Provenance
The origin of the manuscript is controversial since it is not known who wrote the manuscript, for whom it was written or where it was written. Paleographic and stylistic similarities link it to Northumbria and Iona: the painting techniques resemble those of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells. Links to the Hereford Gospels suggest a Mercian origin. Many have argued that the manuscript was written in Wales, particularly due to the Welsh marginalia. Some have argued that it was written at Lichfield. All except one line is in the same hand.
The actual creation of the book may be placed between 698 and 800 based upon the style. Interlaced bird patterns on the cross-carpet page on page 216 of the book strikingly resemble the ornament on a cross-shaft of Aberlady, Lothian, a Northumbrian site of the mid 8th century: the author/artist of the book and the sculptor of the cross-shaft ornament may have had similar source for their designs. Although it is not known how the book came to be in Lichfield, it may have been there as early as the late tenth century and was almost certainly there by the early eleventh century. The opening folio contains a faded signature reading Wynsige presul which probably refers to the Wynsige who was Bishop of Lichfield from circa 963 to 972-5. Folio four contains a reference to Leofric who was bishop from 1020 to 1026.
Wherever it originated and however it came to Lichfield, it has been there since the eleventh century except that in 1646, during the English Civil War, Lichfield Cathedral was sacked and its library looted. They were given to Frances, Duchess of Somerset, who returned them in 1672 or 1673. This is probably when the second volume of the Gospels was lost. Precentor Walter Higgins is credited with saving the remaining volume. They were put on public display in 1982. The bishops of Lichfield still swear allegiance to the crown on the Lichfield Gospels.
Other Insular illuminated manuscripts of possible Welsh origin include the Ricemarch Psalter and the Hereford Gospels.
Read more about this topic: Lichfield Gospels