Codex Guelferbytanus 58.4 Augusteus 8 °
The Codex Guelf. 58.4 Aug. 8 ° is a collective manuscript that consists of two different texts. These date from around 1300 to around 1325. Both have in common that they contain translations of biblical and liturgical texts into early Middle Low German . The older text is a translation of a psalter , the more recent one is a breviary . Both works most likely came from the eastern Duchy of Westphalia . The work is now in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel .
Whereabouts and exploration
The manuscript is now in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel . Her previous whereabouts until it was bought for the library is unclear.
The codex was first mentioned in 1826 in Karl Scheller's “Book Studies of the Sassian-Low German Language.” A first detailed description comes from Conrad Borching in 1902. He originally planned to edit the texts himself, but in 1915 transferred the task to the Swedish Germanist Erik Rooth . In 1919 he wrote his dissertation on it in Uppsala with the title: "A Westphalian Psalms Translation". This contains the edition of the first part of the manuscript. Rooth considers the translation of the Psalms to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in Low German. It would be the "oldest major work of sacred prose translation of the Middle Low German period". As a result, Rooth repeatedly dealt with the Codex. In 1969 he published the work for the second part of the Codex: “Low German Breviary Texts of the 14th Century from Westphalia.” This was an edition of the entire text. The text in the historical digital text archive - Low German in Westphalia was recently made accessible on the Internet by the Universities of Münster and Bielefeld .
Both texts do not come directly from Latin, but the writers have used translations in Franconian (probably from the Ripurarian region ). These are likely to date from between the 12th and 13th centuries. In the case of the Psalter, there may have been an unknown, already Low German, intermediate stop on the way from Latin to Franconian to the present text.
description
The entire codex in the format 17 × 12 cm consists of 218 parchment leaves . The text appears in a Gothic book font . The two parts were created by two different scribes. Both belonged to the same community.
The Psalter includes leaves 1r to 122r. One page has 20 lines. It begins with Psalm 15, 9 and ends with Psalm 150. In contrast to the Vulgate , the order of Psalms 42 and 43 is reversed. Liturgical hymns follow the psalms. (Canticum Isaiae, Canticum Ezechiae, Canticum Annae, Canticum Moysi, Canticum Habacuc, Canticum, Moysi in Deuteronomio, Hymnum Trium Puerorum, Canticum Zachariae, Canticum Mariae, Canticum Simeonis, Fides Catholica, te Deum Laudamus). The penultimate part is the Athanasian Creed . The psalter dates from around 1300 or a little earlier.
Text example (excerpt from Psalm 22 [23] )
"1. Got freed me ande mi does not break:
2. in the place of the pasture bestadede he mi.
Ouer den watere der lavinge vore he mi:
3. he becarde mine sele.
Hey, my ouer de stige of the rain dorch his name.
4. Wante ga ic in midden the scade des dodes,
so en forte ic negein vuel: wante you are with mi. "
The second part comprises 105 sheets (113r to 218v). A page contains 19 to 23 lines. This part contains a medieval breviary translated into Low German. The text is based on the Breviarium Romanum (the calendar and various offices are missing). Otherwise the usual offices, patristic homilies , psalms, antiphons , responsories , verses , collections and hymns are included. The breviary was probably written around 1325.
Origin localization
It is very likely that both texts come from the south-eastern distribution area of Westphalian. Language comparisons allow the origin to be narrowed down to the areas of the later districts of Brilon and Meschede . An indication that it came from a brotherhood ( bordescap ) led to the conclusion that it was created in a male monastery or a comparable institution. Rooth originally assumed the origin from the Grafschaft monastery . The fact that the Roman breviary was not used by Benedictines at the time speaks against this . It was more likely that the texts were written around the Meschede Abbey . A few male canons were assigned to the women's monastery there and the monastery was converted into an institution for a chapter of canons in 1310. The brotherhood can also be the Mesched Kalandsbruderschaft, made up of lay people (both men and women) and clergy, which was founded in 1323. No origin is proven beyond doubt.
Their use is just as unclear. The scriptures may have been used for private devotion or teaching purposes. Whether they also served for worship purposes must initially remain speculation.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief description of the Psalter (PDF; 33 kB)
- ↑ cit. after: Peter Bürger: Early Middle Low German from the Sauerland. Psalms translations (1300) and breviary texts (around 1325) in a manuscript from the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel. Eslohe, 2011 p. 8
- ↑ Brief description of the breviary (PDF; 34 kB)
literature
- Erik Roth: A Westphalian psalm translation from the first half of the 14th century. Uppsala, 1919
- Erik Roth: Low German breviary texts of the 14th century from Westphalia. Stockholm, 1969:
- Peter Bürger: Early Middle Low German from the Sauerland. Psalms translations (1300) and breviary texts (around 1325) in a manuscript from the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel. Eslohe, 2011 online version (PDF; 6.3 MB)
- Peter Bürger: 700 year old Bible translations from the Sauerland. An early Middle Low German manuscript from the ducal library in Wolfenbüttel contains psalms and breviary texts from our homeland. In: Sauerland 3/2011 pp. 119–123