Konrad Kyeser

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portrait of Konrad Kyeser in the autograph of Bellifortis

Konrad Kyeser (also Kieser , Latin Conradus Kyeser ; born August 26, 1366 in Eichstätt , † after 1405) was a German war technician and specialist writer in late medieval Europe. He wrote the first German war- technical illuminated manuscript, the so-called Bellifortis (Latin for "the strong man"), one of the compendia of technical drawings based on the sketches Villard de Honnecourt from the first half of the 13th century and Guido da Vigevanos from the first half of the 14th century. Century.

life and work

Illustration of a blide in the Bellifortis
Drawing of a chastity belt in the handwriting Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 30150
Device for forcibly removing a drawbridge in Bellifortis . Manuscript Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana , Vaticanus Palatinus lat. 1994, fol. 66v (early 15th century)

Konrad Kyeser came from a middle-class family from Eichstätt. He studied medicine in the Dominican monastery there . In 1389 he moved to Italy with a Bavarian mercenary army . There he not only gained war experience, but also came into contact with Italian Renaissance humanism . Since 1394 he took part in the crusades of King Sigismund of Hungary against the Ottomans , for the failure of which he blames Sigismund in his Bellifortis. In 1402 he was at the court of King Wenceslas . Banished beggars by Sigismund to the castle , he began to write his Bellifortis.

The Bellifortis summarizes, in the form of a manual, machines and devices, especially for war purposes, which the author was familiar with from ancient texts or his own experience. The devices are technically not always correctly reproduced, but with devices that he was familiar with from his own experience, Kyeser sometimes achieved an extraordinary wealth of detail. Some of the devices are illustrated for the first time in Kyeser's handwriting . This includes the first clear medieval depiction of an Archimedean screw , but also the oldest known drawing of a chastity belt . In part it describes impractical experiments. In accordance with the humanistic understanding of natural science with which Kyeser was familiar as a doctor, he also included alchemical and astrological practices in his Bellifortis.

Kyeser's font was distributed in several different editorial offices , also in the manufacturing business . In the meantime, 45 surviving manuscripts are known, which differ greatly from the original in terms of scope, text and images. An autograph by Kyesers, which was expanded into a richly illustrated manuscript in 1405 by painters of the royal court and dedicated to King Ruprecht of the Palatinate , has been in the holdings of the Göttingen University Library since 1773 with the signature 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 63. In this autograph, besides Kyesers Portrait of the names of his parents Rüdiger and Elisabeth as well as August 26, 1366 as his date of birth. In the Italian Renaissance , Kyeser's work was widespread and the latest research shows that Leonardo da Vinci also knew Kyeser's work and used it for his technical drawings.

Unclear date of birth

There are contradicting information about Kyeser's date of birth. Udo Friedrich reads 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 63 on Fol. 139r on August 24th in the caption of the manuscript of the Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen. According to Franz Maria Feldhaus in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, it was August 25th. In contrast, Christoph Graf zu Waldenburg Wolfegg reads August 26 in the caption of the Göttingen manuscript, which is also mentioned by Friedrich Klemm in the Neue Deutsche Biographie and by Rainer Leng. August 28 is indicated by the Ingolstadt City Museum.

Honor

His hometown Eichstätt honors him with a Konrad-Kieser-Straße . The Altmühlzentrum in Dollnstein shows some of his war machines on a smaller scale.

reception

In popular culture, Konrad Kyeser appears in the video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance in 2018 as a non-player character with which the player can interact. The British actor Brian Blessed served as the template for the digital character of Kyeser and his English voice actor .

