Contents

Data Source: Mmmonk

• Manuscript 166 is a collection of three works by Firmianus Lactantius (d. c. 325), one of the so-called early Christian apologetici. Most of his works aim to explain Christian thought to pagan critics and defend it from them. This manuscript begins with (ff. 1v) a chapter from Jerome's De viris illustribus on the life of Lactantius; followed by Lactantius' works (ff. 1v-165r) Divinae institutiones; (ff. 165r-180v) De ira Dei; and (ff. 180v-195v) De opificio Dei. Between the first and second text a leaf (ff. 165r) contains an excerpt from the twentieth book of Augustine's De civitate Dei. The manuscript was copied in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, probably in Bruges. All texts are copied in two columns. Initials, titles and rubrics are added in red ink, with several initials decorated with penwork. It is bound in an early Cistercian binding from the twelfth or thirteenth century. At some point in history, a sharp instrument was used to apply cuts to the folia. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]