The work „Die vierundzwanzig Alten“ constitutes a sort of guide to Christian life, and, at the time of its composition, the author, Otto von Passau, belonged to the Franciscan convent of Basel. This copy was written in the second half of the 15th century in a dialect used in the upper Rhine region. Unfortunately, the spaces for illustrations at the beginning of the 24 speeches have been left blank.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript contains a collection of computistic and astronomical texts, as well as medical recipes in German (Alemannic) and Latin. Among the identified texts there are excerpts from the Buch der Natur by Konrad von Megenberg. Spaces intended for decorations and perhaps for illustrations have remained blank.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This late 13th century manuscript contains the part of the medieval bestseller Lancelot en prose that was given the provisional name of Agravain, for the Knight of the Round Table who revealed the illegitimate relationship between Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. This simple, neat copy, with gaps at the beginning and end, was decorated with alternating blue and red filigree initials. It is of unknown origin and has been attested in Hauterive since the 18th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This small but extensive (198 ff.) prayer book is written in a variant of North German (Middle Low German). In accordance with the female form in many of the prayers, it was intended for a woman. With the exception of one full-page miniature depicting Christ as the gardener before Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), all illuminations have been removed. An ex-libris on the front pastedown informs us that this small manuscript was a gift to the Fribourg Library in 1891 from Franz Xaver Karker, canon of Wroclaw Cathedral.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This document contains the cartulary and the tribute register of the Cluniac priory of Rüeggisberg in the canton of Bern, which was the first Cluniac priory in the German-speaking area and probably the oldest monastery in the Bernese area. The manuscript consists of two different parts, which were probably joined together in Bern at the beginning of the 16th century, or in 1484, when the priory was abolished and its assets were incorporated into the newly founded St. Vincent monastery of Bern. The first part (ff. 1-200 and 261-267) contains transcriptions made between 1425-1428 of various documents and bulls, and of the priory's register of tributes, which in turn had been copied from even older cartularies. The second part (ff. 201-260) contains documents copied from the collegiate monastery of St. Vincent in Bern.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
A fragmentary gradual for the friars of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Haugustine, copied in 1539 by Jacobus Frank, who is depicted in the bottom margin of 51r. It contains many illuminations with coats-of-arms, mottos and monograms written by different hands from 1538 to 1594. Some of the illuminations have been excised and in some cases then glued back in the codex.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript, copied in an unknown location during the first half of the fourteenth century, provides a beautiful example of a Cistercian antiphony with notes (only the Proprium de tempore is preserved here): an elegant script with widely spaced lines facilitates readability, the musical notes, in square notation, are organized according to a four-line system, and the text is richly decorated with fleuronné initials and droleries. Fragments from a twelfth-century Bible are bound into the beginning of the manuscript and are valuable witnesses for paleographical study of the earliest manuscripts produced by the Cistercians of Hauterive.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
Cistercian capitulary for the nuns of Fille-Dieu Abbey in Romont. In addition to the martyrology and the necrology, the manuscript contains the Rule of Benedict in French. The text was probably written at the Abbess's request and copied by Uldry Charbodat, the priest of Romont, who describes his work in a poem. In it he confirms that he received the parchment from Catherine de Billin (f. 107r). The Capuchin Apollinaire Dellion (1822-1899) donated the manuscript to the Fribourg library in 1879.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript is composed of four parts. The first part (1-16) is from the 14th century and presents an abridged version of Usuard's martyrology. The second part (17-66), from the beginning of the 14th century, contains, among others, texts by Albertus Magnus and Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste. The third (67-164) and fourth parts (165-258), which can be dated to the 14th and 15th century, contain texts by Vincent of Beauvais and Peter Lombard, as well as legal writings. Before it was purchased by the Cantonal Library of Fribourg in 1900, the manuscript belonged to the clergy of Gruyères.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
