Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame - Music Library, lat. b. 4

Cantus Siglum

US-NDu lat. b. 4

Holding Institution

Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame - Music Library (US-NDu)

Manuscript/Print

Manuscript

Physical Status

Complete (or mostly complete)

Summary

Diurnal (with psalter and calendar) of the Carthusian house of Vauvert-lès-Paris, copied sometime between 1282 and 1297. Four-line staves ruled in red ink with C and F clefs. Monastic cursus. 350 folios, 175mm x 123 mm. Diurnal writing-space generally 116 mm x 74 mm.

Description

This manuscript includes a calendar (ff. 10r-15v), psalter & canticles (ff. 17r-132v), a noted diurnal including the dedication of a church and common of saints (ff. 133r- 312v), and a noted hymnal (ff. 328v-335r). Various neumed chant additions follow diurnal and hymnal (commemorations, ff. 318r-320v, then hymns, mass chants, antiphons, ff. 344v-350v).

The feast of Corpus Christi (ff. 241r-244v) is not original to the manuscript but was inserted in the fourteenth century.

The Carthusian character of the manuscript is evident in the sanctorale—for instance, in the inclusion of the feast of Hugh of Grenoble (dies natalis, 1 April), Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (17 Nov), and the feast of the Holy Relics (8 Nov)—and in the Carthusian Office of the Virgin (312v-318r) and Office of the Dead (ff. 323v-328r).

The diurnal’s association with Vauvert-lès-Paris arises primarily from its double calendar entries for the feast of the Dedication. The feast of the Dedication appears in red in the original calendar hand on 3 October, but a later 14th-century hand added “Dedicatio ecclesiae” to the 26th of June. This is best explained by the history of the chapter of Vauvert: The Carthusians came to Paris in 1257/8 at the invitation of Louis IX (1214-1270), who endowed the newly founded charterhouse. At first, the Carthusians took up residence in Gentilly, but by May 1259, they had moved to the Hôtel Royal de Vauvert outside the city. In 1276, they began construction on a large cloister, and in 1310, they began building a new church; this church was consecrated on the 26th of June 1325. Thus, the later 14th-century dedication entry, taken together with the manuscript’s Carthusian liturgy, associates the diurnal with Vauvert; the original dedication entry likely refers to the dedication date of whatever church was used by the Parisian Carthusians prior to 1325.

The calendar, psalter, and diurnal are all written in a late 13th century hand, and it is likely the manuscript was copied sometime between 1282 and 1297. This more precise range is established by the contents of the sanctorale. The omission of the feast of Saint Louis (25 August), canonized 1297, from the original calendar and sanctorale provides a terminus ante quem (particularly for the charterhouse of Vauvert, as Louis was its founding patron). Meanwhile, the diurnal’s feast of Mary Magdalene (22 July) is 12 lessons with a first vespers and Mass in Chapter. And, while the feast of the Magdalene had been designated as a solemnity in 1259 by the General Chapter’s directive Statua antiqua, it was only in 1282 that it was made a feast cum Candelis with a mandated first Vespers.

A unique aspect of Carthusian liturgical practice on display in this manuscript is what Hansjakob Becker has described as ‘the biblical principle’: The Bible is the only authoritative source for Carthusian liturgical practice. As is demonstrated by the diurnal, only three types of chants are accepted into the Carthusian repertory (with limited exceptions): 1) chants that already reflect the words of Scripture; 2) chants that are Scripture in content (even if slightly disordered or mixed; for example, two passages melded together); and 3) chants that have been altered to follow Scripture. The last type has been subjected to what Katarina Ster has described as the ‘resacralization’ and ‘(re)biblicalization’ of the text: Otherwise desirable chants loosely based on biblical passages have been altered by the Carthusians, sometimes dramatically, to reflect the text of the Vulgate. For instance, in the diurnal, the Magnificat antiphon Ecce nomen domini for the first Sunday of Advent, which is generally based on Isaiah 30:27, Ecce nomen domini venit de longinquo et claritas ejus replet orbem terrarum (‘Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar and his glory fills the circle of the earth’) is replaced by the exact words of Isaiah 30:27, Ecce nomen domini venit de longinquo ardens furor eius et gravis ad portandum (‘Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, his burning and heavy anger he is about to bring forth’). Furthermore, chants are often placed in an order that more nearly reflects the progression of the biblical text.

This limiting of the diurnal repertory to chants mirroring Scripture--either through careful selection of already qualifying chants or through resacralizing chants--is in keeping with the austere and vocally economic nature of Carthusian practice first modeled by the order’s founder, Saint Bruno (1030-1101). In 1083/4 Bruno determined along with six companions to combine the eremitical way of life with the communal: For this undertaking, they chose a remote location near Grenoble, aided and supported by the bishop of Grenoble, Hugh (bishop 1080-1132). Here, in the ‘desert’ of the Chartreuse, they devoted themselves to a life of intense solitude and prayer, each in his own cell, only occasionally gathering for communal liturgical celebration, refreshment, and conversation. Thus, the limiting of chant texts to those which reflect Scripture is in keeping with the contemplative and austere nature of Carthusian practice exemplified by Bruno and his companions, and especially the order’s emphasis on silence: Vocalization is rare within Carthusian practice, and therefore precious; when words are said aloud, they ought to be words substantiated by the weight of holy scripture.