Manuscripts (selection)

  • Göttingen, Lower Saxony State and University Library, 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 63 (autograph)
  • Göttingen, Lower Saxony State and University Library, 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 64 ( description )
  • Göttingen, Lower Saxony State and University Library, 4 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 64a
  • Cologne, Historical Archive of the City, Best. 7020 [W *] 232
  • Munich, Bavarian State Library, Clm 30150 ( digitized version )
  • New York, Public Library, Spencer Collection, Ms. 58
  • New York, Public Library, Spencer Collection, Ms. 104 (formerly Hollwinkel Castle near Lübbecke, Freiherr von der Horst)
  • Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Pal. lat. 1888
  • Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Pal. lat. 1889
  • Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Pal. lat. 1986
  • Frankfurt a. M., University Library, Ms. germ. Qu. 15 (formerly City Library, n.d.) ( digitized version )

literature

  • Franz Maria Feldhaus:  Kyeser, Conrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 768 f.
  • Friedrich Klemm:  Kyeser, Conrad. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 355 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Götz Quarg (ed.): Conrad Kyeser from Eichstädt, "Bellifortis" . 2 volumes, 1: facsimile of the manuscript 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 63 of the Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen, 2: transcription and translation. Düsseldorf 1967.
  • Marc van den Broek : Leonardo da Vinci's inventiveness. A search for clues . NA Verlag, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-96176-045-9 .
  • Udo Friedrich: Konrad Kyeser Bellifortis. Fireworks book. Color microfiche edition of the Illuminated Manuscripts Göttingen, Lower Saxony State and University Library, 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 64 and 64a Cim. Edition Helga Lengenfelder, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-89219-303-7 ( omifacsimiles.com [PDF]).
  • Rainer Leng : Ars belli. German tactical and war-technical illuminated manuscripts and treatises in the 15th and 16th centuries . tape 2 . Reichelt, Wiesbaden 2002, ISBN 978-3-89500-261-8 , pp. 423-440 .
  • Lynn Townsend White : Kyeser's Bellifortis. The First Technological Treatise of the Fifteenth Century . In: Technology and culture . No. 10 , 1969, ISSN  0040-165X , p. 436-441 (English).
  • Regina Cermann: The 'Bellifortis' by Konrad Kyeser (=  Codices Manuscripti & Impressi, Supplementum . No. 8 ). Hollinek, 2013, ISSN  0379-3621 .
  • Regina Cermann: Astantes stolidos sic immutabo stultos - Of careless scribes and discerning illuminators. On the interplay of text and image in Konrad Kyeser's Bellifortis . In: Christine Beier, Evelyn Theresia Kubina (ed.): Paths to the illuminated book. Production conditions for book illumination in the Middle Ages and early modern times . Böhlau, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-205-79491-2 , p. 148–176 ( fwf.ac.at [PDF; accessed November 2, 2017]).

Web links

Commons : Konrad Kyeser  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Christoph Graf zu Waldenburg Wolfegg: The Munich> Bellifortis <and its author . In: Kulturstiftung der Länder, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (ed.): Konrad Kyeser, Bellifortis: Clm 30150 / Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (=  Kulturstiftung der Länder - Patrimonia 137 ). 2000, ISSN  0941-7036 , p. 21 .
  2. ↑ a b Friedrich Klemm:  Kyeser, Conrad. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 355 f. ( Digitized version ).
  3. ^ A b Rainer Leng: Kyeser, Konrad: Bellifortis on: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
  4. ↑ Marc van den Broek: Leonardo da Vinci's ingenuity. A search for clues . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-96176-045-9 , p. 34-35, 239 .
  5. ↑ Udo Friedrich: Konrad Kyeser Bellifortis. Fireworks book. Color microfiche edition of the Illuminated Manuscripts Göttingen, Lower Saxony State and University Library, 2 ° Cod. Ms. philos. 64 and 64a Cim. Edition Helga Lengenfelder, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-89219-303-7 , p. 13 ( omifacsimiles.com [PDF]).
  6. ^ Franz Maria Feldhaus:  Kyeser, Conrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 768 f.
  7. ↑ Konrad Kyeser - a Bavarian Leonardo da Vinci . Ingolstadt City Museum
  8. ^ Andreas Altenheimer: Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Genie und Wahnsinn (get permission for Konrad Kyeser's departure). In: Gameswelt . February 13, 2018, accessed May 25, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Anne Zarnecke: Brian Blessed talks about role in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. In: Gamesreactor. May 7, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Kyeser, Konrad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kieser, Konrad; Kyeser, Conradus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German late medieval war technician and specialist writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1366
PLACE OF BIRTH Eichstatt
DATE OF DEATH after 1405