The Liber ordinarius is a liturgical text that describes the ceremonies for every day and for holidays for a certain cathedral or for a certain collegiate or monastery church. In this case it is a Liber for Augustinian Hermits; according to a note on f. 63v-64r, it was written by Brother Georius Vituli from the Convent of the Augustinian Heremits in Freiburg in Breisgau. It contains various sermons, instructions and a treatise on the Ten Commandments in German. At some unknown time, the text passed from Freiburg in Breisgau to the Augustinian Convent of Fribourg (Switzerland).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
Breviary for use in the diocese of Lausanne. Additions to the calendar attest that this manuscript was used in a Dominican monastery in Lausanne from the 14th century on. The decoration consists of initials with mostly floral ornamentation and drolleries in the margins. This codex was heavily trimmed when it was rebound in the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This Cistercian manuscript, datable to the first half of the 13th century, contains only a part of the Old Testament, that is, the Books Isaiah to and including Malachi. This book must have changed libraries for historical reasons. After being held in the Cistercian Abbey Frienisberg in the Canton of Bern, it reached Hauterive when the Bernese Monastery was dissolved during the Protestant Reformation. The last Abbot of Frienisberg, Urs Hirsinger, is said to have arrived at the Fribourg Abbey with a handful of manuscripts.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
A psalter-hymnal produced for use by Dominicans. The saints recorded in the calendar indicate the codex's point of origin as a Dominican convent in Southern Germany or Bohemia. The decorative style of the illuminated initials and filigrees, above all, indicate Bohemian origin and an origination date in the first half of the 15th century (new information provided by Martin Roland, Vienna).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
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
A fragmentary gradual for the friars of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Haugustine, copied in 1539 by Jacobus Frank, who is depicted in the bottom margin of 51r. It contains many illuminations with coats-of-arms, mottos and monograms written by different hands from 1538 to 1594. Some of the illuminations have been excised and in some cases then glued back in the codex.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript, copied in an unknown location during the first half of the fourteenth century, provides a beautiful example of a Cistercian antiphony with notes (only the Proprium de tempore is preserved here): an elegant script with widely spaced lines facilitates readability, the musical notes, in square notation, are organized according to a four-line system, and the text is richly decorated with fleuronné initials and droleries. Fragments from a twelfth-century Bible are bound into the beginning of the manuscript and are valuable witnesses for paleographical study of the earliest manuscripts produced by the Cistercians of Hauterive.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
Antiphonary for Franciscan use, dating from the late 13th or early 14th century (after 1260), but representing the earliest Franciscan edition. Contains the chants (text and music) for the entire year for the liturgical Office, including the feast for Anthony of Padua in its proper position and an added Office for Corpus Christi in a different hand (f. 157r-159v).
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Antiphonary from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, dated 1488 according to the colophon f. 214v. Drolleries are drawn in the margins and by the initials. The manuscript contains a miniature (f. 14v, birth of Christ) and beautiful initials (flowers, fruit, zucchini), attributed to the Master of the breviary of Jost von Silenen.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Gradual from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, still in use in the 16th/17th century according to the ownership note on the inside cover. Binding from the 16th century. Written in a Gothic minuscule around 1300. The beginning of important feasts is indicated with larger initials, sometimes with miniatures (e.g. F. 128v Ascension, f. 132v the Miracle of Pentecost).
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 composite manuscript, much used by Friedrich von Amber, contains material about the history of the religious order in the first part (f. 1r-100v). In the second, probably more important part (f. 109r-165v), it contains treatises, questions and polemics from the time of the conflict of Pope John XXII with Louis IV (called the Bavarian) who resided in Munich and with the Franciscan Spirituals who had fled to that city. Several of these writings are preserved only in this manuscript, among them a treatise on the Visio beatifica of 1332-1333 (f. 127v-153r) which, according to Annelise Maier can possibly be attributed to William of Ockham, as well as a polemic (f. 153r-160r) in which Louis IV is warned against too hastily making peace with the Pope in Avignon.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
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 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
Urbain Bonivard, prior of Saint-Victor in Geneva from 1458 to 1483, produced this missal in 1460. The missal follows the liturgical practices of Cluny; the miniatures are the work of Janin Luysel and Guillaume Coquin. During the Reformation the manuscript disappeared from Geneva and only came to light again in 1912 when the city of Geneva bought it at an auction in Munich.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
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
This manuscript contains several texts copied between the 13th and the 16th century. The oldest one is the Solemn Evangelistary of St. Pierre Cathedral of Geneva (ff. 5-28v), which, according to its illuminations (esp. f. 5r), was probably created in Paris, even though the pericopes correspond to the feast days particular to Geneva. This is followed by excerpts from the sung Gospels (with staff notation) from the 14th and 15th century, one of which is an interesting late 15th century liturgical witness for the feast of the Epiphany (ff. 37v-40r).
