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Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis. Jaargang 21 (2014)

Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis. Jaargang 21

(2014)– [tijdschrift] Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis–rechtenstatus Auteursrechtelijk beschermd

Vorige Volgende

Ed van der Vlist
Books for the chapter
Donations in the ‘Registrum capituli Naeldwicensis’

A chapter without books is like a book without chapters. Willem van Naaldwijk (†1345), knight in the service of the count of Holland, must have thought along these lines when he founded the chapter of Naaldwijk in 1307. On the day of Saint Lucy of that year he, as a ‘collator’ of the church of Naaldwijk, installed six canons to be paid from the revenues of his church. The chapter was named after Saint Adrian. There was a lot of money involved in the foundation; there were enough means to support the college of canons, presided over by a dean, and maybe there would be some money left. From the outset Willem ordained that in case of a surplus, half of it would be used to augment the common revenues, the remaining part would be spent on the reinforcement of books or church ornaments. The foundation charter states: ‘Si vero aliquid superfuerit, una pars sit pro augmentatione communis proventus, reliqua vero pars pro librorum seu ecclesiae ornamentorum supplemento.’1 Books belonging to the chapter of Naaldwijk will be the subject of the present contribution.

Of course every church and every chapel had its own liturgical equipment. Here books were of primary importance. For instance, an inventory of the comital chapel at the court in The Hague, where in 1307 three altars were in use, lists two missals, two graduals, an antiphonary, a breviary and a psalter.2 Besides, a decent bible and at least the gospels seem indispensable. But individual canons sometimes also had their own non-liturgical books, if only one or two precious memories that reminded them of their study abroad, and in the face of death they often disposed of their earthly goods in favour of the chapters they were members of. As a result chapter libraries accumulated all kinds of books, predominantly on Roman and canon law, since quite many canons had a legal background.3

This also applies to Saint Adrian's chapter in Naaldwijk, where in 1369 the number of canons was increased with another six.4 Over the centuries canons, deans and other beneficiaries have bequeathed books to the chapter library. Who did so, and what books were involved? We are granted a glimpse of the library holdings thanks to a list of books recorded in a fifteenth-century register of the chapter. This medieval snapshot will be our point of departure. Other evidence on the library holdings will be presented in addition.

The book list in the Naaldwijk register

The ‘Registrum capituli Naeldwicensis’ is a thick (270 fols.) parchment codex containing lists and copies of archival documents relating to the chapter of Naaldwijk.5 Strangely enough it is not kept in the chapter archive, now in the Historisch Archief Westland at Naaldwijk, but in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek at The Hague, which it entered in 1809 as part of the collection of Jacob Visser (†1804), Grand Pensionary, a collector of old books and a pioneer in Dutch bibliography. It is not known how, where and when Visser obtained the register. Somewhere at the end of the register is the following list of books owned by the chapter of Naaldwijk:6

 

Registrum bibliothece capituli in Naeldwijc
[1]Speculum ecclesie a nativitate Christi usque ad inventionem Sancte Crucis inclusive
[2]Item opusculum domini Innocentii pape de officio altaris
[3]Item compendium theologye, vel veritas theologye
[4]Item quidam liber metricus et estimo quod sit scolastica metrice, vel pars eiusdem
[5]Item summa pauperum sive summula Ramundi
[6]Item sermones de sanctis
[7]Item Gemma anime de divino officio
[8]Item sermones Jacobi de Voragine
[9]Item breviloquium casuum confessorum
[10]Item passionale bene ligatum de toto anno
[11]Item passionale ab adventu Domini usque ad passionem eius inclusive
[12]Item passionale
[13]Item textus Sexti libri Decretalium
[14]Item commentum sentenciarum
[15][I]tem compendiu[m] libri sentenciarum
[16][I]tem liber in quo diverse bone materie habentur, scilicet casus circa penitenciam, miracula, statuta et situs Terre Sancte
[17][I]tem een boec in Duutsch et vocatur bestiarius
[18][I]tem summa Gwidonis Fabe et sompnium morale Pharaonis
[19][I]tem meditaciones beati Bernardi, regula beati Benedicti, regula beati Augustini
[20][I]tem tractatus de articulis fidei
[21][I]tem quidam formularius in papiro
[22][I]tem horologium eterne sapiencie
[23][I]tem pastorale Gregorii et legavit dominus Henricus die Wielmaker, sed pecit fieri festum compositum de sancto Adriano secundo die marcii, sed adhuc non est hoc completum nomine suo sed alieno, scilicet per Ermengaerdi relictam Hugonis Nicolai
[24][I]tem diversos libros legavit capitulo magister Theodoricus filius Walteri satis bonos competenter et illos eius executores posuerunt in cista capituli et quia multi fuerunt et parva volumina, non sunt sub nominibus posita quibus nuncupantur, eo quod modici valoris in pecunia fuerunt.


