St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod.

Description by Gohar Grigoryan (University of Fribourg), 2017.

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Manuscript title: Confessio fidei Armenicæ ecclesiæ in Armenian and Latin

Place of origin: Abbey of Saint Gall.

Date of origin: 1775

Support: Paper.

Extent: XLV + 131, unwritten I-IV, VI, VIII, X, XXIV, 124-131.

Format: 43.8 x 31 cm.

Foliation: The pagination of the manuscript’s main content appears at the upper corners, 1-118. Before the main content, there is a later pagination with pencil, I-XLV.

Condition: Good. The edges of the binding are slightly scuffed, but the binding is in an overall good condition. The folios are complete, in fine and clean condition.

Page layout: single column, 34 x 16.5 cm

Writing and hands: written by Fr. Romano (Romanus) Fromenwiler

Decoration:

Ornamented letters: Armenian (120, 121, 122, 123, XXXVI, XXXVIII, XL, XLII, XLIV), Latin (XXXVII, XXXIX, XLI, XLIII, XLIV, XLV).
Ornamented frames: XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL, XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, XLV.
Decorations at the end of folios: XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL, XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, 119, 123.
The decoration on page 123 comprises legend “Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus,” which is a citation from the Chapter 57 of the Benedictine Rule (see: The Rule of Our Most Holy Father St. Benedict, Patriarch of Monks, from the Old English edition of 1638 (London, R. Washbourne, 1875), 234).
On page V, there is a full-page depiction of the coat of arms of Beda Angehrn, the Prince-Abbot of Saint Gall (Compare with: Archives héraldiques suisses – Schweizer Archiv für Heraldik (Zurich: Imprimerie Schulthess & Co., 1916), 151-152, Figs. 119-120).
Colors: black.

Binding: Red leather richly decorated with golden flower decorations. The spine decoration comprises seven gilt parts that are formed while binding the gatherings on the spine side. The head, the tail and the foredge are partially painted blue, accompanied with ornamental patterns. The front and back gilt endpapers are decorated with flowered engravings.

Contents:

1. VII Title page 1: Ecclesiæ Armenicæ Confessio Fidei Catholica ad Gramaticæ Doctrinalis Intelligentiam per Analysim et Annotationes Explicata.
2. IX Title page 2: Celsissime, ac Reverend[issi]mo S. R. I. Principi, Domino Domino BEDÆ Exemptorum, ac Sedi Apostolicæ im[m]ediatè subjectoru[m] Monasteriorum S. Galli & Joannis in Valle Thuræ ABBATI Comiti in Doggenburg Regii Ordinis An[n]untiatæ Virginis EQUITI in Sanctissimi Patris nostri Galli festivitate. Abs devote Filio Fratre Juniore Romano Fromenwiler. Dedicata 1775.
3. XI-XXIII Celsissime Princeps Reverend[issi]me Pater, Domine Domine Gratios[issi]me
(Dedication by the scribe).
4. XXV-XXXV Præfatio (Preface).
5. XXXVI-XLV Դավանութիւն հաւատոյ եկեղեցեաց Հայաստանեայց ս(ուր)բ – Confessio fidei armenicæ ecclesiæ sanctæ
(each word in the title is written on a separate page).
- (1-118) Confessio fidei Armenicæ ecclesiæ (in Armenian and Latin, accompanied with analysis). Compare with: Joachim Schröder, Thesaurus linguæ Armenicæ, Antiquæ et hodiernæ, Cum varia Praxios materia, cujus elenchum sequens pagella exhibet (Amstelodami 1711), Part 3: Confessio Ecclesiæ Armenicæ Latine reddita ,& necessariis notis illustrata, 251-254.
  - (1-3) Խոստովանիմք եւ հաւատամք … – Confitemur et credimus.
  - (3-10) Analysis.
  - (11-14) Հաւատամք զԲանն Աստուած … – Credimus Verbum illud Deum.
  - (15-20) Analysis.
  - (21-23) Հաւատամք զՍուրբ Հոգի. … – Credimus Sanctum illum Spiritum.
  - (23-30) Analysis.
  - (31-33) Հաւատամք զԵրրորդութիւնն Սուրբ … – Credimus Trinitatem illum Sanctam.
  - (33-38) Analysis.
  - (38-40) Հաւատամք յԵկեղեցի Սուրբ … – Credimus in Ecclesiam Sanctam.
  - (41-44) Analysis.
  - (45-49) Հաւատամք զմինն յերից անձանց … – Credimus unum illum ex tribus Personis.
  - (49-64) Analysis.
  - (65-67) Աստուածն մարդացեալ առանց փոփոխման … – Deus ille homo factus est sine mutatione.
  - (67-72) Analysis.
  - (73-81) Հաւատամք զՏէրն մեր Յիսուս Քրիստոս շրջեալ ի վերայ երկրի … – Credimus Dominum Jesum Christum, postquam ambulasset supra terram.
  - (81-102) Analysis.
  - (103-106) Հաւատամք զՏէրն մեր Յիսուս Քրիստոս նովին մարմնովն համբարձեալ յերկինս … – Credimus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum eodem corpore sublatum esse in coelos.
  - (107-112) Analysis.
  - (113-114) Հաւատամք եւ զհատուցումն գործոց … – Credimus etiam retributionem operum.
  - (114-118) Analysis.
6. 119-123 Figuræ XXXVIII litterarū linguæ armenicæ (38 letters of the Armenian alphabet, accompanied by a transliteration into Latin characters). Compare with: Joachim Schröder, Thesaurus linguæ Armenicæ, Antiquæ et hodiernæ, Cum varia Praxios materia, cujus elenchum sequens pagella exhibet (Amstelodami 1711), Part 2: Grammatica & Prosodia Antiquæ Linguæ, 1-4.

Origin of the manuscript: written by Fr. Romano (Romanus) Fromenwiler for the Prince-Abbot Beda Angehrn of Saint Gall.

Provenance of the manuscript: Note: A small paper label, printed and attached to the front endpaper: “Stiftsbibliothek 1513 St. Gallen.”

Bibliography:

Pearson James Douglas, Oriental Manuscripts in Europe and North America: A Survey, Bibliotheca Asiatica 7 (Zug: Inter Documentation Company, 1971), 169.
Scherrer Gustav, Verzeichniss der Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen (Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1875), 491.

For the publications of the Confessio fidei Armenicæ ecclesiæ by Joachim Schröder, see:

Joachim Schröder, Thesaurus linguæ Armenicæ, Antiquæ et hodiernæ, Cum varia Praxios materia, cujus elenchum sequens pagella exhibet, Part 3: Confessio Ecclesiæ Armenicæ Latine reddita, & necessariis notis illustrata, 249-298. Amstelodami 1711.
Confessio ecclesiæ Armenicæ Latine reditta, & necessariis notis illustrata ab Joh. Hoachimo Schrodero (in Armenian and Latin), reprinted by Grigor Ĵułayec‛i Xaldareanc‛. London: Typis Joh. Rivinfton, 1780 (reprinted from Thesaurus linguæ Armenicæ, Amsterdam 1711).