Clement of Llanthony (active in the mid-12^th century) was a clergyman, theologian, and a prior of Llanthony Priory. This manuscript contains the only known copy of parts one to three of his commentary on the four Gospels, which consists mainly of extracts from the Fathers of the Church. Clement wrote numerous theological works, though many do not survive.

The making of this manuscript is documented in detail in the College’s accounts. It originally formed part of a complete four-volume set of Clement’s gospel commentary, copied under the direction of Richard Julyan, Second Master of Winchester College until 1424 and a resident of Gloucester in the 1430s. Julyan was associated with the monastery of Llanthony Secunda just outside the city and the text of the manuscript was probably copied from the exemplar of Clement’s works recorded there in the 14^th century. In 1433 Julyan received payment for the first two volumes of the work and their carriage from Gloucester to Winchester. Further sums were paid in 1434 and 1436–37.

Large initials with intricate red and blue penwork mark the beginning of each chapter. These were drawn (or ‘rubricated’) by John Colman, a parish clerk of St John’s, Winchester, who often repaired, chained, and bound the College’s books. He also flourished MS11 (a copy of Odo of Cheriton’s sermons given in 1431).

 

Literature: Edward Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae in unum collecti, Vol. 2 (Oxford, 1697), p. 31, no. 1340; Herbert Chitty, ‘The Second Masters of Winchester College,’ The Wykehamist, no. 561 (March 1917), p. 106; Herbert B. Workman, John Wyclif: A study of the English Medieval Church, Vol. 2 (Oxford, 1926), p. 161, n.3; Walter Oakeshott, ‘Winchester College Library before 1750,’ The Library (1965), pp. 1–16, 14–16; Neil R. Ker and Alan J. Piper, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, Volume IV: Paisley–York (Oxford, 1969), p. 614; Paul Yeats-Edwards, Winchester College (Warden and Fellows’ Library) Medieval Manuscript Collection: Brief History and Catalogue (London, 1978), p. 5; James M. W. Willoughby, The Libraries of Collegiate Churches, Vol. 2 (London, 2013), pp. 614–15, 617, 692.

Provenance: Commissioned for Winchester College, 1432.

Location: Fellows’ Library