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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
This manuscript contains a Latin version of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, translated and glossed by Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Bishop of Lincoln. The decoration of monochrome as well as red and blue fleuronné initials at the beginning of the chapters (e.g., 3r) and the colorfully decorated initials at the beginning of the books (e.g., 1r) attest to an origin in Southwestern Germany in the third quarter of the 15th century. The manuscript was originally part of the episcopal library; during the French Revolution it came to the library of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy; in the 20th century it finally became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
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
First part of a Bible (second part in Ms. 6b) containing the books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Iesus Sirach. The manuscript was produced in the same workshop as Ms. 6b and 6c; based on the style of the initials, it was made in Southwestern Germany during the second third of the 15th century. The decoration consists of small red and blue filigreed initials for the prologues and of larger ornamental initials at the beginning of the books. The manuscript is mentioned in the inventory of Prince-Bishop Philipp von Gundelsheim (1487-1553); according to a note on f. 1r, during the 19th century it became the property of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy, after which it became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
Second part of a Bible (first part in Ms. 6a) which, as also Ms. 6a and 6c, was produced in Southwestern Germany during the second third of the 15th century. The manuscript consists of two parts: the first part contains the remaining books of the Old Testament (Isaia to II Maccabeorum), the second part contains those of the New Testament. The books in the second part (105r-219v) are introduced by historiated or ornamental initials, while the beginnings of the chapters have blue red filigreed initials. The manuscript is mentioned in the inventory of Prince-Bishop Philipp von Gundelsheim (1487-1553); according to a note on f. 1r, during the 19th century it became the property of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy, after which it became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This manuscript contains the Additiones ad postillam Nicolai de Lyra by Paulus Burgensis, also called Paulus de Santa Maria, a Spanish Jew who converted to Catholicism and became bishop, chancellor and exegete. The manuscript was produced in the same workshop as codex Ms. 6a and Ms. 6b, probably in Southwestern Germany during the second third of the 15th century. It is mentioned in the inventory of Prince-Bishop Philipp von Gundelsheim (1487-1553). According to a note on f. 1r, it was owned by the Jesuit College of Porrentruy in the 18th century. In the 19th century, it became the property of the Collège de Porrentruy, after which it became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
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
Book of Hours following the custom of the Diocese of Besançon, with the calendar in French. Its decoration is incomplete, which makes it possible to reconstruct the various stages of its production.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
15th century Pontifical. The ceremonies are represented as full page miniatures with ornamental initials, marginal decorations and several lines of text on the model of books of hours; in the text there are many colorful borders and ornamental initials, often with depictions of the liturgical objects mentioned in the text. In addition to the frequently recurring coat of arms of Melchior von Lichtenfels, Archbishop of Basel (1554-1575), there is the coat of arms of Charles de Neufchâtel, Archbishop of Besançon (1463-1498; visible on f. 1r), which gives an indication of the manuscript's date of origin. As many other manuscripts from religious institutions, this manuscript came into the possession of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy during the French Revolution, until in the 20th century it became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This manuscript contains the De institutis coenobitorum and the Collationes patrum by John Cassian. It was acquired new by Schönensteinbach Cloister (France), thanks to a donation for this purpose from the nun Magdalena Bechrerin. The manuscript belonged to Franz Joseph Sigismund von Roggenbach, Bishop of Basel from 1782 to 1794. A manuscript with identical content and similar colophon, dated 1408, originated in the Dominican Convent of Nuremberg and is now held in that city's library.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Paper manuscript dated 1457; it contains a register of canon law with glosses, attributed in the codex itself to Dominicus de S. Geminiano.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
According to the colophon on f. 329v, this Vocabularius brevilogus was copied by the scribe Martinus Hartmann in Hildesheim in 1452. The lemmas are set off by rubricated initials; space was left for larger initials which, with few exceptions, were not realized. In 1505 the then-owner of the manuscript, Johannes Hertlin from Augusta Regia, donated it to the Church of Sts. Alexander and Theodor in Ottobeuren; in the 20th century it has been in the possession of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This codex consists of various fragments: the Speculum perfectionis attributed to Leon of Assisi, various legends of St. Polycarp, St. Thecla, St. Maria Romana, St. Radegund, and a part of the legend of St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Dietrich of Apolda, all of which are taken from the the same Dutch manuscript. Before this manuscript reached Porrentruy, it was the property of Canon Nicolas-Antoine Labbey de Billy, vicar general in Langres († 1825).
