Gold leaf cross

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gold leaf crosses from various Lombard burial fields in Italy
Longobard gold leaf crosses in the Bergamo Archaeological Museum

As Goldblatt crosses (also: film crosses ) are made of very thin gold foil crosses called that from 6th to early 8th century early Christian grave goods among the Alemanni , Bavarians and Lombards were in use. It is assumed that they should not only demonstrate the Christian creed of the deceased and his relatives, but also served as apotropaia , so they were assigned a disaster-warding function.

Description and use

The gold leaf crosses known to research measure between 2.1 and 14.2 cm, with the usual size between 5 and 10 cm. A single specimen from Walda in Upper Bavaria even measured 17 x 17 cm. They were cut out of wafer-thin sheet gold with coarse scissors. The purity of the gold used is, however, often lower than was usual in other pieces of jewelery from the early Middle Ages . In some cases, materials other than gold were used ( silver , gold-plated silver , bronze , copper ). The shape of the objects can vary slightly; mostly it corresponds to a Greek cross , more rarely a Latin cross . In some cases (especially in Italy) the pieces were made from a single sheet of gold, but sometimes they were composed of two or more strips placed one on top of the other. In many cases the arms widen outwards - north of the Alps in about half of the cases, south of it even in the clear majority.

The gold leaf crosses are often decorated with embossed figures or patterns, which were often applied before the cross shape was cut out. In the Longobard settlement area, there was a further decoration of whatever kind in 60% of the objects, in the Alemannic and Bavarian areas in 43%. The for-driven effort, however, was usually relatively small, often bronze were model for other handicraft products "misused" or coins as stamps used, otherwise the decorations with the carving tools applied or freely designed. A clearly Christian decorative element of the gold leaf cross are smaller cross signs in the center or on the arms; the bearded men's heads, for which imperial coins were used as a stamp, are interpreted as depictions of Christ. In addition, there were also geometric shapes and even actually pagan motifs - in the northern Alpine region depictions in the “Germanic animal style” - for illustration.

Gold leaf crosses have small holes at the ends of the four arms and occasionally on the edges or in the middle, through which they were apparently sewn onto textiles. The crosses are often found on the forehead and mouth regions of the deceased, leading to the assumption that they were sewn onto a type of veil that was placed over the face of the deceased. In view of the relatively random and often unclean ornamentation - the decorative motifs are often cut off at the sides or overlap irregularly - they usually seem to have been produced at short notice in the event of death without any appreciable artistic claim and to have been added to the deceased. Occasionally the small holes used to attach the gold leaf cross were torn out and then replaced with new holes right next to it. It can be seen from this that the grave cloths with the cross symbol were not only placed on the dead at the burial place, but at least covered them during the funeral procession , whereby they could slip and tear off the gold crosses. However, the objects do not show any signs of wear and tear that would indicate longer use during their lifetime. In archeology, gold leaf crosses are referred to as so-called "taboo gifts" because they were often not taken away by grave robbers, despite their material value , but - probably because of their sacred significance - remained with the corpse.

As a rule, gold leaf crosses were added to the grave as individual pieces; only in a few cases can several specimens be found in one grave. In the case of two graves in the Alemannic settlement of Lauchheim- Mittelhofen (grave 25 and grave 27), for example, five simple crosses made of sheet gold were sewn onto a cloth that was placed over the body, like the dots on the five-eye side of a cube were ordered. According to this, there were two pieces on the side of the head, one on the chest and the last two on both sides of the stomach.

Dissemination and interpretation

The custom of adding gold leaf crosses arose around the same time among the Alemanni and Lombards in the second half of the 6th century , whereby all known specimens whose context is known were found in graves. To date, around 100 gold leaf crosses have been found north of the Alps , the distribution of which is concentrated in the inner Alemannic and, more rarely, in the Bavarian region. In contrast, over 300 crosses are known from the area of ​​the Lombards. For this reason, Italy was considered to be the origin of this burial custom in older research, and the late antique Romanesque Christianity there was considered to be the decisive influence for its development. It was then picked up by the Lombards after their immigration to the Apennine Peninsula and, due to their cultural influences, spread to the Alamanni and Bavarians north of the Alps. A systematic evaluation of the gold leaf cross finds by Martina Terp-Schunter has shown, however, that the custom of gold leaf crosses was developed in parallel among the three ethnic groups. It therefore assumes that its origin lies in the central Danube basin, where the Lombards had settled before they migrated to Italy and where the Avars' cross-shaped coffin decorations, also made of sheet metal, were also a possible source of inspiration.

Isolated finds of gold leaf crosses have been made in England , Syria , Egypt and Sardinia . In the settlement areas of the Franks and Visigoths, on the other hand, apart from two finds in the Cologne area, not a single specimen is known, although their burial customs were in many ways similar to those of the Alemanni, Lombards and Bavarians.

