The Scribes of the Silos Apocalypse (London, British Library, Add. MS 11695) and the Scriptorium of Silos in the Late Eleventh Century

Abstract

[EN] In the late eleventh century, Abbot Fortunio decided to enlist the scribes living in the monastery of Silos, near Burgos, in the time-consuming and costly task of copying for the monastery one of the most significant peninsular best sellers of the Middle Ages: a Beatus, a commentary on the book of Revelation. In doing so, he was continuing a long-lasting Iberian tradition originating in the late eighth century, already popular and yet far from over. Fortunio was taking advantage of the fruitful efforts of his predecessor, Abbot Domingo, to restore the Benedictine community of Silos, left in ruins after theMuslim raids of the late tenth century. But what was the process of copying this book? How did it all start, and what did this work mean for the monastery of Silos? The colophons and historical data held in this Beatus, now known as the Silos Apocalypse (London, British Library, Additional MS 11695), inform the reader about the commissioners under whom the copy was produced, the scribes who engaged in that task, the illuminators who created one of the most significant extant examples of Mozarabic or northern Christian art, and when and where it all happened. But, is all the contextual information the codex provides accurate? In this article, the Silos Apocalypse is thoroughly analyzed to unveil the identity of its scribes, what can be known about their professional careers, their cultural context, and how this codex fits within thewritten production of the monastery of Silos in the late eleventh and early twelfth century.