A total of sixty manuscripts were digitized this week. A new pattern is developing with Barb.lat and Ott.lat as the most common fonds, with nineteen and sixteen respectively, and Vat.lat is the third common fond, with fourteen. Interestingly, considering that this week was Yom Kippur, 5 Hebrew manuscripts from the Urb.ebr collection were added. The week concludes with two each from Vat.ind and Ross and single contributions from Pal.lat and Vat.gr.

To the right is a rightly famous, if somewhat enigmatic, image, the flyleaf from Ott.lat.3. This is an early 11th C leaf, written either at Montecassino or in the near vicinity, containing the office for Tuesday and Wednesday of the second week of lent in Old Beneventan script and with Beneventan-style neumes. It is, however, neither the Beneventan nor Gregorian rite, but Ambrosian chant, most commonly found in Milan and vicinity. It is an odd quirk of the Cassinese chronicles and rubrics that they seem to refer to Beneventan chant as "Ambrosian" (perhaps to assert an older history to it in order to preserve it), but this is actual Ambrosian Ambrosian chant, and the oldest known witness to that repertoire. As it is also older than the Abbacy of Desiderius, beginning in 1058, it is possible, as Dom Hesbert believes, that it was Desiderius who brought true Beneventan chant to Montecassino, and before then the abby used the Ambrosian tunes.¹

Below is part of the border from f.1r of Ott.lat.42, a collection of sermons for Lent by Robertus de Licio.

1. A good analysis of this manuscript is in Boe, J. (1980). "A New Source for Old Beneventan Chant The Santa Sophia Maundy in MS Ottoboni lat. 145". Acta Musicologica, 52(2), 122–133. https://doi.org/10.2307/932489