Earlier research brought the gold leaf crosses north of the Alps in connection with a demarcated group of the upper class that had been Christianized by the Arian Lombards , the "gold leaf cross Christians". They were contrasted with a second class of aristocracy from the same region, who were culturally and religiously influenced by the Catholic Franks and their Irish-Scottish missionaries and who used no gold leaf crosses, instead burying their dead in church rooms. So it was a matter of two competing mission movements, which met with their different burial customs in the Alemannic-Bavarian region and of which the Frankish one prevailed after a phase of coexistence. However, current systematic studies have come to the conclusion that church burial and the addition of a gold leaf cross in early medieval southern Germany and northern Switzerland were by no means mutually exclusive, i.e. that they were two parallel forms of piety. Therefore, the new research hypothesis was put forward that gold leaf crosses were primarily - but not only - used where there was no church in the immediate vicinity in the early Middle Ages and thus the possibility of expressing one's own Christian faith through a burial in or with one was lacking underline the sacred building. With the emergence of a comprehensive ecclesiastical organization and the establishment of numerous parish churches and monasteries , these differences disappeared in the 8th century, so that the use of gold leaf crosses was replaced by new forms of commemoration of the dead, such as regular intercessions and monastery foundations .

Locations north of the Alps

(Selection)

literature

  • Horst Wolfgang Böhme :  Gold leaf crosses. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 12, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-016227-X , pp. 312-318.
  • Andreas Gut , Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Gold leaf crosses. Signs of faith of the Alemanni (= writings of the Alemanni Museum Ellwangen. Volume 3). Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 .
  • Wolfgang Hübener (Ed.): The gold leaf crosses of the early Middle Ages (= publications of the Alemannic Institute Freiburg. Volume 37, ZDB -ID 741612-x ). Konkordia, Bühl (Baden) 1975.
  • Wolfgang Müller: The Christianization of the Alemanni . In: Wolfgang Hübener: The Alemanni in the early days (= publications of the Alemannic Institute Freiburg. Volume 34, ZDB -ID 741612-x ). Konkordia, Bühl (Baden) 1974, pp. 169-183, here pp. 174-177.
  • Wolfgang Müller, Matthias Knaut: Pagans and Christians. Archaeological finds on early Christianity in southwest Germany (= small writings on the prehistory and early history of southwest Germany. Volume 2, ZDB -ID 2548380-8 ). Society for Prehistory and Early History in Württemberg and Hohenzollern eV, Stuttgart 1987.
  • Michael Odenweller: Gold coin and gold leaf cross. The obolus in early medieval burials as evidence of Christianization. In: Early Medieval Studies . Volume 48, 2014, pp. 121-154 ( online ).
  • Ellen Riemer: In the sign of the cross. Gold leaf crosses and other finds with Christian symbolism. In: Karlheinz Fuchs, Martin Kempa, Rainer Redies: The Alamannen . 4th edition. Licensed edition, Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1535-9 , pp. 447–454 (exhibition catalog, Stuttgart et al., Archäologische Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg et al., 1997–1998).
  • Martina Terp-Schunter: In signo crucis. A comparative study on the Alemannic and Lombard gold leaf crosses (= Tübingen research on historical archeology. Volume 8). 2 volumes, Verlag Dr. Faustus, Büchenbach 2017, ISBN 978-3-946387-07-7 .
  • Kurt W. Zeller: Forms of burial and custom. In: Hermann Dannheimer, Heinz Dopesch (Ed.): The Bajuwaren. From Severin to Tassilo 488–788. Prehistoric State Collection, Munich et al. 1988, pp. 229–248 (exhibition catalog, joint state exhibition of the Free State of Bavaria and the State of Salzburg, Rosenheim, Bavaria, Mattsee, Salzburg, May 19 to November 6, 1988).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Horst Wolfgang Böhme:  Gold leaf crosses. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 12, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-016227-X , pp. 312-318, here p. 313.
  2. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , p. 20.
  3. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , p. 30.
  4. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , pp. 38–43.
  5. ↑ a b Mapping of the known gold leaf crosses: Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Gold leaf crosses. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , p. 12 f.
  6. ↑ Horst Wolfgang Böhme:  Gold leaf crosses. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 12, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-016227-X , pp. 312-318, here pp. 314-316. For the settlement history, see for example: Rudolf Moosbrugger-Leu: Switzerland during the Merovingian period. The archaeological legacy of the Romans, Burgundians and Alamanni ( Swiss handbook on the Roman and Merovingian times ). Volume B. Francke Verlag, Bern 1971, p. 30 f. and p. 76.
  7. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , p. 19.
  8. ↑ Horst Wolfgang Böhme:  Gold leaf crosses. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 12, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-016227-X , pp. 312-318, here p. 317.
  9. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , pp. 44–46.
  10. ↑ Andreas Gut, Martina Terp-Schunter, Barbara Theune-Großkopf: Goldblattkreuze. Sign of faith of the Alemanni. Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Ellwangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-058380-3 , p. 53.