Hertford’s rare books cataloguer, Sophie Floate, writes about one of the library’s oldest items: Hertford MS 2. This beautifully illuminated 14th century manuscript was commissioned by King Louis the Great of Hungary.
Hertford College Library has a small number of medieval manuscripts, currently housed at the Bodleian. Hertford College MS 2 is a copy of the ‘Secretum Secretorum’, a pseudo-Aristotelian work with an uncertain background. It purports to be, in part, a series of letters from Aristotle to Alexander the Great, advising him on matters of leadership, statecraft along with a miscellany of medical, health and astrological information. Though early translations claim to be from a lost Greek original, it is now thought more likely to be an Arabic work composed during the 10th century, known as ‘Sirr al-asrā’. Though it purports to be translated by Yahya ibn al-Bitriq, this is also doubtful. The text of the copy at Hertford was certainly translated from the Arabic by Philip of Tripoli in the 12th century. By the 14th century, when this manuscript was produced, the work was very widely read in medieval scholarly circles and there are believed to be over 300 extant medieval copies today.
Hertford College MS 2 was commissioned by Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Croatia (and later Poland) from 1342-1382. Louis succeeded his father as King when he was only 16 and launched many military campaigns during his reign. He evidently showed some interest in cultural affairs too, as after his occupation of Naples he had King Robert’s library brought to him. He commissioned this manuscript and another, the ‘Illuminated Chronicle’ (now in the National Széchényi Library in Budapest), which were both produced in a Hungarian workshop. Miklόs Meggyesi, son of Hertul the court painter of Louis, has traditionally been identified as the illuminator, though there is no real evidence for this.
Many manuscripts copies of ‘Secretum Secretorum’ have illuminations depicting either Aristotle or Alexander, or both, but the Hertford manuscript depicts King Louis instead, on the first folio. It is a ¾ length portrait within an illuminated letter ‘H’; Louis is shown holding a sword and sceptre while his shield has the ostrich-headed crest associated with his reign.
In the lower margins of the page are diamond-shaped heraldic coat of arms – the Hungarian coat of arms on the left, those of Arpad and Angevin in the middle, with those of Poland of the right. Stylistic analysis and comparison with the ‘Illuminated Chronicle’ date this manuscript to the 1360s.
The manuscript has some marginal annotations in a contemporary hand and it has been suggested by Laura Fabian (in her article ‘L’image du roi sage en Occident au XIVe siècle et un exemple concernant la Hongrie à l’époque angevine : le Secretum secretorum de Louis le Grand de Hongrie’, 2018) that these might have been by Louis’ official biographer, John of Küküllő, since he quotes several passages from the ‘Secretum Secretorum’ in his work ‘Chronica Hungarorum’ and some of the passages marked ‘NB’ with a manicule in the manuscript match the sections quoted.
How it came to leave Louis I’s library is unclear; in fact, its journey is completely unknown until it came into the possession of Edmund Hall, a priest who had matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1636. Hall left Oxford before finishing his degree in order to fight with the Parliamentarians, returning to Oxford in 1647 after the army became too radicalized for his Presbyterian views. He was the author of several pamphlets and was once imprisoned for his criticism of the government. It’s not clear why he gave this manuscript to Magdalen Hall in 1658 but he is listed in the Benefactors Book as giving the manuscript along with several printed books. The manuscript has marginal notes in a 17th century hand, presumably that of Hall.
Now that this item has been added to the Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries catalogue, it can be more easily found by researchers. We hope that this will lead to further research into the item and its history.
Further reading
Williams, S. J. (2022). “Chapter 12 The Pseudo-Aristotelian Secret of Secrets as a Mirror of Princes: A Cautionary Tale” in A Critical Companion to the ‘Mirrors for Princes’ Literature. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004523067_014
Fábián, Laura (2017) L’image du roi sage en Occident au XIVe siècle et un exemple concernant la Hongrie à l’époque angevine: le Secretum secretorum de Louis le Grand de Hongrie. In: “M’en anei en Ongria”. Relations franco-hongroises au Moyen Âge II. Memoria Hungariae (4). MTA, Debrecen, pp. 83-103. ISBN 9789635088461 [Accessed 14 December 2023.] http://real.mtak.hu/71099/
Links
Hertford MS 2, Weston Library, Oxford. Listed in the Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries catalogue https://medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/manuscript_15981
Information about our upcoming Library renovation project
Rare Books and Archives at Hertford
Hertford Archives’ guide to the history and records of Hart Hall, Magdalen Hall and Hertford College