Contents

Data Source: Mmmonk

• Manuscript 139 is a composite manuscript of writings by two authors. The first part is a collection of texts by Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), an important and early theologian in Eastern Christianity. In (ff. 1r-46v) the Monita sancti Ephraei, six books of several short treatises on - among others - penitence, the Day of Judgement and the resurrection. The second part (ff. 46v-86r) is the Vita s. Iohannis Eleemosynarii, a hagiography by Leontios of Neapolis, a seventh-century bishop. It recounts the life of John of Alexandria (d. 616/620), known also as John the Almoner or John the Merciful, who is venerated as the patron saint of Italy and Limassol in Cyprus. The manuscript was copied in the twelfth century, probably in the scriptorium of Ten Duinen. The text is copied in a single column. At the beginning of each text (and within, of each book) is a large initial in red ink and decorated with black penwork. Other elements in red ink are the rubrics. The edges have been cropped, probably when the manuscript was rebound in its current post medieval binding. Based on the two end leaves, parts of a charter issued by aldermen of Bruges on December 10th 1558 (regarding the settlement of a conflict), the binding cannot be older than the late sixteenth century. The cropping caused the partial loss of the marginalia, made approximately at the time the manuscript was copied. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]