Lindisfarne Gospels

Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit from the Gospel of Matthew.

The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library. The manuscript was produced on Lindisfarne in Northumbria in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and is generally regarded as the finest example of the kingdom's unique style of religious art, a style that combined Anglo-Saxon and Celtic themes, what is now called Hiberno-Saxon art, or Insular art. The manuscript is complete (though lacking its original cover), and is astonishingly well-preserved considering its great age.

History

The Lindisfarne Gospels are presumed to be the work of a monk named Eadfrith, who became Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and died in 721. Current scholarship indicates a date around 715, and it is believed they were produced in honour of St. Cuthbert. However, it is also possible that Eadfrith produced them prior to 698, in order to commemorate the elevation of Cuthbert's relics in that year. The Gospels are richly illustrated in the insular style, and were originally encased in a fine leather binding covered with jewels and metals made by Billfrith the Anchorite in the 8th century. During the Viking raids on Lindisfarne, however, this cover was lost, and a replacement made in 1852. The text is written in insular script.

In the 10th century an Old English translation of the Gospels was made: a word-for-word gloss inserted between the lines of the Latin text by Aldred, Provost of Chester-le-Street. This is the oldest extant translation of the Gospels into the English language.

The Gospels may have been taken from Durham Cathedral during the dissolution of the monasteries, ordered by Henry VIII, and were acquired in the early 17th century by Sir Robert Cotton from Thomas Walker, Clerk of the Parliaments. Cotton's library came to the British Museum in the 18th century, and from there to the British Library in London when this was separated from the British Museum.

Campaign to relocate

A campaign exists to have the gospels housed in the North East of England, a move vigorously opposed by the British Library and condemned by international scholars. Several possible locations have been mooted, including Durham Cathedral, Lindisfarne itself or one of the museums in Newcastle upon Tyne or Sunderland. A modern facsimile copy of the Gospels is now housed in the Durham Cathedral Treasury, where it can be seen by visitors.

Gospel of Luke

John the Evangelist

Matthew the Evangelist

Carpet page

See also

• Illuminated manuscript
• List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts
• Old English Bible translations

References

• Calkins, Robert G. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983.
• De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. Boston: David R. Godine, 1986.
• Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.

Further reading

• Brown, Michelle P., The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe. London: The British Library, 2003
• Brown, Michelle P., The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Early Medieval World. London: The British Library, 2010

External links

• British Library Digitised Manuscripts Digital facsimile of the entire manuscript
• Turning the Pages Leaf through the Lindisfarne Gospels online using the British Library's Turning the Pages software (requires Shockwave plugin)
• The Lindisfarne Gospels, a free online seminar from the British Library.
• Lindisfarne Gospels: information, zoomable image British Library website
• British Library Digital Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts entry
• Lindisfarne Gospels, from the Northumbrian Association.