The Panormia contains a collection of canon law texts, attributed to Ivo of Chartres, which apparently was edited after 1095. The codex probably originated in Einsiedeln and was written by a single scribe who used a regular and calligraphic Carolingian script. The text is divided into eight books, each introduced by an initial; of these eight initials, only one is executed in red, while for the others the preliminary drawings remain visible.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
The principal text in this manuscript is the Explanatio Dominicae Orationis by Engelberg's Abbot Frowin (†1178), who probably commissioned the volume, as indicated by the verses on the last page (468). The manuscript was probably brought to Einsiedeln at the beginning of the 17th century.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
This manuscript, together with Cod. 247(379), 248(380) and 249(381), constitutes the four volumes of a collection of lives of the saints and passions of the martyrs, arranged according to the liturgical year. Without a doubt these four volumes were used in Einsiedeln, where most likely they also were produced. Each life is introduced with a large rubricated initial, and numerous glosses and maniculae by Heinrich von Ligerz were inserted along the margins. The original endpapers, now removed, left traces of a liturgical text with neumes on the inside of the cover and traces of an illuminated initial on the inside of the back cover.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This composite manuscript is datable to the second half of the 10th century. It contains, among other items, the Annales Einsidlenses, Priscian's De grammatica, a fragment of a text on the game of chess, and a calendar with obituary entries up to the 16th century.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
A composite manuscript containing various texts related to figuring Easter dates, two datable calendars, the first from 950 to 975 (4-16), the second from the 9th and 10th centuries (29-40), and the Quaestiones morales, which are datable to the 13th century.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Contains works of Isidore of Seville: Libri originum (I-III e V-XX), De natura rerum, and letters exchanged between Isidore and Braulio of Zaragoza. The manuscript was assembled from an assortment of fragments that had been removed in the 19th century from law volumes held by the library of the chancery of St. Gerold in Vorarlberg. This volume was assembled at the request of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178), as indicated by dedicatory verses on f. 1r.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
The fragments assembled in this collection were removed from their previous volumes by P. Gall Morel in 1858 and bound together into this volume in 1860. They consist of fragments from sequences (two volumes), hymn melodies (such as those still sung to this day in Einsiedeln), three Gloria melodies (the third of which is attributed to Pope Leo IX), three liturgical plays as well as the Novem modi by Hermannus. This manuscript is important to music history, as it is the first instance in Einsiedeln where the neumes are set upon four (incised) staff lines; the form used here represents the Alemannic choral dialect.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
This codex contains over a hundred lives of the saints and acts of the martyrs, most of them accompanied by rubricated initials and incipits. Aside from a few decorated initials, also red, there is no book decoration. The layout of the manuscript and the careful preparation of the parchment with artful colored needlework express the tradition of the scriptorium under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178). The staid script in black ink, often interrupted by another finer hand, sets this volume apart from the others from Frowin's library; it is therefore also possible that this codex was made under Frowin's successor, Berchtold (1178-1197).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This first part of the three-volume Engelberg Bible (together with Cod. 4 and Cod. 5) contains the Pentatuch and the books of the Prophets. The captioned pen sketch with verse of dedication on fol. 1v portrays Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) presenting the codex to Mary, the patroness of the Cloister. This large-format volume was, according to the colophon on 281v, written by Richene, the only scribe from Frowin's time that we know by name. The careful preparation of the parchment with decorative needlework and the staid style of script and initials in limited colors are characteristic of the recognizable works of Frowin's library.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This second volume of the three-part Engelberger Bible contains the books of the Old Testament remaining after Cod. 3. On 1v, the codex is dedicated in verse by Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) to Mary, the patron saint of the monastery. The codex's structure and organization reflect the simple but elegant style of Frowin's library. The colophon on 213r identifies the copyist as Richene, whose hand is also responsible for the other two volumes of the Engelberger Bible (Cod. 3 and Cod. 5); the illuminations and titles are the work of the so-called Engelberger Master. 69v contains a full-page colour depiction of Christ and the Church.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This third volume of the three-part Engelberg Bible contains the New Testament. The codex originally consisted of 204 folios. On one of the leaves that have been cut out, now cataloged as D 126 at the Stiftsarchiv Engelberg, a five-line verse identifies the scribe as Richene, who also completed the volumes containing the Old Testament (Cod. 3 and Cod. 4). Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) and his scribe Richene are also shown in a full-page illustration on 1r. Also portrayed at full-page size are the Evangelists with their attributes, each labeled with a descriptive verse (108v, 134v, 153v, 181r). On 103r through 105v are canonical tables. The manuscript contains some incomplete initials, spaces reserved for decorations, and completely empty pages.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains Augustine's commentary on the Psalms, written in a small, extremely fine script. The verse on 1r names Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) as creator of the volume. In addition to simple red initials, the manuscript also includes individual extremely artful initials by the Engelberg Master in brown and red ink. The portrayal of Christ as grape-treader on 101r is particularly noteworthy; like several other sections, it is on a erased section. Beside and beneath the attachments one occasionally finds fine sketches for initials, designs, or figures.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
The scriptorium of Engelberg made this codex containing Augustine's commentary on the Psalms, along with a whole series of works of the Church Fathers (Cod. 12-18, 87-88 and 138). A two-line poem on 1r shows that the codex came to be during the time of Abbot Frowin (1143-1178). The text is written in a small, careful and clean script. The codex contains scattered figure initials with vinescrolls and bulb motifs typical of Frowin's time. Otherwise, lightly decorated initials in red ink divide the text.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This manuscript contains the 15 books of St. Augustine's On the Trinity. On 1v, under the Capitula a pen-drawing depicts Augustine with his three adversaries. The codex has been decorated in a particularly artistic manner by the so-called Engelberg Master. A large initial with figurative motifs in red-brown and blank ink begins each book; in the text that follows, intermediate initials are smaller, monochromatically red, and richly ornamented. In verse on 1r, the copyist describes in detail the circumstances of the production of the volume: it was begun under Abbot Berchtold of Engelberg (1178-1197), who died shortly after the copying was underway; his successor Heinrich (1197-1223) supervised the completion of the work.