A composite codex of paper produced at Fribourg in the first half of the 15th century. In the first part, in addition to some short texts in German, it contains the Cycle de la belle dame sans mercy by Alain de Chartier, Baudet Herenc and Achille Caulier, a French poem in octaves on courtly love written ca. 1424. The second part has a copy of another verse poem by Chartier: Le Livre des quatre dames.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This paper manuscript, missing the beginning, contains the French translation of a compendium of the Legenda aurea by Jacobus de Voragine. Numerous ex-libris attest to changes in ownership among various persons in the area around Fribourg, among them Pierre Kämmerling the Elder († 1614) and Jean Muffat de Foncigny, resident in Fribourg (Switzerland).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This missal from the diocese of Lausanne reflects the contents of manuscript Ms. 7 from the Franciscan monastery of Fribourg. The manuscript is decorated with elegant fleuronné letters in red, blue and green, and the page with the Te igitur is framed by a frieze of flowers with a bird holding a flower in its beak. The opposite side, which probably contained a miniature with the crucifixion, has been cut out. The missal was part of the collection of Karl Friedrich von Steiger (died 1982) and was purchased by the BCU Fribourg in 1991.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This paper manuscript contains the Fribourg chronicle of the Burgundian Wars in German, inspired by the Kleiner Burgunderkrieg by Diebold Schilling (1477), but from the perspective of Fribourg. This chronicle, which for a long time had been forgotten, is attributed to Peter von Molsheim from Bern, who is to have written it at the behest of the Council of Fribourg. The initials and illustrations were not executed.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This manuscript contains the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The Samaritan community, an Israelite community that still lives in the West Bank and the Israeli city of Holon, recognizes only these five books as holy scripture. The Hebrew text is written in Samaritan characters and features various cryptograms. One of them contains the name of the copyist, Ya'akov ben Yossef ben Meshalma, who completed his work in the year 901 of the Hegira (1495 AD) in Damascus. Some pages of this neat manuscript have stains (e.g., f. 132r, 170r), which were caused by a special ritual during which the parchment is touched with bare hand. The origin of this manuscript is partly unknown: it was sold in Cairo in 1902 and not until 2000 did it reappear in a private collection, whereupon the Cantonal Library of Fribourg acquired it.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Antiphonary for Franciscan use, dating from the late 13th or early 14th century (after 1260), but representing the earliest Franciscan edition. Contains the chants (text and music) for the entire year for the liturgical Office, including the feast for Anthony of Padua in its proper position and an added Office for Corpus Christi in a different hand (f. 157r-159v).
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Antiphonary from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, dated 1488 according to the colophon f. 214v. Drolleries are drawn in the margins and by the initials. The manuscript contains a miniature (f. 14v, birth of Christ) and beautiful initials (flowers, fruit, zucchini), attributed to the Master of the breviary of Jost von Silenen.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Gradual from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, still in use in the 16th/17th century according to the ownership note on the inside cover. Binding from the 16th century. Written in a Gothic minuscule around 1300. The beginning of important feasts is indicated with larger initials, sometimes with miniatures (e.g. F. 128v Ascension, f. 132v the Miracle of Pentecost).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript is made from parchment of medium thickness, quite soiled. The 17th/18th century binding consists of wooden boards covered in black pressed leather with 5 brass bosses in the front and back (1 boss is missing from the back). Two clasp fragments. Evidence from paleographyas well as from the content suggests that the volume was produced in Hauterive.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
During his studies in Avignon, Jean Joly (Guardian of the Franciscan Convent of Fribourg 1467-1469, 1472-1478, 1481-1510) prepared this copy of the Quaestiones in quattuor libros sententiarum by Peter of Aquila, an Italian Franciscan theologian who lectured at Paris in the 1330s. His commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard earned him the nickname “Scotellus” for his accessible presentation of the doctrine of John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). The wooden-board binding and formerly chained volume from the fifteenth century was restored by Carole Jeanneret in 2022.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
Excerpts from Bonaventure's commentary on Peter Lombardus' Sentences, written by the Franciscan Heinrich von Isny (Bishop of Basel, 1275-1286). Ownership note on f.1r (Johannes Joly). Colophons f. 336vb (frater Henricus), f. 337ra (Antonius de Maasmünster, scribe, 1478), f. 352ra (Johannes Joly, scribe, 1478). Former chained book with pressed leather cover of the 15th century.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Master manuscript of the "Freiburger Perikopen". German language plenary with scripture selections for Mass in German, glosses and additional texts for Sunday and important holy days.
