Codex Einsidlensis 710
| Codex Einsidlensis 710 | |
|---|---|
| Repository | Einsiedeln Abbey Library |
| origin | Constancy |
| material | paper |
| Page number | 476 |
| format | 300 × 205 mm |
| Time of origin | End of the 15th century |
| language | Alemannic |
The Codex Einsidlensis 710 contains several texts of mystical content, including the writings of Heinrich Seuse . The manuscript kept today in Einsiedeln Abbey dates from the end of the 15th century and was probably written in Constance by a single scribe in the region's Alemannic dialect . Particularly striking are the book illuminations , some of which take up an entire page , with which Seuse's texts were illustrated.
Description of the codex
The codex is written on paper and comprises 476 pages in the format of 300 × 205 mm. The individual sheets of paper are each provided with a watermark in the shape of an ox head. The scribe used a Gothic italic , using brown and black inks; all pages were evenly described with two columns of 36 lines each. The headings are in red ink; the first letters of the individual sections have been specially highlighted in red and blue. The binding is no longer original; it is made of leather, covered with marbled paper , and dates from the 19th century.
content
The manuscript is divided into three parts, all of which deal with Christian mysticism. It starts with the poem Christ and the Minnending Soul , which does not come from Seuse. The main part of the codex consists of the four books by Seuse, which Seuse himself revised together with a short prologue to form a coherent work, the so-called copy . The first book, his Vita , describes how he first came to experience God through strict self-mortification and asceticism , then in a turn away from these radical practices through serenity and charity and opened himself up to the work of the divine. The two following books, the little book of eternal wisdom and the little book of truth , continue his mystical teaching and defend the views of Master Eckhart , who was suspected of being a heretic and whose disciple Seuse was. At the end there is the letter book , a selection of instructive letters from Seuse to his students. The last hundred pages of the manuscript form the third part; they contain fourteen short tracts of ascetic and mystical content by mostly unknown authors, which were intended to supplement Seuse's copy . Eternal wisdom, the seven deadly sins , patience, humility and divine love are addressed in these texts .
Book decorations
The three parts of the manuscript have been decorated to varying degrees. The poem Christ and the Minnending Soul is illustrated with 22 miniatures which reproduce selected scenes from the poem. In contrast, the last section of the Codex, with the various short texts, does not have any special decorations except for a few initials . An extraordinary decoration that sets it apart from the rest of the manuscript, however, has been given to Seuse's writings and especially his vita. The paintings sometimes take up a whole page and contribute in a very effective and, thanks to the urgency of the depicted event, also gripping way to the impression of the text content. There are also a number of magnificently decorated initials. The floral tendrils and miniatures worked into the letters are partly made of gold and silver.
History of the Codex
Neither the writer nor the illustrator is known; At the beginning of the codex, however, the family coat of arms of the Constance patrician Heinrich Ehinger (1438–1479) and his wife Margaretha von Kappel (around 1440–1491) is shown. Margaretha von Kappel can be seen as the client, because there are two other manuscripts with the same coat of arms in Einsiedeln, Codices 283 and 752, where she is named as the wife of Blessed Heinrich Ehinger; these codices were therefore only created after his death. It is therefore very likely that the origin of manuscript 710 can be traced back to the years between 1480 and 1490. The codex was then probably given to the Dominican convent of St. Peter an der Fahr in Constance as a gift from the Ehinger family, and finally to the Rheinau Benedictine Abbey . In the course of the abolition of this monastery in 1862, the manuscript came to Einsiedeln with other parts of the local monastery library.
gallery
The temptation of God's friend in the Vita von Seuse, F. 77v
Seuse before the crucified Jesus, F. 86r
God includes everyone in his love, F. 89r
The path to union with the Trinity , F. 106r
literature
- R. Banz: Christ and the loving soul. Two late medieval mystical poems . Breslau 1908, p. 6–12 ( limited preview in Google Book search). (Detailed information on the history of the Codex)
- B. McGinn: The harvest of mysticism in medieval Germany (1300-1500). New York 2005, pp. 198-204. (Information on the Codex)
Web links
- http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/list/one/sbe/0710 (link to the online version of the manuscript, accessed on January 8, 2014)
- http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/description/sbe/0710 (link to the manuscript description and a more detailed list of literature, accessed on January 8, 2014)
- Entry on the manuscript in the manuscript census
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/description/sbe/0710 (January 8, 2014)
- ↑ K. Ruh u. a. (Ed.): Heinrich Seuse. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. Vol. 8, Berlin 1992, 1109-1129; B. McGinn: The harvest of mysticism in medieval Germany (1300-1500). New York 2005, 198-204.
- ↑ http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/description/sbe/0710 (January 8, 2014)
- ↑ R. Banz: Christ and the loving soul. Two late medieval mystical poems. Breslau 1908, 6–12.
- ↑ http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/description/sbe/0710 (January 8, 2014)