The texts on which the Basel scroll is based were written in the Holy Land at the behest of Charlemagne. This somewhat later copy might have been produced in the region of the Upper Rhine; it constitutes the only textual witness. Not only the content of the texts, but also the original scroll form were preserved. In his comprehensive study from 2011, Michael McCormick supposes an administrative use at the court of Louis the Pious or Louis the German. It is not clear how the fragments reached the University Library Basel; they were removed from a volume that was not further identified in the second third of the 19th century by the librarian Franz Dorotheus Gerlach. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

A legal manuscript, probably incomplete, which contains an extensive collection of texts. Among the most important are four laws, the Lex Salica, Lex Ribuaria, Lex Alamannorum and Lex Baiuvariorum; a short and fragmentary collection of capitularies issued by Charlemagne; excerpts from De legibus, from Isidore of Seville's Sententiae, from the Codex Theodosianum and from the Rule of Saint Benedict. The text of the Lex Baiuvariorum also contains legal terms in Old High German. In 1789 the codex was acquired by Count Johann-Christian Solms, who resided in Klitschdorf Castle near Bunzlau (Silesia) - his coat of arms can be found on f. 1r - which is why the codex is known in the literature as the "Codex Klitschdorf" or "Codex Solmsianus.” In 1960 Martin Bodmer purchased this codex from the New York antiquarian book dealer H. P. Kraus. (ber)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

A canon law manuscript from the first half of the 9th century, produced in the southern German-speaking region, probably in Bavaria. It contains, among other items, versions of the so-called Collection canonum Vetus Gallica with an appendix, Charlemagne's Capitulary of Herstal, the so-called Excarpsus Cummenai and, under the title De triduanis ieiuniis consuetudine, an incomplete copy of a set of guidelines for fasting. (smu)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

Composite manuscript of juridical and theological content from the 10th century, probably from the Abbey of St. Gall. The codex contains, in addition to many other texts, the capitulary of bishop Hatto of Basel and bishop Theodulf of Orléan, the Poenitentiale of one Pseudo-Egbert, the provisions of the Council of Nicea (325), works by Alcuin, including his tract De virtutibus et vitiis as well as a copy of the Admonitio Generalis of Charlemagne from 789. (smu)

Online Since: 07/31/2009