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This manuscript contains the Historia trium regum by John of Hildesheim in a High Alemannic translation. It dates to the first quarter of the 15th century and still retains its original binding. In the beginning and after leaf 8, parts of the text are missing.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This monastic breviary was used at Hermetschwil Abbey. The rubrics are primarily in German. The binding is from the workshop of dominus Valentinus.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This gradual contains the most important chants for the Mass throughout the liturgical year and for the saints. They are in Hufnagel notation. The graphic relation of text to melody is not always clear.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This collection of prayers and treatises was written by Rudolf Schilling and is dated to 1493. An intercessory prayer mentions Duke Sigmund of Habsburg.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This manuscript contains the summer portion of a monastic antiphonary. The chants for the Liturgy of the Hours are given in square notation on four lines. Later additions by various hands from the 15th-17th century confirm that the manuscript was in use for a long period.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This monastic antiphonary contains the chants for the Liturgy of the Hours. Throughout, melodies are denoted by neumes without lines and by tonary letters. The supplements on paper are from the end of the 16th century.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
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 Ritual contains a collection of benedictions and rites for the sacraments. The main part contains the most important benedictions during the liturgical year. Also included are the rite of baptism, the churching of women, the blessing for bridal couples and the sacraments for the sick. A separate part contains the benedictions for the various rooms of a monastery.
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
A total of eight manuscripts, written and illuminated in St. Gall in the period between 1022 and 1036 for Sigebert, Bishop of Minden (1022-1036), have survived until today. They are a complete group of liturgical manuscripts consisting of a sacramentary, an epistolary, an evangeliary, a gradual, a tropary-sequentiary, a gradual-hymnal, a hymnal and the Ordo missae. This tropary-sequentiary contains a drawing of the author Notker Balbulus (about 840-912) in the sequentiary part on f. 144r. He is depicted as the writer of his sequence Sancti Spiritus Assit nobis gratia and is represented with a saint's halo. In 1683 the manuscript became part of the library of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and later of the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek). Along with other manuscripts (among others the Epistolary), it was evacuated to safety during World War II and today is held as a deposit in Krakow.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
The oldest necrology of St. Urban's Abbey, in a 16th century binding with wooden boards, has unfortunately survived only in fragments. The first part (fol. 3-14v) consist of the abbey's necrology; the second part contains the incomplete Liber anniversariorum benefactorum (only Jan. 1-12, May 1 - Sept. 1, Sept. 4-7, Sept. 22 - Dec. 31) with supplements; the third part comprises the Officium defunctorum, a litany and supplements with a register of members of the abbey's lay brotherhood. After the dissolution of the monastery, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives in 1848.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
Liturgical music to be sung during night prayer hours on the feasts of the saints, from the early period of the Cistercian cloister of Saint Urban.
Online Since: 07/25/2006
Liturgical music for the singing of mass on Sundays and feast days in a Cistercian monastery, with decorations by the Master of the Antwerp Bible of Conrad of Vechta, produced in Prague shortly after 1400.
Online Since: 12/12/2006
This manuscript contains the life of Ulrich by Berno of Reichenau and the lives of St. Gall and St. Othmar. by Walafrid Strabo, as well as a copy of a document on the early history of St. Urban's Abbey, which is among the oldest surviving manuscripts in the St. Urban library.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This antiphonary from the 2nd half of the 14th century includes the texts from Pentecost to the end of the liturgical year, as well as the corresponding saints' days and texts for the Commune sanctorum. The origin is unknown, but based on the inclusion of certain saints' days, the manuscript originated in the Cologne area. Written in a uniform script, with neumes on four lines throughout and a few later additions with neumes on five lines; signs of usage and later notes. Five larger and five smaller initials are covered in gold leaf, and in addition there are 36 plainer initials; all initial letters are set off in red or blue, the rubrics are in red. A father from Marienstein, who worked at the Kollegium of Altdorf, received the manuscript second-hand. From there the manuscript came to Mariastein in 1981. Not published.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This booklet, written by a single hand around the middle of the 15th century, was used for the prayer of the little hours at the Schönsteinbach Convent of Dominican nuns in Upper Alsace. It contains the texts of the Proprium de tempore and of the Commune Sanctorum. The last part contains the Ordinarium, but it is incomplete. Philipp Jakob Steyrer, Abbot of St Peter's Abbey in the Black Forest, purchased the book in 1781; through him, it came to Mariastein Abbey.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This booklet, with notes and decorated with three initials, contains the texts for the Office of the Dead, the seven penitential psalms, and prayers for a deceased Dominican nun, probably in the convent in Colmar. Judging by the script, it is from the first half of the 15th century. The book belonged to Sister Martha Gosslerin. In 1782 it was acquired by Philipp Jakob Steyrer, Abbot of St Peter's Abbey in the Black Forest; through him, the booklet came to Mariastein Abbey.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Fragment of a 13th century manuscript. Parts of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo and the Agnus Dei have survived. This is followed by five lines from the trope of baptism, which begins with Quoniam Dominus and ends with coaeternum Patri. The title Tropi makes clear that the text contained more tropes.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Handwritten fragment of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo from the 15th century. The final part has survived with [mise]rere nobis. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu: in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Fragment of a 9th or 10th century parchment manuscript containing an excerpt from an antiphonary. The text is written in a delicate and graceful Carolingian minuscule. Some letters, titles and sentences are executed in a brilliant minium red.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
A manuscript without beginning. The titel was added later (18th century?). The parchment used is very uneven in quality. In the late Middle Ages, probably towards the end of the 15th century, the manuscript was carefully restored, with parts of the text re-copied. This is a choir book in several volumes, which was used for daily Mass by a community of clerics. Numerous additions from the 14th and 15th century attest to its use at Notre-Dame Abbey in Neuchâtel. Two (of four?) volumes have survived. It can be deduced that they follow the calendar in use at St. Jean Cathedral in Besançon. The first volume contains the sanctoral cycle from May 6th until November 30th. In 1813, the governing council donated the volume to the library of Neuchâtel.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
A manuscript without beginning. The titel was added later (18th century?). The parchment used is very uneven in quality. In the late Middle Ages, probably towards the end of the 15th century, the manuscript was carefully restored, with parts of the text re-copied. This is a choir book in several volumes, which was used for daily Mass by a community of clerics. Numerous additions from the 14th and 15th century attest to its use at Notre-Dame Abbey in Neuchâtel. Two (of four?) volumes have survived. It can be deduced that they follow the calendar in use at St. Jean Cathedral in Besançon. Volume II contains the temporal cycle from Holy Saturday until the last Sunday after Pentecost as well as the sanctoral cycle from April 14th until May 3rd. In 1813, the governing council donated the volume to the library of Neuchâtel.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
A Franciscan Gradual written and illuminated in northern Italy (Padua or Bologna), dateable to the first decade of the 14th century. The manuscript was used in the Franciscan cloister of St. Francis of Locarno, which received it together with the antiphonaries de tempore Codice II and Codice III as well as the antiphonary de sanctis Codice IV on the occasion of the re-dedication of the church in 1316. At the end of the text (fol. 181r) is a Praefatio (Statutum pro libris choralibus scribendis), which would normally be placed at the beginning, containing the guidelines for editing choral books for the order. On the last page Brother Giacomo di Rastelli Orelli transcribed some records concerning the cloister: a note about the provision of the library cabinets, the dedication document from the year 1316, and a note about a donation for the purchase of liturgical paraphernalia.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This Antiphonary contains the first part of the Proprium de Tempore (from the eve of the first Sunday of Advent to the fifth Sunday after Epiphany) and a selection of holy days from the Proprium Sanctorum (from St. Andrew's eve to the Annunciation) for use by the Fransciscans. Written and illuminated in northern Italy (Padua or Bologna), is dateable to the first decade of the 14th century. The manuscript was used in the Franciscan cloister of St. Francis in Locarno, which received it together with the Gradual and the Antiphonaries de tempore Codice III and de sanctis Codice IV on the occasion of the re-dedication of the church in 1316.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This Antiphonary contains the second part of the Temporale (from the eve of Septuagesima Sunday through the first Sunday in the November calendar) for use by the Franciscans. Written and illuminated in northern Italy (Padua or Bologna), is dateable to the first decade of the 14th century. The manuscript was used in the Franciscan cloister of St. Francis in Locarno, which received it together with the Gradual and the Antiphonaries de tempore Codice II and de Sanctis Codice IV on the occasion of the re-dedication of the church in 1316.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This Antiphonary contains songs for saints' days, the Office of the Dead, and an Office for Anthony of Padua. It was written and illuminated in northern Italy (Padua or Bologna) and is dateable to the first decade of the 14th century. The manuscript was used in the Franciscan cloister of St. Francis in Locarno, which received it together with the Gradual and the Antiphonaries de tempore Codice II and II Codice III on the occasion of the re-dedication of the church in 1316. The front pastedown had a sheet of paper affixed to it, detached during the most recent restoration, on which both sides contained an annotated plan for a "rivellino", a type of bulwark normally found in fortifications.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This breviary, which contains only the winter part, is dated to the first half of the 14th century. It is from the diocese of Besançon (with which Porrentruy was also affiliated), as indicated by certain saints that appear in the litanies, such as St. Ferreolus or St. Germanus, the responsories for the Sundays of Advent, as well as the Holy Triduum.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
15th century parchment missal, made for Bishop Johann von Venningen (1458-1478). The expenditure records of Bishop Johann von Venningen permit tracing the individual stages of the making of this missal. This manuscript was created at the same time as ms. 2 and ms. 3. In 1462/1463, the final touches were added to the almost completed manuscript, the illumination, the initials, the fleuronné initials, and especially the attachment of the cover. For convenience, the order of the Ordo and the Canon was changed. Originally meant to be at the beginning of the manuscript, they were finally placed in the middle.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Pontifical of Johann von Venningen, Bischop of Basel (1458-1478), produced at his request (first part). The expenditure records of Bishop Johann von Venningen permit tracing the individual stages of the making of this Pontifical. This manuscript was created at the same time as ms. 1 and ms. 3. In 1462/1463, the final touches were added to the almost completed manuscript, the illumination, the initials, the fleuronné initials, and especially the attachment of the cover.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Pontifical of Johann von Venningen, Bischop of Basel (1458-1478), produced at his request (second part). The expenditure records of Bishop Johann von Venningen permit tracing the individual stages of the making of this Pontifical. This manuscript was created at the same time as ms. 1 and ms. 2. In 1462/1463, the final touches were added to the almost completed manuscript, the illumination, the initials, the fleuronné initials, and especially the attachment of the cover.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Missal following the liturgical custom of the Diocese of Basel, datable to around 1300. In the 15th century, a part containing the Ordo Missae was added, preceded by a Crucifixion miniature. The binding was restored in 1992 and replaces the unpreserved original binding.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Missal following the liturgical custom of the Diocese of Basel, commissioned by Christoph of Utenheim, prince-bishop of Basel between 1502 and 1527; he had his coat of arms, crossed with that of the Diocese of Basel, painted in the lower margin of f. 2r. The Canon of the Mass, decorated with a historicized initial depicting the Mass of St. Gregory, is not original but was added later. The border with flower decoration in the side margin and the presumed miniature of the Crucifixion in the beginning were removed.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Given the liturgy and the presence of the Office for the Saint, this breviary originated in St. Lebuinus Church in Deventer (Netherlands). It belonged to Swibert de Keyserswerth (died after 1551), paternal grandfather of the Dutch organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
A 15th century Psalter following the liturgical custom of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Ursanne; in form and content it is a perfect copy of the Basel manuscript AN VIII 39. Both pastedowns consist of fragments of Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum historiale; on f. 36r there is a 16th century pen drawing of the Virgin Mary. The manuscript remained in the Collegiate Church of Saint-Ursanne until it came into the possession of the Library of the Canton of Jura in the 20th century.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
Gradual dating from the 12th century, used by the Prémontré order at the Abbey of Bellelay.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
Bound in parchment, this Premonstratensian ordinary was copied on paper, probably in the 16th century. It begins with a short prologue (Br), followed by a table of contents (Br-Cv). Next is the text of the ordinary, which corresponds to the edition of Pl. F. Lefèvre (L'ordinaire prémontré d'après des manuscrits du XIIe et du XIIIe siècle, Louvain, 1940). Several notes of ownership allow us to reconstruct the work's route. According to a signature dated 1610 (Br), it belonged to the Bellelay canon and prior of la Porte-Du-Ciel, Jean Grosjean de Porrentruy († 1617). In the 19th century it was successively owned by Father Grégoire Voirol - Recuperavit ao 1802, G. Voirol, ? - , by P. Migy - ex-libris P. Migy, parochi Bruntruti, 1809, and then by L. Vautrey, par. Delemont (pastedown).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
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 complete Gradual (square notation) contains the temporal (f. 1r-70v), the sanctoral and the Commune Sanctorum (f. 70v–103v), votive masses (f. 103v-107v), the Kyriale and litanies (f. 107v–111v), antiphons and processional responsories (f. 112r–113v), the tropes of the Kyrie Cunctipotens and Fons bonitatis (f. 113v–115r) and several additions from the 14th century (f. 115r-127v). According to the analysis of the calendar, this copy could date back to the middle of the 13th century, between 1246 (mention of Saint Lambert by the first hand, f. 100r) and 1255 (no mention of the mass for Saint Dominic on August 5th, f. 95r). Contrary to what is suggested by the labels (back and inside cover), this codex was copied before the end of the 1260s, since the mass of Saint Anthony (f. 75v) was noted by a second hand. In addition, f. 98v contains no mention of an octave of St. Bernard, which is usually included in all Cistercian books from 1295 on. A study of the musical and liturgical content shows that manuscript FiD 5, which is a faithful copy of the older Gradual of the order (Abbazia Tre Fontane 47, around 1140/1143), probably originated in Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron VD), which was the motherhouse of Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
Manuscript FiD 7 (square notation; rubrics in Latin and Old French) begins with the chapters (short readings) and the collects of the sanctorale (folio 1r begins abruptly in the middle of the chapter of the Terce for the birth of John the Baptist). It then contains various rites, among them the Office of the Dead (with musical notation on folios 40r-46v), as well as the one for religious profession and for the investiture of nuns (f. 24v-26r). The vow Ego soror ill. promitto (f. 24v) could indicate that it was meant for Fille-Dieu. However, elsewhere the book contains rubrics and prayers that are written in masculine form by the original hand, and which are adapted to the feminine form through interlinear annotations by a hand contemporaneous with the book (f. 20r, 27v, 30v-39v). Therefore, FiD 7 probably originated in a scriptorium of monks, presumably from the Cistercians of Hautcrêt (Oron, VD) or of Hauterive (FR).
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This missal is from the church of Glatt an der Glatt in Southern Germany, a property of Muri Abbey. It was created in the second half of the 13th century. Numerous marginalia from the 14th-15th century testify that it was intensively used.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This Missale speciale was created in 1333, probably at Muri Abbey, for the Chapel of St. Lawrence in Wallenschwil. It contains the texts for those masses that were read in the chapel in the course of the year.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
Gospel book in parchment, produced in the tenth century, probably in Halberstadt. The tables of canons are rendered under red arched columns, and a pen drawing depicts each evangelist on an entire page, along with his symbols. Min. 8 is one of the oldest manuscripts of the Ministerial Library; the codex is attested in the library of the monastery of Allerheiligen since 1357.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This single-column manuscript contains five partly incomplete texts by Augustine; it consists of two parts that clearly differ from one another, but that have been a single unit since before 1100, as can be seen from the entry in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). While the second part (69 ff.) is undecorated, the first part has an incipit page and an initial with scroll ornamentation. In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with an inscribed front cover, metal bosses and a clasp, as well as a title label on 1r; a fragment from a 12th century missal with neumes was used for the front pastedown.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
A copy of the first book of the Homilies of Gregory on Ezekiel, produced primarily in Reichenau. This volume was mentioned in the book register of Allerheiligen (All Saints) monastery as early as 1096 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The binding is most likely contemporary with the production of the manuscript.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This unadorned, single-column copy of Gregory's Dialogues, in which many hands had a share, has numerous gaps as well as later erasures and corrections. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); however, except for an addition to the text from the 12th century (f 58 r/v), it was not written in Schaffhausen. It remains to be determined whether it served as (one of) the models for Min. 48. Signs of wear on the first (f 1r) and last (f 121v) page suggest that the manuscript remained unbound until the 15th century when, like many others, it received a leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This Pontifical contains, in addition to the characteristic liturgical texts, instructions (ordines) for the bishops in case of election, appointment and coronation of a king, or for the coronation of an emperor or empress. The manuscript contains three full-page pen drawings: A dedication picture (2v), a coronation scene (29r) and, on the verso of the coronation scene, a depiction of an emperor enthroned (29v). The mention in the text of St. Nonnosus, whose relics were transferred to Freising Cathedral around the middle of the 11th century, suggests that the manuscript originated at a Benedictine monastery in southeastern Germany. The manuscript has been held in Schaffhausen for more than 900 years, where it is mentioned in the manuscript catalog of Allerheiligen around 1100.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
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 occupies an important, though not perfectly clear, position within the complex tradition of the Chronicon of Regino of Prüm. It was most likely produced in or about 960 in Trier, at St. Maximin or the cathedral scriptorium, as the work of a collective of about twenty (student) hands, among which the expert correcting hand of St. Wolfgang can also be distinguished. The manuscript may have been brought to the monastery of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen in 1122, by Archbishop Bruno of Trier, a son of cloister founder Eberhard von Nellenburg.
