Canones: The Art of Harmony

The so-called canon tablesof the Christian gospels are a remarkable feature of the early, late antique, and medieval Christian manuscript cultures of both the East and West. They were devised in the scholarly Christian milieu in Caesarea in the first decades of the fourth century CE. By the third century CE the Palestinian harbour town had become a centre of Christian learning and scribal culture, with its importance exemplified by the work of Origen. This stimulating context brought the canon tables into existence early in the fourth century. They are commonly attributed to Eusebius, who had become bishop of Caesa-rea around 314.