Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines a previously neglected fragment of an early medieval commentary on Matthew’s Gospel, the bifolium Hereford Cathedral Library, P. II. 10. I argue on palaeographical grounds that this fragment was produced in Bede’s monastery of Wearmouth‐Jarrow in the first decades of the eighth century, at roughly the same time as the production of the Codex Amiatinus. This leads into a study of the text itself, which is in fact a compilation of two quite different texts. Its second part is mostly based on a known early medieval commentary, one of the supposedly ‘Hiberno‐Latin’ texts identified by Bernard Bischoff in the 1950s. Its first part, however, is unique to this fragment, has few clear analogues, and has never previously been studied. I consider the implications of this fragment – both as a codicological artefact and as a piece of biblical exegesis – for our understanding of Bede’s monastery at a crucial early point in its history. The article’s appendix includes an edited text and translation of the fragment.
Source: Early Medieval Europe
DOI: 10.1111/emed.12762
Author: Samuel Cardwell
Institution: University of Nottingham
Language: English
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
Funder: British Academy
Award: G3871523233
OpenAlex ID: W4409623201