Computus is the method of calculating times and dates using rules based on mathematics and astronomy. The manuscript begins with a verse commonly found in computus manuscripts (‘Filius esto dei, celum bonus accipe gratis…’), followed by the main text of the compotus manualis (fols 1r–17r). The text contains the Cisiojanus (‘Circumsisio Domini, mensis Januaris’), a popular Latin poem that serves as a mnemonic for the calendar of saints’ feasts.

Written in a different hand at the end of the manuscript is a hand diagram (fol. 18v), labelled on its wrist as a ‘manus meditationis’, a meditation hand. Diagrams similar to this are often found in computus texts, encouraging the reader to use their own hand as an instrument for counting, or as a map for remembering information about the calendar. This hand, however, has a different function; it offers advice and a warning for the viewer to contemplate. Starting at the thumb, the viewer is told they have offended God (‘Deum offendisti’) without knowing how often (‘Nescis quotiens’). The fingers give the reader four ideas to meditate on (‘Meditate debes quod…’). Each concept emphasises the fleeting nature of life, and the importance of living it well.

On the sleeves at the wrist are written the names Robert Tofte and John Stacy. They were possibly the owners of the manuscript before Thomas Symes, an alumnus of the College, who donated the manuscript in 1610.

 

Literature: Neil R. Ker and Alan J. Piper, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, Volume IV: Paisley–York (Oxford, 1969), p. 603; Paul Yeats-Edwards, Winchester College (Warden and Fellows’ Library) Medieval Manuscript Collection: Brief History and Catalogue (London, 1978), p. 2; James M. W. Willoughby, The Libraries of Collegiate Churches, Vol. 2 (London, 2013), pp. 816–17; Seb Falk, ‘”El Capri Kylex”: A Franciscan Astronomical Mnemonic,’ Journal for the History of Astronomy 52, no. 3 (2021), pp. 267–88, p. 284, n.18.

Provenance: Given to Winchester College by Thomas Symes, 1610.

Location: Fellows’ Library