Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Vereor circulated as part of a ‘package’ of Caesarian texts – omitting the Regula
virginum itself – which provided a guide to the ethos of Caesarian monasticism without
the prescriptions of a rule.
i) Vatican, Bibliotheca Apostolica, ms. Reg. Lat 140
Dating from the beginning of the ninth century, Vatican, Bibl. Apost. ms. Reg.
Lat. 140 is a collection of works originating from the monastery of Fleury in the Loire
region of France. 49 Fleury, founded in about 650, was one of the richest and most well-
known monasteries in France. 50 Its importance stemmed from its claim to possess the
body of Benedict of Nursia from the second half of the seventh century. 51 Its scriptorium
copied large numbers of manuscripts. In the ninth century, abbot Magnulf had to build a
separate reading room next to the church so that the monks could read in comfort, with a
table so that the monks did not need to rest manuscripts on their knees. 52 Abbot Theodulf
(798-818), also bishop of Orléans, promoted the copying of manuscripts in the monastery
schools. 53
At first glance the manuscript appears to be the product of more than one
scriptorium. While folios 3-26 and 75-150 are composed of twenty-eight lines per page,
folios 27-74 have thirty. The Biblioteca Apostolica’s own catalogue states that the first
part (ff. 3-26) was produced in another library, and it is uncertain when this was put
together with the rest of the codex. It suggests, however, that it was written at around the
same time, the beginning of the ninth century, and that the hand may indicate an origin in
or near Tours. 54 However, closer examination of the manuscript shows that the hand and
style of decoration are the same throughout the codex. The nineteen quires all have the
same number of pages and are put together in the same way. In his reconstruction of the
library at Fleury, while noting that the manuscript was composed in ‘several distinct
49
M. Valtaso et al (eds.), Codices Vaticani Latini 16 vols. (Rome, 1902-1985), I, 337.
50
DHGE 1712.
51
On the cult of Benedict at Fleury, see also T. Head, Hagiography and the Cult of Saints: the Diocese of
Orléans, 800-1200 (Cambridge, 1990).
52
DHGE 1744.
53
DHGE 1744.
54
Valtaso, Codices Vaticani, 341.
142