Oxford Bodleian Library Jesus College MS. 20

From The Seven Sages of Rome

Manuscript Identification
Reference Number Welsh1
Location Oxford, Bodleian Library
Siglum/Shelfmark Jesus College MS. 20
Page/Folio range
Textual Content and Tradition
Standardised title of narrative Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein
Incipit or textual title
Version (siglum) A (Seven Sages)
Language Group within Version Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein
Narrative/Scholarly Group within Version Middle Welsh Version A
Further scholarly subgroup (1)
Further scholarly subgroup (2)
Translated/adapted from (Version/Text) Oxford Bodleian Library Jesus College MS. 111
Source for information on textual relationship to broader tradition Gadsden (2020)
Languages
Language of text Welsh
Regional or specific Language of text Middle Welsh
Source for regional or specific Language of text Gadsden (2021)
Digitisation and Editions
Digitisation https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/93d67972-f107-40ee-a0a8-5327e827e812/
Modern Editions Lewis, Chwedleu Seith Doethn Rufein (1925, 1958, 1967)Gadsden, Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein (2021)Luft, Thomas and Smith (2013)
Note

(Entered by Ava Byrne)

A note on transmission: see Gadsden pp. 23-26 for theorisations about minor scribal details in Oxford Bodleian Library Jesus College MS. 111 that might signal it as the source text for this manuscript.

Authorship and Production
Scribe
Author Llewelyn the Priest
Place of Manuscript Production
Date of Manuscript Production 1400 - 1425
Source of Date of Manuscript Production Evans (1903)Gadsden (2021)
Physical Description
Material Parchment
Total pages/folios in Manuscript 70
Height 132
Width 100
Script style/form Gothic textura
Prose or verse Prose
Illustrations No
Contents and Additional Texts
Other texts in the Manuscript The first seven folios [i-vii] are paper as is 15b, part of a rebinding which made use of the original binding boards.

fol. iiiv Written sideways, in ink: “Last englyn but one on fo. 14a is / A g. a g. [yr] hen gyuruys / gwn cn a dy atcas d..... trys / Gwell kar yn llys noc eur ar vys.”

fol. vir- viiv (ult.): a list of the contents.

fol.1r: Englynion yr Eryr: Englynion of The Eagle.

fol. 3v: Englynion yr Eira: Eiry Mynyd: Englynion of the Snow.

fol. 6v: Y Gorwynnyon: Englynion of Brightness.

fol. 9r: Y Gnawdeu: Gnawt gwynt o’r Deheu: Usual is Wind from the South.

fol. 10r: Kalan Gaeaf: All Saints’ Day.

fol. 10v: Bit goch crib Keilyawc: The cock’s comb is red.

fol. 12r: Englynion y Clyweit a’r Diherebyon: Englynion of ‘hearing’ and proverbs.

fol. 16 r: Fragment of the Creed, followed by Chwedl am Arthur a Chai: A Tale about Arthur and Cai.

fol. 22r: Pryd y Mab: The Appearance of the Son. (Religious text)

fol. 30r: Llyma dechreu Ebostol y Sul yn y modd hwn. The beginning of the Epistle of Sunday.

fol. 32v: Full page: “Mappa Mundi. A map of the world, from Egypt in the east to Ireland in the west.

fol. 33r: Llyma y modd y treythir o ach Kynauc Sant i Annwn Dhu, Brenhin Groeg: The Genealogy of St Kynawc to Annwn Dhu, King of Greece.

fol. 33r: Meibion Brychan: The Sons of Brychan. Merched Brychan: The Daughters of Brychan.

fol. 34r: Llyma weithon ach Cattawc Sant i Gaswallon ap Beli a ryfelawdd ag Iul Kaesar: The Genealogy of St Cattawc, to Caswallon ap Beli who fought against Julius Caesar.

fol. 34v: Meibion Keredic ap Kynedha Wledic: The Sons of Keredic, son of Kynedha the Prince.

fol. 35r: Ach Cuneda hyd Beli Fawr: The Genealogy of Cunedda up to Beli the Great.

fol. 35r: (from line 9) Ach Teibiawn i Endaf Hen: The Genealogy of Teibiawn to Endaf the Old.

fol. 35r: Ach Teudwr ap Griffin i Vrachan: The Genealogy of Teudwr ap Griffin to Brachan.

fol. 35v: Ach Morgant ap Oweint at Caradawc Vreichvras ac at Gereint ap Erbin: The Genealogy of Morgan ap Owein to Caradawg Strong-arm and to Geraint ap Erbin.109

fol. 36r: Gereint fab Erbin at Ayrcol Lawhir: Geraint son of Erbin to Ayrcol Longhand.

fol. 36r: l.17 Ayrcol Lawhir to Gwrtheyrn Gwrtheneu: Ayrcol Longhand to Gwrtheyrn Gwrthneu.

fol. 37v: Llyma enweu meib[i]on Rodri Mawr: The names of Rhodri the Great’s sons.

fol. 38r: Rhys Gruc.

fol. 38v: Llywelyn m[ab] Iorwerth m[ab] Ewein Gwynedd.

fol. 38v: Howel m[ab] Gronwy.

fol. 39r: Ellelw mam Seissyll.

fol. 40v: Llyma enweu b[re]nhined y b[ri]tanyeit: The names of the kings of the Britons.

fol. 41v: The beginning of Brut y Brenhinedd, the Welsh redaction of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Brittaniae.

fol. 42r: Yn y mod hun y treythir o chwedleu seith doetheon rufein, o weith llewelyn ofeir[iad]: The Seven Sages of Rome, by Llewelyn the Priest.

fol. 70r: Ac velly y teruyna chwedyl seith doethyon rufein o weith llewelyn. The end of the Seven Sages of Rome.

The final folio, (fol. 70, l. 15-21), continued on fol. 70v, is a list of English kings from William 1 (William the Conqueror) to Henry VI, with a date of 1461, which is also the final year chronicled in Brenhinedd y Saesson in the Black Book of Basingwerk: Aberystwyth, NLW MS 7006.

(From Gadsden 2021, pp. 33-35)

Catalogues and Research Literature
Catalogue https://medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/manuscript_10568
Modern Research Literature Gadsden (2020)Huws (2000)Evans (1903)Gadsden (2021)Gadsden (2013)
Pattern of embedded stories in this manuscript