Online Since: 07/04/2012
Fragmentary missal without beginning, missing the beginning of the Temporale, the entire Sanctorale - which could provide information about the location - as well as several pages. The elegant and careful Gothic script suggests that the manuscript was produced in the scriptorium of the Sion Chapter.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This impressive gradual contains the sanctorale, the Commune Sanctorum, votive masses and a Kyriale. The registered feasts for the two saints Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua, the most important saints of the Franciscans, prove that it is intended for the use of the Friars Minor. The first of the eight decorated initials (f. 1r, 7v, 29r, 32r, 34v, 43r, 46v, 121v) also confirms the Franciscan use: the D(ominus secus mare) contains the name of Jesus in the form of the trigram "yhs" surrounded by rays of sunlight, which is the attribute of the Franciscan preacher, St. Bernard of Siena (1388-1440). The beautiful initials on a gold ground extend into the borders with leaves, multicolored flowers and gold dots arranged in a fan shape, some of which even contain birds and butterflies (f. 1r, 34v, 46v). The origin of the manuscript is completely unknown. At best it can be compared with another manuscript from the State Archives of Valais, the Franciscan Antiphonary AVL 507, since both works were bound in the same workshop in the 18th century, an indication that their common origin is probable. The binding has since been restored by Andrea Giovannini (1989).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This antiphonary (winter part of the temporale), copied by a single hand, has a number of gaps in the text (for example, the beginning is missing). The chants in square notation are separated either by simple alternating blue and red initials, or by larger initials, in part with pen flourishes. In addition, the manuscript is decorated with four historiated initials, from which extend elegant, straight and ringed shafts with gold dots, ending in long, colored leaves that curl and uncurl (f. 54v, 89v, 108v, 210r). In terms of color and style, they are close to late 13th century production in Emilia. Instead of the traditional iconography of King David praying before God, the initial introducing the chant "Domine ne in ira" (f. 108v) depicts a cleric with tonsure – St. Francis or a Franciscan? –, which probably refers to the fact that the manuscript was intended for the use by the Minorites. Both the monastery for which the manuscript was originally intended and its later provenance history are unknown. This copy can at most be associated with one other manuscript from the State Archives of Valais, the Franciscan gradual AVL 506; both works were bound in the same workshop in the 18th century, which likely is an indication of their common origin. The binding has since been restored by R. Bommer in Basel (1998).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The original parts of the calendar indicate that this missal was meant for use in the Diocese of Lausanne, whereas the later entries attest to its presence and use in the celebration of the Mass in the Diocese of Sion at the latest since 1300. Three special sequences suggest that the missal originated in the Abbey of St. Maurice (188v: sequence of Theodulf Collaudetur rex virtutum; 190r: sequence of Augustine Augustino laude demus and 189r: sequence of Maurice Pangat Syon dulce melos). The Canon of the Mass is decorated with an illuminated initial, with the Vere dignum, and with a frame showing the crucifixion, the Virgin and St. John (97v). The most important holidays are introduced with decorated initials on a gold background (4v, 13rb, 17ra, 18ra etc.). In 1981, the Valais State Archives purchased this codex on the antiquarian book market.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Antiphonary with musical notation whose text transmits the Sion Ordinal, contains the winter portion of the Proprium de tempore and, as an appendix, the Officium Defunctorum. This two-part parchment codex was probably written in the year 1347 by the same hand that produced Codex Ms. 2, held by the Sion Chapter Archive.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This antiphonary with musical notation from the year 1347 is by the same hand as Codex Ms. 1 from the Sion Chaper Archive. The manuscript contains the Officium visitationes BMV, the Proprium de sanctis (from Andreas to Katharina), the Commune sanctorum and, in a section that was added later, additional short texts. Like the Proprium de tempore in Codex Ms. 1, the text in this antiphonary transmits the Sion Ordinary.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This Missale Speciale Sedunense was written for the Sion bishop William of Raron (Guillermus de Rarognia) († 1451) in 1439 by Johannes Thieboudi. The parchment codex contains, in addition to a calendar, the Proprium de tempore, the Ordo et canon missae, the Commune sanctorum, the Proprium de sanctis (from Hilarius to Thomas the Apostle) and the Missae pro defunctis. An appendix includes three votive masses.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This small-format missal is an important witness for the Franciscan liturgy of the thirteenth century. Schönherr hypothesizes an origin in the Franciscan province of Upper Germany, and a Bavarian provenance (the convent of Franciscan nuns zum Heiligen Kreuz, Landshut?). A possessor's mark of the warden of the Franciscan convent of Dieburg near Darmstadt dates to 1513. It is not known how and when the manuscript got to Solothurn.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
