The Frankish Hymnal (, also called "Gallican Hymnal"Donald A. Bullough, Carolingian Renewal: Sources and Heritage (1991) 262.) is a collection of early medieval Latin hymns, most likely composed during the 6th to 8th centuries in Francia, recorded in a set of manuscripts of the mid-8th to early 9th century.
Manuscripts According to Helmut Gneuss (2000), the extant texts of the Frankish Hymnal are found in the following six manuscripts, all originating in northeastern France or southwestern Germany: Vatican Reg. Lat. 11, foll. 230v–236v, mid-8th century;"Psalterium duplum", possibly from the possession of Eberhard of Friuli; digi.vatlib.it Paris B.N. Lat. 14088, 8th or 9th century; Paris, B.N. Lat. 13159, c. 795–800; Paris, B.N. Lat. 528, early 9th century; Zürich, ZB MS Rheinau 34, early 9th century; Oxford, Bodleian MS Junius 25 (the Murbach hymnal), early 9th century.MS. medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk; iiif.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. A critical edition of the text was published by Bulst (1956).
The Frankish Hymnal is one of the regional traditions of "Ambrosian hymns", developed on the basis of the "Old Hymnal", a collection of about 15 hymns of the Latin rite which surround the core of original hymns composed by saint Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century. Other regional traditions recognized in Fontaine (1992) are the "Milano Hymnal", the "Spanish Hymnal", and the "New Hymnal" as it developed for the use in Benedictine monasteries in the 9th to 11th centuries.Alexander Zerfass, Mysterium mirabile (2008), 65f.
Within the Frankish hymnal, the Oxford manuscript (the Murbach hymnal) is of particular interest, as it includes a full set of Old High German glosses, likely still dating to the first quarter of the 9th century.
List of hymns Seventeen hymns are innovations to the Frankish Hymnal (underlined below), of which six survive into the New Hymnal.Inge B. Milfull, The Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church: A Study and Edition of the 'Durham Hymnal' (1996), 473f.
OH"Old Hymnal" and "New Hymnal" numbering following Helmut Gneuss, Hymnar und Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968), 60ff.IncipitUseNH1 Mediae noctis tempore Nocturns Sunday 2 Aeterne rerum conditor Nocturns 43 Rex aeterna domine Nocturns 314 Magna et mirabiliaNocturns5Tempus noctis Nocturns6 Te deum laudamus Vigils Sunday 7Deus qui caeli lumen esLauds Sunday8 Splendor paternae gloriae Matins Monday 159 Aeterne lucis conditor Matins Tuesday 10Fulgentis auctor aetheris Lauds Wednesday11Deus aeterni luminis Lauds Thursday12Christe caeli domine Lauds Friday13Diei luce reddita Lauds Saturday17 Iam surgit hora tertia Terce 18 Iam sexta sensim volvitur Sext 21 Ter hora trina volviturNone22Postmatutinis laudibusPrime23Certum tenentes ordinemTerce24Dicamus laudes dominoSext25Perfectum trinum numerumNone5326 Deus creator omniumVespers 227 Deus qui certis legibus Vespers 28Deus qui claro lumineVespers29Sator princepsque temporumVespers30 Christe qui lux es et dies Compline 1234 Intende qui regis IsraelChristmas 3935 Illuminans altissimusEpiphany36Dei fide qua vivimusTerce during Lent5137Meridie orandum estSext during Lent5238Sic ter quaternis trahiturVespers, None during Lent5439 Hic est dies verus dei Matins and Vespers at Easter 40Ad cenam agni providiEaster7041Aurora lucis rutilatEaster7244 Aeterna Christi munera Martyrs 117
See also Missale Francorum (Vat. Reg. Lat. 257)
References
Walther Bulst, Hymni latini antiquissimi LXXV Psalmi III, Heidelberg (1956). Jacques Fontaine (ed.), Ambroise de Milan: Hymnes (1992). Helmut Gneuss, "Zur Geschichte des Hymnars", Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch 35.2 (2000) 227–247 (p. 228). Marie-Hélène Jullien, "Les sources de la tradition ancienne des quatorze 'Hymnes' attribuées à saint Ambroise de Milan", Revue d’histoire des textes (1989), 57–189 (86–91). Lothar Voetz, "Murbacher Hymnen (Interlinearversion)" in: R. Bergmann (ed.), Althochdeutsche und altsächsische Literatur (2013), 272–288.