This small-format codex contains Cicero's rhetorical work De inventione. The text, mostly in dark-, sometimes light-brown ink comes from multiple hands, which all have their own careful and consistent appearance. Except for some simple decorated initials, slightly larger at the beginning of the prologue and of both books, and the occasional red-ink accentuated capitals and text-beginnings, there is no book decoration whatsoever. A later inscription on 1r indicates that this is probably a volume from the milieu of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript brings together two collections, originally passed down separately, containing a total of 110 German language prayers for private devotions in the Engelberg convent. The prayers, which refer to the passion of Christ and above all to Mary, Mother of God, are meant for private prayer apart from the communal Divine Office. An exception is the first prayer, analyzed and edited by J. Thali, which is meant for silent devotion during the mass.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
The first volume of a codicologically heterogeneous composite of fascicle groups and individual leaves containing copies of sermons in German, assembled near the end of the 14th century or early in the 15th century for use in the women's cloister of St. Andreas at Engelberg. Together with Cod. 336, this is the oldest textual witness for the body of works known as the "Engelberger Predigten" (formerly the "Engelberger Prediger"). One sermon was written, in 1383 at the lastest, by the parish priest Bartholomäus Fridower from Stans. The Benedictine nuns of St. Andreas took the two complementary volumes Cod. 335 and Cod. 336 (a third volume may have been lost) as well as Cod. 337 and at least 24 additional manuscripts with them to their new location at Sarnen; these have been held by the Abbey Library of Engelberg since 1887.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
The third volume, now missing materials from the end, of a codicologically heterogeneous composite of fascicle groups and individual leaves containing copies of sermons in German, assembled near the end of the 14th century or early in the 15th century for use in the women's cloister of St. Andreas at Engelberg. Together with Cod. 335, this is the oldest textual witness for the body of works known as the "Engelberger Predigten" (formerly the "Engelberger Prediger"). Scribes have been identified as the latter Johannes von Bolsenheim, Prior of Engelberg, and the clerk of Lucerne and lay prebendary Johannes Friker, who died in 1388. The Benedictine nuns of St. Andreas took the two complementary volumes Cod. 335 and Cod. 336 (a third volume may have been lost) as well as Cod. 337 and at least 24 additional manuscripts with them to their new location at Sarnen; these have been held in the library of Engelberg Abbey since 1887.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
The collection of nine Easter sermons in German from the body of works known as the "Engelberger Predigten" (früher "Engelberger Prediger") found in the Cod. 337 copy, which was probably made between 1415 and 1420, provides additional content to that found in the sermon collection in Engelberg Codices 335 and 336. In 1615 the Benedictine nuns of St. Andreas took this volume as well as Cod. 335, Cod. 336 and at least 24 additional manuscripts with them to their new location at Sarnen; these have been held in the library of Engelberg Abbey since 1887.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Paper manuscript with colored pen sketches from 1396. The Passion tract follows the Vita Christi by Ludolf von Sachsen (of which it is the first German version), the liturgical tract follows Marquard von Lindau. Produced by Nicholaus Schulmeister, clerk of Lucerne from 1368 to 1402, for Lucerne patrician widow Margaretha von Waltersberg. After her death the codex was to be inherited by the nuns. It remained in their possession until 1887 and since then has been held in the library of Engelberg Abbey.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
The origin of this Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit attributed to Henry Suso (1295-1366), is unknown; perhaps it originated in a Franciscan environment in the Western Alemannic region. This text may have been created about a century after the very early witnesses in codd. 141 and 153.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
The principal part of this manuscript consists of the Antiphonale. The mostly neumed Mass chants for the church year and for the saints' days (ff. 3v-83v are supplemented with processional chants, litanies and a sequentiary (ff. 83v-109r). Bound into the manuscript at the beginning (ff. 1r-2v) and at the end (ff. 109r-122v) are 13th century supplements, among them a neumed German-language sequence dedicated to Mary (fol. 115r) and an elegy on the death of King Philip of Swabia of the House of Hohenstaufen, who was murdered in 1208 (fol. 117v).
Online Since: 09/23/2014
During construction work in 1963, this commentary by Paschasius Radbertus on the Lamentations of Jeremiah was discovered along with 9 other manuscripts in a false floor over the Engelberg library. On the basis of the verse inscription on 1r, the manuscript can be attributed to the library of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178). The hand and the decoration correspond to those characteristic of the Frowin volumes: the text is in black-brown ink with occasional capitals that are accentuated in red, the incipits and explicits are rubricated, simple initials are in red ink, and decorative initials have tendril and bulb motifs in colorful inks (2r, 40v, 73v, 126r, 163r).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This codex with the homilies on the Gospels by Saint Gregory was discovered in 1963 along with 9 other volumes during construction work in the monastery of Engelberg. 1v-2r and 46v each list the titles of 20 homilies. The volume has on 113r-116v various collections and lists, including on 114r, after an excised page, the so-called school-book list. The individual Homilies are each indicated with a red initial and red incipit and explicit. The only change of hands in the well-proportioned script can be observed on 40r-44r. Tears in the parchment have been artfully stitched up. A contract text on 1r and a dedicatory poem on 1v attest that the manuscript was produced under Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
For centuries this manuscript was unknown, until in 1963 it was discovered along with several other codices (including 1003, 1005, 1007, 1009) in a false floor over the library of Engelberg Abbey. The circumstances surrounding this stash – perhaps protection from theft or some other threat – are unknown. On the basis of how it was produced and the verse on 1r, the codex can be placed among the series of volumes with text by Augustine (Cod. 12-18, 87-88 and 138) in the library of Abbot Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
An Engelberg copy of the historical work Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII by the ecclesiastical author Orosius. The Engelberg exemplar was commissioned under Abbot Frowin (1143-1178). It contains, among other items, noteworthy initials in the Engelberg book decoration style of the time and a large number of glosses. The manuscript is a meticulous copy from the St. Gall exemplar, Cod. 621 (9th century). This Engelberg manuscript later served as the master text for yet another copy, Cod. 60 of the Schaffhausen City Library (Schaffhauser Stadtbibliothek).
