Discussion
The following saints' feasts are found in the margins of Western MS 97. The right-hand column shows the date when the feast was added to the Dominican calendar (when the data is available).
| Feast | Folio | Date Added to OP Calendar |
| Saint Attala, virgin | 206v | |
| Conception of Mary | 206v | mid-14th century |
| Saint Ignatius | 218r | 1250s |
| Thomas Aquinas | 224r | 1323 |
| Saint Anthony, confessor | 233r |
|
| Saint Martial | 233r | 1334-6 |
| Ten Thousand Martyrs | 233v | 1423 |
| Saint Ulrich | 241r | |
| Saint Procopius | 241v | 1353-5 |
| Saint Alexius | 242v | 1305-7 |
| Saint Arbogast | 242v | |
| Saint Anne | 242v | Second half of 15th century |
| Saint Louis IX | 249r | 1296-8 |
| Saint Wenceslaus | 252r | 1296-8 |
| Saint Edward, confessor | 254v | |
| Saint Aurelia | 254v | |
| Saint Florentius | 258r | |
| Saint Elizabeth of Hungary | 258r | 1250s |
Things to Note
The table above raises questions about the history of the manuscript. Most importantly, it challenges our initial speculation, based on stylistic evidence, that Western MS 97 dates from the first quarter of the 14th century (see the Introduction). The following points summarize our findings.
1) The Feast of Saint Martha is found twice in the manuscript, once on fol. 242v in the manuscript's original hand, and once on 243r in the margin in Hand 1 (see Figures 1 and 2, below). Both feasts contain identical chants. Given that Saint Martha's feast was added to the Dominican calendar in 1276, it is unlikely that the manuscript was copied before then, since it is also found in the manuscript's original hand. (Why it was later added in the margin on 243r remains a mystery.)
2) The feasts of Saint Louis IX and Saint Wenceslaus, written into the margins on fols. 249 and 252r, respectively, were added to the official Dominican calendar during chapter meetings in 1296-8. (Louis IX was canonized by Boniface VIII in 1297). These saints' absence from the originally copied manuscript suggests that Western MS 97 was produced before 1296-8.
3) From the evidence supplied by points 1) and 2) it is thus likely that the manuscript was produced between 1276 and 1298.
4) Four saints found in the margins--Saints Attala, virgin, Arbogast, Aurelia, and Florentius--are local to Strasbourg, a city in Eastern France. The manuscript must have come to Strasbourg at some point during its history. (See Step 3 for further discussion).
5) Hand 1 was responsible for adding the majority of these feasts. Because a number of them--most notably, the Conception of Mary, Ten Thousand Martyrs, and Saint Anne--were added to the Dominican calendar in mid-14th century or later, it seems likely that these edits were made years after than the manuscript was produced--possibly over a century later. (Indeed, the feast of Ten Thousand Martyrs is not found in any European martyrologies until 1371.)
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Principal secondary source consulted: William R. Boniwell, A History of the Dominican Liturgy (New York City: Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., 1944).
