• Brittany (probably)
• Western Francia (?)
• Loire Valley (?)
• Fleury (?)

Fleury

• Canon Law
• Penitentials
• Exegesis

• Liber ex lege Moysi (1-16)
• Texts on world chronology (16)
• Excerpt from Cassian's Collationes (16-19)
• Texts on the ages of the world, inc. Ab Adam usque ad Ninum, and containing a rare reference to Sulpicius Severus's chronology (19)
• Excerpts on divorce from the Shepherd of Hermas, Matthew, Paul, Mosaic Law, etc. (19-21)
• Virtutes quas Dominus dominica die fecit, or Epistil Ísu (21-22)
• An earlier scribe's subscription, also found in Paris, BnF, Lat. 3182 and Paris, BnF, Lat. 12021 (22)
• Commentary on Matthew, 11:29 (22-23)
• Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, recension A (23-206)
• Excerpta de libris Romanorum et Francorum (also known as Canones Wallici) (206-212)
• Colophon containing the Breton name Iunobrus (212)
• Canones Adomnani (beginning only) (212).

• Probably written in Brittany
• Certainly written by Breton scribes
• Some contents certainly derive from a Breton exemplar / archetype

Opinions in relation to the date of this MS vary considerably (see the brief overview of this question in Dumville 1994: 94, n. 44): the one indicated here is taken from Bischoff, Kat. §3727, as it seems to represent a good compromise (although note the dating 'saec. IX in.' in Bischoff 1974: 145, and 'IXe s., 1re moitié' in Pellegrin and Bouhot 2010: 304; cf. also Lemoine 2001: 261, 'le manuscrit d'Orléans ne devrait pas être antérieur aux années 850'). With its 332 ninth-century vernacular glosses (many of which are abbreviated), this MS is one of the most significant sources of information on the Old Breton language. At least some of these glosses were certainly copied from an exemplar, as shown by the fact that they are shared with other MSS (cf. Lambert 2018: 22); in particular, Lambert (2020: 67–71) has recently shown that Orléans 221 preserves a few corrupt Old Irish glosses. It is also notable that numerous Old Breton glosses are heavily abbreviated, sometimes even abridged; for this reason, while most scholars seem to accept that this MS was written in Brittany, Lambert (2018: 23) suggests instead that it may have been copied by Breton scribes working at Fleury. Indeed, Orléans 221 was written by several scribes, and one of them had the plainly Breton name Iunobrus, as revealed by the partially 'Hisperic' colophon at p. 212 (Iunobrus scripsit etc.; cf. Lemoine 2001: 262).

In general, the script—described as 'half Insular, half continental' by Lindsay (1912: 265; cf. also OHLP 257)—is remarkably similar to that of the Welsh Juvencus MS (Cambridge, University Library, Ff.4.42), which may have been penned by an Irish scribe named Núadu. The repertory of insular abbreviations used in Orléans 221 is particularly rich, and it includes the strong Breton diagnostic ɔ-c for contra (cf. Lemoine 1985: 14–16; Lemoine 2008: 190–1).

As for the contents of Orléans 221 (whose list presented here is based on Flechner 2019: I, 127), the version of the Canones Hibernenses found therein (recension A) is close to the other principal Breton copies of this text (cf. Bieler 1963: 21–2; Flechner 2019: I, 125). In particular, as is pointed out in Pellegrin and Bouhot 2010: 305, 'le contenu de ce manuscrit est identique à celui de Paris, BnF, lat. 3182, p. 1–164'. Neumes occur on fols 1 and 212.

Bauer 2008: 150–72; Bauer 2017: passim (esp. pp. 35–6); Bieler 1963: 12, 21–2; Bischoff 1974: 145 (§39); Bischoff 1990: 117; Bischoff 1994: 30; Bradshaw 1889: 412, 414–15, 482, 487; CCfr; CGM 12: 114–15; CLH 761 (§587), 789 (§620), 790 (§621); CMD VII, 491; Deuffic 2008: 128, 129 (n. 230), 136 (n. 268, 'VIII-IXe s.'); DGVB 4; Dumville 1994: 89, 94; Dumville 2005: 52, 60; Flechner 2008: 28–30; Flechner 2019: I, 125–8; Fleuriot 1985: 67; Initiale; Lambert 2018: 17, 22–3; Lambert 2020: 66–71; L&S §903; Lemoine 1985: 13–16, 287; Lemoine 2001: 261–2, 264–5; Lemoine 2008: 187, 190; Lindsay 1912: 265; LF BF697; Meeder 2009: 182–4; OHLP 257; Pellegrin and Bouhot 2010: 304–8; PMSB 304 (§58); Riché 2004: 21; Schrijver 2011: 9; Smith 1992: 167 (n. 81), 168 (n. 83); Stokes 1880; Stokes 1887.

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