Online Since: 07/31/2007
This volume is part of an antiphonary in three volumes that was produced in duplicate for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent in the city of Bern shortly after the college's founding in the years 1484/85. The manuscript contains the entire winter portion of the Temporale, of the Sanctorale and of the Commune Sanctorum according to the liturgy of the Diocese of Lausanne. The book decoration with miniatures for numerous initials is attributed to the Master of the breviary of Jost von Silenen, an itinerant artist who was active in Fribourg, Bern, Sion and later in Ivrea and Aosta. He got his name from a breviary in two volumes that was created around 1493 for the Bishop of Sion, Jost of Silenen (1482-1496). After the introduction of the Reformation to Bern in the year 1528 and the subsequent secularization of the chapter, the entire group of antiphonaries was sold in 1530: four were sold to the city of Estavayer-le-Lac and were used there for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Lorenz; the other two — among them a duplicate of this manuscript — reached Vevey under circumstances that remain unexplained. They are currently held in the historical museum there.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This volume is part of an antiphonary in three volumes that was produced in duplicate for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent (founded in 1484/85) in the city of Bern. It contains the Proprium de sanctis and the Commune Sanctorum of the summer portion (March 25 to November 25) according to the liturgy of the Diocese of Lausanne. The book decoration generally matches that of the first volume and can be attributed to a different anonymous illuminator of lesser quality. After the introduction of the Reformation to Bern in the year 1528 and the subsequent secularization of the chapter, the entire group of six antiphonaries was sold in 1530: four were sold to the city of Estavayer-le-Lac and were used there for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Lorenz; the other two — among them a duplicate of this volume — reached Vevey under circumstances that remain unexplained. They are currently held in the historical museum there.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This is the third and last volume of an antiphonary in three volumes that was produced in duplicate for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent (founded in 1484/85) in the city of Bern. It contains the summer portion of the De Tempore according to the liturgy of the Diocese of Lausanne. Its duplicate is contained in volume IV. The book decoration consists of five illuminated initials, fleuronée initials and cadels, by the same artist who also decorated volume I. After the introduction of the Reformation to Bern in the year 1528 and the subsequent secularization of the chapter, the entire group of six antiphonaries was sold in 1530. Four were sold to the city of Estavayer-le-Lac and were used there for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Lorenz; the other two reached Vevey under circumstances that remain unexplained; they are currently held in the historical museum there.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This volume is part of an antiphonary in three volumes that was produced in duplicate for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Vincent (founded in 1484/85) in the city of Bern. It contains the summer portion of the De Tempore according to the liturgy of the Diocese of Lausanne. Its duplicate is contained in volume III. The book decoration is by an anonymous artist; it consists of cadels, fleuronée initials and an illuminated initial with a border on f. 1r. After the introduction of the Reformation to Bern in the year 1528 and the subsequent secularization of the chapter, the entire group of six antiphonaries was sold in 1530. Four were sold to the city of Estavayer-le-Lac and were used there for the liturgy of the Collegiate Church of St. Lorenz; the other two reached Vevey under circumstances that remain unexplained; they are currently held in the historical museum there.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This manuscript, which consists of only 28 leaves and which contains a part of a missal for the Ambrosian Rite, comes from the Oratory of St. Bernardino in Faido (Ticino); under the patronage of the Varesi family, this chapel was newly consecrated in the 15th century (probably 1459). The manuscript was donated to the Oratory by the Varesi family, possibly for this occasion, in order to allow the celebration of the Holy Mass. A quire containing the mass for the patron saint St. Bernardino (20-25) was added to the first quires (1-12, 16-19), as well as the loose leaf with two miniatures representing the Maiestas domini and the crucifixion. The script, a Gothic rotunda of the Italian type, contrasts with the miniatures which show a certain relationship to contemporaneous colored engravings of German origin.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The Burgau Offnung of 1469 is a medieval law book. It governs the relations of associates in the law courts, at the princely court, and in communal landholdings within a court district (here the lower court of Burgau near Flawil) with the lord of that court, the "Vogt" (reeve). At the time this was Rudolf IX Giel of Glattburg, a ministry official of the abbot of St. Gall Abbey. Originally the Burgau Offnung was part of a single volume together with those of Flawil, Gebhartschwil, Uffhoven and Rudlen. The Flawil Offnung (up to page 17) was removed and bound separately. Preceding the text of the Burgau Offnung on pp. 18-28 were those of the Offnung of gebhartschwil, uffhoven und rudeln. The book was entrusted to the respective “Ammann” (head of the district council) of Burgau of the time. After 1798, following the dissolution of the lower court, the book transferred to the village corporation of Burgau. After consolidation of Burgau with Flawil, the book came into the custody of the municipality of Flawil.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
The Flawil Offnung of 1471, sealed on 21 January 1472, is a medieval law book. It governs the relations of associates in the law courts, at the princely court, and in communal landholdings within a court district (here the lower court of Flawil) with the lord of that court, the "Vogt" (reeve). At the time this was Rudolf IX Giel of Glattburg, a ministry official of the abbot of St. Gall Abbey. This document provides an insight into the legal and economic situation towards the end of the 15th century. Originally the Flawil Offnung was part of a single volume together with those of Gebhartschwil, Uffhoven and Rudlen (Aufhofen and Rudeln) as well as Burgau. Later the Flawil Offnung (up to page 17) was removed. Due to the dissolution of the lower court, after 1798 the Flawil Offnung was transferred to the citizens' corporation or today's municipality of Flawil.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This finely painted illustration, executed in vibrant and colorful opaque colors, has been cut out. It depicts the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple as described in the Gospel of Luke. Mary and Joseph bring the infant to the old prophet Simeon in order to receive his blessing. One of the two women behind Mary holds two doves in her right hand, which are to be sacrificed according to the requirements. In her left hand the woman carries burning candles, which indicate the feast to which this event is dedicated, i.e. Candlemas. Below Jesus, three small kneeling figures are praying: a Dominican nun and the donor couple. The scene is inserted into an N-initial decorated with scroll ornamentation at the beginning of the Canticle of Simeon for the feast of Mary: Nunc dimittis, domine, servum tuum in pace (Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word). The words visible at the top Intercede pro nobis (Pray for us [Holy Mother of God]) follow at the end of the song. An excerpt from the liturgical antiphon with the text Postquam impleti sunt dies purgationis (When the days of purification were completed) is preserved on the back. This fragment was purchased at auction at Sotheby's in London by the Canton of Thurgau in 1978; it came from the collection of Robert von Hirsch of Basel (1883–1977).