Codex Palatinus germanicus 76

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Cod. Pal. Germ. 76, sheet 2r: The Plowman from Bohemia , Chapter 1 - The Plowman accuses death

The Codex Palatinus germanicus 76 is a late medieval manuscript from the former Bibliotheca Palatina in Heidelberg . The Codex belongs to the Codices Palatini germanici , the German-language manuscripts of the Palatina, which have been kept in the Heidelberg University Library since 1816 ; The signature of the Heidelberg University Library and the common scientific name is Cod. Pal. germ. 76 (short form: Cpg 76 ).

The illuminated manuscript was made around 1470 on behalf of Margarethe von Savoyen by Ludwig Henfflin's workshop , presumably in Stuttgart.

The work passed down the prose writing Der Ackermann aus Böhmen by Johannes von Tepl , which was created around 1400 , a rhetorically artfully constructed argument between the personified death and a mourner.

description

Cod. Pal. germ. 76, sheet 3r: Der Ackermann aus Böhmen , 2nd chapter - Death demands names and reasons for the charge
Cod. Pal. germ. 76, sheet 11r: The Plowman from Bohemia , Chapter 13 - The Plowman complains about the injustice of death
Cod. Pal. Germ. 76, sheet 12r: The Plowman from Bohemia , Chapter 14 - Death emphasizes its unrestricted power
Cod. Pal. Germ. 76, sheet 31v: The Plowman from Bohemia , Chapter 26 - Death emphasizes his omnipotence over man
Cod. Pal. Germ. 76, sheet 31v: Der Ackermann from Böhmen , 34th chapter - Intercession prayer of the Ackermann

The Codex is a paper manuscript with 32 leaves. The foliation of the 17th century counts sheets 1–32 with text, sheets 1 and 10 are provided with modern counting, as are three new flyleaves at the front and back.

The sheet size of the manuscript is 31.1 × 21.2 cm, with a writing space of 23.5 × 13-14 cm with 25 to 28 lines per page. Written form is a bastarda by one hand, probably identical to scribe II of Cod. Pal. germ. 345 . When writing, space was left for initials , but these are not listed anywhere.

The ascenders of the letters in the first line are noticeably lengthened on many sides, some of them expanded into loops. The letters “f” (e.g. leaves 8r, 10r and more often) and “M” (e.g. 11v, 14r and more) can be seen repeatedly in the loops of these ascenders; on sheet 9v the word “ fortuna ” is written out in such a loop; on sheet 29r next to the “M” there is also a “V”. These markings were interpreted by Henrike Lähnemann as " apotropaic, luck-bringing signs", she and Karin Zimmermann read the "f" as "fortuna", the "M" as the abbreviation for Margaret of Savoy and the "V" (= U) as an abbreviation for Margarethes third husband, Ulrich von Württemberg .

On leaf 1r Margaret's coat of arms is entered, surrounded by four characters, the monogram I M M L . So far (as of 2020) there is no reliable breakdown of the importance; the resolution appears plausible as In memoriam Mariti Ludovici , i.e. the reference to Margarethes second husband Ludwig von der Pfalz . The following page (sheet 1v) shows the coats of arms of Württemberg and Savoy in two small shields.

During the restoration in 1974 a cardboard cover was removed and renewed and the manuscript was stapled again.

Miniatures

The farm man from Bohemia is handed down in 17 handwritten documents, Cod. Pal. germ. 76 is one of two illustrated manuscripts. The 34 chapters of the work are decorated here with 35 illustrations. These are always at the beginning of a new chapter, with the exception of the last miniature (sheet 31v) for the Ackermann's intercessory prayer , which is also inserted in the last chapter.

In the pictures, the Ackermann and Death stand opposite each other, changing sides from picture to picture; the figure on the left in each figure speaks in the following chapter. The position of the two figures corresponds to the text division, where death and the Ackermann alternate from chapter to chapter: in the chapters with an odd number the Ackermann, in those with an even number death.

The illustrations are simple and schematic, both the frames, the floor pieces and picture backgrounds as well as the figures themselves. All illustrations have a colorful, wide, profiled frame with a border of black or green hemispheres, which are also repeated in the second half of the work floral ornamentation growing from the border.

