Journal of Coptic Studies 6 (2004) 5–23 THE MYSTERY OF FR-BN COPTE 13 AND THE “CODEX ST.-LOUIS”: WHEN WAS A COPTIC MANUSCRIPT FIRST BROUGHT TO EUROPE IN “MODERN” TIMES? BY STEPHEN EMMEL The present investigation seeks to clarify statements in the secondary Coptological literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries con- cerning the existence of a “Codex St.-Louis,”1 that is to say, a Coptic manuscript supposedly brought to Paris by Louis IX at the end of the Sixth Crusade in 1254.2 The Objects of Investigation (1) Bibliothèque Nationale de France (FR-BN), manuscript Copte 13. A beautifully illustrated Tetraevangelium (the four Gospels) in Bohairic Coptic, copied and illuminated between 1178 and 1180 by Michael, 1 So called by René-Georges Coquin in correspondence between us in the early 1990s. 2 Most of the basic research for this investigation was done a little over a decade ago, and I now take the occasion of the Eighth International Congress of Coptic Studies (Paris, June/July 2004, with an accompanying exhibition titled “Pages d’une autre Égypte: les manuscrits des Coptes” planned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to include the manuscript in question, Copte 13) to report it. I owe special debts of gratitude for assis- tance of one sort and another to Anne Boud’hors, Jacques Debergh, Michel Garel, Iris Hinerasky, and Bentley Layton. To Dr. Boud’hors I am indebted for the following obser- vation (made in a letter dated 21 March 1991), which eventually altered the course of my thinking on this topic decisively: “Finalement je me demande si tout cela n’est pas une légende, et si ce manuscrit [le “Codex St.-Louis”] n’est pas le Copte 13 (qui aurait pu passer par l’Oratoire?). Car, si vraiment il y avait eu en France depuis l’époque de Saint Louis un manuscrit de cette importance, comment expliquer que les érudits du 17ème siè- cle (Peiresc, Saumaise, Gaulmyn, ou même Kircher), n’en aient pas su l’existence? Le nom de Damiette a pu jouer un rôle dans la création d’une telle légende.” Our common view of the matter now has already found expression in Boud’hors’s description of the manuscript cited in the following note, where “Bibliothèque de l’Oratoire” heads the marginal listing of provenance, and where it is stated that “à partir de ce nom de ville [Damietta] s’est forgée une légende selon laquelle le roi Louis IX (Saint Louis) lui-même l’aurait rapporté d’Égypte.” The purpose of the present article is to show the bases on which this view of the matter rests. As for my chosen title, see Leroy 1974b, 445: “Une tradition voudrait faire croire qu'il [FR-BN Copte 13] a été rapporté en Europe par Saint Louis. Sur quoi se fonde-t-elle? Mystère.” 6 STEPHEN EMMEL bishop (“metropolitan”) of Damietta.3 Acquired by the Bibliothèque Royale (later Nationale) in 1668 from the estate of Cardinal Mazarin (see the list of dramatis personae below) and given the call number “Regius 329” ca. 1680,4 later (before 17395) changed to “Copte 13”.6 First published notice by Richard Simon in 1690 (Exhibit F below), but seen by him already in 1682 or earlier (Exhibit E). Textual variants pub- lished by Horner 1898–1905, vols. 1–2. Said to have been brought to France by St. Louis (Exhibits M, O, P, and Q). (2) Another Bohairic Tetraevangelium formerly in the library of the Oratoire St.-Honoré in Paris,7 but present whereabouts uncertain, or unknown. Donated to the Oratoire in 1620 by Achille de Harlay de Sancy (Exhibit A).8 First published notice by Jean Morin in 1633 (Exhibit B), but seen by him already in 1629 or earlier (Exhibit A). No further autoptic reports, and no publication. Described as missing in 1673 by Richard Simon (Exhibit D), who reported having been told that it was sold “a long time” before he joined the Oratoire, which was in 1662. Said to have been brought to France by St. Louis (Exhibit N). The Question at Issue Was one or the other of these manuscripts (“FR-BN Copte 13” and “the Oratoire’s Tetraevangelium”), or were they both, brought to Paris by St. Louis in the middle of the thirteenth century? If so, then it (or they) would be by far the earliest Coptic manuscript(s) that we know of to have been transported to Europe in “modern” times. For, the next such occurrence that is known is the importation in August 1441 of a collection of Copto-Arabic (and Arabic) manuscripts on the occasion of the Council of Florence (1439–1443), namely the collection that 3 See, most recently, Boud’hors 2000, 78–79 (no. 56); see further n. 16 below. What was originally f. 2 of this codex is in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (no. 55.11, according to report: Leroy 1974a, 113–115 and pl. 43; Leroy 1974b; see further n. 18 below). On Bishop Michael himself, see: Graf 1923; Burmester 1936; and Copt.Enc. 5:1624–1625 (with additional references). 