Scala Dei

Dedication text of the Scala Dei in manuscript 88, fol . 1r (Fons de reserva of the University Library of Barcelona)

The Scala Dei (Stairway to God) is a literary work that Francesc Eiximenis may have written in Catalan in 1399 in Valencia . It is also called Tractat de contemplació (Contemplation Tract). The book was dedicated to Queen Maria de Luna of the Crown of Aragon , wife of King Martin I of Aragon .

origin

Some parts of the Llibre de les dones (especially the parts of the penance tract and the contemplation tract ) were later adopted by Eiximenis in the work dedicated to Queen Maria de Luna and supplemented with new texts when her husband Martin I of Aragon (and she herself) was crowned, as Andreu Ivars has shown. The coronation of the king took place on April 13, 1399 and that of the queen on April 23, 1399.

content

The book, whose title is Scala Dei (Stairway to God), would therefore consist of parts from the Llibre de les dones mentioned above . Various parts of this book are being copied. Sections 101 to 274 are, however, combined. These sections have the theological virtues , the cardinal virtues , the Ten Commandments , the Deadly Sins and the sense to do. Professor Curt Wittlin had confirmed that. This book is considered a prayer book . These types of books enjoyed great success at the end of the late Middle Ages , especially among the upper classes.

Digital editions

Manuscripts

• Digitized manuscript 88 of the Library of the University of Barcelona in the Biblioteca Virtual Joan Lluís Vives ( Joan Lluís Vives Virtual Library). The manuscript comes from the library of the Escaladei Charterhouse . For the index of the digitized pages, press html / Llegir l'obra below.

Other manuscripts are Ms. 92 from the National Library in Madrid and Ms. 1.804 from the Biblioteca de Catalunya . Another manuscript from Saint Petersburg was burned in Warsaw in 1944, possibly the copy given to the Queen due to the dedication image.

incunabulum

• Incunabula printed by Diego de Gumiel ( Barcelona , October 27, 1494). Digitized version of the Biblioteca de Catalunya ( Memòria Digital de Catalunya ).

Modern edition

• Scala Dei . Barcelona. PAM. 1985 . Foreword and afterword by Curt Wittlin. His copy of manuscript 92 of the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid is the basis of the translation into modern Catalan by Elisabet Ràfols.

Web links

• Complete works by Francesc Eiximenis (in Catalan and Latin) .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scala Dei. Devocionari de la reina Maria . Edició modernitzada. Barcelona. PAM. 1985, p. 93. With foreword and epilogue by Curt Wittlin . (Catalan)
2. ↑ DA Dietari del Consell Barceloni Antich . VI Barcelona. Impremta d'en Henrich y companyia. 1892, p. 77. (Catalan)
3. ^ Wittlin, Curt J. De Lo Llibre de les dones a la Scala Dei . Actes del Tercer Colloqui d'Estudis Catalans a Nord-Amèrica. PAM. 1983. 139-152. (Catalan)
4. ↑ Scala Dei. Devocionari de la reina Maria . Edició modernitzada. Barcelona. PAM. 1985, p. 93. With foreword and epilogue by Curt Wittlin . (Catalan)