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains Augustine's exposition on the Gospel of John. According to the dedicatory poem on 1r the manuscript was produced under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) of Engelberg. The layout, script and illustration – a few initials with vinescroll- and bulb patterns (2v, 5v, 136v) alternate with more simple rubricated capitals in dividing the sections – are closely related to Cod. 13.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This manuscript contains sermons of the Church father Augustine. On 1r, Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) dedicates the codex in verse to the Virgin Mary, the monastery's patron saint. An index on 1v-3r lists the sermons contains in the manuscript. Half of the last folio (221) has been cut out, on the back paste-down, the copyist tested his pen (probacio penne). As with most volumes from Frowin's library, tears and holes in the parchment are carefully stitched up.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains Augustine's City of God. The manuscript was probably begun under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) and completed and decorated under his successor Berchtold (1178-1197). The last folio is cut out; it may have had dedicatory verse on it, as was the practice for the Engelberg scriptorium under Frowin and Berchthold. Some of the initials have been erased and reworked.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains the St. Augustine's Confessions. A two-line poem above the Capitulum on 1r attests that the copying was begun under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). It is adorned with two figurated initials (1v and 60v) and decorative initials in red ink. Seven rhymed distichs in the hand of the so-called Engelberg Master appear on 123v and these refer to the defense by Frowin's successor Berchtold (1178-1197) against the falsa et damnanda compilatio abbatis Burchardi in turtal.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This manuscript contains on 3v-142v the homilies of Gregory the Great on the prophet Ezechiel. On 1v-3r, in the same hand, appears the tam veteris quam novi testamenti testominia; on 143r-144r follows a short treatise on Grammar written in a different, slightly later hand; the bottom part of 144 has been cut out. On 4r, a line above the text attributes the volume to Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). Places where the parchment has been damaged have been carefully mended with different-coloured thread. Two of the decorative initials appear against a coloured background, in accordance with the later Engelberg style (24v and 76v). A few marginal notes are written in a later hand.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains the first of four volumes of the Book of Job by Gregory the Great. The subsequent three volumes are in codices 21, 22 and 23. The first volume encompasses the parts one (ff. 6r-99r) and two (99r-193v), each divided into five books. At the front of the volume there was originally a full-page illustration consisting of an artistic portrayal of Job with his three friends (upper half) and a portrayal of Gregory the Great and a monk writing (lower half). On the back, the actual recto side, is a Leonine verse couplet of dedication to Frowin. This leaf was carefully described by P. Karl Stadler in his hand-written catalog of 1787, which helped to identify the membrum disiectum, which is now held by the The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1955.74 (Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fund), as belonging to this volume.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This manuscript contains, along with three other volumes (Cod. 20, 22 and 23), Gregory the Great's interpretation of the Book of Job. In two lines of verse on 1r, Abbot Frowin of Engelberg dedicates the volume to the Mary, the patron saint of the monastery. On 89r and 89v a change in the ruling produces markedly larger line spacing. The incipit and explicit are rubricated, and every section begins with a decorative initial and red and brown-black ink with the figurative and vinescrolls motifs typical of Frowin's scriptorium. The layout, script and illustration are closely related to Cod. 20.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This codex contains Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob. According to poem on 1r, the manuscript was produced under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). The individual chapters are introduced by initiales in red and brown-black ink; in comparison to the first two initials (6r and 16v), those later in the book appear incomplete. Explicits are written in red majuscule. Tears and holes in the parchment are partially stitched up, but in a less artistic manner as in other manuscripts of the library of Frowin (e.g., Cod. 16). Between 39 and 40 a strip of parchment has been attached to complete the text.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
Following Cod. 20, 21 and 22, this manuscript constitutes the final volume of the Engelberg series of Pope Gregory the Great's interpretation of the book of Job. The decoration has rubricated incipits and explicits and different sorts of initials: simple ones in red ink (1v, 71r), somewhat larger ones with typical bulb motifs (15r, 49v, 101v) and figurated initials in red and brown ink (3r, 32r, 84r, 113r). Tears in the parchment have been stitched with yellow and red thread. At least some of the sparse marginal notes have been written in the same hand as the text. A note added to the end of 123v indicates that Abbot Frowin commissioned the volume.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) wrote between 1135 and 1153 the 86 sermons on the interpretation of the Song of Songs. The fact that this work, as well ad Cod. 33, was copied in the Engelberg scriptorium just a few decates later testifies to the great esteem in which Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) held the author. Indicative of this codex being produced during Frowin's abbacy is the usual dedicatory verse on 3r. The index on 1v-3r and the numerous red-ink marginalia are in the hand of Abbot Ignatius Betschart of Engelberg (1658-1681).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
Like Cod. 34 , this manuscript contains 150 sermons by the Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). The appearance of the script, in dark-brown ink, is mostly uniform. The title of the individual sermons have been written with red ink. 97v has been left blank. With regards to decoration, there are many decorative initials with runner- and bulb-motifs on a colorful background and numerous smaller initials, decorated usually in red and blue, occasionally with insular elements (59r, 67v). The manuscript was probably produced under Abbot Berchtold (1178-1197).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
Like Cod. 33, this manuscript contains 150 sermons by the Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), sermons which, according to the introductory lines on 1v, Bernard gave to his disciples and which a certain Godefridus copied down for diffusion. The text, written in dark-brown ink by an even hand, is adorned throughout with red-accented capitals interspersed with small initials decorated in red and green. Squeezed in the upper margin, and partially cut off, a different hand in light-brown ink makes brief annotations on the text and statements on the author. The codex probably was produced under Abbot Berchtold.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This copy of Cassian's Collationes contains on 1r a two-line ownership note attributing the codex to Abbot Berchtold of Engelberg (1178-1197) as well as the beginning of a dedicatory poem to the Virgin Mary, the monastery's patron saint. Both inscriptions also appear verbatim in the volumes that were written under Berchtold's predecessor Frowin (1143-1178). Decorated initials introduce each of the collationes, and sometimes the chapter-lists; between the collationes the text is divided with red decorated capitals. Tears and holes in the parchment have been artistically sewn up; of particular note are those on 48v and 190v.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
Thin evangelistary, consisting of only 32 parchment leaves containing 27 pericopes. The very carefully produced codex, which has only a leather binding, is decorated with artistic initials in red and black ink. Although it is not dated, based on the script and decoration the codex can be assigned to the abbots Frowin (1143-1178) and Berchtold (1178-1197).
