{ "viewingDirection": "left-to-right", "metadata": [ { "label": "Origin", "value": "Mid-8th century (after 737). Wearmouth-Jarrow.

Produced after 734 and probably in or 737 or shortly thereafter, perhaps at Wearmouth-Jarrow Abbey.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Origin Place", "value": "Wearmouth-Jarrow." }, { "label": "Provenance", "value": "

The presence of numerous glosses throughout, and some textual additions at the end of the manuscript, all written by continental scribes, indicates that the manuscript was taken abroad at an early stage, and perhaps by the beginning of the 9th century. It has been suggested by Bernhard Bischoff that it may have been at Charlemagne's court, since the hand responsible for the additions at the end is similar to another that worked on manuscripts linked to it around the year 800 (e.g. London, British Library, MS Harley 2788). <\/p>

'S. Juliani' (f. 128v<\/a>): 17th-century ?ownership inscription of the Cathedral of Saint-Julien, Le Mans.<\/p>

Perhaps in the hands of J.B. Hautin, probably to be identified with Jean Baptiste II Hautin, son of the French scholar and numismatist Jean-Baptiste Hautin (approximately b. 1580 d. 1640) (or possibly with his nephew Jean Baptiste III; on the problem of the identification of Hautin see Donald Jackson, 'The Greek manuscripts of John Moore and Etienne Baluze', Codices Manuscripti<\/i>, 56/57 (2006), 29-42, pp. 38-40). The inscriptions on f. i verso<\/a> were identified by Henry Bradshaw as by the hand of J.B. Hautin and the majuscule 'B' in 'Beda' bears a resemblance to that found in inscriptions of his name in other manuscripts owned by John Moore (see below).<\/p>

John Moore (1646-1714), bishop of Ely: no. 994 in the handwritten supplementary list of Moore's manuscripts, now MS Oo.7.50(2), compiled by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735) after the publication of Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ<\/i> (c. 1697).<\/p>" }, { "label": "Extent", "value": "Codex: iii + 128 + i leaves. Leaf height: 285 mm, width: 220 mm." }, { "label": "Funding", "value": "" }, { "label": "Date of Creation", "value": "Mid-8th century (after 737)." }, { "label": "Classmark", "value": "Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.5.16" }, { "label": "Donor(s)", "value": "George I, King of Great Britain, 1660-1727" }, { "label": "Additions", "value": "

Many marginal notes by the text scribe, the most extensive of which are merely short phrases. <\/p>

Numerous interlinear glosses, principally expanding or providing continental equivalents of the Insular abbreviations in the text, added by a continental scribe. <\/p>

'beda de historia anglorum': added to the top margin of f. 2r<\/a> by a 15th-century French hand.<\/p>

Two inscriptions by 17th-century French hands on f. i verso<\/a>: the title of the work and beneath it 'Auctore Beda'. Bradshaw identified these as the hand of J.B. Hautin (see Provenance).<\/p>

'One leaf cancelled, nothing wanting' (f. 58v, right-hand corner, bottom margin) and 'f. 129 gone' (f. 128v, top margin): notes on collation by Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian 1867-1886. <\/p>" }, { "label": "Subject(s)", "value": "Great Britain. History. Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Manuscripts, English (Old)" }, { "label": "Associated Name(s)", "value": "Bradshaw, Henry, 1831-1886; Pink, H. L.; Tanner, Thomas, 1674-1735; Pine, John, 1690-1756" }, { "label": "Format", "value": "Codex" }, { "label": "Data Source(s)", "value": "This catalogue entry draws on the introduction to the facsimile volume of The Moore Bede<\/i> by Peter Hunter Blair (Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1959) and the description of the manuscript by N.R. Ker in Manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon<\/i>, rev. ed. (1990)." }, { "label": "Language(s)", "value": "Latin" }, { "label": "Binding", "value": "

Full brown tanned calfskin over pasteboards, probably 18th-century. Repaired by Stoakley (label adhered to front pastedown<\/a>), and rebacked and repairs to leather covers by W.H. Smith, July 1959 (note by H.L. Pink on front pastedown<\/a>). <\/p>" }, { "label": "Condition", "value": "

The parchment has gelatinised with age in numerous places. Folio 1r<\/a> is faded, stained and abraded, and consequently the text is almost illegible in places. Some leaves have irregular edges, arising from the use of parchment from the edge of the skin (e.g. ff. 3<\/a>, 7<\/a>, 63<\/a>, 73<\/a>, 91<\/a>). The manuscript has been trimmed. However, several leaves are narrower than the rest (e.g. ff. 25<\/a>, 26<\/a>, 44<\/a>, 52<\/a>), with no evidence of loss of marginalia, and frequent examples of scribal contraction on these leaves furthermore indicates that the text was originally copied up to the edge of the leaves. In other places, though, marginal glosses have in part been trimmed (e.g. f. 19v<\/a>). <\/p>

