The San Millan de la Cogolla Beatus

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his is the most complete of the three Beatus copies which belonged to San Millán de la Cogolla Monastery (Rioja) in the high Middle Ages (the others being Vitr.14.1 in the National Library in Madrid and &.II.5 in the Escorial, both dating from the 10th century). It is conserved today (as are many other documents from the monastery) in the Library of the Royal Academy of History (as Emil. 33). It is made up of 282 parchment folios measuring 355 x 240 mm., and is written in Visigothic script in two columns.

The codex was written in two phases: the main hand copied up to folio 228, but with no miniatures. This hand can be dated late 10th or early 11th century, and, along with the quality of the parchment, betrays a lack of material resources: this can be explained by the situation in Rioja at that time, with constant campaigns being waged by Al Mansur; one of his last summer raids destroyed San Millán Monastery. It was decided in the second half of the 11th century, when the great Riojan monastery was enjoying economic prosperity, to complete the unfinished Beatus; this was done by a number of hands, less skilful than the first, and already showing clear Carolingian influence.

It was at this time that the blank spaces left by the first copyist were filled with 48 miniatures, using colours which were distinct from those used in Rioja in the high Middle Ages. These miniatures exhibit two different techniques: up to folio 92 they follow the style conventionally known as Mozarabic, passing to Romanesque for the later part of the work. The portion written in the second half of the 11th century contains only one miniature.

A note on folio 58 tells us that the codex was copied by Albinus in the time of Benitus, the eighth abbot of the monastery, in the year 670, but it is now known that this is a 17th-century addition (also seen on other works), intended to confer greater antiquity on both document and monastery.

Documentation Kit

Containing facsimile reproductions of 4 folios, two of them double pages printed in 7 colours, ready to frame and a portfolio with a descriptive documentation of the reproductions. The Documentation Kit is priced at $US250- plus postage.

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