Title

Orationale

Anonimous

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The origin of the library of the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, later called Santo Domingo de Silos, can be found in the reconstruction carried out by the Castilian Count Fernán González in the middle of the 10th century. In 954 the count donated numerous lands and possessions to the monastery, as well as some books relevant to the cult (Senra, 2002). However, the peak of the monastery took place with the abbot Domingo Manso, who had been a monk of San Millán de la Cogolla. In 1041 Fernando I put him in charge of San Sebastián de Silos and under his mandate the monastic complex grew considerably. The library increased thanks to the donations received and the productions of the scriptorium itself (Castro, 2020), reaching its peak at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century (Sánchez Mariana, 1984; Boylan, 1992).

This Orationale was one of the volumes produced in the ninth century (Férotin, 1912; Vivancos, 2007). The Silense library suffered great losses throughout its history, such as this copy. Rodrigo Echevarría, the last abbot of the monastery before the exclaustration of 1835, was in charge of jealously preserving the manuscripts that were still treasured in Silos. According to Besse (1897), he was a man of "uncommon prudence and firmness, combined with an extensive knowledge, a great knowledge of the world and noble and distinguished manners". There is no doubt that his decision to protect the manuscripts helped to keep them from being dispersed at first. However, their fate changed when he was appointed bishop of Segovia in 1857. Echevarría had to leave the monastery, and from then on the codices fell into disrepair.

Anastasio Rodrigo y Yusto, archbishop of Burgos, was impressed when he visited the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos. Its dilapidated state led him to appeal to the former monks of the abbey. It was at that moment that Sebastián Fernández, one of the exclaustrated monks and vicar of the church of San Martín (Madrid), intervened. Although he was responsible for protecting the manuscripts in the capital, he failed to appreciate their true value, which led him to contact a marquis in Madrid "plus ou moins authentique" who worked with Aunt Jesusa, a woman well known for selling antiquities (Besse, 1897; Ruiz and Gonzalez de Linares, 1978). Thus it was that in 1877 she sold 69 manuscripts for 16,000 pesetas, a figure that undoubtedly pleased the parish priest.

The Orationale was among these codices sold in Madrid. It was acquired by Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, an antiquarian specializing in the sale of antique and rare books. Although his main store was located in Paris, at 10 Boulevard des Capucines, he had branches in London and Madrid. That was how he learned that Sebastian Fernandez was selling the Silensian manuscripts. The Orationale was offered for sale in Paris on June 1, 1878 at the Hotel des Commissaires-Priseurs (Paris) and was purchased on the 15th by Bernard Quritch for the British Museum (Whitehill, 1976; Fernández de la Cuesta, 1985). In the Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1876-1881 it is mentioned as follows:

Collection of prayers for the services in the Mozarabic Liturgy throughout the year. Latin. Imperfect, extending from Advent to the Nativity of S. John Baptist (24 June), with lacunae in several places. The prayers include, with many others, those which in the Gothic Breviary are entitled the "capitula," the "benedictio," and the "oratio." For a collection of a similar character see J. M. Thomasii. .opera omnia, studio curaque Jos. Blanchini, torn, i., Homae, 1741, p. 1. Vellum; ff. 115, decayed and mutilated at the edges. In Visigothic characters, with rubrics and coloured initials, ixth century. Quarto.

Finally, in 1973 the Orationale was added to the British Library (London), where it is still preserved today.

Description

This manuscript consists of 115 folios divided into two columns of 22 lines. It is incomplete, as the last few folios are missing. It has been dated to the ninth century, but its binding was carried out in the monastery in 1772. As for its contents, it contains prayers for the entire liturgical year.

Locations

• IX^th c. - ca. 1857

  monastery

  Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain)

• Mid XIX^th c. - 1877

  parish priest

  Sebastián Fernández, Madrid (Spain)

• ca. 1877 - ca. 1878

  dealer/antiquarian

  "Aunt Jesusa", Madrid (Spain) *

• ca. 1878

  dealer/antiquarian

  Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, Paris (France) *

• ca. 1878

  dealer/antiquarian

  Bernard Quaritch, London (United Kingdom) *

• ca. 1878 - ca. 1973

  museum

  The British Museum, London (United Kingdom)

• ca. 1973 - present

  study center

  The British Library, London (United Kingdom)