Chad died on March 2 in the year 672, 1352 years ago. Pilgrimage started.
Abstract. St Chad’s Gospels were written around 720-40 and are unique, being the oldest book in the UK still in use. Written by at least four scribes and following St Jerome’s bible, they contain the earliest written Welsh. Inscribed on two pages is a list of names including three that are female’s names. Eight pages have artwork done with pastel pigments and two pages are very similar to two pages in the Lindisfarne Gospels. Every page has a gradual diminishing of height of lettering along each line. They could be the second oldest Gospels written in England.
St Chad’s Gospels,[1] also called Lichfield Gospels, St Teilo Gospels or Llandeilo Gospels,[2] (MS Lichfield 001) was listed in the cathedral Sacrist’s Roll of 1345/6.[3] It listed two most ancient books of Chad and some have thought this meant the Gospels was in two volumes, but it is more likely a second book now missing, was perhaps a Psalter. A list of the cathedral’s jewels drawn up in 1433 included a silver-gilt book cover for the gospels and epistles which depicted St Chad.[4] This suggested one book in a special cover.
St Chad’s
Gospels. It was cut into single leaves and pages and trimmed during the
rebinding of 1707. It is now 308 mm x 235 mm having lost a few centimetres. Present
binding was by Roger Powell, 1961, in modern oak boards with white pigskin and
oak case.
Its significance.
It is the oldest book still being used in the UK; new Bishops of
Lichfield swear on the book their oaths of allegiance to the Crown and to give
obedience and fidelity. The Gospels bring together artwork which is
Celtic, Mercian and Pictish. Most likely it was made in Mercia, but does have
some correspondence with artwork of Northumbria (Hiberno-Saxon)[5]
and possibly East Anglia.[6] The
lettering on the first page of Mark is considered by some to be reminiscent of
runes.[7] Its
primary role must have been to impress pilgrims seeing it on the altar of the
first cathedral of St Peter. With its intricate artwork it was an ‘illuminated
gospel’ and the illumination was there to shine on all people.[8]
Date
Its date of writing is uncertain and could have been on the altar anytime between the years 700 and 780,[9] but a date of 720–740 is both convenient and widely used.[10] Endres favoured around 730.9 If early, it could have been supervised by Bishop Headda and if late by any of five following bishops. Its correspondences with the Lindisfarne Gospels, such as its possible commission for the shrine of St Chad like the Lindisfarne and Cuthbert,[11] suggest an early time. The conventional dating for the commissioning of the Lindisfarne Gospels is c. 700, though it is not agreed by everyone. A date of 100 years after Chad’s death, 772, has also been suggested,[12] which would place it into King Offa’s reign, but this is highly speculative. Early conjectures had the Gospels written in the early part of the 7th century.[13]
Features
The book has 236 pages, 118
leaves, of calf vellum containing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and the
beginning of Luke up to chapter 3, v9. Eight pages have artwork, four being
framed pages. 224 pages have plain text with each page having 20 lines of mixed
uncial lettering. The rest of Luke, the whole Gospel of John, its wooden cover
and the jewels that undoubtedly would be fixed to the cover have been lost. The
suspicion is they were removed sometime in the troubles when the Vikings
arrived in Lichfield early in the year 875. The separation at Luke and loss of
a section suggests the book was at some time in uncaring hands.
There is a
relative absence of holes in the vellum from parasites that infect cows. One
explanation is the herd was raised in an area free of cattle pests and suggests
an isolated area such as Lichfield. Each double page is the skin of one cow so
the Gospels have been calculated to be made from the skins of at least 50-60
calves.[14] The
original book would have possibly needed over 100 skins. Many skins would have
been rejected because of parasitic holes so the slaughter of more calves was
even higher. The type of cow for the vellum is unknown, but would have been
very different from modern breeds and closer to the ancestral cow. It must have
required an extensive farm with many oblates working it and having to be
careful with the wild or semi-wild, undomesticated cows. Skin thickness ranges
from 0.005 to 0.034 inch and its colour from pale brown to cream.
The Celtic Insular script has the
diminuendo feature of each line tapering down in height from left to
right until a normal height was reached. It integrated the large initial letter
into the rest of the sentence by gradually reducing the height. The reduction
in height sometimes extends the length of the line and sometimes stops part way
along the line. There are 20 lines to each page and lines are pricked out with
holes at each side margin. The vellum would have been scored between the
pinpricks to guide the writer in reducing the height of letters. Also red dots
were used to decorate capital letters that were added later. Why write with
diminuendo; was it to show dedication and vocation to God? Did it help to shape
the text and thus make it easier to read? It is a distinctive Insular innovation
began in the Cathach manuscript (6th-century) and used in the Book of Durrow
(7th-century), which later influenced Continental illumination style. So was it
simply calligraphy for no other reason than visual interest.
