Admonter Bartholomew

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The Admonter Bartholomäus (Admont, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 329) is a medical manuscript from the 15th century that has been handed down in German in the Admont Abbey . The manuscript combines recipes, medicinal knowledge, treatment methods for the most diverse ailments and modes of action of herbs and plants and is part of the Bartholomew tradition , which shaped European medical literature from 1200 to 1400.

Description of the handwriting

The paper manuscript consists of 180 sheets, is 280 mm high and 220 mm wide and can be assigned to the Bavarian-Austrian dialect. It has foliations from the 16th and 19th or 20th centuries - due to the older numbering it could be determined that some sheets have been lost. Due to the rebinding and restoration by E. Klee in 1965, who replaced the red binding at the time with a purple leather binding, the original composition of the layers can no longer be reconstructed. The codex shows signs of use such as fraying, notes, traces of wax and even scribbles; perhaps it was privately owned for a long time. There are 3 different watermarks on the paper . The text, which is written in Gothic italics, is divided into two columns and the research discourse is based on an unknown scribe who was apparently practiced because the typeface seems very even. New units of meaning are identified by the introduction “Or so” in red or by longer headings. It is not known whether the rubrications also come from the writer.

Lore

The Codex is divided into two parts: the first consists of the actual Bartholomew text; the second is a medical text by the Würzburg doctor Ortolf von Baierland .

Bartholomew

The earliest Bartholomäus text that has come down to us comes from Carinthia and was probably written around 1200. There is disagreement about the originals and sources from which the Bartholomäus texts originated - this concerns in particular the influence of the Practica of Bartholomäus von Salerno , a medical manual from the School of Salerno , written around 1150. While Gundolf Keil and Walter Lawrence Wardale accept the Practica Bartholomaei as a source for the German Bartholomäus, Robert Priebsch is of the opinion that he cannot be associated with it. The Bartholomäus tradition is characterized by litter tradition, as no original text has been preserved and there is great variance due to rearrangements or additions. Around 1300 he led the German medical literature and was only gradually superseded by the pharmacopoeia of Ortolf von Baierland from the 14th century, which is also passed down in Codex 329.

The first mention of Cod. 329 comes from Sigismund Münich in the library catalog of the monastery in Admont in 1728. In the course of the edition of the Bartholomäus text from Cod. 329 by Anna Maria Tesch in 2007, a detailed description of the manuscript was made. The impact of Bartholomäus was enormous - the tradition covers the entire German-speaking area and around 200 text witnesses; it has also been translated into numerous other European languages.

Pharmacopoeia

The handwritten tradition of the pharmacopoeia begins shortly after 1300 and spans over 400 years. The book is intended to be a comprehensive textbook for the fully trained "surgeon"; To this end, Ortolf von Baierland attempted to translate Latin medical knowledge into German and translated, selected and also intervened himself. Salern writings on the one hand and general specialist literature on the other served as sources. Today it is assumed that there are around 400 text witnesses that have been preserved through litter tradition and, up to 1500, come mainly from the Bavarian-East Franconian region. From 1472 to 1658 there were also 8 printed editions of the work and the enormous effect of the pharmacopoeia resulted in the creation of “Pseudo-Ortolfica”.

reception

As part of the project “Styrian Literature Paths of the Middle Ages”, a path to the Admonter Bartholomäus in Admont was set up, which opened in 2012 and provides an insight into the work over a distance of 0.5 km. In 2015 an anthology was also published with the title "Literary Verortungen", which contains texts on the various literary path locations. In the book section devoted to Admont, Julian Schwarze describes the work of a boy who is in the apprenticeship of Master Bartholomew and repeatedly intersperses medical prescriptions and treatment methods in the story. Josef Hasitschka dedicates himself to the medicinal plant Verbena ( verbena ) and its mentions in the Admonter Bartholomäus.

Structure and content

The Bartholomew text extends from fol. 1r-36v and begins with the following incipit:

Hye raises himself to the bad luck / From the ercznei Magistri / Bartholomaei von allen / good things (et cetera) / THE bad luck works / a master who / hies wartholome (us)

It is pointed out here that “Master Bartholomew” translated a Greek model into Latin; this Latin translation was again transferred into German - but it remains in the dark who by whom. So texts are collected under the name of "Master Bartholomew".

This incipit is followed in the Bartholomäus text about the structure and properties of the human body, whereby reference is made again and again to humoral pathology (the theory of humors). The so-called “dirty pharmacy”, which today can certainly do a lot of good again, also plays a role, as can be seen here from a text on the breastfeeding of wounds:

Folio 9r of Admonter Bartholomäus (Cod. 329)
which person (s) n the plu = When a man's blood
et vast get out of the wound (s) n / runs heavily from a wound
W ild you the pluet v (er) stell (e) n Do you want to stop the blood
So nym a pig crap / so take a pig's dung
Eat / vnd the grass eat the grass and heat the
mist vil vast / vnd put the Crap strong and put it
on the stat / do the pluet off = to the place from which the blood comes out =
rinnet / so it perpetuates as pald / runs. So it will soon run dry.
Don't help that / So nym ver = If that doesn't help, take
prúnnen laim / and grind burned glue and grind
the one in starchkem esseich / vnd this in strong vinegar and
put the v over the wounds do this on the wound.

After texts on the interpretation of urine or urination, the actual recipe section follows, which largely follows the principle of “a capite ad calcem”, which provides for a structure of the contents from head to toe. Between the description of the complaints of the mouth, nose, ears and eyes, gynecological texts and explanations about body aches and stomach problems are interspersed. Based on this arrangement, it can be assumed that the writer's intention was to collect the recipes, not to put them in order.

This is followed by texts on cosmetic problems, gynecological topics, prenatal sex determination and wound healing. The interpretation of signs of death and life is also discussed. There are descriptions of different types of fever and hints on how to make wine that is stale or cloudy again digestible. It is not just about the healing of the human being; because the horse is also discussed in more detail, since horse medicine played an important role in the Middle Ages. This is followed by explanations on bloodletting and manufacturing instructions for ointments, plasters and healing potions. Finally, the suffering of different parts of the body is again assumed, which are only enumerated towards the end. Leading themes that can generally be identified are also magic and minerals. What is striking about the Bartholomew's text are the different types of description, since on the one hand the complaints are assumed, but on the other hand also the plants and herbs that can be used for healing.

The Ortolf text is written on fol. 36va initiated. Ortolf von Bailerland first introduces himself as a compiler and Würzburg doctor and explains his intention to use different Latin sources to write a German pharmacopoeia. First, the structure of the pharmacopoeia is explained, followed by explanations of the theory of elements and descriptions of the human body. Thereafter, disease prevention and healthy eating will be discussed. Here, too, there are texts on the interpretation of urine, descriptions of the blood circulation and the veins and information on how to recognize whether someone is sick or near death. Bloodletting also plays a role here - it explains when and where this should be done. Overall, the text also follows the “a capite ad calcem” principle of order. Of particular importance is the index, which comprises 5 pages and lists herbs and plants alphabetically with German and Latin names.

The next section lists addenda; This is followed by the description of diseases of the chest cavity, explanations of the urinary bladder and the production of healing substances. Different types of fever and bloodletting are also mentioned again. The next part deals specifically with gynecology. The Admonter Bartholomäus ends on fol. 177v. with the word "Amen".

literature

Edition
  • Anna M. Tesch: The 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329). Partial edition with electronic basic translation and 'dynamically' derived reading version . Diploma thesis University of Graz 2007.
literature
  • Gundolf Keil : Bartholomäus . In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [u. a.]. Vol. 1. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1978, Col. 609-615.
  • Gundolf Keil: Bartholomaeus Salernitanus . In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [u. a.]. Vol. 1. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1978, col. 623-625.
  • Gundolf Keil: Ortolf von Baierland (from Würzburg) . In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [u. a.]. Vol. 7. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1989, col. 67-84.
  • Robert Priebsch : German prose fragments of the XII. Century. II Fragments of the so-called Practica of Master Bartholomäus . In: The modern language review 11, 1916, pp. 321-334.
  • Walter Wardale: The High German Bartholomäus. Critically commented text from a medieval pharmacopoeia based on the London manuscripts Brit. Mus. Add. 16,892, Brit. Mus. Arundel 164, Brit. Mus. Add. 17,527, Brit. Mus. Add. 34,304 . Follan, Dundee 1993.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cf. Anna M. Tesch: Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329). Partial edition with electronic basic translation and 'dynamically' derived reading version. Graz: Univ. Dipl.-Arb. 2007, p. 17f.    
  2. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), 19ff.    
  3. ↑ Cf. Robert Priebsch: German prose fragments of the XII. Century. II Fragments of the so-called Practica of Master Bartholomäus. In: The modern language review 11 (1916), pp. 321-334.        
  4. ↑ See also Joseph Haupt: About the md. Pharmacopoeia of the master Bartholomaeus. In: Session reports of the Imperial Academy of Sciences: philosophical-historical class , 71, 1872, pp. 451-566.
  5. ↑ Cf. Gundolf Keil: Bartholomäus. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [u. a.]. Vol. 1. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1978, col. 610; Walter Wardale: The High German Bartholomäus. Critically commented text from a medieval pharmacopoeia based on the London manuscripts Brit. Mus. Add. 16,892, Brit. Mus. Arundel 164, Brit. Mus. Add. 17,527, Brit. Mus. Add. 34,304. Dundee: Follan 1993, pp. 1-6; Priebsch, German prose fragments of the XII. Century (see note 3), p. 327.
  6. ↑ Cf. Keil, Bartholomäus (see note 4), Col. 613; Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 15.    
  7. ↑ Cf. Keil, Bartholomäus (see note 4), Col. 613.    
  8. ↑ See Andrea Rzihacek-Bedő: Medical Science Care in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont until 1500. Vienna, Munich: Oldenbourg 2005. (= communications from the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. 46.) p. 215.
  9. ↑ Cf. Keil, Bartholomäus (see note 4), Col. 612.    
  10. ↑ Cf. Gundolf Keil: Ortolf von Baierland (von Würzburg). In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [u. a.]. Vol. 7. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1989, Col. 68.    
  11. ↑ Cf. Keil, Ortolf von Baierland (Würzburg) (see note 9), 70ff.    
  12. ↑ See Keil, Ortolf von Baierland (Würzburg) (see note 9), column 73.    
  13. ↑ Cf. Keil, Ortolf von Baierland (Würzburg) (see note 9), Col. 74f.    
  14. ↑ See Keil, Ortolf von Baierland (Würzburg) (see note 9), column 80.    
  15. ↑ Cf. Wernfried Hofmeister (Ed.): Literary Verortungen - New Texts on the Locations of Medieval Literature in Styria and Slovenia - Anthology. Edition keiper: Graz 2015.
  16. ↑ See Julian Schwarze: The master's true advice. In: Literary Locations - New Texts on the Locations of Medieval Literature in Styria and Slovenia - Anthology. Edited by Wernfried Hofmeister. Edition keiper: Graz 2015, pp. 29–42.
  17. ↑ See Josef Hasitschka: The Verbena blessing questioned. In: Literary Locations - New Texts on the Locations of Medieval Literature in Styria and Slovenia - Anthology. Edited by Wernfried Hofmeister. Edition keiper: Graz 2015, pp. 50–55.
  18. ↑ Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 36; Cod. 329, Admont Abbey Library, fol. 1ra.    
  19. ↑ Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 62; Cod. 329, Admont Abbey Library, fol. 9rb; Translation by Selina Galka.
  20. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 8.    
  21. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 8.    
  22. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 9.    
  23. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 9f.    
  24. ↑ Cf. Tesch, Der 'Admonter Bartholomäus' (Cod. 329) (as note 1), p. 10f.