For a detailed account of the manuscript's condition, see P.H. Blair in the Preface to EEMF (1959), pp. 13-15. <\/p>" }, { "label": "Script", "value": "

For a detailed description of the handwriting, spacing, peculiarities, omissions, scribal errors, and punctuation, see P.H. Blair in the Preface to EEMF (1959), pp. 15-23. <\/p><\/div>

Written in Insular minuscule<\/i>, by a single scribe, in scripta continua<\/i> (i.e. no spaces between words), suggesting that it was written at speed. <\/p><\/div>

Rubrics written in uncial<\/i> or Insular majuscule<\/i>.<\/p><\/div>

The excerpts from Isidore and a papal decree (f. 128v<\/a>) written in Caroline minuscule<\/i>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>" }, { "label": "Physical Location", "value": "Cambridge University Library" }, { "label": "Abstract", "value": "

Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum<\/i> is the earliest surviving account of English history. Its central theme is the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity and the establishment of the English Church. It was Bede's last major work; he finished writing it in 731, and died a few years later on 25 May 735.<\/p>

This manuscript is the earliest extant copy of Bede's history, and may well have been copied at his own monastery, at Wearmouth or Jarrow, within a few years of his death, perhaps as early as 737. It is usually called the 'The Moore Bede' because, prior to entering the collections of the University of Cambridge in 1715 as a gift from George I, it had been owned by John Moore, bishop of Ely (1707\u20131714). Moore had acquired it sometime between 1697 and 1702, and before that it had been in France, in the library of the cathedral of St. Julien at Le Mans. The ex libris<\/i> of St. Julien can be seen at the foot of the last complete leaf (f. 128v<\/a>). Other evidence on that same page shows that the manuscript had been in France for a very long time, perhaps even since the reign of Charlemagne (reg. 768\u2013814). The travels of the book, as well as its very early date and proximity to the life of Bede himself, make it one of the most important surviving medieval English manuscripts. <\/p>

The book was written by a single scribe using a form of script known as insular minuscule. This type of script facilitated rapid writing, and it may have been deployed at Wearmouth-Jarrow in order to service demand for copies of Bede's works. It made more economical use of the page than the higher-grade uncial script that was used there for the production of elite, biblical manuscripts, such as the Codex Amiatinus (now Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Amiat. 1<\/a>) or the St. Cuthbert Gospels (now London, British Library, MS Add. 89000). Uncial is used in the Moore Bede occasionally (e.g. f. 24r<\/a>), for the dating clauses of some of the papal letters that Bede had transcribed into his history. This variation in script for the dating clauses reflects the practices of the papal chancery, and it is another indication that Bede had taken great care to copy his papal sources extremely accurately.<\/p>

The scribe of the Moore Bede wrote in long lines and without word breaks, picking out the beginnings of chapters with simple, large initials, that were sometimes decorated with red dots; book and chapter headings are also rubricated, and longer quotations are marked out with horizontal red bars in the margin (e.g. f. 22r-22v<\/a>). There is no other form of decoration in the manuscript, and there are no illustrations. The scribe also made many small spelling mistakes. All of these features, alongside the choice of script, add to the impression of a manuscript that was produced at speed, perhaps in response to demand for the works of the great scholar. This is a high quality manuscript, but not a deluxe copy.<\/p>

The last complete leaf (f. 128<\/a>) is especially important, because it contains several clues to the date of the manuscript and to its subsequent history. The main text finishes near the end of f. 128r<\/a> with the closing rubric to the entire work written in red. After this the same scribe wrote six more lines, describing events that took place in 731, 732, 733, and 734. These are called the 'Moore Annals', and they provide additional information to Bede's text, which had concluded (on f. 127r<\/a>) with news of the death of Archbishop Berctuald of Canterbury in 731 and the consecration of Tawine in his place. These entries add new, tantalizing information for the year 731, saying that 'King Ceolwulf was captured, tonsured, and restored to the throne of Northumbria, and Bishop Acca fled from his see'. Bede had dedicated the Historia ecclesiastica<\/i> to Ceolwulf (see f. 1r<\/a>) and Acca was his most important patron. The events of 731 that are described in the Moore Annals, but which are not mentioned in the Historia ecclesiastica<\/i> proper, must have been a rupture in Bede's world, and may even hint at why he concluded his great work in that year. The last of these extra annals records an eclipse of the moon on the second kalends of February 734 (30 Jan), showing that the manuscript cannot have been written before that date.<\/p>

Turning over the page (f. 128v<\/a>), readers are confronted with an abrupt change: the main text scribe wrote the uppermost 12 lines, using two grades of insular minuscule. But the second part, the lower 18 lines, is in a different script, known as Carolingian (or Caroline) minuscule. Both parts are important. <\/p>