illustratie
Figure 1. ‘Registrum bibliothece capituli in Naeldwijc’: the book list of the chapter of Naaldwijk. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, ms. 73 E 38, fol. 267r




illustratie
Figure 2. List of the deans of the chapter of Naaldwijk. The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, ms. 73 E 38, fol. 24v


The book list raises some questions we have to deal with. How old is this list? How did the books arrive at the chapter library? Does the list contain all the books donated to the chapter? Are there any printed books in it? And what has become of the books?

The date of the book list

The first thing that strikes is that the list is not written outright. Several scribes can be discerned, who wrote on different occasions.7 The first scribe, scribe A, used a formal littera textualis. He wrote the heading and items [1]-[12], and afterwards rather clumsily added item [13]. As will become clear, this scribe did not care about the chronological sequence of the legacies. He was responsible for the compilation of the register, during the first and second decades of the fifteenth century.8 Elsewhere in the codex, on fol. 24v,

the same scribe gave details on the deans of the chapter up to 1384 (figure 2). If we hypothesise that it were the deans themselves who recorded these data, scribe A must be identical to Johannes Arnoldi or Jan Aarndsz., who headed the chapter for nearly forty years, from 1384 until his death on 27 November 1422.9 Scribe B added item [14] to the list, in a less formal littera cursiva. The same hand was active in the register around 1415-1420. This might have been written by Jan Aarndsz. as well, albeit using another script at a later time.

By all means the lower part of the book list is written by one penman using different scripts. Scribe C wrote items [16]-[21] in a littera textualis, while scribe D used a littera cursiva (a script with loops) to set down items [15], [22]-[23] and [24] in two stages. On fol. 24v scribe D recorded the election and death of dean Jan Aarndsz. and subsequently the election of the next dean, Heynricus filius Robberti or Hendrik Robbechtsz., in 1422, leaving open the date of resignation or death. We may assume that scribe D was dean Hendrik Robbrechtsz. himself, who died on 29 April 1460.10 His hand is found throughout the register, copying and summarizing testaments of canons and other benefactors of the chapter from 1423-1458.11 Frequently the headings above his texts - and his texts exclusively - are supplied in the littera textualis of scribe C.12 Scribes C and D therefore are manifestations of the same person, who wrote items [15]-[24] of the book list in three stages. The ‘Registrum bibliothece capituli in Naeldwijc’ was an initiative of a few, maybe not more than two, individuals, possibly deans of the chapter.

Having established a date ante quem for the book list of 1460, we do not have to allow for printed books; all books mentioned are manuscripts. How did these books arrive at the chapter library?

The acquisition of the books

Concerning the external features of the book list another observation has to be made. Several items on the list are connected by means of drawn ink lines to clarify the acquisition of the books. Scribe A united items [7] and [8] with a note ‘Testamentum domini

Nycolai de Poel curati’, and items [9]-[10] with ‘Testamentum domini Kerstantii canonici’. Scribe C wrote ‘Testamentum domini Jhoannis Arnoldi decani’ in the inner margin, connecting items [15]-[22]. So these benefactors were a curate, a canon and a dean of the chapter. We will introduce them and their books before turning to the other items on the list.

The books of Claas van den Poel (†1409)

The priest Nicolaus de Poel or Claas Claasz. van den Poel junior was a canon of the chapter and a curate of the church, charged with pastoral care in the parish.13 He died on 15 March 1409.14 Five months earlier, still of sound mind and reason but already in feeble physical condition, he had his last will drawn up, in which he left a certain book of sermons to the chapter: ‘Item capitulo quemdam librum sermonum qui vocatur Vorago’.15 Without any doubt we can identify this with item [8] of the ‘Registrum bibliothece’, the sermons by the Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (†1298). The author was named after Vorago, nowadays Varazze, the place of origin of his family, near Genoa. He composed three large collections of model sermons: the Sermones de sanctis et festis relating to saints and liturgical feasts; the Sermones dominicales or Sermones de tempore for Sundays and Christ feasts; and a collection of sermons for Lent, the Sermones quadragesimales. All three collections were successful instantly. Over a thousand extant medieval manuscripts contain preachings by Voragine, which is more than of any other sermon author.16 It is impossible to determine which of the three collections Claas van den Poel bequeathed to his chapter.

