Bertichilde tombstone
The Bertichilde tombstone is a Christian Franconian tombstone from the Merovingian period of the 6th to 7th centuries from Bingen-Kempten . The inscription and design of the stone make it one of the most important testimonies to the early medieval Christianity and religious history of the historical Rhineland region and the era of the so-called "Franconian Landquisition" in the area of the former Roman Rhine provinces.
Discovery
The stone was divided into two parts in the tower and found walled up next to the altar of the Catholic parish church “Holy Three Kings” in Kempten. During an archaeological inspection in 1880, the left half on the east side of the tower at a height of two and a half meters was perceived as unplastered and then scientifically examined in the same year. In 1936 the second half was found built into the base of the altar. Originally the stone was placed on a Merovingian era row grave field south of the parish church. The Roman spoil of an inscription-free "stone of the four gods", which in relief shows the figures of Hercules and Aesculapius among others, in the south wall of the building suggests that the square has been used for ritual and ritual purposes since ancient times. The cut grave field belongs to a Franconian settlement addressed as a courtyard group, which was located in the south of today's place below the stream. The tombstone of the noble Bertichildis belongs to other settlements like the finds of the "tombstone of the Aiberga" of a local Franconian noble clan. Furthermore, the finds of the gravestones of "Paulinus" and the presbyter "Aetherius" testify to an early Christian community with a Germanic-Romanic (ethnic) composition and a settlement continuity since Roman times. Since then, the stone has been put together again in the baptistery for viewing.
Description and inscription
On the lower part of the almost square (approx. 60 × 60 cm) stone made of gray limestone, an octogram has been carved out of two interlocking squares with inner crosses, surrounded by a circle . The inscription is made in fourteen lines, relatively clearly legible in the upper part, except for the sequences that are disturbed by the vertical break, between pre-scored double lines. In the lower part it is partly carried out in an octogram. The letter height is reduced in the lower third, the course becomes more confusing, the form shows a modified contemporary rendering of the late antique provincial Roman models.
"† In hunc t [it] olo requiiscit filia inlu (stri) [s? P] atroni Mactichildi cuius [n] omen vokatur Bertichild [is] difuncti qui vixit in pace parvo tempus anus XX me [n] se I vixit cum viro suo Ebregisilo annus V diae [Sa] mbato ura octava erepta [e] st a divina potestate [a] mata in populo viduis o [rpha] nis vel pauperebus elemosin [a] a se pro peccat [o] l [...] invidia mors tollit quod reddere nescit "
“In this grave lies the daughter of the illustrious patron, Mactichild, whose name is called Bertichildis, the deceased, who lived in peace for a short time 20 years, 1 month. She lived with her husband Ebregisel for 5 years. On Saturday at the eighth hour she was torn from (him) by divine power, loved by the people. To the widows, orphans or poor (have) / alms from her for the (forgiveness of their) sin. Out of resentment, death takes what it can no longer give back "
interpretation
With Walburg Boppert and her fundamental research on the late antique and early medieval Christian inscriptions in the Rhineland, the Bertichilde tombstone is dated to the 6th to 7th centuries. From an epigraphic and stylistic point of view, Boppert classified it in the third group of inscriptions on the Middle Rhine, which she defined.
In the cities of the Merovingian period, which have been continuously settled since Roman times, the general Roman custom of placing a tombstone on the deceased was continued until the Frankish-Christian period (see Batimodus ). Typical for these are the specification of biographical data such as the name and family ties, the lifetime and the day of death in combination with formulations and symbols ( christograms , staurograms ). Outside the urban centers, such gravestones can only be found in the rural settlements in the immediate vicinity of these cities. The high material value due to the necessary financial resources and the sometimes elaborate artificial design shows through their inscriptions that only members of the upper social class such as aristocrats and clergy were considered.
What is striking about the pictorial design is the proportionally and visually dominating octogram compared to the usual use of the Christogram. Here it is a clear borrowing from the late antique treasure trove, as evidenced by its use in other early medieval tombstones and sarcophagi. The emerging forms of the “barbarized Christogram” are interpreted in research as an apotropaic , as a sign of salvation that banishes misfortune.
literature
- Gustav Behrens: The Bertichildis tombstone from Kempten near Bingen. In: Germania 21, 1937, pp. 11-117.
- Horst Wolfgang Böhme: Bertichilde tombstone. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 2, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1976, ISBN 3-11-006740-4 , pp 402-406. ( Charge Germanic Altertumskunde Online at de Gruyter )
- Walburg Boppert: The early Christian inscriptions of the Middle Rhine region. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1971, ISBN 978-3805302357 , pp. 108-118.
- Walburg Boppert, Marion Mattern: Roman and early Christian tombstones. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 25, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017733-1 , pp. 127-138.
- Bernhard Liesen, Friedrich Schneider: The tombstone of the Bertichildis zu Kempten near Bingen. In: Bonner Jahrbücher Volume 74, 1873, pp. 32–49.
- Knut Schäferdiek, Reinhilds Hartmann, Wolfgang Haubrichs, Hans-Jürgen Diller, Hans Schottmann, Heinrich Beck, Helmut Roth, Torsten Capelle: Christianity of the time of conversion. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1981, ISBN 3-11-006513-4 , pp. 501-599.
Web links
- The Bertichildis tombstone in Bingen-Kempten. www.ingelheimer-geschichte.de (accessed on October 19, 2016)
Remarks
Coordinates: 49 ° 57 ′ 56.2 ″ N , 7 ° 56 ′ 3.7 ″ E
