What is the result of investigating the fragments of the manuscript of 'The Story of Merlin, the Wizard'?

Merlin, a magician who appears in the pseudohistory ' History of the Kings of Britannia ' created in the 12th century, is said to have made various prophecies and served Uther Pendragon and King Arthur. A fragment of such an old manuscript about Merlin was found at the University of Bristol in England, and researchers conducted a detailed analysis.

September: Bristol Merlin update | News and features | University of Bristol
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2021/september/bristol-merlin-update.html

Michael Richardson, librarian of the Special Collections Library at the University of Bristol, happened to be named King Arthur when he was looking for medieval materials at the request of a student in 2019. I found 7 pieces of parchment. The fragment found by Richardson was used as a bookbinding material in the book of Jean Gerson , a French theologian in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Professor Leah Tether, president of the International King Arthur Association, was contacted by Richardson and founded that the fragment contained important statements and set up a research team of medieval historians and manuscript experts. We also collaborated with Professor Andrew BD , who studies photochemistry and photophysics at Durham University, to perform chemical analysis using Raman spectroscopy equipment.

This is the fragment of parchment found this time. You can see the letters 'merlin' on the tip of your finger.

by University of Bristol

According to the research team, the parchment fragment found is part of a manuscript and contains a passage from the Old French legend of King Arthur's prose, Lancelot-Grail Cycle, created in the 13th century. .. Analysis of the handwriting revealed that the manuscript was made between 1250 and 1275, and linguistic research confirmed that the manuscript was most likely made in northeastern France.

The annotations in the margins of the fragment also revealed that the manuscripts traveled to England between 1300 and 1350. Most of the 'Lancelot-Grail Cycle' manuscripts that existed in medieval England were made after 1275, and the fragments found this time were particularly old, Tether said. The manuscripts are believed to have since been held at Oxford University or Cambridge University.

From the chemical analysis of BD et al., The ink used in the manuscripts is a more minor, lamp black made from soot, rather than the iron gall ink made from iron salt and tannins that was common at the time. It turned out that. This may be related to the types of materials available around the workshop that created the manuscript.

by Professor Leah Tether

Gerson's work, which used manuscript fragments as part of the binding, was printed in Strasbourg , France, between 1494 and 1502, and is believed to have been bound since moving to England. And when binding Gelson's work, the researchers speculate that Oxford University or Cambridge University, which decided to discard the manuscripts, recycled it as part of the binding. It is unknown why the manuscripts were abandoned, but it is possible that the old books were disposed of because a newer English version of the story of King Arthur's legend was available in England at the time.

Later, Gerson's work fell into the hands of Archbishop of York, Tobias Matthew , and was donated to the Bristol Public Library upon the death of Matthew, and is believed to be in the current University of Bristol Library.

In the fragment discovered this time, a part different from the modern legend of King Arthur is also found. For example, in certain sections, including battle scenes, the behavior of the characters is described in more detail, and in the scene where Merlin appoints a leader to lead four divisions of King Arthur, what is the previously known version? Another person has been nominated as the leader. Also, in the modern version, King Claudus is supposed to have a wound on his thigh, but the fragment of the University of Bristol does not specify the wound site.

'In addition to the exciting conclusions, this study reveals the immense value of interdisciplinary and cross-organizational collaboration,' Tether said. He said that future research will also be important for a research team that includes not only experts in medieval literature but also experts in other fields.