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Tract by the Engelberg Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) about free will, the De laude liberi arbitrii libri septem, from the 12th century. This as-yet unedited work is regarded as an important contribution from the perspective of monastic theology during the early scholastic period.
Online Since: 07/31/2007
This manuscript contains the Venerable Bede's homilies on the Gospels, which are listed in a chapter-index on 2r-vv and 65v-66r. A full-page colour illumination on 1v shows the author writing this work, framed by the attributes of the Evangelists. Rubricated initials, incipits and explicits divide the text, itself prepared in a light- to dark-brown ink; at the beginning, when the name of Mary, the patron-saint of the monastery of Engelberg, appears in the text, it is slightly emphasized through the use of majuscule or rubrication. 3r and 11v contain large multicolour decorative initials. Holes and tears in the parchment have been mended in a particularly artistic manner. On 1r a two-line verse states that the copy was made during the abbacy of Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
This Codex contains Jerome's exposition of the Gospels of Matthew (1v-103r) and Mark (103v-128v). It has little decoration, but it has two elaborate, polychromatic initials (5r, 103v). The text, copied in black and dark-brown ink, contains multiple changes of hand. Text divisions such as incipit and explicit, pargraphs and chapter indications are executed in red ink, and one time figuratively decorated (51v). The two-line verse inscription on 1r attests that the codex was produced under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
According to the two-line poem on 1r, this manuscript was produced under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). It contains simple red initials, and rarely small, polychromatic initials decorated with bulb motifs (2r, 25v, 41r, 54r, 62v). As is typical for the volumes from Frowin's library, the text is rendered throughout in black-brown ink by a regular hand and the incipits to each book are rubricated. At times the capitals are slightly bigger or accentuated with red ink. The last two-thirds of 119 has been excised.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript contains the Panormia of Ivo of Chartres, a collection of texts on canon law in 8 books with 1038 chapters. Ivo, bishop of Chartres and reformer, first wrote this work after 1095, but it spread extremely fast thanks to its user-friendly nature. The text, in light- and dark-brown ink, was produced by at least two hands. According to the tradition of the Engelberg scriptorium in the twelfth century, the chapter beginnings and summaries are accentuated in red ink, which in the case of Ivo's work provides exceptionally rich rubrication. Numerous marginal notes appear outside the blocks of text.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex contains Saint Ambrose's Hexaemeron. A two-line poem on 1r by Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) dedicates this volume (with its title) to the monastery's patron saint Mary, mother of God. Beneath the dedication, the same hand has written a six-line poem, which likewise makes reference to the contents. A small decorative initial in blue, green, and red ink, as is typical of the library of Frowin, introduces the first book. The remaining books are divided with more simple, red initials. The text and marginal notes, in a dark-brown (and in a few places light brown) ink come from the same hand, a hand with a strikingly clean and balanced appearance.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The manuscript contains Ambrose's treatise De officiis. A list of chapters (1r-3r, 65v-67r, 103v-104v) precedes each of the three books. The first two books are introduced by an artistic tendrilated initial on a dark-brown (3v) or red (67r) background. Rubricated lines and initials divide the rest of the text. The dedicatory poem on 1r, in capitals filling two lines attests that the text is an offering of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) to the monastery's patron saint Mary.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
Codex 67 contains De mirabilibus mundi, a collection of curiosities by the grammarian Julius Solinus from late antiquity; the texts are also known by the titles Polyhistor and Collectanea rerum memorabilium. The text is written in a uniform script and is decorated with titles and initials, some of which are adorned with filigree (e.g., 2r and 6r), in red ink. Holes and tears in the parchment have been artfully stitched up with colorful threads (e.g., 23-25, 34, 62). According to the dedicatory poem on 1v, this copy was produced under Abbot Heinrich von Buochs (1197-1223).