Online Since: 03/17/2016
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
This missal is preceded by a calendar of saints (September-December) containing saints from the regions of Lausanne and of Basel, as well as by a dedication to the cathedrals of these two dioceses. Some parts of the text follow the usage of the diocese of Lausanne, others follow that of the diocese of Basel. A note on the inside cover indicates that the missal comes from Saint-Ursanne.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This manuscript contains the Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine. Lacunas in the manuscript are due to the loss of several sheets which probably contained historiated initials. The presence of the legend of St. Antidius as well as characteristics of the decoration suggest that the manuscript originated in Besançon.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This 13th/14th century florilegium cites mainly the saints Bernard, Augustine and Gregory as well as biblical books with the Glossa ordinaria, Ambrose, Seneca, Aristotle and many others. The pastedowns consist of 12th century parchment fragments on which several lines from Virgil's Georgica are legible.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This breviary was meant for use in the diocese of Basel. There are still partially visible traces of coats of arms that were painted on ff. 33r, 41r, 129r and 279r and were later erased; these allow the codex to be attributed to Arnold of Rotberg, Bishop of Basel from 1451 to 1458. His successor, Jean de Venningen (1458-1478) noted on f. 5r the repurchase of the manuscript from Porrentruy Castle on June 29th 1461.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This manuscript contains a treatise on penitence in German. It is dated April 25th 1453 (f. 72r). The guardleaves consist of fragments from the Prima collectio decretalium Innocentii III by Rainerius of Pomposa.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This manuscript consists of only 19 leaves containing the lives of several Southern German saints, among them the Vita Erhardi and the Vita Adelberti. Before the manuscript reached Porrentruy, it was the property of Canon Nicolas-Antoine Labbey de Billy, vicar general in Langres († 1825).
Online Since: 03/17/2016
The treatise on the passion Do der minnenclich got contained in this manuscript was written or commissioned in 1428 by Joan of Mörsberg; she was a member of the Gnadenthal Convent of Poor Clares near Basel and from 1430 on a penitent in the Convent of Sankt Maria Magdalena an den Steinen, also near Basel.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This paper manuscript, heavily damaged by woodworm, contains among other items, the following treatises on grammar: the Ars minor cum commento by Donatus (1r-61r), the Regulae grammaticales cum commento by Nicolaus Kempf (69r-91r) and the second part of the Doctrinale by Alexander of Villedieu, with an additional commentary (95r-220v).
Online Since: 03/17/2016
A 9th century volume containing the Gospels, originally from Saint-Ursanne.
Online Since: 03/24/2006
Purchased at auction in 2023, this volume, which for a long time remained in private hands, adds to the number of works known to have been commissioned by the bishop of the diocese of Basel, Jean de Venningen (1458-1479). This is a pontifical that belongs to the same group of liturgical manuscripts as a missal-pontifical (ms. 1) and two other pontificals (mss. 2 and 3), produced around 1462-1463 and conserved in the ancient collection of the Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne. This pontifical shares some blessings with each of the three others. Copied by a single scribe, it is embellished with a dozen ornate or historiated initials similar to those of other manuscripts in this group, attributed to a certain Hans, parish priest of Hésingue, on the basis of the illuminator's name appearing in the register of the bishop's expenses (Gamper/Jurot 1999).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
This paper manuscript, copied by a single scribe, has various materials related to the history of the Diocese of Basel. The title on the spine reads: “Catalogue des Evêques d. Bâle”. It begins with general information on the history and organization of the diocese, including a list of roles at the episcopal court (pp. 9-11) and another one of the vassals of the bishopric (pp. 11-13). Then, after a table of contents listing the bishops of the diocese, from Saint Pantalus to Joseph Guillaume Rinck de Baldenstein (pp. 14-16), there follow summaries in German of the deeds done under their episcopates, dating from 238 to 1747 (pp. 17-131). As the ex libris on the front pastedown states, this work belonged to Pierre Joseph Koetschet (1800-1869) when he was director of the Collège de Delémont.
Online Since: 05/31/2024
Described by Gustave Amweg as the Mémoires d'un Jurassien, this paper manuscript belonged to the cantonal school of Porrentruy. It contains two distinct parts. The first contains accounts in German, divided according to month, running from 1670 to 1672 (pp. 1-177). The second part (pp. 181-358), written in French, is the diary of a man – not otherwise identified – written in first person, which reports his daily activities (time passed in study, copies of letters, poems, etc.), as well as, among other things, the account of a trip from France to Italy.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
