Manuscript: Jena, Germany, Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MS 9

Manuscript type: choirbook

RISM siglum: D-Ju 9

DIAMM Source Key: 1225

Image repositories: UrMEL

Folio(s): All folios

Date: c. 1515

Between 1509, when Henry VIII accessed the throne (heraldic arms and emblems, ff. 1v-2r), and 1525, when Frederick the Wise died (provenance). Flynn Warmington suggested a narrower date of 1515 or early 1516, based on her script chronology of scribe X (Warmington 1999, no. 17).

Provenance

1) Apparently prepared for Henry VIII (heraldic arms above which a helmet, chapeau and a crowned lion passant guardant, f. 1v; tudor emblems - greyhound, griffins and white and red rose - in initials and borders, ff. 1v-2r), but acquired by Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony. Three manuscripts from the Alamire scriptorium today in Jena (Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MSS 4, 7 and 9) contain heraldic arms of other rulers. Karl Erich Roediger suggested that all three manuscripts were made for Maximilian I (Roediger 1935, 11). As MS 4 contains portraits and heraldic devices of Maximilian I as well as of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Roediger assumed that at least MSS 4 and 9 were ordered as gifts for Henry VIII but when frictions developed between him and the English ruler in 1514 they remained with the Emperor and were sent later to Frederick the Wise (Roediger 1935, 7, 11). This hypothesis would explain how these manuscripts entered Frederick's collection. It contradicts, however, Flynn Warmington's dating of MSS 4 and 9 to 1516-1518 and 1515-1516 respectively, based on the chronology of her scribe X (Warmington 1999, nos. 13, 17). It remains furthermore unclear if MSS 4 and 9 were indeed ordered by Maximilian I as gifts for Henry VIII. 2). In the possession of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony (1486-1525), the manuscripts were probably used at the All Saints Church in Wittenberg. 3) When a later Elector, Johann Friedrich I, was deposed in 1547, he retired to Weimar, taking with him the court library. The collection was transferred to Jena in the following year to become the foundation of the library of the Hochschule (later Jena University).

Artists/Scribes

Person: Anonymous, Anonymous
Person type: artist
Note: Anonymous (ff. 1v-2r).

Person: Scribe C2, (member of Habsburg-Burgundian 'Alamire' workshop (Mechelen, Belgium))
Person type: scribe
Note: Copied in workshop of Petrus Alamire. Warmington distinguishes music and/or text hands C2, X. Scribe X copied the music of the more important first openings (ff. 1v-2r and ff. 7v-8r) as well as all the text and calligraphic initials. The remainder of the music was copied by scribe C2 (<a href="/bibliography/#entry931" data-tooltip="" class="has-tip tip-top reference" data-placement="top" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="" title="Warmington, Flynn, ‘A Survey of Scribal Hands in the Manuscripts’, in Kellman 1999, 41–6 "><i class="fa fa-book"></i>Warmington 1999</a>, no. 17).

Person: Scribe X, (member of Habsburg-Burgundian 'Alamire' workshop (Mechelen, Belgium))
Person type: scribe
Note: Copied in workshop of Petrus Alamire. Warmington distinguishes music and/or text hands C2, X. Music scribe C2 copied the music after the more important first openings (ff. 1v-2r and ff. 7v-8r).

Jena, Germany, Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, MS 9, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment

Number of leaves: i + 16 + i

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 610 x 425

Quire structure: Text version

Other devices: Modern Arabic foliation in pencil in upper right corner: 1-16.