Sections showing diminuendo and red dots.
The gospel
was mostly a copy of a 4th century bible by St Jerome (Vulgate),[16]
but over 1,200 small changes have been identified.[17] Where
there are word changes it appears to be in passages that would have been
repeatedly recited and thus remembered incorrectly. Clearly, the scribes had
their own ideas on how to present the gospels. The gospels nearest in text are
the Hereford Gospels and they too could have been written at Lichfield.
There are eight pages of artwork which
are positioned at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the Gospels.
The Lindisfarne Gospels artwork shows around 90 different hues made by mixing
around 40 infusions from lichens, plants and minerals. The Gospel’s artwork is
much less colourful, mainly yellow, pink and pale blue and very pastel in tone.
Remarkably, the paint was made by layering the pigment on the vellum, not on a
side palette. The Gospels is the oldest surviving Insular manuscript to extensively
use layered pigments.[18] Even
the pH of the pigment is thought to have been changed to obtain the right tint.
This makes the Gospels unique. The pigments are common to those found on the
Lichfield Angel stonework. No gold or silver used in the illumination has been
found, but it is possible flakes of these metals have since fallen off the
vellum. Recent spectroscopy has revealed
the following list of pigments: Red (red lead), Orange (Red lead plus an
unidentified pigment), Yellow (orpiment or yellow arsenic sulphide), Green
(vergaut a mixture of arsenic trisulphide and indigo), Blue (indigo from Dyer’s
woad a brassica/mustard plant), Purple (probably orcein from a lichen with
alkali needed to turn the red dye bluish), Brown (gallo-tannic acid) and Black
(gallo-tannic acid). There appears to be a different blue pigment on the
Chi-Rho page and might indicate this image was drawn elsewhere, such as
Lindisfarne.
Ink was soot in a colloidal
suspension, possibly dispersed in a medium such as fish oil or egg white. Soot
could have been obtained from an oil-lamp. Consequently, colours have faded,
but the elemental black carbon text has not.
Production would have required
men and women working in one or several buildings dedicated to producing
vellum, ink, feather pens, cover-boards and metal embellishments and
fastenings. Lichfield is a likely site, but alternative locations have been
suggested. All of the pigments could have been sourced locally.
Resemblances with the carpet
page, three incipit pages and the Chi-rho page with the equivalent in the
Lindisfarne Gospels let Brown[19]
to believe the artist, perhaps called a limner,[20] must
have studied the Lindisfarne book at first hand. This supports the notion of
continuous communication occurring between the monastic centres and Lichfield
being a daughter church of Northumbria.
The Gospels have odd features.
There is angular lettering on the incipit pages reminiscent of runic letters
and if significant, indicates against any origin in Wales where ogham writing
predominated. The feet of Luke are strikingly similar in position and shape to
those of the archangel Gabriel on the Lichfield Angel stone. Hidden in the image
of Mark is a stylus, its reason for being there is uncertain. Above Luke is his
symbol of a calf and the animal has a circle with a spot above the hind leg. Its
significance can only be conjectured. The middle of the Chi-rho has a white
bird in contrast to all the others in pastel colour. All the symbols for the
four evangelists are winged, even the lion for Mark. Presumably, this shows a
connection between the words of the evangelists and with heaven.
End of Chi-rho showing head of serpents or snakes
Crane with three legs.
Removal
The gospels were thought to have been taken from Lichfield
sometime around the arrival of the Vikings in 875.[21]
By the 9th century, the book was in Carmarthenshire, mid-South Wales and this
was a far western part of Mercia having been secured between c. 850 and
the battle of Conwy in 881. Assuming the book was written at Lichfield,[22]
it does make sense to take it to one of the early churches set up by St Teilo
for safekeeping. The churches were in the middle of South Wales, in a remote
part of Mercia, away from the coast and therefore farthest from the raiding
Vikings. When the Gospels returned to Lichfield, the name of Wynsige was added
to the first page (+ Wynsige presul). This is thought to be bishop Wynsige
(Winsey or Winsius), 963–975.[23] A
Saxon became bishop of Teilo c. 930 and at some time the group of
churches came under the authority of Canterbury and this might have been a spur
to return the book.