This paper manuscript contains multiple texts by Marcel Moureau, described in a table of contents (p. 436-s25). The author, after having studied at the Jesuit College of Porrentruy, entered the Cistercian abbey of Lucelle, where he taught philosophy and theology, as he did later at Hauterive and at Neubourg (Alsace). From 1782, he served as priest in Folgensbourg (Alsace), and this is the title that he uses at the bottom of the title page of the first text in this collection – Introductio in Historiam Patriam Veterum Rauracorum… (p. V3) – dedicated to his history of Rauracia, its etymology, its locales, its language (particularly the patois), etc. (pp. 1-76). Written in Latin as a dialogue, the six parts of this history were dedicated in 1784 to Bishop Sigismond de Roggenbach (pp. V5-V9). Then follows the history of the monastery of Neubourg, also by Marcel Moreau (pp. 81-101). Afterwards appear a series of copies of letters sent to the National Assembly, in connection with the efforts to preserve the religious orders and to prevent the alienation of ecclesiastical property (pp. 105-131; 133-144; 149-160; 165-168), followed by the “Correspondance d'un Suisse avec un Rauraque relativement à la révolution operée dans la principauté de Porrentruy en 1792 et 1793…” (pp. 173-216). These are the same years covered by the next text of Moreau, “Bulletin des faits arrivés dans l'Évêché de Bâle” (pp. 225-372). Then follows a second series of letters, these pastoral in nature, from the bishop of Alès, Louis-François de Bausset (p. 373 ff.) and from the titular bishop of Lydda, Jean-Baptiste Gobel (p. 393 ff.). Marcel Moreau's final texts, laid out in epistolary style, describe an “Itinéraire de la Suisse septentrionale” (pp. 436-s1-436-s23) and a “Promenade fatigante mais agréable du Pichoux” (pp. 437-502).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
Marcel Moreau (Delémont 1735-1804), the author of this manscript, entered the Cistercian abbey of Lucelle in 1755, teaching theology there, and then at Hauterive, and Neubourg (in Alsace). After refusing to give the constitutional oath during the Revolution (1791), he took refuge in Hauterive, and then was named director of the Cistercian nuns of La Maigrauge. During these years, he wrote memoirs on contemporary events, as attested by this manuscript, which describes what happened between 21 April 1792 (p. 5) and 27 January 1793 (p. 138). The concluding index (pp. 139-150-s2), in chronological order, establishes the correspondence between the events treated on the manuscript's pages and their dates.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
Jean Germain Fidèle Bajol is both the author and the copyist of this history, in Latin, of the bishops of Basel. He dedicated his text to Bishop François Xavier de Neveu (pp. 7-11), whose coat of arms is depicted immediately before the dedication (p. 6). The text consists of eight biographies in order: Jean Conrad de Roggenbach (pp. 13-14); Guillaume Rink de Baldenstein (pp. 15-16); Jean Conrad de Reinach-Hirtzbach (pp. 17-23); Jacques Sigismond de Reinach-Steinbrunn (pp. 24-27); Joseph Guillaume Rinck de Baldenstein (pp. 28-33); Simon Nicolas de Montjoye d'Hirsingue (pp. 34-39); Frédéric Louis François de Wangen-Geroldseck (pp. 40-45); Franz Joseph Sigismond de Roggenbach (pp. 46-55); François-Xavier de Neveu (pp. 56-61). The carefully-produced copy is clearly structured: a rubric gives the name of the bishop, then the text follows in a single column inside a pencil-drawn frame, with the dates in the margin. The last date indicated, 1803 (p. 60), provides the terminus post quem for the completion of the volume.
Online Since: 05/31/2024
This catalog of the residents of the college of Belleleay was drawn up in 1791, as indicated by the label on the front cover of the manuscript. Nevertheless, it contains the names of residents who attended this institution from 1772 to 1797, at which point 464 names were registered. On the last five written pages, dated 1835, M. Jean de Montherot (no. 305) provides numerically ordered notes regarding the careers of some them.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This composite manuscript is dated 1839 (p. V2) and contains texts about the history of the abbeys of Bellelay and Lucelle; it was compiled by Joseph Trouillat when he was librarian at the college of Porrentruy: De Bellegagiensi monasterio (pp. 1-7); Relation de l'invation de l'abbaye de Bellelay par les troupes françaises 15 novembre 1797 par le père Voirol - this name was crossed out and replaced by that of Marcel Helg, former monk at Bellelay (pp. 8-61); Notes diverses sur Bellelay by Father Voirol (pp. 61-102), followed by seal impressions and coats of arms pasted on (p. 105) or painted (pp. 111, 113, 115, 117); Notes sur l'ancienne abbaye de Lucelle, in Latin with notes in French and with painted coats of arms of various abbots (pp. 121-220) as well as affixed seals (p. 192) and a wax seal (p. 208); various French translations of Latin documents, carried out by abbot Grégoire Voirol (pp. 221-236).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This volume contains the first part of a series of notes by Father Grégoire Voirol (Les Genevez, 1751 – Porrentruy, 1827) – the second part can be found in A2044/2. Among the texts copied between 1770 and 1823, there is a Journal de 1790 à 1792; two Supplementum directorii ecclesiastici ad usum Ecclesiae Bellelagiensis, one for the year 1777 (pp. 363-374), the other for the year 1787 (pp. 375-395); Remarques sur la retraite les 28, 29, 30 et 31 décembre 1770, etc. Inserted into these handwritten notes is a print (pp. 401-440): Ordo officii divini juxta rubricas breviari praemonstratensis annus 1789, published in Charleville in 1787.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This volume contains the second part of a series of notes by Father Grégoire Voirol (Les Genevez, 1751 – Porrentruy, 1827) – the first part can be found in A2044/1. The notes and the copies of texts primarily refer to the Premonstratensian Bellelay Abbey. Some pages from a printed work, including a part of a calendar, have been inserted into the manuscript (pp. 117-124), and ten loose leaves have been added at the end.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
