Seckauer monthly rules

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fig.1 .: Month of December (UBG Ms 287, fol.7r)

The Seckau monthly rules (also: Graz monthly rules ) are twelve historical, concise and easily memorable calendar sayings with advice for physical well-being and according to which one could orient oneself in one's way of life throughout the year.

The advice mainly relates to preventive health care , i.e. prophylaxis and therapy, and is aimed at a medical lay public. Probably for use by the Augustinian choir women in Seckau , the sayings were probably translated from Latin into German at the end of the 12th century. The Seckau monthly rules are the oldest known German-speaking monthly regime .

Lore

The Seckauer monthly rules have been handed down in Codex UB Graz Ms. 287 Breviarum monialium Seccoviensium, fol. 1-12. Due to the place where the manuscript is stored, the special collection of the Graz University Library , they are often referred to as the “Graz Monthly Rules” and can therefore also be found under this very name in secondary literature. In its first edition, the Seckau monthly rules were not only issued with an incorrect provenance attribution to Sankt Lambrecht , but also by mistake without the month of September.

Recorded in an annual calendar that could be used again every year, the vernacular calendar slogans can be found in the first line at the top of the respective calendar page, with an entire parchment page allocated to each month . Directly below, the calendar saying is translated into Latin hexameters .

Only then does the listing of the individual days of the month begin, including a precise assignment of the name days of saints and the associated commemorations.

Fig.2 .: Hole in HS in February (UBG Ms 287, fol.3r)

However, the tradition of the vernacular health rules at the top of the page does not suggest a marginal tradition, i.e. a marginal recording that was only recorded at a later point in time on the margin of the already existing text. The typeface as well as the embedding of the vernacular monthly rules in the overall layout of the page and also the prominence of the vernacular compared to the Latin, which is only listed in second place, rather indicate that the Seckau monthly rules are already in the conception or in the development process of the Handwriting was planned, integrated and even deliberately placed at the beginning of each page.

On each of the twelve pages there are illustrations of the zodiac signs of the respective months. However , these are no longer fully preserved in the Seckau manuscript . In the places where an image was probably placed on the calendar pages for the months of February and April, this part of the respective page was removed so that a very carefully cut hole in the parchment page gapes at both places .

It can be assumed that the two missing signs of the zodiac must have been Taurus in February and Cancer in April.

The tradition of the regimes sanitatis / medieval dietetics

That the principles of the monthly rules should have been known to people in the 12th century can be deduced from the long tradition of literature on health care , whose roots go back to ancient Greece.

The Seckau monthly rules are therefore by no means a medieval peculiarity, but arose from the tradition of the regimes sanitatis , which extended well beyond the Middle Ages . These refer to the humoral medical and dietetic theories of the Greek doctor Hippocrates of Kos , which Galen of Pergamon expanded and systematized more strongly.

The written record of these same rules point to a tradition that is both proven and reflected.

The humoral medical approach in scholastic medicine is based on a three-way division of the biological conditions of the human body: These are the res naturales (the health and condition of the body), the res non naturales (those factors, circumstances, activities that influence health) and the res praeter naturales (the disease with its causes and appearance). In order to maintain the health of the body, a balance of all physical factors, the sex res non naturales , must prevail or be established.

If there is no physical equilibrium, but rather an imbalance and imbalance in certain aspects, this should be systematically restored in the sense of the principle of contraria contrariis through the opposite. Most often this was achieved through the consumption of systematically selected foods (food and drink), therapeutic baths (exercise and rest), bloodletting or urine evacuation (filling and emptying).

Embedded in the system of the humoral doctrine coined by Hippocrates of Kos and Galen of Pergamon, various underlying primary qualities and properties are ascribed to the different foods:

  • moist + warm
  • dry + warm
  • dry + cold
  • damp + cold

With Hippocrates of Kos, the four humors are already assigned to these pairs of properties: blood (warm and damp), mucus (cold and damp), black bile (cold and dry) and yellow bile (warm and dry). There should also be an equilibrium between these bodily fluids, so to speak an ideal mixing ratio ( eukrasia ). If such a balance is not given to a large extent ( dyscrasia ), this leads to disease of the body.

However, these properties “moist”, “dry”, “warm” and “cold” do not only refer to objectively measurable temperatures or the qualitative difference between “moist” and “dry”. Rather, they relate to properties that are ascribed to food in terms of their effect on the body. Certain foods or spices thus have a warming, cooling, drying or moisturizing effect on the body, as their effects can unfold to different degrees through metabolism.

A medically experienced cook could thus contribute to prevention or help healing through extensive knowledge of humoral dietetics through the targeted use of selected dishes, herbs and spices: from a nutritional and dietetic point of view, cooking could be understood as the art of healing.

This comprehensive system of humoral pathology forms the background for the health advice of the Seckau monthly rules.