The biblical principle which governs Carthusian liturgy was not merely a vague derivative from the life and example of St. Bruno, but more explicitly formulated by the order’s fifth prior, Guigo (prior 1109-1136). Because Saint Bruno had no known intention of founding an order, it was only in 1127 that the first governing document of the order, the Consuetudines, was written by Guigo (and this somewhat under protest, according to his prologue). In the Consuetudines, Guigo discusses some liturgical matters. However, in another document composed by Guigo (or possibly a contemporary), the Prologue to the Carthusian antiphoner, Guigo more specifically outlines what ought to be the governing principles of Carthusian liturgical celebration and chant selection, namely, simplicity, restraint, and a strong commitment to the words of Scripture. Guigo wrote,

“The gravity of the eremitical life does not permit much time to be spent in the study of chant. For according to the Blessed Jerome, any monk, in so far as he is a hermit has not the office of teacher, and much less of a chanter, but rather of one who laments; one who mourns for himself and the world, and in fear awaits the coming of the Lord. Wherefore we have considered that certain things should be removed from the Antiphonary, or shortened. Things, namely, which for the most part, were either superfluous or were unsuitably composed, inserted or added, or had but little or doubtful guarantee for their authenticity, or none at all; or were guilty of levity (levitatis), awkwardness (imperitiae) or falsity (mendacitatis). Further, anyone who carefully reads the Sacred Scriptures, namely, the Old and New Testaments cannot but know whether what has been emended or added is correct.”

For those committed to using words sparingly, as those waiting in reverence and repentance for Christ’s return—or as a scribe, likely the cantor, writes in the margin of the diurnal, Semper domini venientem expecta (Always expect the coming of the Lord, opening flyleaf in the same hand providing instructions for the cantor's singing of the invitatory)—what better use of one’s voice could there be than reciting God’s own words back to him? Thus, the nature of Carthusian practice led logically to the formation of the principles outlined by Guigo, and the contracting of the Carthusian repertory began thus at this point, for the earliest books demonstrate the application of Guigo’s principles.

The uniquely limited and altered repertory of the Carthusians was then further stabilized when in 1142, the General Chapter (first organized in 1140 under the prior Anthelm, prior 1139-1151) dictated uniformity of the Carthusian liturgy. Later, in 1259, the General Chapter promulgated what is referred to as the Statuta antiqua, which fixed the liturgical texts of the order as fundamentally formed by Guigo’s principles. Thus, the late thirteenth-century diurnal of the Carthusians of Vauvert reflects the “biblical principle” of Carthusian practice and legislation likewise, showing that, as Katarina Ster has summarized regarding Carthusian liturgy, “Only biblical words had enough authority—in other words: were sacred enough—to be chanted.”

Selected Bibliography

Becker, Hansjakob. Die Responsorien Des Kartäuserbreviers: Untersuchungen Zu Urform Und Herkunft Des Antiphonars Der Kartause. Münchener Theologische Studien 39. München: Max
Hueber Verlag, 1971.

Chatel, Paule. “La Chartreuse de Paris, 1257-1792, Vauvert.” Positions Des Thèses de l’Ecole Nationale Des Chartes, no. 10 (1966): 15–22.

Gura, David T. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame
Press, 2016.

Lambres, Benoit M. “Le Chant Des Chartreux.” Revue Belge de Musicologie 24, no. 1/4 (1970): 17–41.

Lemaître, Jean-Loup. “Expositions: La Chartreuse de Paris.” Revue d’histoire de l’Église de France 73, no. 190 (1987): 217–18.

Monk of Parkminster, “The Carthusian Liturgy: Part One”, Magnificat: A Liturgical Quarterly 2, no. 12 (1941), 5–11.

Raoul, P. “Etude sur la Chartreuse de Vauvert-lès-Paris.” Les Amis de Saint-François: office des pélerinages franciscans, no. 71 (March 1955): 14–32.

Saint Denis, Alain. “Saint Louis et La Fondation de La Chartreuse de Vauvert à Paris.” In L’ordre Des Chartreux Au XIIIe Siècle. Actes Du Colloque International d’histoire et de Spiritualité Cartusienne. VIIIe Centenaire de La Fondation de La Chartreuse de Valbonne, 11-13 Juin 2004, 97–104. Analecta Cartusiana 234. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 2006.

Šter, Katarina. “Resacralization of the Sacred: Carthusian Liturgical Plainchant and (Re)Biblicization of Its Texts.” Muzikoloski Zbornik 50, no. 2 (2014): 157–80.

Wickstrom, John B. “The Antiphons ad Psalmos of Carthusian Lauds.” In Kartäuserliturgie Und Kartäuserschriftum, edited by James Hogg, 1:7–33. Analecta Cartusiana 116/1. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik der Universität Salzburg, 1988.

Notes on the Inventory

A first version of the inventory was created by students at the University of Notre Dame under the supervision of Margot Fassler and Cara Aspesi in 2011 and further completed by two classes under the supervision of Margot Fassler and Anna de Bakker in 2013. Differentia codes were added in 2022, and proofreading completed in 2026.

Full/Partial Inventory

Full Inventory