Einsiedeln Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 191 contains a compilation of decrees of the early church councils, papal decretals and other related material from Rome known as the Collectio Quesnelliana and usually classified as canon law. This lecture will demonstrate how the texts in this collection, considered in relation to all aspects of the late eighth-century scripts used in Einsiedeln Cod. 191, and the minitexts added in the next couple of decades, serve to reinforce this manuscript’s association with the Carolingian court. The precise context, function and degree to which the Collectio Quesnelliana’s texts reflect contemporary Frankish needs will be explored in order to establish their crucial role in the deployment of Roman, papal, conciliar and patristic texts towards new goals in the Carolingian realm.
Rosamond McKitterick is Professor Emerita of Medieval History in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. She received the degrees of MA, PhD, and Litt.D. from the University of Cambridge and studied for a year (1974-5) at the University of Munich. In 2010 she was awarded the International Dr A.H. Heineken Prize in History by the Royal Dutch Academy. Among her many books, articles and chapters in books, one of the most recent is her monograph Rome and the Invention of the Papacy: the Liber pontificalis (2020).