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This codex contains on 6r-95v the three books "On the status of the soul" by the French theologian Claudianus Mamertus (ca. 425-ca. 475), an apologetic treatise on the incorporeity of the soul, written to oppose a writing by bishop Faustus von Reji (3r-6r). Initials by the so-called Engelberg Master appear at the beginning of the prologue and of each of the three books (3r, 6r, 7v, 48v, 77v). The marginal notes are often framed in red, and some of the capitals are in red. An ownership note on the back of the flyleaf ascribes the volume to Abbot Berchtold of Engelberg (1178-1197).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript contains Jerome's exposition of the twelve prophetic books. Each prophet is colorfully depicted in a historiated initial at the beginning of his book. The name of the prophet under discussion appears in red ink in the top margin of every other two-page spread. Small, colourful decorated initials sometimes introduce new paragraphs in the prologues. Except for the prologues, the pages are laid out in three columns: the middle column contains the biblical text, the left and right columns provide, in a smaller script, the exposition. A two-line verse dedication on 1r ascribes the codex to the library of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The manuscript contains the four books of Augustine's On Christian Doctrine. An artistically decorated initial in red, black and green ink, followed by a line in decorative capitals, appears at the beginning of the proemium (2r), as well as of the first (5r) and fourth books (64v). The second and third book are divided by a simpler red decorative initial and a first line that has been accentuated in red ink. The appearance of the script, in a black-brown ink, is clean and balanced; the first change in hand appears in a collection of opinions of the Church fathers that has been added (probably later) on 94r-95r. On 1r a two-line dedicatory verse names Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) as having commissioned the work.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This volume is a copy of Augustine's commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. After the list of chapters (1r-1v) follows the Retractatio sancti Augustini de sermone domini in monte (1v-5r). Both books of the main text are introduced by a colorful decorated initial (5r, 55r). The black-brown ink script appears uniform and balanced. On the recto of the front flyleaf a two-line poem names Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178) as having commissioned the volume.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex begins with works of Augustine: 1r-27v Liber de gratia et libero arbitrio, 28r-63r letters from and to Augustine De praedestinatione and 63r-93r Liber secundus de dono perseverentiae. Then follows the Tractatus de gratia et libero arbitrio first produced by the Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux in 1127. Folios 1-80 are palimpsests. The book's decoration limits itself to rather awkward red decorated initials and first lines at the beginning of each book, red-accentuated capitals and a pen drawing on 93r. On 111r there appears, as in Cod. 138 a later note of ownership, in a hand that resembles that of Cod. 90.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The bulk of this codex contains Hugh of Saint Victor's De sacramentis fidei christianae (10r-147r). Preceding it are two short treatises on the Antichrist (Ps.-Augustine 1r-6v and Peter Damian 6v-10r), and after it comes a collection of opinions of and excerpts from Hrabanus Maurus' De universo. With very few exceptions, 1-44 are palimpsests. The pages towards the end have many large holes and tears or are partially excised; one folio, between 10 and 11r, is missing entirely. The writing is characterized by several changes of ink and hand, and the page ruling is not uniform. Except for simple red and black initials and rubricated lines, there is no book decoration whatsoever. A pair of marginal notes appear on 112v. Although the codex contains no univocal indication that it was produced in Engelberg, a few similarities with the volumes produced under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) suggest it.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
Codex 102 is a twelfth century hymnbook with neumes. The chants are written in two columns and are generously rubricated. Ff. 3v-11v contain a calendar of saints and tables about the liturgical year; ff. 1r-3r and 141v-151v also contain neumed chants written by various predominantly later hands. Recorded as a note on 3r is a dedicatory poem that is found in numerous manuscripts produced under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This codex contains on V3-7r the Sermo acephalus de iudicio and on 7r-43r the Monita of the Church Doctor Ephraim the Syrian (ca. 306-373). The first two pages have been torn out, but the inner margin can still be seen, including a small red initial on V5. The main text on 7r begins with a red decorated initial and runner motifs. The numerous, frequently changing hands differ greatly from each other in line ruling and appearance. The design and construction of the manuscript correspond to the Engelberg scriptorium under Abbots Frowin (1143-1178) and Berchtold (1178-1197).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex contains Augustine's Retractationes (1r-73r), introduced by a richly decorated initial that extends for the whole length of the page. At the beginning of the Liber de poenitentia, on 73r, there is a smaller, but just as artistic initial with an eagle motif. The text of both works probably comes from the same hand, and is accompanied throughout by numerous rubricated lines and simpler dedicated initials. The only owner's inscription on 110v comes from a later time, but the overall design is characteristic of the volumes of the Engelberg library produced under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex contains the letter, known as De consideratione of the Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (ca. 1090-1153) to Pope Eugenius III. The writing was first completed in 1152; the two-lined dedicatory verse on 1r names Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) as having commissioned the Engelberg copy, and attests to the rapid spread of the work. The beginnings and endings of the five books are marked out with red ink. The clean and balanced, slightly cursive script in brown ink comes from a single hand.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript contains the De sacramentis (also known as the De corpore et sanguine Domini) written by the Frankish Benedictine Paschasius Radbertus. The text has been copied by multiple hands, each of which has its own line-ruling. The decoration of the book is limited to red accentuated capitals and simple red decorated initials that are occasionally rather awkwardly decorated (6v, 12r). The codex's layout and the appearance of its script match those of the volumes prepared under the Engelberg Abbots Frowin (1143-1178) and Berchtold (1178-1197).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This small-format codex contains Cicero's rhetorical work De inventione. The text, mostly in dark-, sometimes light-brown ink comes from multiple hands, which all have their own careful and consistent appearance. Except for some simple decorated initials, slightly larger at the beginning of the prologue and of both books, and the occasional red-ink accentuated capitals and text-beginnings, there is no book decoration whatsoever. A later inscription on 1r indicates that this is probably a volume from the milieu of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The principal part of this manuscript consists of the Antiphonale. The mostly neumed Mass chants for the church year and for the saints' days (ff. 3v-83v are supplemented with processional chants, litanies and a sequentiary (ff. 83v-109r). Bound into the manuscript at the beginning (ff. 1r-2v) and at the end (ff. 109r-122v) are 13th century supplements, among them a neumed German-language sequence dedicated to Mary (fol. 115r) and an elegy on the death of King Philip of Swabia of the House of Hohenstaufen, who was murdered in 1208 (fol. 117v).
