Page 1: Matthew incipit

This page is the start of St Matthew’s Gospel. It has apparently been the first page of our Gospel book for many centuries, and the extreme wear is typical of opening pages.

It bears the title ‘textus evangelii ste ceddae’ (‘the text of the Gospels of St Chad’) in 14th century handwriting in the top left-hand corner, as well as the signature of ‘Wynsi presul’ (Bishop Wynsige of Lichfield, 963-973).

This is unlikely to have been ‘page one’ from the beginning. Originally our Gospel book almost certainly included at least a portrait page of the evangelist St Matthew, and probably also pages listing the members of the community by and for whom the book was created.

Page 2: A framed page bearing Matthew 1.1-1.7

This page contains the first part of the genealogy of Jesus. It is the first of three ‘framed’ or bordered pages. The frame draws attention to the fact that this section of the Gospel text is especially significant, in that it leads up to the birth of Jesus.

The script is so called ‘insular mixed uncial’: insular meaning, belonging to the British Isles; uncial, meaning the type of curved single-stroke majuscule (or upper case, as opposed to miniscule) lettering which new vellum surfaces made possible in contrast to the angular, multiple-stroke letters which are more suited to earlier rougher surfaces like papyrus; and mixed because there are some inconsistencies!

Page 3: A framed page bearing Matthew 1.7-12

This page contains the second part of the genealogy of Jesus. It is the second of three ‘framed’ or bordered pages. The frame draws attention to the fact that this section of the Gospel text is especially significant, in that it leads up to the birth of Jesus.

Each conjoint folium (that is, each double-page spread) is taken from a single animal. It therefore required 50-60 animals to provide the vellum even for the pages which have survived. If the manuscript is only half what originally existed, then the skins of over 100 cattle were required for its production. The book was thus costly, even before it was decorated with a bejewelled cover, as would surely once have had: it was the creation of a wealthy community, as well as a learned one.

Page 4: A framed page bearing Matthew 1.12-17

This page contains the third part of the genealogy of Jesus. It is the third of three ‘framed’ or bordered pages. The frame draws attention to the fact that this section of the Gospel text is especially significant, in that it leads up to the birth of Jesus.

There is a marginal note at the foot of the page which refers to the fact that ‘Godwine son of Earwig had at Lichfield cleared himself of a charge of unlawful marriage’. The charge had been brought by the bishop, Leofgar, who became bishop in around 1020.

Page 5: The 'Chirho' page, bearing Matthew 1.18

‘Chi’ (the beautifully decorated figure like a long x) and ‘rho’ (shaped like a golden p) are the first two letters of the word ‘Christ’ in greek. This page marks the point at which Matthew begins to tell his story of the birth of Jesus and the lavish decoration draws attention to this special moment.

The style of decoration on this page links our Gospel book directly to the Lindisfarne Gospels. The equivalent page in that book matches this one so closely that there can be no doubt that one has influenced the other. Most scholars regard the Lindisfarne Gospels as older. If so, it follows that the St Chad Gospels were created by a community with links to Lindisfarne – which is, after all, the place where St Chad himself trained under St Aidan.

Page 16: The 'Beatitudes' page bearing Matthew 4.25 to 5.10

This text page from Matthew chapter 5 is part of Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Mount’. The series of ‘B’s to the left of the page are the ‘blessings’ (or ‘beatitudes’) declared by Jesus, including ‘Blessed are the meek’. You can see what care the scribe has taken to place the ‘B’s in a pattern. This has required some ingenious spacing of words in the middle and ends of lines, and some decorative in-filling.

New verses are typically marked by slightly enlarged letters and little splashes of colour; new chapters by small ‘initial’ capitals.

There are typically 20 lines to a page, which were marked out with pin pricks in the margins and ruled in preparation for the writing.

Page 17: Text page bearing Matthew 5.11 to 17

This text page from Matthew 5 continues Jesus ‘Sermon on the Mount’. Half way down the page it includes Jesus’ famous words to his followers: ‘You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world’.

Page 18: Text bearing Matthew 5.18 to 23

This text page from Matthew 5 continues Jesus ‘Sermon on the Mount’.

At the top of the page is one of eight famous ‘Welsh marginalia’: oaths added in the margins during the time (probably between say 820 and 920) when the book was at the altar of St Teilo (Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, South Wales). This note is in Latin, but with substantial phrases included in what is among the earliest examples of written Welsh. Unfortunately, when the book was rebound, probably in the 18th century, the pages were trimmed and part of the note has been lost.

Page 19: Text page bearing Matthew 5.24 to 30

This text page from Matthew 5 continues Jesus ‘Sermon on the Mount’.

