From Jarrow to Rome: Celebrating 1300 years of an Anglo-Saxon masterpiece

The book is an extraordinary testament to the craftsmanship and wealth of this eighth-century Anglo-Saxon monastery, and the cultural achievements of the kingdom of Northumbria in this period. Ceolfrith died in September 716 en route to Rome but members of his party continued to Italy and presented his gift to the papacy. Pope Gregory II later wrote to Ceolfrith’s successor, Hwaetberht, in acknowledgement. [1] At some point the volume was moved to the monastery of San Salvatore at Monte Amiata – from whence its name derives – and then, after San Salvatore was disbanded in 1782, to the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence where it remains.

In creating the Codex Amiatinus, the monks of Wearmouth-Jarrow were influenced by the manuscripts in their remarkably well-resourced library and both the script and images were inspired by continental models. Indeed, the work is so unlike other contemporary manuscripts from Britain and Ireland, and so akin to Italian styles of the period, that it was regarded as a sixth-century Italian book until the late-nineteenth century when its real provenance was identified.

And this is perhaps the most amazing part of this extraordinary book’s story: it was created by English monks in a monastery that had been established only forty years earlier, and in an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that first formally encountered Christianity, with all its attendant attributes including writing and books, just ninety years before in AD 625: many members of the community were first or second-generation Christians.

And yet, in a very short time, these monks attained such high standards of book production they created a masterpiece which was mistaken as a product of the supposedly culturally-superior Mediterranean world. This is not to suggest that they were simple copyists either: the rarity of one-volume Bibles indicates the novelty of this project. [2]

The Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity in the seventh century brought the peoples of Britain into closer contact with the rest of Christian Europe and introduced a wealth of cultural influences and new ideas. Rather than being overwhelmed, however, the Anglo-Saxons rose to the challenge and through fusing native traditions with new influences they produced extraordinary works of art revealing their cultural confidence, originality and imagination. It is worth celebrating their achievements as we remember the thirteenth centenary of the Codex Amiatinus’ departure from these shores.