The other book donated by Claas van den Poel according to the book list, item [7], is the Gemma animae by Honorius Augustodunensis, a productive writer active in the first half of the twelfth century traditionally connected with Autun in Burgundy, though this connection is nowadays generally rejected. It comprises an allegorical view of the liturgy and its practices, which is preserved in more than two hundred manuscripts.17 The book is not mentioned in Van den Poel's testament of 1408, so he presumably acquired it in his final months of life.

The books of Kerstant Hendriksz. (†1406)

Kerstant Hendriksz. was a priest as early as 1372 and 1376.18 He made his last will as a canon of Naaldwijk in 1404 and then bequeathed two books to the chapter:19 ‘Item lego capitulo antedicto ad opus canonicorum studere volentium Summa Johannis Monachi et meum passionale, tali conditione apposita, quod capitulum concedet domino Johanne filio meo dictum passionale ad vitam suam.’ Both books were recorded in the book list in or shortly after 1409.

At first sight it looks like canon Kerstant left his studious colleagues in Naaldwijk a work by the French canonist and cardinal Johannes Monachus or Jean Lemoine (†1313). Lemoine's best-known fruit of labor, the Glossa aurea on the Liber sextus, however, does not qualify as a manual or ‘summa’, nor did he write another text that earns this epithet. ‘Summa Johannis Monachi’ rather refers to the Summa confessorum by a ‘real’ monk, the Dominican Johannes Rumsik, prior of Freiburg (†1314). As a matter of fact, this work is described in exactly these words in the prologue of a copy of the early fifteenth century.20 An exemplary manual for confessors, the Summa confessorum is both a synthesis of canon law and a book on moral theology. Around two hundred manuscripts with the text have as yet been traced, but a modern printed edition is lacking.21 Having identified the first book in Kerstant Hendriksz.'s testament, there is no difficulty in linking it with item [9] of the book list; moreover, Freiburg's Summa was occasionally called ‘Breviloquium casuum confessorum’, for instance in a fourteenth-century manuscript later in Kaliningrad.22

The second book in the testament, the canon's ‘passionale’, certainly was a collection of saints' lives. And the best known ‘liber passionalis’ is the Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine, the Ligurian we have already met, one of the most popular works of the later Middle Ages. His legends have survived in a stupendous number of manuscripts that are found in almost every European library.23 In it the hagiographies are arranged chronologically by their feast day and divided into parts that together cover a full cycle of a year. Although we can not be absolutely sure about the identification, Kerstant Hendriksz.'s ‘passionale’ was arranged in the same way, as demonstrated by the addition ‘de toto anno’, meaning for the whole year, at item [10] of the book list, a ‘book well bound’. The canon bequeathed his book under the condition that the chapter would grant it to

his son Jan during his lifetime. But this is not what happened. After Kerstant's death on 22 September 1406,24 the heir and the chapter mutually agreed that the ‘passionael’ would remain in the chapter and that the canons in return would annually accomplish services in memory of Jan's soul.25

Furthermore, Kerstant Hendriksz. left his breviary, a liturgical book containing texts for everyday use in the Divine Office, to his relative Hendrik Robbrechtsz., whom we have already met as a later dean of the chapter and one of the scribes of the book list.26

The books of Jan Aarndsz. (†1422)

Dean Jan Aarndsz. was the donor of eight items ([15]-[22]) on the book list, all noted down by his successor. Before Jan became a dean, he was a canon and a curate.27 His first testament dates from 1414.28 In it he bequeathed six books to his chapter (here preceded by the corresponding numbers from the book list in advance):

Item legat sepedicto capitulo istos subscriptos libros
[15]Compendium sentenciarum
[18]Summam Gwidonis Fabe
[22]Horologium eterne sapientie
-Compendium theologie scriptum in parvo volumine papireo
[16]Questiones de diversis casibus circa penitentiam in papiro
[19]Et quendam librum continentem in se expositionem de advocacia beate virginis Marie, necnon Salve regina, Pater noster, Ave Maria, Miserere mei Deus. In eodem meditaciones beati Barnardi, regulam Benedicti, necnon Augustini.

The ‘Compendium (librorum) sentenciarum’ must be a summary of (books on) sentences of some kind. Maybe it is equal to a further unidentified compendium by the leading theologian in Paris, Hugo of Saint-Victor (†1141), attested twice in fourteenth-century English catalogues.29 A twelfth-century Summa sententiarum is usually ascribed

to Hugo of Saint-Victor, but this attribution is questionable, and moreover this seems to be a completely different work.30 The dean of Naaldwijk can impossibly have bequeathed the commentary by the French Franciscan theologian Nicolas d'Orbellis (†1475) that circulated as Compendium super sententias, because this work was written long after Jan Aarndsz. had deceased. The author of Jan Aarndsz.'s compendium remains unknown.

