Beschreibung:

THEOLOGICAL TREATISES, in Latin, DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM AND PAPER southern Netherlands, probably Huy, 1436 215 x 145mm. i + 240 leaves: 1-4 1 0, 5 1 0(ix stub from a scribal cancellation with modern replacement leaf), 6 1 0, 7 1 0(ix and x modern replacements for cancelled blanks), 8-9 1 2, 10 1 2(v and vii modern replacement blanks), 11-19 1 0, 20 8(viii modern replacement blank), 21-23 1 2: COMPLETE, signature marks on the lower, outer corners of the folios of the first half of the gathering, all gatherings except 18-20 with central and outer bifolia of vellum, written in cursive by several scribes in various single-column, page lay-outs, some with initials of red with black penwork flourishing. Modern panelled tan morocco with two clasps and catches and ?re-used 16th-century repouss brass centre- and cornerpieces. PROVENANCE: The convent of the Crosiers, Canons Regular of the Holy Cross at Clair-Lieu near Huy, diocese of Lige: ownership inscriptions 'Conventis Cruciferorum' on f.1 in a 16th-century hand, and 'Iste liber p[er]tinet fr[at]rib[us] s[an]c[t]e crucis dom[us] hoyen[sis] leodic[ensis] dioce[sis]' heading the list of contents on f.240v CONTENT: Hugh of St Victor, Tractatus de professione monachorum ff.1-40v; Conditiones requisite ut aliquis digne conficiat....Quattor necessaria ex parte conficientis ff.41-49; Instruction on confession, with reference to the commandments and the seven deadly sins ff.49v-68v; De septem sacramentis ff.71-96v; Henricus de Coesuelt, prior of the Carthusian monastery of St Gertrude, Holland, De sacramento eucharistie ff.107-144v; ff.145-176; Fra Alfonso of Spain, Historia de ioseph ff.177-191v; Fra Thomas, Vita cristine virginis cognomento mirabilis ff.191v-201v; Fra Guido da Vincenza, Liber qui dicitur margarita ff.205-240; list of contents f.240v This is a varied collection of texts written by both Dominican and Carthusian authors. It includes Biblical history - the story of Joseph translated in 1336 by a Dominican suffering in the Sultan's prison in Egypt - treatises on the cure of souls and the sacraments, and the Margarita , an index to the contents of each book of the Bible. The texts were written by several scribes but it seems likely that they were all members of the convent of the Crosiers near Huy, where the book remained until at least the 16th century. In the final explicit (f.240) the scribe of that section gives his name as Henricus de Benthem of the Order of the Holy Cross and the date as the feast of Felix the Confessor, 1436. The Order of the Crosiers was founded in 1211 on the initiative of Thodore de Celles, associate of the prince-bishop of Lige, Raoul de Zaehringen, and was part of the movement promoting further Crusades. The first convent was established at St Theobald at Clair-Lieu near Huy and its renown became established in 1285 when the relics of St Odile, one of Ursula's 11,000 Virgins, were translated there. Augustinian Canons, the brothers combined their practical duties of preaching and caring for the sick with contemplative and intellectual pursuits. The convent was richly endowed, had a flourishing scriptorium and a prestigious library: J. Stiennon, 'Introduction l'tude des scriptoria des croisiers de Lige et de Huy au XV e sicle', Les manuscrits des croisiers de Huy, Lige et Cuyck au XV e sicle , Lige, 1951, pp.25-53. Part of the Crosiers' library survives in the Grand Sminaire and the University of Lige. The present manuscript is likely to have been a product of the scriptorium and to have remained in the library until the suppression of the convent.