The Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world; it is the most important part of St. Gall’s Abbey district UNESCO world heritage site. The library’s valuable holdings illustrate the development of European culture and document the cultural achievements of the Monastery of St. Gall from the 7th century until the dissolution of the Abbey in the year 1805. The core of the library is its manuscript collection with its preeminent corpus of Carolingian-Ottonian manuscripts (8th to 11th century), a significant collection of incunabula and an accumulated store of printed works from the 16th century to the present day. The Abbey Library of St. Gall was a co-founder of the project e-codices. With its famous Baroque hall, where temporary exhibitions are hosted, the Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the most visited museums in Switzerland.
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 646
Paper · 542 pp. · 28.5-29 x 20 cm · Konstanz · 1472-1476
Chronicle of Konstanz by Gebhard Dacher
The oldest copy of the Chronicle of Konstanz by Gebhard Dacher, made between 1458 and 1472 by the author himself and illustrated with a series of colored pen sketches, among them the oldest known view of the city of Konstanz. Obtained by the Abbey Library of St. Gall in the 18th century, at the latest. (smu)
Paper · 230 pp. · 31 x 22 cm · Felix Hemmerli (?) · second half of the 15th century
Constance Chronicle; Zurich Chronicles; Chronicle of the Council of Constance according to Ulrich of Richenthal
This manuscript, written in the second half of the 15th century, probably shortly after 1450, contains first (pp. 1−46) the Constance World Chronicle from the end of the 14th century. This is followed by the Zurich Chronicle from the beginnings to the start of the 15th century (pp. 47−121), a continuation of the Zurich Chronicle about the years 1420/21, 1436 and 1443−1450 (pp. 121−132), and a abbreviated edition of the Chronicle of the Council by Ulrich of Richenthal (pp. 132−228). Based on an examination of the handwriting, in the older literature it is considered that the early humanist Felix Hemmerli (1388/89−1454) from Zurich may have been the scribe. The manuscript was owned by the Swiss scholar Aegidius Tschudi (1505−1572) and was sold to the monastery of St. Gall by his family in February 1768. Tschudi added various marginal notes and corrections to the texts. (smu)
(1) Robertus Monachus, History of the first Crusade (illustrated); (2) Ottokar von Steiermark, rhymed chronicle of Austria: the fall of Akkon
German translation of a history of the First Crusade (1095/96-1099; Historia Hierosolymitana), composed by the monk Robertus Monachus from Reims. Written and illustrated with 22 colored pen drawings in the year 1465. As an appendix, the manuscript also contains around 9000 verses from the Österreichische Reimchronik (rhymed chronicle of Austria) by Ottokar of Steiermark describing the siege and destruction of the Crusaders' fortress in Akkon in the year 1291. (smu)
Paper · 865 pp. · 33 x 22 cm · Aegidius Tschudi · 1550/70
Aegidius Tschudi, Geography-history commonplace book with a focus on Gaul
This composite manuscript is rich in material; it contains numerous registers, compilations, and excerpts of astronomical and especially geographic-historical content taken from a great variety of sources and written down by the Swiss universal scholar Aegidius Tschudi (1505−1572) from Glarus in the period after 1550. The greatest part of the notes in this volume, collected, compiled and ordered with great diligence by Tschudi, concern what today is France (Gaul with its tribes, provinces, cities, mountains, islands, etc.). Especially noteworthy are the maps Tschudi has drawn of varies parts of Gaul (pp. 706−723). Among them are a map of Franche-Comté (pp. 714/715) and of the western parts of Switzerland (p. 717/718). After Tschudi’s death in 1572, the three sheaves which make up the current volume remained in the possession of his family, and from 1652 until 1768 they were held at Gräpplang Castle near Flums. In February 1768 they came to the Abbey Library of St. Gall, which purchased the Glarus scholar’s estate of manuscripts. In St. Gall, the three sheaves, which were listed as numbers 59, 43 and 44 in the auction catalog of 1767, were bound together with several more leaves into the current volume between 1768 and 1782. (smu)
Parchment · 507 pp. · 35 x 26 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Decretales Pseudo-Isidori. Epistolæ, Gregorii M.
