University of Edinburgh Archive and Manuscript Collections

Contents This part of the manuscript contains the book Meditationes by Anselm of Canterbury (1033/34-1109). Anslem was a very influential and prolific writer of philosophical and theological treatises and dialogues. He was a monk, abbot, held the position of Archbishop of Canterbury, and is considered a Saint and a Doctor of the Church. The text is known in English as Book of Meditations and Prayers, and it treats core topics of the...

Contents This part of the manuscript contains the first eight chapters of the first book of Meditationes, an anonymous treatise popular in the late Middle Ages that reflects upon many important topics of the Catholic dogma. It was wrongly attributed to Augustine of Hippo.The text starts on f. 1r with the following words: Domine deus meus da cordi meo te desiderare. And ends on f. 13v with the following words: ...

Contents MS 148 is a copy of a reforming text by Pope Benedict XII, known as 'Constituta totius Ordinis canonicorum regularium Ordinis S. Augustini'. Benedict XII became pope in 1334, and occupied the role until his death in 1342. Pope during the'Avignon papacy' period, Benedict was the third pope to rule from Avignon (in France), rather than Rome. Pope Benedict was a former Cistercian abbot, and was known for his religious strictness and austerity. When he became pope, he turned his attention to...

Contents This section of the manuscript contains the Rudimenta Doctrine, a treatise about Church doctrine by Gilbert of Tournai, who was a Franciscan monk writing in the 13th century. This version is from the 14th or 15th century and was probably produced in Erfurt, Germany. A note at the end of this treatise, written not long after the book itself, refers to a more complete copy and other works by Gilbert of Tournai, which are in the library of the Majus Collegium...