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This miniature was cut from a deluxe manuscript. The Annunciation of the Lord, depicted in the initial M-of the text Missus est Gabriel (Gabriel was sent), is celebrated on March 25. The Archangel Gabriel and Mary face each other in a vertically rectangular, geometrically designed border, each framed by an arch of the M. Gabriel holds a banderole with his greeting to the listening Mary AVE GRACIA PLENA (Hail Mary, full of grace). The side pillars of the letter M lead down into palmette leaves, which have been carefully cut out and thus protrude into the area surrounding the miniature. Above the palm leaves on the right there are red note lines and a single note. This illustration is from a particularly large-format book, an illustration of high painterly quality with light opaque colors in pink, green and blue tones, which are finely graded. The musical text on the back can be assigned to verses 2.2, 4.11 and 4.13 of the Song of Songs. This leaf comes from the same chorale manuscript as the miniature with the representation of the "Death of the Virgin". Both leaves show stations from the cycle of The Life of the Virgin, with T09393 illustrating the first stage and T 9394 the last. Stylistically they can be placed alongside three leaves from the collection de Bastard d'Estang in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (AD 152G, PL 842-3, AD 150H, PL 51). In 1994, the canton of Thurgau commercially acquired both fragments in Paris. Previously, they had been privately held in Switzerland.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This particularly large-format book illustration was cut from a deluxe manuscript. In the initial V-to the text Vidi speciosam on the occasion of the feast of the Assumption on August 15, the Blessed Mother lies on her deathbed, surrounded by three apostles and Jesus, who receives her soul in the form of a small female figure. A vertically rectangular frame with a repeating geometric pattern surrounds the scene. Three branches with leaves and rosettes that are trimmed back grow from the left side of the initial V. The painting in tones of bright blue and red is of high quality. The lyrics on the back are taken from Bible verses 26 to 32 of Lectio prima from the Gospel of Luke. The leaf is from the same chorale manuscript as miniature with the representation of the "Annunciation to Mary". Both leaves show stations from the cycle of The Life of the Virgin, with T 9393 illustrating the first stage and T 9394 the last. Stylistically they can be placed alongside three leaves from the collection de Bastard d'Estang in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (AD 152G, PL 842-3, AD 150H, PL 51). In 1994, the canton of Thurgau commercially acquired both fragments in Paris. Previously, they had been privately held in Switzerland
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Fragment of a leaf from a chorale manuscript. Two rectangular illustrations, arranged one above the other on the left side of the picture, show two stations from the life of Catherine: In the upper picture she denies obedience to the emperor and turns her attention only to Jesus. The picture below depicts the spiritual relationship of courtly love (Minne) between Catherine and Christ. The rest of the parchment leaf as well as the back side contain liturgical text consisting of musical notation and song lyrics. Below a red staff with black notes is the corresponding line of text. The illustrations were created in a book painting workshop in which the gradual from the Convent of Dominican nuns St. Katharinental was also made (Swiss National Museum Inv. LM 26117 / Historical Museum Thurgau Inv. T 41401). The two miniatures can be attributed to the same hand as the group of figures underneath the Initial on fol. 179v in the gradual. Fragile figures with lively gestures, refined drawing of the faces, subdued colors as well as joy in pictorial narration with original picture elements distinguish this illuminator. This leaf was acquired by the Historical Museum Thurgau in 2011 at an auction in Zurich.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This processional (from the Latin processio, 'to advance' and referring to processions inside and outside the church), containing the order of the procession as well as the chants and texts to be recited during processions, consists of two codicological parts. The first part is from the last quarter of the 15th century and contains chants and prayers for the entire liturgical year; it is decorated with seven multicolor illuminated initials depicting scenes from the Gospels. The sections to be sung have square notation in black. While the first part presumably was not created in and for the convent of St. Katharinental (TG), the second part names the stations and the relics that are carried; thus it is meant for the processions of the Dominican convent.
Online Since: 03/19/2020
This manuscript was written by Heinricus Tierli (probably identical with Heinricus Tierlin, conductor in Schuttern and procurator in Freiburg im Breisgau); by means of the Explicit (f. 278vb), it can be dated to June 21, 1407. The main text (ff. 1r-278v) is introduced with Incipit Collectorium Bertrucii in parte practica medicine [...] (ff. V1r-V14r). This is followed by: Tabula primi libri (ff. V14r-V14v), Tituli secunde sectionis (ff. V14v-V15r), Tituli tercie sectionis (ff. V15r-V15v) and Tituli quarto sectionis (f. V15v). The title and text headings are in red, and individual initials are in in blue or red. The manuscript has a contemporary leather binding, metal clasps and a spine restored in 1978. A trimmed medieval document (see rear pastedown) was bound in. There are the following ownership notes: Hic liber pertinet Leonhardo hemerly de constancia (fol. 278vb), Sum Bernhardi Stoppelij M[edicinae] Doctoris (in a 17th century hand, f. V1r) and Magister petrus hemmerlis (original, no longer existing, front pastedown).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The Frauenfeld history Bible (“Historienbibel”) was completed in about 1450 in the atelier of Diebold Lauber at Hagenau (Alsace) and revised somewhat later. It contains 80 illustrations, each showing the work of three separate hands. It was probably in the possession of the Cloister of Augustinian Canons at Kreuzlingen beginning in the 16th century.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Breviary, rubricated red and blue, with numerous initials on a gold background as well as drolleries at the lower margin. Calendar with the signs of the zodiac and with agricultural tasks to be carried out in each month. Particularly worthy of emphasis are the full-page representations of St. Christopher (p. 176), of the Adoration of the Magi (p. 178), and of Christ on the Cross (p. 179). Based on the mention of saints in the calendar and in the rest of the manuscript, it was probably created in Besançon. From there, by unexplained means, it came into the possession of the patrician family Wallier of Solothurn: owners' entries by Guillaume Wallier (16th century) and Henri Wallier (1605) on p. 4 and p. 731, the latter's also on the front cover. On p. 90 of the 1858 catalogue of the cantonal library of Thurgau, the provenance is given as Fischingen. Possibly the mansucript reached Fischingen by means of one of the two abbots of Fischingen from Solothurn, Augustin Bloch from Oberbuchsitten (1776-1815) or the last Abbot of Fischingen, Franz Fröhlicher from Bellach (1836- 1848).
Online Since: 04/23/2013
This single-column manuscript, created in the second half of the 15th century, was very carefully written by a scribe in a humanistic minuscule. The work contains two texts by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Cribratio Alcorani (ff. 1r-70r) and Contra Bohemos (ff. 70v-90r). With Cribratio Alcorani he attempted a precise philological and historical investigation of the Koran, and in Contra Bohemos he dealt with Hussitism. The title page (f. 1r) is decorated with bianchi girari (white vine scrolls). Two medallions with coats of arms are integrated in the border. The coats of arms show a white lion on a blue background and are crowned with the papal insignia. The coat of arms can be attributed to Pope Paul II. (Pietro Barbo, 1464-1471), which shows that the manuscript was made by order of the pope or at least during his papacy. Initials at the beginning of each chapter are golden with a background in blue and green. Individual initials are emphasized more strongly and one is decorated with white vine scroll, corresponding to the title page. The binding of the manuscript, richly decorated with plant ornaments, medallions and depictions of saints, dates from the 16th century. The central medallion on the front shows Mary with the infant Jesus.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The prayer book was written in 1475 (f. 217v). The place of origin is unknown. The text begins with the incipit Diss büchlin ist von anis und zwantzig festen und von sextechen hochziten die durch das gantz jahr begangen werdent [...] (f. 1r). The initials and the incipit are highlighted in red. Otherwise, the text appears unadorned and was written in brown ink by one main hand in one column. Bound into the center of many quires are reinforcing strips from a 14th century missal (written in textualis). The leather binding, which was created at the same time as the manuscript, is decorated with diagonally arranged decorative lines and ornamental stamps.