Medieval fragments from Glasgow's archives

Abstract

A group of medieval fragments recovered from the bindings of Glasgow’s archival documents has been known to researchers for over a century through their inclusion, to a greater or lesser extent, in catalogues compiled by earlier scholars. This study adds to their work by providing, for the first time, a full physical description and transcription for each of the eighteen fragments that can be located; one fragment remains lost. One of these, containing homilies by St Gregory the Great, has only recently been uncovered and is described here for the first time. Each transcription is compared with a variety of contemporary sources, of known origin, that most closely align with the reading in the fragment. This comparison shows that while most of the liturgical fragments follow the Sarum Rite, others contain variants found in the related liturgies of Hereford and York. The partial identification of some Rites leads to speculation regarding the use of the original books in Glasgow’s pre-Reformation churches. Key Words Glasgow – manuscript fragments – liturgy – Sarum