Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum

The so-called Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum ("Small directory of superstition and paganism") in written Latin is a church text against Germanic - Saxon paganism from the late Carolingian 8th century, at the time of Charlemagne's mission to Saxony .

In this manuscript, of which only the cover sheet has survived, 30 chapter headings are listed in a table of contents. These headings contain some important information regarding the pagan religious culture of the Saxons, but also regarding the challenges of everyday work for the church missionaries.

The manuscript is kept in the Vatican Library in Rome in Codex Palatinus Latinus 577 , an anthology of mixed content, which was probably made in Fulda and from there to Mainz , where it was located in 1479, later to the Bibliotheca Palatina in Heidelberg and lastly in 1623 came to Rome with this. The so-called Saxon baptismal vow can be found directly above the capitularies of the indiculus ; this assignment was also retained when it was transferred to the folio volume edition, Karlomanni Principis Capitulare , in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica .

The capitularies

De sacrilegio ad sepulchra mortuorum. - "About the sacrifice to the graves of the dead"
De sacrilegio super defunctos id est dadsisas. - "About the sacrifice over the dead, ie funeral meal"
De spurcalibus in Februario. - "About feasts in February"
De casualis id est fanis. - "About small buildings, ie sanctuaries"
De sacrilegiis per aeccelsias. - "About the sacrifice to churches"
De sacris siluarum quae nimidas vocant. - "About forest sanctuaries they call Nimidas"
De hiis quae faciunt super petras. - "About what you do on certain stones"
De sacris Mercurii, vel Iovis. - "About the sanctuaries of Mercury and Jupiter"
De sacrificio quod alicui sanctorum. - "About the service that happens for a saint"
De filacteriis et ligaturis. - "About nestling and bondage"
De fontibus sacrificiorum. - "About source services"
De incantationibus. - "About chants"
De auguriis vel avium vel equorum vel bovum stercora vel sternutationes. - "About predictions from dung of birds, horses or cattle"
De divinis vel sortilogis. - "About the divine and the fateful"
De igne fricato de ligno id est nodfyr. - "About the fire [kindled] by a rubbed wood, that is Nodfyr " (Nodfyr = emergency fire)
De cerebro animalium. - "About animal brains"
De observatione pagana in foco, vel in inchoatione rei alicujus. - "About pagan observation in the pan, or at the beginning of anything"
De incertis locis quae colunt pro sacris. "About inaccurately localized places that they venerate as sanctuaries"
De petendo quod boni vocant sanctae Mariae. "On the invocation that the well-intentioned call that of Saint Mary"
De feriis quae faciunt Jovi vel Mercurio. "About celebrations they hold for Jupiter and Mercury"
De lunae defectione, quod dicunt Vinceluna. - "About moon damage, which they call vinceluna "

De tempestatibus et cornibus et cocleis. - "About storms, bull horns and snails"

De sulcis circa villas. - "Over furrows around farmsteads"

De pagano cursu quem yrias nominant, scissis pannis vel calceis. - "About the pagan custom they call Yrias with torn cloths and shoes"

De eo, quod sibi sanctos fingunt quoslibet mortuos. - "About what they call / fabricate for themselves as holy dead"

De simulacro de consparsa farina. - "About a victim with scattered grain"

De simulacris de pannis factis. - "About victims with pieces of cloth"

De simulacro quod per campos portant. - "About victims, where they carry something across the fields"

De ligneis pedibus vel manibus pagano ritu. - "About wooden feet and hands according to pagan rite"

De eo, quod credunt, quia feminae lunam commendent, quod possint corda hominum tollere juxta paganos. "About what they believe, since women trust the moon, that it can lift up the hearts of men according to the Gentiles"

literature

Editions

Georg Heinrich Pertz: Capitularia regum Francorum. MGH , Leges Vol. 1) 1835, pp. 19-20 ( digitized version )
Heinrich Albin Saupe: The Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum, a directory of pagan and superstitious customs and opinions from the time of Charlemagne, explained from mostly contemporary writings. School program Leipzig: Städtisches Realgymnasium 1890 (Progr. No. 551) ( digitized )

Secondary literature

Ernst Hellgardt : Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum. In: Rolf Bergmann (Ed.): Old High German and Old Saxon Literature. de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-024549-3 , pp. 192–195.
Holger Homann, Eckard Meineke, Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand: Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum . In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (eds.), Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Vol. 15. de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2000. ISBN 3-11-016649-6 . Pp. 369-384
Holger Homann: The Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum and related monuments. Göttingen, Phil. F., Diss. Nov 28, 1966

Web links

Literature on the Indiculus in the Opac of the Regesta Imperii