Online Since: 07/31/2007
Commentary on the Sentences by the Franciscan Petrus de Candia; the rear inside cover has a note of ownership by Friedrich von Amberg (†1432), the erudite preacher and guardian who set up the first library of the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg. Foliation, catchwords, subheadings, marginal and index notes by von Amberg, further marginal notes in another hand.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Sermons by the Franciscan Bertrand de Turre (Sermones epistolarum dominicalium); from the holdings of Friedrich von Amberg (guardian in Fribourg, † 1432), who in 1393 had a professional scribe copy these sermons (f. 134r-v, regarding the cost f. 153r) and compile a table of contents (ff. 147-153). The 14th century binding with wooden boards and formerly with a chain was restored by Father Otho Raymann before 2007.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
Codex 25, a paper manuscript from the middle of the 15th century, consists of two separate codicological textual units. The first contains an average quality copy (and selection) of the most important and earliest work of the Dominican Johannes Herolt, known as “Discipulus” (d. 1468): De eruditione Christifidelium. The second textual unit was written in 1455 by the scribe Franciscus de Gallandia from Yvonand. It goes by the title Fabulae moralizatate and consists of 122 Latin fables taken from various sources from antiquity, presented in the form of dialogs. Magninus Mediolanensis (d. 1376) and Nicolaus Pergamenus are identified as the authors. Beginning with the first print edition (1480) the Fabulae moralizatae were re-named Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript with philosophical and theological content was written by assorted hands on paper; the 5 codicological parts contain 11 tracts by various 14th century authors, including 6 unique texts. The parts were produced between 1370 and 1410 and were re-ordered various times before the codex was bound in its current order, probably at the beginning of the 15th century in Fribourg. One of the scribes, who was also the owner and redactor of the volume, was Fredrich von Amberg (about 1350/60-1432), who lived from 1393-1432 in the Franciscan cloister in Fribourg and served two terms as guardian there. Friedrich was able to assemble these copies of the texts by either copying or purchasing them while studying in Strassburg, Paris, and Avignon.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
Codex 28 is a copy of the Defensor pacis, a treatise on the theory of the state dedicated to Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria by Marsilius of Padua in 1324. Around the end of the 14th century, Friedrich von Amberg (ca. 1350-1432) obtained a not particularly carefully written copy from the German group, which provides the older redaction of Marsilius. Amberg corrected this version of the text, written on paper from the Middle German area with watermarks from the last decade of the 14th century, added marginal glosses and then had it bound.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
Composite manuscript of material for sermons, written by various hands in cursive. It might have been compiled by Friedrich von Amberg (guardian of the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg 1409, 1414). The catchwords and the Tabula de tempore and de sanctis are in his hand.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This anonymous collection of sermons with homilies, chiefly with a Neoplatonic slant, comes from the third quarter of the fourteenth century and probably was written in Fribourg-en-Nuithonie. The volume contains, after a thematic index at the beginning, 18 homilies for the time from Advent to Quinquagesima, 34 homilies from Easter to the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, and a few Sunday sermons for Lent. The pastedowns are fragments of a Hebrew manuscript in a thirteenth-century Ashkenazi cursive. The book has not been restored, a formerly chained volume with raspberry-red leather cover.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
This composite manuscript was compiled by Konrad von Sulzbach in 1364, when he was a student in Strasbourg. After the first part of the collection containing the commentary by Gregory of Rimini OESA was lost, the manuscript was rebound in the last decade of the 14th century in Fribourg (Switzerland) with 37 Quaestiones determinatae (f. 1r-110v), with other questions (110v-119v and 153v-167r), and with the summary of the Sentenzen by Johannes de Fonte (f. 120r-153r). The 37 Quaestiones, which reveal the influence of the English Franciscan School, are found only in this manuscript.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This composite manuscript, much used by Friedrich von Amber, contains material about the history of the religious order in the first part (f. 1r-100v). In the second, probably more important part (f. 109r-165v), it contains treatises, questions and polemics from the time of the conflict of Pope John XXII with Louis IV (called the Bavarian) who resided in Munich and with the Franciscan Spirituals who had fled to that city. Several of these writings are preserved only in this manuscript, among them a treatise on the Visio beatifica of 1332-1333 (f. 127v-153r) which, according to Annelise Maier can possibly be attributed to William of Ockham, as well as a polemic (f. 153r-160r) in which Louis IV is warned against too hastily making peace with the Pope in Avignon.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