Online Since: 09/23/2014
During construction work in 1963, this commentary by Paschasius Radbertus on the Lamentations of Jeremiah was discovered along with 9 other manuscripts in a false floor over the Engelberg library. On the basis of the verse inscription on 1r, the manuscript can be attributed to the library of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). The hand and the decoration correspond to those characteristic of the Frowin volumes: the text is in black-brown ink with occasional capitals that are accentuated in red, the incipits and explicits are rubricated, simple initials are in red ink, and decorative initials have tendril and bulb motifs in colorful inks (2r, 40v, 73v, 126r, 163r).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex with the homilies on the Gospels by Saint Gregory was discovered in 1963 along with 9 other volumes during construction work in the monastery of Engelberg. 1v-2r and 46v each list the titles of 20 homilies. The volume has on 113r-116v various collections and lists, including on 114r, after an excised page, the so-called school-book list. The individual Homilies are each indicated with a red initial and red incipit and explicit. The only change of hands in the well-proportioned script can be observed on 40r-44r. Tears in the parchment have been artfully stitched up. A contract text on 1r and a dedicatory poem on 1v attest that the manuscript was produced under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
For centuries this manuscript was unknown, until in 1963 it was discovered along with several other codices (including 1003, 1005, 1007, 1009) in a false floor over the library of Engelberg Abbey. The circumstances surrounding this stash – perhaps protection from theft or some other threat – are unknown. On the basis of how it was produced and the verse on 1r, the codex can be placed among the series of volumes with text by Augustine (Cod. 12-18, 87-88 and 138) in the library of Abbot Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
An Engelberg copy of the historical work Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII by the ecclesiastical author Orosius. The Engelberg exemplar was commissioned under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178). It contains, among other items, noteworthy initials in the Engelberg book decoration style of the time and a large number of glosses. The manuscript is a meticulous copy from the St. Gall exemplar, Cod. 621 (9th century). This Engelberg manuscript later served as the master text for yet another copy, Cod. 60 of the Schaffhausen City Library (Schaffhauser Stadtbibliothek).
Online Since: 07/31/2007
This manuscript contains a complete monastic breviary. The decoration consists of red, blue and green initials with additional pen and ink drawings of floral, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs. Several initials on the first pages (ff. 8-11) were framed on a gold background, probably at a later time. Of French origin, this breviary was used in Payerne from the 12th century on; after the secularization of the priory, it passed into private ownership.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
Probably written around 1200 in Hauterive, this Cistercian missal has recently attracted the attention of historians who study St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231). Together with another manuscript from Hauterive, the antiphonary L 301, this manuscript is considered evidence of the rapid spread of the cult of the saint in a Cistercian monastery. Indeed, the general chapter of the Cistercians decided in 1236 to have the name of the saint, who was canonized the previous year, entered into the martyrology and into the calendar of the order. The corresponding entry in our manuscript's calendar, by a second hand, is probably a consequence of this decision.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript is made from parchment of medium thickness, quite soiled. The 17th/18th century binding consists of wooden boards covered in black pressed leather with 5 brass bosses in the front and back (1 boss is missing from the back). Two clasp fragments. Evidence from paleographyas well as from the content suggests that the volume was produced in Hauterive.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This text contains an adaptation of several narrative parts of the Bible in Old French. The poem in alexandrine verse (en laisses d'alexandrins) was composed in the 12th century by an author of the continent and became one of the most successful religious works in Old French. This manuscript preserves one of the oldest and most complete exemplars of this work; it is the only one to contain almost the entire text from the Anglo-Norman branch of the text tradition. Because the text probably is of insular origin, this manuscript proves the almost simultaneous dissemination of the text in England.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This rare Judeo-Arabic fragment is from the Kitab al-Hidaya ila Faraiḍ al-Qulub (Guide to the Duties of the Heart ) by Baḥya ben Joseph Ibn Paquda (2nd half of the 11th century). This work is of fundamental importance since it sets out the first Jewish system of ethics. The manuscript tradition of this Judeo-Arabic work is quite fragmentary because few textual witnesses remain today.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
The first page of this manuscript contains a note in Latin, listing the six texts that make up the volume; the note is contemporaneous with the manuscript that was executed during the 12th century. The note identifies four of the texts as treatises by Augustine – De doctrina christiana, Contra Felicianum arrianum, Explanatio epistolae ad Galatas, De consensu quatuor evangelistarum – and reports not knowing "nescitur" who wrote the last two texts. Modern criticism recognized in these texts the De vita christiana attributed to Fastidius (4th-5th century) and a treatise on the Trinity identified as the Pro fide catholica and attributed to Fulgentius Ruspensis (467-532). This copy was executed very carefully, the text was checked and corrected, and the main divisions are marked by elegant ornamental initials in red and blue. The origin of the manuscript, before its publication in the 1620 catalog of printed books and manuscripts of the Bibliothèque de Genève, is unknown.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This missal, copied in the early 12th century at the Mont-Saint-Michel Priory in the Tarentaise Valley, follows a model from Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. The calendar contains almost all of the saints venerated in Normandy, and the Ordinary of the Mass follows the tradition of Mont-Saint-Michel. The missal seems to have been in use at least until 1233, when the last necrological note was added to the calendar. It was purchased by Abbot Claude Vittoz, priest of La Giettaz (Savoy), who left it to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1750.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This epistolary, produced in the cloister of St. Gall, was used for readings during the mass. The script is Carolingian minuscule and the initials are decorated with gold, silver, and minium. This manuscript may have been written and illuminated by Sintram at the beginning of the 10th century. The original binding was made of ivory. The manuscript apparently left St. Gall at the end of the 18th century, after being offered for sale. It only appeared again in the 1860s, when the heirs of Geneva physician Jean-Jaques de Roches-Lombard presented it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
Hugh of Amiens, archbishop of Rouen (1130-1164), is the author of the two theological treatises, Sur la foi catholique and Sur l'oraison dominicale, copied in this manuscript. According to the inscription on the front flyleaf, the manuscript was donated to the Cathedral of Rouen by Archbishop Rotrou of Warwick, immediate successor of Hugh of Amiens as the head of the archdiocese (1165-1183). An entry on the first page (f. 1r) attests that the manuscript belonged to Alexandre Petau before it became part of the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This manuscript, dated to the years 1170-1180, contains the text of the Alexandreis, a Latin epic poem written by Walter of Châtillon to tell the story of Alexander the Great. Dedicated to the Archbishop of Reims, the work quickly became a great success and remains known today as “the greatest epic poem of medieval literature”. In addition, the version preserved in this manuscript should be one of the oldest.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript, dated to about 1200, contains several texts, among them the Martyrology of Usuard (Benedictine monk, died around 875), an incomplete homiliary, the Rule of St. Augustine, and the necrology of Sixt Abbey (France, Haute-Savoie) that was expanded with later additions into the 17th century. According to François Huot, the various parts could have existed separately, but they seem to have been combined since the beginning of the 13th century. Primarily in the 13th and 14th century, diverse texts were added on previously blank pages, among them list of dues owed the abbey noted on pages f. 75v and 99r. This manuscript belonged to the Augustinian Canons Regular of Sixt Abbey, who used it during the Officium capituli; the manuscript must have been in their possession until the French Revolution. In the 19th century it was purchased by Auguste Turrettini (1818-1881) from Geneva.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This manuscript was deposited in the Bibliothèque de Genève in 2007 by the priests of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales (at the Institut Florimont in Geneva). This composite manuscript unifies two previously separate texts: a copy of Prician's Institutiones Grammaticae made during the 11th or 12th centuries in Italy, and the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The latter is illustrated with 65 miniatures; this 11th century copy was probably written in southern Italy, judging by the Beneventana and Carolingian minuscule scripts used. This previously unknown Beatus manuscript discovered in Geneva adds to the 26 illuminated exemplars already on record.