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This single-column manuscript was written in a meticulous 14th century hand. The volume contains Omelie (homilies, ff. 1r-103r), Dialogi (dialogues, ff. 103v-170r) and the Liber pastoralis (ff. 172r-219v) by Pope Gregory I (542-604). The headings are written in red, and the manuscript contains red decorated initials on f. 103v and 172r. Furthermore, the main text of the manuscript is supplemented with various annotations by a somewhat later hand. The manuscript can be dated by means of various entries on f. 103r The main hand wrote Expliciunt omelie sancti Gregorij pape. Anno Nonagesimo. Two other hands noted domini 130° above the main text and 1390 next to it. On f. 219v the main hand also wrote Explicit Pastorale beati Gregorij pape Etc. Anno Millesimo ccc°. Nonagesimo primo. Finitus est liber iste in die s. Benedicti. The same page has a first ownership note Iste liber est domus throni sancte trinitatis in pletriach, which refers to the Carthusian monastery Pletriach in Slovenia. This volume came to the Thurgau Cantonal Library via the Ittingen Charterhouse (18th century ownership note on f. 1r). The white plate binding with two clasps dates from 1553 (dating can be found in the motif of Esaia). Just like manuscript Y 39, this binding also has plant ornaments and images of saints.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This 1394 composite manuscript contains an excerpt of the Super libros sapientie (ff. 1r-192r) by Robert Holcot (ca. 1290-1349). Folio 1r has a note of ownership Jste liber est h. wahter prespiteri et detur filijs fratris mei (et johanni . heinrici by another hand) in remedium anime mee, which names Heinrich Wachter (priest) as the owner. This single-column manuscript was written in a cursive script by two different hands. Folios 1r-86v can unequivocally be attributed to Heinrich Wachter. Folios 87r-192r were written by an unknown second hand. The rest of the volume can also be ascribed, albeit not entirely unambiguously, to the two hands mentioned above. The pastedowns, the flyleaves and the reinforcing strips are from a register of names, perhaps from a chancellery. The wood-leather binding is contemporary.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The "Schwesternbuch" (sister-book) of St. Katharinental was written in Katharinental near Diessenhofen in the first third of the 15th century. It belongs to the genre of monastic vitae literature and contains the life stories and the experiences of grace of 58 residents of the convent. The cover was inscribed by Antonia Bögin or Botzin (archivist, † 1763) from Kaufbeuren as follows: Lebensbeschreibung viler in allhiessigem gottshauss heylig-mässig gelebter closter-jungfrawen. The table of contents on the front pastedown, the chapter headings with the names of the St. Katharinental nuns mentioned in the book, and an enumeration of the nuns' vitae in the margins of the sheets are in a later hand. The two-column manuscript was written by two different hands. The main hand (pp. 1a-144a) wrote the lives of the nuns and a prayer. Another prayer (pp. 144b-154a) was written by the second hand. The parchment binding with fastening straps dates from the 18th century. The front flyleaf also contains a note of ownership: diss buoch ist schwester Margreten von Ulm († 1583) closterfrow in Sankt Kattrinen thal by Diessenhofen. For the year 1720, Sister Antonia is presumably registered on p. 104 as the new owner of the sister book.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This composite manuscript was produced between 1460 and 1470 in the region of Lake Constance. Perhaps it was held for some time by the Ittingen Charterhouse near Frauenfeld. It contains late medieval sacred and profane texts, which were published for the first time in part based on this manuscript, such as Die fünf Herzeleid Mariä, the Frauenfelder Passionsgedicht and a prose recension of Wolfram's Willehalm, as well as an excerpt from the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit by Henry Suso.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
In contrast to other chronicles by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen), this entirely chronicle of Hauterive Abbey (FR) is not by Murer's hand, but was probably only commissioned by the monk from Ittingen to be created at Hauterive Abbey. Regarding the content, the manuscript consists of two parts: the history of the monastery and a list of ecclesial events. The former begins with Abbot Girard (1138-1157) and ends with Abbot Petrus (end of the 16th century); the latter pertains to the years between 1500 and 1510.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Dominican Monastery of Basel and of the Convent of Maria Magdalena OP in Basel by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). The manuscript is divided into the chronicle of the Dominican Monastery and the chronicle of the Convent in Basel. In the first part, Murer describes the building of the Dominican Monastery in 1233 and the development of the diocese of Basel from the 13th to the 15th century. In the second part, Murer turns to the establishment of the convent in the 11th century and its reconstruction in 1253, as well as other ecclesial events until 1465.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the diocese of Chur by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). Murer describes the establishment of the diocese of Chur and names Asinio (451) as its first bishop, followed by 75 more bishops until John IV (1418-1440). Four modern copies of deeds of donation from Emperor Otto I and King Louis the German, as well as annalistic notes, are appended to the chronicle.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of Einsiedeln Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). The description of the abbots from Eberhard (934-958) to Plazidus (1629-1670) is preceded by a pen and ink drawing of the patron saints of the church and a fold-out map of the monastery complex. The chronicle contains copies, written by Murer, of deeds of donation and confirmation that relate to Einsiedeln Abbey.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Priory of Embrach by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). In this chronicle, which is incomplete with respect to decoration as well as content, Murer describes a few individual abbots and important events in the history of the monastery.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of Engelberg Abbey and of the Convent of St. Andreas by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). The chronicle begins with a description of the geographic location and the foundation of the monastery (1119). This is followed by the history of Engelberg Abbey from Abbot Adelhelm (1124/26-1131) until Abbot Plazidus Knüttel (1630-1658). In a shorter second part, Murer describes the foundation (1199) and history of the Convent of St. Andreas from 1254-1455.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of Fischingen Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk at the Carthusian monastery of Ittingen from 1614), which is probably based on the Chronicle of Jakob Bucher, also a monk at the Ittingen monastary, whose Chronicle of the abbey of Fischingen was completed between September 15, 1627 and September 14, 1628.
Online Since: 10/15/2007
The Chronicle of St. Gall abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a member of the Carthusian Cloister of Ittingen from 1614). According to his own account, Murer based his work on the writings of St. Gall religious community member, legal expert and abbey librarian Jodocus Metzler (1574-1639), among others. The chronicle extends from the founding of the abbey by St. Gallus until the year 1630.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Chronicle of St. John abbey in the Thurtal by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a member of the Carthusian community at Ittingen from 1614). Murer bases his work on information of his own as well as on the writings of St. Gall community member, legal expert and abbey librarian Jodocus Metzler, among others.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Chronicle of the cloisters of St. Katharinental, Töss and Berenberg as set down by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk in the Carthusian monastary of Ittingen from 1614). Embedded within this volume is the "St.Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch" (St. Katharinental Book of Sisters), in a hand from the end of the 17th century, which presents a version of the famous Book of Sisters from the 15th century that is extremely faithful to the original. An equally faithful version of the "Tösser Schwesternbuch" (Töss Book of Sisters by Elisabeth Stagel is rendered in the same hand. The twelve lives from the "St.Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch" found in the above mentioned chronicles are derived from those of Heinrich Murer, as demonstrated by a comparison with the "Helvetia Sancta" by Heinrich Murer.
