The Lindisfarne gospels and the early medieval world

Introduction: the Significance of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 35
The Text . . 35
Origins and Reception . . 36
What Did the Lindisfarne Gospels Mean to the Community of Faith and to its Maker? . . 38
What Did the Lindisfarne Gospels Mean to Wider Society? . . 39

1. The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 41
The World View . . 41
  East meets West . . 44
The Historical Background in Britain and Ireland: Constructing the Cultural Landscape . . 45
  Emerging into History: Prehistoric Roots and Roman Imperium . . 45
  The Aftermath of Empire: the early Anglo-Saxons and their Conversion . . 48
  Rebuilding Rome in Britain . . 57
  Creating the Cult of St Cuthbert: a Rallying Point for Reconciliation in the North . . 60

2. The Biography of the Book . . 63
Aldred's Colophon and Community Tradition concerning the Making of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 63
The Biographies of the Book's Makers . . 64
Transcription and Translation of Aldred's 'Colophon Group' . . 66
The Significance of Aldred's Additions . . 67
Genesis: the Book's Origins . . 70
The Scholarly Debate . . 70
The Lindisfarne Context for Production . . 71
The Lindisfarne Gospels and the Cult of St Cuthbert . . 72
The Viking Raid and the Later History of the Book . . 72
The Community of St Cuthbert - from Lindisfarne to Durham . . 74
Symeon of Durham and Possible References to the Lindisfarne Gospels in the Early 12th century . . 76
  Back to Lindisfarne? . . 77
The Dissolution and Later History . . 79
Later Medieval and Modern Additions and Ownership . . 79

3. The Text of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 83
The Place of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the Dissemination of Scripture . . 84
Wearmouth-Jarrow, the Ceolfrith Bibles and their Influence . . 85
The Lindisfarne Gospels' Textual Stemma . . 87
The Jerome Prefaces, the Canon Tables and the Gospels' Prefatory Matter . . 91
The Liturgical Evidence . . 92
Lindisfarne, Wearmouth-Jarrow and the Roman Rite . . 93

4. The Word made word: the Palaeography of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 95
The Text Script . . 95
The Lindisfarne Gospels and Insular Palaeography . . 95
  Palaeographical Description . . 100
  Punctuation . . 101
  Abbreviations . . 102
  Orthography . . 102
  Numerical Annotation and Corrections . . 102
Display Script and Major Initials . . 103
The Place of the Lindisfarne Gospels in Insular Display Scripts . . 104
The Use of Initials . . 105

5. The Art of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 107
Decorated Incipit Pages and Initials . . 108
Painted Crosses, Painted Prayer-mats, Painted Prayer . . 109
The Evangelist Miniatures . . 114
Early Christian Context and Insular Reception . . 116
The Lindisfarne Evangelist Miniatures and the Insular Tradition . . 117
Ornament: the Menagerie of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Vortex of Creation . . 123
Styles and Principles of Design .  125

6. The Making ot the Undisfarne Gospels . . 135
Technical Innovation Used in Planning the Layout . . 135
Divine Geometry . . 141
Palette and Painting Technique . . 143
Materials and Pigment Analysis . . 144
Naturalistic or Stylised, Iconic or Aniconic? Cultural Implications of the Fainting Style . . 148
Sacred Codicology: Assembly, Writing and Binding . . 149
  Procedures for Making a Medieval Manuscript . . 149
  The Membrane and Quires . . 150
Collation, Dimensions, Pricking and Ruling . . 151
Binding History . . 151
The Original Binding . . 151
The Nineteenth-Century Treasure Binding, the Earlier Treasure Binding and the Cottonian Rebinding . . 153

Conclusion . . 155
Preaching with the Pen: the Meaning and Making of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 155

General Reading . . 162
Collations, Transcriptions, Glossaries and Printed Editions of the Text of the Lindisfarne Gospels . . 162
Notes . . 163
Bibliography . . 170
Index . . 176