Landgrave Psalter
The Landgrave Psalter is an illuminated manuscript from 1211–1213 . It was probably created for Sophie von Thuringia , the wife of Hermann von Thuringia and mother-in-law of Elisabeth von Thuringia , and is now kept in the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart .
The Landgrave Psalter contains mainly psalms for the liturgical use of religious and secular priests. In addition, as is customary for private psalteries, it has a calendar of saints and praises of the Bible. The psalter is worked very carefully, the miniatures are restrained in their design. An apostle is depicted next to the columns of the calendar; above it is a representation of the typical agricultural work for the month. The presumably no longer complete psalter consists of 181 sheets of parchment . It has a height of 24.5 and a width of 17.5 centimeters. Today it is tied into a red saffiano ribbon and decorated with monograms of Friedrich von Württemberg and the Württemberg royal coat of arms.
The depiction of three reigning princely couples makes the work a historical document that also allows its dating. In addition to the Thuringian landgrave couple Hermann and Sophie von Thuringia, there are portraits of the Hungarian Andreas II (* 1177, † 1235) and his wife Gertrud von Andechs as well as the Bohemian royal couple Ottokar and Constantia von Böhmen. In 1211, the Thuringian Ludowingers and the Hungarian royal family became more closely intertwined. The Hungarian king's daughter Elisabeth was betrothed to the eldest son of the Thuringian landgrave couple as a toddler and was brought to the Thuringian court on the Wartburg at the age of four to grow up within the family of her future husband. This makes it probable that this Psalter will arise around this point in time. Gertrud von Andechs, who came from an influential, extensive European aristocratic family, was murdered by Hungarian magnates in 1213. It is unlikely that the picture of Gertrude von Andechs would have been placed in the Psalter if she had already been dead at this point. Both families were related to the Bohemian royal couple; all three families had unified political goals at the time.
literature
- Monika Vogt: Because we are like reeds in the river - encounters with Saint Elisabeth in Hesse and Thuringia , Schnell & Steiner Verlag, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 3-7954-1780-5 .
- Ursula Wenke: Back at the Wartburg - the landgrave psalter. In: Wartburg year book 1992. Wartburg Foundation, Eisenach 1993, pp. 130-134.
- Philipps University of Marburg (ed.): Sankt Elisabeth: Fürstin - Dienerin - Heilige , Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1981, ISBN 3-7995-4035-0 , catalog number 19.
Web links
- Digitized version of the manuscript HB II 24 at the Württemberg State Library