The "León Antiphoner," León, Cathedral Library, MS 8 is the most complete manuscript containing Old Hispanic chant, including office and mass chants for the whole church year. As such, it is the most studied Old Hispanic source, yet it has not securely been dated. Recent hypotheses range from the first third of the tenth century through the eleventh. By reviewing the attribution of the royal monograms found on fol. 4v, it is possible to set a terminus ante quem for the manuscript's compilation to c. 960. In the first section I summarize previous scholarly hypotheses about León 8 ′ s dating together with the proposed attributions of the signum and the monograms on fol. 4v. Subsequently, I introduce the ways in which monograms and signa were used in the Visigothic written world, with a special focus on royal monograms. Finally, I discuss L8 ′ s monograms and signum, reassess the dating of the manuscript and outline a new hypothesis on the role of León 8 as royal insignia.
ARTICLE HISTORY
The ‘León Antiphoner’, León, Cathedral Library, MS 8, is the most complete manuscript containing Old Hispanic chant, comprising Office and Mass chants for the whole church year. As such, the León Antiphoner is the most studied Old Hispanic manuscript. Despite this, its dating is controversial and hypotheses have ranged from c. 906 (Menéndez Pidal) up to the eleventh century (Zapke and others). In this article, the dating and early history of the manuscript are reconsidered and an entirely new perspective is brought to bear on the questions of when, where, and for whom the manuscript was written. The reinterpretation of the cryptographic inscriptions found at the bottom of fols. 128vand 149rhas made it possible to identify the patron of the Antiphoner as San Froilán, Bishop of León, and to date the manuscript’s production to the years 900–5. The scriptorium of the monastery of SS Cosmas and Damian in Abellar is suggested as the likeliest place of production of the Antiphoner.
Este artículo se centra en las peculiaridades de las principales muestras de notación musical hispana y aquitana conservadas en los manuscritos litúrgicos peninsulares de los siglos X a mediados del XVI, proponiendo reconsiderar el estado de la cuestión desde el campo de la paleografía musical peninsular. Específicamente, esta aproximación paleográfica se orienta alrededor de los dos cambios principales que marcaron la escritura de música en la Península en el período bajo consideración: la substitución de la notación hispánica tradicional por la notación aquitana a finales del siglo XI, y el cambio gráfico que muestra la notación aquitana por influencia de la escritura gótica. La forma en la que ambos cambios se desarrollaron fue considerablemente desigual; precipitada y rápida en el primer caso, lenta y gradual en el segundo. En esta visión de conjunto, se presentan como ejemplos ilustrativos de notación aquitana fuentes que habían pasado desapercibidas hasta hace poco y que están ahora disponibles para su consulta en la “Portuguese Early Music Database”.
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