Medieval Liturgical Texts in Italian Manuscripts

“In the vast domain of poetic creativity in Medieval Latin, the lyrics written for liturgical use and preserved in liturgical books represent an important and still largely unexplored field of research. These texts provide us with rich amounts of information in our search for expressions of medieval religious thinking and artistic invention ... In the present volume, Dr. Brian Møller Jensen has collected some of his many studies on liturgical repertories and text analysis, most of them published in Italian periodicals ... Since these journals are not always easily accessible, it is very satisfying to have the articles presented within one volume. In addition, this volume contains some studies that have never been published before ...” – (from the Preface) Professor Gunilla Iversen, Stockholm University

“For some years, Dr. Jensen has been engaged in a penetrating research of important hagiographic, liturgical and liturgico-musical sources of Italian provenance. His competence and his commitment have enabled him to put the focus on remarkable and, so far, little-known aspects of the Italian liturgical devotion and traditions as well as the textual and musical repertory, particularly the one linked to tropes and sequences ... The collection of studies which the author presents to us is an efficient demonstration … it reveals itself even more useful for the critical edition of text and music in some important proper chants as well as some unedited tropes and sequences ...” – Professor Nicola Tangari, Università de Lecce, Italy

“I became aware of the significance of Dr. Jensen’s research last year, when he read a paper at the conference, ‘Manuscript Books in the Early Middle Ages’, which I organized at the Vatican. This paper, which is the first study in this collection, is a prime example of how Jensen’s expertise with liturgical manuscripts can be exploited by scholars in related disciplines ... His presentations and analyses of the texts he has chosen are thoroughly documented, clearly written and inspiring to read for scholars who work with medieval liturgical texts ... Dr. Jensen’s commitment to these studies and his unique competence enable him to focus on remarkable aspects of the liturgical tradition as transmitted in Italian manuscripts. I highly recommend his studies ...” – Professor Michael Gorman, University of Milano, Italy

". . .a precious resevoir of sources and material for the study of hagiography and Italian history in teh 11-14th centuries, also when it comes to explore how the liturgy might be studied as possible types of historical source. . . " Mittellateinisches Jahrbach

Preface
Foreword & Acknowledgements
I. Reading a liturgical manuscript – Roma, Bibl. Angelica c. 123
II. Orgoglio e fedeltà in Piacentinian texts
III. Liturgical themes in Italian manuscripts
Appendix: Inventory of manuscripts
Bibliography
Index of medieval chants
Index of saints and feasts
Index of feasts, names and places