Sub-project: Manuscripts from the Carthusian monastery of Basel
Summer 2017 - December 2020
Status: Completed
Financed by: University Library Basel
Description: The Carthusian monastery of St. Margarethental was founded in 1401 in Kleinbasel (Lesser Basel); until the Reformation it was an important spiritual and intellectual center whose influence extended far beyond the city of Basel. At the beginning of the 16th century its library contained about 2,000 books, almost all of which became the property of the university after the dissolution of the monastery and constituted the substantive basis of the early university library. Among these books are more than 600 manuscripts, which are currently in the process of being catalogued and made accessible by the University Library Basel. In addition, a scholarly relevant selection of these manuscripts is being digitized, among them the German manuscripts from the the library of the lay brothers as well as the manuscripts containing texts by the Carthusians of Basel.
All Libraries and Collections
Second part of a two-volume edition of Gregory’s Moralia in Iob. This volume from the end of the 12th century, richly decorated with initials, was purchased at the Council of Basel for the Carthusian Monastery of Basel and was augmented at the monastery by the scribe Heinrich von Vullenhoe. The provenance of the volume is not certain. An erased note of ownership of the Monastery of S. Maria in Insula could refer to the Premonstratensian Abbey of Marienwerd in Goldern or to the Cistercian Abbey of Notre Dame de l'Ile-de-Ré near La Rochelle. The first volume (B I 12) probably has the same origin.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript, sparingly decorated with foliate and figure initials, was produced at the end of the 12th century and belonged to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. In addition to the glossed cantica ad laudes et ferialia, it primarily contains the Psalter with the glossa ordinaria, the standard medieval commentary on the biblical texts. The layout of the text is in the customary catena-style: the text of the Psalm is in the middle of the page, surrounded by interpretation in the margins and betweens the lines.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This Gospel Book, written in an accurate Carolingian book hand, was probably created in the Marmoutier abbey by Tours. It features richly decorated initials and artistically designed frames for the canon tables. The manuscript was a gift to the Carthusians of Basel from the former dean of Rheinfeld, Antonius Rüstmann, in 1439.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This manuscript contains the homilary of Paulus Diaconus for the winter season and was written and illustrated during the 9th and 10th centuries by various St. Gall copyists. It belonged to the Charter House at Basel, to which it was presented, like B IV 26, by Pierre de la Trilline, Bishop of Lodève near Montpellier (1430-1441), who served in various capacities at the Council of Basel.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
The parchment manuscript, decorated with filigree and Lombard initials, originally belonged to the Carthusian Monastery of Mainz and reached the Carthusian Monastery of Basel via several stations. It contains Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra gentiles, written between 1259 and 1265. This manual for Christian missionaries offers philosophical arguments for Christianity and is especially designed for the conversion of Muslim and Jewish believers of other faiths; it is the only scholastic work to have been translated from Latin into Hebrew.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
The Legenda aurea by the Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (about 1228-1298) is one of the most widely known spiritual collections of the Middle Ages. This 14th century manuscript from Bologna preserves it along with further legends of the saints. The codex is written in a regular Italian Gothic script and, as a matter of routine, is carefully decorated; a large lacuna in chapter 45 (legend of St. Michael) was augmented by a 15th century hand. The volume belongs to the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This manuscript, written by various, difficult to distinguish copyists during the 10th century, contains the homilary of Paulus Diaconus for the winter season. It is decorated with two interesting full-page pen drawings (6r and 68v) and numerous flower-adorned initials in the St. Gall book decoration style. It belonged to the Charter House at Basel and, like B III 2, was a gift from Pierre de la Trilline, Bishop of Lodève near Montpellier (1430-1441), who served in various capacities at the Council of Basel.
Online Since: 02/17/2010
This volume is from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; it contains the first part of the Collationes Patrum by John Cassian (360/365-432/435). It also contains assorted excerpts on the life and work of Cassian from various sources, as well as a letter on the way of life at the Abbey of Monte Cassino under abbot Desiderius (1058-1087). This manuscript was produced in Lorsch and forms a unit together with B V 14. It has supplements and signs of use up to the15th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This manuscript, along with volume B V 13 together with which it forms a unit, was produced in Lorsch and later reached the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. It contains the second part of the Collationes Patrum by John Cassian (360/365-432/435), Cassian’s conversations with the Desert Fathers. In comparison with B V 13, there are relatively few corrections and annotations.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This Interpretatio evangeliorum, attributed to an Epiphanius Latinus, is a compilation of excerpts from the commentary on the gospels by Fortunatianus of Aquileia and from a collection of sermons by an Italian author from the period of late antiquity (whose name may have been Epihanius); it was compiled between the 7th and the 8th century. This manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains only the homiletic part (without introduction) in chapters 18-62).
