MS 52: Missal (Use of Tournai), 1500-1520
Contents
The manuscript is a Flemish Missal from the 16th century, made between 1500 and 1520 for the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Lille. A missal is a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year. This specific manuscript is a variant of Tournai Use.
The Kalendar starts on f.1r.
The Benedictio Salis, etc. starts on f.7r.
The Proprium de Tempore starts on f.9r. It is foliated i-xcii. The Proprium de Tempore comprises the prayers etc. appointed for the days of the year having special Masses or Offices.
The Ordinarium Misse starts on f.101r. The Ordinary of the mass employs texts that remain the same for every mass.
The Canon Misse starts on f.105r. The Canon of the Mass is the name given to the part of the Mass of the Roman Rite that begins after the Sanctus with the words Te igitur.
The Commune Sanctorum starts on f.111r. The Common of Saints is a part of the Christian liturgy that consists of texts common to an entire category of saints, such as apostles or martyrs.
The Proprium Sanctorum starts on f.127r. This section is devoted to the Offices of the Saints.
The In dedicatione Ecclesie starts on f.174r.
The Missae Votive starts on f.175r. In this section, the Missa pro benefactoribus and Dies Irae have been added by another hand.
From the Commune Sanctorum to the end is foliated by the original hand in red, i-lxxii.
It is an exceedingly well-written manuscript of a late type.
The ornamentation consists of blue and red initials, one illuminated initial at the Canon (f.105r) and one full-page miniature with border before the Canon (f.104v), all of which are characteristically Flemish.
The subject of the miniature is the Crucifixion, with Saint John, the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, the centurion, and soldiers; a landscape background. Around the miniature is a border of single flowers, viola, vetch, wild strawberry, butterflies, bees, etc., on a dull gold ground. There is a square medallion in the centre of the lower margin with a quatrefoil design. A similar border surrounds the next page, the first page of the Canon.
Dates
- Creation: 1500-1520
Language of Materials
Latin
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to all. The manuscripts can be consulted in the Centre for Research Collections, Edinburgh University Main Library.
Extent
1 bound MS volume
Custodial History
We are indebted to the Reverend E. S. Dewick for some notes on the provenance of this Missal. He regards it as a variant of Tournai Use, written for the Church of Saint Peter at Lille.
Comparison with the Tournai Missal of 1540 (Missale ad usum insignis ecclesie Tornacensis ... Antuerpiae apud Michaelem Hillenium, 1540, British Library 3395.dd.13) yields the following results: the Temporale is practically the same in both, but there are considerable variations in the Kalendar, and correspondingly in the Sanctorale.
The Kalendar contains Saint Eubertus and his Octave (1 and 8 February), which do not occur at Tournai; Saint Eleutherius is celebrated only once (18 February) instead of three times; Saint Piatus and his Octave are in a higher grade at Tournai, and the dedication days differ (in this manuscript 2 August, at Tournai 9 May).
The presence of Saint Eubertus in the Kalendar and Sanctorale points, Mr. Dewick thinks, to the Church of Saint Peter at Lille, where his body was enshrined; and the unusual feast, Oblatio Sancte Cruris Dup. (16 July), may possibly be the commemoration of a gift to the church of a reliquary with a fragment of the 'True Cross.'
Previous reference
D. b. III. II.
Physical Facet
Material: Vellum
Binding: Modern bronze-green morocco, old metal clasp.
Collation: a8-c3, d7, e8-h8, i7, k8-m8, n6, o10, p8-y8=182.
Dimensions
20.32 cm x 13.97 cm
General
Secundo folio: text tui nominis
Foliation and number of lines to a page: ff. 182, double columns, 31 lines to a page (in the Canon, 22 lines to a page).
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk