Codex Argenteus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Page from the Codex Argenteus ( Mk 3.27–32  EU )

The Codex Argenteus [ ˈkoːdɛks arˈgɛnteʊs ] ( Latin codex , "book"; argenteus , "made of silver ") is the remainder of a late antique gospel in the Gothic language, which is kept in the University Library Carolina Rediviva at Uppsala . The codex, originally comprising at least 336 pages, is written in silver and gold ink on purple parchment . The name “Silver Codex ” refers to this and not, as is often wrongly assumed, to the silver binding added in 1665, because the name Codex Argenteus appears as early as 1597.

history

The codex contains parts of the four Gospels as a copy of the Gothic translation of the Bible ( Wulfilabibel ) by Bishop Wulfila (lat. Ulfilas) (311–383) and is one of the oldest written evidence of a Germanic language . The codex was written in northern Italy between 500 and 510, presumably for Theodoric the Great . It can first be detected in the Werden monastery and was sold in 1573 by the abbot Heinrich Duden to the later emperor Rudolf II , who kept the treasure in Prague Castle .

Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War , the Codex fell into the hands of Swedish troops sacking Prague and after a few detours came into the possession of the Swedish Chancellor Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie , who was also Chancellor of Uppsala University . In 1669 he gave the university library there the 187 sheets that were left in the meantime, with the newly made silver binding.

Another sheet of the Codex was established in October 1970 at the Speyer Cathedral in from Aschaffenburg originating reliquary discovered.

The text of the Lord's Prayer ( Mt 6 : 9-13  EU ) is as follows in the Codex Argenteus 4r, 5v :

atta unsar þu ïn himinam
christmas namo þein.
qimai þiudinassus þone.
wairþai wilja þeins.
swe ïn himina jah ana airþai.
hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif us himma daga.
jah aflet us þatei skulans sijaima.
swaswe jah knows afletam þaim skulam unsaraim.
jah ni briggais us ïn fraistubnjai-
ak lausei us af þamma ubilin.
below þeina ïst þiudangardi
jah mahts jah wulþus ïn aiwins.
Amen

meaning

The Codex Argenteus (in addition to the 4 leaves of the Codex Gissensis , the 4 leaves of the Codex Carolinus and the 193 leaves of the Codices Ambrosiani A – E) is one of the few extensive surviving documents in the Gothic language.

literature

  • Tönnes Kleberg: Codex Argenteus. Silver Bibles i Uppsala. Universitets Bibliotek, Uppsala 1954 (in German: Codex Argenteus. The Uppsala Silver Bible. 4th revised edition. Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala 1981. ISBN 91-85092-14-2 )
  • Lars Munkhammar: Silver Bibles. Theoderiks bok. Carlsson, Stockholm 1998. ISBN 91-7203-830-6
  • Peter Arnold Heuser: On the history of the Codex Argenteus in the 16th century . In: Rheinische Viertelsjahrsblätter 69 (2005), pp. 133–152
  • Reinhard Staats: The Codex Argenteus and Philipp Melanchthon in Helmstedt . In: Daphnis 40 (2011), pp. 377-409

Web links

Commons : Codex Argenteus  - collection of images, videos and audio files