Skip to main content
Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) project

Biblioteca Giovardiana, [Ethiopic Collection], Manuscript No. 1

This Geʿez language manuscript was created between 1494 and 1508. This date is estimated, based on the reigning Ethiopian royal ruler's name appearing in the manuscript. The royal ruler's name mentioned in the manuscript is Naod.

This manuscript is held in the repository of Biblioteca Giovardiana in their [Ethiopic Collection] in Veroli, Italy. This manuscript's last known location in Ethiopia was Ethiopia (probably).

This manuscript is digitized but not publicly available online as of September 2022.

This manuscript has a high number of Marian miracle stories: 150.

This manuscript has no paintings of Marian miracle stories, but it does have 2 paintings of Mary and events in her life. To see the paintings in this manuscript, go to its PEMM Paintings by Manuscript page.

This manuscript has a total of 115 folios and 125 scans. It has 2 columns per page and approximately 37 lines per column.

The stories in this manuscript were cataloged by E. Cerulli and W.F. Macomber.

The PEMM abbreviation for this manuscript is C-Veroli (BGV) 1.

The Beta Maṣāḥǝft abbreviation for this manuscript is VeroliZanutto1. Other shelfmarks and/or abbreviations for this manuscript include Biblioteca Giovardiana etiopico 1.

Regarding this manuscript's repository:

The Biblioteca Giovardiana in Veroli, Italy has a collection of twelve Ethiopian/Eritrean manuscripts. This collection has been cataloged by the team of Antonella Brita, Karsten Helmholz, Susanne Hummel, and Massimo Villa in 2017.

For more information about understanding this table, see Using This Site. If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the location, date, folios, story IDs), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.

C-Veroli (BGV) 1

Order in MS
Story Title
Location in MS
Paintings
Story Recension
Incipit
Other Aspects
Story ID
1Book of Vision of Theophilus of Alexandria: Part 1 or 1.1: Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria has a vision of the Virgin Mary telling him about the Holy Family's flight to Egyptf. 9r-12r, col. 1 0---1-A
2Book of Vision of Theophilus of Alexandria: Part 2: The Virgin Mary relates how Satan urged King Herod to pursue the Holy Familyf. 12r-13r, col. 2 0---2
3Book of Vision of Theophilus of Alexandria: Part 3: The Holy Family returns to Egyptf. 13r-14r, col. 2 0---3
4Deacon Michael, who was a grocer, and his stolen ring that the Virgin Mary helped to retrieve from a fishf. 14r-15v, col. 1 0---4
5The innocent Frenchman who was framed for theft by a spurned innkeeper’s daughter and was hanged but did not dief. 15v-17v, col. 2 0---5
6The Arabs who tried to plunder an Egyptian monastery during a famine in the time of the Patriarch Matthew and kidnap a monk when thwartedf. 17v-18v, col. 2 0---6
7Dabra Qalemon's monk who humbly pretends not to fast and is saved from his brothers by the Virgin Mary.f. 18v-19v, col. 2 0EMML (HMML) 6938--7
8Dabra Qalemon's monks who are robbed by Berbers and aided by Arabsf. 20r-21r, col. 1 0---8
9Dabra Qalemon's tailor, Jacob the Short, has his scissors stolen and the thief falls ill until he returns themf. 21r-21v, col. 1 0---9
10Dabra ʾƎntsǝnā's Abbot Raphael who refused to hear the sacrament of confession during the time of Patriarch Abba Matthew of Alexandriaf. 21v-22v, col. 2 0---10
11Dabra Qalemon's icon of the Virgin Mary and the Arab who has contempt for it and is punished during the time of Patriarch Gabriel IV of Alexandria (1370-1378)f. 22v-23r, col. 1 0---11
12Patriarch Gabriel Ibn Tarik of Alexandria who composed the Masehafa Hawi (The Book of the Collector), a collection of Christian doctrine and theologyf. 23r-24r, col. 1 0---12
13Dabra Qalemon's gifts from two Arabs who, journeying on the Nile in Egypt, fall into the water due to a storm and are saved from crocodilesf. 24r-24v, col. 1 0EMML (HMML) 6938--16
14Nekwal, the deacon from Marg and Kem near Cairo in Egypt, who spent his Muslim master’s money on the poorf. 24v-24v, col. 1 0---17
15The priest from Nardin, Egypt, who lived piously with a nun but was accused of sexual immoralityf. 25r-26r, col. 1 0---18
16The Egyptian monk Issac who prayed every night for seven years that the Virgin Mary would appear to himf. 26r-26v, col. 1 0EMML (HMML) 4205--19
17Dabra Qalemon's icon of the Virgin Mary heals an Arab woman who had suffered from an issue of blood for many yearsf. 26v-27r, col. 1 0---20
18John who found a stolen book, of the Acts of Saint Juliana and Saint Barbara, on the church altar due to a vision of Mary, Juliana, and Barbaraf. 27r-27v, col. 1 0---21
19The priest who accidentally knocked down the lamp hanging before the icon of the Virgin Mary and yet it did not spill or go outf. 27v-28r, col. 2 0---22
20Two monks from the monastery of Saint Victor and the old man who stole from them and was punishedf. 28r-28v, col. 1 0---23
of 8
pricenton ethiopian eritrean & egyptian miracles of marry project

The Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) project is a comprehensive resource for the 1,000+ miracle stories written about and the 2,500+ images painted of the Virgin Mary in these African countries, and preserved in Geʿez between 1300 and the present.

Princeton Department of Comparative Literature 133 East Pyne, Princeton, NJ 08540

Princeton Department of African American Studies Morrison Hall, Princeton, NJ 08540

pemm@princeton.edu

© 2025 The Trustees of Princeton University