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The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book produced around the year 700 in a monastery off the coast of Northumberland at Lindisfarne and which is now on display in the British Library in London. The manuscript is one of the finest works in the unique style of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art, combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic elements. The Lindisfarne Gospels are presumed to be the work of a monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and died in 721.〔(Lindisfarne Gospels ) British Library. Retrieved 2008-03-21〕 Current scholarship indicates a date around 715, and it is believed they were produced in honour of St. Cuthbert. However, it is also possible that Eadfrith produced them prior to 698, in order to commemorate the elevation of Cuthbert's relics in that year, which is also thought to have been the occasion for which the St Cuthbert Gospel (also British Library) was produced. The Gospels are richly illustrated in the insular style and were originally encased in a fine leather treasure binding covered with jewels and metals made by Billfrith the Anchorite in the 8th century. During the Viking raids on Lindisfarne this jewelled cover was lost and a replacement was made in 1852.〔(Let Gospels come home ) Sunderland Echo, 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2008-03-21〕 The text is written in insular script, and is the best documented and most complete insular manuscript of the period. In the 10th century an Old English translation of the Gospels was made: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by Aldred, Provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into the English language. The Gospels may have been taken from Durham Cathedral during the Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII and were acquired in the early 17th century by Sir Robert Cotton from Robert Bowyer, Clerk of the Parliaments. Cotton's library came to the British Museum in the 18th century and went to the British Library in London when this was separated from the British Museum.〔(Time line ) British Library. Retrieved 2008-03-21〕 ==Historical context== Lindisfarne, also known as "Holy Island", is located off the coast of Northumberland in northern England (Chilvers 2004). In around 635 AD, the Irish missionary Aidan founded the Lindisfarne monastery on “a small outcrop of land” on Lindisfarne.〔Backhouse 1981, 7.〕 King Oswald of Northumbria sent Aidan from Iona to preach to and baptize the pagan Anglo-Saxons, following the conversion to Christianity of the Northumbrian monarchy in 627. By Aidan’s death in 651, the Christian faith was becoming well-established in the area.〔Backhouse 1981, 8.〕 In the tenth century Aldred, a priest, recorded the creators of the Lindisfarne Gospels. About 250 years after the production of the book Aldred added an Old English translation between the lines of the Latin text, and in his colophon he recorded the names of the four men who helped contribute to the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels.〔 Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne, was credited with writing the manuscript, Ethelwald, Bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders was credited with binding it, Billfrith, an anchorite, was credited with ornamenting the manuscript, and finally Aldred includes himself as the person who glossed it in Anglo-Saxon English.〔Backhouse 1981, 12.〕 Some scholars have argued that Eadfrith and Ethelwald did not produce the manuscript but commissioned someone else to do so.〔Backhouse 1981, 13.〕 However, Janet Backhouse argues for the validity of the statement by pointing out that, "there is no reason to doubt () statement" because he was "recording a well established tradition".〔 Eadfrith and Ethelwald were both bishops at the monastery of Lindisfarne where the manuscript was produced. As Alan Thacker notes, the Lindisfarne Gospels are "undoubtedly the work of a single hand", and Eadfrith remains regarded as "the scribe and painter of the Lindisfarne Gospels".〔Thacker 2004.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lindisfarne Gospels」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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