Codex 62 is typical of composite manuscripts from the time around 1400 found in Franciscan convents. It contains sermonic material by known and unknown authors in the form of complete sermons, thematic selections and exempla. It is made up of 15 codicological units. Friederich von Amberg (ca. 1350-1432) assembled this collection, added a table of contents, and had it bound in Fribourg (Switzerland). The most valuable part of this miscellany consists of a set of 16 sermons on pennance by the Dominican St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), delivered by the sermonist between March 9 through 21, 1404 in Fribourg, Murten, Payerne, Avenches, and Estavayer. Friedrich von Amberg made a fair copy and incorporated it as the 6th codicological unit (fol. 45r-97v) of this composite manuscript.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
A later title plate describes the content: Sermones de beata virgine super Missus est. Item tabula, in qua continentur 7 virtutes and, by a later hand, Tractatus contra pestem et tractatus super Egredietur virga. The first text (1r-48r) offers an explanation of the Hail Mary in 14 sermons. Friedrich von Amberg annotated the Tractatus bonus de VI nominibus corporis Christi by the Cistercian monk of Heilbronn (67r-97v). This is followed by the copy of a treatise on the plague (100r-105r), the Good Friday postil by the Dominican Antonius Azaro Parmensis (f. 105v-123r), and additional texts which probably interested Amberg as sermon material.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
German-Latin and Latin-German dictionary by the cleric Fritsche Closener; in 1384 Friedrich von Amberg (guardian in Fribourg, † 1432) had the scribe Gregorius copy this lexicon (colophon f. 101v). This is an important, alphabetically-arranged dictionary with brief translations of words, with additions and supplements by Friedrich von Amberg. The 14th/15th century binding with wooden boards and formerly with a chain was completely restored by Father Otho Raymann in 1998 (see ms. 139 regarding the original binding). The originally loose parts of the manuscript (f. B, ff. I-XX) are now securely bound.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This miscellany was assembled by Friedrich von Amberg (Guardian of the Franciscan Convent of Fribourg, † 1432) from various earlier compilations and text fragments. The volume, divided into eight parts, has an extensive collection of exempla (Part 1), excerpts from the Gesta Romanorum (Parts 3, 4, 5 und 6), from the De cognicione of Helinand of Froidmont (Part 2), from Robert Holcot's Moralitates (Part 6), from Hugh of Folieto's De avibus (Part 7) and Nicholas of Hanapis‘ Liber de exemplis Sacrae scripturae (Part 8). The back cover and flyleaf contain a large part of a Fribourg charter. The formerly chained volume with a white-leather cover was restored in 2021 by Carole Jeanneret.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
This miscellany manuscript contains texts from the end of the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century in 12 parts, and belonged to Jean Joly (Guardian of the Fribourg Franciscan Convent, 1467-1469, 1472-1478, 1481-1510). The first part of the manuscript consists in a bull of Pope Benedict XII, dated to 1337. The volume essentially contains papal bulls and constitutions as well as statutes of Franciscan Order and determinations of particular provinces of the Franciscan order. A formerly chained volume, it has wooden boards covered with dark brown leather.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
The back label names the three original titles: Tractatus de septem donis spiritus sancti. Sermones super Cantica. Itinera eternitatis fratris Rudolfi de Bibraco. The scribe Bernoldus is named on f. 70r (probably 2nd half of the 14th century). Preserved in the present volume are: the alphabetical subject index for De septem donis (f. 1r-3v), the index for the Itinera eternitatis (20r-24r), the text of the Itinera itself (f. 29r-70r), and some additional sermons. Lost are the texts De septem donis and Sermones super Cantica. Friedrich von Amberg provided usage instructions for the subject indexes. He also thoroughly corrected and annotated the text of the Itinera eternitatis. Amberg had the texts bound in Fribourg/Switzerland.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Collection of Latin sermons by the Franciscan Berthold von Regensburg (in two volumes). The production of this codex involved consultation of Berthold's originals. Marginalia by Friedrich von Amberg appear throughout the entire manuscript (volume I).
