News | June 1, 2023

UNESCO Status for First Voyage Around the Globe, Hikayat Aceh, and Augustine Gospels

Leiden Universities Library

Manuscripts about Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the globe

UNESCO has recognized an international set of 15 manuscripts about Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the globe and the three Hikayat Aceh manuscripts from Leiden University Libraries as World Heritage.

The manuscripts are inscribed in the global UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This list contains documentary heritage of exceptional significance that should be preserved for future generations.
 
From the Leiden collections, the manuscript VLF 41 was recognized: Ferdinandi Oliveri de Sancta Columba (1507-85) opera duo: Ars náutica, autograha. – Viagem de Fernao de Magalhaes, secundum narrationem cuiusdam socii et suppletus ex aliis fontibus, lusitanice. This 1550 Portuguese manuscript mainly contains a text on navigation by Fernão de Oliveira (1507-circa 1581). The last quires contain the account of Magellan's journey and has been digitised and freely available in its Digital Collections.

The Hikayat Aceh is an indigenous history of the former sultanate of Aceh on the island of Sumatra in present-day Indonesia. Written in Malay in Arabic script, it describes and praises the Acehnese sultan Iskandar Muda (1583-1636), a national hero in Indonesia. The Hikayat Aceh is believed to have been commissioned by Sultan Safiyyat al-Din Syah, the daughter of Sultan Iskandar Muda. The text contains many stories about life and customs in the Acehnese courts, relations with, among others, Portugal, China and Turkey, internal rivalries, wars, and (Islamic) religion.

It is a unique work that uses traditional Malay literary styles with a rich Persian influence, full of information and historical detail. With only three surviving manuscripts, the Hikayat Aceh is an exceedingly rare text and an important source for anyone interested in Islam, international relations and the history of Aceh. 

The Hikayat Aceh
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Leiden Universities Library

The Hikayat Aceh

Augustine Gospels
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UNESCO

Augustine Gospels

Textus Roffensis
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UNESCO

Textus Roffensis

Two more UK archives have also awarded UNESCO status, The Augustine Gospels and the Textus Roffensis collection of early English laws. The Augustine Gospels provide a tangible connection to the earliest days of the Anglo-Saxon church in Britain. Created in the late 6th century in Italy, it is reputed to have been sent with St Augustine on a mission from Pope Gregory the Great to convert the English.

The text contains the four gospels, and, at the instruction of Pope Gregory, was illustrated specifically to accommodate those who couldn’t read. It has been in continuous use for more than a millennium and will be one of the oldest items inscribed on the Memory of the World UK Register. It is held by the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

The Textus Roffensis is a collection of early English law codes preserved in a 12th century manuscript. It was compiled in the early 1120s by a monk at St Andrew’s Priory at Rochester Cathedral. Included among the unique texts is the earliest known set of English laws known as Æthelberht’s Code, dated to about 600 and from the Kingdom of Kent. It is also the earliest datable work of any genre composed in English vernacular.

There are 35 early English law codes in the first half of the manuscript including laws by Alfred the Great, Æthelred ‘the Unready’, and William the Conqueror. The latest of these is the oldest surviving copy of the Coronation Charter of Henry I, the fourth son of William the Conqueror. Written in Latin, it spells out the responsibilities and limits of the King toward the Church and the king’s noblemen. As such, it has been interpreted as a precursor to Magna Carta of 1215.

Textus Roffensis has enormous significance as a well preserved example of early English legal codes, and includes the earliest datable English text. It is held by Rochester Cathedral in Kent.