Bibliography
Matthew R.
Crawford
Works authored
Crawford, Matthew R., The Eusebian canon tables ordering textual knowledge in late antiquity, Oxford Early Christian Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
abstract:
One of the books most central to late-antique religious life was the four-gospel codex, containing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A common feature in such manuscripts was a marginal cross-referencing system known as the Canon Tables. This reading aid was invented in the early fourth century by Eusebius of Caesarea and represented a milestone achievement both in the history of the book and in the scholarly study of the fourfold gospel. In this work, Matthew R. Crawford provides the first book-length treatment of the origins and use of the Canon Tables apparatus in any language. Part one begins by defining the Canon Tables as a paratextual device that orders the textual content of the fourfold gospel. It then considers the relation of the system to the prior work of Ammonius of Alexandria and the hermeneutical implications of reading a four-gospel codex equipped with the marginal apparatus. Part two transitions to the reception of the paratext in subsequent centuries by highlighting four case studies from different cultural and theological traditions, from Augustine of Hippo, who used the Canon Tables to develop the first ever theory of gospel composition, to a Syriac translator in the fifth century, to later monastic scholars in Ireland between the seventh and ninth centuries. Finally, from the eighth century onwards, Armenian commentators used the artistic adornment of the Canon Tables as a basis for contemplative meditation. These four case studies represent four different modes of using the Canon Tables as a paratext and illustrate the potential inherent in the Eusebian apparatus for engaging with the fourfold gospel in a variety of ways, from the philological to the theological to the visual.
abstract:
One of the books most central to late-antique religious life was the four-gospel codex, containing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A common feature in such manuscripts was a marginal cross-referencing system known as the Canon Tables. This reading aid was invented in the early fourth century by Eusebius of Caesarea and represented a milestone achievement both in the history of the book and in the scholarly study of the fourfold gospel. In this work, Matthew R. Crawford provides the first book-length treatment of the origins and use of the Canon Tables apparatus in any language. Part one begins by defining the Canon Tables as a paratextual device that orders the textual content of the fourfold gospel. It then considers the relation of the system to the prior work of Ammonius of Alexandria and the hermeneutical implications of reading a four-gospel codex equipped with the marginal apparatus. Part two transitions to the reception of the paratext in subsequent centuries by highlighting four case studies from different cultural and theological traditions, from Augustine of Hippo, who used the Canon Tables to develop the first ever theory of gospel composition, to a Syriac translator in the fifth century, to later monastic scholars in Ireland between the seventh and ninth centuries. Finally, from the eighth century onwards, Armenian commentators used the artistic adornment of the Canon Tables as a basis for contemplative meditation. These four case studies represent four different modes of using the Canon Tables as a paratext and illustrate the potential inherent in the Eusebian apparatus for engaging with the fourfold gospel in a variety of ways, from the philological to the theological to the visual.
Works edited
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
New version of an article published in 2017.
Crawford, Matthew R., “Scholarly practices: the Eusebian canon tables in the Hiberno-Latin tradition”, in: Giles E. M. Gasper, Francis Watson, and Matthew R. Crawford (eds), Producing Christian culture: medieval exegesis and its interpretative genres, London: Routledge, 2017. 65–88.
abstract:
In this chapter I take up the reception of the Eusebian canon tables in the Hiberno-Latin exegetical tradition, since the Irish were exceptional in the degree of interest they demonstrated in Eusebius’ system, going well beyond the mere copying of the system in their gospelbooks. Indeed, Bernard Bischoff, in his seminal study inaugurating the study of Hiberno-Latin exegesis, highlighted an interest in the canon tables as a distinctive feature of this Irish tradition, but this observation has not received much elaboration in subsequent scholarship. Here I consider four representative texts which illustrate the way in which early medieval Irish scholars exploited the potential of the canon tables for understanding the gospels: 1) the poem Canon Evangeliorum of Ailerán of Clonard; 2) the Pauca de libris catholicorum scriptorum in euangelia excerpta; 3) the Irish Reference Bible; and 4) the commentaries of Sedulius Scottus. My argument is twofold. First, I suggest that these four texts are similar enough to one another that they form a distinct and identifiable tradition, belonging to the world of Hiberno-Latin biblical exegesis. Second, I argue that these texts demonstrate that their authors thought of the canon tables as more than merely ornamental decoration. Rather, they viewed them as an indispensable reading aid for understanding how the fourfold gospel, despite its diversity, nevertheless witnesses to the one Jesus. In this way, the Hiberno-Latin tradition, long noted for its magnificent artistic embellishment of gospelbooks, also stands out as unique within the broader Christian world for its focus on using Eusebius’ cross-referencing system as a hermeneutical tool for reading the gospels.
abstract:
In this chapter I take up the reception of the Eusebian canon tables in the Hiberno-Latin exegetical tradition, since the Irish were exceptional in the degree of interest they demonstrated in Eusebius’ system, going well beyond the mere copying of the system in their gospelbooks. Indeed, Bernard Bischoff, in his seminal study inaugurating the study of Hiberno-Latin exegesis, highlighted an interest in the canon tables as a distinctive feature of this Irish tradition, but this observation has not received much elaboration in subsequent scholarship. Here I consider four representative texts which illustrate the way in which early medieval Irish scholars exploited the potential of the canon tables for understanding the gospels: 1) the poem Canon Evangeliorum of Ailerán of Clonard; 2) the Pauca de libris catholicorum scriptorum in euangelia excerpta; 3) the Irish Reference Bible; and 4) the commentaries of Sedulius Scottus. My argument is twofold. First, I suggest that these four texts are similar enough to one another that they form a distinct and identifiable tradition, belonging to the world of Hiberno-Latin biblical exegesis. Second, I argue that these texts demonstrate that their authors thought of the canon tables as more than merely ornamental decoration. Rather, they viewed them as an indispensable reading aid for understanding how the fourfold gospel, despite its diversity, nevertheless witnesses to the one Jesus. In this way, the Hiberno-Latin tradition, long noted for its magnificent artistic embellishment of gospelbooks, also stands out as unique within the broader Christian world for its focus on using Eusebius’ cross-referencing system as a hermeneutical tool for reading the gospels.
