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies v. 241.

Grant, Raymond J. S. 1979. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41: The Loricas and the Missal. Amsterdam: Rodopi N. V.

---., Raymond J. S., ed. 1982. Three Homilies from Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41: The Assumption, St Michael and the Passion. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press.

Pulsiano, Phillip. 2002. Jaunts, Jottings, and Jetsam in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. Florilegium 19: 189-216.