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When we think about book conservation centers, our mind goes to museums and libraries. In their archives, these centers keep thousands of books, manuscripts and drafts that, in some cases, we can consult. An example is the RAE, which has a digital library of almost 5,000 works what we can consult on-line. But another source of incalculable value are the archives of churches and cathedrals. The Vatican library is famous -because what’s there is tremendous and because it has been very filmy -, but it is not the only one.
And an example is what happened a few months ago in the Barcelona cathedral. The reason? We found what has been cataloged as the most important medieval Catalan manuscript of the last 100 years.
Church and culture. A few centuries have passed since the monks sat in their scriptorium to produce books, also from the manuscripts and copies of the Renaissance after the arrival of the printing press. Many of these works were kept in churches that functioned as a cultural archive. We may think that everything is well cataloged due to the centuries that have passed since they were kept, but the reality may be different and that, really, they have so much that… they don’t know what there is. And that’s where the Barcelona Cathedral comes into play.
Lost by the file. He Chapter Archive of the Barcelona Cathedral is impressive. In it, 257 codices, almost 41,000 scrolls and 13,570 volumes are kept. They perform tasks of restoring books, plans and documents, a crucial task to understand even better what life was like a few hundred years ago because there is everything: from maps to notarial, economic, liturgical documentation and cultural works.
In short, they have been collecting texts since the 9th century, making it one of the richest in Europe in terms of medieval documentation and, with so much work, it is easy for some to be overlooked. In fact, due to the chaos of the Civil warcataloging work continues and it is estimated that 20% remains pending. That work is bearing fruit and, from time to time, a treasure comes to light that shines brighter than the rest.
Song book. Found in 2023, but shared in February of this year, the Archive showed the world a songbook that they have cataloged as “the most relevant discovery of a medieval manuscript with troubadour poetry that has been made in the last 100 years.” The dean of the Barcelona Cathedral explained that “this valuable piece has been found in a miscellaneous collection, that is, documents that have arrived at the cathedral on loan or whose origin is unknown.”
When they rediscovered it in one of their inventories, their good conservation was guaranteed and they contacted specialists to study the content. And it is significant because it is a troubadour songbook from the first half of the 14th century and is composed of 13 sheets that contain 17 poems.
Very relevant. Troubadour manuscripts of great historical importance had already been found before, but none in this condition and with that number of works. Furthermore, the songbook stands out for its anticlerical character, its criticism of the social-political situation in Occitania, and it moves away from the traditional image of love and courtesy of other troubadours of the time.
According to the preliminary study carried out by professors of medieval literature at the University of Girona, it is a key work because “it contributes a new, very interesting piece to the puzzle of the medieval circulation of troubadour poetry in Catalan lands and of the cultural relationship between the crown of Aragon and Occitania”.
work to be done. According to professionals, it will allow us to better define the way in which the lyrics of the troubadours were copied and read in Catalonia and they affirm that it seems to have been written in the royal chancery or by the hand of a well-trained copyist. We must continue studying the work, but they point out that it is important because it is a clue that will allow us to define in which circles this type of poetry moved and, furthermore, it has similarity with the Catalan fragment Mh of four sheets and six poems.
This means that the ‘Catalan’ way of designing lyric manuscripts could have had a pattern at the time. To say the least, it is striking and these manuscripts tend to have extremely careful design. If you want to take a look at the works of all kinds that are kept in the Capitular Archyou can do it through this link or directly from the own file.
Image | Barcelona Cathedral, Archdiocesan Church of Barcelona
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