Online Since: 11/03/2009
Lectionary from the second half of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th century from a Benedictine monasrtery in the southwestern German region, as indicated by the naming of various saints from this area. This is likely among the manuscripts brought to Hermetschwil by the nuns from the Double monastery of Muri. Adorned with many figured and historiated initials.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This manuscript contains the prayers and instructions for the Liturgy of the Hours. It was made for the nuns of the double monastery of Muri; the manuscript came to Hermetschwil when the convent of nuns relocated there.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This manuscript was made for the female part of the double monastery of Muri since the prayers feature female terms. This work contains the readings, responsories and prayers for the Liturgy of the Hours; the Penitential Psalms; the benedictions for the daily life in the monastery; and the Office of the Dead.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This psalter from the 12th century is part of a collection formerly owned by the library of the double abbey of Muri. It was later transferred to the monastery at Hermetschwil. The cycle of miniatures is incomplete; the calendar includes a series of necrological records.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This psalter was written during the 12th century in the monastery of Muri. The death records in the calendar include both nuns and monks who were members of the Muri monastic community and are thus an important witness for the existence of the double monastery.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This psalter is the work of the Engelberg Master. Psalms 1, 51 and 101 are introduced by large initials. Especially remarkable is a knight on 41r.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This manuscript, written in early Gothic script and dated to the end of the 12th century, contains an incomplete copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses (2,52 – 3,466; 3,651 – 14,43; 14,414 – 15,668). There are marginal and interlinear glosses as well as variants by various hands.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This manuscript is a cartulary that was created for the Cluniac priory of Romainmôtier (canton of Vaud) and that was probably copied at the monastery. It consists of two chronologically distinct parts that were united at an unknown time. The first part is from the 12th century and consists of 77 documents, introduced by a preface that recounts the most important events from the history of the institution. The second part was copied around the end of the 13th century and contains 80 documents, most of which date back to the years 1270-1286.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This manuscript contains the Sententiae as well as an excerpt from the Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville; furthermore as later additions it contains incantations, a notice on the early economic history of St. Urban's Abbey, and the blessing of the three angels.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This manuscript contains the Adhortaciones sanctorum patrum (ff. 13-96v) and the De miraculis (ff. 97r-158r), a collection of miracles assembled by Peter the Venerable, reformer and last of the great abbots of Cluny. The front flyleaves contain a notarial document from the 14th century, while the rear ones contain assorted notes, possibly notices of ownership, which seem to have been obliterated.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Part of a leaf from the third volume (May-June) of a Fulda Legendary that originally consisted of six volumes, commissioned in 1156 by Rugger, monk at Frauenberg Abbey in Fulda (1176-1177 abbot of Fulda as Rugger II). This fragment contains parts of the Passio sanctorum Marci et Marcelliani as well as of the Vita s. Bodardi; it was probably written by Eberhard of Fulda. The legendary was still used in the middle of the 16th century in Fulda by Georg Witzel (1501-1573) for his Hagiologium seu de sanctis ecclesiae (Mainz 1541) as well as for his Chorus sanctorum omnium. Zwelff Bücher Historien Aller Heiligen Gottes (Köln 1554). Other fragments from this third volume are in Basel and Solothurn. It shows that this volume, and at least the 6th volume (November-December) of the legendary as well, reached Basel, where both evidently were used as manuscript waste around 1580.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Gradual dating from the 12th century, used by the Prémontré order at the Abbey of Bellelay.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
The first liturgical library of the nuns of Fille-Dieu, which today is dispersed across all of Europe, has great significance for the history of the Cistercian Order. The booklet FiD 1 (French musical notation) contains the oldest offices of St. Bernard and of the Trinity, which were introduced into the order in 1175 or shortly thereafter. The flyleaves are remarkable as well. Together with FiD 2, they represent relics of antiphonaries that were copied around 1136/1140 and contain the original Cistercian liturgy, which was copied shortly after 1108 in Metz by monks sent by Abbot Stephen Harding. This liturgy was corrected within the framework of the reforms of Bernard of Clairvaux. The existence of Bernardine drafts had until now been known through antiphonary 12A-B from Westmalle Abbey (Belgium) and through the one from Tamié Abbey 6 (Savoy). Codicological analysis of the flyleaves of FiD 1 and of the fragments of FiD 2 reveals that all pieces come from the Swiss Abbey of Fille-Dieu; they share identical status and common characteristics, irrespective of current holding sites. The same hands and correcting hands can be recognized, the same types of ornamentation and the same later touch-ups, which were done at the earliest in the 16th century, probably by the nuns or by the monks of Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron, VD), which was the mother house of Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
These antiphonary fragments, which were copied around 1136/1140 and were scraped and corrected around 1140/1143, constitute a blank cover. Doubtlessly the parchment pieces of various sizes were glued together by the nuns of Fille-Dieu in order to cover a now lost liturgical formulary. Together, FiD 1 and FiD 2 constitute relics of antiphonaries that contained the primitive Cistercian liturgy. This was defined by Fr. Kovacs (“Fragments du chant cistercien primitif“, ASOC 6 [1950], pp. 140–150) and Chr. Waddell (The Primitive Cistercian Breviary, Fribourg, 2007 [Spicilegium Friburgense 44]) as the liturgy reformed by Stephen Harding shortly after 1108. During this reform, the abbot of Cîteaux forced the order to adopt the antiphonary of Metz, which was in use by the order until the time of the second reform under Bernard of Clairvaux. This second reform was completed in the early 1140s. The existence of Bernardine drafts had until now been known through antiphonary 12A-B from Westmalle Abbey (Belgium) and through the one from Tamié Abbey 6 (Savoy). Codicological analysis of the flyleaves of FiD 1 and of