Great Britain, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS. 146

Sometimes called 'The Samson Pontifical', the original layer of GB-Ccc MS. 146 (pp.61-318) contains an imperfect pontifical and benedictional probably written at one of the Canterbury Minsters, probably Christ Church, around the turn of the eleventh-century. However, some suggest on the basis of its liturgical contents that the manuscript was instead written at Old Minster, Winchester. The manuscript was moved to Worcester at some point in the eleventh-century. It was certainly at Worcester by 1096 when it received its two supplemental portions (pp.1-60 and pp.319-30) which include formulae professing obedience to Bishop Samson of Worcester (1096-1112) and to the church of Worcester (pp.52, 53). These supplements also include materials intended to update some ceremonies already present in the original portion of the manuscript. MS 146 may have been at Worcester before 1096, at which point the original layer probably received most of its musical notation.

Musical contents include a Canterbury recension of the church dedication ordo, a fully-notated mass for the restoration of a church/sacred place ("missa in reconcilatione ecclesie", pp.96-8), and an unnotated copy of the of the second recension coronation ordo. The first Worcester supplement (pp.1-60) also includes additional chants for the church dedication ceremony written in an 'Anglo-Norman' hand (p.60) and fully-notated versions of several chants of Anglo-Saxon composition: Aedificavit moyses (p.79), Domine ad te dirigatur (p.13), and Exsurgat deus ad nostri (p.13) are notable examples.

The original portion of MS 146 is textually similar to other Canterbury pontificals like 'The Dunstan Pontifical' and 'The Anderson Pontifical', although MS 146 does diverge at points. The manuscript also shares materials with GB-Ccc MS 442 ('The Red Book of Darley'), a sacramentary/ritual copied at Winchester in the 1060s. Further Winchester connections can be found in the benedictional portion of the manuscript: benedictions for Winchester saints: SS Ælfheah I (p.249), Swithun (pp.256, 257), and Æthelwold (pp.258, 260, 264); a benediction referencing Old Minster, Winchester ("...Wentana veteris coenobii...", p.232); and benedictions for other English Saints: SS Cuthbert (p.249), Augustine of Canterbury (p.253), Æthelthryth (p.253), and Birinus (p.274). One benediction originally for St. Æthelwold (p.264) has been altered to include St. Egwin (Bishop of Worcester, 693-717), presumably for use at Worcester. The Winchester inclusions have led some to attribute MS 146 to Old Minster, Winchester. The Worcester supplements include an additional blessing for SS Egwin and Oswald (p.323). Whether these Winchester elements suggest an origin at Winchester or are signs of Winchester influence at Canterbury is subject to debate.