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37-654: It is named after the location in which it was found in modern times, Monte Amiata in Tuscany , at the Abbazia di San Salvatore and is now kept at Florence in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Amiatino 1). Designated by siglum A, it is commonly considered to provide the most reliable surviving representation of Jerome 's Vulgate text for the books of the New Testament, and most of

74-461: A close friend. It appears that Biscop's invitation came at a most opportune time, for Ceolfrid had been contemplating the idea of leaving the post he held at the time. He had grown rather disenchanted with the power stratification within the institution (the name of which is unknown), and had had enough of the "jealousies and very bitter persecutions of certain men of rank", and had been looking to return to his own monastery (assumed to be Ripon). Upon

111-540: A page, and 43 or 44 lines to a column. A little space is often left between words, but the writing is in general continuous. The text is divided into sections, which in the Gospels correspond closely to the Ammonian Sections . There are no marks of punctuation , but the skilled reader was guided into the sense by stichometric , or verse -like, arrangement into cola and commata , which correspond roughly to

148-554: A proposal from classicist John Wordsworth (later Bishop of Salisbury ) to produce a new critical edition of the Vulgate New Testament. This was eventually published as Nouum Testamentum Domini nostri Iesu Christi Latine, secundum editionem sancti Hieronymi in three volumes between 1889 and 1954; the Codex Amiatinus being a primary source for the entire text; which also followed this manuscript in presenting

185-400: A single book. The symbol for it is written am or A (Wordsworth). It is preserved in an immense tome, measuring 19 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (49 cm) high, 13 + 3 ⁄ 8 inches (34 cm) in breadth, and 7 inches (18 cm) thick, and weighs over 75 pounds (34 kg) – so impressive, as Hort says, as to fill the beholder with a feeling akin to awe. The Book of Psalms

222-455: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ceolfrith Saint Ceolfrid (or Ceolfrith , Old English: [ˈtʃeːolfriθ] ; also Geoffrey , c. 642 – 716) was an Anglo-Saxon Christian abbot and saint . He is best known as the warden of Bede from the age of seven until his death in 716. He was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey , and a major contributor to

259-737: Is provided in Jerome's third version, translated from the Hebrew , rather than in the pre-Jerome Roman Psalter then standard in English bibles, or in Jerome's second, Gallican version , that was to supplant his Hebraic Psalms in most Vulgate bibles from the 9th century onwards. By contrast with case in most of the rest of the Old Testament, the Amiatinus psalms text is commonly considered an inferior witness of Jerome's Versio iuxta Hebraicum ;

296-515: Is the oldest manuscript with a complete text of the Vulgate . The Codex Amiatinus is described as a brilliant display of the beauty that is Early British, Pre- Carolingian calligraphy . The composition of the Vulgate was part of the project to expand Wearmouth and Jarrow's extensive library, and Ceolfrid ordered three copies of this Bible manuscript to be composed; one of which would be dedicated to

333-720: The Counter-Reformation . Protestant translations derived from the original language of the Scriptures, but the Latin text of the Amiatinus was earlier than any then-known Hebrew manuscript, making it a "major piece of propaganda in the battle for textual precedence". In 1587 Pope Sixtus V demanded the book be sent to Rome where it was consulted for a new papal edition of the Bible, the Sixtine Vulgate ; although in

370-481: The 2000 head of cattle needed to produce the vellum . Bede was most likely involved in the compilation. De Hamel suggests that the pandects were prepared, possibly partly inscribed, and potentially corrected in a few places by Bede himself. Bede's handwriting may be present. In 716, Ceolfrid accompanied one copy, the Codex Amiatinus, intended as a gift to Pope Gregory II , but he died en route to Rome on 29 September 716 at Langres , Burgundy. The book later appears in

407-583: The Codex Amiatinus text (other than for the Psalms); and similarly deriving its layout, cola et commata from Amiatinus. Codex Amiatinus Novum Testamentum Latine, prepared by Tischendorf , does not contain the Johannine Comma (1 John 5.7). Monte Amiata Mount Amiata is the largest of the lava domes in the Amiata lava dome complex located about 20 km northwest of Lake Bolsena in

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444-690: The Codex was related to the Bibles mentioned by Bede. This also established that Amiatinus was related to the Greenleaf Bible fragment in the British Library . Although de Rossi's attribution removed 150 years from the age of the Codex, it remains the oldest complete text of the Vulgate. As the primary source of the Vulgate, the manuscript was of particular importance to the Catholics during

481-687: The Corno de Bellaria dome. Radiometric dates indicate that the Amiata complex had a major eruptive episode about 300,000 years ago. No eruptive activity has occurred at Amiata during the Holocene , but thermal activity including cinnabar mineralization continues at a geothermal field near the town of Bagnore , at the SW end of the dome complex. The main economical resources of the Amiata region are chestnuts , timber and, increasingly, tourism (ski resorts include

