1414: John Neuton and the Re-Foundation of York Minster Library

Works of Bartolus de Saxoferrato

Four of the books surviving from Neuton's bequests to the Minster and his brother's descendants are works by Italian jurist and political thinker Bartolus de Saxoferrato (1313/1314-1357). Together they constituted an important asset for the study of law. Lectura Codicis (York Minster, MS XVI. P. 5) is a study of the Roman imperial constitutions. Lectura Digesti novi, Lectura Digesti veteris, and Lectura Digesti infortiati (York Minster, MSS XVI. P. 6-7 and Cambridge, Peterhouse College, MS 36) are a study of a compilation of works by Roman jurists. Although bequeathed to his brother's descendants, Neuton's copy of Lectura Digesti infortiati ended up at Peterhouse - the other major beneficiary of Neuton's book bequests.

The three books at the Minster were probably copied in Bologna, Italy, in about 1400. Each contains running titles in a fifteenth-century English hand.