Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography

by Kenneth Hotham Vickers

Outside the University Library three Oxford Colleges can boast the possession of a manuscript which belonged to Humphrey. In the Library of Corpus Christi there is preserved a large folio volume (Corpus Christi MS., ccxliii.), containing numerous treatises of a philosophic nature in Latin, all in the handwriting of ‘Fredericus Naghel de Trajecto,’ and dated 1423 ‘in alma Universitate Oxoniensi.’ Amongst the most interesting items are Latin translations of the Phædo and Meno of Plato, the last of which concludes the volume, and is followed by Gloucester’s autograph, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don (some words are here erased) treschier en Dieu labbe de seint Albon.’ A note in a later hand tells us that in 1557 the manuscript belonged to a certain John Dee, who had bought it by weight. Though it cannot be stated definitely, as the earlier folios are missing, yet there seems little doubt that this volume did not ever belong to the University Library. At Oriel there is a manuscript to which we have already had reason to refer, the ‘Commentary on the Book of Genesis’ by John Capgrave (Oriel MS., xxxii.), which according to a concluding note was written between October 1437 and September 1438. The initial letter of the dedication contains a miniature in which a very simple-minded-looking monk is presenting his book to a still more simple-minded patron, evidently meant to represent Capgrave and Gloucester, though it gives no suggestion of portraiture. At the end of the Commentary the Duke has appended his autograph, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don frere Jehan Capgrave quy le me fist presenter a mon manoir de Pensherst le jour de lan lan [M] ccccxxxviii.’ This book formed part of the last donation of Gloucester to the University (Epist. Acad., 233).

In the Magdalen College Library another of Gloucester’s books is to be found. This is the copy of Ptolemy’s ‘Cosmographia’ (Magdalen MS., 37), which was given to Oxford in 1443, though the scribe who drew up the indenture of books transcribed the first words of the second folio as ‘vel toto’ (Epist. Acad., 236), while in the manuscript they are ‘vel tota,’ obviously merely a clerical error. At the end of this work an erased inscription, when treated with chemicals, reveals Humphrey’s autograph, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre.’ Bound up with the ‘Cosmographia’ in a sixteenth-century binding are three translations from the Greek by Antonio Pasini. The first of these is Plutarch’s ‘Life of Marius, which is dedicated to Gloucester, but the other two, though in the same hand, have no mention of the Duke. This volume, which in the present manuscript occupies the first sixty folios, has an erased inscription at the end, but all efforts to restore it fail to reveal any more than ‘Cest livre’ at the beginning, and a date at the end. No mention is made of this work amongst the books of Humphrey’s gifts, and therefore it probably never belonged to the Oxford Library; on the other hand, it may be one of the volumes that belonged to the Duke, for the inscription is placed at the end in the not very usual place that he nearly always used, and the first two words, in so far as they can be read, seem to be in his handwriting. Added to this, I believe this copy to be unique, so it is possibly a book acquired by Humphrey late in life, and never copied by his secretaries. It may be one of the volumes so vainly sought for by the University after the death of the donor.

In the British Museum there are nine volumes that once belonged to Gloucester. Among the Harleian manuscripts there is a treatise on heretics by William of Occam (Harleian MS., 33), which was one of the books conveyed to Oxford in 1443 (Epist. Acad., 233). Unlike all the other books known to have belonged to Humphrey, it bears no inscription, and depends for its verification solely on the correspondence of the first words of the second folio. The volume has been bound up with what seems to be part of a fourteenth-century collection of extracts from the Fathers, two folios of which appear at the beginning and two at the end. On the second of these folios is pasted a square slip of paper bearing Gloucester’s arms, roughly executed, and the inscription ‘Ex dono illustrissimi principis et domini. Domini Humfredi filii fratris regum et patrui. Ducis Gloucestrie comitis Pembrochie et magni camerarii Anglie.’ The wording of this label suggests that it was a kind of book-plate placed on the volumes of the Duke’s gifts to distinguish them from the other books in the Oxford Library, and the present appearance almost conclusively proves this. It is very dirty, and has evidently been exposed on the outside of a book, and the corners are worn away, as though it had been lifted from some other place. In all probability its original position was on a panel of the binding, and when this was renewed, it was removed to its present position on the spare leaves, which must have been inserted at the time of re-binding. That no other volume known to have been in the Oxford Library bears this label is no argument against the theory that all the books of Duke Humphrey’s gifts were thus marked, for the plunderer does not expend his pains in preserving the indications that his booty was once the property of another. The absence of these book-plates is only the result of the policy which has erased so many of the autograph inscriptions in Gloucester’s books, and thus increased the difficulty of tracing these volumes tenfold.

