Cambridge University Library, Ff. i.27 is a composite manuscript at the University of Cambridge. It was formed by adding a 14th-century Bury St Edmunds book to a compendium of material from 12th-century northern England (items 1 to 11 in the Contents).[1] The latter compendium had once been part of Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS 66.[2] With its original content, it had at one time been at Sawley Abbey, though it was probably produced somewhere else, perhaps Durham.[3] It is a source for the Durham poem, which describes the city and its relics.[4]
Ff. 1.27 as a whole came together in the 15th century or later, but pages 1 to 236 are earlier; and paleographic evidence suggests that, with the exception of a continuation of Gildas' De excidio Britanniae dating to the 14th century, its material shares the same origin.[5] Ff. i 27 and Corpus Christi 66 manuscripts probably had a common origin with Corpus Christi College Cambridge MS. 139 ("CCCC 139") as well, part of Ff. 1.27 being written in the same hand as part of 139's version of the Historia Regum.[6]
| Item | Pages | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1–14 | Gildas, De Excidio Britanniae |
| 2 | 14–40 | Historia Britonnum (Nennian recension) |
| -- | 41–72 | 14th-century Bury St Edmunds book |
| 3 | 73–120 | Bede, De Temporibus |
| 4(a) | 122 | Preface to Symeon of Durham's Libellus de Exordio |
| 4(b) | 123–125 | Summary of Libellus de Exordio |
| 4(c) | 125–128 | Chapter headings for the Libellus de Exordio |
| 4(d) | 128–130 | Genealogy of Æthelwulf from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum (chs 115 and 116), Series Regum Northymbrensium and list of English bishoprics and shires |
| 4(e) | 129–186 | Symeon of Durham's Libellus de Exordio |
| 5 | 187–194 | A continuation of Libellus de Exordio to death of Geoffrey Rufus (died 1141), but including a passage on Hugh de Puiset (bishop of Durham 1153–1195) |
| 6 | 194 | List of Durham relics |
| 7 | 195–201 | Historia de Sancto Cuthberto |
| 8 | 201–202 | List of gifts from Æthelstan, king of England, to St Cuthbert |
| 9 | 203–220 | Æthelwulf, De Abbatibus |
| 10 | 221–236 | Richard of Hexham, De Statu et Episcopis Hagustaldensis Ecclesie |
| 11 | 237–252 | Gilbert of Limerick, De Statu Ecclesie |
| 253–471 | Later material including, among other works, Gerald of Wales's De Descriptione Hybernie, his Expugnatio Hibernica, Vita Sancti Patricii Episcopi |
Most of the rest afterward is material relating to Wales.[7]