The floor and background of the first 12 illustrations (sheets 2r to 10v) alternately show (1) in the red frame an interior with a chessboard-like checkered floor in front of a blue, ornamentally patterned back wall, as a backdrop for the speeches of the tiller of the field, or (2) in the yellow frame one Interior with grass floor and flowers in front of a red back wall with yellow border ornaments, as a background for the argument of death. The following 13 illustrations (sheets 11r to 21v) have, with one exception, a red frame throughout (sheet 12r: gray frame). The backdrop in which the dispute takes place is an open landscape, in some cases a distant city silhouette is drawn in the background, and a sharp edge is drawn in the foreground with the figures on the edge. The final 10 miniatures (sheets 23r to 31v) are again designed as schematic interior representations; As with the first 12 illustrations, death is assigned a yellow frame and a red background wall, and the Ackermann a red frame and a blue background wall. In contrast to the first pictures, the floor pieces here are consistently simple green areas, which differ only in the coloring of a border, and the yellow ornamentation on the red background areas in the counter-speeches of death is extended to the entire area.

The figures themselves are also shown very schematically in the appendix to the drawing; they consistently show the same posture, apart from a few, slight changes in arm posture, the only significant change being the regular swap of positions already mentioned. Death is always drawn in the same way as a brown boned man, variously endowed with a few attributes of his rule, for example a scepter, a crown or a staff. The plowman, on the other hand, wears different clothes and other agricultural implements on almost every picture.

origin

The manuscript was made by Ludwig Henfflin's workshop around 1470 , probably in Stuttgart. The writing language is Swabian.

The client was Margarethe von Savoyen (1420–1479), who was married to Ulrich V (1413–1480), Count of Württemberg-Stuttgart , in her third marriage . The only child from her second marriage to the Palatinate Elector Ludwig IV (1424–1449), Elector Philipp von der Pfalz (1448–1508) inherited the manuscript after Margaret's death in 1479. The manuscript came from Stuttgart to Heidelberg and became later Part of the Bibliotheca Palatina .

Cod. Pal. germ. 76 was not yet regarded by Wegener in 1927 as part of the Henfflin group in the Palatina collection, but the assignment goes back to the Heidelberg research on the occasion of the digitization of the Codices Palatini germanici at the beginning of the 21st century.

Like the other manuscripts of the Electoral Palatinate Libraries, the Codex came into the possession of the Vatican Library in Rome after the conquest of the Electoral Palatinate in the Thirty Years War in 1622 and was only brought to Heidelberg in 1816 with the other German-language holdings of the Palatina as part of the regulations during the Congress of Vienna returned.

Content

The only content of the manuscript is the prose dialogue Der Ackermann von Bohemia by Johannes von Tepl. A tiller of the land takes an emotionally troubled trial speech against the personified death, with bitter words he accuses it of the murder of his beloved young wife, and demands that death be outlawed for all time, that he lose his rights and be executed. The first 32 chapters are a constant exchange between the accuser and death, who reacts coolly and rationally to the accusations and refers to his God-given role. In the 33rd chapter, God becomes, as it were, the judge of the trial; his judgment awards the accuser honorable behavior, but reminds him of his mortality. God gives death victory in contention, but he reminds him that his power is given by God. Chapter 34 is an intercessory prayer .

Both the literary quality of the work and the rhetorical mastery of language and thought leadership were emphasized.

See also

literature

  • Karin Zimmermann : Cod. Pal. Germ. 76. Johannes von Tepl: The plowman from Bohemia. In: Karin Zimmermann (arrangement), with the participation of Sonja Glauch, Matthias Miller, Armin Schlechter: The Codices Palatini germanici in the Heidelberg University Library (Cod. Pal. Germ. 1–181). Catalogs of the Heidelberg University Library, Volume 6. Reichert Verlag , Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 978-3-89500-152-9 , pp. 202-203 ( digitized version ).

Older catalogs:

  • Karl Bartsch : Pal. Germ. 76. The Plowman of Bohemia Conversation with Death. In: Karl Bartsch: The old German manuscripts of the university library in Heidelberg. Catalog of the manuscripts of the University Library in Heidelberg, Volume 1. Verlag von Gustav Koester, Heidelberg 1887, No. 46, pp. 20–21 ( digitized version ).
  • Hans Wegener : Ackermann of Bohemia. pal. germ. 76. In: Hans Wegener: Descriptive directory of the German pictorial manuscripts of the late Middle Ages in the Heidelberg University Library. Verlagbuchhandlung J. J. Weber, Leipzig 1927, pp. 68–69 ( digitized version ).
  • Wilfried Werner: Johannes von Tepl, Der Ackermann from Bohemia. Cod. Pal. germ. 76. In: Wilfried Werner: Cimelia Heidelbergensia. 30 illuminated manuscripts from Heidelberg University Library. Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-920153-41-3 , pp. 87-89 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Cod. Pal. germ. 76  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Transcription Cod. Pal. germ. 76  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ The information in this section and the subsections follow, unless otherwise noted, the description by Karin Zimmermann: Cod. Pal. germ. 76 . In: The Codices Palatini germanici in the Heidelberg University Library (Cod. Pal. Germ. 1–181) . Wiesbaden 2003, p. 202 ( digitized version ; accessed April 9, 2020).
  2. ↑ cf. the corresponding side views in the digitized version of the Heidelberg University Library, overview Cod. Pal. germ. 76 ; accessed April 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Henrike Lähnemann: Margarethe von Savoyen in her literary relations . In: Encomia-Deutsch , Berlin 2002, pp. 158-173 ( online (PDF) ), on Cod. Pal. germ. 76 especially note 22, pp. 170–171 ( online (PDF) ). For Lähnemann's analysis of older research opinions, see ibid.
    See Karin Zimmermann (Catalog 2003), Cod. Pal. germ. 76 , p. 202 ( digitized version ). Web links accessed April 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Martina Backes : The literary life at the Electoral Palatinate court in Heidelberg in the 15th century. A contribution to patron research in the late Middle Ages. Tübingen 1992 (Hermaea NF 68), p. 184; References taken from Henrike Lähnemann: Margarethe von Savoyen [...] , Encomia-Deutsch , Berlin 2002, p. 170 FN 22 ( online (PDF) ; accessed April 11, 2020).
  5. ↑ For illustration cf. the description by Hans Wegener , Ackermann von Böhmen (pal. germ. 76), descriptive directory [...] , Leipzig 1927, pp. 68-69 ( digitized version ). Very similar to Wilfried Werner, Johannes von Tepl. Der Ackermann from Bohemia , in Cimelia Heidelbergensia , Wiesbaden 1975, pp. 87-89 ( digitized version ). Web links accessed April 11, 2020.
  6. ↑ Zimmermann / Effinger: Codex Palatinus germanicus 76: Johannes von Tepl - 'Der Ackermann aus Böhmen' (section The pictures of Ackermann and death ), web presence UB-Heidelberg, 09/2008; accessed April 11, 2020.
  7. ↑ Unless otherwise noted, the information in this section follows the description by Karin Zimmermann: Cod. Pal. germ. 76 . In: The Codices Palatini germanici in the Heidelberg University Library (Cod. Pal. Germ. 1–181) . Wiesbaden 2003, p. 203 ( digitized version ; accessed April 11, 2020).
  8. ^ Henrike Lähnemann , Margarethe von Savoyen in their literary relationships , Encomia-Deutsch , Berlin 2002, p. 170, FN 22 ( online (PDF) ); Zimmermann / Effinger: Codex Palatinus germanicus 76: Johannes von Tepl - 'Der Ackermann aus Böhmen' (section A new manuscript from Ludwig Henfflin's workshop ), website UB-Heidelberg, 09/2008. For possible reservations s. Pia Rudolph: Book Art in the Age of Media Change , p. 5, especially FN 11 (ART-Doc 2009, PDF), web presence UB-Heidelberg. Web links accessed April 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Spyra / Effinger: Swabian workshop of Ludwig Henfflin , UB-Heidelberg 03/2012; accessed April 11, 2020.
  10. ↑ Historical overview on the website of the Heidelberg University Library : The Bibliotheca Palatina - Fates of a world-famous library ; accessed April 8, 2020. Detailed description with further information from Karin Zimmermann in: The Codices Palatini germanici in the Heidelberg University Library (Cod. Pal. germ. 1–181) . Wiesbaden 2003, Introduction , pp. XI – XXVIII ( digitized version ; accessed April 11, 2020).
  11. ↑ On the biography of Johannes von Tepl, also on possible biographical references in the work cf. introductory Dietrich Schmidtke, Johannes von Tepl [181. J. v. Tepl], LexMA Vol. 5, 1991, col. 607-608.
  12. ↑ The information in this section initially follows the description by Karin Zimmermann: Cod. Pal. germ. 76 . In: The Codices Palatini germanici in the Heidelberg University Library (Cod. Pal. Germ. 1–181) . Wiesbaden 2003, p. 203 ( digitized version ; accessed April 11, 2020), then, unless otherwise noted, the overview by Gerhard Hahn , Johannes von Tepl , VL , Volume 4 , 1983/2010 (VL 2 ), Col. 763– 774.