At the top of the page is one of eight famous ‘Welsh marginalia’: notes added in the margins during the time (probably between say 820 and 920) when the book was at the altar of St Teilo (Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, South Wales). This note is in Latin, but with substantial phrases included in what is among the earliest examples of written Welsh. Unfortunately, when the book was rebound, probably in the 18th century, the pages were trimmed and part of the note has been lost.

Page 20: Text bearing Matthew 5.30 to 37

This text page from Matthew 5 continues Jesus ‘Sermon on the Mount’. On the sixth line down, the scribe has mis-spelled and corrected ‘uxorerem’ to ‘uxorem’ by striking through the middle ‘re’. Such a blatant correction of an error is unusual in a Gospel book. Usually the scribes took more care to disguise a mistake.

Page 21: Text page bearing Matthew 5.37 to 45

This text page from Matthew 5 continues Jesus ‘Sermon on the Mount’. On the top line is Jesus’ famous exhortation to let our ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and our ‘No’ be ‘No’: ‘sermo vester est est non non’.

This page includes an example of a more careful correction to a scribal error: on line 9 there is a gap where a mistake has been scraped clear.

Page 80: Text bearing Matthew 18.3 to 8

This text page includes Jesus’ famous challenge: ‘Unless you change and become like children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven’.

This page is badly worn and water stained. The shape and position of the stain on this page and opposite suggests an overhead drip (perhaps a roof leak?) at a time when the book was stored upright.

Page 81: Text page bearing Matthew 18.9 to 14

The whole of Matthew chapter 18 is a block of Jesus’ teaching, of which this text page bears part.

It is again badly worn and water stained, with a rare fault in the vellum. It is easy to forget that this book is made of animal skin: the hole on this page is a helpful reminder of the natural blemishes in the material.

Page 128: Text bearing Matthew 26.47 to 63

This page bears part of Matthew’s account of the arrest of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the last night of his earthly ministry.

The word ‘Principes’, with a carefully decorated initial letter, refers to the chief priests who sought false witnesses to testify against Jesus.

Page 129: Text page bearing Matthew 26.64 to 71

This page bears the climax of Matthew’s account of the trail of Jesus by the Jewish Council on the last night of his earthly ministry, and the first of Peter’s three denials of Jesus.

On line 5, the word ‘sacerdotum’ has been written twice by the scribe, by mistake.

Page 140: Text bearing Matthew 28.11 to 19

This page bears part of Matthew’s account of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, including (at the foot of the page) the Lord’s great claim that to him is given ‘all authority in heaven and on earth’.

Four lines up from the bottom of the page, by scribal error, the word ‘eum’ has been written twice. Six lines up from the bottom of the page, in the word ‘Undecim’ (‘Now’) the ‘UN’ has been written in ‘ligature’: joined together.

Page 141: The 'Gift Deed' page

This bordered page marks the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Above and below the biblical text are a series of inscriptions, mostly in Latin but including the earliest written Welsh.

The one crammed immediately below the frame at the top of the page (which begins ‘tells how this book at once stage was given to the altar of St Teilau by a man called Gelhi, son of Arihtud. It records that Gelhi got the Gospel book from ‘Cingal’ in exchange for his best horse. The position suggests that it is a copy of an original gift deed.

The inscription below it, which begins ‘surexit’ may be the oldest example extant of syntactical Welsh phrases. It records the settlement to a dispute over lands in the area around Llandeilo Fawr in Carmenthenshire, where the book was then held.

Inside the border but below the biblical text some notes have been erased. Even using highly sophisticated modern equipment it has not been possible to determine what the text once said. Below the erasure is a list of Anglo Saxon names dating from the late 10th Century.

Outside the border are a series of ‘oath autographs’: the plus signs simply indicate signatures here, not bishops.

Page 142: The Mark 'miniature' page

This page introduces the Gospel of St Mark. This portrait of the evangelist includes his traditional symbol, the lion, above his head. Lost pages from this book presumably included a Matthew miniature at the beginning and a John miniature at the end.

The image of Mark is remarkable for the Roman style of Mark’s robe and staffs. Only half a century of so before this image was made, the Celtic church in Britain had been at odds with the Roman Church, which was only resolved by the great Synod of Whitby in 664. Only 60 or so years later, here is a celtic Gospel book, decorated with a highly Romanised portrait.

The page is a good example of the subdue palette used to decorate this book. There are none of the bright blues, reds and greens typical of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells. The colours are, however, very similar to those of the Lichfield Angel, perhaps suggesting a common place of origin.

Page 143: The Mark 'Incipit' page

This page is the start of St Mark’s Gospel. One of the conventions in the making of Anglo Saxon gospel books was to enlarge and decorate the first letter of each new gospel – in this case a letter ‘I’. It has been suggested that the very angular lettering on this page is reminiscent of Germanic runic forms.

