Editing Book of Kells (section)

===Origin===
[[File:KellsFol292rIncipJohn.jpg|thumb|The Book of Kells, (folio 292r), [[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 800, showing the lavishly decorated text that opens the [[Gospel of John]]]]
[[File:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|thumb|[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/lindisfarne/accessible/images/page10full.jpg Folio 27r] from the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] contains the incipit ''Liber generationis'' of the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. Compare this page with the corresponding page from the Book of Kells (see [[:File:KellsFol029rIncipitMatthew.jpg|here]]), especially the form of the ''Lib'' monogram.]]
The Book of Kells is one of the finest and most famous, and also one of the latest, of a group of manuscripts in what is known as the [[Insular art|Insular style]], produced from the late 6th through the early 9th centuries in [[monastery|monasteries]] in Britain and Ireland and in continental monasteries with [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Hiberno-Scottish]] or [[Anglo-Saxon mission|Anglo-Saxon]] foundations.<ref name="Henry74">Henry 1974, 150.</ref> These manuscripts include the [[Cathach of St. Columba]], the [[Ambrosiana Orosius]], [[Durham Cathedral Library A. II. 10. Gospel Book Fragment|fragmentary Gospel]] in the [[Durham Dean and Chapter Library]] (all from the early 7th century), and the [[Book of Durrow]] (from the second half of the 7th century). From the early 8th century come the [[Durham Gospels]], the [[Echternach Gospels]], the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] (see illustration at right), and the [[Lichfield Gospels]]. Among others, the [[St. Gall Gospel Book]] belongs to the late 8th century and the [[Book of Armagh]] (dated to 807–809) to the early 9th century.<ref>All manuscripts and dates discussed in Henry 1974, 150–151.</ref><ref>Brown 1980, 74.</ref>

Scholars place these manuscripts together based on similarities in artistic style, script, and textual traditions. The fully developed style of the ornamentation of the Book of Kells places it late in this series, either from the late 8th or early 9th century.<ref>Welch 2000, 34.</ref> The Book of Kells follows many of the iconographic and stylistic traditions found in these earlier manuscripts. For example, the form of the decorated letters found in the [[incipit]] pages for the Gospels is surprisingly consistent in Insular Gospels. Compare, for example, the incipit pages of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] [[:File:LindisfarneFol27rIncipitMatt.jpg|in the Lindisfarne Gospels]] and [[:File:KellsFol029rIncipitMatthew.gif|in the Book of Kells]], both of which feature intricate decorative knotwork patterns inside the outlines formed by the enlarged initial letters of the text. (For a more complete list of related manuscripts, see: [[List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts]]).<ref>Calkins discusses the major manuscripts in turn pp.&nbsp;30–92, as does Nordenfalk.</ref>

The Abbey of Kells in [[Kells, County Meath]], had been founded, or refounded, from [[Iona Abbey]], construction taking from 807 until the consecration of the church in 814.<ref>Meyvaert, 11</ref> The manuscript's date and place of production have been subjects of considerable debate. Traditionally, the book was thought to have been created in the time of [[St Columba|Columba]],<ref>Sullivan 1952, 19–20.</ref> possibly even as the work of his own hands. This tradition has long been discredited on [[paleography|paleographic]] and stylistic grounds: most evidence points to a composition date {{circa}}&nbsp;800,<ref>Meehan 1994, 91.</ref> long after St. Columba's death in 597. The proposed dating in the 9th century coincides with [[Viking expansion|Viking raids]] on Lindisfarne and Iona, which began c. 793-794 and eventually dispersed the monks and their [[relic|holy relics]] into Ireland and Scotland.<ref>Kennedy, Brian. "Celtic Ireland." The Book of Kells and the Art of Illumination. Ed. Pauline Green. Canberra, Australia: Publications Department of the National Gallery of Australia. 2000. Print.</ref><ref>Brown 1980, 32.</ref> There is another tradition, with some traction among Irish scholars, that suggests the manuscript was created for the 200th anniversary of the saint's death.<ref>{{cite book|title= In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English|last= McCaffrey|first= Carmel|author-link= Carmel McCaffrey|last2=Eaton |first2=Leo|year= 2002|publisher= New Amsterdam Books|location= Chicago|isbn= 1-56131-072-7|url= https://archive.org/details/insearchofancien00mcca}}</ref> Alternatively, as is thought possible for the Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels and also the [[St Cuthbert Gospel]], both with [[Saint Cuthbert]], it may have been produced to mark the "translation" or moving of Columba's remains into a shrine reliquary, which probably had taken place by the 750s.<ref>Meyvaert, 12-13, 18</ref>

There are at least four competing theories about the manuscript's place of origin and time of completion.<ref name="Henry74"/> First, the book, or perhaps just the text, may have been created at Iona and then completed in Kells. Second, the book may have been produced entirely at Iona.<ref name="Dodwell">Dodwell, p. 84</ref> Third, the manuscript may have been produced entirely in the [[scriptorium]] at Kells. Finally, it may have been the product of [[Dunkeld Cathedral|Dunkeld]] or another monastery in [[Picts|Pictish]] Scotland, though there is no actual evidence for this theory, especially considering the absence of any surviving manuscript from Pictland.<ref>Meyvaert, 12, note 26; Sharpe, Richard. "In quest of Pictish manuscripts." '' The Innes Review ''. 59.2 (2008): 145–146.</ref> Although the question of the exact location of the book's production will probably never be answered conclusively, the first theory, that it was begun at Iona and continued at Kells, is widely accepted.<ref name="Henry74"/> Regardless of which theory is true, it is certain that the Book of Kells was produced by Columban monks closely associated with the community at Iona.

The historical circumstances which informed the Book of Kells' production were the preservation of the Latin language after the [[fall of the Roman Empire]] and the establishment of monastic life which entailed the production of texts.  [[Cassiodorus]] in particular advocated both practices, having founded the monastery Vivarium in the sixth century and having written ''Institutiones'', a work which describes and recommends several texts—both religious and secular—for study by monks.  Vivarium included a scriptorium for the reproduction of books in both genres.  Later, the [[Carolingian]] period introduced the innovation of copying texts onto vellum, a material much more durable than the [[papyrus]] to which many ancient writings had been committed.  Gradually, these traditions spread throughout the European continent and finally to the British Isles.<ref>Brown 1980, 17-23.</ref>