An early copy of the so-called Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals, also called the false Decretals, or Decretals of the Pseudo-Isidore, from the Abbey of St. Gall, produced in the second half of the 9th century. This text consists of a a wide-ranging collection of falsified papal letters and papal decrees from late antiquity. Numerous—real—letters of Pope Gregory I are found in the rear of the codex. (smu)
Parchment · 254 pp. · 26.2 x 18.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Canones Concilii Constantinopolitani II.; Expositiuncula in libros regum Pseudo-Hieronymi
A two-part codex containing a copy of the Acts of the Second Council of Constantinople (553), likely written by St. St. Gall monk Notker Balbulus (d. 912) himself between 887 and 893, together with a 9th century Abbey of St. Gall copy of materials assigned the title Quaestiones Hebraicae in I-II Regum, I Paralipomenon, which includes a commentary written by the church father Jerome on the first two books of Kings and a fragmentary commentary on the Old Testament books of Chronicles. (smu)
Parchment · 248 pp. · 24 x 15 cm · Italy, northern (?) · 12th century
Decretum Gratiani
Important early textual witness of the Decretum Gratiani, probably even the earliest known version. As opposed to the later widespread version of 101 Distinctiones (Part I), 36 Causae (Part II) and De consecratione (Part III) with ca. 4000 Canones in all, the Decretum in this manuscript consists of only 33 Causae with ca. 1000 Canones. The numbering, however, was soon adapted to the later commonly used division into 36 Causae and preceding distinctions. This version includes some sections of text not found in later versions. The Decretum is followed by an extremely heterogeneous collection of excerpts. (len)
Parchment · 272 pp. · 21.8-22 x 14 cm · Bavaria (?) · first half of the 9th century
Collectio Gallica Canonum
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)
Parchment · 261 pp. · 24 x 18 cm · Lake Constance region · 1080/1100
Canonical collection manuscript by Bernold von Konstanz
Copies of a variety of canonical texts, written between 1080 and 1100, likely at the Cloister of St. Blaise or the Cloister of Allerheiligen (All Saints) in Schaffhausen by theologian and canonist Bernold von Konstanz or by employees under his supervision. It contains, among other items, copies of the Poenitentiales by Rabanus Maurus ad Heribaldum, the sixth book of the Poenitentiales by Halitgar of Cambrai, excerpts from the Decree of Burchard of Worms, proceedings of the first Christian Councils, the Epitome Hadriani and the Collectio 74 titulorum cum appendice Suevica. (smu)
Parchment · 206 pp. · 25.5 x 20 cm · St. Gall (?) · 10th century
Composite manuscript of juridical and theological content
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)
Paper · 218 pp. · 21 × 14.5–15 cm · Southwestern Germany · 15th century
Miscellany of theological, astrological, and medical texts, as well as documents from the Council of Constance
Five codicological units make up this paper manuscript; the text was written by one or more hands in the fifteenth century. The longest texts in the manuscript are the Tractatus de vitiis capitalibus, which is probably to be ascribed to Robert Holcot, the Dialogus rationis et conscientiae of Matthew of Krakow, and the Dialogus de celebratione missae by Henry of Hessia the Younger. The remaining texts are shorter, including sermons, spiritual instructions, and astrological and medical treatises. In addition, there are added numerous documents related to the Council of Constance (1414—1418) that deal with the condemnation of John Hus and with the question of Communion under both kinds. (len)
Parchment · 228 pp. · 20-20.5 x 13.5-14 cm · Eastern Frankish empire · around 900
A collection of juridical works
A collection of juridical works from around 900, not produced in the Cloister of St. Gall, but in a thus far unidentifiable scriptorium in the eastern Frankish empire. The two most important texts in this manuscript compilation are a copy of the "Bussbuch" (Book of Penances) by Bishop Halitgar of Cambrai († 830) and the important law collection Collectio LIII titulorum. (smu)