the fragments of FiD 2 reveals that all pieces come from the Swiss Abbey of Fille-Dieu; they share identical status and common characteristics, irrespective of current holding sites. The same hands and correcting hands can be recognized, the same types of ornamentation and the same later touch-ups, which were done at the earliest in the 16th century, probably by the nuns or by the monks of Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron, VD), which was the mother house of Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This manuscript was probably created in Engelberg Abbey around 1175, as the type of writing and a note within the manuscript (c. 8va) seem to confirm. It contains additions and annotations from around 1400. The manuscript's main text contains a copy of the so-called Reichenauer Kaiserchronik by Hermannus Augiensis (or Hermannus Contractus) and of the Excerpta of the continuation of the Chronicle by Bertholdus Augiensis. Among the notes added in the first half of the 14th century is one attesting to the transfer of the diocese from Windisch to Constance at the time of King Dagobert (29v). The last page contained notes about the history of Muri Abbey in the 14th and 15th century, which were probably removed in the 19th century. This manuscript is mentioned in the 1744 list of Muri manuscripts, but probably it was already held by the abbey around 1500.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
This small 12th century prayer book, the oldest in the German language, was written for a woman. It contains various prayers in German and Latin, including the famous "Mary Sequence of Muri" ("Mariensequenz aus Muri"), the oldest known German language version of the Latin sequence model, the Ave preclara maris stella. During the 19th century the manuscript was linked to Queen Agnes (ca. 1281-1364), who had lived in the Cloister of Königsfeld. It is listed in the manuscript catalog of the monastery of Muri as of 1790.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This cycle of miniatures from the first half of the 12th century is the work of two artists. The cycle was bound after having already been cut to create a volume; it is likely that it originally preceded a psalter.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
A copy on parchment of Part 1 of the Commentaries on the Minor Prophets by Jerome. An otherwise unknown artist contributed to this manuscript, created after 1100 in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. The initial “I” in gold and opaque paints on the Incipt page (1v) is his work: a bear, two birds of prey, and a dog frolic among grape-covered vines; a lion tears into a rabbit, a rooster and a fox feast on the grapes, and a hunter spears a boar. The beginning of the text (4r) has been decorated by the same artist with an initial “V”, in the gold tendrils of which four animals (dragon, dog, bird of prey, deer) are artfully entwined.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
This manuscript, a copy of 59 letters by Jerome created in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen (All Saints) in Schaffhausen, is mentioned in the supplements to the booklist of the monastery in Schaffhausen (Min. 17, f. 306v). Evidence for dating the manuscript around 1100 comes from the Romanesque binding and the style of the initials with scroll ornamentation. A note of ownership by the monastery from the year 1365 and a note that the manuscript was borrowed by Frater Jacobus Winkelshan in that same year testify to the use of the codex in the late Middle Ages.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This copy of Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos 1–50, written in two columns, is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); together with Min. 16, it completes the older Min. 17. Beautiful parchment, the same layout with large margins as in Min. 16, several hands. The initials with scroll ornamentation are rather small and often are not completed. The ornate decorative capital on the incipit page (f. 1v) confirms that it was created later. Judging by its shape, the leather binding is Romanesque and was equipped with five bosses and clasps in the 14th/15th century. The handwritten note of ownership on the front pastedown and the title label on the back cover probably are from the same period.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This copy of Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos 51-100, written in two columns, is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); together with Min. 15, it completes the older Min. 17. Beautiful parchment, the same layout with large margins as in Min. 15, several hands. The I on the incipit page (f. 1r) and the Q on the page with the decorative initial (f. 3v) are executed in gold and opaque paint and are protected by sewed-on fabric. The 12th century binding was redone and historiated in the 19th century.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This copy of Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos 101-150 is written in two columns; several hands contributed to this manuscript. Although it is the third of three volumes, Min. 17 is older than Min. 15 and Min. 16, which complete it. The I on the incipit page (f. 1r), the E on the page with the decorative initial (f. 2v), and the initial E with scroll ornamentation on f. 1v are drawn in red and have light blue and light green inner grounds. There are red pen and ink drawings of initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 12-15 lines at the beginnings of the psalms. The binding probably is from the 19th century. Discolorations and reinforcements on f. 1r and f. 307v suggest that the manuscript remained unbound for a while, which may explain the loss of a quire after f. 199. The great significance of Min. 17 arises from its listing in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (f. 306v), which mentions books that were acquired or were copied in the abbey's scriptorium during the time of Abbot Siegfried (deceased 1094) and in the first years after his death.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This copy of Augustine's De civitate Dei, written in two columns and executed by several hands, has numerous corrections, variants and Nota monograms in the margins; it is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The volume opens with an incipit page and an ornate decorative page with the initial E in a red pen and ink drawing on a light green background. Red initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 10-12 lines mark the beginning of individual books. A quire was lost between f. 137/138 and between f. 193/194, before this codex, like many others, received a new binding in the 15th century with metal bosses, two clasps and the title written on the front cover; as with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40, Min. 53, Min. 55 and Min. 104, fragments from a 14th century necrology of Allerheiligen Abbey were used as back flyleaf and pastedown (f. 292, 293).