Des Coninx Summe digitally available

As a rule, the university library does not buy ancient documents, let alone a valuable medieval manuscript. Nevertheless, last year a medieval bible from St. Mary’s Church was acquired. And again an exception was made for Des Coninx Summe.

Translator Jan van Brederode

The manuscript (shelfmark Ms. 35 A 5) was copied by Jan Symonsz, a lay brother from the Carthusian monastery Nieuwlicht, and contains Des Coninx Summe. This is the Middle Dutch translation of La Somme du Roy, a moralizing text that was written in the late 13^th century for the children of the French king Philip the Third. The translation was made by Jan van Brederode between 1402 and 1409. A number of devout texts are added to the manuscript, including “Vijftien goede punten”(“Fifteen good points”) by the Franciscan orator Johannes Brugman (ca. 1400-1473). In Dutch a well-known expression is ‘Praten als Brugman” (“Talking like Brugman”), meaning so much as having the gift of the gab. This text is only known from this manuscript.

Unknown charters

The manuscript is small, and not too thick with its 248 pages and comes without decorations. However, the leather book binding is original and also contains two almost intact but frayed charters, as far as we now know from Utrecht but further information is lacking. It is the only Middle Dutch manuscript from Nieuwlicht that has been handed down. Later on it used to be in the possession of a man called Reyn Dircx. It is one of the last well-known manuscripts to be in private hands.

Research

There are several manuscripts and printed editions of Des Coninx Summe, but this copy has not been researched yet. Students of the Research Master Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Studies will examine the work. They will research and describe the texts by Van Brederode and Brugman, the charters, the watermarks in the paper, the book binding, the copyist and other aspects of the manuscript.