Also known as Book of Mac Durnan Place of origin Ireland | Type Gospels Script Irish minuscule script | |
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Date late 9th century (or early 10th) Scribe(s) unknown, possibly Máel Brigte mac Tornáin | ||
The Mac Durnan Gospels or Book of Mac Durnan (London, Lambeth Palace MS 1370) is an early medieval Irish illuminated manuscript containing the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), now in the collection of the Lambeth Palace Library in London.
Contents
Manuscript history
Vital information concerning the provenance and history of the manuscript comes from an alliterative Latin inscription which was added on folio 3v, possibly by Koenwald (d. 957/8), later bishop of Worcester. It suggests that the manuscript was written or commissioned by Máel Brigte mac Tornáin (d. 927), known as Mac Durnan, abbot of Armagh since 888, who is said to have dedicated the book to God. Rearranged in regular metre, the inscription reads:
The manuscript must have left the scriptorium of Armagh soon after, since it passed into the possession of King Æthelstan of England (r. 924-939), presumably as a diplomatic gift. According to the same inscription, Æthelstan presented the book to Christ Church, Canterbury. The Mac Durnan Gospels offer a unique glimpse on the Irish connections of Æthelstan's court, which is known to have been attended by at least one Irish abbot, Dubinsi, abbot of Bangor.
During the 11th century, six Anglo-Saxon charters were copied into the gospel-book, including writs and records of agreements, the latest being no later than AD 1050.
Contents
The text contains the four Gospels of the Latin Vulgate written in Irish minuscule script. The prefatory folio presents the animal symbols of the four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Three Gospels are introduced by Evangelist portraits at their opening pages. Related manuscripts associated with Armagh are the Echternach Gospels (MS BNF Lat. 9389), the Máel Brigte Gospels (MS Harley 1802), MS Harley 1023, and the Book of Armagh.