Anonymous Ninth-Century Innovation and its Impact: The Breton- Fashioned Glossae Floriacenses in Twelfth-Century Reims

Abstract

This article examines an inventive passage of commentary focussing on Exodus 26 in the Glossae Floriacenses (GF), an anonymous Carolingian biblical compilation. The study identifies and compares the sources used in the passage, primarily Bede's De tabernaculo and Josephus' Antiquitates Iudaicae, and reveals the creative adaptation that has taken place. A key feature of the passage is the innovative structuring of the commentary on the Tabernacle's four coverings, which appears in Peter of Celle's twelfth-century commentary on the same topic. The study explores the potential connection between these texts, considering their shared location in Reims. This analysis identifies elements of creative composition by the author-compiler(s) of the commentary, highlights the potential for original thought in early medieval exegesis, and identifies its influence on more predominant exegetical works.