Lancelot en prose
France, c. 1215–1235

Corpus Christi College, MS 45, ff. 94v
France, second half of the thirteenth century
Vellum, 303 x 194 mm (writing space variable), 178 + II ff.

This page is from a two-part manuscript. For various reasons, medieval and early modern collectors often bound together what were originally separate manuscripts, even if, as in this case, they contained texts with no obvious connection.

The second part (ff. 85–262) contains a partial copy of the romance of Lancelot du Lac. MS 45 is an important witness, a careful copy of a good model. It was used as a reference text for the long initial section of Alexandre Micha’s critical edition (volumes 1–3 out of 8).

This manuscript was part of the library that Matthew Parker bequeathed to Corpus Christi College in 1574. Parker (Norwich 1504–1575) was Elizabeth I’s Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death, and had previously been Master of Corpus Christi College (1544–1553).

By permission of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College Cambridge.