No problem is posed by the author of the next book mentioned in Jan's testament. It is Guido Fava or Faba, a rhetorician from Bologna who died around 1240. His most important treatises - and the only ‘summae’ he wrote - are the Summa dictaminis and the Summa de vitiis et virtutibus,31 and it is hard to choose which of the two was present at Naaldwijk in 1414. A slight preference for the former might be expressed because item [18] of the book list clarifies that Jan Aarndsz.'s copy of Faba's Summa was accompanied by the Morale somnium Pharaonis, a thirteenth-century ‘Fürstenspiegel’ in twenty model letters by the Paris master Jean de Limoges.32 Both works concern the art of letter writing, a central part of the medieval study of rhetoric for the teaching of which both Bologna and Paris were important centers. Quite surprisingly, texts of Guido Faba and Jean de Limoges are almost never preserved in the same manuscript.33

The ‘Horologium eterne sapientie’, equal to item [22] of the book list, is of course the treatise by the Rhineland mystic Heinrich Seuse or Suso (†1366).34 It received great popularity in Suso's homeland, Germany, but also in the Netherlands, France, England and Italy. If one can judge a book's impact by the number of its extant manuscripts, the Horologium sapientiae was surpassed in popularity in the later Middle Ages only by Thomas a Kempis' Imitatione Christi.35

A good candidate for the ‘Questiones de diversis casibus circa penitentiam’, a manuscript on paper, is the Summa de poenitentia, also known as Questiones ac varii casus circa

penitenciam, attributed to the scholastic philosopher Hendrik van Gent (†1293).36 It is obviously the same manuscript as item [16] in the register, where the codex is more extensively defined as a book on several useful matters, namely a tract on penitence, miracles, statutes, and something called ‘situs Terre Sancte’. The miracles and statutes can not be identified properly; the last words relate to a description of the Holy Land. It is impossible to make out what text in particular is meant here. We could think of De situ Terrae Sanctae by Theodosius (sixth century), but equally of a work by Oliver of Paderborn (†1227), and many others.37

Next in Jan Aarndsz.'s last will is his ‘Compendium theologie’, written in a small paper volume. It immediately recalls item [3] of the book list, ‘Compendium theologye, vel veritas theologye’, but it can not be identified with this item for two reasons. First because it is not in the range of the testament of Jan Aarndsz., indicated by the ink lines in the margin of [15]-[22]. And second because scribe A, who wrote down the third item of the book list, supposedly was Jan Aarndsz. himself, whom we can hardly suspect to have anticipated his legacy. It is plausible, however, that in both cases it concerns the same work, the Compendium theologicae veritatis, also known as Veritas summarum theologiae, a widespread manual of practical theology, often ascribed to Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura and many others. Nowadays the Dominican Hugo Ripelin of Strasbourg (†1268) is considered to be its author. Again we are dealing with one of the most popular theological works of the later Middle Ages in western Europe. At least eight hundred manuscripts with this text survive.38 The text was a main source for Dirc van Delf's Tafel van den kersten ghelove.39 Maybe the chapter of Naaldwijk received a double at the death of the dean in 1422, which was rejected or removed because the work was already available. On the other hand, one can argue that the dean could have known in 1414 that his post mortem present was already at hand in the chapter library.

Instantly identifiable is a book with meditations by Saint Bernard and the rules of both Benedict and Augustine; the same texts are mentioned in the book list. The Meditationes de interiori homine circulated widely in the later Middle Ages as a work of the Cis-

tercian abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (†1153).40 Its deals with self-knowledge as the beginning of true wisdom, as is revealed by its opening words: ‘Multi multa sciunt, et se ipsos nesciunt’ - Many who know many things do not know themselves. The rule of Benedict of Nursia (†547) was the leading guide with precepts for communal monastic life, while the rule of Augustine of Hippo (†430) became the standard rule by which secular, non-monastic clerics such as canons regular ordered their lives.41 It is very uncommon to find both rules bound together. According to Jan's last will, the same codex also held some other works. It allegedly opened with an exposition on the Advocacia beatae Mariae, which might just be the Processus Satanae ascribed to Guy de Collemède (†1309), bishop of Cambrai.42 This curious text reports on a lawsuit started by the devil, wherein the virgin Mary acts as a lawyer on behalf of the human race. Strikingly, at the end of this story, after Mary has won her case, the angels sing the Salve Regina - and this hymn happens to follow immediately in the codex bequeathed to the chapter of Naaldwijk. Together with the following Pater Noster, Ave Maria and Miserere mei Deus it belongs to the best-known songs and prayers in christianity.

