Fragment of Maistre Wace's Roman de Brut

Manuscript fragment in French, used as a pastedown and probably dating from the late 13th century, containing part of Maistre Wace's Roman de Brut , namely lines 6680-6710 and 6782-6812 (according to the edition published in Paris by Professor I. Arnold in 1938-1940).

Maistre Wace (c 1112-1174) was an Anglo-Norman poet born in Jersey. His works included Chroniques des Ducs de Normandie , Vie de Saint Nicolas , Le Roman de Rou , and Vies de la Vierge Marie et de Saint George . The work in question, Le Roman de Brut was a verse-paraphrase written in 1155, which was based on the history of Britain written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and introduced the Round Table into the legend of King Arthur.

Single item.

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Given by J. Cross in 1962.

See R. Watson, 'Descriptive list of fragments of medieval manuscripts in the University of London Library (1976).

7" x 1¾". Written on vellum. Initial U in blue with red ornament; capitals at the beginning of each line touched in red; rubricated.

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

E.D. Yeo, 'Wace's Roman de Brut: a newly discovered fragment', in Manuscripta , VIII (1964).