Early Sixteenth-Century Spanish Gradual Produced by a Nun

[Gradual for Cistercian Use, part I].
In nomine Domini Nostri Iesu Christi: Incipit missale secundum consuetudinem monachorum Ordinis Cisterciensis Dominica prima in adventu Domini officium.
[Oña(?), Spain], 1523.
Manuscript on vellum, signed by Maria Dies de Oña and dated 7 November 1523. (BRMS 155)

Produced, signed, and dated by the Spanish nun Maria Dies de Oña, this early sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript gradual contains the “propers” and choral chants for the Mass for Cistercian Use, according to the pre-Tridentine liturgical calendar. Although a complete volume, it is not a complete work as it contains approximately only the first third of the liturgical year, from the first Sunday in Advent to Palm Sunday. Given the size and format of this volume, the complete gradual for the entire liturgical year would have been represented by three or four volumes.

Produced by a female religious copyist for use by the female monastery of San Salvador de Oña in Burgos, the substantial volume is almost entirely composed of chant and does not include the long spoken portions of the Mass. Clearly used on a regular basis, the manuscript includes minor leaf repairs, occasional corrections, marginal additions, and instructions for following the text.