The first scribe copied three texts on this page: Cædmon's Hymn, in the Northumbrian Old English dialect, on lines 1\u20133 (one of the earliest surviving pieces of English verse); an ascription of the Hymn to Cædmon, plus three glosses on line 4; and a Memorandum relating to Northumbrian history. This last item incorporates a Northumbrian kinglist from the accession of Ida in 547 to Ceolwulf (reg. 729\u2013737), who, it says, had reigned for eight years, plus a set of calculations giving the number of years since an event had happened (e.g. 'the monastery at Wearmouth, 63 years ago'). All these calculations work back from a common date, 737. Because both the Hymn and Memorandum were written by the scribe who had also copied the main part of the manuscript, this set of calculations provides the earliest possible date for the copying of the book. Also, since the Memorandum would have made little sense had it been transcribed very much after the common date which it provides, most scholars have concluded, on palaeographic as well as textual grounds, that the scribe of the Moore Bede worked in or not long after 737.<\/p>

The remainder of the leaf reveals what happened next. The texts on the lower part of the page were written by a Carolingian scribe, whose hand, Bernhard Bischoff thought, was very similar to those that had worked on manuscripts linked to Charlemagne's court around the year 800 (e.g. London, British Library, MS Harley 2788). This suggests that the manuscript had left Anglo-Saxon England before the end of the 8th century. The Carolingian scribe copied two texts: an extract from Isidore's Etymologiae<\/i> on consanguinity, and part of the decree of Pope Gregory II from the Roman council of 721, which had also discussed the prohibited degrees of marriage. This continued onto the next page, of which only a stub now survives, and which had been lost before the St Julien ex libris<\/i> was added to the foot of f. 128v<\/a>. These additions concerning acceptable marital relationships were doubtless added to the Moore Bede as commentary on Gregory the Great's contentious discussion of exactly these issues in the Libellus Responsionum<\/i>, which Bede had quoted in full in the Historia ecclesiastica<\/i> (Book I, chapter 27).<\/p>

There are other Carolingian interventions in the book, which show that Frankish readers were using it carefully. In the early pages there are many interlinear glosses made by a Carolingian scribe. These glosses often expand idiosyncratic insular abbreviations, or spell out words made difficult by unfamiliar ligatures. For example, on f. 22r<\/a>, the text scribe had used a hooked 'h', which the Carolingian scribe correctly glossed with the word 'autem'. These interventions show a scribe working through the strange insular script, and making notes to make it easier for others to follow. Twice a Carolingian scribe used a late antique system of shorthand, known as Tironian notes, to make a longer annotation: in the outer margins of f. 17v<\/a> these read 'de consanguinitate' referring (yet again) to the fifth answer of Gregory's Libellus Responsionum<\/i> alongside; and on f. 20v<\/a> they are used to rectify an extensive scribal omission from Gregory's ninth answer.<\/p>

This manuscript left another important footprint in Francia: the vast majority of the continental copies of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica<\/i> can be shown, through collation of textual variants, to have been derived from a handful of early exports. The Moore Bede dominates the 'Continental stemma', and multiple copies were made of it, including the supplementary material on permissible marriage. This suggests that the Moore Bede was kept (initially at least) in a place which had the capacity to make and distribute authoritative copies. Charlemagne's court, or a scriptorium associated with it, would make sense in this context, and a scholar, such as Alcuin of York, might well have been responsible for supplying a book of this type, to be copied and transmitted throughout the churches of Francia.<\/p>

Professor Joanna Story
Professor of Early Medieval History
University of Leicester<\/p>" }, { "label": "Former Owner(s)", "value": "Haultin, Jean-Baptiste, approximately 1580-1640; Moore, John, 1646-1714" }, { "label": "Title", "value": "Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ('The Moore Bede')" }, { "label": "Author(s) of the Record", "value": "Arthur Westwell (2015), revised and updated by James Freeman (2024)" }, { "label": "Material", "value": "Parchment (mixed)

'E.A. Lowe remarks \"apparently the outside of quires shows flesh; within the quire flesh faces hair\"...[but] [t]here are a great many leaves whose opposite sides are so alike that it seems impossible to distinguish hair from flesh by the criteria of colour or texture' (P.H. Blair in Preface to EEMF (1959), p. 11 and n. 3).<\/p>

Comprehensive identification of hair and flesh sides by Jiří Vnouček in February 2026 as part of the Insular Manuscripts Project<\/a> has exposed the reasons for Lowe's uncertainty. Only a minority of quires exhibit a regular disposition, but of differing patterns: either HFHF<\/i> (Quires 1, 5 and 10) or FHFH<\/i> (Quire 8), or (unusually for manuscripts of this period) HFFH<\/i> (Quire 4). In others, the disposition is a mixture of the contrasting arrangements (Quires 3, 12) or a combination of one or other of them with the arrangement of hair and flesh sides facing one another (Quires 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12). A full diagram is available on request. <\/p>" }, { "label": "Collation", "value": "