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript, listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v), consists of two parts. The first part contains a careful copy of Gregory's Dialogues in a single-column, which is also transmitted in Min. 47; it has a page with a decorative initial (f 1r) and a portrait of the author (f 1v). Especially remarkable are the life of Benedict in Book 2 (f 23r) and the beginnings of Book 3 (38r) and 4 (69r), which exhibit large initials with scroll ornamentation. The binding is Romanesque; it is not clear whether quire V between f 32v and f 33r was missing from the start or whether it was lost during a modern restoration. The second part (from f 104r, quires XV to XVIII) contains a mostly undecorated copy of the life of John Eleymon by Leontios of Neapolis.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Second volume of the libri II omeliarum et sermonum per totum annum, with Sermones de tempore (f. 1v), Sermones de sanctis (f. 136v) and Sermones de communi sanctorum (f. 237v) for the period from Pentecost until the end of the liturgical year; it is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). This manuscript is written in two columns and, except for the last, incomplete page, by one and the same hand; with numerous initials with scroll ornamentation in red ink stretching across up to 20 lines and with emphasized fonts, it is among the most beautiful manuscripts created at All Saints Abbey. In the 15th century, this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; f. 1 (detached since then) served as pastedown, the back pastedown (after f. 287) is missing.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Most parts of this missal, some of with neumes, were produced in about 1100. After 1200 they were bound together with a more recent addition. The characteristic initials with twining branches, the inclusion of the feast days of local saints in the calendar, the additional section, and other addenda indicate that the missal was produced in the monastery of Allerheiligen (All Saints) in Schaffhausen and remained in use there over the course of many centuries. It is one of the few liturgical manuscripts from this monastery that survived the Reformation.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
This manuscript, which is missing the first two leaves, contains a colophon on the verso side of the last leaf (299v). The 13th century colophon informs us that this three-volume Valère Bible was a gift from Willencus of Venthône, dean of the lower church of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sion (Glarier), to the community of canons of Sion around 1195, on the occasion of the feast of the Epiphany. This work can be associated with certain Carthusian bibles, especially with a bible in four volumes that belonged to a daughter of the Grande Chartreuse (Grenoble, B.M., Mss 14, 13, 25, 15 rés. (19-21 and 25)). The order of the Old Testament Books in the Valère Bible does indeed show agreement on all points with that in the “Bible in four volumes.” Furthermore, the initial in the Book of Genesis from the Sion bible is practically identical with the “I” of Genesis from the Carthusian bible.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
The Silver Evangelary was produced during the12th century, probably in the Upper Rhine region. It was first listed in 1646 in the Inventarium Custodiae S. Ursi, p. 48, "Ein altes Evangelij Buoch, dessen Deckhel von Silber". The political programme of Charlemagne included the standardization of religious life following the example of the Roman liturgy in the time of Pope Gregory the Great. Under this regimen books containing transcriptions of the Gospels, called "evangelaries", were produced.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Bifolio from the third volume (May-June) of a Fulda Legendary that originally consisted of six volumes, commissioned in 1156 by Rugger, provost of Frauenberg Abbey in Fulda. This fragment contains parts of the vita of Boniface by Otloh of St Emmeram; it was written by Eberhard von Fulda. The legendary was still used in the middle of the 16th century in Fulda by Georg Witzel (1501-1573) for his Hagiologium seu de sanctis ecclesiae (Mainz 1541) as well as for his Chorus sanctorum omnium. Zwelff Bücher Historien Aller Heiligen Gottes (Köln 1554). Other fragments from this third volume are in Basel and Nuremberg. It shows that this volume, and at least the 6th volume (November-December) of the legendary as well, reached Basel, where both evidently were used as manuscript waste around 1580. The P-initial 1r has a representation of Boniface inside the bowl of the initial; below that is Rugger, who commissioned the legendary.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
An early textual witness of Peter Lombard's († 1160) Sententiae, created perhaps even while the important Scholastic was still alive. Probably written in an Alsatian scriptorium, the manuscript was at Schönenwerd chapter of canons in the 15th century and was rebound by the bookbinder Woldaricus.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
In the works De arithmetica and De institutione musica Boethius transmitted Greek mathematics and music theory to medieval readers. The polychrome schematic illustrations in this 12th century manuscript are particularly carefully made.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This volume, assembled in the 14th century from four originally separate pieces, probably was the missal for the chapel at St. Margrethenberg (Sampans) above Pfäfers. The chants in parts 1 (1r-63v, 12th century), 2 (64r-77v, 13th-14th century) and 4 (129r-131v, 12th century) contain neumes, part 3 (78r-128v, 14th century) is in square notation.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
Calendar, gradual and sacramentary from the parish church St. Evort in Pfäfers; held in the library of Pfäfers Abbey since the 17th/18th century. With initials, rich decoration and a full-page image of the crucifixion (the canon image) on fol 59r. On fol. 173v, an Alemannischer Glauben und Beichte were later added by a 13th century hand.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
The Liber viventium Fabariensis is likely the most important surviving work of Rhaetish book art. This manuscript was originally designed as an Evangelistary and richly adorned with initials, frames for canonical tables and full-page illustrations of the symbols of the four evangelists. Starting in 830 the names of monks who joined the monastic community were listed in the empty canonical table frames, together with living and deceased benefactors of the abbey. In addition to its function as evangelistary, memorial and record of the monastic brotherhood, the Liber viventium was later also used to preserve the historial records and treasure catalog of Pfäfers Abbey. Because of the legal importance of the Liber viventium up to modern times, the volume is housed in the archival collection of Pfäfers Abbey.
Online Since: 06/02/2010
This manuscript in two columns contains a copy of the first eight books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Ruth) that was transcribed at the monastery of St. Gall in the 12th century. At the beginning (p. 1) and at the end (p. 254), there are, in addition to occasional pen trials and additional notes in Latin and in German, copies of two hymns with neumes (Veni redemptor gentium by Ambrose and Jesu redemptor omnium).
Online Since: 06/23/2016