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Medieval Manuscripts in the d'Alzon Library: 2b. Antiphonary leaf (Franciscan saints)

This guide provides context, texts, and images for the nine medieval manuscript leaves in the archive of the d'Alzon Library. It aims to make the collection more accessible to students, educators, and researchers.

Image (recto)

Image (verso)

Context

Origin: Europe, possibly a Franciscan house, after 1669

Provenance: Purchased in France and donated to the d'Alzon Library by Fr. Donat Lamothe A.A. ca. 2000.

Physical description: 34 x 47 centimeters. Square notation on four-line staff with C clef. Textualis; apparently a modern attempt to emulate the Gothic script in 2a. On the verso side, a lombard with fleuronée similar to 2a; on the recto side, a larger initial with fleuronée to mark the first chant for the feast of St. Peter of Alcántara.

Further information: 2b apparently comes from the same antiphonary as 2a but is written in a different hand. 2b's inclusion of chants for the feast days of Franciscan saints not only suggests Franciscan ownership of the original codex, but also reveals a surprising detail: the inclusion of the feast of St. Peter of Alcántara means that 2b could have been produced no earlier than this saint's canonization in 1669. It is possible that 2b was interpolated into an older manuscript as an "update" to include the early modern saint, as is the case in Budapest, Egyetemi Könyvtár (University Library), lat. 122.

Texts

The fragment contains the following antiphons. O martyr desiderio Francisce quanto and O virum mirabilem in signis are for the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Sanctus Petrus de torrente is for the feast of St. Peter of Alcántara, which is introduced with the rubric "In festo S. Petri de Alcant. ad vesp[eras]" ("On the eve of the feast of St. Peter of Alcántara").