These items comprise a suite of tables, with explanatory texts, explicitly linked to the key letter columns in the calendar. They are arranged in exactly the same order as the columns in the calendar, and in this respect MS 17 appears to be unique. In the commentary on the litterae punctatae table (fol. 22r-v), evidence is presented that this exceptional arrangement was the achievement of the Thorney scriptorium, and not copied from MS 17's exemplars. Contemporary English computi offer a marked contrast. Of the six key letter columns in the calendar of the Winchcombe computus, only one has a matching table; this is also the case with Glasgow Hunter 85. Cambridge University Library Kk.5.32 has two of four, Durham Hunter 100 two of six and Cambridge Trinity College O.2.45 four of six; in the two last manuscripts, the tables are buried amongst other materials, and not singled out as specifically related to the calendar.
2. Colours, crosses and acrostics: Abbo of Fleury's approach to calendar tables
The most distinctive characteristic of Abbo of Fleury's approach to computus is the role it accord to tables, a feature discussed in detail in the Overview to the Calendar. The tables in this section of MS 17 are typically Abbonian in several respects. First, each of the calendar tables is linked to a key letter system found in the calendar. Abbonian computus manuscripts like Berlin 138 and Bern 250, like MS 17, contain a table for every key letter column in the calendar; however, even in these manuscripts, the order of the tables does not match the order of the key letter columns, as in the case of MS 17. Secondly, MS 17 sometimes contains more than one table for the same key letter; redundancy was also typical of Abbo's computi. Thirdly, almost all these tables exhibit distinctive formal modifications introduced by Abbo, and one -- the Ephemerida on fols. 25r-26r -- was his original creation.
The visual aspect of computus tables seems to have mattered considerably to Abbo. He is especially fond of transforming rectangular tables into cross-shaped ones by extending "wings" on all four sides, and he is quite self-conscious and insistent about this innovation. One of the tables that he changes in this way is the pagina regularis table. Carolingian examples of this table are simple rectangles. But in Berlin 138 fol. 31v and Bern 250 fol. 24v, the cross shape of the table is very distinctive: a square central field contains the table proper, with the legends on four wings extending from the four sides. Moreover, Abbo goes out of his way to point out what he has done. In the Berlin manuscript, he writes, "This table, designed in the shape of a cross, we have explained above..." ("Hanc paginam supra exposuimus quae in crucis modum figuratur..."). In MS 17's version of the pagina regularis (fol. 23v) the wing effect is somewhat muted, as the table is extended on the two flanks and the top only, and the upper extension is overwhelmed by the imposition of the double arches. But the table is basically Abbonian nonetheless.
Abbo also takes pains to arrange his tables so that the viewer -- and anyone who copies the table -- cannot avoid noticing the cross form. For instance, in the Berlin 138 (fol. 34r) version of the AEIOV lunar-letter table, Abbo staggers the indicator numbers in the upper frame; this staggering serves no functional purpose, but it forceably widens the upper frame of the table into a "wing" to accent the cross shape. Similarly, he inscribes the dates of the seven embolisms in the lower frame -- a very useful reminder of the adjustments that will have to be made to the table in embolismic years -- but he inscribes them vertically. Again, the result is that the frame is pushed outward so that it forms the wing of a cross. In the Bern 250 version, the lower frame contains a table showing the litterae punctatae of full and hollow lunar months through the 19-year Paschal cycle -- data which has nothing to do with the AEIOV table, but whose inclusion makes the frame bulge out, so that the table will look like a cross. Copyists of Abbonian manuscripts seem to have gotten the message: for example, the scribe of Vatican Library Rossianus lat. 247 fol. 51r (s.XI, northern France) draws attention to the wings of the cross with a flashy chequerboard pattern, and adds a gratuitous feria table to the upper wing. By contrast, MS 17's version of the AEIOV table (fol. 24v) downplays the horizontal and especially the vertical wings, though they are still evident.
