Pembroke College : Codex

Justinian

Pembroke College

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This small fragment preserves part of a copy of the Codex of Justinian, a central text for the study of civil Roman law in medieval Europe. From what little remains here, it may be possible to date the production of the original manuscript to perhaps the later 13th or 14th centuries. The text is written in a gothic bookhand and was laid out in at least two columns, evinced by the gap between two passages of text written in black ink. It was decorated with initials painted in blue, two of which are still visible: a letter I on one side of the fragment and a letter C on the other. The manuscript must have been in use for some time, since the gap between the columns is filled with annotations in a current hand, seemingly of the 15th century </p><p style='text-align: justify;'> Dr James Freeman<br /> Medieval Manuscripts Specialist<br /> Cambridge University Library </p>