Online Since: 04/14/2008
Collection of Latin sermons by the Franciscan Berthold von Regensburg (in two volumes). The production of this codex involved consultation of Berthold's originals. Marginalia by Friedrich von Amberg appear throughout the entire manuscript (volume II).
Online Since: 04/14/2008
This composite manuscript consists of four parts, the oldest of which is dated 1416 (Part 2). It contains sermons and other short texts related to pastoral care. Parts 3 and 4 originally belonged to the Strasbourg monk Johannes Rüeffel, who wrote them during his studies in England and in 1446 in his home town. They include introductions to scholastic philosophy and quaestiones. Part 1 with French-Latin translation exercises and other school texts probably originated around the middle of the 15th century in the area around Fribourg i. Ue. The volume was probably compiled by Jean Joly, guardian of the Franciscan monastery of Fribourg.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Collection of anonymous sermons (Quadragesima) from the early 14th century, containing 96 sermons. The foliation by Friedrich von Amberg (guardian in Fribourg, † 1432) indicates that the manuscript is incomplete. Catchwords by Friedrich von Amberg, ownership note f. 115v. Typical white leather binding from the Franciscan workshop, non-restored chained volume (cf. ms. 66).
Online Since: 12/14/2017
The Bible Historiale is a Bible edition translated by Guyart de Moulins into French prose at the end of the 13th century. It is presented in the form of biblical stories and combines the Vulgata of Jerome with the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor. It was quickly supplemented with the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle (“Thirteenth-century Bible”). Because it was widely disseminated during the 14th and 15th centuries, today there are 144 known examples, both complete exemplars and fragments.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
The Bible Historiale is a Bible edition translated by Guyart de Moulins into French prose at the end of the 13th century. It is presented in the form of biblical stories and combines the Vulgata of Jerome with the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor. It was quickly supplemented with the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle (“Thirteenth-century Bible”). Because it was widely disseminated during the 14th and 15th centuries, today there are 144 known examples, both complete exemplars and fragments.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This Bible Historiale is the Bible translated toward the end of the 13th century into French and prose by Guyart des Moulins. Presented in the form of a holy story, it joins Jerome's Vulgata and Petrus Comestor's Historia Scholastica. It was quickly completed by the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle. Widely used in the 14th and 15th centuries; today there exist 144 complete or fragmentary exemplars.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
In this work, written at the end of the 14th century in Valencia, the author describes the universe of angels, inspired by Dionysius the Areopagite's De triplici gerarchia. The text, which was in wide use during the second half of the 15th century, was translated into French and published as a first printed edition in Geneva in the year 1478. The Ms. fr. 5 was illuminated by the Master of the Geneva Boccaccio and contains the coat of arms of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of King René of Anjou.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
In 1389, the Franciscan monk Jean de Souabe translated into French the Horologium sapientiae by the mystic Henry Suso (1295-1366) of the Rhineland. In this moral treatise, wisdom conducts a dialog with a student regarding the spiritual path to be followed, as inspired by the passion of Christ, and invites him to meditate on the passing of time. More than fifty copies of this work are known. This manuscript from the Bibliothèque de Genève, dated 1417, was probably written in the episcopal city.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The Legenda aurea is one of the most copied texts in all of the medieval Occident. In short texts, it blends sanctoral and temporal celebrations in the course of the year, following the order of the liturgical calendar. Popular not only in Latin but also in the vernacular languages, it had various uses, as a tool for preaching and as a source of moral edification through private reading for the layperson as well as the cleric.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This universal history, which contains biblical and secular stories, is one of the most extensvie works of its type from the middle ages. The date of the manuscript can be fixed in the third quarter of the 15th century; it was decorated by the Flemish illuminator Wilhelm Vrelant, a producer of top quality miniatures.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories. The first volume contains the first three books, i.e., the history of Greece, of Troy and of the Trojans who escaped the destruction of their town. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories.The second volume contains the last three books, i.e., the history of the Assyrians, of the Macedonians, and of Alexander and the Maccabees. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This historical collection, whose narratives range from Genesis to Julius Caesar, was a great success in the Middle Ages. It was first written in the 13th century. This incomplete copy ends with Pompey's triumphant return to Rome. The manuscript was produced in Paris and contains 34 miniatures in grisaille.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This early 16th century manuscript contains book II of the Illustrations de Gaule et singularitez de Troye by Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473-1524), followed by the XXIV coupletz de la valitude et convalescence de la royne trescrestienne and the virelai “Espritz haultains“. This is the only known manuscript to contain these three texts. It was signed by Lemaire de Belges's own hand (f. 199v).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
At the request of Charles the Bold, in 1470 Vasco de Lucena translated Xenophon's Cyropaedia from the Latin translation by Poggio Bracciolini (Institutio Cyri, 1445) and titled it “ Traitté des faiz et haultes prouesses de Cyrus”. The manuscript was illuminated by the “Maitre des prières de 1500” and contains seven miniatures that tell the story of Cyrus and that inspired the Duke of Burgundy in his political and military actions.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
Vasco de Lucena translated Quintus Curtius' history of Alexander into French at the request of Isabella of Portugal, the wife of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. The translator drew on texts by Plutarch and Justin in order to complete the Roman writer's text which contains gaps. The translation, completed in 1468, presents Alexander as conqueror, devoid of all legends transmitted through courtly literature; it is dedicated to Charles the Bold, the son of Isabella. This copy from the Bibliothèque de Genève was illustrated by a Flemish artist, Maître d'Edouard IV, who was active in Bruges around the end of the 15th century, as well as by a second hand not yet definitively identified.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
At the request of Jean II of France, between 1354 and 1356, the Dominican Pierre Bersuire (Petrus Berchorius) undertook this translation of the three decades (I, II and IV) of Ab Urbe condita by Titus Livius that were known at the time. This history of Rome extends from the founding of the city to the war between the Romans and the Celtiberians. The exemplar held by the Bibliothèque de Genève was produced at the beginning of the 15th century and carries the Ex libris of the Duke of Berry. Paintings are by the "Maître des Cleres femmes" of the Duke of Berry and by artists working in the style of the "Maître du duc de Bedford".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Le Mignon is a collection of various historical narratives and moral or philosophical texts. Henri Romain is the author of the summary of the three decades of Titus Livius and the Compendium historial, a compilation of ancient stories. Laurent de Premierfait is the translator of De la vieillesse by Cicero, and Jean Courtecuisse translated Des Quatre vertus cardinales by Seneca. This manuscript from the studio of Maître François presents seven beautiful frontispiece illuminations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This work, also known by the title „Livre de Jules César,“ contains a collection of texts by Julius Caesar, Sallust, Suetonius and Lucan; it was written in the years 1211-1214. The author, still unknown, intended to recount the history of the first twelve Roman emperors, but he terminated this undertaking at the end of the story of the life of Julius Caesar. The decoration of the manuscript from Geneva is by various hands; the principal one, attributed to the „Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen,“ illustrated the title page. It shows the coat of arms of Louis de Bourbon, the illegitimate son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
Noël de Fribois, notary, secretary and advisor to King Charles VII, wrote the Abrégé des chroniques de France, which he presented to the King in June 1459. He began his chronicle with the siege of Troy and concludes it in 1383. The Geneva copy has two anonymous sequels, one on the reign of Charles VII and one on that of Louis XI. This first part of the manuscript is decorated with 27 illuminated scenes. The text continues with the Mémoire sur les rois de Sicile by Giovanni Candida, translated into French by Charles Guillart, and with various chronicles, stories and other writings added in the 16th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This history of the Crusades is a translation of Guillaume de Tyr's Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum into the Flemish French dialect. The manuscript was decorated by Simon Marmion, one of the most significant illumination artists of the 15th century.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
The Florentine writer and notary Brunetto Latini went into exile in 1260, after the Guelphs lost the Battle of Montaperti. Until 1266 he took up residence in France, where he wrote the Trésor, an encyclopedia written in French that was widely used until the end of the 15th century. The illuminator of the Bibliothèque de Genève's copy of the manuscript is known as the "Master of the Geneva Latini" or as the "Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen.” Originally decorated with four frontispieces, the manuscript today has only two, one of which is a famous representation of a medieval urban market.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
