Manuscript Tradition
Manuscripts of the Historia Ecclesiastica fall generally into two groups, known to historians as the "c-type" and the "m-type". Charles Plummer, in his 1896 edition of Bede, identified six characteristic differences between the two manuscript types. For example, the c-type manuscripts omit one of the miracles attributed to St Oswald in book IV, chapter 14, and the c-type also includes the years 733 and 734 in the chronological summary at the end of the work, whereas the m-type manuscripts stop with the year 731. Plummer thought that this meant the m-type was definitely earlier than the c-type, but this has been disputed by Bertram Colgrave in his 1969 edition of the text. Colgrave points out that the addition of a couple of annals is a simple alteration for a copyist to make at any point in the manuscript history; he also notes that the omission of one of Oswald's miracles is not the mistake of a copyist, and strongly implies that the m-type is a later revision.
Some genealogical relationships can be discerned among the numerous manuscripts that have survived. The earliest manuscripts used to establish the c-text and m-text are as follows. The letters under the "Version" column are identifying letters used by historians to refer to these manuscripts.
| Version | Type | Location | Manuscript |
|---|---|---|---|
| K | c-text | Kassel, Landesbibliothek | 4° MS. theol. 2 |
| C | c-text | London, British Museum | Cotton Tiberius C. II |
| O | c-text | Oxford, Bodleian Library | Hatton 43 (4106) |
| n/a | c-text | Zürich, Zentralbibliothek | Rh. 95 |
| M | m-text | Cambridge, University Library | Kk. 5. 16 |
| L | m-text | Saint Petersburg, Public Library | Lat. Q. v. I. 18 |
| U | m-text | Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August Bibliothek | Weissenburg 34 |
| E | m-text | Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek | M. p. th. f. 118 |
| N | m-text | Namur, Public Library | Fonds de la ville 11 |
Read more about this topic: Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum
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