Three items from the book list in the range of Jan Aarndsz.'s bequests, items [17] and [20]-[21], are not mentioned in his testament of 1414 at all - the legator likely acquired them after he made his last will. Of these the ‘boec in Duutsch et vocatur bestiarius’, the Dutch book called bestiarius, is the most spectacular. Bestiaria, or Books of beasts, are manuscripts with didactic-moralistic expositions on animals, especially on their name, nature and behaviour. They are often richly illuminated and were translated into various vernaculars. As early as the thirteenth century a priest in Aardenburg, Willem Utenhove, adapted a French version into Dutch verses, as we know from Jacob van Maerlant.43 Leaving aside Maerlant's own Der naturen bloeme - which is not a proper bestiary according to modern scholarship, but was nonetheless denoted so by the author himself - as a possible candidate, only a fragment of such a rhymed work in Dutch has come down to us, called Die beestearis.44 It is closely related to Richard de Fournival's Bestiaire d'amour, but we cannot even be certain that this is the text

authored by Utenhove, nor can we be sure that this is the text available in Naaldwijk at the death of the dean in 1422.

The ‘Tractatus de articulis fidei’ cannot be anything else than Thomas Aquinas (†1274), Summa de articulis fidei et ecclesiae sacramentis; a short work on the articles of faith, with an explanation of the sacraments.45

The presumption that Jan Aarndsz. purchased more books after he made his testament is confirmed by an addition to his last will he made five years later. On this occasion he withdrew a sum of sixty pounds in hard ‘Holland’ cash he had destined for the augmentation of prebends in 1414, in exchange for an even higher value due to books he had bought in the meantime.46 The books dean Jan could have had in mind were the Dutch Bestiarius and Aquinas' treatise, and finally item [21] of the book list, of which not much more can be said than that this was a kind of paper formulary.

The books of Hendrik de Wielmaker (†1434) and Dirk Woutersz. (†1445)

Of two more items in the book list the provenance is known. Hendrik de Wielmaker, a priest who died on 27 July 1434 and was buried at the convent of Mary Magdalene near 's-Gravenzande,47 left the Regula pastoralis, pope Gregory the Great's (†604) work on leadership and pastoral practice (item [23]).48 In return the chapter was asked to install a special feast in honour of saint Adrian, the church's patron saint.

Various books united under [24] came into the possession of the chapter via master Dirk Woutersz., a canon who died on 27 February 1445.49 Though his books were good enough, they were of little monetary value and were put in a chest (which implies that the other books were not kept in the same way). The registrator did not endeavour to write down their contents.

Books of unknown provenance

With this not all books on the list are accounted for yet. Ten items, [1]-[6] and [11-14], reached the chapter in an unknown way. Most of them can be identified as known texts.

The first item on the book list is the twelfth-century Speculum ecclesiae by Honorius Augustodunensis, the enigmatic author whom we have already met. It is a prolific complementary guide to the liturgy, providing relevant sermons for practicing priests, but with a huge impact on the lay public. It survives in over two hundred manuscripts, half of them still from the twelfth century.50 The identification is consolidated by the additional information about the content of the Naaldwijk codex: Honorius' first topic - after some short preliminary texts - is ‘De nativitate Domini’ and nearly halfway he treats ‘De inventione Sancte Crucis’. So this must be the first of a two-volume set.

The second item is a small work by cardinal Lotario di Segni (†1216), who in 1198 was to become pope Innocent iii: De missarum mysteriis, a commentary on the mass often incorrectly called De officio altaris vel missae.51

The third item, the Compendium theologiae, has already been dealt with; and the fourth is a book with some kind of metrical text. The registrar thought it might be a ‘scolastica metrice’ or part of it. Presumably he was thinking of a Vita scolastica in metrical verses. The Milanese teacher Bonvesin de la Riva (†c. 1315) wrote such a text, De vita scholastica, a poem on good behaviour for students at school and elsewhere, with several inserted ‘exempla’ in prose. It is otherwise known as De discipulorum preceptorumque moribus and Scolastica moralis.52 It is a short text, not even a thousand verses, which might be the reason it was presumed incomplete. Maybe one of the canons brought this book to Holland after studying in northern Italy.

