The ''Codex Salmanticensis'' (Brussels, Royal Library 7672–4) is a medieval Irish manuscript containing an extensive collection of Irish
saints' Lives
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
, now in the
Royal Library of Belgium
The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...
in Brussels. It was culled by the compilers from various sources, some of which can be identified as distinct, regionally focused groups in the text.
One such group is that of the O'Donohue ''Lives'', so called after one of the manuscript's contributors,
Diarmaid Ó Dúnchadha. These works are mostly eighth- and ninth-century ''Lives'' of saints whose monasteries lay in central Ireland (around
Slieve Bloom
The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The hig ...
), in parts of Munster, Mide and Leinster. They include saints like
Ciarán of Saighir
Ciarán (Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ''ciar'' ("black", "dark"). ...
,
Ailbe of Emly,
Ruadán of Lorrha and
Cainnech of Aghaboe.
The collection also includes five short ''Lives'' of saints associated with northern churches (in Ulster or the
AirgÃalla
AirgÃalla (Modern Irish: Oirialla, English: Oriel, Latin: ''Ergallia'') was a medieval Irish over-kingdom and the collective name for the confederation of tribes that formed it. The confederation consisted of nine minor kingdoms, all independe ...
):
Mo Lua of Drumsnat, Daig of Inniskeen,
Mochta of Louth,
Éogan of Ardstraw and
Mac Nisse of Connor. Their feast-days are given in August or the beginning of September. These texts are relatively late, but Charles-Edwards has suggested that they ultimately derive from an earlier, northern Irish work used for reading on the festivals, which he calls the Northern Lectionary.
[Charles-Edwards, "The Northern Lectionary," pp. 151-3.]
References
Edition
*W.W. Heist (ed.). ''Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice olim Salmanticensi nunc Bruxellensi''. Brussels, 1965.
Secondary sources
*Charles-Edwards, T.M. "The Northern Lectionary: a source for the ''Codex Salmanticensis''?." In ''Celtic hagiography and saints' cults'', ed. Jane Cartwright. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003. pp. 148–60. .
Further reading
*Heist, W.W. "Dermot O'Donohue and the Codex Salmanticensis." ''Celtica'' 5 (1960): pp. 52–63
RHS record*Ó Riain, Pádraig. "''Codex Salmanticensis'': a provenance inter Anglos or inter Hibernos?." In ''A Miracle of Learning: studies in manuscripts and Irish learning. Essays in honour of William O'Sullivan'', ed. by T.C. Barnard, D. Ó CróinÃn and K. Simms. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998. pp. 91–100
RHS record*O'Sullivan, William. "A Waterford origin for the ''Codex Salmanticensis''." ''Decies. Journal of the Waterford Archaeological & Historical Society'' 54 (1998): pp. 17–24
RHS record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Codex Salmanticensis
Irish manuscripts
Texts of medieval Ireland
Manuscripts in the Royal Library of Belgium