Psalter of Montpellier
The Psalter of Montpellier , also known as the Tassilo Psalter or Mondsee Psalter , formerly also the Psalter of Charlemagne , is one of the oldest psalteries from the Carolingian era and was probably made in the 8th century in the then Bavarian Mondsee Monastery under the rule of the Agilolfingers for the Bavarian Duke Tassilo III. and his family determined. The work has a turbulent history and is now in the Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire Médicine of the University of Montpellier in France, where it is kept under the shelf number MS H 409.
This small-format Psalter includes two full-page miniatures that Jesus Christ and King David represent 165 held in gold and silver larger initials and over 2000 smaller initials which are held in the colors yellow, red and green. This richly decorated Psalter is based in the image type on late antique models from the 6th century , probably from Ravenna . The beginning of the psalm consists of uncials with ornaments. The language of the texts is Latin.
Emergence
The Psalter of Montpellier was long considered the oldest Carolingian psalter of the Franconian Empire due to its late antique book illumination , which is partly reminiscent of Byzantine models . Older literature gives Auxerre as the place of origin and the years between 772 and 795 as the time of origin. Bernhard Bischoff proved, however, that the place of origin of the psalter can be found in the Bavarian region, namely in the scriptorium of the Mondsee Monastery at that time, in what is now Upper Austria. Evidence could also be provided on the basis of the similar ornamentation on the Tassilo chalice in Kremsmünster .
The duchy of the Bavarians under the Agilolfingers was in the last phase of relative independence compared to the Carolingian Franconian Empire and maintained close political and cultural contacts with the Lombards in Italy. Tassilo's wife Luitberga was even the daughter of Desiderius, King of the Lombards . This connection is now considered by research to be the most plausible explanation for the late antique Northern Italian influence on the image design and ornamentation of the Psalter.
history
After fierce power struggles and the loss of the Lombard allies, the Agilolfingers were ousted by Charlemagne in 788 and the duchy of the Bavarians was finally integrated into the Frankish Empire. It is believed that the Psalter from Mondsee ended up as spoils of war in the western part of the Franconian Empire. The two daughters of Tassilos III. Cotani and Hrodrud were taken prisoner in West Franconia to Chelles by the Mondsee abbot Hunric , and it is assumed that they carried the psaltery with them. As early as the 9th century he was in Auxerre in what is now France. It is also noteworthy that 5 leaves at the end of the psalter were removed, on which there was probably the personal dedication of the Mondsee creator to the Bavarian ducal family. Instead, Laudes regiae , a new dedication to the queen and fourth wife of Charlemagne, Fastrada , were registered in the West Franconian monastery . Since she died in 794, this entry must have been made beforehand.
In 1721 the Psalter can be traced back to Lyon , where it was in the collection of President Jean Bouhier . After his death, the cloister of Cîteaux bought it , and through the turmoil of the French Revolution it finally came to the university library of Montpellier. This repository, where the Psalter is still located today, gave the work the name used in specialist literature.
For the joint state exhibition of the Free State of Bavaria and the State of Salzburg in Rosenheim / Bavaria and Mattsee / Salzburg from May 19 to November 6, 1988, the Psalter came back to its origin region on loan from Montpellier for the first time.
literature
- Philippe Lauer : Le psautier carolingien du Président Bouhier (Montpellier, Univ. H. 409). In: Mélanges d'histoire du moyen âge offerts à M. Ferdinand Lot par ses amis et ses élèves. Paris 1925, pp. 359-383.
- Elias Avery Lowe : Codices Latini Antiquiores . Volume VI, Oxford 1950-1953, p. 29, no. 795.
- Bernhard Bischoff : The Southeast German writing schools and libraries in the Carolingian era. Volume 2: The predominantly Austrian dioceses. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02085-7 , p. 16 ff.
- Andreas Weiner: Psalter of Montpellier. In: Hermann Dannheimer , Heinz Dopsch (ed.): The Bajuwaren. From Severin to Tassilo 488-788. Catalog for the joint state exhibition of the Free State of Bavaria and the State of Salzburg, Rosenheim / Bavaria, Mattsee / Salzburg, May 19 to November 6, 1988. Prehistoric State Collection et al., Munich et al. 1988, p. 443, no. R. 114 ( full text on uni -klu.ac.at).
- Harald Wolter-von dem Knesebeck : Psalter of Montpellier (Mondsee-Psalter or Tassilo-Psalter). In: Peter van den Brink, Sarvenaz Ayooghi (ed.): Charlemagne - Charlemagne. Karl's art. Catalog of the special exhibition Karls Kunst from June 20 to September 21, 2014 in the Center Charlemagne , Aachen. Sandstein, Dresden 2014, ISBN 978-3-95498-093-2 , pp. 262-264 (with lit.).
Web links
- Psalterium romanum cum interpretationibus. In: calames.abes.fr. Archives et manuscrits de la Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Montpellier(description of the manuscript in Calames (= Catalog en ligne des archives et des manuscrits de l'enseignement superieure)).
Individual evidence
- ^ Wallace Martin Lindsay : Notae Latinae. An Account of Abbreviation in Latin Mss. Of the Early Minuscule Period (c. 700-850) . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1915, p. 402.
- ↑ Janet L. Nelson: Making a Difference in Eighth-Century Politics . In: Alexander C. Murray, Walter A. Goffart (Eds.): After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1998, ISBN 0802007791 , p. 186.