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5 unusual facts about Lichfield Gospels


Lichfield Gospels

The marginalia were edited by J. Gwenogvryn Evans with John Rhys in their 1893 edition of the Book of Llandaff.

The 'altar of St. Teilo" has in the past been associated with the monastery at Llandaff but, as it has been determined that the third, fourth and sixth marginal inscriptions refer to lands within fifteen miles of Llandeilo Fawr, it is now thought that the book originated there.

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.

The script forms strong links between the Lichfield manuscript and Northumbrian, Iona, and Irish manuscripts.

Paleographic and stylistic similarities link it to Northumbria and Iona: the painting techniques resemble those of the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells.



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