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
Paper volume containing the renewals of vows of the canons and abbots of the Premonstratensian Bellelay Abbey between 1735 and 1797.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This manuscript contains numerous notes by Abbot Grégoire Voirol (Les Genevez, 1751 - Porrentruy, 1827). The notes differ in content and in language (Latin or French); they were bound together at an unknown date. Among the notes are various obituaries from the Premonstratensian Bellelay Abbey and from Roggenburg Abbey in Bavaria, where Voirol fled after the French invasion of 1789, the catalog from the library of Bellelay, historical souvenirs, letters, etc.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This work has the title Théologie de Bellelay written on a piece of paper that is glued to the page containing the original Latin title: “Cursus logica compendiarius data collegio Bellagensi S.R.S. Gregorio Voirol professore anno supra millegissimum septingentesimum octogesimo quinto“. It is the notebook of a student, L'Hoste (p. 131), who followed a shortened course in logic by Abbot Grégoire Voirol (1751-1827), probably when the latter taught at the Premonstratensian Bellelay Abbey.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
List of the “titres d'acquisitions, les permutations, obligations, sentences, transactions, jugemens [sic] compromissorials [sic], lettres de fiefs, d'admoniations, etc.” (p. 1), found in the archives of the Abbey of Lucelle, followed by a place index at the end of the manuscript (N32-N36). Ex-libris on the title page: “Par moi Jean Baptiste Etienne, archiviste”.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This list was drawn up by Jean-Baptiste Etienne (N5-N6), director of the archives, to give the abbey an overview of its assets and its duties. It begins with a summary of the founding of the abbey. Ex-libris on the title page: “J. Baptiste Estienne, profès en l'Abbaye de Lucelle, directeur des archives”.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript, also called “Cartulaire de Lucelle no 2”, is the second volume of a collection of documents containing the transcriptions of the titles of goods and temporal privileges of the Abbey of Lucelle. The texts are in Latin and German.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript, entitled “Protocol 3”, contains election documents, credentials and other documents by Louis, Abbot of Lucelle: “Protocol 3, anno 1473 super varia instrumenta electioni chartas visitatorias, litteras commendatitias credentiales, coeteraque formularia à Ludovico abbate Lucellensi”. It comprises an index (ff. 159r-162v) and an ex-libris dated 1630 on the flyleaf (V1r).
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The volume is composed of a manuscript and a printed part, as well as a large number of blank pages. For the printed part, some pages, editions of papal bulls, are glued onto sheets of paper (pp. 173-276), while others – the apostolic letter of Alexander VII promulgated in 1666 to reform the constitutions of the Cistercian Order (pp. 285-300), and a second text with similar content from Clement IX promulgated in 1668 (pp. 303-314) – are not. The manuscript part opens with a copy of the privileges of Lucelle Abbey, dating from 1186 to 1563 (pp. 1-100), complemented with a second series of privileges for the same abbey, dated from 1139 to 1646, and copied in a second hand (pp. 117-165). Two apostolic letters of Clement VIII can also be found (pp. 109-115, and 315-322), as well as an edition, Validitatis Capituli Generalis pro Reverendis PP. Abbatibus Germania, ord. Cist. Contra Reverendos abbates strictioris observantia, that was published in 1673 in Rome (pp. 323-356). Finally, there appears a copy, dated to 1674, of a series of documents, including decrees, connected to Lucelle Abbey (pp. 461-507).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
This manuscript contains records as well as documents “tirés de l'insigne Chapitre de Moutier-Grandval”, collected mainly by J.P. Voirol. These documents concern the rights and duties of citizens towards their ruler.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Indictment by the ecclesiastical body of Moutier-Grandval Abbey to the Prince-Bishop of Basel against persons of public life in order to recover goods stolen from the abbey over time: “Mémoire pour l'Eglise Collégiale de Moutier Grandval contre Monsieur le Procureur général de la Chambre des finances de Sa Rev. Illustr. Monseigneur le Prince Evêque de Bâle prince du Saint Empire, servant de réponse à son plaidoyer fait le 19 décembre 1785 pardevant le Conseil aulique dudit Prince Evêque”. The indictment was written by Jean-Germain Fidèle Bajol, canon of the Chapter of Moutier-Grandval (V5).
