Rethinking the Latin and Old Welsh glossing in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 153 (Martianus Capella)

abstract:The first part of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 153 contains a copy of Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, glossed mainly in Latin, but also in Old Welsh. O’Sullivan’s recent work on the ‘Oldest Glossing Tradition’ (OGT) on Martianus’s De nuptiis has made an important contribution to our understanding of the glossing on this manuscript in claiming that the Latin glossing is derived from the OGT (set out in O’Sullivan 2011b). The current article sets out to test this argument and suggests that glosses based on the OGT account for only about 60% of the Latin glossing in Corpus 153. It then goes on to consider the nature of the rest of the glossing, including that of the Old Welsh glosses, and proposes that it mainly consists of simpler glosses perhaps added in Wales intended to supplement the more sophisticated OGT. It ends with discussion of some problematic glosses.