Paper · 400 pp. · 21–21.5 x 14–15 cm · Johannes de Nepomuk, Bohemia and Southwestern Germany · first half of the 15th century
Theological Miscellany
The paper manuscript, bound with a limp binding, is composed of four parts written in the first half of the fifteenth century. Parts II and IV are probably to be ascribed to the hand of Johannes de Nepomuk, who came from the Cistercian house of Nepomuk in Bohemia. The manuscript probably reached the Abbey of St. Gall by the middle of the fifteenth century at the latest. It contains Latin sermons, spiritual treatises, and documents pertaining to the Council of Constance in the years 1417–1418. (len)
Parchment · 228 pp. · 18 x 12.5 cm · Middle Rhine / Main-Franconia / Hesse in part perhaps Lorsch · second-third quarter of the 11th century
Florus Lugdunensis, Invectio canonica; Pascasius Radbertus, De corpore et sanguine domini; Herigerus Lobiensis, De corpore et sanguine domini
This manuscript, written in the area of the Middle Rhine/Main-Franconia/Hesse in the 2nd-3rd quarter of the 11th century, preserves mainly theological tracts by Florus of Lyon, Paschasius Radbertus and Heriger of Lobbes, but also contains interlinear glosses, detailed marginalia and an added Epistula de vulture. In 1768 the manuscript came to the Abbey Library of St. Gall as part of the estate of Aegidius Tschudi (1505–1572). (len)
Parchment · 411 pp. · 17 x 10.5 cm · second quarter of the 9th century
Manuscript compilation: capitular Document Collection of Bishop Martin of Braga, sermons, a copy of the books of penance attributed to Bede and Egbert and excerpts from the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville etc.
Manuscript compilation consisting mainly of canonical content from the second quarter of the 9th century, probably not written in the monastery of St. Gall, but evidently present in the Abbey Library of St. Gall after 850. The manuscript contains, among other items, the Capitular Document Collection of Bishop Martin of Braga († 579), numerous sermons (including sermons by Caesarius of Arles as well as many attributed to the early Church father Augustine), a copy of the books of penance attributed to Bede and Egbert and excerpts from the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville. (smu)
Parchment · 380 pp. · 20.5 x 13.5-14 cm · 13th century
Wernher von Schussenried, Abbreviatio decreti Gratiani; Ordines iudiciarii
This 13th century manuscript is of unknown origin. It contains (front pastedown-p. 185) an abridged version of Wernher von Schussenried’s Decretum Gratiani from 1207, followed by two ordines iudiciarii, i.e. writings on the Roman-canonical process, which were produced in the last quarter of the 12th century by the two Englishmen Richard de Mores (pp. 186-271) and Rodoicus Modicipassus (formerly attributed to an Otto Papiensis; pp. 276-380). In the margins of the abridged version of the Decretum Gratiani (front pastedown-p. 35), the influential 1216 Ordo iudiciarius by the jurist Tancred of Bologna was added as a third procedural document, but was left incomplete. (len)
Parchment · 116 pp. · 19.5 x 14 cm · Constance, Stephan Rosenvelt · 1359
Abbreviatio sive casus summarii ad VI libros decretalium; Decretum abbreviatum
This manuscript contains first (pp. 3a-104b) an abridged version of the Liber Extra and of the Liber Sextus, and then (pp. 107-114) an abridged version of the Decretum Gratiani. According to a note in his own hand (p. 104b), Stephan Rosenvelt, imperial notary and notary of the Bishop's Curia of Constance, made the copy in 1395. According to an entry (p. 114), the manuscript later was the property of Johannes Bischoff, probably the St. Gall monk and canon law scholar of that name, who died in 1495. (len)
Parchment · 265 pp. · 15.5 x 10.5 cm · southwest region of Germany (?) · 14th century
Burchard of Strasbourg, Summa casuum sive summa de poenitentia
This 14th century manuscript contains Burchard of Strasbourg’s Summa casuum (pp. 3-264). Probably added in the same century were two short letters from a Franciscan from Freiburg im Breisgau to a pastor in Schönau and Todtnau to clarify canonical questions (p. 264) and a document form for obtaining absolution from the Abbot of St. Trudpert in the Black Forest (p. 265). (len)