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Document in two parts. The first part is by François Jacques Joseph Chariatte (1700-1765), provost of Moutier-Grandval Abbey, and tells the history of Moutier-Grandval Abbey from its founding in the 7th century until 1764 (pp. 1-139). The manuscript was completed in 1814 by the canon Jean Germain Fidèle Bajol, Chariatte's nephew (pp. 147-162).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Contains copies of regulations and agreements signed between the Priory of Moutier-Grandval and various regions of French-speaking Switzerland.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This manuscript, written in French, tells the story of Moutier-Grandval Abbey: "où sont rapportés les événements les plus remarquables qui sont arrivés dans l'Evêché de Bâle depuis l'origine et fondation du monastère de M.G.V. jusqu'à nos jours". This is followed by a Latin print, "Pièces justificatives" (pp. 103-220). It contains an index (pp. N1-N4), and, at the end of the volume, four pages titled: "Mémoire des liaisons helvétiques du chapitre de Moutier-Grand-Val" (pp. N5-N8). The document was most likely written by Jean Germain Fidèle Bajol, who was largely inspired by the Latin manuscript Historicum insigni ecclesiae collegiatae Monasterii Grandis-Vallis by François Jacques Joseph Chariatte (see A2445).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
A collection of rights, revenues and customs of Moutier-Grandval Abbey, introduced by a table of contents (p. V1-V2), occupies the first part of this manuscript (pp. V1-1_0135). This is followed by an "Extrait des protocoles du chapitre de Moutier Grand Val depuis l'an 1500 jusqu'en l'an 1788" (p. 1_0138).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This manuscript contains a topographical description of the region of Moutier-Grandval, decrees tracing the political history of Moutier-Grandval Abbey, and isolated articles on the role of the Priory of Saint-Ursanne. The text was written in Latin and translated into French in the second column.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Alphabetical inventory of all the rules governing life in general at the Chapter of Moutier-Grandval, be it the life of the canons or relations with the villages of the Chapter. They include, for example, the dress code for the canons on certain occasions, the notary's salary, the mills, etc., for the period from 1499 to 1759.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This document lists the rules that govern the relationship between the Diocese of Basel and the Chapter of Moutier-Grandval, with regard to, for example, watercourses, hunting, forests, tributes, borders, minerals, etc., as well as the characteristics of each local community of the Chapter, for the period between 1462 and 1731.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This Latin chronicle was written by ninety-six successive hands. Until the abolition of the Jesuit Order in 1773, these annals, present the application of the Jesuits' pedagogical principles in a pragmatic manner and over a long period of time, and also provide interesting information about the people.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
Divided into three parts, this manuscript relates year by year all noteworthy events regarding the monastery. The document contains the religious vows, the deaths of the sisters as well as their obituaries, all of which are significant elements of the religious history of Porrentruy at this time.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The volume contains two registers of the Jesuit personnel of the province of Upper Germany, dated 1765 (pp. 3-250; 251-358). The title page is printed (p. 3, 251), as is the checked table that extends across the double page. In the first catalogue, the table is divided into five columns on the left page and three on the right, with the following columns: surname and given name (nomen et cognomen), origin (patria nat. dioecesis), age (aetas), date of entry into the Order (tempus societatis), time spent in study (tempus stud.), previous and actual roles (ministeria obita), university degree (gradus in liter.) and category of oaths taken (gradus in societ.). In the second catalogue, the division of the columns differs, with the loss of the categories of time spent in study and university degree, and the gain of a category related to office (conditio). What is handwritten is the names of the Jesuits, classified according to alphabetical order of the given name. Although dating to the same year, these two catalogues do not have the same series of names. Although such works were intended to be sent to the Company of Jesus headquarters in Rome, this one appears in Delémont in the possession of the Jura historian Louis Vautrey (1882-1886), as the ex libris (p. 1) states.
Online Since: 05/31/2024
This manuscript has a register of persons who professed at the Jesuits of Porrentruy from 1669 to 1788 (pp. 1-122). As opposed to the two semi-printed catalogues in the volume A2610, this one is entirely handwritten. Ordered chronologically, it is signed by different members of the Order and ends in 1788. An index of names organized by year rounds out the volume (pp. 169-178). It later belonged to the Jura historian Louis Vautrey (1829-1886) in Delémont (p. VI).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
Historical notes collected by Henri Joseph Comman, schoolmaster in Courgenay. The exact title is Recueil de notes historiques sur le Pays de Pourrentruy ou Evêché de Bâle. According to the preface, H.J. Comman collected these notes with the intention of transmitting an objective history of the region and mitigating the lack of documentation on this topic. Until 1782 the history is very detailed.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Diary with daily notes about life in the Jesuit seminary in Porrentruy between 1727 and 1754.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Diary with daily notes about life in the Jesuit seminary in Porrentruy between 1754 and 1771.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Diary with daily notes about life in the Jesuit seminary in Porrentruy between 1657 and 1670.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Diary with daily notes about life in the Jesuit seminary in Porrentruy between 1671 and 1680.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Jean Jacques Joseph Nicol, a Porrentruy shoemaker (1733-1822), wrote this diary, which is divided in two parts, the first running from 1760 to 1771 (pp. 7-71), the second from 1795 to 1809 (pp. 73-88), two completely different periods from a political perspective (belonging to the Bishopric of Basel and the French period). This diary's interest lies in Nicol's profession as an artisan, which allows us to see, alongside major historical events, more mundane ones. This manuscript is a copy of Nicol's diary made by Joseph Trouillat (1815-1863) as the label on the cover declares. A teacher at the Collège de Porrentruy, Trouillat was in charge of the library. Undoubtedly, it was in the course of his historical research that he copied this journal, which was printed with the title Notes et remarques de Jean-Jacques-Joseph Nicol (Porrentruy, Société typographique, 1900).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
The manuscript contains the cumulative list of the Jesuits of the congregation of the Purification of the Virgin of Porrentruy. The title page, particularly detailed, imitates contemporary typographical decoration for initials (p. 1). Since the period covered by the list stretches from 1603 to 1707 (p. 240), the names are written by several different hands. A chronological and alphabetical index (pp. 241-270) lists all the names, which are further classified according to roles (prefect, assistant, secretary, etc.). The second part of the manuscript, introduced by a title page written in capital letters and dated 1641 (p. 271), enumerates in chronological order the names and various roles of the Jesuits of Porrentruy (up to 1681). The pages that follow contain, among other things, the annual lists of students at the Jesuit college of Porrentruy, up to 1720 (p. 402). The old pagination of the manuscript is discontinuous, because a certain number of pages have been removed.