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

All folios

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking	often
Ruled grid	normally
Ruling pattern	fairly regular
Staves omitted from grid	often
Incomplete staves	rarely, 3v, 8v, 14r

Medium and colour of grid	Frequency	Folios	Note
lead point	normally
Colour of staves	Frequency	Folios	Note
black	always
Ruling medium	Frequency	Folios	Note
single rastrum	always
Indentation for initials	Frequency	Folios	Note
double	normally		Only one stave indented for initial for bassus on f. 10r.
Extra space between voice parts	Frequency	Folios	Note
empty ruled staves on grid	rarely	11r, 13r, 14v, 15r
staves not ruled on grid	sometimes	6v, 10v, 12v, 13v, 14v, 15r, 15v, 16r
Space provided for separate text	Frequency	Folios	Note
no separate text	always

Copying of text and music

Language(s)	Latin
Order of Copying	music first always

Presence/absence of text	Voice part	Frequency	Folios	Note
fully texted with one text	all voice parts	always

Music

Colour(s) of notation	black
Type(s) of notation	void mensural
Type of notation note	rhomboid-shaped notation
Monophonic notation	absent
Level of calligraphy	very high

Non verbal performance instructions	Folios	Note
signes-de-renvoi	2v-10r, 13r, 14v	Three balls and a decorative loop (ff. 2v-9r, 10r, 13r, 14v) or a cross with four dots (ff. 9v-10r) in red ink.

Text 1

Types of script	display script
Types of script size position	Rubrics introduced by large initials for voice-names after the discantus, 'residuum' rubrics and instructions at the end of voice-parts on empty staves or in empty spaces.
Level of calligraphy	very high
Colour(s) of text	red

Text 2

Types of script	cursive (bastarda)
Level of calligraphy	very high
Colour(s) of text	black red Capital letters, important words such as 'Jhesu criste', 'sancto spiritu', etc and instructions written in red. Large calligraphic initials for discantus and following voice parts and 'residuum' rubrics written in red throughout.
Multiple texts	no
Text repetitions	few
Abbreviations	few
Non underlaid vocal text	none
Liminary text	none
Later changes	none

Decoration

Level of Decoration	high

Decoration miniature frequency		Folios		Size position	Description	Discrepancies
rarely		1v		1 miniature on opening page, 2 staves high and extended into the upper margin, introducing the discantus of a five-voice part (ff. 1v-2r).	Heraldic arms of Henry VIII above which a helmet, chapeau and a crowned lion passant guardant, surrounded by a representation of the garter with the inscribe motto 'Honi soit qui maly y pense' (Shamed be he who thinks evil of it).
Decoration border frequency	Border type	Folios	Size	Position	Description	Discrepancies
rarely	None	1v, 2r	partial borders: two- and three-sided	inner margin, lower margin, outer margin, upper margin	Partial trompe-l'oeil borders containing various flowers, strawberries, acanthus, birds, a peacock, butterflies, snales, a caterpillar and a monkey dressed as a fool who tries to catch a bird on opening page (ff. 1v-2r). The conspicuous white and red rose is known as the Tudor Rose, the plant badge of England.
Decoration initial type	Frequency	Folios	Initial type(s)	Size position	Description	Discrepancies
penned initials	normally			Calligraphic initials in red ink, 2 staves high, at the beginning of the discantus and the rubrics for the following voice parts.
initials planned	never
painted initials	rarely	7v		1 decorated initial set against a coloured ground, 2 staves high, extended into the upper and outer margins, introducing the discantus of a five-voice part (f. 7v).	1 decorated initial formed of calligraphic patterns set against a purple ground (f. 7v).	The rubric for the 'secundus tenor' is written out. The initial repeats the letter 'T' for tenor.
painted initials	rarely	1v, 2r		4 decorated initials set against bi-parted grounds, 2 staves high, introducing a five-voice part after the discantus on the opening page (ff. 1v-2r).	4 acanthus initials formed of italianising cornucopias, coloured acanthus, tree-branches, a flower, a bird, a greyhound and two griffins, partly attached to the top of the frame and set against geometrically bi-parted green and silver grounds (ff. 1v-2r). The greyhound and the griffins forming the letter B(assus imfimus) (sic!) on f. 2r were favoured Tudor heraldic beasts. The green and silver grounds of the initials (ff. 1v-2r) reflect Henry's livery colours.	The rubric for the 'secundus tenor' is written out. The initial repeats the letter 'T' for tenor.
Other decoration frequency		Folios	Other decoration type(s)	Size position	Description	Discrepancies
never

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