4 Laffitte & Richard 2002, 16. 5 That is, before the publication of vol. 1 of Anicet Melot’s Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Regiae (Paris 1739), pp. 70–75 and 450 of which were in effect reprinted by Chabot (1906, 352–359; see pp. 351 and 353). 6 See n. 44 below. 7 On the Oratoire St.-Honoré, see: Biver & Biver 1970, 497–506 (“L’Oratoire Saint- Honoré, maison généralice”); Boinet 1962, 78–93 (“Temple de l’Oratoire”); and below. 8 In addition to Exhibit A, see: Richard 1990, esp. pp. 421, 428, 432, and 434–435; and Aufrère 1990, 89 with n. 100 on p. 128 (our man is no. 5 in Aufrère’s list of “Ambas- sadeurs de France près la Sublime Porte”), 213 with n. 334 on p. 230. THE MYSTERY OF FR-BN COPTE 13 AND THE “CODEX ST.-LOUIS” 7 formed the core of the Vatican Library’s collection of oriental manu- scripts.9 Dramatis Personae Christina (after 1655: Christina Alexandra [Alessandra]; 1626–1689). Queen of Sweden until her abdication in 1654. Resident in Rome from 1655, but visited France twice in 1656–1658 (in Paris for a time during 1656).10 Hardy, Claude (1604–1678). Mathematician, philosopher, and orien- talist; royal “conseiller au Châtelet” (Paris) from 1626. Harlay (baron) de Sancy, Achille de (1581–1646). Soldier, diplomat, orientalist, and ecclesiastic; Louis XIII’s ambassador to Constantinople 1611–1618; member of the Oratoire from 1620; bishop of Saint-Malo from 1632. Jablonski, Paul Ernest (1693–1757). Orientalist; student of La Croze in Berlin; travelled with Prussian royal support to Coptic manuscript collections in Oxford, Leiden, and Paris 1714–1720; professor (ordina- rius) of theology in Frankfurt an der Oder from 1722.11 Justel, Henri (1620–1693). “Conseiller secrétaire du roi” (Paris) 1636–1664, when for political reasons he resigned, with the intention of emigrating to England; moved in 1680 to London, where he joined the staff of the royal libraries and became a naturalized citizen shortly be- fore his death. 9 See Emmel (in press). With specific reference to the Vatican collection of orientalia alone, see Levi della Vida 1939, 440: “È quanto mai probabile, o addirittura certo, che il più antico gruppo di manoscritti orientali (arabi e copti) sia stato donato a Eugenio IV nel 1441 dalla missione copta venuta a Firenza per il concilio. Nello stesso tempo, e forse nella stessa occasione del Concilio florentino, i Papi vennero in possesso di un codice etiopico e di uno armeno, i quali entrarono nella biblioteca fondata da Nicolò V [that is, the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana]. Dopo questo primo e prezioso inizio i manoscritti orientali per oltre un secolo si accrebbero solo lentissimamente.” 10 For the basic biographical information given in this section (and also below, pas- sim) I have relied primarily on: Biographie universelle (Michaud) ancienne et moderne, ou histoire, par ordre alphabétique, de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait remarquer par leurs écrits, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes (2d ed. by J. Fr. Michaud [junior]; 45 vols.; Paris 1854 [1848?]–1865; repr. ed. Graz 1966–1970); Nouvelle biographie générale [vols. 1–9: universelle] depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à nos jours, avec les renseignements bibliographiques et l’indica- tion des sources à consulter, edited by Ferdinand Hoefer (46 vols.; Paris 1852–1866); and Dictionnaire de biographie française (20 vols. to date [to “Lab”]; Paris 1933–). 11 Martin Krause (in: Copt.Enc. 4:1318) gives Jablonski’s middle name as Ernst, and the years of his Coptological travels as 1717–1720. 8 STEPHEN EMMEL La Croze (Lacroze), Mathurin Veyssière (1661–1739). Orientalist; left Paris in 1696, changed his name to La Croze, and in 1697 took up residence in Berlin, where he taught. Lelong (Le Long), Jacques (1665–1721). Member of the Oratoire from 1686; librarian at the Oratoire 1699–1721. Louis IX (St. Louis; 1215–1270). King of France 1226–1270. Louis XIII (1601–1643). King of France 1610–1643. Louis XIV (1638–1715). King of France 1643–1715. Mazarin, Jules (Giulio Mazarini; 1602–1661), cardinal. Prime minis- ter of Louis XIII and Louis XIV from 1642; in exile for most of 1651, and for the latter part of 1652 until February 1653. Morin, Jean (1591–1659). Orientalist; early and distinguished mem- ber of the Oratoire (from 1618); one of the editors of the Paris Polyglot Bible (1629–1645). Renaudot, Eusèbe (1646–1720). Orientalist, church historian, and liturgist; member of the Oratoire, but only for a short time.