Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica

Peter Comestor (d. 1178).
Historia scholastica.
[Luzerne, Switzerland], 1466.
Manuscript on paper, dated by the scribe several times in Spring - Summer 1466. (BRMS 93)

Peter Comestor, Chancellor of Notre Dame in Paris, was best known for his Historia scholastica, an immense biblical history which filled lacunae in the scriptural narrative with explanations provided by the Church Fathers. His work traced Biblical events from Genesis to the end of the Acts of the Apostles but omitted the non-historical books of the Psalms, the Prophets, the Epistles, and Revelation. Frequently printed with commentaries, the Historia scholastica became one of the most important teaching texts of the Middle Ages.

In Bridwell Library’s manuscript, several dates added by the scribe provide evidence that the entire manuscript was produced between March and August of 1466. An additional inscription records that the text belonged to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Legér in Luzerne, Switzerland.