The fifth item of unknown origin is Magister Adam (‘Teutonicus’), Summa pauperum or Summula de summa, a shortened metrical version of Raimundus de Peñaforte's (†1275) Summa Raymundiana, composed around the middle of the thirteenth century by the Bavarian Cistercian Adam von Aldersbach, though sometimes erroneously circulating as a work of the Dominican Adam von Gladbach (†1408) from Cologne.53 The Summa Raymundiana, a practical manual for confessors, is a combination of Peñaforte's Summa de poenitentia or Summa de casibus conscientiae and his Summa de matrimonio;54 hence it is also known as Summa de poenitentia et matrimonio. Magister Adam's metrical

composition was succesful as a mnemonic guide to morality for a long time and was printed several times before 1500.

A description like ‘Sermones de sanctis’ (item [6]) is too general to ascertain the nature of the book any better than as a collection of sermons on saints. The same holds true for the ‘passionale’ (item [12]). Both can refer to works by Jacobus de Voragine, discussed with items [8] and [10], or to any other compilation. The other passionale of unknown origin (item [11]) comprises saints lives from Advent to Passion Sunday, the winter part (did the other passionale then contain the summer part?).55 This might likewise be a part of the Legenda aurea or of any other collection of chronologically arranged hagiographies.

Two more items on the book list have to be dealt with. Item [13] is the Liber sextus decretalium, a collection of canonical legislation in five books issued by pope Boniface viii in 1298.56 It is a continuation of the five books with Decretales promulgated by Gregory ix in 1234. Apparently the Naaldwijk manuscript did not have any glosses.

Item [14], finally, in all likelihood is a commentary on Petrus Lombardus' mid-twelfth-century systematic compilation Libri quatuor sententiarum, the standard textbook of theology at medieval universities. Except for the Bible itself, no work of Christian literature was commented upon more frequently; writing a commentary on the Sentences was required of every master of theology. Best known are the commentaries by Thomas Aquinas57 and Bonaventura.58 There is no way to tell who was the author of the Naaldwijk ‘commentum’.

Other donations of books

The ‘Registrum bibliothece capituli in Naeldwijc’ does not record all books owned by the chapter.59 Books donated to the chapter appear in its archives early and quite often, most of them however without leaving any other trace, despite explicit attempts to preserve them for posterity. Mostly these concern liturgical books, especially breviaries, but now and then theological and juridical books come to light.

In 1340, four days before his death, canon Jan van Noortich or Jan Allart bequeathed the chapter with his missal and his passionale, to remain forever in the church (figure 3); he left his sermons, breviary, and his decretales to the executors of his testament.60

Martin van Zomeren, from 1320 until his death in 1365 the second dean of Naaldwijk, assigned his large breviary to the church, for the benefit of the chapter, with the restriction that it was never to be sold.61



illustratie
Figure 3. Testament of Jan van Noortich (†1340), in vidimus 1347. Naaldwijk, Historisch Archief Westland, Chapter archive, inv. no. 17


A little more complicated is the fate of another dean's breviary. Gerrit van der Burch lead the chapter of Naaldwijk from 1382 to his death in 1384.62 At least three testaments of him are known, none of them mentioning any books. In his last testament, drawn up the day before he died, he appointed his relative Jan Spruut to be both his true heir and one of the executors. Among the other executors was Willem van der Haer, canon of the chapter.63 After Gerrit had died, ‘outsider’ Jan Spruut wanted to dispose in favor of the chapter of a breviary he inherited from dean Van der Burch, but this book was withheld by Van der Haer, who claimed to be in his right as an executor of the testament. The controversial breviary caused some friction between the canon and his chapter. The dispute was finally settled in 1388-1389, after Van der Haer had indemnified the chapter with a sum of five pounds.64 Obviously at that time there were sufficient breviaries available in the chapter. For the same reason the small breviary once owned by the priest Harbaren de Coster was sold around the turn of the century.65

Of course canons more often bequeathed books to relatives. Priest Jan Bartholomeusz. in 1396 left his breviary to his cognate Willem Jacobsz.66 and a century later Dirk van Poelgeest left his ‘best books and clothing’, among other things, to his nieces and nephews.67 It also happened more often that an executor received a book from a testator. Master Jacob Storm (†1474), himself a canon of Naaldwijk, inherited a book with sermons in accordance with the last will of his colleague priest Bartholomeus Pietersz. (†1454), who had appointed him as an executor of his testament.68 At the same time Bartholomeus left all his other books - except for one - to his two nephews Dirk Gerritsz.