At the behest of King Philip III the Bold, the Dominican Laurent d'Orléans wrote a book on religious instruction for lay people. He was inspired by the Miroir du monde in the 3rd and 4th tract (f. 6r-33r) compiling two treatises about this 13th century work, that was widely read throughout the realm. The fifth treatise on the virtues (f. 33r-99r) is the only part originally by Brother Laurent. The illuminator who created the 8 miniatures is not identified, but probably was active in Northern France.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The Livre de bonnes meurs, dedicated to the Duke of Berry, draws its inspiration from the Sophilogium by the same author. In essence this is a moral and religious work. As part of the “mirror for princes”, it broaches the topic of the virtues and moral qualities that an ideal prince should possess. This Geneva manuscript represents the first version, dated 1404. It was illuminated by the master of Philippe de Commynes' Froissart and contains a single beautiful illumination for the frontispiece.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Pierre le Fruitier, called Salmon, secretary to Charles VI and someone who influenced John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1409 wrote a composite text that is simultaneously a mirror for princes, a collection of letters, and an autobiography. Salmon presents the qualities a sovereign needs in order to rule well (see Paris, BnF, fr. 23279). After his withdrawal from court in 1411 and after the change in royal politics towards John the Fearless, around 1412-1415 he presented a second version of the text; today this version is held in Geneva. With an image depicting Charles VI on a blue bed decorated with lilies, in discussion with his secretary, this manuscript is one of the showpieces of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This composite manuscript, which comes from the collection of Alexandre Petau, brings together four texts that were assembled at an unknown time. The first and longest text (f. 2r-81r) is the Enseignement de vraie noblesse from 1464, attributed to Hugues de Lannoy, a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, who, with this text, presents a mirror for princes that could interest the court of the Duke of Burgundy. This part contains the manuscript' only decoration, a large illumination (f. 3r) executed by the chief assistant to the illuminator Guillaume Vrelant of Bruges, known as Maître de la Vraie Cronicque descoce. This text is followed by the Chronique d'Ecosse (f. 82r-90v) with the history of Scotland from its origins to 1463, a text on "Le droit que le roy Charles VIIIme pretend ou royaulme de Naples" (f. 91r), and finally the life of St. Helena in Latin (f. 91v-93r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This parchment manuscript contains the mystic text of the Kabbala in cursive script, illustrated with numerous highly colorful drawings with allegorical, cosmological, and liturgical themes.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This work contains two tracts: the Livre des deduis, a handbook on hunting, and the Songe de Pestilence, an allegorical narrative that tells about the battle of the Virtues and the Vices. This Geneva examplar is attributed to the illuminator known by the name Master of Robert Gaguin.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
At the end of the 1480s Gaston Febus wrote a tract, in French and in prose, on hunting, known under the title Livre de la chasse. This tract describes the various methods of hunting and trapping game. Gaston Febus dedicated his work to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, who was well known for his fondness of the hunt. At this time, there are 44 known medieval manuscripts of this work.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
In the 1240s, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen wrote a Latin treatise on falconry (De arte venandi cum avibus), in order to introduce his son Manfred to bird hunting. This treatise, consisting of 6 books, was the subject of a second edition by Manfred, who albeit revised only the first two books. At the beginning of the 14th century, the treatise was translated into French based on a manuscript which today is held in the Vatican and which contains Manfred's additions to the first two books. The French version is preserved in 4 manuscripts, among them the one from Geneva, decorated by the Bruges Master of 1482 ("Maître brugeois de 1482") and his associates.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Philippe Prevost, Lord of Plessis-Sohier-lez-Tours, advisor and Grand Master of King Henry IV, is the author and scribe of this text on the art of war, which is introduced by a dedication to King Henry IV (1591) and a letter to the same monarch. The text is also accompanied by several sonnets and a short treatise on fortifications. In addition, the autograph manuscript contains a short printed text by Philippe Prevost, Himne de la guerre et de la paix, which was published in Tours in 1590. A series of drawings, probably from engravings, and several battle plans illustrate the text of Le Mars. This text was never published, although it seems to have been prepared for this purpose, as attested by numerous erasures, additions and annotations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The Ovide moralisé is a poem consisting of 72,000 octosyllables. Between the end of the 13th century and the first quarter of the 14th century, the anonymous author translated the 15 books of Ovid's Metamorphoses by appropriating the ancient myths for the purposes of Christian edification. This Genevan exemplar, dated to the end of the 14th century, was illuminated by two artists, the Maître du Rational des divins offices and the Maître du Roman de la Rose.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