Content and translation

Contrary to the record in the Codex , which begins with the month of January, the monthly rule should begin with the month of December, as is done according to Christian tradition, according to which the church year begins on the first Sunday in Advent . (The same procedure can also be found on the Seckau literature trail on the Seckau monarch rules and in the related volume "Literary Locations" ). Such a prefix of December also serves to classify the four seasons and the content and dietary contexts within each season clarify.

It should be said in advance that within the characteristic 'air quality' of each season there are also certain possibilities for variation: These are determined by the month, the geographical location and the prevailing zodiac sign . Because the constellation of the stars is in constant change, which consequently also has an effect on the sun, which then determines the air temperature and the climate. This climate is also influenced by the winds, the qualities of which also range from “cold” and “dry” to “warm” and “humid”.

season month Monthly rule translation
winter December Warmiu dinch sint good genozzen here It is good to eat warm things here.
winter January In the manot you should not switch or ezzen. You shouldn't eat anything cold this month.
winter February Here protect yourself from the frost. and run the hand. Here, beware of the frost and let your hand drain your veins.
spring March Fry it here. And bathe emzech. Eat fried food here and bathe often.
spring April Nim getranch here. And run on the fuoze. Here take some potion and drain your vein.
spring May Here iz diche ephich and poleium. Eat a lot of celery and fleas here .
summer June Hie iz lattoch. And obez. And drink more cleanly. Here eat salad and fruit and drink on an empty stomach.
summer July You shouldn't be lazy here. And gamandream and chume ezzen. You shouldn't drain your veins here, but eat sheepweed and caraway seeds .
summer August Here avoid heating. Diu werrent. Here avoid foods that heat up. The damages.
autumn September Here should lazy. And dittamane and consolidam ezzen. Here you should drain your veins and eat diptame and consolida .
autumn October Here iz stingy and sheep milk. And gariophile. Here you can have goat and sheep milk as well as cloves .
autumn November Here iz galgan and cinemin. at the same time you should be good to yourself. Here eat galangal and cinnamon : that will do you good.

Winter months

In the qualitatively “cold” as well as “humid” winter months, the advice such as 'to beware of the frost in February' is quite logical and still understandable today: to eat “warm things” in December and “nothing cold” in January is recommended. However, this advice does not refer exclusively to hot dishes, but primarily to dishes that are considered to be of “warm” or “cold” quality. These include the herbs cloves , galangal and cinnamon, which are recommended in the autumn months .

In February, another important aspect of medieval healing is cited: bloodletting . The point at which blood is drained is of particular importance. Depending on the nature of the complaints, the time of year and the position of the stars, the most favorable place should be decided. The aim of bloodletting is to restore a balance to the blood in the body.

This aspect was particularly important, as blood production was viewed as continuous in the Middle Ages and no one had any knowledge of the blood circulation .

Spring months

Basically, the aim of the advice for the spring months is to cleanse and detoxify the body in order to bring it into harmony with the awakening nature in spring. Plants such as fleas and celery (in the month of May), which are said to have numerous healing powers, should contribute to this.

The advice to bathe “often” in March indicates above all that the recipients were well aware of the principles of the Seckau monthly rules and the humoral pathological principles . Otherwise you would have specified the type of bath. After all, the physiological effects of the bath itself can be described by all four qualities: warm, cold, damp or dry. The effects of the bath are also described in other humoral medicine writings of the Middle Ages as diverse: A bath can cleanse excess and bad body fluids, make the dry body moist, strengthen the natural warmth of the body, have a digestive effect or fight tiredness and pain. Depending on the intended effect and the proportion of the bather's body fluids, the water temperature and the duration of the bath must be adjusted accordingly.

The advice to eat something fried in March, if possible, relates to the qualitative preparation method of the frying: Food such as fish, which is considered "cold" and "moist", retain the moisture and thus precisely this qualitative property during frying. In contrast, when cooking, which has a “warming” and “drying” effect on the food, the primary quality “moist” of the fish changes to “dry”.

Summer months

The primary qualities of the summer months, “hot” and “dry”, should be counteracted by means of a cooling and moisturizing diet. Salad (which Hildegard von Bingen also describes as "cold"), fruit (such as pears, which are "cold" and "dry", or plums, which are "cold" and "moist") and drinks promise an empty stomach, provide a remedy. Above all, the "cold" and "damp" water should - in line with the contraria contrariis - compensate for the heat and drought of summer.

The ban on bloodletting in July could be explained by the maintenance of the balance of the body fluids, as this could be endangered by bloodletting in the heat of summer.

Keeping the body from drying out in the hot and dry summer should also be aimed for in August with the admonition not to consume food that is hot.

