This quaestio disputata by the Augustinian Johannes of Paltz (around 1445-1511) is a perfect illustration of the working methods of medieval scholasticism. The manuscript was written in Erfurt in the summer of 1486 and has as its topic the refutation of three errors. The first regards those who claim “to be able to calculate and foresee the Last Judgment.” It seems that this document is the only handwritten version of this text, which is known through two printed editions from the 15th century. Franz Xaver Karker (1812-1892), Canon of the Cathedral of Breslau (today Wroclaw in Poland), donated this work to the Fribourg library. (jur)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

This small but extensive (198 ff.) prayer book is written in a variant of North German (Middle Low German). In accordance with the female form in many of the prayers, it was intended for a woman. With the exception of one full-page miniature depicting Christ as the gardener before Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), all illuminations have been removed. An ex-libris on the front pastedown informs us that this small manuscript was a gift to the Fribourg Library in 1891 from Franz Xaver Karker, canon of Wroclaw Cathedral. (ber)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This elegant codex, written in humanistic script, was commissioned by Pope Leo X († 1521). The Medici coat of arms can be found in the middle of the original binding's cover, in a rich frieze on the frontispiece, and in the initials on f. 3v and f. 134v. The decoration is attributed to the famous Florentine illuminator Attavante degli Attavanti († 1525) or his circle. This codex is from the collection of Major J.R. Abbey. (ber)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This small-format codex probably is from the Carthusian monastery of Mainz, from where it came to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, where numerous ownership notes were added. It contains a great variety of excerpts from religious, historical and other literature from the Middle Ages and antiquity. The length of the texts also varies considerably: in addition to short excerpts and two- or four-line verses about various things such as popes or bees, there are longer pieces such as Hugh of Fouilloy's De rota verae et falsae religionis or the first half of Paradisus Animae by Pseudo-Albertus Magnus. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This manuscript, a collection of theological texts, from the Dominican Monastery of Basel, consists of various parts; it alone transmits the complete Latin translation of Fließenden Lichts der Gottheit by Mechthild of Magdeburg. The manuscript is remarkable not only because of its age (around or shortly before 1350), but also because of the numerous marginal notes, which reveal knowledge of the German version of the text, with which this copy of the Latin translation of Das fließende Licht was being compared. (nem)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

Fragment from a Glagolitic breviary with texts for August 13th and 14th; based on the script, it can be dated to the 15th century. It belonged to Franz Miklosich (1813-1891), one of the most important Slavicists of his time, and was a gift to the Basel Antiques Collection, the precursor of the Basel Historical Museum. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015