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The Athelstan Gospels, or British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius A. ii is a late 9th or early 10th-century Ottonian illuminated Gospel book, which entered England as a gift to King Athelstan, who in turn offered it to Christ Church, Canterbury. It is also referred to as the ''Coronation Gospels'' (as are other manuscripts) on account of an early modern tradition that it had been used as an oath-book at English coronations.〔Backhouse, "The Coronation Gospels", p. 20.〕 The page size is 235 x 180mm. The manuscript "is a concrete example of the type of Continental illuminated manuscript, imported into England in the early tenth century, which was available to the artists who laid the foundations of the Winchester school" of illumination.〔 The manuscript was divided by Sir Robert Cotton when it was in his Cotton Library, who removed Papal bulls and Anglo-Saxon charters from the end of the book. ==Early history== The Gospel book was probably written on the Continent, possibly at Lobbes Abbey (Belgium), in the late 9th or early 10th century.〔Keynes, "King Athelstan's books", p. 147.〕 A few inscriptions entered into the manuscript reveal something of its subsequent history. It was presented by King Athelstan to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury, in the early 10th century, as a lengthy inscription on f. 15v records.〔Keynes, "King Athelstan's books", pp. 147, 149–50.〕 The language and style of the inscription recall some of the king's charters and as in some of these charters, Athelstan is styled "ruler of the English (basyleos'' ) and ruler of the whole of Britain (totius Bryttanie'' )", associating the king with "an imperial past and the glories of the heirs of Rome".〔Karkov, ''Ruler portraits of Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 54–5. (Google books link )〕 Athelstan, in turn, may have received the book from his brother-in-law Otto the Great, who was king of Germany, and Otto's mother, Matilda (d. 968).〔〔 Their names ( and ) are written, probably by an Englishman, on the back of the picture of Saint Matthew (f. 24r), here shown to the right.〔〔Cannon, ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy'', pp. 28–29〕 A third inscription, which occurs now on f. 15r but may originally have come before f. 3r, presents the Latin poem ''Rex pius Æðelstan'' ("Devout King Athelstan"), written by a continental scribe in Caroline minuscule.〔"King Athelstan's books", pp. 150–151.〕 In the middle of the 10th century, the manuscript's portrait of St Matthew served as an exemplar for an Anglo-Saxon artist, who copied it into a manuscript which is classified today as Oxford, St John's College, MS 194.〔 During the 11th and 12th century, blank spaces in the manuscript were used to record a number of texts in Old English and Latin bearing on the properties of Christ Church, Canterbury.〔"King Athelstan's books", p. 151.〕 According to Neil Ker, the documents covered 11 blank leaves which Robert Cotton (d. 1631) removed from the manuscript in order to rebind them in two manuscripts, Cotton MS Claudius A. iii (ff. 2-7, 9) and MS Faustina B. vi (ff. 95, 98-100).〔Berkhofer III, "The Canterbury forgeries revisited", p. 49; "Royal", 103〕 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「Coronation Gospels (British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius A.ii)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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