Grazer Marienleben

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The Grazer Marienleben (also Seckauer Marienleben ) originated between 1280 and the beginning of the 14th century in what was then the Augustinian Canons of Seckau . The author is unknown. The life of the Virgin Mary in Graz is unique as a fragment in manuscript 781. The manuscript is now in the University of Graz . It tells of Mary's parents, the miraculous conception of Mary, her childhood, the conception of Jesus, Jesus' birth and a discussion on theological topics between Jesus and Mary in the form of a soliloquium . The Middle High German Marienleben Graz was written in the Bavarian dialect. The text probably served the edifying instruction of the Seckau choir women.

Facsimile of the life of the Virgin Mary in Graz from manuscript 781. Entry of the Middle High German text on the upper edge of the sheet.

content

It begins with the story of Maria's parents Joachim and Anna , Maria's miraculous conception , her birth and her childhood. Their exemplary lives at home and among the temple virgins are shown. Mary is portrayed as a child prodigy with special abilities and with special piety and virtue. She is considered a role model for all women. When she was thirteen, an angel announced that she would give birth to the Savior. This is followed by the very shortened Christmas story and again an appeal to all women to take Mary as a role model. Then comes the first part of the soliloquium: Jesus instructs Mary about his divine sonship and incarnation and announces what is to come: death on the cross , descensus , resurrection , ascension , her assumptio . Then the virtue and piety of Mary are praised again and a new story of Annen is told. Anna has two daughters here, one the mother of Christ, one the mother of Johannes and Jacob. This is followed by the continuation of the instructive soliloquium which suddenly stops.

Verses 916–958 from the Schönbach edition with translation

di süeze said, 'that word had
a part in my heart against me,
that het won someone's part.
O sun, that word has rejoiced my spirit
, most of all comforted,
that dû should be first of the dead , that
I have comfort and joy. '

'I will be betrayed and sold,
necked, spit, shouted,
beaten with hostages
and hung on the cross.
Happened by evil Jews.
when I was seen dying
and first on the third day,
when the tale had written, ''

I was despondent of life
and was not told
by dîner urstende that
it would have been the end.
but through the grôzen marter dîn
sô muoz mîn heart lîden pîn
(who you swinde had thought of):
you even brat me of vreuden. '

'Diu marter mîn, vrouwe guot,
sô sêre niht betüeben tuot,
as dich vreut, süezez muoterlîn,
diu lobelîche urstende mîn.
I die here on humanity
and first in praiseworthy,
god and human being immeasurably
and with me many lobîchiu share. '

'But shall I, süezer sun mîn, have seen
you after the bitter mater dîn
and
shall , dear sun, be comforted by you?'
'So mîn urstende happens,
so I appear to you, I do not let it,
and devour dîn trûren sô, so
that you will vrô with me.'

'Wa belîbst dû, süezer sun mîn,
after the primal dîn?
and what will you dû tuont dar after? '
even süezeclîche he zuo ir spoke….

Love said, "The Word has brought back
a part of my heart that was
filled with grief.
Oh son, the Word has
delighted my spirit , especially comforted
that you should rise from the dead,
from that I have comfort and joy."

"I am betrayed and sold,
beaten, spat at, yelled at,
beaten with long flagellations
and hung on the cross.
This is done by wicked Jews.
On the cross I can be seen dying
and rising on the third day,
as the prophecy wrote."

"I would have despaired of my life
if you hadn't told me about
your resurrection,
it would have been my end.
But through your great martyrdom
my heart has to endure suffering
(that you are being violated)
that has completely deprived me of my joy."

"My torment should
not grieve
you, dear mother, as much as you, dear mother, are
pleased with my glorious resurrection.
I die here for humanity
and will rise gloriously,
God and human being immortal
and with me many a laudable crowd."

"But shall I, my sweet son, see
you after your bitter torture
and shall, dear son,
consolation come from you?"
"When my resurrection has taken place,
I will appear to you, I will not fail to do so,
and I will annihilate your grief so
that you will be happy with me."

"What will you, my dear son,
do after the resurrection?
And what will you do afterwards?"
He spoke to her very sweetly….

Sources and Influences

In the 13th century, Marian devotion gained strength again. This is also reflected in the literature. z. B. in the Marian legends and in the depictions of the life of Mary in the fine arts. These mostly go back to the same Latin model, the Vita beate Marie virginis et Salvatoris metrica , written around 1200 . The life of the Virgin Mary in Graz is one of the earliest German forms. The life of the Virgin Mary of Philipp von Seitz is also based on the Vita metrica . But the life of the Virgin Mary in Graz follows the source more closely. This proves the independence of the life of the Virgin in Graz compared to that of brother Phillip. In Graz Marienleben also is späthöfischer influence recognizable. The people seem “courtly”. Maria is described in activities that can be assigned to the courtly context (e.g. embroidery, weaving) and has servants. The description of their appearance also corresponds to the courtly ideal of beauty. In addition, the text is based on apocryphal sources.

Lore

The Grazer Marienleben is handed down as a fragment in 958 verses in the manuscript 781 on the upper margins of the sheets 110 v to 172 v. The manuscript contains a Latin psaltery written in the first half of the 13th century . It was created in the then Augustinian Canons' Monastery of Seckau and is now kept in the special collection of the Graz University Library. Most of the upper margins of the manuscript are written on. In addition to the life of the Virgin Mary in Graz , Konrad von Heimesfurt's pages 1r to 70 v Unser vrouven hinvart (The Assumption of Mary) and the prose legend Margaret of Antioch by an also unknown author were entered on pages 71 v to 110 r . The German entries in the manuscript are to be assigned to the Bavarian dialect.

literature

Edition / primary text

  • Anton Schönbach: Grazer Marienleben . In: Journal for German Antiquity and German Literature. 17. 1874. pp. 519-560.

Secondary literature

  • Werner Fechter : Grazer Marienleben . In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely reworked. Edition. Ed. By Kurt Ruh [et al.] Vol. 3. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1981, col. 229f.
  • Alfred Kracher: Medieval literature and poetry in Styria . State exhibition 1976. Graz 1976. (Works from the Styrian State Library. 15.) P. 9–42.
  • Otto Janda: Outline of the Styrian poetry of the Middle Ages . In. Works from the Styrian regional library at the Joanneum Graz. Issue 6. Graz 1943.
  • Alfred Ebenbauer [u. a.]: Medieval literature in Styria. Files of the International Symposium Seggauberg Castle near Leibnitz 1984. Bern a. a.:1988. (Yearbook for International German Studies. Series A. Congress reports. 23.)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Kracher: Medieval literature and poetry in Styria. State exhibition 1976. (Works from the Styrian State Library. 15.) P. 17.
  2. ^ Werner Fechter: Grazer Marienleben. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely reworked. Edition. Edited by Kurt Ruh [u. a.] Vol. 3. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter 1981, Col. 229f.
  3. ^ Anton Schönbach: Grazer Marienleben . In: ZfdA 17 (1874), p. 559 f.
  4. ^ Ernst Hellgardt: Seckauer manuscripts as a carrier of early Middle High German texts. In: The medieval literature in Styria. Edited by Alfred Ebenbauer [among others]. Bern: Lang 1988, p. 104.
  5. ↑ Wernfried Hofmeister: Styrian literature of the Middle Ages. Retrieved December 8, 2014 .