Reims Gospel

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Reims Gospel, also known as Texte du Sacre, is an illuminated Slavonic manuscript that became part of the Reims Cathedral treasury. It is linked to French kings who swore oaths on it, including Henry III and Louis XIV. In the time of Charles IV it was given to the Emmaus monastery in Prague, and people believed it was written by St. Procopius.

The manuscript has 47 double-sided sheets: 16 Cyrillic (as fragments) and 31 Glagolitic. It once had a treasure binding with gold, jewels, and relics, including a fragment of the True Cross; these gems probably disappeared during the French Revolution.

The Cyrillic part contains readings from October 27 to March 1 following the Greek Catholic rite, while the Glagolitic part contains readings from Palm Sunday to March 25 (the Annunciation) following the Roman Catholic rite. A Bohemian monk added a note in 1395 saying the writings were in Slavic, and that the other part was written by St. Procopius and given by Charles IV to the Slavic monastery in Prague.

The manuscript’s origin is unclear. It may have been written on Krk island or in a monastery in Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bohemia, Ukraine, or Russia. It is first recorded in the late 14th century, when Charles IV gave it to Emmaus Monastery in Prague, where Slavonic services were held. The church there honored Cyril and Methodius, St. Vojtěch, St. Procopius, and St. Jerome, who was thought to have translated the Gospels into Old Slavic. Some believed the text was written by St. Procopius, abbot of Sázava.

It was likely lost from Prague during the Hussite Wars and later appeared in Istanbul around 1451. In 1574 Cardinal Charles of Lorraine bought it from the Patriarch of Constantinople and donated it to Reims Cathedral. Because it was beautiful and thought to be written by St. Jerome, it was used in French coronations for the oath of the Order of the Holy Spirit.

In 1717 Peter the Great visited Reims and noticed the Cyrillic writing. The manuscript disappeared again during the French Revolution and was rediscovered in the 1830s in the Reims library by librarian Louis Paris, after help from Slovene scholar Jernej Kopitar. It was found without its gold and stones.

The discovery renewed interest in Slavic studies. Paris made the first facsimile, and Polish scholar Korwin Jan Jastrzębski studied it. A lithographic copy was sent to Russia, and Tsar Nicholas I supported further editions. In 1846 Czech scholar Václav Hanka published an edition, which he shared publicly and which earned him honors from the Tsar and the Austrian Emperor.