Online Since: 05/31/2024
Although this manuscript's paper title page announces “Éphémérides de la ville de Porrentruy, commencées en janvier 1855, Vautrey prêtre” (p. V3), it only refers to the first eight pages of this thick volume (pp. 1-8). The largest part of the work contains “Notes sur l'ancien Évêché de Bâle” (pp. 9-473), followed by excerpts from the “Annales du monastère d'Augiae divitis” (Reichenau) taken from a Latin manuscript that belonged to the Benedictines of Delle (pp. 476-502). Alongside various ecclesiastical functions, this volume's author, Louis Vautrey (1829 Porrentruy – 1886 Delémont) accomplished a significant body of historical work, as witnessed, for example, by the publication in two volumes of the Histoire des évêques de Bâle (1884-1886), which at least in part relies on the current manuscript.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
Begun in 1620 by Jean Henri Vest when he was living in Freiburg-im-Breisgau (p. 1), this collection was originally conceived as a Stammbuch (family book) recording the genealogy and the marriages of the Vest family, with corresponding coats of arms. The enlarged coat of arms granted honorifically by Emperor Rudolph II in 1582 to the Count Palatine Jean Vest, father of Jean Henri, is repeated many times. Humbert Henri Vest brought the collection to Porrentruy in 1667; after the marriage of his daughter, Marie Hélène Vest (1693-1761), the last member of the local branch of the family, to Fréderic François Ignace Xavier Grandvillers (1690-1727) in 1716, the collection passed into the hands of the Grandvillers family. The Grandvillers added their coat of arms and those of related families (pp. 51-85 and 138-139, etc.). Born and died in Delémont, the lawyer Conrad de Grandvillers (1813-1880), great-great-grandson of Marie Hélène Vest, and the last to carry the name, was the last of his family to possess this volume, as the signature “de Grandvillers avocat” indicates (p. 1). Perhaps he is the one who, in the nineteenth century, added some other coats of arms without a family connection (pp. 277-281), possibly with the idea of transforming the volume into a liber amicorum or, more broadly, into an Armorial jurassien, as stated in the title added on the binding, probably in the nineteenth century. The fact that some coats-of-arms connected to the Vest family have been cut out and glued on other pages (pp. 89-95) suggests a major working of the volume at an unknown date.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
Louis Philippe, a painter and upholsterer in Delémont, produced two versions of the same project for an Armorial de l'ancien évêché de Bâle, both of which are preserved in the Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, namely this one here and a second, later armorial (N.C.6). In both cases, the volume is primarily composed of coats of arms painted by the author. This copy was originally supposed to be divided into large books, the first three of which were to have been dedicated to bishops, to states, and to the feudal nobility. In any case, the volume quickly loses its coherence with the passing of the pages and the additions of coats of arms, most of which are glued by the author according to the sources to which he has access (see f. 176v) and to the space available. He also inserted photographs, rubbings, and even signatures and original seals taken from archival or printed documents. Clearly, the composite appearance of the collection led Philippe to prepare a second, more coherent, collection (N.C.6).