This small volume contains a collection of organ works and sacred songs, among them several unique examples by Tarquinio Merula, Martin Benn, Jakob Bannwart (organ music) and Isabella Leonarda (motets from her lost Opus 1). The collection was created “Ad usum Jo: Victoris Ruossingeri Solodorensis. Ao 1656.” The writer probably was Johann Victor Russinger (1630–1700), then chaplain and later canon of St. Ursus in Solothurn. In the 19th century, this small volume was owned by the Solothurn Franciscan Franz Ludwig Studer (1804–1873); later it became part of the Central Library of Solothurn.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This composite manuscript brings together assorted treatises, mainly computistical and astronomical works (by Jakob Twinger von Königshofen, Johannes Münzinger, Johannes de Sacrobosco and others). It was written between 1388 and 1394 in Strassburg and in Rottweil on the Neckar (Wurttemberg) by Konrad Justinger and by Werner Mardersberger. One of the scribes, Werner Mardersberger was later director of the Solothurn Abbey School. The volume was acquired by the Solothurn Abbey Library in 1504.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The Cantatorium presents selections from the Gradual; it contains music for solo-voice elements of the Mass that are meant to be sung by the cantor. This manuscript from the late 15th century originated in the Abbey of St. Urs at Solothurn and was occasionally used in the parish of Biberist. Particularly noteworthy in this volume are German versions of two hymns.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This Franciscan Gradual was produced between 1320 and 1330 in a scriptorium in the Upper Rhine area. It was originally the property of the Franciscan monastery in Solothurn, where it remained in use until the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The illuminator Claudio Rofferio († ca. 1567) was an Augustinian canon. Originally from the Aosta Valley, he was active in various regions; from 1539 until about 1544 he created a series of illuminated manuscripts for the Cistercian Abbey of Altenberg near Cologne. From about 1550 until after 1560, he worked for various monasteries and religious institutions in Switzerland, such as Beromünster, Muri, Schönenwerd and St. Urban. For Schönenwerd chapter of canons he wrote and illuminated this representative Gradual, dated to the years 1556 and 1559.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript, an autograph, contains various writings on the monastic way of life and about monasticism in the past and present. It contains, among others, translations of letters by Saint Jerome and of sermons by Bernard of Clairvaux. These are argumentation aids for disputes with proponents of monasteries and convents.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This chronicle of the Reformation, an autograph illustrated with numerous woodcuts, comprises seven “books”: the first book is about Christ and the Pope, and Kessler describes the old church. In the second book he describes the emergence of Luther and the new faith. Books III through VII give a detailed report about the beginning and the course of the Reformation in St. Gall and in the adjacent area ruled by the Prince-Abbots, in the Swiss Confederation and in the German Empire. Regarding volume and detail, the events in St. Gall and in Eastern Switzerland take up the largest share. Mentioned and praised over and over again are the merits of Vadian, whose work Kessler named “Sabbata” because it was written “an den Sabbaten, das sind an den Fyrtagen und Fyrabendstunden” (on the Sabbath, which are the holidays and the hours at the end of the day, after work).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The composite manuscript VadSlg Ms. 292 combines three independently produced parts, bound together in about 1460 at the Abbey of St. Gall. The first part is a Psalter from the 9th century; whether it was produced in St. Gall is questionable. The hymnal from the 12th century that comprises the second part contains a dedicatory illustration showing the scribe Eberhard presenting his book to Gallus, while Pope Gregory sits at a podium writing down songs that that a dove representing the Holy Spirit is whispering in his ear. The third part is a fragment containing prologues to the Psalter.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This small-format volume from the 11th century combines a calendar, a gradual with neumes, and sung parts of the Mass with a sacramentary containing the prayers of the Mass. It was likely written in the Abbey of St. Gall; in the late middle ages it was moved to the chapel of Peter and Paul in Rotmonten near St. Gall. Numerous entire leaves and parts of leaves containing decorated initials have been cut out.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This unimposing composite manuscript contains six works of differing content types and origins, bound together under the auspices of the librarian of St. Gall in about 1460. The individual elements were produced independently of one another during the 9th or 10th century. Some are incomplete, lacking the beginning, the ending, or both. Nevertheless, this composite manuscript received attention from early on, as some of the component parts are important for the texts they transmit. This volume contains the only early medieval transmissions of the Langobard Chronicle by Andreas Bergamensis and the life of the Irish saint Findan. The "Admonitio ad filium" by the Greek church father Basilius and the "Visio Pauli", an early christian vision of the afterlife, are among the oldest of textual artifacts.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