A still more interesting manuscript in the Harleian collection contains the first five books of Candido’s translation of Plato’s Republic (Harleian MS., 1705), and is evidently the same copy which was sent over from Italy by the translator, for the inscription in Gloucester’s handwriting on the verso of the last folio runs, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don P. Candidus secretaire du duc de Milan.’ The volume is beautifully written on fine vellum with many illuminated letters, but many of the leaves are now missing, and some of the illuminations have been cut out. Prefixed to the actual translation are the earlier letters exchanged between the Duke and his translator. The book has never belonged to the Oxford Library, doubtless because it contains only the first half of the Republic, and so Candido’s request that it should not be shown abroad in view of the corrections he had made in the translation was respected (Eng. Hist. Review, xix. 516). The translation of the Republic given to Oxford we must believe was the complete work, and this did not reach the Duke till some time after the copy of the first five books. These two Harleian volumes must be the books which Hearne refers to, when he says in 1714 that the Earl of Oxford possessed two manuscripts once the property of Gloucester (Hearne, Remarks and Collections, Oxford Hist. Society, 1885-1898, iv. 421).

A book from the Oxford Library is preserved amongst the Cottonian manuscripts in the British Museum, and consists of the collected ordinances and decrees of the Council of Constance (Cotton MS., Nero, E. v.). The last two folios are devoted to a short description of the origin of the Scotch nation, and the rights of the Kings of England over those of the sister kingdom. At the end of the last sentence Gloucester has written, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre lequel jachetay des executeurs maistre Thomas Polton feu eveque de Wurcestre.’

Several more of Humphrey’s books are still extant in the old Royal Collection of manuscripts, now in the British Museum. A beautifully illuminated fourteenth-century volume entitled Chroniques des Roys de France jusques a la mort de St. Loys l’an 1270 (Royal MS., 15, G. vi.) bears the inscription, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don des Executeurs le Seigneur de Faunhere,’ but it was not included in the gifts to Oxford. In the same collection there is a volume containing several translations of the works of St. Athanasius (Royal MS., 5, F, ii.). The original format of this manuscript is a matter of uncertainty. The first treatise begins abruptly without title or address, save in small letters above the text, ‘lege feliciter serenissime Princeps’; at the beginning of the second book of the treatise the title runs ‘Athanasii viri sanctissimi de humanitate verbi contra gentes liber secundus incipit ex graeco in latinum conversus per antonium Beccariam veronensem ad serenissimum ac illustrissimum principem ducem Gloucestrie dominum suum singularissimum.’ A fly-leaf, which may have been originally the termination of a volume, divides the first from the second treatise, which begins on folio 70. This ends on folio 91, and on the verso stands the Duke’s autograph, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre lequel jay fait translater de grec en lattyn par Antoyne de Beccara Veroneys mon serviteur.’ This may be the end of one volume, and the treatise which begins on the next page may be the opening of another one. It begins with a dedicatory epistle to Gloucester, which by its phraseology seems to be the opening of a new book (see [p. 377, note 1247]), and whereas the earlier part of the present volume is illustrated, this second portion has only the blank spaces left for such adornment. There are on this page none of the signs of wear which might suggest that it had been the first sheet of an independent volume, but it is possible that it was never much used, and only acquired late in life by Gloucester. A later owner may have bound up the two volumes together, and handed them down to us in their present shape. It seems thus most probable that in Duke Humphrey’s day this manuscript consisted of two volumes, else he would not twice have appended his autograph, nor probably have varied it in the same book, for an inscription at the end of the last treatise reads ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucester lequel je fis translater de grec en latin par un de mes secretaires Antoyne de Beccara ne de Verone.’ The first volume corresponds in its second folio to an entry in the Oxford Register (Epist. Acad., 767. The second folio in the register is marked ‘racti quae,’ whilst in the manuscript it is ‘rati quae,’ probably only a clerical error. The University scribe also misnamed the volume as ‘Athanasius, de Trinitate’), and so was part of the gifts to that University; the second probably never passed out of its owner’s hands till his death. At one time this manuscript, in its present shape, was in the possession of a certain Mr. Fowler of Hampton, near Cirencester (James MS., 30, p. 84).