Autumn months

Spices such as cinnamon , nutmeg , cardamom , cloves , ginger or galangal - with the primary qualities "warm" and "moist" - are to be considered suitable dishes in autumn, which is considered to be the season of the year with the properties "cold" and "moist" to take to counteract the advancing cold. While Diptam and Consolida ( Symphytum officinale ), which are now considered poisonous, but were considered medicinal products in the Middle Ages, were particularly recommended in the autumn months, bloodletting could take place again in September.

Basically, it was important to build up reserves for the body in the months before winter, from which it can draw in the cold months. Sheep and goat milk - as advised in the October calendar - should also prepare the body for the demanding time of winter thanks to its high fat and nutrient content.

literature

  • Crossgrove, William: The German non-fiction literature of the Middle Ages. Edited by Hans-Gert Roloff. Vol. 63. Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt a. M. [u. a.]: Peter Lang 1994.
  • The cook is the better doctor. On the relationship between dietetics and cuisine in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Edited by Andrea Hofmeister-Winter, Helmut W. Klug & Karin Kranich. Frankfurt a. M .: Peter Lang 2014. (Medieval studies between research, teaching and the public. Vol. 8)
  • Holanik, Wolfgang: Seckauer monthly rules. URL: http://143.50.35.73/wiki/index.php/Seckauer_Monatsregel
  • Keil, Gundolf: Graz monthly rules. In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2., completely reworked. Ed. By Kurt Ruth [u. a.]. Vol. 3. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter 1989.
  • Interdisciplinary cookbook research. Contributions to the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Edited by Andrea Hofmeister-Winter. Graz: Unipress Graz Verlag 2017. (Grazer Medieval Writings: Sources and Studies, Volume 1.)
  • Libri Seccoviensis. Studies on the library of the Augustinian Canons of Seckau. Edited by Thomas Csanády and Erich Renhart. Graz: Unipress Verlag 2018.
  • Literary locations. New texts on the settings of medieval literature in Styria and Slovenia. Edited by Wernfried Hofmeister. Graz: Edition Keiper 2015.
  • Schmitt, Wolfram: Medical art of living. Health teaching and health regimes in the Middle Ages. Berlin: LIT Verlag Dr. W. Hopf 2013. (History of Medicine. Vol.5.)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Styrian Literature Paths of the Middle Ages: Municipality of Seckau. Accessed January 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Uni Graz: Work case on the Styrian Literature Paths of the Middle Ages - The Seckau monthly rules , accessed on December 10, 2019
  3. ↑ a b Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad. In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions to the culinary history symposia in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Volume 1 . Unipress Graz Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 271 f .
  4. ↑ Work case for the Styrian Literature Paths. Retrieved December 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Wolfram Schmitt: Medical Art of Living. Health teaching and health regimes in the Middle Ages . LIT Verlag, Berlin 2013, p. 17 .
  6. ↑ Johanna Maria von Winter: Are the Regimina duodecim mensium to be regarded as "monastic medicine"? In: Wernfried Hofmeister (ed.): The cook is the better doctor. On the relationship between dietetics and cuisine in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2014, p. 152 f .
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad. In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions to the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Grazer Medieval Writings: Sources and Studies. Vol. 1. Unipress Verlag Graz, Graz 2017, p. 273 .
  8. ↑ Karl-Heinz Steinmetz: Pragmatization of nutritional dietetics in the mirror of health . In: Wernfried Hofmeister (ed.): The cook is the better doctor. On the relationship between dietetics and cuisine in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2014, p. 92 f .
  9. ↑ a b Wernfried Hofmeister (Ed.): Literary Verortungen. New texts on the settings of medieval literature. Edition Keiper, Graz 2015, p. 102-114 .
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad . In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions to the culinary history symposium in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Grazer Medieval Writings: Sources and Studies, Vol.1. Unipress Verlag Graz, Graz 2017, p. 272 f .
  11. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions to the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Ed .: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter. Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 272 ff .
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad. In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions from the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Unipress, Graz 2017, p. 273 .
  13. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad. In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions from the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 274 .
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad . In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions from the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 274 ff .
  15. ↑ Wolfram Schmitt: Medical Art of Living. Health teaching and health regimes in the Middle Ages . LIT Verlag, Berlin 2013, p. 46 f .
  16. ↑ Wolfram Schmitt: Medical Art of Living. Health teaching and health regimes in the Middle Ages. LIT Verlag, Berlin 2013, p. 47 .
  17. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad . In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter. (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions from the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 277 ff .
  18. ↑ Wolfgang Holanik and Florian Zeilinger: Prevention is better than cure: The Seckauer Literaturpfad. In: Andrea Hofmeister-Winter (Ed.): Cookbook research interdisciplinary. Contributions from the culinary history specialist conferences in Melk 2015 and Seckau 2016. Unipress Verlag, Graz 2017, p. 279 ff .