and Pieter Jansz., along with the returns of his ‘diurnale’, a book with the texts for the office read during the day, that had to be sold without delay. The book that Bartholomeus excluded was his copy of the Gnotosolitos by ‘doctor decretorum’ Arnold Geilhoven of Rotterdam (†1442): this was intended to go to the chapter library.69 The Gnotosolitos (or Speculum conscientiae, as it was also known) is a massive work on canon law and morals.70 A short version of this text, known as Gnotosolitos parvus, was intended to serve students in Louvain and Deventer, and is preserved in only one manuscript.71



illustratie
Figure 4. Last will of Bartholomeus Pietersz. (†1454). Naaldwijk, Historisch Archief Westland, Chapter archive, inv. no. 26


It is noteworthy that Bartholomeus Pietersz.'s present did not make it into the ‘Registrum bibliothece’; we can move the date ante quem for the book list back a little further to 1454.

Early printed books?

As concluded earlier, the book list only refers to manuscripts. But very likely the chapter library also received printed books. The bequest of master Frank Willemsz. de Bruin of Leiden (†1480), a doctor of canon law and dean of the chapter since 1460, is not recorded in the list, even though his testament is summarised in the register.72 Frank enriched the chapter library with the Postilla super totam Bibliam, the major work of the Franciscan scholar Nicolaus de Lyra (†1349).73 The Postilla is a vast commentary on the entire Bible and the most-consulted manual of exegesis until deep in the sixteenth century. It influenced generations of theologians, including Martin Luther. The saying ‘Si Lyra non lyrasset, Lutherus non saltasset’ - if Lyra had not played his lyre, Luther would not have danced - expresses the indebtedness of the Reformation to one of the foremost exegetes of all times. The dean could have owned the Postilla super totam Bibliam printed in five volumes in Rome and Strasbourg by 1472, or another edition printed in Strasbourg before 1477 in three volumes.74

The chapter also acquired Thomas Aquinas' Secunda secundae, a section of his famous Summa theologiae, one of the most influential works of western literature. Aquinas' Summa explains the Christian faith to beginning theology students. The second part deals with general principles of morality, the second part of the second part treats with morality in particular, including individual virtues and vices. The Secunda secundae circulated separately and was printed before 1464.75

Similarly no later donations show up in the book list, not even if they consisted of more than just one or two books. Master Martijn Jansz. van Delft (†1494), canon of Naaldwijk and ‘bacalarius’ in theology, bequeathed the chapter with:76

Decretum, Decretales, Sextum, Clementinas et Instituta in uno volumine
Quinque volumina Panormitani
Tres partes cronice Anthonini
Et quatuor volumina Jo. Gerson.

Considering that Martijn had studied theology, the presence of important legal books in his legacy is remarkable. The Corpus iuris canonici - the great collection of sources of canon law - is represented by the Decretum or Concordantia discordantium canonum compiled by Gratian around the middle of the twelfth century, the Decretales or Liber extra of Gregory ix (†1241), the Liber sextus of Boniface viii (†1303; cf. item [13] on the book list), and the Constitutiones Clementinae of Clement v (†1314), promulgated by John xxii (†1334).77 The Institutiones Justiniani do not belong to the canonical sources, but to the Corpus iuris civilis, the collection of Roman law instigated by emperor Justinian in the sixth century. The Institutiones or Institutes form a student textbook on the fundamental principles of the law.78

The Benedictine canonist Nicolò de' Tudeschi (†1445), better known as ‘Panormitanus’ since he became archbishop of Palermo, commented extensively on the five books with Decretales of Gregory ix and other parts of the Corpus iuris canonici in his Lectura super libros decretalium. Panormitanus' commentary was one of the most momentous works of late medieval canon law. It has been printed many times in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.79 Like the set in Naaldwijk, the 1481-1482 Piedmontese edition and the 1480 edition printed in Rome both consist of five volumes.80

The Chronicon sive Summa historialis by the Dominican friar Antonio Pierozzi or Antonino de' Forciglioni (†1459), archbishop of Florence and therefore known as Antoninus Florentinus, is a general history of the world.81 The three parts owned by canon Martijn Jansz. van Delft might well be any of the tripartite editions of the Chronicon printed in Nuremberg in 1484 and 1491, or in Basel in 1491.82 The four volumes of Jean Gerson (†1429), chancellor of the university in Paris, possibly represent his Opera printed in Strasbourg, Basel and Nuremberg in 1488 and 1489.83

