Ingeram Codex

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Hans Ingeram: Self-portrait with declaration of being the author of this book.
Item of the society servant of the donkey
Ein parsefantt / called Hans Ingeram made dyz puoch Inn dem / Jar do man Zalt after xpi (Christi) geburd Mcccclviiij (1459) Jar uf / michahelis / - Further servant of the "society of donkeys" / Ein Unterherold (coat of arms follower) / called Han (n) s Ingeram, made this book in the / year since the birth of Christ in 1459 / Michaelis (29 September).

The Ingeram Codex , also called "Codex Cotta" after one of its previous owners, is a book of coats of arms of the Austrian Duke Albrecht VI. , dated 1459. It is now in the possession of the weapons collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna under inventory number A 2302 . Only Hans Ingeram is known by name of the authors .

Structure of the Code

The codex with a light brown leather binding with a pressed, narrow decorative strip on the edge and the date “1459” in the center is located in a light brown, light green cardboard slipcase with the family coat of arms of the previous owner Johann Friedrich Cotta printed on it . Its dimensions are 362 mm in height and 262 mm in width. The code was re-bound several times, most recently at the beginning of the 19th century when it was in Cotta's possession. The codex consists of 142 pages of paginated paper. It shows coats of arms in groups of six, four and three. There are also individual coats of arms for important individuals. There are also female figures as standard-bearers, two equestrian figures and three portraits as an introduction to the noble societies. Duke Albrecht VI, brother of Emperor Frederick III, represents one portrait each . , and Albrecht's wife Mechthild von der Pfalz . A third portrait shows Hans Ingeram as persevant of the aristocratic society with the donkey . His coat of arms: “Under a red shield head divided in tooth cut with 4 points, in gold three red six-pointed stars (2: 1 ). On the stech helmet with red and gold covers a closed flight with the shield coat of arms. "

For the last binding, marginal strips were added to the original sheets in order to bring them to a uniform size of 351 * 256 mm. This binding followed a pagination that was already on the original papers and was done in black ink. This pagination is in contradiction to the factual connection of the coat of arms and an older foliation in reddish-brown ink, which was carried out in Latin numerals. This foliation dates from the 15th century, but also does not correspond to the original arrangement. The code consists of a compilation of the works of several authors, which were already summarized in the 15th century. This can be demonstrated both by the style features and by the paper used. With the exception of sheets 28–82, which are assigned to the so-called master craftsman, all other sheets bear watermarks, mostly variants of a bull's head symbol , which are assigned to papers of the city of Konstanz and the town of Engen , also located near Konstanz, according to their briquet numbers. Becher / Gamber distinguish six parts based on the older pagination in Latin numerals:

  1. The lands of the house of Austria and the Austrian nobility (IX, XI is empty)
  2. The coats of arms of the Exempla (XII-XVII)
  3. The coat of arms of offices and dignities (XVIII-XXVII)
  4. Fragments of a European heraldic book (XXVIII-XXXV)
  5. The coat of arms of the House of Austria including the defected Confederates (XXXVI-XXXIX. XL is empty)
  6. The coats of arms of the noble societies (XLI-CXXXIV)

Becher / Gamber put the coats of arms together in their edition in a new order, which in turn met with criticism. Andreas Ranft pointed out that the Franconian bear society was represented by them as a Bavarian society and that the representation of the unicorn society mainly contains the coats of arms of the Bavarian nobility. In this part of the Codex it can be assumed that the foliation is very much mixed up and that several leaves have been lost.

Artist assignment

The company in the Ibex from the Rhine River
The "Exempla":
coat of arms of the three holy kings
Coat of arms of Pope Kalixt III. (1455-1458)

In Ingeram's self-portrait, on which he identifies himself as the creator of the book of arms according to the accompanying text, Becher / Gamber identify a personal style: “... brisk, restless stroke, the somewhat groovy depiction of the thin helmet covers , the large reproduction of the cimery , the light one Excessive length of his elegant figures, the light tint of his watercolor painting . ”You therefore assign parts one and six to Hans Ingeram for the most part. However, this also made use of existing material. So the coats of arms of the “Gesellschaft zum Leitbracken” do not come from him, except for the banner bearer. Here, given printing blocks were taken as a template and painted. In his own company, the “Society with the Donkey”, he also made use of existing material, possibly dating back to 1440. A last group, which already has the old foliation in Roman numerals, is a completely foreign body. The stech helmet group (LV-LVIII, old foliation; or 114–119, new foliation) does not fit into the scheme of the tournament societies. The last coat of arms is the coat of arms of the painting trade. This group is dated to 1475–80.

Parts two through five are not from Ingeram. They are kept in opaque colors with calm, firm contours. The first group is the representation of the so-called "Exempla", which is firmly rooted in the medieval schema. These are, in some cases, fantastic coats of arms of people who were considered exemplary for better or worse.