Abbo also uses colour in an individualistic way.1 Sometimes the purpose is to enhance the legibility of his tables. His explanatory texts are at pains to point out the reference function of letters written "ex minio" or "croceo", "uiridi" or "prasino" in the table. A good example of this functional use of colour is his rota de recursu epactarum in Berlin 138 fol.35r, where the explanatory text indicates that the epacts of the ogdoad are written in red and those of the hendecad in green. In a table showing the time the sun enters each of the zodiac signs through the 28-year solar cycle in Berlin 138 fol.39r, daylight hours are written in red and nighttime hours in black. Other Abbonian manuscripts elaborate upon the master's characteristic use of colour. In Rossianus lat. 247, fol. 52r, the letters in the centre of this litterae punctatae table have been written in black, rather than red, in order to form a cross -- a decorative, rather than a functional use of colour. In Cambridge Trinity College R.15.32, different coloured inks are used to highlight the kalends, nones and ides in the calendar, the zodiac signs in the pagina regularis (p. 30), and the letters of the AEIOV table (p. 32). It can be argued that using colour in this way is practical from a reference or pedagogical point of view; however, Abbo also attends to colour for its own sake, and he will mention the colours used in his tables even when they play no reference role. This is discussed further in connection with MS 17's copy of the Tabula Dionysii (fol. 30r). MS 17's tables are perhaps less flamboyant and self-conscious in their use of colour than other Abbonian manuscripts, but the lavish and brilliant aspect of the manuscript as a whole undoubtedly owes much to the influence of the Fleury master's computus aesthetic.
1 The strategic use of colour in computus tables is not his invention, being a feature of earlier Greek tables, such as those of St Maximus (580-662): Barbara Obrist, "Les tables et figures abboniennes dans l'histoire de l'iconographie des recueils de comput," in Oriens-Occidens 2004, 182. Nonetheless, Abbo is exceptional amongst western computists for his use of this device.
5. COMPUTUS TABLES AND TEXTS II fols. 22r-35r OVERVIEW OF CALENDAR TABLES (fols. 22r-27v)
1. Outline of the section
The section of "Computus Tables and Texts II" devoted to tables linked to key letters in the calendar comprises the following items:
These items comprise a suite of tables, with explanatory texts, explicitly linked to the key letter columns in the calendar. They are arranged in exactly the same order as the columns in the calendar, and in this respect MS 17 appears to be unique. In the commentary on the litterae punctatae table (fol. 22r-v), evidence is presented that this exceptional arrangement was the achievement of the Thorney scriptorium, and not copied from MS 17's exemplars. Contemporary English computi offer a marked contrast. Of the six key letter columns in the calendar of the Winchcombe computus, only one has a matching table; this is also the case with Glasgow Hunter 85. Cambridge University Library Kk.5.32 has two of four, Durham Hunter 100 two of six and Cambridge Trinity College O.2.45 four of six; in the two last manuscripts, the tables are buried amongst other materials, and not singled out as specifically related to the calendar.
2. Colours, crosses and acrostics: Abbo of Fleury's approach to calendar tables
The most distinctive characteristic of Abbo of Fleury's approach to computus is the role it accord to tables, a feature discussed in detail in the Overview to the Calendar. The tables in this section of MS 17 are typically Abbonian in several respects. First, each of the calendar tables is linked to a key letter system found in the calendar. Abbonian computus manuscripts like Berlin 138 and Bern 250, like MS 17, contain a table for every key letter column in the calendar; however, even in these manuscripts, the order of the tables does not match the order of the key letter columns, as in the case of MS 17. Secondly, MS 17 sometimes contains more than one table for the same key letter; redundancy was also typical of Abbo's computi. Thirdly, almost all these tables exhibit distinctive formal modifications introduced by Abbo, and one -- the Ephemerida on fols. 25r-26r -- was his original creation.
