Vetus registrum Sarisberiense alias dictum registrum S. Osmundi Episcopi: The Register of S. Osmund

The register of St Osmund (d.1099), compiled in the thirteenth century, contains documents collected during his earlier episcopacy at Sarum (now Salisbury). These documents include charters and rules set in place by him for use by the cathedral. This two-volume edition, published between 1883 and 1884 by William Henry Rich Jones (1817-85), provides a thematically organised transcript of the Latin manuscript with English side-notes throughout, and it complements his 1891 edition of other medieval documents relating to Salisbury (also reissued in this series). Volume 1 includes the consuetudinary of St Osmund, which is presented in Latin with a facing-page English translation (provided by Jones to help the reader with the ‘technical character’ of the text) and extensive footnotes. This text, created by Osmund as a compilation of earlier sources, shows us the foundation and development of a cathedral of secular canons. This volume also contains a thorough introduction to the consuetudinary’s manuscript and textual history.