Sub-project: Fragmenta Bongarsiana
Start: March 2018
Status: In progress
Financed by: Burgerbibliothek Bern, swissuniversities, SNF
Description: Together with the Burgerbibliothek Bern, we have facilitated the digitization of approximately 150 fragments of parchment. Most of these are from the collection of Jacques Bongars (1554-1612), who had a philological interest in rare texts, as did Pierre Pithou (1539-1596) and especially Pierre Daniel (1530-1603), with whom Bongars was closely associated. Jacques Bongars and Pierre Daniel are among the earliest scholars to have shown an interest in fragments. The Bernese fragment collection is unique because it contains not only manuscript waste, but also a large number of manuscripts that have been transmitted in incomplete form, for example, with only a single quire or a part thereof to have survived. In the course of making these texts accessible through e-codices, many fragments were identified for the first time. Most of these were known texts or authors, but some spectacular new discoveries were made of previously unknown texts on biblical exegesis from the Carolingian epoch. In the coming years, the collection will be published in parallel in e-codices and in Fragmentarium.
All Libraries and Collections
Four bifolia (=1 quire) of a manuscript of French origin; it possibly consists of parts of the third book of a (World?-) Chronicle. The text, which is primarily compiled from Livy and Orosius, has not yet been identified and concerns events in Roman history from ca. 400 to 49 BCE. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Fragment of a 14th century French Trouvère manuscript. It contains 18 jeux-partis (17 with the participation of Jehan Bretel) and a fragment of the Prise amoureuse by Jean Acart de Hesdin; all chansons except for one are attested in the parallel version. The songs have been transmitted without notation.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a contemporaneous French translation of the Chirurgia parva by Lanfranc of Milan. This small-format booklet is incomplete; it presents the oldest remaining witness of the work; the other four surviving manuscripts all date from the 15th century. Based on a text comparison with the Latin version, one must probably assume the loss of a quire at the front as well as at the back.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
The Latin part of this fragment (f. 1r–3r) contains a collection of excerpts from various authors regarding sins and penance, morals, etc. The French part (f. 3v–4v) contains one or two poem(s) in verse, which seem to have survived only in this fragment.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a small-format manuscript with sermons by Maurice de Sully. It contains sermons 27–36, however, the quires are arranged incorrectly: the text of quire 2 (f. 9–13) is followed by the text of quire 1 (f. 1–8).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a panegyric on Queen Blanche of Navarre (1331–1398), consisting of almost 400 verses. The author Robin Comtet - who mentions himself toward the end of the piece - is not otherwise known. The poem seems to have been preserved only in this copy and has not yet been published.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment with an excerpt from the Continuation des Chroniques abrégées by Baldwin of Avesnes (for the years 1369–1370); the text for the events of the years 1342-1383 was adopted without changes for the Chroniques de Flandres. The additions twice contain the name of Robert Migaillot, canon at Laon, who gave this manuscript as a gift to his cousin in 1515.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Copy of a letter by Etienne du cimetière, prévôt d’Orléans, regarding Jean de Saint-Mesmin's confession to the maison de la chèvrerie, dated March 1331 (or 1337).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment (2 bifolia) of a French manuscript of Lancelot in prose. Based on the note of sale, perhaps related to the library of Jean Buridan, philosopher and professor at the University of Paris?
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This fragment contains two texts that were popular in France at the time: the French translation of the Consolatio Philosophiae by Boethius and of the confort d’ami by Guillaume de Machaut. The 8 pages are from a rich collection of fragments in the Burgerbibliothek of Bern; they were digitized as a complement to the library’s magnificently decorated Machaut manuscript (Cod. 218).
Online Since: 04/23/2013
Three leaves (1 folio, 1 bifolium) from a manuscript produced in Fleury that contained, among other things, poems by Gottschalk of Orbais. Other parts of this manuscript are in the Vatican (B.A.V., Reg. lat. 1616). In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Two leaves from a passionary possibly produced in Italy that contained the Passio of Pope Cornelius augmented by other pieces. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three bifolia from a manuscript produced in France containing excerpts on different theological themes. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Two bifolia from a small-format manuscript made in France containing various theological excerpts related to a collection of sententiae from the school of Anselm of Laon. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three bifolia from a manuscript probably produced in Fleury. Other parts of the manuscript can be found in Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 170. The fragment contains parts of the vita of saint Placidus and his disciples. In 1632, it came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Four bifolia (likely 1 quire) of a manuscript produced in France that contained John of Avranches’ explanations of the Divinum officium and Amalarius of Metz’s Ordo missae. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Four bifolia (1 quire) of a small book made in France. Other parts of this manuscript, written in a beautiful minuscule, can be found in Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 705. Damaged on the upper part, this fragment, containing Isidorus’ Synonyma, came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Single leaf of a manuscript probably produced in Micy with the miracles of saint Maximinus. The fragment subsequently belonged to Pierre Daniel and later came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolium of a Liber poenitentialis, not further identified, probably produced in Eastern France. It contains parts of book 24, as suggested by the running number written in the upper margin. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Six bifolia (perhaps 1 quire) of a manuscript produced in France, which contained a collection of as-yet unidentified exempla. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021