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This manuscript from the Carthusian monastery of Basel, whose shelfmark was changed several times, consists of three originally independent parts. The first, homiletic, part contains a series of Sermones and interpretive Expositiones on the Gospel readings of the day. The second part consists of a treatise on the ten commandments by the Augustinian Hermit Heinrich von Friemar (1245-1340) and an anonymous commentary on the Latin version of the Physiologus Theobaldi. In the third part of the manuscript, in addition to instructions for leading a God-pleasing life, there is a dispute between angel and devil about the seven deadly sins.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This codex contains high quality excerpts of nearly all known Latin writings by the Dominican Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260 – ca. 1328), which are available overall in no more than a dozen manuscripts. Although the scribe, who probably belonged to the circle of the Dominican Monastery of Cologne, seems to have compiled the excerpts “mechanically and without understanding” (Koch), the texts are of high quality. The manuscript was purchased in 1386 by the Westphalian priest Gottschalk Kamenschede, who later donated it to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This manuscript from the lay library of (the Carthusian Monastery of) Basel transmits two texts from the Teutonic Order: the legend in rhyme “Martina” by Hugo von Langenstein, as well as the “Littauer” by Schondoch. The “Martina” survives only in this manuscript and is considered the oldest sacred poetry of the Teutonic Order. As a third text, the codex contains the “Mainauer Naturlehre.”
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This parchment manuscript, perhaps produced in Basel, transmits the descriptions of the lives of the “Alemannischen Vitaspatrum” in the arrangement of a not-identified Peter der Mul. This manuscript from the third quarter of the 14th century belonged to the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; however, given its age, it certainly was not created there.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
The greatest part of this manuscript consists of two texts by Rudolf von Biberach – Sermones super cantica and De VII itineribus aeternitatis. They were originally created in the 14th century as two separate pieces; later they were bound together into the current volume at the Carthusian monastery of Basel, whose library owned the manuscript from the 15th century on. Still in the 14th century, a German translation of De VII gradibus contemplationis was added as a supplement to the second part. Probably only at the time of binding the manuscript was the beginning of the Abstractum-Glossars added as a last page, bound in upside down; the transcription of this text also dates from the 14th century and therefore could not have been produced at the monastery.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This manuscript, completed in 1479 by Johannes Gipsmüller, contains the Consuetudines Ordinis Cartusiensis, collected and approved by Pope Innocent; these are the “customs” of the Carthusian monks. It also contains the Statuta antiqua and the Statuta nova, additional decisions and regulations established by the general chapter. Bound into the front of the volume is a depiction of the martyrdom of St. Barbara.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript, which has been decoratively sewn with silk thread in many places, was donated to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in the 15th century by Johannes Obrest, chaplain of St. Martin in Basel. It contains, in addition to several short texts of pastoral and medical character, the Summa poenitentialis by the English theologian and subdean of Salisbury, Thomas of Chabham (ca. 1160-1233/36).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript for regular use consists of four parts; it contains material for preparing sermons, including a register of sermon topics, an extensive corpus of legends and more than 100 exempla. The manuscript shows various signs of use and, on the back, it still has a title label from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was held in the 15th and 16th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This small-format parchment volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel is composed of three originally separate fascicles. The first is decorated with three initials (1r, 53r, 58r) and contains the Stimulus dilectionis by Eckbert of Schönau along with prayers, Penitential Psalms and a Litany of the Saints. This is followed by the fragment of a prayer book, which is missing the beginning as well as the end. The third part contains a compilation from Bonaventure’s Soliloquium and Hugh of St. Victor’s De vanitate mundi. The heavy soiling of pp. 24-53 (Agenda defunctorum and Penitential Psalms) should be noted; it indicates intensive use of this part of the codex.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This composite manuscript is from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; it contains the first part of the Orationes et meditationes de vita Christi by the mystic Thomas à Kempis (1379-1471), one of the most important representatives of the Devotio moderna. The script and decoration of the fascicle indicate a Dutch school. A central printed part is followed by a collection of supplications and prayers in Latin.
Online Since: 12/14/2017