This libellus of John the Evangelist from the Gnadental Convent of the Poor Clares was completed in 1493. The manuscript contains texts by and about John the Evangelist, among them exempla, sermons, sequences, lections, and the Revelation in German. A pictorial cycle with scenes from the legend of the Evangelist decorates the vita of John at the beginning of the manuscript. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

In addition to Greek and Latin Psalms, written somewhere in continental Europe by Irish monks during the Carolingian period, this famous Basel codex also contains a brief series of devotions in Latin for private use, appended by the monks. The exact place where the manuscript was written and its various subsequent travels are unknown, although, based on one note, whose interpretation is under debate, some relation to the Abbey of St. Gall and/or to that of Bobbio is frequently mentioned. In about 1628-1630 the manuscript was listed in the catalog of the Amerbach family, then around 1672-1676 in that of Johannes Zwinger. (and)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

Around 1510, Georg Carpentarius, Carthusian of Basel, translated the statutes of his order’s lay brothers from Latin into German. At the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, the text was considered an autograph by the translator. It was held in the library of the lay brothers. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This volume was written in 1489 by Ambrosius Alantsee (†1505). Ambrosius, originally from Füssen, enrolled at the University of Basel in 1468/69 and, as can be proven, wrote several mostly liturgical books between 1484 and 1492 at the Carthusian Monastery in that city. Among them is this Epithalamium (bridal or wedding song) for Mary. Possibly this is the same Ambrosius Alantsee who is attested as prior of St. Mang's Abbey in Füssen in 1491. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This composite manuscript from the Carthusian monastery of Basel contains — partly handwritten and partly printed — primarily texts of devotional and spiritual content. Author (and for the first part of the manuscript also the scribe) for the most part is Heinrich Arnoldi, Prior of the Carthusian monastery from 1449-1480. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript, owned by Johannes Heynlin, came to the Basel University Library (UB) along with the holdings of the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel; it contains primarily sermons, many of them written by the Dominican Guilelmus de Malliaco. A keyword index enables the user to search for a sermon with a suitable topic. The binding is striking: the two covers are each fitted with five brass bosses. On the inside of the covers, their anchors are each covered with small parchment pieces cut out in the shape of a heart. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This composite manuscript, property of the scholar and Carthusian monk Johannes Heynlin from Basel, consists of various handwritten and printed pieces of theological content: among them the treatise De saecularium religionibus by the Dominican and church reformer Johannes Nider, written in 1465 by a French scribe and annotated in the margin by Heynlin; or the text De miseria humanae conditionis by Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, one of the most important humanists of the Italian Renaissance. After Heynlin’s death, the volume became part of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This small, thick paper and parchment manuscript from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel must have been intensely used, as suggested by soiling and signs of heavy usage. The original red leather binding is covered with another layer of leather that sticks out beyond the covers at the bottom and can be folded over the lower edge as protection. The manuscript contains prayers, hymns and other devotional texts by numerous different authors — primarily saints and popes — such as Mechthild of Magdeburg or Bernard of Clairvaux. Also represented are Carthusian authors such as Heinrich Arnoldi. Several colored woodcut and metalcut prints have been glued onto leaf 4v and 316v. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This paper manuscript, prepared specifically by the scribe Johannes Loy for the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, contains a collection of sermons for reading in the chapter. The sermons were written by three Carthusians: Hieronymus Brönick, Heinrich Arnoldi and Heinrich Eger von Kalkar. An introductory note on folio 1v explains that in order to avoid uniformity, which is the mother of tedium, four different sermons are assembled for every feast day so that the same sermon will be held once only every leap year. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This manuscript (third quarter of the 15th century), a collection of theological texts, consists of two parts; it originated in the Carthusian Monastery in Basel, where it was probably also created. This is certain for the second part of the manuscript, which, in addition to the Vita et revelationes by Agnes Blannbekin (Chapters 1-23), also contains extensive excerpts from Lux divinitatis, the Latin translation of Das fließende Licht der Gottheit by Mechthild of Magdeburg, which became the basis for further copies made in the monastery. The model for most of the texts contained in the second part of Cod. A VIII 6 was the manuscript Basel, university library, Cod. B IX 11. (nem)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