Online Since: 04/14/2008
Chronicle of the Bishopric of Constance by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, member of the Carthusian monastery at Ittingen from 1614). Heinrich Murer bases his chronicle upon earlier works, including the Chronicon of Hermannus Contractus (1013-1054), which was continued by his pupil Berthold von Reichenau into the year 1080, the Chronik der Alten Eidgenossenschaft (Chronicle of the Old Confederacy) by Johannes Stumpf (1500-1577/78), published in 1547/48; the Chronologia monasteriorum Germaniae praecipuorum by Caspar Bruschius (1518-1557): the Chronik von dem Erzstifte Mainz und dessen Suffraganbistümern (Chronicle of the Archdiocesan Abbey of Mainz and its Suffragan Bishoprics) by Wilhelm Werner, Graf von Zimmern (1485-1575); the historical works of Christoph Hartmann (1568-1637) of Frauenfeld, who was librarian of the Einsiedeln abbey in his later years and who wrote the Annales Heremi Deiparae Matris in Helvetia together with Franz Guillimann. Murer's chronicle extends from the origins of what would later be the Diocese of Constance in Windisch in the year 411 under Bishop Paternus to the year 1629 under Bishop Johannes VII.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of Konstanz Cathedral, of the collegiate churches of the diocese, of the city of Kon-stanz and of Reichenau by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Car-thusian Monastery of Ittingen). While in Y 106 Murer only addressed the history of the diocese of Konstanz, in this manuscript he goes into more detail about Konstanz and its surroundings. His sources were writings by other clerics, such as the Chronicle of Konstanz by Jakob Rassler (1568-1617).
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of Kreuzlingen Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk in the Carthusian monastery of Ittingen from 1614). Murer based his historical account of the abbey of Kreuzlingen on older documents as well as on a list of abbots extending to 1626.
Online Since: 04/14/2008
The Chronicle of Eschenbach cloister by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen) has two vedute of the monastery from 1625 and 1629, both probable from Heinrich Murer.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the Paradies Cloister by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a member of the Carthusian community at Ittingen beginning in 1614). For this work Murer used the Swiss Chronicle of Johann Stumpf and probably the "Swabian Chronicle" by Thomas Lirer, among others. It contains numerous copies of documents regarding the holdings of the Paradies Cloister.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
A list of Swiss saints in chronological order, from St. Beatus to Nicolaus Rusca and the Capuchin Fidelis. Decorated with pen and ink drawings with blue wash by the painter Hans Asper of Constance. Murer's model for the Helvetia Sancta most likely was the Bavaria Sancta by Matthäus Rader, published in Munich in 1615.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Chronicle of the Cloister of Reichenau by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk at the Carthusian monastery ofIttingen beginning in 1614), based on the Chronicle of Gallus Oeheim, Priest and Chaplain of the Cloister of Reichenau († 1511).
Online Since: 07/25/2006
Three chronicles of the Abbey of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen in three different hands, among which the first is the hand of Heinric Murer (1588-1638, a member of the Carthusian community at Ittingen beginning in 1614).
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Chronicle of Selnau Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). This incomplete manuscript would have treated the Cistercian monasteries of Switzerland in a first part and, in a second more detailed part, the convent of nuns at Selnau. The manuscript remained fragmentary.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Cloister of Wettingen by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, member of the Carthusian convent at Ittingen beginning 1614).
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the Grossmünster of Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). In this chronicle, Heinrich Murer first gives a detailed history of the city of Zurich and of the Grossmünster, before he begins a list and description of the individual provosts.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Fraumünster, the Peterskirche, and the Wasserkirche in Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638). Murer cites the Tigurinerchronik of Heinrich Bullinger as the source of his Chronicle of the Peterskirche and both the Tigurinerchronik and the Schweizer Chronik of Johannes Stumpf as sources for the Chronicle of the Chapel “auf dem Hof”.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the smaller abbeys and foundations of Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). This volume is a collection of short, incomplete descriptions giving the history of abbeys and foundations of Zurich, introduced by title pages of pen and ink drawings with blue wash. The following institutions are de-scribed: the Augustinian monastery in the mindere Stadt (smaller city) of Zurich, the Franciscan monastery of the grosse Stadt (larger city) of Zurich, the Dominican monastery, the community of Beguines of St. Verena, and the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Oetenbach.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This obsequiale (processional) of Otto IV von Sonnenberg, Bishop of Constance (1481-1491), was written during his lifetime in the Constance area; it contains instructions for the organisation of liturgical ceremonies (for example, administering the sacraments, ecclesiastic blessings, and exorcisms).
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript of homiletic content was written in Überlingen in 1495. Not only the place of origin of the manuscript, opido ùberlingen, but also the name of its author – scribebat Stephanus hamgarter nomen –, Stephanus Hamgarter von Stein (former parish assistant in Seefelden near Überlingen), can be gathered from the explicit (f. 38vb). The composite manuscript contains the Sermones dominicales de tempore (ff. 1ra-38vb) by Peregrinus de Oppeln (ca. 1260-1335), a Sermo de passione domini (ff. 59ra-66va), and further sermons (ff. 66va-82v). The volume was restored by “Hans Heiland und Sohn” in 1965, who also provided it with a new green leather binding.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
From the colophon (Finitus est liber Iste feria secunda Post festum Concepcionis virginis Marie. Anno domini 1498. Per fratrem iohannem Coci Conuentualem huius monastery. Iiij ydus decembris Laus deo, f. 186r), it can be inferred that this Psalter was written by Johannes Koch (mentioned in the Fischinger necrology and documented between 1498 and 1514, parish priest in Bichelsee (TG) from 1483 on) and that it was finished in 1498. It is striking that the writing on ff. 98r-110r was traced with black ink by a later hand. The paper pages with a hymn (ff. 187r-188v) were probably added later. The pages of musical notes have 5 red lines with German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation"). The manuscript also has a simple red title (f. 1r): Incipit psalterium in nomine domini, immediately followed by a listing of the workdays. Headings are also kept in red. The front and back covers show the imprint of the former pastedowns. The contemporary yellow leather binding with Renaissance press patterns from the 15th and 16th century has two clasps as well as corner fittings. In addition, the front cover bears an 18th century paper label that unmistakably refers to the Benedictine Fischingen Abbey with the shelfmark C:XV. S:13. Notat: 10.