Cathedral Library Constance

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The apostle Paul in a codex from the cathedral library in Constance

The cathedral library of Constance was the library of the bishops of Constance and the cathedral chapter . Today it is no longer preserved as an inventory, but is spread over several libraries. The surviving writings include important manuscripts from the Lake Constance area of the 8th and 9th centuries, the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance .

history

The beginnings of the Konstanz Cathedral Library are dated to the 6th century. Around 45 manuscripts from the early Middle Ages can be traced. At that time, the cathedral library was significantly smaller than the library of the Reichenau monastery with its over 400 documented manuscripts, but nevertheless had the reputation of being a representative reflection of the documents of the time. It was supplemented above all by the scriptoria of St. Gallen Abbey and Reichenau Monastery, with an exchange taking place between the bishopric and the monasteries. Other manuscripts came from the monasteries Corvey , Echternach , Weingarten and St. Blasien . The bishopric also had a scriptorium from the 11th century at the latest, but production flagged towards the end of the 12th century.

The library served the bishops and the cathedral chapter as a working tool; from the 11th century it was probably also accessible to the newly founded cathedral school . The learned marginal glosses , which were systematically added to many manuscripts, date from the time of the investiture controversy .

In the High Middle Ages, manuscripts of various origins from professional scriptoria were added, including those from the Cistercians and the University of Paris . A catalog from 1343 lists almost 200 manuscripts in Constance. The volume increased steadily from the 14th century onwards through donations. The canon law teacher Jakob Grimm donated between 8 and 15 volumes from his reference library around 1470; the theologian Johannes Crutzlinger bequeathed his legal, theological and humanistic writings in 1506.

Title woodcut of the printed Rituale Constantiense around 1482

Until around 1450 the library occupied a separate room on the upper floor of the cloister at Konstanzer Münster - the later chapter house - then it was moved to the farm building south of the cloister ("Stauf"). Many manuscripts were newly bound in light-colored leather in the 15th century and attached to the lectern with chains. Many of the writings that once belonged to the cathedral library can still be identified today on these “Konstanzer bindings”.

As early as 1474, the diocese recognized the value of printing and began to print liturgical scriptures, including the first ever printed missal . The bishop and cathedral chapter initially had them printed in Augsburg , Strasbourg and Basel . Perhaps there was a printer in Konstanz as early as 1475/76; The first local printing is definitely documented in 1505. In addition to missals and breviary books , rite books , calendars and later also hymn books for lay people were printed for the diocese .

Among the most prominent readers of the library were Erasmus von Rotterdam during his stay in Basel and the Swiss scholar Melchior Goldast in the early 17th century .

Care was lacking during the Reformation ; the books fell apart. After the re-Catholicization of the city in 1549, there was a lack of money, so that the books could not be restored. Finally, the now 900 volumes in 1630 were for 300 guilders to the Weingarten Abbey sold. The items sold included 159 manuscripts on parchment and 172 on paper, as well as around 570 printed volumes. After the sale, only around 20 volumes remained in Konstanz. The other writings shared the fate of the Weingarten monastery library.

Scattering

With the secularization , the Weingarten monastery library initially fell to the House of Hesse-Orange-Nassau , so that a small part of the holdings can now be found in the state libraries in Fulda (59 manuscripts) and Darmstadt .

The greater part of the Weingarten library was assigned to the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806 and transferred to the Royal Reference Library (now the Württemberg State Library ) in Stuttgart in 1810 .

Of the few books that remained in Constance, some of the books that remained in Konstanz were acquired by the collector Joseph von Laßberg from an antiquarian after the diocese was dissolved , including the library catalog from 1343. After Laßberg's death in 1855, his library was bought by the Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek in Donaueschingen . Three codices and a Vetus Latina fragment were auctioned at Sotheby's in 1982. In 1993 the state of Baden-Württemberg bought the Fürstenberg manuscripts that were still in existence. The former Konstanzers are now also in the Württemberg State Library .

Individual manuscripts and incunabula can also be found in the Thurgau Cantonal Library in Frauenfeld , the Freiburg University Library , the Giessen University Library , the British Library and the St. Paul Abbey in Lavanttal .

Books from the cathedral library

Crucifixion from the Missal by Hugo von Hohenlandenberg (around 1500)

The main focus of the library was on theology books , biblical commentaries , writings of the church fathers and the lives of saints . The second focus is canon law . There are also scientific writings on philosophy , astronomy and mathematics for the training of cathedral students and canons.

Unless they are listed in the library catalog from 1343, the former Konstanz writings could be assigned to the former cathedral library on the basis of their bindings or their Weingarten dating. The most important surviving writings include the following (unless otherwise stated, the shelf marks refer to the manuscript catalog of the Württemberg State Library ):

Chronological classification of the Konstanz codes:

century number century number
8th. 2 12./13. 7th
9. 38 13. 7th
9/10 9 13./14. 17th
10. 5 14th 31
10/11 3 14./15. 8th
11. 14th 15th 51
11./12. 1 15./16. 1
12. 4th 16. 1

literature

  • Medieval library catalogs of Germany and Switzerland , ed. by Bernhard Bischoff, vol. 1: The dioceses of Constance and Chur , arr. by Paul Lehmann. Beck. Munich 1918
  • The manuscripts of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, 1st row, Wiesbaden 1964ff
  • The manuscripts of the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart, 2nd row: The manuscripts of the former court library , Wiesbaden 1963ff.
  • Johanne Autenrieth : The canonical manuscripts of the cathedral library Konstanz. in this., Raymund Kottje: Canon law texts in the Lake Constance area: medieval tradition in Constance, on the Reichenau and in St. Gallen. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1975, ISBN 3-7995-6678-3
  • Wolfgang Irtenkauf : Fulda and Weingarten: for the secularization of the Weingartner monastery library. o. O. 1978
  • Wolfgang Irtenkauf: Bibliophile Treasures: Manuscripts from the Konstanz Cathedral Library . Universitätsverlag, Konstanz 1987. ISBN 3-87940-318-X
  • Rosgarten Museum Konstanz: The splendor of the cathedral: 900 years of the Konstanz Minster . Konstanz 1989. ISBN 3-9801501-5-1
  • Christine Sauer (arrangement): The Gothic manuscripts of the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1996. ISBN 3-7772-9603-1

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ According to Wolfgang Irtenkauf: "The Cathedral Library ", in: Elmar L. Kuhn et al. (Ed.): The Bishops of Konstanz , Vol. 2. Friedrichshafen: Gessler 1988. ISBN 3-922137-48-2