Marginalia
Overtime, the Gospels has gained eight items of marginalia,
as people have wanted to add something personal to the holy book. On page 4
there is a note “Godwine son of Earwig had at Lichfield cleared himself of a
charge of unlawful marriage” and this charge was made by Leofgar who became
bishop c. 1020.
The Gospels were being used as an
‘oath book’ when the earliest written Old Welsh (Brythonic) appeared in two
places at the end of St Matthews Gospel.[24]
End of St
Matthews Gospel showing marginalia. Above the text is the Surexit inscription
and below is a list of names.
It concerns a land transaction needing to be kept and was
written after the Gospel words, “And
remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”. In the margin is an
entry in Old Welsh,[25] known
as the Surexit memorandum, describing a land dispute between Tutfwlch and Elgu,
the son of Gelli, thought to be dated 830–50.[26]
It was settled when a horse, three cows and three newly calved cows were given
to reach a settlement so that there was no hatred between them from the ruling
till the Day of Judgement.[27]
Another entry explains how Gelli,
son of Arihtuid, bought the book from Cingal (Guchal) for the price of his best
horse[28]
and gave the book, for the good of his soul, to be placed on the altar of St
Teilo, now the church of Llandeilo Fawr. This could have been an act of
atonement since Gelli had done a shady land deal. If this confession is
believed, and there is some doubt, the book’s ownership changed before it was
returned to a church; probably a family church. Gelli may have been trying to
make reparation before his death.
On the page with St Luke is a
list of places within 15 miles of Llandeilo, including a farm thought to be in
Ammanford, which has led to some thinking this was originally a Welsh Gospel. Another
at the bottom of Luke’s page concerned the freedom, or manumission, granted to Bleiddudd ap Sulien and his progeny forever
from slavery; thought to be the earliest British reference for a liberation from
serfdom.[29]
There is a distinct possibility
these marginalia were copied from earlier oaths and have little to do with the
gospel’s time at Llandeilo.
Sometime
early in the Civil War the Gospels were removed for a second time. It is
thought Canon William Higgins removed the book from the cathedral to some
unknown hiding place.[30] A letter from
Higgins dated around 1657 to William Dugdale stated he had St Chad’s own book. Around
thirty years later Francis, Duchess of Somerset, was asked to return books to
the cathedral. They arrived in a box with a letter to say she gave back this
gem (presumed to be the Gospels)[31] compared
with which gold is uncommon. How the St Chad’s Gospels passed from
Precentor Higgins, Archdeacon of Derby, (1631‑76) to the library of the Duke of
Somerset, and later the Duchess’s, is unclear and it is far more likely the
Gospels came straight from Higgins safekeeping.
Speculation
King Æthelheard
gained the West Saxon throne c. 726 which included territory in Kent. King
Æthelbald of Mercia, 716-57,
seems to have had authority over Æthelheard.
Did he cause Gospel’s scribes to move from Canterbury to Lichfield?
[1]
The word is Saxon for God-spell
meaning good news.
[2]
Written on the first page is Textus
euangelii sanctii Cedde, probably its 13th century name. To the
cathedral it is known as St Chad’s Gospels.
[3]
J. C. Cox and W. H. S. J. Hope, ‘Sacrist's Roll of Lichfield Cathedral A.D.
1345’, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (1882), 4, 107–138. The Rolls
listed ‘two most ancient books which are called the books of Blessed Chad.’
[4]
D. Lepine, ‘Glorius Confessor: The cult of St Chad at Lichfield Cathedral
during the Middle Ages’. SAHS transactions, (2021), 41. Lepine references, Swanson,
‘Extracts from Lichfield Chapter Act Book’, 140; Wharton, Anglia Sacra, I, 455.
[5]
There are twenty-eight gospel manuscripts written in Irish script, and a
further ten manuscripts which are related to this tradition, but written
outside of Ireland of which the St Chad’s Gospels is one.
[6]
S. M. Kuhn, 'Some Early Mercian Manuscripts', Review of English Studies 8
(1957), 355-74, placed five manuscripts in or near Lichfield during the 8th and
9th century. M. P. Brown identified 10 manuscripts belonging to a Mercian
school. See M. P. Brown ‘Mercian
Manuscripts: the implications of the Staffordshire Hoard, other recent
discoveries, and the ‘new materiality’, Inaugural Lecture to the Chair of
Medieval Manuscript Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, in
E. Kwakkel, ed., Writing in Context: Insular Manuscript Culture,500-1200 (Leiden:
2013), 23-66.
