Contents

Data Source: Mmmonk

• Written in eight books, the Policraticus is deemed one of the first works on political theory. Its author, John of Salisbury (d. 1180) was an Englishman who spent much of his life and career in France, and ended his life as bishop of Chartres. Work on the Policraticus began in the 1150s, while John worked as a secretary to bishop Theobald of Canterbury. This position allowed him insight in the matters and power struggles the English elite was engaged in. The tumultuous times in the mid-12th century were formative in constructing his views on the relationship between princes and their subjects, the confinement of princely power within the boundaries set by law, and the distinction between princes and tyrants based on their adherence to the laws. While written as an exponent of the mirror genre, the Policraticus is quite unique in that it not only offers advice to princes, but also to courtiers and bureaucrats. The Bruges copy contains a colophon containing the date and location of production: "Scriptus Parisius anno Domini 1352o decimo Kalendas martii", translating to Paris, February 20th 1352. The text is executed quite soberly, presented in a single column per page and written in a cursive hand. Red ink is used for initials, rubrics, and to emphasize certain majuscules. Before each book the respective list of chapters is found as one continuous text, with Roman numerals added in red ink. The broad outer margins are used for pointing out the location of names and indicating interesting passages through manuculi. Most likely it was a copy made for members of the Paris university and intended to be used for studying. This bridges the gap to the question how it found its way in the library. The final fly leaf contains an ownership inscription: "Iste liber pertinet magistro Iohanni de Pascuis sacre theologie professori. Qui eum abstulerit vel folium scienter decerpserit anathema sit." Johannes de Pascuis was a 15th-century monk at Ter Doest, who had studied theology in Paris. Earlier in his career, as a baccalaureate and while still studying, he had already acquired four volumes on behalf of the abbey; now, as a professor this was one of the books that he brought with him. When the abbey was fused with Ten Duinen, the books were absorbed into the latter's library. The first and last leaves carry the cross-shaped stamp of Ten Duinen. The binding is roughly contemporary and consists of blindstamped brown leather over wooden boards, with traces of two clasps. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]