The visual aspect of computus tables seems to have mattered considerably to Abbo. He is especially fond of transforming rectangular tables into cross-shaped ones by extending "wings" on all four sides, and he is quite self-conscious and insistent about this innovation. One of the tables that he changes in this way is the pagina regularis table. Carolingian examples of this table are simple rectangles. But in Berlin 138 fol. 31v and Bern 250 fol. 24v, the cross shape of the table is very distinctive: a square central field contains the table proper, with the legends on four wings extending from the four sides. Moreover, Abbo goes out of his way to point out what he has done. In the Berlin manuscript, he writes, "This table, designed in the shape of a cross, we have explained above..." ("Hanc paginam supra exposuimus quae in crucis modum figuratur..."). In MS 17's version of the pagina regularis (fol. 23v) the wing effect is somewhat muted, as the table is extended on the two flanks and the top only, and the upper extension is overwhelmed by the imposition of the double arches. But the table is basically Abbonian nonetheless.
Abbo also takes pains to arrange his tables so that the viewer -- and anyone who copies the table -- cannot avoid noticing the cross form. For instance, in the Berlin 138 (fol. 34r) version of the AEIOV lunar-letter table, Abbo staggers the indicator numbers in the upper frame; this staggering serves no functional purpose, but it forceably widens the upper frame of the table into a "wing" to accent the cross shape. Similarly, he inscribes the dates of the seven embolisms in the lower frame -- a very useful reminder of the adjustments that will have to be made to the table in embolismic years -- but he inscribes them vertically. Again, the result is that the frame is pushed outward so that it forms the wing of a cross. In the Bern 250 version, the lower frame contains a table showing the litterae punctatae of full and hollow lunar months through the 19-year Paschal cycle -- data which has nothing to do with the AEIOV table, but whose inclusion makes the frame bulge out, so that the table will look like a cross. Copyists of Abbonian manuscripts seem to have gotten the message: for example, the scribe of Vatican Library Rossianus lat. 247 fol. 51r (s.XI, northern France) draws attention to the wings of the cross with a flashy chequerboard pattern, and adds a gratuitous feria table to the upper wing. By contrast, MS 17's version of the AEIOV table (fol. 24v) downplays the horizontal and especially the vertical wings, though they are still evident.
Abbo also uses colour in an individualistic way.1 Sometimes the purpose is to enhance the legibility of his tables. His explanatory texts are at pains to point out the reference function of letters written "ex minio" or "croceo", "uiridi" or "prasino" in the table. A good example of this functional use of colour is his rota de recursu epactarum in Berlin 138 fol.35r, where the explanatory text indicates that the epacts of the ogdoad are written in red and those of the hendecad in green. In a table showing the time the sun enters each of the zodiac signs through the 28-year solar cycle in Berlin 138 fol.39r, daylight hours are written in red and nighttime hours in black. Other Abbonian manuscripts elaborate upon the master's characteristic use of colour. In Rossianus lat. 247, fol. 52r, the letters in the centre of this litterae punctatae table have been written in black, rather than red, in order to form a cross -- a decorative, rather than a functional use of colour. In Cambridge Trinity College R.15.32, different coloured inks are used to highlight the kalends, nones and ides in the calendar, the zodiac signs in the pagina regularis (p. 30), and the letters of the AEIOV table (p. 32). It can be argued that using colour in this way is practical from a reference or pedagogical point of view; however, Abbo also attends to colour for its own sake, and he will mention the colours used in his tables even when they play no reference role. This is discussed further in connection with MS 17's copy of the Tabula Dionysii (fol. 30r). MS 17's tables are perhaps less flamboyant and self-conscious in their use of colour than other Abbonian manuscripts, but the lavish and brilliant aspect of the manuscript as a whole undoubtedly owes much to the influence of the Fleury master's computus aesthetic.
1 The strategic use of colour in computus tables is not his invention, being a feature of earlier Greek tables, such as those of St Maximus (580-662): Barbara Obrist, "Les tables et figures abboniennes dans l'histoire de l'iconographie des recueils de comput," in Oriens-Occidens 2004, 182. Nonetheless, Abbo is exceptional amongst western computists for his use of this device.