A digitised copy of Christ’s illuminated Treasury Statutes is now available online via the Cambridge Digital Library.
The manuscript, dated 1506, is a decorated copy of the College Statutes issued for the re-founding of God’s House as Christ’s College by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1505.
The statutes outline the rules and regulations of the College including the keeping of accounts, allocating rooms and the election of the Master.
The text is in Latin on vellum (prepared animal skin) with illuminated letters and marginal decoration.
Dr Lucy Hughes, Archivist said:
“It is unusual for an official document of this character to be so lavishly decorated, and the presence of Lady Margaret’s own hand on the first written page adds to its interest.”
The inscription - ‘Nos Margareta’ - is at the head of the opening page. Lady Margaret's personal motifs including the marguerite, rose and Beaufort portcullis are found in the marginal decorations elsewhere in the manuscript.
Other illuminations prompt speculation about the link between the text and the images.
An ape riding piggy-back on a hurrying figure is shown alongside the chapter titled ‘Of the scholastic exercises of the Fellows’ which discusses the curriculum and teaching methods.
At this date, mastery of the curriculum involved performative methods including imitating teachers. In other words, a degree of copying or ‘aping’ was required. The marginal decoration may be a humorous comment on the text.
The Statutes were signed by the first Master, John Syclyng, on 3 October 1506, a year and a half after the granting of the Letters Patent for the foundation of the College.
The full Latin text of the Statutes with a facing-page English translation can be found in Harris Rackham, Early Statutes of Christ’s College Cambridge (Cambridge, 1927).
The digitisation was funded by a legacy from Laurence and Betty Martin.
Visit the Cambridge Digital Library to view the Treasury Statutes and the Letters Patent.