Dating from the first half of the 11th century, this is the oldest surviving lectionary from Pfäfers Abbey; it probably was created in the monastery's scriptorium.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
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
This manuscript was produced at the monastery of Pfäfers before ca. 1020 and contains the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I. A guard-leaf containing an important fragment of a Passion Play in German from the early fourteenth century has been removed during a recent restoration.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Composite manuscript of hagiographic character containing the lives of Saints Colomban, Eustacius, Gall, Otmar, Nicholas of Myre, Augustine, Meinrad, Walburga, Sigismond, Alexis, and Aper as well as a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by Remigius of Auxerre.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
A parchment double leaf containing a fragment of a Passion Play in German, including neumes. It can be dated to approximates the first third of the 14th century. It was likely used as a paste-down in a 14th century rebinding of the 10th/11th century Cod. Fab. XI and was cut down for this purpose, so that a portion of the text was lost. The subsequent detachment of the fragment caused an additional loss of text.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
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
Copies of various Old Testament books: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach, written by a single hand during the 10th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. On the first empty page is a 16-hexameter complaint in verse by an Irish monk (Dubduin?) about his unfriendly reception at the Abbey of St. Gall.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
Collection of liturgical works, containing texts from the 9th to 12th centuries and an illustration of Pacificus of Verona's star clock.
Online Since: 12/31/2005
Old High German translation and commentary on the Psalms by the monk Notker the German of St. Gall, dating from around the year 1000. This 12th century copy from Einsiedeln is the only extant complete copy.
Online Since: 06/12/2006
A copy of three Old Testament books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) made in St. Gall in about 800. On page 1, used for quill tests, is the St. Gall mocking verse, famous among Germanist scholars, Liubene ersazta sine gruz unde kab sina tohter zu...
Online Since: 12/23/2008
Bible manuscript from the time of Hartmut, Vice-abbot ca. 850-872 and Abbot 872-883, containing books of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah): one volume of the so-called "Kleine Hartmut-Bibel".
Online Since: 12/12/2006
Copy of the Pauline Epistles with the Glossa ordinaria: Epistle to the Romans (pp. 3–44), First Epistle to the Corinthians (pp. 44–78), Second Epistle to the Corinthians (pp. 78–106), Epistle to the Galatians (pp. 106–121), Epistle to the Ephesians (pp. 121–136), Epistle to the Philippians (pp. 136–146), Epistle to the Colossians (pp. 146–156), First Epistle to the Thessalonians (pp. 156–164), Second Epistle to Timothy (pp. 165–172), Epistle to Titus (pp. 172–177), Epistle to Philemon (pp. 177–179), Epistle to the Hebrews (pp. 179–214). The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and the First Epistle to Timothy are missing (loss of a quire).The beginning of the Epistle to the Romans (Rm 1, 1–20) appears on pp. 1-2 already, also with the Glossa ordinaria. The decoration consists of initials with scroll ornamentation in the same ink as the text on pp. 3, 44, 106, 146, 172, 177 and 179. On the last leaf (p. 215-216), presumably formerly a pastedown, there is the sequence De sancto Nicolao by Adam of Saint Victor with diastematic neume notation on staff lines incised with a stylus. This notation, not customary in St. Gall, argues against the manuscript's having been produced at the St. Gall monastery.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Copies of the Epistles of Paul, the Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Letters (3 by John, 2 by Peter, one by James, one by Jude) and the Apocalypse, written and decorated with several initials sometime in the middle of the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
Bible manuscript from the time of Hartmut, Vice-abbot ca. 850-872 and Abbot 872-883, containing books of the Old Testament (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus - also called Sirach, Job, Tobit). A volume of the so-called "Grosse Hartmut-Bibel".
Online Since: 06/12/2006