Online Since: 09/06/2023
This paper manuscript, paginated 108-286, is one of four surviving copies of the writings of Nicolas Godin (Besançon, 1727 – Porrentruy, 1805), surgeon for the last four archbishops of Basel. His 24 medical-surgical “observations” are followed by a last one, which consists of a “description abrégée” (abbreviated description) of the principality of Basel, with a medical topography and meteorological observations (p. 236-283).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This volume contains two distinct works. The first is a copy of the formulary of the Basel Church Court, in use circa 1640 in the office of the diocesan officialis, at the time based in Altkirch and led by Johannis Georgius Goetzmann (p. V9). It was copied in Altkirch in 1753 by Johannis Theobald Roeslin, Apostolic Notary to the Episcopal Court of Basel. The formulas are chiefly in Latin, but also in German and more rarely in French (pp. 1-365). The style of script changes according to the language used. An alphabetical index finishes the first part (pp. 369-374). The second text, in French, was copied by a certain “Vannesson”, clerk to the Episcopal Court (p. 382), contains the judicial formulas for “conducting criminal proceedings against ecclesiastics” (pp. 383-465). These formulas have been copied with blanks to be filled in with names, places, and dates of the offenses to be tried. The tables at the end refer to the original pagination in Roman numerals (pp. 467-470).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
Antoine Biétrix (1817-1904) wrote numerous texts in dialect, especially La lettre de Bonfol. Originally from Fregiécourt, he was interested in the spoken dialect of his region, the Ajoie, and hence the words from his dictionary are used in the district of Porrentruy. It is presented in the form of a dictionary in two columns, with the dialect on the left and the French on the right.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
A two-column dictionary compiled by Ferdinand Raspieler, parish priest of Courroux (? – 1762). A note at the beginning of the dictionary indicates that it was written in order to serve justices and clergy in the Bernese Jura, who were impeded in their work because they did not know the dialect.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This parchment manuscript contains several texts relating to the statutes of the Basel Cathedral Chapter, located since 1679 in Arlesheim. The main title, written with a very elegant calligraphy – Statuta cathedralis ecclesiae Basileensis non tam renovata quam in meliorem ordinem redacta Anno Domini 1681 – fills a full page and specifies that the statutes were composed in 1681 (f. 1r). The incipits of the four gospels that follow are stamped with a miniature representing the face of Christ in a medallion with a blue background (f. 1v-s1r). The statutes are written in Latin, and more rarely in German (which involves a change in the style of script). After this text appears a letter of Bishop Jean Conrad de Roggenbach, dated to 1683 (f. 37r-37v), followed by a copy of Innocent XII's confirmation of the statutes, dated 1693 (ff. 38r-44v). This volume was purchased in 1857 at a sale of Felicis Schneider, printer in Basel, for the library Petro-Mariana (f. V2r). It then belonged to the bishop of Basel, Eugène Lachat, as Louis Vautrey explains in his monumental Histoire des évêques de Bâle (vol. II, 1886, p. 267, n°3).
Online Since: 05/31/2024
This manuscript contains two grimoires (magic textbooks), the Dragon rouge (pp. 4-100) and the Poule noire (pp. 101-108), which were copied in 1846 from a 1521 original. The Dragon rouge “ou l'art de commander les esprits célestes, aériens, terrestres et infernaux” (p. 2) is a collection of writings in French, Italian and Latin. As for the Poule noire, this is a ritual for conjuring ghosts. Several ungainly drawings embellish the work, depicting, for instance, the devil (p. 33, 55) or cabalistic diagrams (p. 19, 54).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This volume contains “année après année tout ce qui s'est passé de remarquable dans cet établissement [the Collège de Porrentruy] depuis 1588 à 1771” (p. 1). So reads the title page of this paper manuscript, which moreover provides information on its provenance. Property of the Jesuit priest Voisard (1749-1818), at his death the manuscript was bequeathed to Henri Joliat (1803-1859), who deposited it in 1856 in the library of the Collège de Porrentruy. The text begins in 1588 with the establishment of the Collège directed by the Jesuits; this volume concludes in 1661. The years that follow are treated in a second volume, MP 4-2. These excerpts from the annals are probably the French translation and summary of the volume in Latin in the Jura Cantonal Library (A2597).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
This paper manuscript contains the conclusion of the “Extraits des annales du Collège de Porrentruy” (MP 4-1). It begins in 1662 and ends in 1762, somewhat before what was announced (1771) on the title page of the first volume (MP 4-1, p. 1).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
The Porrentruy bourgeois and notary François-Joseph Guélat (1736–1825) is the author of the text carried by this manuscript, and is chiefly known for his memoirs on life in Jura during the revolutionary period (cf. MP 15 / A1451-1-3). According to the old pagination and the table of contents, which was probably added at the moment of binding (pp. 169-170), this manuscript is incomplete. The copy is carefully prepared, the single-column text is marked by a pencil-traced frame, and the chapter titles are inked in elegant calligraphy. This is not Guélat's autograph manuscript, but rather a later copy, produced after 1838, as suggested by the date linked to the name of Charles Roedel (the copyist?) enscribed in an inverse pyramid at the end of the list of the bishops of Basel (p. 148).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
Book of folk songs from the Ajoie, collected by Antoine Biétrix.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This autograph by Antoine Biétrix contains anecdotes in patois which he collected and wrote down himself. The short stories give the people of Bonfol a terrible reputation. Even if the stories don't concern the people of Bonfol directly, they are attributed to them, undoubtedly because the name of the village lends itself to such.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