Magister Martinus' books acquired by the chapter in 1494 may all have been printed books, but the time to say goodbye to the manuscript book had not yet come. The

executors of Van Delft's testament destined a sum of sixty pounds for the chapter ‘ad usum antiphonalium novorum scribendorum’, for the writing of new antiphonaries. It was not uncommon to earmark money for the future production of books. As late as 1506 the noble lady Wilhelmina van Naaldwijk, wife of Jan van Montfoort, reserved a sum of hundred guilders for the church of Montfoort, ‘waer voir men boecken coepen of scryven sal diemen alre meest behoeft’, to buy or write books that are needed most.84



illustratie
Figure 5. Portrait of ‘Willeme van Naldwijc heer Henrics dochter’ (†1506), wife of Jan van Montfoort. Naaldwijk, Historisch Archief Westland


Not every canon or dean left his books to the chapter. There is scant information on the private library of Jacobus de Angulo or Jacob Willemsz. (van den) Hoek (†1509), dean of Saint Adrian's chapter from 1483 on (and of the chapter of Saint Pancras in Leiden, 1489-1493).85 Jacob Hoek was already a professor in theology when he became a dean of Naaldwijk.86 Even though the evidence on his books is second-hand, it is worth mentioning here. A volume with minor works of saint Augustine - ‘opuscula beati Augusti-

ni in een boeck gebonden’ - was promised to him in 1498 by Aelbrecht Aelbrechtsz., a priest in Delft.87 Jacob never received this book however, because he died before Aelbrecht. The protestant theologian Albert Hardenberg (†1574), in his biography of Wessel Gansfort (†1489), remembered having heard that the humanist reformer Cornelis Hoen (†1525) had found among Hoek's papers ‘vetus quoddam scriptum de Caena Domini’, a certain old script on the Lord's Supper, that was estimated to be at least two hundred years old by then, together with writings by Gansfort on purgatory and other theological topics.88 Hoek owned a lot of writings by Gansfort.89 There is not a trace of this mysterious treatise nor of any books authored by Gansfort in the archives relating to Naaldwijk. Maybe they were inherited by Hoek's nephew Maarten van Dorp alias Martinus Dorpius (†1525), professor of theology in Louvain, the city where Hoen had studied. Although they have disappeared all the same, Hoek's books probably escaped the ill fate of the chapter's library later in the sixteenth century.

Aftermath: the fate of the chapter library

For a considerable part chapter libraries are the result of the accumulation of subsequent bequests by individual canons. They were hardly used, badly administered, and therefore particularly subject to dispersion. At the same time libraries endure other and even more destructive risks than mere negligence. Supposing the books were kept in the church, Saint Adrian's library fell victim to fire on Saint Barbara's eve (3 December) 1471.90 The extent of the losses cannot be determined. As we have witnessed, more books were acquired by the chapter after this date. A century later a decisive disaster occurred.

In the summer of 1572 Naaldwijk and surroundings suffered heavily from the Dutch

Revolt.91 The Beggars in July first visited Monster, where they abducted the vicar and the chaplain and destroyed the church interior. Next they crossed to Naaldwijk and robbed all ornaments, copper and silver work from the church; the dean and the canons had managed to escape to Delft just in time. A few months later problems arose again. We know of what happened then from an account of the events written down by Willem van Hooff (†1583), who was a steward of Margaret de La Marck, countess of Aremberg and heiress of the patronage of the church in Naaldwijk.92 Van Hooff in his ‘Recueil ende corte verclaringe’ attests that at the end of October two carpenters, Mathijs Jacobsz. en Pieter Mathijsz. - confidents of the Calvinist preacher Petrus Dathenus, who was asked by Willem van Oranje to look after the interests of the protestants - pilfered the key of the church from the sexton's house,

ende daermede oepenende de zelve kercke, hebben met heuren complicen die beelden ende altaeren der voers. kercke gebroecken ende inne stucken gehact ende gehouwen, verbrandende die boecken van de librarye der zelver kercken, ende dat wel indefferentelyck, want nyet alleenlicken verbrant ende gedestrueert en zijn geweest de boecken concerneerende de voers. catholicxe religie, maer oick den geenen die tracteerende waeren van de bescreven keyserlycke rechten, van medecynen, philosophien ende andere historien, des religions saecken nyet raeckende.93

The library of Naaldwijk was burnt on the protestant pyre. Here for the last time we are confirmed that the chapter's library contained books on divergent subjects - apart from catholic religion, also Roman law, medicine, philosophy and other ‘histories’ - though Van Hooff as a faithful catholic might have had reason to exaggerate the diversity and value of the library. A few weeks later the looting carpenters were appointed elders of the henceforth protestant church. Of its medieval library not a single book remains.


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