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This work, written in German, contains the life of Thomas Aquinas written by William of Tocco (1240-1323). On f. 106v, there is also a note on the writer and on the possible patroness of the work: Dis buoch hat ze tùtsche bracht gemachet vnd geschriben pfaff Eberhard von Rapreswil kilcherr zu Jonen (addition anno 1418 by a 16th or 17th century hand). Dem sol Got vnsri frow sant Thoman der heilig lerer vnd die erwirdig frow die Stoeklerin ze Toess wol lonen. According to this entry, the 15th century hand goes back to Eberhard von Rapperswil, who was pastor in Jona in the canton of St. Gallen. The woman who commissioned the work is considered to be the nun Stöklerin from Töss (probably Elsbeth Stükler). This makes the work one of the few German translations of the life of Thomas Aquinas. Individual initials are not only highlighted in red, but are also decorated. The manuscript has a raspberry-red leather binding with clasps, which was restored in the 20th century. The detached pastedowns in the front and back are from a 13th century manuscript with neumes (probably a Kyriale). The manuscript contains two ownership notes: Dijs buoch ist erhart blarer von Wartensee zuo Kemten, guothsher zuo kemtem vnd zuo Werdeg (f. 106v) and Monasterij apud D.[ivam] Yddam in Visch.[ingen] (f. 1r). Accordingly, the manuscript belonged to Prince Abbot Johann Erhard Blarer von Wartensee in Kempten, who is documented to have been active from 1587 to 1594; subsequently the manuscript became the property of Fischingen Abbey.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This single-column paper manuscript is dated December 20, 1453 (f. 163r). The Liber officiorum was written by a main hand, which also added the red marginalia throughout the manuscript. A second hand is responsible for the interlinear glosses, other marginalia and red manicules. Chapter headings and lombards were kept in red throughout. The three parts of the work are each introduced by an initial containing a figure (f. 1r, 69r, 112v). Fol. 1r was additionally decorated with a frame of plant ornaments. The ex-libris on the front pastedown names Georg Alfred Kappeler (1839-1916, theologian and pastor) from Frauenfeld as the owner of the paper manuscript. The Kappeler family is proven to have lived in Frauenfeld since 1443. Due to their influential activities as governors, teachers and pastors, in the 19th century the Kappeler family was part of the educated middle class, to which Georg Alfred Kappeler also belonged. His legacy lives on today through several valuable manuscripts and prints still held by the Cantonal Library of Thurgau.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This late 15th century manuscript is one of the earliest works in the holdings of the Carthusian Library in Ittingen. Jacobus Saurer von Blaubeuren (died 1514) is considered the scribe of the manuscript (with the exception of ff. 179r-180v): […] Jacobum Sënger alias Säurer propria ipsius manu conscriptus. The two-column paper manuscript contains the Tractatus super epistolas dominicales by the French scholastic Johannes Algrinus de Abbatisvilla as well as his entries on the Gospels for Pentecost. The text is written very evenly in a careful “Kurrent”. The brown wood-leather binding with clasps is contemporary and features decorative lines and ornamental stamps (stars and leaf ornaments).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This breviary, created in the second half of the 15th century, contains texts for the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours. The owner of the manuscript is Niklaus Hass (Primissarius in Allenbach): Iste liber pertinent Nicolao Hass primissario in Allenspach (f. 1r). This paper manuscript probably came to Kreuzlingen because of the good relations of Kreuzlingen Abbey to chapter of Constance. The two-column breviary was written by six different hands, of which that of Nikolaus Marschalk (died 1448, custos and canon of the monastery of St. Johann in Constance, see entry on f. 1r) can be named as the main hand (ff. 33ra-287vb, 290ra-303ra, 310ra-340rb and 342r). A second hand is responsible for the calendar and the beginning of the breviary (ff. 1r-8r, 12r-28vb and 309r-309v). Further entries are by four additional hands (third hand: ff. 28vb-32ra, fourth hand: ff. 288r-289v, fifth hand: ff. 303ra-304rb, sixth hand: ff. 305ra-308rb). The manuscript was written in a “Kurrent”. The contemporary wood-leather binding with a clasp and brass bosses is striking. The Kreuzlingen coat of arms was only subsequently engraved on the front as supralibros.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Around 1220 Konrad Fleck translated the romantic novel "Flore et Blancheflor", written in 1160 by an unknown Provençal poet, into High Alemannic. The complete work consists of about 8,000 verses. Several fragments of an early copy of Fleck's translation have survived in the parish archives of Frauenfeld. The parchment pieces had been used as a cover for a tribute register from the prebend of St. Michael.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The Schwabenspiegel manuscript was commissioned in 1410. It contains a collection of land and feudal laws that were in effect during the late middle ages in southern Germany and what is now the German speaking part of Switzerland. Additional content bound in this volume includes the biblical books of Kings and Maccabees as well as a first German translation of the Handfeste, the Fribourg City Law of 1249. An unusual item found in this manuscript is a miniature of the Flag of Fribourg, which appears here for the first time as we know it today, in the colors black and white.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
In 1646 the Petit Conseil or Executive Council of Fribourg commissioned Pierre Crolot, an artist from the Free County of Burgundy, with the task of illustrating the flags and banners that were carried by Fribourg troops on campaigns in the Sundgau, Burgundy, and Italy (at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century) and where then displayed in the church of St. Nicholas. These objects themselves disappeared without a trace in 1822, with the exception of three ceremonial robs of the Order of the Golden Fleece (which are now on display in the castle of Gruyère). The book contains 42 illustrations: 3 frontispieces show the coats of arms of the city, its bailiwicks, and the coats of arms of the members of the Executive Council; 30 illustrations reproduce the banners and 9 illustrations portray Burgundian clothing items and tapestries. The “Book of Flags” is an art object, valuable as a record of objects that have been lost, as well as a witness to the fame of the Fribourg troops in the late Middle Ages.
Online Since: 07/04/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the Proprium de tempore. The parchment codex was written between 1511 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg. The binding, from about 1517, is from the workshop of the Franciscans in Fribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the Proprium de tempore. The parchment codex was written between 1511 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg. The binding, from about 1528-1559, is from the workshop of the Franciscans in Fribourg.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the Proprium de tempore as well as the Commune sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1509/1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the Proprium de tempore as well as the Commune sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1509/1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the de Sanctis, the Officium B.M.V. and the Commune Sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg by 2 hands (A and B). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg and an assistant.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the de Sanctis, the Officium B.M.V. and the Commune Sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg by 2 hands (A and B). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg and an assistant.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the de Sanctis and the Officium B.M.V.The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg completely by hand B (cf. Saint Nicholas Chaper Archive, ms. 5). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the de Sanctis and the Officium B.M.V.The parchment codex was written between 1511 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript contains an annal that records the celebrations for the anniversaries of the clergy of the Cathedral of Lausanne – cf. the unnumbered title page: Iste liber est capellanorum celebrancium in ecclesia katedrali Lausannensi de anniversariis que fiunt per dictos celebrantes. The original part might be from the 1420s, to which numerous later hands added on, in order to complete the anniversary masses that were celebrated. The internal organization follows the calendar month by month. The annal thus begins on January 1st (on page 1) and ends on December 24th (on page 167). Each page consists of two columns, each representing a different day, the title of which (letter – sometimes followed by the name of the liturgical feast) is rubricated. At the top of each column, the days are also given as days of the month (in Roman numerals) in a Gothic cursive script that seems to have been a later addition. The older necrologies of the cathedral chapter of Lausanne are known only through excerpts (included in the Lausanne cartulary at the behest of Conon d'Estavayer in 1224 and 1238) or mentions (in 1354 the chapter delegates were mandated to write an “anniversary book” – which, however, disappeared). This necrology was kept in Fribourg, probably arriving there after the conquest of Vaud by Bern in the course of the Reformation; it is therefore the oldest necrology surviving from the medieval period and makes it possible to fill in certain documentary gaps.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The state archives of Fribourg owns a whole series of registers of citizens(Bürgerbücher). The first two of these registers are the most important ones; they cover the period from 1341 to 1769 and are presented here in digitized form. The registers present the citizens of the city of Fribourg as they change from a citizenry that is very open for economic reasons at the turn of the 15th century to one that gradually closes itself off and then becomes a privileged patriciate in the 18th century. ‘Bürgerbücher' were a means of controlling the enrollment of new citizens through lists, which from the very beginning could be in book form. This allowed mostly large and medium-sized German cities that had achieved a certain political and economic development to react to and to regulate demographic trends and immigration during the late Middle Ages, after and even before the great plague (mid-14th century). The first register was not planned, but consists of separate booklets that were bound together probably in 1416.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
The state archives of Fribourg owns a whole series of registers of citizens(Bürgerbücher). The first two of these registers are the most important ones; they cover the period from 1341 to 1769 and are presented here in digitized form. The registers present the citizens of the city of Fribourg as they change from a citizenry that is very open for economic reasons at the turn of the 15th century to one that gradually closes itself off and then becomes a privileged patriciate in the 18th century. ‘Bürgerbücher' were a means of controlling the enrollment of new citizens through lists, which from the very beginning could be in book form. This allowed mostly large and medium-sized German cities that had achieved a certain political and economic development to react to and to regulate demographic trends and immigration during the late Middle Ages, after and even before the great plague (mid-14th century). The second register was created in 1416 by the deliberate designs of city clerk Petermann Cudrefin, who had kept the first register since 1396 and had found it very disorganized.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript (formerly AEF, Grosses de Marsens, n° 64) consists of three different parts: the Martyrology of Usuard (ff. 1r-77r), the Regula S. Augustini (Regula tertia without the Ordo monasterii; ff. 77v-83r) and the Necrologium monasterii Humilismontis (ff. 83v-113v). The original and oldest part of the necrology is by the same scribe as the rest of the manuscript, which can be dated to 1338 by means of the colophon at the end of the Rule of St. Augustine (fol. 81r): "Hic liber est abbacie Humilismontis Premonstratensis ordinis Lausannensis dyocesis scriptus in eadem abbatia anno Domini Mo CCCo XXXVIIIo mense iulio”. The necrology was later completed by various hands that registered donations for annual Masses for the deceased (for members of the abbey as well as for laypeople). The pagination from 1-61 was done in ink by Jean Gremaud, presumably at the same time that he made the copy held in the StAF (State Archives of Fribourg, Gremaud collection, vol. 36, fol. 304-307). According to an ownership note on folio 1r, in 1660 the manuscript was the property of the Jesuit Collège Saint-Michel in Fribourg.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
The manuscript RN 9/1, which contains the oldest notarial register in the state archive of Fribourg, is from the chancellery of Pierre Nonans. It consists of two clearly separated parts. The first 110 leaves contain the ‘normal' part, which comprises legal matters between 1 February 1356 (New Style) and 21 March 1359 (New Style). The second part begins in the opposite direction on folio 123, ending on folio 110, so that both parts meet on folio 110r. This second part constitutes a special register (fol. 110-123), which records the loans arranged between 1 March 1356 (New Style) and 20 March 1359 (New Style) with the Fribourg Lombards, moneylenders originally from Lombardy but residing in Fribourg since the late 13th century; this register bears the name Registrum Lombardorum. It is by this name that the entire register has become recorded in history.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
The “Katharinenbuch” contains the regulations for a secondary school, as it was to be founded in Fribourg at the time of the Catholic reform on the model of the reformed schools. Peter Schneuwly (1540-1597) can be considered the author; he himself probably went to school in Fribourg. From 1557 on, he studied in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he attained a Magister artium. From 1564 on, he was a member of the clergy of the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Fribourg, in 1565 he became a canon, and in 1566 a preacher in the city. At this time, the first preparatory works for the “Katharinenbuch” took shape. In the years 1577-1597, Schneuwly was vicar general of the Diocese of Lausanne, from 1578-1587 also provost of St. Nicholas. The “Katharinenbuch” also constitutes the charter of the “Scholarchenkammer” (chamber of scholarchs) of the city of Fribourg, in whose possession it remained until the 19th century. The school reform sought by Schneuwly never went into effect because in 1580, also on Schneuwly's initiative, the Jesuits were called to Fribourg and were entrusted with secondary education.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Paper manuscript containing the Parallel Lives of Plutarch in latin translation. The first page features a golden initial on a background of white vine stem decoration, as well as a coat of arms in the bottom margin, perhaps that of Guiniforte Zazzi, Pavia professor of law; on the sides of the coat of arms can be read the name of Peter Falck (†1519), the Fribourg humanist through whom the manuscript reached Fribourg before becoming part of the library of the Capuchins, and, in 2004, of the University Library.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
The liturgical content of this manuscript corresponds to that in use among the Carthusians. The church consecration festival listed in the Proprium de Sanctis between the feast days on the 4th and the 23rd of April probably refers to the 18th of April, when this holiday was celebrated at La Lance. This observation suggests that the manuscript was created in the Carthusian Monastery La Lance (Canton of Vaud). Several ex-libris can be dated around 1500 and confirm the presence of this codex in the monastery, at least until its dissolution in 1538. Then the manuscript was passed on to the Carthusian Monastery Part-Dieu in the Canton of Fribourg. Recently the manuscript was restored and the old binding was replaced.