[7]
H. E. Savage, The St Chad’s Gospels. Unpub. article in the Cathedral
library, 1931, 15.
[8]
Illumination is also used to describe reflective gold and silver decoration,
but this has not been found.
[9]
Early 9th century has been suggested.
[10]
The earliest known is the Book of Durrow c680, but could be later, and the Lindisfarne
Gospel from Northumbria was completed around 721. Michelle Brown has offered a
date of 740–750. Hereford Gospels were c. 780 and the Book of Kells 800.
eHive (website for global treasures) favours c. 720.
[11]
The Chi-rho page has similarities to
the same page in the Lindisfarne Gospel.
[12]
P. James, ‘The Lichfield Gospels: the question of provenance’, Paregon (1996),
13, 2, 51–61.
[13]
See note 5. Savage (1931), 17. Savage mentioned the idea Bishop Diuma brought
the manuscript from Lindisfarne in the mid-7th century, but said this was pure
conjecture.
[14]
Ibid, 54. See also, https://llandeilofawr.org.uk/gosp.htm
[15]
B. Endres, ‘The St Chad Gospels: Ligatures and the division of hands’. Manuscripta
(2015), 59, 2, 159–186. See also, https://lichfield.ou.edu/cc-download
[16]
Michelle Brown believed a variety of texts were used, un like the Lindisfarne
Gospels.
[17]
Some writers have claimed up to 20% of the text has been altered. See L.
Hopkin-James, The Celtic Gospels: their story and their text. (Oxford:
1934).
[18]
“The only other surviving Insular gospel book that extensively layers pigments
is the later Book of Kells, and as with other Insular techniques, the Book of
Kells’ artists take this practice to lavish extremes, layering up to four
pigments. Layering pigments has significance because it adds texture, depth,
and an added element of perspective and play of light to an illuminated
manuscript, one that 2D images do not capture well.” Taken from, W. Endres,
‘More than Meets the Eye: Going 3D with an Early Medieval Manuscript. Proceedings
of the Digital Humanities Congress 2012, ed. C. Mills, M.Pidd and E. Ward.
Studies in the Digital Humanities. Sheffield: HRI Online Publications, 2014.
[19]
M. P. Brown, ‘The Lichfield/Llandeilo Gospels reinterpreted’. In R. Kennedy and
S. Meecham-Jones (eds) Authority and Subjugation in writing of Medieval
Wales. (New York: 2008), 57–70.
[20]
The word artist does not appear until after the medieval period. In the
medieval period manuscript artists were called limners, derived from
Latin lumen, meaning bringer of light. It is unknown if this applies to
the 8th-century, but the painter would see him/herself as devoted to
illuminating the Gospels.
[21]
The internecine skirmishes across the Wales-England border cannot be ruled out,
but are less likely.
[22]
See note 7, P. James (1996) concluded the type of vellum, pigmentation and
style of text showed the most likely place of origin was Lichfield. S. Zaluckyj.
Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of central England, (Logaston: 2001)
wrote its name is misleading as the
book was not written at Lichfield, nor does it have any direct link with St
Chad. The problem with the notion the Gospels was written in Wales is the many
resemblances to the Lindisfarne Gospels can be traced through Chad and early
bishops of Mercia, whereas there was no link between Wales and Lindisfarne.
Michelle Brown has noted early Welsh manuscripts show a style derived from late
Roman Britain and this is absent in the Gospels.
[23]
There is another reference to Bishop Leofric, 1020–6. Wynsige could have signed
his name when the Gospels returned or when he was made bishop.
[24]
The earliest Old Welsh is believed to be two short inscriptions for two women
on the Cadfan Stone at St Cadfan’s church, Tywyn, Gwynedd. Thought to be 8th
century. See I. William, The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry. (Cardiff:
1972), pp. 25-40.
[25]
Old Welsh is the period from the mid-eighth century down to the middle of the
twelfth century. The memorandum written in the Gospel margin is the earliest
known Welsh writing; with Latin used for the legal wording. See, The St. Chad Gospel Marginalia
(maryjones.us) Also, https://exploringcelticciv.web.unc.edu/prsp-record/text-surexit-memorandum/
[26]
D. Jenkins and M. E. Owen, ‘The Welsh marginalia in the Lichfield Gospels. Part
1. Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 5. (1983), 37–65.
