The Bobbio Missal compiles liturgical texts for the celebration of saints' feasts throughout the year. Written in Latin in south-east Gaul, perhaps at or near Vienne, c. 675/725.
E08335
Liturgical texts - Sacramentaries
Late antique original manuscripts - Parchment codex
The Bobbio Missal (Missale Bobbiense)
Overview of liturgical texts for saints included in the codex:
[...]
Nos. 80-86: 'Mass for *Stephen (the first martyr, S00030)' (In Missa S. Stephani)
Nos. 87-93: 'Mass for the *Holy Infants (S00268)' (In Missa Infantium)
Nos. 94-100: 'Mass for *James (the Apostle, son of Zebedee, S00108) and *John (the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042)' (In Missa Iacobi et Iohannis)
[...]
Nos. 115-121: 'For the Chair of Saint *Peter (the Apostle, S00036)' (In Cathedra S. Petri)
Nos. 122-8: 'For the Solemnity of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033)' (In Sollemnitate S. Mariae)
Nos. 129-33: 'For the Assumption of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033)' (In Adsumptione S. Mariae)
[...]
Nos. 313-21: 'Mass for *John the Baptist (S00020)' (In Missa S. Ioannis Baptistae)
Nos. 322-26: 'For the martyrdom of *John the Baptist (S00020)' (In Passione S. Ioannis Baptistae)
Nos. 327-33: 'For the feast of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) and *Paul (the Apostle, S00036)' (In Natale Petri et Pauli)
Nos. 334-48: 'Mass for *Sigismund (king and martyr of the Burgundians, ob. 523, S00380)' (In Missa S. Sigismundi) – see E08338
Nos. 339-44: 'Mass for holy *martyrs (unspecified, S00060)' (In Missa sanctorum Martyrum)
Nos. 345-51: 'Mass for one *martyr (unspecified, S00060)' (In Missa unius Martyris)
Nos. 352-59: 'Mass for one *confessor (unspecified, S00184)' (In Missa de uno Confessore)
Nos. 360-7: 'Mass for *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, S00050)' (In Missa S. Martini)
Nos. 368-74: 'Mass for one *virgin (unspecified, S03026)' (In Missa unius Virginis)
[...]
Nos. 393-7: 'Mass for *Michael (the Archangel, S00181)' (In Missa S. Michaelis)
[...]
Text: Lowe 1917-24.
Summary and translation: B. Savill.
Service for the saint
Eucharist associated with cult
Liturgical invocation
Chant and religious singing
Other liturgical acts and ceremonies
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Source
The Bobbio Missal (Missale Bobbiense) is the modern editorial name given to the manuscript Paris, Bibliothéque nationale de France, Lat. 13246, following its discovery in the northern Italian monastery of that name in the 17th century. The manuscript is now understood to have been compiled within Merovingian Gaul, thus providing a rare witness to the early Gallican liturgy (and not Italian, nor indeed Irish liturgical observance, as was once argued). The most recent extended study of the codex argues for its production in a late 7th/early 8th c. scriptorium in south-eastern Gaul, perhaps in the city of Vienne or somewhere in its diocese, where it may have been used as a priest's personal handbook (Hen and Meens, 2004).The Bobbio Missal is comparable to the contemporary Gothic Missal (E08220), although it differs from the latter in its smaller size, lower-grade script, and – most significantly for our database – much more limited content concerning the cult of saints.
The full manuscript is now available to view online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b550103970.image
Discussion
The Bobbio Missal includes ten entries for feasts of biblical saints, several formulaic/unspecified feast days, and only two post-biblical saints: Martin of Tours and – more unusually – King Sigismund of Burgundy (for whom see the separate entry, E08338). As in the Gothic Missal, no dates are given for feasts, and the manuscript's users would have presumably needed to have had access to their own liturgical calendar.Bibliography
Edition:Lowe, E.A., The Bobbio Missal: A Gallican Mass-Book (MS. Paris. Lat. 13246) (Henry Bradshaw Society, vols. 53 (facsimile), 58 (edition), 61 (ancillary material); London, 1917-20).
Further reading:
Hen, Y., and Meens, R. (eds.), The Bobbio Missal: Liturgy and Culture in Merovingian Gaul (Cambridge, 2004).
Benjamin Savill
09/09/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00020 | John the Baptist | Ioannes Baptista | Certain | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00042 | John, the Apostle and Evangelist | Ioannes | Certain | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Martinus | Certain | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | martyr, martyres | Certain | S00108 | James, the Apostle, son of Zebedee | Iacobus | Certain | S00181 | Michael, the Archangel | Michael | Certain | S00184 | Confessors, unnamed or name lost | confessor | Certain | S00268 | Innocents, children killed on the orders of Herod | Infantes | Certain | S00380 | Sigismund, king and martyr of the Burgundians, ob. 523 | Sigismundus | Certain | S03026 | Virgins, unnamed or name lost | uirgo | Certain |
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