Texts
De concordia mensium atque elementorum (Byrhtferth's diagram)
Incoming data
Elaborate diagram of the ‘harmony of the months and elements’, which once occupied a single page in a largely computistical manuscript compiled by Byrhtferth of Ramsey (c. 970–c. 1020). The original of this compilation is lost, but two independent ‘copies’ made in the early 12th century remain. The diagram aligns different aspects of time (solstice, equinox, months, seasons, ages of man), the zodiac and the four elements, and in this way, introduces a number of key concepts relevant to computus. In the Oxford manuscript, the diagram comes right at the end of a section (ff. 3r-7v) which contains a miscellaneous variety of short texts and visual designs related to computus, and directly precedes another section (ff. 8r-15v) containing tables and texts on computus.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
London, British Library, MS Harley 3667
Provenance: Peterborough. The manuscript belongs with a part of London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius C i.
f. 8r
Text
Oxford, St John's College, MS 17
Provenance: Thorney/Ramsey. Here attributed to Byrhtferth.
f. 7v
Sources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] Baker, Peter S., and Michael Lapidge, Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion, Early English Text Society, 15, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
374 (Appendix A)
The calendar and the cloister: Oxford, St John's College MS 17, Online: McGill University Library, Digital Collections Program, 2007–present. URL: <http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/ms-17/>.
abstract:
The calendar and the cloister is a scholarly resource devoted to a single medieval manuscript: Oxford, St John's College 17. This splendid volume was created in the first decade of the 12th century at Thorney Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Cambridgeshire. Its importance for the cultural and intellectual history of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman England has been recognized since the 16th century by historians, philologists, and scholars working in the fields of medieval science, monastic culture, and the history of the book.
Secondary sources (select)
Baker, Peter S., “More diagrams by Byrhtferth of Ramsey”, in: Katherine OʼBrien OʼKeeffe, and Andy Orchard (eds), Latin learning and English lore: studies in Anglo-Saxon literature for Michael Lapidge, 2 vols, vol. 2, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. 53–73.
External links
Deborah Hayden - ‘Byrhtferth’s Ogam Signature’ and Oxford, St John’s College MS 17. Blog post by Deborah Hayden for the project OG(H)AM: Harnessing digital technologies to transform understanding of ogham writing, from the 4th century to the 21st.