If this influence is present, a Welsh origin for this book is almost impossible as runes would have been regarded in Wales as culturally alien at this time.

Page 154: Text bearing Mark 3.21 to 30

This page bears some teaching of Jesus from a time early in his public ministry when opposition to him was growing among the Jewish religious authorities. They accused him of casting out demons ‘by the ruler of demons’, but Jesus answered ‘No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man’.

This page also bears some of the most beautiful remaining decorated letters in the book down the left hand side. Two of these letters are linked to two examples of a particular punctuation mark: the line break. This ‘right slash’ indicates that space at the end of a line has been filled from the end of the line below, so that the scribe can begin the next line with a new verse and so also a new decorated letter.

Page 155: Text bearing Mark 3.31 to 4.6

This page bears some teaching of Jesus from a time early in his public ministry, including the start of the famous parable of ‘the sower’. The start of chapter 4 is marked with a roman IV, which dates from a much later time than the book itself.

There is a further example of a beautiful decorated letter on the left hand side of the page, with the associated ‘line break’ on the line above.

Page 216: Text bearing Mark 16.11-20

This page bears what modern scholars often call ‘the longer ending’ of St Mark’s Gospel.

It is a badly worn page, with a barely legible marginal note at the foot of the page, in Latin and Welsh, dating from the late ninth or early tenth century.

Page 217: Text bearing Mark 16.20 and the Lord's Prayer

This page bears the last few words only of St Mark’s Gospel. Having begun the page, however, the scribe has filled it by inserting an additional copy of ‘the Lord’s Prayer’. (In the teaching of Jesus, the Lord’s Prayer has come to us in two slightly differing versions – one in the Gospel of Luke and one in the Gospel of Matthew. There isn’t one in the text of St Mark’s Gospel itself!

There are further marginal notes and oath signatures around the edges of this page.

Page 218: The Luke 'miniature' page

This page introduces the Gospel of St Luke. This portrait of the evangelist includes his traditional symbol, the ox, above his head. Lost pages from this book presumably included a Matthew miniature at the beginning and a John miniature at the end.

The lengthy marginal note at the foot of this page is believed to be the earliest surviving emancipating (liberation) of a slave in post-Roman Britain. It tells how a man called Bleiddudd ap Sulien was set free from his bondage.

Some observers have seen a likeness between this portrait of St Luke and the Lichfield Angel: in particular, the ‘alighting’ left foot is strikingly similar. This is intriguing as the story of the Annunciation, which believed to lie behind the sculpture (that is, the story of how Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus) is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke. If this Gospel book was known to the sculptor of the Lichfield Angel, this portrait of Luke would be an entirely appropriate inspiration.

Page 219: The four evangelists page

This page arranges the symbols of the four gospel writers around a cross: the angelic man represents Matthew, the lion is Mark, the ox is Luke and the eagle is John. The symbols are derived from some verses in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, chapter 1 (in due course also picked up in the New Testament Book of Revelation.)

Note the patterns of circles and dots which decorate the symbols in careful sequence: circles on the two four-legged creatures and dots on those with two legs.

Page 220: The Carpet Page

This stunning page (fully decorated like a carpet) shows classic Hiberno-Saxon examples of geometrically intricate interlacing and fantasy animal-like creatures. There may originally have been a similar page at the start of each Gospel in this book. Now only this one remains.

This page provides a good example of the subdued and even dark palette in which this book is decorated. There are none of the bright, light reds, blues and greens to be found in the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Instead, the decoration is in restrained shades of purple, pink, white and ochre (with occasional dull shades of blue and green.) Again, there is an obvious link to the Lichfield Angel, which appears to have shared the same palette.

The decorative style - full of classic interlacing spirals and intricately linked fantasy creatures or 'zoomorphic' figures - is similar to that of pieces of the Staffordshire Hoard (the largest ever find of Anglo Saxon gold) discovered just over three miles from the Cathedral in 2009.

Page 221: The Luke 'Incipit' page

This page is the start of St Luke’s Gospel. Lost pages from this book presumably included an ‘incipit’ page for the Gospel of St John as well.

There are further ‘oath signatures’ to be found at the foot of this page.

Page 236: The final text page

This page is the last in the Gospel book, but it is not an obvious end point – suggesting that other material, now lost, once followed this page.

It bears the text of Luke 3.2-9, which tells of the public ministry of John the Baptist, heralding the coming of the Christ. It contains the quotation from the prophet Isaiah: ‘all flesh shall see the salvation of God’.

Flyleaf: A 10th Century Saxon manuscript

Bound into our Gospel book are two leaves of another document – itself a great treasure. It is a copy of Boethius’ Latin translation of some work by the philosopher Aristotle.

It appears once to have been used simply to provide the Gospel book with some additional protection against bug damage.