Frankish Hymnal

Vatican Reg. Lat. 11, fol. 230v (Te Deum)

The Frankish Hymnal (German: Fränkisches Hymnar, also called "Gallican Hymnal"[1]) is a collection of early medieval Latin hymns, most likely composed during the 6th to 8th centuries in Francia, recorded in a set of manuscripts of the mid-8th to early 9th century.

## Manuscripts

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According to Helmut Gneuss (2000), the extant texts of the Frankish Hymnal are found in the following six manuscripts, all originating in northeastern France or southwestern Germany:

* Vatican Reg. Lat. 11, foll. 230v-236v, mid-8th century;[2]
* Paris B.N. Lat. 14088, 8th or 9th century;
* Paris, B.N. Lat. 13159, c. 795-800;
* Paris, B.N. Lat. 528, early 9th century;
* Zürich, ZB MS Rheinau 34, early 9th century;
* Oxford, Bodleian MS Junius 25 (the Murbach hymnal), early 9th century.[3]

A critical edition of the text was published by Bulst (1956).

The Frankish Hymnal is one of the regional traditions of "Ambrosian hymns", developed on the basis of the "Old Hymnal", a collection of about 15 hymns of the Latin rite which surround the core of original hymns composed by saint Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century. Other regional traditions recognized in Fontaine (1992) are the "Milano Hymnal", the "Spanish Hymnal", and the "New Hymnal" as it developed for the use in Benedictine monasteries in the 9th to 11th centuries.[4]

Within the Frankish hymnal, the Oxford manuscript (the Murbach hymnal) is of particular interest, as it includes a full set of Old High German glosses, likely still dating to the first quarter of the 9th century.

## List of hymns

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Seventeen hymns are innovations to the Frankish Hymnal (underlined below), of which six survive into the New Hymnal.[5]

OH[6] | Incipit  | Use  | NH[6]

|
|
|

1 | Mediae noctis tempore | Nocturns Sunday |
2 | Aeterne rerum conditor | Nocturns | 4
3 | Rex aeterna domine | Nocturns | 31
4 | Magna et mirabilia | Nocturns |
5 | Tempus noctis | Nocturns |
6 | Te deum laudamus | Vigils Sunday |
7 | Deus qui caeli lumen es | Lauds Sunday |
8 | Splendor paternae gloriae | Matins Monday | 15
9 | Aeterne lucis conditor | Matins Tuesday |
10 | Fulgentis auctor aetheris | Lauds Wednesday |
11 | Deus aeterni luminis | Lauds Thursday |
12 | Christe caeli domine | Lauds Friday |
13 | Diei luce reddita | Lauds Saturday |
17 | Iam surgit hora tertia | Terce |
18 | Iam sexta sensim volvitur | Sext |
21 | Ter hora trina volvitur | None |
22 | Postmatutinis laudibus | Prime |
23 | Certum tenentes ordinem | Terce |
24 | Dicamus laudes domino | Sext |
25 | Perfectum trinum numerum | None | 53
26 | Deus creator omnium | Vespers | 2
27 | Deus qui certis legibus | Vespers |
28 | Deus qui claro lumine | Vespers |
29 | Sator princepsque temporum | Vespers |
30 | Christe qui lux es et dies | Compline | 12
34 | Intende qui regis Israel | Christmas | 39
35 | Illuminans altissimus | Epiphany |
36 | Dei fide qua vivimus | Terce during Lent | 51
37 | Meridie orandum est | Sext during Lent | 52
38 | Sic ter quaternis trahitur | Vespers, None during Lent | 54
39 | Hic est dies verus dei | Matins and Vespers at Easter |
40 | Ad cenam agni providi | Easter | 70
41 | Aurora lucis rutilat | Easter | 72
44 | Aeterna Christi munera | Martyrs | 117

## See also

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* Missale Francorum (Vat. Reg. Lat. 257)

## References

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1. ^ Donald A. Bullough, Carolingian Renewal: Sources and Heritage (1991) 262.
2. ^ "Psalterium duplum", possibly from the possession of Eberhard of Friuli; digi.vatlib.it
3. ^ MS. medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk; iiif.bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
4. ^ Alexander Zerfass, Mysterium mirabile (2008), 65f.
5. ^ Inge B. Milfull, The Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church: A Study and Edition of the 'Durham Hymnal'  (1996), 473f.
6. ^ a b "Old Hymnal" and "New Hymnal" numbering following Helmut Gneuss, Hymnar und Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968), 60ff.

* Walther Bulst, Hymni latini antiquissimi LXXV Psalmi III, Heidelberg (1956).
* Jacques Fontaine (ed.), Ambroise de Milan: Hymnes (1992).
* Helmut Gneuss, "Zur Geschichte des Hymnars", Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 35.2 (2000) 227-247 (p. 228).
* Marie-Hélène Jullien, "Les sources de la tradition ancienne des quatorze 'Hymnes' attribuées à saint Ambroise de Milan", Revue d’histoire des textes (1989), 57-189 (86-91).
* Lothar Voetz, "Murbacher Hymnen (Interlinearversion)" in: R. Bergmann (ed.), Althochdeutsche und altsächsische Literatur (2013), 272-288.