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This collection of hagiographical texts was written by various hands in the second third of the 13th century, probably in Hauterive. The presence of certain texts indicates a Cistercian origin (Vita of St. Robert of Molesme, the author Geoffroy de Hautecombe) and, based on our knowledge of medieval Hauterive, a regional origin (the Vita of St. Theodore, Bishop of Sion; the Vita and the Miracula of Saint Nicholas of Myra; the Vita of St. Elizabeth of Hungary; the Passio of Saint Maurice and his companions by Eucherius of Lyon). The end of the book contains a collection of texts related to confession. The last one of these attests a little know activity of the monks: the pastoral care of the Cistercian nuns. The manuscript remains in its original cover which, although damaged, is still well recognizable: a cover with wide flaps that cover the edges of the book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
In addition to various Formulae epistolarum, this manuscript contains the Summa dictaminis by Johannes Wrantz (ff. 1r-126r), excerpts from the Viaticus dictandi by Nicolaus of Dybin (ff. 138v-140r) and a song, partly with musical notation, in Middle High German perhaps by Neidhart of Reuental (ff. 144v-145r), one of the best known German minnesingers. At an unknown later time, probably at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century, the manuscript became part of the Cantonal und University Library of Fribourg (BCU/KUB).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
A breviary for the diocese of Lausanne preceded by a psalter. The different parts of the text are introduced by illuminated initials produced in an archaic manner. According to a note at the end of the text, the codex was produced by Magister Gilles around 1400 at the behest of Pierre Frenscher of Montagny, parish priest of Saint Nicholas of Fribourg. Another note records a donation by Frenscher for the altar of Saint Sylvester in the church of Saint Nicholas in Fribourg.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
James of Voragine's Golden Legend, one of the most copied texts of the Middle Ages, appears here in a meticulous fourteenth-century copy. This copy is particularly noteworthy for its exceptional elegance and the refined stitchwork that fixes defects in the parchment (holes and tears); they bring to mind similar works from the double convent of canons and canonesses at Interlaken. The decoration resembles the output of a Zurich workshop. Little is known of the early history of the manuscript, but it as attested in the Cistercian monastery of Hauterive from at least the seveneenth century.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
Few works of antiquity had as profound an influence on the Middle Ages as did Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae. This exemplar contains valuable information which allows it to be placed in an interesting historical context. The Fribourg cleric Pierre Guillomin finished copying the manuscript on Christmas Eve 1447 in Dijon. The colophon, which states these details, also names the recipient of the manuscript, Jacques Trompettaz († 1503), a compatriot of the copyist. The latter was careful to include in several passages of the text, in addition to his own name and that of the addressee, the names of two more Fribourg friends, Claude de Gruyère and Jacques Sutz, Monk at Hauterive.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The Liber ordinarius is a liturgical text that describes the ceremonies for every day and for holidays for a certain cathedral or for a certain collegiate or monastery church. In this case it is a Liber for Augustinian Hermits; according to a note on f. 63v-64r, it was written by Brother Georius Vituli from the Convent of the Augustinian Heremits in Freiburg in Breisgau. It contains various sermons, instructions and a treatise on the Ten Commandments in German. At some unknown time, the text passed from Freiburg in Breisgau to the Augustinian Convent of Fribourg (Switzerland).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This manuscript contains a complete monastic breviary. The decoration consists of red, blue and green initials with additional pen and ink drawings of floral, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs. Several initials on the first pages (ff. 8-11) were framed on a gold background, probably at a later time. Of French origin, this breviary was used in Payerne from the 12th century on; after the secularization of the priory, it passed into private ownership.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This voluminous paper manuscript contains the sermons de tempore and de sanctis for the summer part, several hagiographic texts and exempla. The manuscript might have originally been from Zurich and was the property of the library of the Augustinian Hermits in Fribourg before it came to the Cantonal Library of Fribourg in 1848.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The manuscript contains primarily the Sermones quadragesimales by the Dominican Jacobus da Varagine. It is from the same scriptorium as Cod. L 34 with the Legenda aurea by the same author, and it shows the same kind of repair to parchment damage, carried out with colored threads. This type of repair can also be found in similar execution from the Augustinian double monastery of Interlaken. The origin of the manuscript remains unknown, but it is attested to have been in the possession of the Cistercians of Hauterive since the 17th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Breviary for use in the diocese of Lausanne. Additions to the calendar attest that this manuscript was used in a Dominican monastery in Lausanne from the 14th century on. The decoration consists of initials with mostly floral ornamentation and drolleries in the margins. This codex was heavily trimmed when it was rebound in the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This small volume contains an anti-Jewish treatise which is said to have been written in Arabic towards the end of the 11th century by Rabbi Samuel de Fez, who converted to Christianity. In 1339 it was translated into Latin by the Spanish Dominican Alfonso Buenhombre. Since no Arabic version of this text is known, it seems that Buenhombre himself is in fact the author. Today, about 300 manuscripts with this text are known, in addition to numerous translations and editions. The origin of this copy is unknown, but it has been in Hauterive since at least the 18th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This Cistercian manuscript, datable to the first half of the 13th century, contains only a part of the Old Testament, that is, the Books Isaiah to and including Malachi. This book must have changed libraries for historical reasons. After being held in the Cistercian Abbey Frienisberg in the Canton of Bern, it reached Hauterive when the Bernese Monastery was dissolved during the Protestant Reformation. The last Abbot of Frienisberg, Urs Hirsinger, is said to have arrived at the Fribourg Abbey with a handful of manuscripts.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
A psalter-hymnal produced for use by Dominicans. The saints recorded in the calendar indicate the codex's point of origin as a Dominican convent in Southern Germany or Bohemia. The decorative style of the illuminated initials and filigrees, above all, indicate Bohemian origin and an origination date in the first half of the 15th century (new information provided by Martin Roland, Vienna).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This quaestio disputata by the Augustinian Johannes of Paltz (around 1445-1511) is a perfect illustration of the working methods of medieval scholasticism. The manuscript was written in Erfurt in the summer of 1486 and has as its topic the refutation of three errors. The first regards those who claim “to be able to calculate and foresee the Last Judgment.” It seems that this document is the only handwritten version of this text, which is known through two printed editions from the 15th century. Franz Xaver Karker (1812-1892), Canon of the Cathedral of Breslau (today Wroclaw in Poland), donated this work to the Fribourg library.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Probably written around 1200 in Hauterive, this Cistercian missal has recently attracted the attention of historians who study St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231). Together with another manuscript from Hauterive, the antiphonary L 301, this manuscript is considered evidence of the rapid spread of the cult of the saint in a Cistercian monastery. Indeed, the general chapter of the Cistercians decided in 1236 to have the name of the saint, who was canonized the previous year, entered into the martyrology and into the calendar of the order. The corresponding entry in our manuscript's calendar, by a second hand, is probably a consequence of this decision.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript contains predominantly hagiographical texts, written in various hands at the beginning of the 13th century. One could reasonably propose that it originated at Hauterive. Without doubt, the text at the beginning of the collection was most important for the monks, a Vita of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (the Vita prima), which takes up the greatest part of the manuscript. Also worth noting is a text quite surprising in a monastic context: the Liber locorum sanctorum terrae Jerusalem at the time of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem by Fretellus of Nazareth († after 1154). Another particularity of the manuscript is its binding with flaps that show traces of metalwork in the shape of a star.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The colophon at the end of the manuscript establishes with certitude that it was copied at the Cistercian abbey of Hauterive during the thirteenth century. Its author, or the one who commissioned the work, dobutless wanted to “gather together the works of two Cistercian authors who exercised important functions in the region: Henry, Abbot of the neighboring monastery of Hautcrêt, and Amadeus, bishop of the diocese of Lausanne” (from Ciardo). Henry, whose biography is still a subject of debate, chose the learned title Pentaconthamonadius (“the fifty-first”) to designate a sermonary composed of 17 groups of three sermons intended for the liturgy of the White monks. Amadeus of Clermont, a Cistercian monk who became bishop of Lausanne (1145-1159), is the author of eight homilies in honor of the Mother of God, which achieved lasting success as liturgical texts because used in the breviary of the diocese of Lausanne.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This Cistercian missal, produced around 1300, “represents an already advanced phase in the development of this type of liturgical book: the chants of the gradual are completely integrated into the sacramentary, and are no longer accompanied by musical notes; moreover, they are written in a smaller script. In this form, the missal could have served the celebrant for both the conventual mass and for the private mass that Cistercians are known to have held since their origins. The geographical origin of the codex has not been determined with certainty. Without doubt, however, from the fifteenth century onward it was at Hauterive, where it was re-bound. The rich decoration in the canon section provide a fine example of fleuronné initials from the end of the thirteenth century; here, the decoration of the scrolls seems to be still “domesticated” by rigorous framing.” (Joseph Leisibach, Liturgica Friburgensia. Des Livres pour Dieu, 1993, p. 89).
Online Since: 03/31/2011