This anthology contains theological treatises, including various texts by Jean Gerson (1363-1429). The volume was written by Alfred Löffler (1416-1462). This scribe, originally came from Rheinfelden, entered the Basel Dominican monastery in 1445; at several places in the manuscript, he requests prayers for him. He also mentions individual dates (1454, 1456) as well as places of writing. The latter are the Convents of Dominican nuns at Steinbach and at Himmelskron near Worms, where Löffler served as confessor during the years in question. When he returned to Basel, he probably also brought with him this volume, which found its way into the library of the Dominican monastery of Basel and, after the Reformation, became part of the university library. (stu)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This codex, with a binding partially in leather, contains mostly chapter sermons and collationes written by Heinrich Arnoldi; usually they begin with a quote from the Bible and are only a few pages long. The composite manuscript for in-house use was produced at the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was written mostly by Martin Ströulin and in part by Heinrich Arnoldi himself. In addition to the handwritten part, it also contains two short prints. (mue)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains prayers and meditations by various authors, but most of them written by, or at least attributed to, Anselm of Canterbury. In addition, there is an instruction in spiritual exercises for novices and a Passion of Christ compiled from all four Gospels by Heinrich Arnoldi. Texts by other Carthusian authors are also represented. The codex was written by Martin Ströulin, a Carthusian from Basel. (mue)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This composite manuscript in German is from the Convent of Dominican nuns of St. Maria Magdalena “an den Steinen” in Basel, which was reformed in 1423; most of the manuscript was probably written there as well. In addition to two sermons, a treatise and a miracle of Mary, the manuscript mainly contains legends: Elizabeth of Hungary, Jerome, Francis, Vincent, Ignatius, Julian and Basilissa, Paul of Thebes and Anthony. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

15th century devotional volume, mostly written by the Carthusian Johannes Gipsmüller and owned by the Carthusian monastery of Basel. On the verso side of a parchment leaf, inserted as f. 57 into the paper manuscript, there is a full-page image of Christ on the cross with Mary and John. A peculiarity is a collection of Bible passages in Latin and sayings in German by Petrus Wolfer, which are said to have been written on a wall of the Carthusian monastery, surrounding a crucifixion. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This late medieval book of devotion and prayer is named for its first owner, Margret Zschampi, Dominican at Klingental Convent in Basel. It is a typical manuscript for edification, in German, as they were customarily used and written at the end of the Middle Ages for private devotion, especially in women’s convents and in lay communities. Margret Zschampi donated the manuscript to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, where it became part of the library for lay brothers. As part of this Carthusian library, the devotional book reached the university library of Basel in 1590. This is the only completely preserved known manuscript from the Dominican Convent of Klingental.  (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This volume with Quaestiones by the Viennese theologian Iodocus Gartner (attested between 1424 and 1452) was owned by Albertus Loeffler (middle of the 15th century); it was part of the chained library of the Dominican Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains handwritten and printed texts concerning questions on the history of the order, on the spiritual life, as well as on theological interpretations, as for example the commentary on Ecclesiastes by Denis the Carthusian (1402-1471). The handwritten parts are by various hands, among them the Carthusian Johannes Gipsmüller of Basel (1439-1484). (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This manuscript from the beginning of the 13th century is of unknown origin; it contains monastic and canonistic writings, among them, for example, the monastery rule that Benedict of Nursia issued for his monastery at Monte Cassino in 529, Gregory the Great’s Regula pastoralis about the ideal of the (secular) pastor of souls from the late 6th century, or the abbreviated version of a part of the Decretum Gratiani from the 12th century. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript from the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian monastery in Basel consists of various parts that are bound together. It was meant as a devotional book for the lay brothers and contains various basic texts in German translation, among them a Rule of Saint Benedict, a life of Saint Benedict, as well as various prayers that address either the lay brothers of the Carthusians or the lay brothers of the Benedictines.  (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017