This last mention suggests that the template for the Exempla was created between 1330 and 1352 for Otto von Braunschweig. The title of the Dauphin shows that this copy was made in the 15th century before 1461, the year of the coronation of Louis XI.

The following third part was also made by the master of the Exempla. It follows a model that could not have been created until after the Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV of 1356, as it follows the order laid down therein for the offices and dignities of the Holy Roman Empire. The coat of arms of Pope Calixtus III. limits the time of origin to the years 1455 to 1458.

The fourth part, in the same style, is an incomplete European book of coats of arms. Only the coat of arms of Burgundy, led by the coat of arms of Philip the Good, are complete. The coats of arms for England and Italy are very incomplete.

The fifth part shows once again, from the point of view of the master, the personal coat of arms of Duke Albrecht VI. For dating purposes it is interesting here that Albrecht, through his grandmother Viridis Visconti , claimed claims to the Duchy of Milan after the Visconti became extinct in the male line in 1447. Also noteworthy are the coats of arms of the Confederates and the complaint about their defection from the House of Habsburg.

The codex is the work of two masters who had created their individual heraldic books around the same time: Ingeram between 1452 and 1459 and the "Exempla-Meister" between 1452 and 1458.

Ownership history

Virgin with the banner of the "Lower Donkey".
Next to it a crowned W, as the property of King Wladislaw Jagiello (r. 1490–1516).

Both masters manage their heraldic books with dedication pictures for Duke Albrecht VI. a. It should therefore undoubtedly have been its first owner. After his death they came into the possession of Albrecht's brother, Emperor Friedrich III. This is underlined by the coat of arms of the Empress Eleonore added posthumously in 1471 .

The possession mark of King Wladislaw Jagiello of Bohemia and Hungary - a crowned W - shows that the books were in his possession. He must have taken it over from his predecessor Matthias Corvinus , who should have obtained it when he captured Vienna in 1485. The ownership mark is done in the same red ink as the pagination in Roman numerals. It can therefore be assumed that the books were combined into a common code after 1490.

The next reference to the whereabouts of the code are two coats of arms added at a later date for the cardinal legate at the Regensburg Reichstag , Gasparo Contarini and his brother Francesco. The accompanying text expressly refers to the Reichstag, so that it can be assumed that the code was changed around 1541 in Regensburg - possibly in the possession of the heraldry there. These are the last additions to the codex.

A document dated March 20, 1751 gives a further indication of the whereabouts of the code. The Gräflich Löwenstein-Wertheimische Chancellery confirms the correctness of an extract from Ingeram's register of arms. The order in which they are listed indicates that at this point in time the book of arms was already in the pagination that is still present today. Both counts, Johann Ludwig Vollrath von Loewenstein-Wertheim (1705–1790) and Friedrich Ludwig von Loewenstein-Wertheim (1706–1796) were married to countesses from the Erbach-Erbach family, known as collectors .

At the beginning of the 19th century, the code was in the possession of the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta. He had the work rebound, but retained the pagination found. Georg Freiherr von Cotta sold the work in 1929. The last private owner was Heinrich Höfflinger , from whom the Vienna Art History Museum acquired the work in 1971.

literature

  • Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogischen Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, 1984/85). Illustrated book. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 .
  • Berthold Waldstein-Wartenberg (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrecht VI. from Austria. Ingeram Codex of the former Cotta Library . (= Yearbook of the Heraldic-Genealogical Society Adler , Volume 3, Volume 12, 1984/85). Text tape. Böhlau, Vienna 1990.

Web links

Commons : Ingeram Codex  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, year 1984/85). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 , p. 13.
  2. ↑ a b Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, year 1984/85). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 , p. 14.
  3. ↑ see here
  4. ^ Andreas Ranft: Noble societies: group formation and cooperative in the late medieval empire . In: Kiel historical studies . tape 38 . Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1994, ISBN 3-7995-5938-8 , p. 186 (also: Kiel, University, habilitation thesis).
  5. ↑ see here
  6. ↑ see here
  7. ↑ see: commons: Category: Ingeram Codex - Leitbracken
  8. ↑ see commons: Category: Ingeram Codex-Niederer Esel vom Main and commons: Category: Ingeram Codex-Oberer Esel vom Kraichgau
  9. ↑ see here
  10. ↑ Old Testament, 2 Samuel, chapter 23, verses 18-39
  11. ↑ Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, year 1984/85). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 , p. 16.
  12. ↑ see here
  13. ↑ Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, year 1984/85). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 , p. 17f.
  14. ↑ a b c d e Charlotte Becher, Ortwin Gamber (ed.): The heraldic books of Duke Albrechts VI. of Austria: Ingeram Codex d. former Cotta library. (= Yearbook of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler. Volume 3, Volume 12, year 1984/85). Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1986, ISBN 3-205-05002-9 , p. 18.
  15. ↑ see here
  16. ↑ see here
  17. ↑ see subsequently added coat of arms
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 9, 2009 .