518-597: The Old Testament. As was standard in all Vulgate Bibles until the ninth century, the Book of Baruch is absent as is the Letter of Jeremiah , the text of the Book of Lamentations following the end of Jeremiah without a break. Ezra–Nehemiah is presented as a single book, the texts of the canonical Book of Ezra and Book of Nehemiah being continuous. Similarly the books of Samuel , Kings and Chronicles are each presented as

555-566: The Pope Gregory II, while the other two copies were meant to stay in the respective churches of Wearmouth and Jarrow. There are no official records that state that the text made it to Rome. It is said that instead, it made its way into Florence, where it was presented by the Lombard Abbot Peter to the Abbazia di San Salvatore at Mount Amiata in Tuscany . It is believed that he changed the dedicatory note inscribed within

592-438: The age of 27, Ceolfrid was ordained as a priest, and began to acquaint himself to the utmost with the practices of monastic life. Very little is revealed about the period between the end of his days at Ripon, and his appointment under Benedict Biscop , except that he spent some time in the institutions of Abbot Botolph , whom he describes as being filled with "the grace of spirit". While having been revered as an inspiration for

629-527: The completion of the Jarrow Monastery, Ceolfrid became the Abbot of the St. Paul's Church on the monasterial grounds. Conflicting reports state that the presence of Ceolfrid during Jarrow's construction varied. Some papers state that Jarrow came into his hands after its completion, while another identified Ceolfrid as being paramount to the actual construction of the monastery; as the individual who directed

666-482: The completion of the Wearmouth Monastery, he granted Biscop another segment of land for the construction of a second monastery, Jarrow , with the intention that the two should be administered as one. It is during the construction of the Wearmouth Monastery that Benedict Biscop sought out Ceolfrid, who would become "his most zealous assistant from the first foundation of the former monastery", as well as

703-635: The construction of the monastery itself. The friendship between the two was fairly close. When Benedict sailed across the English channel to Rome for the last time, he chose only Ceolfrid to join him in his journey. This trip was to be the very trip that would lead to both Abbot's immortalization in the works of Ceolfrid's ward and later contemporary, The Venerable Bede . Ceolfrid also used the trip as an opportunity to explore his role in Biscop's institution, feeling that Rome would be an opportune place to learn his position's responsibilities. Twelve years later, upon

740-536: The date of Cynefrid's death in 660. Ceolfrid is known to have a strong family connection to monastic tradition. In addition to his brother, his cousin Tunbert was the first Abbot of the Monastery of Hexham . His first four years in cloister took place at Gilling Abbey in what is now North Yorkshire , which was also attended by Cynefrid, prior to his departure to Ireland. Ceolfrid is described as having "behaved of

777-463: The death of Abbot Eosterwini, Ceolfrid was appointed as the sole Abbot for both Monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, an honour never heard of before. In 690, Benedict Biscop died, after being bedridden for a lengthy period of time, and Ceolfrid became the leading head of both monasteries, "[whose] libraries of both monasteries, which Abbot Benedict had so actively begun, under his zealous care became doubled in extent". Bede came into Ceolfrid's care at

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814-547: The event, little or no use was made of its readings in either the Sistine or subsequent Sixto-Clementine official Vulgate editions, whose editors rather preferred later medieval Vulgate texts and editions now known to have been heavily corrupted by non-Vulgate readings. In view of the many accumulated corruptions in all published editions of the Vulgate so far, the Oxford University Press accepted in 1878

851-553: The greater devotion, giving his mind continually to reading, to labour, and monastic discipline". After these four years, Ceolfrid left Gilling as he "sought a monastery of a stricter character". He soon took in with a band of men, led by Wilfrid, later canonized as Saint Wilfrid . These monks are identified by Boutflower as being the Benedictines of Ripon at a monastery under the same name. During this time, he came to refine his own understanding of proper monastic principles. At

888-643: The leaves as donated to the monastery. This occurred in the 9th century. The document remained at Mount Amiata until 1786, when it was relocated to the Laurentian Library in Florence. There is some dispute over what consisted of this Vulgate Codex. Over the past few hundred years, additional leaves that appear to be related to this text have been located in Britain, some having been used as book wrappings. These new discoveries have led scholars to question

925-678: The ninth century in Abbazia di San Salvatore , Monte Amiata, in the March of Tuscany (hence the description "Amiatinus"), where it is recorded in a list of the Abbey's relics dated 1036, describing it as being an Old and New Testament "written in the hand of the blessed Pope Gregory". It remained in the San Salvatore Monastery until 1786 when it passed to the Laurentian Library in Florence . The dedication page had been altered and

