Durham Liber Vitae

Durham Liber Vitae
London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian vii
Type	liber vitae, confraternity book
Date	9th century, with additions being made until c. 1300 and to a lesser extent, also at later dates
Place of origin	Northumbria
Scribe(s)	multiple
Material	parchment
Size	205 x 142 mm
Condition	original binding lost, some damage over time
Script	various
Additions	names of benefactors and visitors

The Durham Liber Vitae is a confraternity book produced in north-eastern England in the Middle Ages. It records the names of visitors to the church of the bishopric of Durham, and its predecessor sees at Lindisfarne and Chester-le-Street. In England it is the oldest book of this type, although it is paralleled by later English confraternity books, most notably the New Minster Liber Vitae.^[1]

Original Anglo-Saxon Liber Vitae

The text was originally of the 9th century, but was continually supplemented thereafter by entries made in the 10th century and later.^[2]

The 9th-century core constitutes folios 15—45, with folio 47.^[3] It is generally believed by scholars that it was produced in the church of Lindisfarne, though Monkwearmouth-Jarrow monasteries have also been suggested.^[4] This had been composed c. 840. It has been damaged over time, and the original binding is now lost.^[5] It consisted of parchment sheets on which were written lists of names, followed by blank sections for future additions.^[6]

The book was at Durham by the later 11th century, as indicated by the list of Durham monks on folio 45 from the episcopate of Ranulf Flambard.^[4] Later additions to the early core were made to folios 24r, 36r, 44v and 45r.^[7]

High and Later Middle Ages

It was reorganised in the third quarter of the 12th century, and it is likely that many of the names originally there did not survive.^[6] The form it attained at that point appears to be the one it kept until the 15th century, although it was continually updated with new entries.^[6] After 1300 very few names were added to the original core.^[8]

The Liber Vitae is currently in the British Library, where it is classified as BL, MS Cotton Domitian vii. The manuscript itself is 205 x 142 mm.^[9]

Notes

1. ^ Keynes, "The Liber Vitae of the New Minster Winchester"
2. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, pp. 6—7.
3. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 7.
4. ^ ^{a b} Briggs, "Original Core", p. 64; Gerchow, "Origins", p. 47.
5. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 11.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 18.
7. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 24.
8. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 26.
9. ^ Rollason & Rollason (eds.), The Durham Liber Vitae, p. 6.

References

• Briggs, Elizabeth (2004), "The Original Core of the Durham Liber Vitae", in Rollason, David, The Durham Liber Vitae and Its Context, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, pp. 63–86, ISBN 1843830604 
• Gerchow, Jan (2004), "The Origins of the Durham Liber Vitae", in Rollason, David, The Durham Liber Vitae and Its Context, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, pp. 45–62, ISBN 1843830604 
• Keynes, Simon (2004), "The Liber Vitae of the New Minster Winchester", in Rollason, David, The Durham Liber Vitae and Its Context, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, pp. 149–64, ISBN 1843830604 
• Rollason, David; Rollason, Lynda, eds. (2007), Durham Liber vitae : London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian A.VII : edition and digital facsimile with introduction, codicological, prosopographical and linguistic commentary, and indexes including the Biographical Register of Durham Cathedral Priory (1083–1539) by A. J. Piper, 3 vols, I, London: British Library, ISBN 0712349952 
• Stevenson, Joseph, ed. (1841), Liber Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis: Nec Non Obituaria Duo Ejusdem Ecclesiae, J. B. Nichols and son, http://www.archive.org/details/libervitaeeccles00durhrich . Also available from Google Books.

Further reading

• Barker, E. E. (1977), "Two Lost Documents of King Athelstan", Anglo-Saxon England 6: 137–43. 
• Thompson, A. Hamilton, ed. (1923), Liber Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis. A Collotype facsimile of the original Manuscript, with introductory essays and notes, vol. I, Surtees Society 136 . Facsimile edition, now superseded by the digital facsimile edition prepared by David and Lynda Rollason.

External links

• The Durham Liber Vitae project