Vaticinia de Summis Pontificibus

Item Information

Title:
Vaticinia de Summis Pontificibus
Description:
A manuscript of the popular papal prophecies accompanied, as always, by their standard allegorical illustrations, spuriously attributed to the abbot Joachim of Fiore, but actually a combination of two sets of prophecies; the first group (Prophecies I-XV) were composed around the year 1304 and the remainder, also falsely attributed, but to the mythical bishop Anselm of Marisco, were composed around the year 1328. According to Schwartz and Lerner, the two sets were combined during the pontificate of John XXIII (1410-1415) and this combined set (known by its incipit, "Ascende calve") circulated in many 15th-century manuscript copies and in 16th-century printed editions (Schwartz and Lerner, p. 159). Based on the reversal of Prophecies XXIV and XXV, this manuscript can be placed in Millet's "Regina" family (Millet 2004, pp. 62-65). Iconographic details also confirm this attribution: the lack of a severed head in Prophecy III; the placement of a mitre instead of a tiara on the dragon's head in Prophecy IX; the presence of a scorpion and snake in Prophecy XV; the hand holding a crescent instead of a scythe blade in Prophecy XIX; and the orientation of the pack of wolves in Prophecy XXVII. Millet identifies 16 manuscripts as part of the Regina group (named for her manuscript Reg1, Vatican, Bibl. Vat. Reg. lat. 580), although she did not study all of the 102 known manuscripts and, while she knew of the two Boston copies (see also BPL MS q Med.106), did not assign either manuscript to a family (Millet 2004, p. 213).
Author:
Pseudo-Joachim, of Fiore
Attributed name:
Anselmus, Bishop of Marsico, active 13th century
Former owner:
Art ancien S.A.
Date:
[1475–1500]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
humanistic scripts
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Italy
Manuscripts, Medieval--Italy
Paste paper bindings
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Popes--Prophecies--Early works to 1800
Popes--Illustrations--Early works to 1800
Places:
Italy > Tuscany (region) > Firenze (province) > Florence
Extent:
20 (of at least 32) leaves : parchment ; 200 x 130 (width is approx. 85) mm bound to 21 cm, in box 23 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/ng455g25b
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States icon No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[Florence?]
Language:
Latin
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 2: Prophecy II, unattributed (presumably Martin IV)
2. fol. 2v-3: Prophecy III, Honorius IV (1285-87)
3. fol. 3v: Prophecy IV, Nicholas IV (1288-92)
4. fol. 4: Prophecy VI, presumably Boniface VIII.
5. fol. 4v-5: Prophecy VII, Benedict XI (1303-04)
6. fol. 5v-6: Prophecy VIII, Clement V (1305-14)
7. fol. 6v-7: Prophecy IX, John XXII (1316-34)
8. fol. 7v: Prophecy X, Benedict XII (1334-42)
9. fol. 8: Prophecy XII, presumably Innocent VI.
10. fol. 8v-9: Prophecy XIII, Urban V (1362-70)
11. fol. 9v-10: Prophecy XIV, Gregory XI (1370-78)
12. fol. 10v-11: Prophecy XV, Clement VII (1378-94)
13. fol. 11v: Prophecy XVI, Boniface IX (1389-1404)
14. fol. 12: Prophecy XVIII, presumably Gregory XII.
15. fol. 12v-13: Prophecy XIX, Antipope Alexander V (1409-10)
16. fol. 13v: Prophecy XX, Antipope John XXIII (1400-15)
17. fol. 14: Prophecy XXII, presumably Eugene IV (1431-47)
18. fol. 14v: Prophecy XXIII, unattributed.
19. fol. 15: Prophecy XXV, text lacking; illustration: a walled city with a tall, tiered tower, three disembodied hands reaching to the right.
20. fol. 15v-16: Prophecy XXIV, unattributed.
21. fol. 16v-17: Prophecy XXVI, unattributed.
22. fol. 17v-18: Prophecy XXVII, unattributed.
23. fol. 18v-19: Prophecy XXVIII, unattributed.
24. fol. 19v-20: Prophecy XXIX, unattributed.
25. fol. 20v: Prophecy XXX, unattributed.
Notes:
Ms. codex (fragmentary).
Title devised by cataloger.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis. Contact BPL Rare Books and Manuscripts department for further descriptive documentation.
Origin: Written in Italy in the late 15th century.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Bought in 1949 from L'Art Ancien, Zurich (catalog 37, no. 8, with BPL MS q Med.106). BPL plate inside front cover.
Notes (date):
This date is inferred.
Notes (citation):
Bond, W.H. Supplement to the Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 211.
Notes (object):
Collation: Parchment, fol. 20 ; 1⁸⁻⁴ (lacking two leaves after fol. 1 and two after fol. 3, i.e. two bifolia), 2⁸⁻² (lacking two leaves after fol. 7, i.e. the innermost bifolium), 3⁸⁻⁴ (lacking two leaves after fol. 11 and two after fol. 13, i.e. two bifolia), 4⁸⁻² (lacking one leaf before fol. 15 and one after fol. 20, i.e. the outermost bifolium) ; 17th-century brown ink arabic numerals in lower margins are from an earlier misbinding when the text was part of a much larger codex, as the leaves were then numbered 223-242 (the sequence of numbers may have begun before 223 or ended after 242, depending on what numbers were used for the missing leaves); the pencil arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto also date from the misbinding, although because they number the leaves 1-20, they must have been added after the text was extracted from its original codex. The manuscript is now bound correctly, and the correct (i.e. current) foliation is used here. Consult curatorial file for a concordance of all three foliation series.
Layout: 1 column, approximately 30 lines on a full page.
Script: Written in a humanistic cursive in brown ink.
Decoration: 2-line initials begin each prophecy, red with purple harping and filigree or blue with red. Twenty-one full-page illustrations (lacking ten).
Binding: Rebound by BPL conservators in 1987 and tacked together in correct order, laid in modern leather over pasteboard, brown paste paper covers, no spine, green cloth clamshell box with "Joachim abbas" on typescript label.
Notes (language):
In Latin.
Identifier:
06_01_018676
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.107
MS 1535 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999091846491