962-514: The peak area, Prato delle Macinaie, Prato della Contessa, Rifugio Cantore and Pian della Marsiliana). The lower areas are characterized by olive trees and vines . Other vegetation include beech and fir . From the 1870s until around 1980 cinnabar was extracted here. The region is included in the comuni of Abbadia San Salvatore , Arcidosso , Castel del Piano , Piancastagnaio , Santa Fiora and Seggiano , all located between 600 and 800 metres of altitude. This Tuscany location article

999-614: The presence of the 'Columba' series of psalm headings, also found in the Cathach of St. Columba , demonstrates that an Irish psalter must have been its source; but the text differs in many places from the best Irish manuscripts. The New Testament is preceded by the Epistula Hieronymi ad Damasum , Prolegomena to the four Gospels. The Codex Amiatinus qualifies as an illuminated manuscript as it has some decoration including two full-page miniatures , but these show little sign of

1036-491: The principal and dependent clauses of a sentence. From this manner of writing the script is believed to have been modeled upon the Codex Grandior of Cassiodorus , but it may go back, perhaps, even to St. Jerome. Originally three copies of the Bible were commissioned by Abbot Ceolfrith in 692. This date has been established as the double monastery of Monkwearmouth–Jarrow secured a grant of additional land to raise

1073-541: The principal librarian to the Laurentian, Angelo Maria Bandini suggested that the author was Servandus, a follower of St. Benedict , and that it had been produced at Monte Cassino around the 540s. This claim was accepted for the next hundred years, establishing it as the oldest copy of the Vulgate, but scholars in Germany noted the similarity to 9th-century texts. In 1888, Giovanni Battista de Rossi established that

1110-606: The project to produce the Codex Amiatinus Bible. He died in Burgundy while en route to deliver a copy of the codex to Pope Gregory II in Rome. Not much is known about the earlier period of Ceolfrid's life. His desire to join the monastic community was likely due to his own brother Cynefrid's devotion to the traditions of Christian monasticism . Historians date Ceolfrid's induction into monastic tradition around

1147-504: The regular sermons when fear had gripped the population. When the Plague finally passed over, master and pupil began to rebuild the monastic foundations and succeeded effectively. Bede remained in Jarrow for the majority of his life, never straying more than 70 miles from the monastery at any time. He was a loyal pupil until Ceolfrid's death, and he died in Jarrow in 735. The Codex Amiatinus

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1184-410: The southern Tuscany region of Italy. It is located within the provinces of Grosseto and Siena . Mount Amiata (La Vetta) is a compound lava dome with a trachytic lava flow that extends to the east. It is part of the larger Amiata complex volcano. A massive viscous trachydacitic lava flow, 5 km long and 4 km wide, is part of the basal complex and extends from beneath the southern base of

1221-567: The text in sense lines, cola et commata without any other indication of punctuation. In 1907 Pope Pius X commissioned the Benedictine monks in Rome to prepare a critical edition of Jerome's Vulgate, entitled Biblia Sacra iuxta latinam vulgatam versionem , which eventually emerged as a counterpart Old Testament to the Oxford New Testament, following largely the same critical principles, and according similar primary status to

1258-591: The total length of the codex, as there are still fragments missing from it today. Sometime after 711, Nechtan mac Der-Ilei , King of the Picts , sought authoritative advice from Abbot Ceolfrid on the reform of paschal cycles with a view to harmonising the celebration of Easter within his kingdom. By 716 both the Picts and the Columban clergy of Iona had adopted the pascha catholica . Ceolfrid apparently knew that he

1295-501: The usual insular style of Northumbrian art and are clearly copied from Late Antique originals. It contains 1,040 leaves of strong, smooth vellum , fresh-looking today despite their great antiquity, arranged in quires of four sheets, or quaternions . "The 1030 leaves of the Codex Amitianus would have utilized the skins of 515 cattle." The script is written in uncial characters, large, clear, and regular, two columns to

1332-564: The way of divine living, Botolph also served to inspire a greater sense of humility within Ceolfrid. In c.672/3, Benedict Biscop received a land grant from King Ecgfrith of Northumbria for the explicit purpose of erecting a monastery. During the construction of his first monastery at Wearmouth , Biscop appointed Abbot Eosterwini (anglicized as " Easterwine ") as his primary Abbot and Coadjutor. The monastery took eight years to build. This institute had left Ecgfrith so enamoured that soon after

1369-534: The young age of seven, and became the pupil of the Abbot as well as friend. In his early years at the twin Monasteries of Wearmouth – Jarrow (686), the Plague had struck Northumbria, and ravaged most of the countryside, including the twin Monasteries. Ceolfrid and Bede appeared to have remained untouched by the epidemic, and took the duties of caring for the infected and dying monks of the monasteries with unyielding fervour. They further worked together in maintaining

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