[27]
Tudfwlch son of Llywyd and son-in-law of
Tudri arose to claim the land of Telych, which was in the hand
of Elgu son of Gelli and the tribe of Idwared. They disputed
long about it; in the end they judged Tudri's son-in-law by
law. The goodmen said to each other 'Let us make peace'. Elgu gave
afterwards a horse, three cows, three cows newly calved, in
order that there might not be hatred between them from the ruling afterwards
till the Day of Judgement. Tudfwlch and his kin will not want it for ever and ever.
[28]
The price of the book seems moderate and might indicate it had been stolen.
[29] The Royal Æthelstan Gospels is associated with King Æthelstan, 924‑39, has an inscription on f.15v in which ‘King Æthelstan freed Eadhelm straight away, as soon as he became king’. This is the earliest known manumission of a slave in an English document.
[30]
H. Clayton, Loyal and Ancient City. The Civil War in Lichfield. (Lichfield:
self-published 1987), 69, ‘Precentor William Higgins saved the Lichfield
Gospels’. Also note 52 p241, ‘Prebendary William Higgins hid the Gospels of St
Chad’, in N. Ellis and I. Atherton, ‘Griffith Higg’s account of the siege of
and iconoclasm at Lichfield Cathedral in 1643. Midland History, 32:2,
233–245. Also W. Beresford, Diocesan Histories. Lichfield. (London:
1883), 147. From N. J. Tringham, ‘Two seventeenth-century surveys of Lichfield
Cathedral Close,’ South Staffs. Archaeological and Historical Society Trans.
1983‑4. (1984), 25, 44 note 24, William
Higgins, the precentor, was among those taken prisoner at the battle of
Edgehill (1642) and was imprisoned at Coventry for three months. He was again
taken prisoner in 1646 when the Close surrendered to the Parliamentary forces;
at first he was allowed to support himself by teaching, but that was forbidden
in 1655 and he is stated to have been reduced to penury. Together with the chapter
clerk (see 38), Higgins rescued some of the cathedral MSS. in 1646, including
the St. Chad gospels. He was one of the first canons to return to residence in
1660. (VCH Staffs, iii. 174n, 175; The Life, Diary and Correspondence of Sir
William Dugdale, Knight, ed. W. Hamper (1827), 320).
[31] The story is repeated on the cathedral website, but there is no evidence.
Addendum
There are 9 books and manuscripts with similar features to St Chad’s Gospels which have been listed as belonging to a ‘Mercian School’. Features include, codicology, or makeup, of a book, its script and textual apparatus, its palaeography, and its decoration.1 The list includes:
Barberini Gospels (Vatican, Bibl. Apost., Barb. lat.
570)
B.L., Harl. MS 7653
B.L., Royal MS 2.A.xx
B.L., Harl. MS 2965
Salisbury Cathedral Lib., MS 117 (etc.)
B.L., Cotton MS Vespasian B.vi (ff. 104-9)
Bodleian Lib., Hatton 93
Book of Cerne (Camb. Univ. Lib., MS Ll.1.10)
St Petersburg Gospels (St Petersburg, State Lib., Cod.
F.v.1.8)
The location of Chad’s grave and shrine, the Lichfield Angel stonework, Offa’s placement for his archbishopric and diverse manuscript linkages indicates Lichfield has to be considered a centre for Insular Art.2 The next supposition is did it have its own scriptorium, stone carving and metal workshops? Perhaps, the best evidence for this is the Book of Cerne which is now thought to be a product of Lichfield. It was written in a dialect thought to be Mercian and has an acrostic poem, f. 21r, written in Latin with each line written in different alternating inks of red, purple, blue, and orange that names Bishop Ædeluald of Lichfield, now written Æthelwold. This book, early 9th-century, has artwork showing winged figures and the wings are very similar to those of the Archangel Gabriel on the Lichfield Angel stonework. Decoration in the Staffordshire Hoard has similarities with decoration in St Chad’s Gospels and the hoard was most likely to have been archived in Lichfield.3
1. M.
P. Brown, ‘Mercian Manuscripts: the implications of the Staffordshire Hoard,
other recent discoveries, and the ‘new materiality’, Inaugural Lecture to
the Chair of Medieval Manuscript Studies, School of Advanced Study, University
of London, 22 June 2010, in E. Kwakkel, ed., Writing in Context: Insular
Manuscript Culture,500-1200 (Leiden: 2013), 23-66.
2. M.
P. Brown, ‘The Lichfield Angel and the Manuscript Context: Lichfield as a
Centre of Insular Art’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association,
(2007),160:1, 8-19.
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