The Frankish Hymnal (German: Fränkisches Hymnar, also called "Gallican Hymnal"[1]) 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.
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:
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.[4]
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.
Seventeen hymns are innovations to the Frankish Hymnal (underlined below), of which six survive into the New Hymnal.[5]
| OH[6] | Incipit | Use | NH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mediae noctis tempore | Nocturns Sunday | |
| 2 | Aeterne rerum conditor | Nocturns | 4 |
| 3 | Rex aeterna domine | Nocturns | 31 |
| 4 | Magna et mirabilia | Nocturns | |
| 5 | Tempus noctis | Nocturns | |
| 6 | Te deum laudamus | Vigils Sunday | |
| 7 | Deus qui caeli lumen es | Lauds Sunday | |
| 8 | Splendor paternae gloriae | Matins Monday | 15 |
| 9 | Aeterne lucis conditor | Matins Tuesday | |
| 10 | Fulgentis auctor aetheris | Lauds Wednesday | |
| 11 | Deus aeterni luminis | Lauds Thursday | |
| 12 | Christe caeli domine | Lauds Friday | |
| 13 | Diei luce reddita | Lauds Saturday | |
| 17 | Iam surgit hora tertia | Terce | |
| 18 | Iam sexta sensim volvitur | Sext | |
| 21 | Ter hora trina volvitur | None | |
| 22 | Postmatutinis laudibus | Prime | |
| 23 | Certum tenentes ordinem | Terce | |
| 24 | Dicamus laudes domino | Sext | |
| 25 | Perfectum trinum numerum | None | 53 |
| 26 | Deus creator omnium | Vespers | 2 |
| 27 | Deus qui certis legibus | Vespers | |
| 28 | Deus qui claro lumine | Vespers | |
| 29 | Sator princepsque temporum | Vespers | |
| 30 | Christe qui lux es et dies | 12 | |
| 34 | Intende qui regis Israel | Christmas | 39 |
| 35 | Illuminans altissimus | Epiphany | |
| 36 | Dei fide qua vivimus | Terce during Lent | 51 |
| 37 | Meridie orandum est | Sext during Lent | 52 |
| 38 | Sic ter quaternis trahitur | Vespers, None during Lent | 54 |
| 39 | Hic est dies verus dei | ||
| 40 | Ad cenam agni providi | Easter | 70 |
| 41 | Aurora lucis rutilat | Easter | 72 |
| 44 | Aeterna Christi munera | Martyrs | 117 |