BELGIUM. MONS. SAINT-GHISLAIN (Abbey of) YONNE.... Lot 7

[BELGIUM]. [MONS]. [SAINT-GHISLAIN (Abbey of)] [YONNE]. [VÉZELAY]. Extract from an old codex kept at the Saint-Guislain abbey near Mons relating to the relics of Marie Madeleine and the transfer of her body to Vezelay. Transumptum ex antiquissimo codice manuscripto abbatiae S. Guisleni iuxta oppidum Montis Hannoniae. Transitus sanctae Mariae Magdalenae [followed by] Qualiter corpus eiusdem translatum sit ad ecclesia Viceliacensem In Latin, manuscript on parchment Belgium, Hainaut (or France, Burgundy?), late 16th or early 17th century Small in-8, 9 ff. preceded by 2 paper endpapers and followed by 4 paper endpapers (the last one damaged), fine italic writing in brown ink, headings in red. Bound in full soft vellum, smooth spine with gilt fleurons, simple gilt fillet framing the boards, central oval gilt motif. Binding from the end of the 16th century Size of leaves : 124 x 176 mm ; size of binding : 130 x 178 mm. Magdalenian" text, an important piece that the Vézeliens presented to support their claim to possess the relics of Mary Magdalen. Vézelay commemorates on March 19 the translation of the relics of saint Marie Madeleine from Aix-en-Provence to the Abbey of Vézelay in Burgundy : Marie Madeleine was indeed the patron saint of Vézelay. This manuscript contains a hagiographic text relating to Saint Mary Magdalene, namely the "Translationis narratio posterior" (BHL 5489- 5492): incipit, "Nunc igitur largiente domino aggredimur exponere...". It will be advisable to determine which version it is, the present text being undoubtedly an abbreviation of the text which starts sometimes " Nunc ergo largiente... ". In addition, nearly ten manuscripts give to the account a truncated end, reproduce only extracts of it, or preserve only fragments of it... " (Saxer, 1975, p. 2). (Saxer, 1975, p. 30). This narrative appears in numerous hagiographic lectionaries from the eleventh century onwards. It is about the part of the monks of Vézelay during the eleventh century of justification of possession of the body of Mary Madeleine, their patron saint. The verification and the transfer of the relics of Saint Madeleine was carried out in Vézelay in 1265/1267. In his study of Magdalenian texts and the "Vézelay file" relating to In his study of Magdalenian texts and the "Vézelay file" on Mary Magdalene, Saxer recalls the northern and Hainaut origins of the first hagiographic stories about the relics of Mary Magdalene. This manuscript was copied from an ancient codex kept at the abbey of St. Guislain, as the title suggests. The abbey was founded by St. Ghislain, then a hermit in the forest, around 650, located in Wallonia near the river Haine, in Belgium, in the province of Hainaut. The abbot Saint Ghislain ruled his monastery for about thirty years, and the town of Saint Ghislain developed around the abbey. The library was largely dispersed at the time of the suppression of the community in 1796. For research on this manuscript, see C. Pierard, "Les manuscrits de l'abbaye de Saint-Ghislain à la bibliothèque publique de Mons", in Scriptorium, 1965 (19-2), pp. 281-286 [the judge Camille Wins bequeathed in 1962 a dozen manuscripts coming from the Abbey of Saint-Ghislain]; : G. A. Lelièvre, "La bibliothèque de l'abbaye de Saint-Ghislain"; L. Tondreau, "La dispersion des manuscrits de l'abbaye de Saint-Ghislain", in Miettes d "histoire de Saint Ghislain, fasc. 6, 1971. Provenance 1. Armorial bookplate of Dupont de St Ouën, pasted on the first spine. - 2. handwritten bookplate: " Joseph le Mayeur, 1816 ", in ink on the front endpaper. See Saxer, V. Le dossier vézelien de Marie-Madeleine. Invention and translation of the relics in 1265-1267. Contribution à l'histoire du culte de la sainte à Vézelay à l'apogée du Moyen Age, Brussels, 1975.