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Medieval Manuscripts in the d'Alzon Library: 3. Hymns from a breviary (Common of Virgins)

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, ca. 1300 or later

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

Physical description: 495 x 347 mm. A single strophe of the hymn "Jesu corona virginum" is written in square notation on red three-line staff with F clef. Late medieval Gothic textualis (Brown 47). Lombards in alternating red and blue ink. Erasures and corrections throughout. Water damage. A "V" tab (for virginum?) is pasted along the outer edge, an early modern addition.

Further information: This fragment from a breviary contains hymns to be sung on the feasts of virgin martyrs. The versions of the hymns "Jesu corona celsior" and "Jesu corona virginum" correspond to breviary revised under Urban VIII in 1632, which may explain some of the corrections to the text.

Text

The fragment contains Jesu corona virginum, a hymn for the Common of Virgins, in its entirety. Jesu corona virginum is preceded by the hymn Jesu corona celsior (for the Common of Confessors) and followed by Virginis proles (also for the Common of Virgins).