An autograph (?) of François-Joseph Guélat, from Adrien Kohler. This work is a regular encyclopedia of the patois; the main part consists of two large dictionaries French-Patois and Patois-French. In compiling this manuscript, F.-J. Guélat, who was from the Ajoie, draws upon the dialect of his region.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This manuscript by Jean-Georges Quiquerez is a complement to Ferdinand Raspieler's Dictionnaire patois with several changes. The dictionary contains translations in Latin and German, less frequently towards the end. In 1849 this work was used for the edition of the Paniers by Xavier Kohler and Ferdinand Feusier.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
According to the preface (pp. 5-8), the Jesuit François-Humbert Voisard (1749-1818) wrote the Abrégé as the first history in French of the bishops of Basel and dedicated it to his students. Entirely focused on the ecclesiastical history of Basel and Porrentruy, the text's structure reveals its pedagogic nature: a short question introduces each chapter, and the text that immediately follows provides a more or less lengthy reply to the question. According to Gustave Amweg's Bibliographie du Jura bernois, Voisard's Abrégé survives in five copies and has not been published to this day. This manuscript has been corrected, annotated, and ends with an index of the bishops and the clerical institutions of the Basel episcopacy (pp. 459-460). Ownership notes inscribed on the front pastedown document its provenance: “Ce livre appartient à Henri Joliat, étudiant en rhétorique. Porrentruy, le 3 mai 1819 / Et / Schwartzlin Père / et /à l'abbé Vautrey à qui il a été remis par M. l'abbé Marquis en 1813”.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
One of the five copies of the Abrégé de l'histoire des évêques de Bâle by the Jesuit, François-Humbert Voisard (1749-1818), a history textbook organized according to questions and responses and dating from 1781. Except for the address of the dedication, the preface of this volume uses nearly the same terms as those in a second copy in the Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne (MP 10 / A 3269). It differs, however, in lacking annotation and correction. In addition, the copy is incomplete, since it stops suddenly at the beginning of the fourth part, dedicated to the bishops of Basel and of Porrentruy (p. 360). Before coming to the library of the Collège de Porrentruy in 1842, the manuscript belonged to a certain Quiquerez (back pastedown), probably Jean-Georges, mayor and notary of Porrentruy, and then to his son, Auguste (1801-1882), a Jurassien engineer, historian, archeologist, and geologist, as indicated by his ex-libris (p. V1).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
The Porrentruy lawyer François-Joseph Guélat (1736-1825) is one of the most well-known chroniclers to have described life in the Jura at the moment of the Revolution. Divided into three manuscript volumes, the text was published in 1906 by B. Boéchat et Fils in Delémont, with the title Journal de François-Joseph Guélat 1791-1802. The second volume starts in 1793 and runs to the end of December 1795. It uses the same layout as the previous volume, which is hardly surprising, since at the beginning they formed a single unit, as shown by the older, continous pagination. Likewise, the long table of contents at the end refers to both volumes (pp. 125-163).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
The Porrentruy lawyer François-Joseph Guélat (1736-1825) is one of the most well-known chroniclers to have described life in the Jura at the moment of the Revolution. Divided into three manuscript volumes, the text was published in 1906 by B. Boéchat et Fils in Delémont, with the title Journal de François-Joseph Guélat 1791-1802. The third volume runs from 1796 to 1802, and, like the preceding volume (MP 15 / A1451-2) concludes with a table of contents (pp. 159-177).
Online Since: 12/14/2022
The Porrentruy lawyer François-Joseph Guélat (1736-1825) is one of the most well-known chroniclers to have described life in the Jura at the moment of the Revolution. Divided into three manuscript volumes, the text was published in 1906 by B. Boéchat et Fils in Delémont, with the title Journal de François-Joseph Guélat 1791-1802. The first volume starts in 1791 and runs to 1793 (28 July). The year is given at the top of each page, above the left margin, where are mentioned the days and events related to the adjacent text.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
Retired for health reasons in 1905, Abbé Daucourt (1849-1926), living in Delémont, began that same year an Armorial de Porrentruy. Completed in 1907, the volume was intended for the library of the town, of which he was a bourgeois. Painted throughout, this 118-plate volume is a compilation of coats of arms, primarily of the nobility, connected with local history. It also includes reproductions of seals, flags, and signatures. Scientifically unreliable, this armorial attests above all to the renewed interest for heraldry that marked the twentieth century, in the specific context of the affirmation of the Jura identity, in which Abbé Daucourt participated.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
This volume is the result of an organized selection of material gathered in the previous version (A3754). It consists of coats of arms, mostly carefully painted directly in the volume or glued in, supplemented by reproductions obtained through different procedures (photographs, lithographs, rubbings…), and even some originals (signatures). The armorial was originally conceived to be divided into several books: bishops (2r-29v), states (30r-35v), the feudal nobility (from f. 36r). Starting with f. 103r, however, the coherence begins to dissolve with the addition of coats of arms of bourgeois families of Delémont, then religious coats of arms connected to the abbey of Bellelay (117r-122v) and Lucelle (123r-127v). From f. 134r, the armorial concerns seals: bishops (134r-143v), clerics (144r-146v), towns and seigneuries (148r-151v and 155r), and nobility (152r-154v), to which are added coins and medals (156r-157v). The volume ends with a series of notes (162r-198v), including comments on the documents reproduced in the preceding sections.
Online Since: 09/06/2023