The paper manuscript, bound with a limp binding, is composed of four parts written in the first half of the fifteenth century. Parts II and IV are probably to be ascribed to the hand of Johannes de Nepomuk, who came from the Cistercian house of Nepomuk in Bohemia. The manuscript probably reached the Abbey of St. Gall by the middle of the fifteenth century at the latest. It contains Latin sermons, spiritual treatises, and documents pertaining to the Council of Constance in the years 1417–1418. (len)

Online Since: 04/25/2023

Sermons form the bulk of this moral-theological miscellany. It is written by multiple hands. The initials have not been added to the first, fragmentary text, written in a single column (pp. 29–74). The next text, written in two columns, has the title De purificatione written in the top margin, and begins Sanctificavit tabernaculum suum [1 Par 22,1] Altissimus… (pp. 79a–102b). The confessionary De septem viciis, with the incipit Superbia est tumor… (pp. 105–120), is written in one column and illuminated elaborately with six black and red word trees with geometric patterns on the branches (pp. 107, 109, 111, 113, 115 und 120) as well as the ten commandments, circled, along with their contraries on p. 117. This is followed by the didactic poem on virtuous living, Modus vivendi secundum deum, written in a single column (pp. 121-124). There is then a letter from a Master Samuel to a Rabbi Ysaak, allegedly translated by a Spanish friar called Alfonsus Boni Hominis. The text is written in a single column on pp. 125-153. The Sermones de sanctis by the Cistercian Konrad von Brundelsheim (Soccus) that follow are written, frequently corrected and annotated, in an early gothic book cursive on pp. 173-389. The first initial is red, the others either were never added or in brown, some with strapwork inclusions on p. 218, 247 and 323. There is a tab on p. 219 and a manicule on p. 266. Michael of Massa's Tractatus de passione Domini (Version Angeli pacis…) with allegorical introduction and dialogues (pp. 389-470) is the last text. The colophon of the last part dates the work's completion to 8th March 1427 (p. 470). The shelfmark plate “T 17” on the wooden board binding with leather cover and a plaited endband corresponds to the records in the 1461 library catalogue of St. Gallen. It therefore suggests that this volume was likely compiled and bound in the mid-fifteenth century. The St. Gallen librarian Jodokus Metzler glued a table of contents onto the inside front pastedown. Pages 1-8, 17-24 and 169-172 contain only the ruling lines for a two-column commentary with extensive marginal gloss, but no text. Other pages are completely blank, without even a page layout: 9–16, 25–28, 49–54, 75–78, 103–104, 155–168 and 471–483. There is an entry made on p. 484. The leaf pp. 53-54 is loose. There was a loose, reused fragment with a hand drawn onto it between p. 180 and 181. (kun)

Online Since: 09/06/2023