A very interesting copy of the ‘Historia Anglie’ of Matthew Paris (Royal MS., 14, C. vii.) likewise belonged to Duke Humphrey, though it was not presented to Oxford. The ‘History’ is in the author’s own hand, but is continued down to 1273 by some other chronicler. When finished by Paris it was presented by him to the Abbey of St. Albans whence it may have been given to Gloucester by Wheathampsted. At the end there is an inscription, which when restored by a chemical reagent was read by Sir Frederick Madden as ‘Cest livre A moy Homffrey duc de Gloucestre’ (Introduction to Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum (Rolls Series, 1866-1869), pp. xxxviii-xl). The erasure has been so carefully effected that under all circumstances the words are hard to decipher, but a close inspection seems to reveal that the inscription is that of Humphrey, and that it follows the spelling which he invariably used: ‘Cest (not ceste) livre est A moy Homfrey(not Homffrey) duc de Gloucestre.’

Also in the Royal Collection there is a French version of the ‘Somnium Viridarii,’ originally written about 1376 (Royal MS., 19, C. iv.). ‘Le Songe du Vergier,’ as the French title runs, is in the form of a discussion, a method so popular at that period, between a knight and clerk on the question of the relative spheres of the spiritual and temporal powers. This manuscript, which was once the property of King Charles V. of France, is beautifully illuminated throughout, and is illustrated at the beginning of each of the two books of which it is composed. At the end an erased but just decipherable inscription reads, ‘Cest livre est a moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre (see Paleographical Society’s Facsimiles, Second Series, Plate 169, and also Paulin Paris, Manuscrits Français (Paris 1840), iii. 299-328). Neither this nor a still more beautifully adorned volume containing certain selected Psalms (Royal MS., 2, B. i.) was given to Oxford. This last is ornamented throughout with initial letters and pendants in gold and colours, those in the calendar at the beginning being particularly finely executed. On the first page of the text Gloucester’s arms appear in two different places, and the next page is headed by a minature, which we may perhaps take to represent the Duke kneeling at a Prie-Dieu, and being presented to the Saviour by one who may be St. Alban, or more probably David. Humphrey is here represented as quite a young man, which would agree with the date of the volume, which may be fixed about 1415. (See Facsimiles of MS. and Inscriptions, published by the Palæographical Society, Second Series, Plate 201.) Besides the Psalms and calendar above mentioned a few Latin prayers are added, and the whole is preceded by a dedication to God’s service. At the end stands the inscription, ‘Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre des seaulmes les quels jay esleus du saultier,’ of which the first part is only legible when restored by chemicals. Those who secured the books of the dead Duke were remarkably anxious to remove the traces of his ownership, even when they were not part of his gifts to Oxford. This book is an interesting personal relic of Gloucester, and apart from this it is also a very favourable specimen of the art of the period.

Amongst the Egerton manuscripts in the British Museum there is an English version of the Holy Scriptures, usually called Wycliff’s Bible, in two volumes, with the books up to the Proverbs omitted (Egerton MSS., 617 and 618). At the end is a calendar of the Gospels and Epistles for the year according to the Sarum use. The manuscripts bear no inscription, but we may surmise that it belonged to Humphrey by the presence of his coat of arms in the centre of the second folio above the text. This is not a conclusive proof of possession, as we have seen in the case of the book given by Wheathampsted to Oxford, but in the absence of any hostile evidence it may be accepted.

Yet one other book which may be put down among the possessions of Duke Humphrey survives in the British Museum, a vellum folio containing a medical treatise by the most famous of all the Arabian writers on surgery, Aboo-l-Kassim, who flourished in the latter part of the eleventh century. The title runs ‘Albucasis sive Albukassem Khalof Ebn Abbas Al-Zaharias Antidotarium per Lodaycum Tetrafarmacum e lingua Arabica translatum’ (Sloane MS., 248). At the end of the text an inscription has been erased and its restoration is impossible, though the first three words, ‘Cest livre est,’ can just be made out, and after this there seem to be traces of the big ‘A’ with the particular flourish the Duke always used when writing his name in his books. On the top of the first leaf is written ’Loyale et belle a Gloucester,’ and again on a blank leaf at the end in the same hand occurs ‘Loyale et belle de Gloucestre. Loyalement voster la Duchesse.’ These last two sentences are repeated on the next blank leaf. The meaning of these inscriptions is not evident, though we know that the Duke adopted the motto, ‘Loyale et belle.’ In default of better evidence they seem to suggest that the book, once the property of Gloucester, was given by him to his wife.