Christian Works : Sol meldunensis

Alexander Neckam (1157–1217), Geoffrey of Monmouth (died 1154/5), Peter of Blois (died 1212), Robert de Beaufeu (died in or before 1219), Reginald of Canterbury (fl. 1100s), Hildebert of Lavardin (died 1133), Serlo of Wilton (died 1181), Alexander Neckam, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Avianus, Alexander Neckam (1157–1217), Geoffrey Brito

Christian Works

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p><i>Sol meldunensis</i> was a gift to the "sun and moon of Malmesbury", Geoffrey, abbot from 1246 to 1260. It is a miscellany of the works of Alexander Neckam (1157–1217) alongside Geoffrey of Monmouth (died 1154/5), Peter of Blois (died 1212), and Robert de Beaufeu (died in or before 1219), with shorter passages from Reginald of Canterbury (fl. 1100s), Hildebert of Lavardin (died 1133), and Serlo of Wilton (died 1181).</p><p>The main part of the volume (ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>3–212</a>) is a florilegium by Geoffrey Brito (fl. 1210s–1240s), a canon at Cirencester Abbey and the nephew of Alexander Neckam. He combines and adapts extracts from Alexander’s works into a continuous theological treatise in two books. The work closes with an aspiration for the two Geoffreys to maintain a correspondence (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(430);return false;'>212v</a>).</p><p>The volume includes several structurally separate but contemporary additions. An inserted leaf of tinted drawings of St Francis (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(13);return false;'>5r</a>) and St Dominic (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(14);return false;'>5v</a>) alongside companion friars is stylistically contemporaneous with the manuscript, placing it among the first examples of these figures in English art. An inserted quire of Geoffrey of Monmouth, <i>Prophetia Merlini</i> (ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(431);return false;'>213–222</a>), is only connected to the preceding text through the prominence of the names Geoffrey and Alexander, but it includes added decoration (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(433);return false;'>214r</a>) by the volume’s original creators. The final part is a anthology including poetry debating the merits of wine and beer, versifications of the fables of Avianus, and other satirical and didactic poems in Latin and Anglo-Norman (ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(451);return false;'>223–237</a>). These additions could be interpreted as an enactment of Geoffrey’s desire to foster a collaboration between Cirencester and Malmesbury.</p><p>Dr Andrew Dunning <br />R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts <br />Bodleian Library, University of Oxford</p></p>