Researcher uncovers the origins of 12th-century document
A 12TH-CENTURY document previously thought to be English has been revealed as the oldest surviving non-biblical manuscript from Scotland following new research.
The document in question is a copy, dating from 113050, of the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, a statesman of the late Roman Empire.
The original text, thought to have been written in 524 AD while Boethius was awaiting execution for a crime he did not commit, was medieval Europe’s bestknown intellectual text, second in influence only to the Bible. It discusses free will, fate and how to cope with adversity and injustice.
Although the 12th-century copy was known and had previously been catalogued, scholars had believed it to be from south of the border, with Durham the most likely place of origin.
But closer inspection by a researcher at the University of Glasgow found that the manuscript’s handwriting and illustrations did not match those of Durham, or other English books, from that period.
The “hugely exciting” find was made in the university’s special collections by Dr Kylie Murray, a British Academy postdoctoral fellow from Balliol College, Oxford, who is at Glasgow on a visiting fellowship.
She argues that the manuscript instead suggests a connection with the Scottish kingdom, with its unique illustrations more closely resembling the Kelso Charter, written at Kelso Abbey in 1159.
The charter, which carries an image of David I and Malcolm IV, was thought to be the earliest non-biblical illustration of human figures from Scotland but the Boethius manuscript can now claim this distinction since it pre-dates the charter by a generation.
Dr Murray said: “Glasgow’s Boethius manuscript allows a fresh understanding of Scotland’s early responses to key intellectual works in the Middle Ages and provides a snapshot of how Scotland’s literary culture as we now know it first began to emerge and develop.
“By showing us how alert and alive Scotland was to literary and intellectual influences from Europe at such an early date, the University of Glasgow’s Boethius manuscript is a hugely exciting find not only for scholars of medieval Scotland, but for anyone interested in understanding the roots of Scotland’s literary and intellectual culture.”
Jeremy Smith, professor of English philology and head of the school of critical studies at Glasgow University, said: “Dr Murray is to be congratulated most warmly on this fantastic discovery, which opens up a whole new chapter in Scottish cultural history.”