The Roman de la Rose is a poetic work of approximately 22,000 octosyllabic verses. The first part of this allegorial romance (over 4,000 verses) was written by Guillaume de Lorris in about 1230, and it was completed by Jean de Meun some forty years later. Although the work was originally conceived as a courtly tale, the second part disgresses on a wide variety of themes and expressly criticizes the myth of the rose according to Guillaume de Lorris. The Testament is a poem consisting of 544 four-line alexandrine monorhyme stanzas expounding the spiritual development of Jean de Meun.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
In 1511, the Benedictine Jean d'Auton (around 1466-1528), chronicler at the court of Louis XII, initiated a contest to write fictional letters to the king. For this contest, he wrote the Epistre d'Hector au roy, which was answered, among others, by Jean Lemaire de Belges with his Epistre du roy Loys à Hector. This Geneva manuscript begins with a full-page illustration, executed by an artist named Maître des Entrées, active in Lyon. It depicts Hector presenting a book to a satyr in front of an army of soldiers in armor, some of whom are crowned with the poets' laurel wreath. The numerous references to antiquity, textual as well as visual, are typical for the humanist milieu of Lyon, which included the owner of this manuscript, Jean Sala, half-brother of the famous author and antiquities enthusiast Pierre Sala.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This manuscript contains a collection of texts in French, mainly in the form of verse or prose excerpts. Among these are fabliaux, a religious poem, a fragment of the Roman de la Châtelaine de Vergi, and proverbs. This manuscript, a veritable collection of texts, was probably written on paper during the 1st quarter of the 15th century, either in Savoy or in French-speaking Switzerland.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Christine de Pisan, a writer and poet of great renoun, was the author of numerous works and was personally involved in the design and production of manuscripts of her works. This hold true for this codex, which contains an account of the building of a utopian city by and for women.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, the wife of King René of Anjou, in 1465 a cleric from Angers produced a prose adaptation of the first version of Guillaume de Deguileville's Pèlerinage de vie humaine. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. The completely and richly illuminated manuscript is dated to the third quarter of the 15th century.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, wife of King René I. of Anjou, a cleric from Angers completed a prose adaptation of the first version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine by Guillaume de Deguileville in 1465. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. It is followed by the Danse aux aveugles (before 1465) by Pierre Michault. The two texts were richly illuminated by the Maître d'Antoine Rolin, however the decoration was never entirely completed.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (f. 36r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (Ms. fr. 183/1, f. 36r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This treatise in the form of a dialogue between a cleric and a knight was commissioned by King Charles V from the Master of Requests Evrard de Tremaugon. The two protagonists debate about the ecclesiastical and secular power at the end of the 14th century, about the relations between the king and the pope. In the end, the impartial author defends the independence of the temporal power of the king, although he remains the "vicaire de Dieu en la temporalité". The text, first written in Latin in 1376 under the title Somnium Viridarii, was translated into French as early as 1378.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Le Jouvencel tells of the deeds of a young nobleman who, thanks to his bravery and military successes, marries the daughter of King Amydas. The text was inspired by the military career of Jean de Bueil, who served Charles VII for a long time. The manuscript is decorated with three paintings attributed to the Master of the Vienna Mamerot (from the circle of Jean Fouquet).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Tristan in Prose is a 13th century prose romance of which a multitude of copies were made over the course of the medieval period. This work of knightly character is strongly influenced by the Lancelot en prose, which was written at the end of the first quarter of the 13th century. In this collection, which refer to the myths of Tristan and Arthur, Tristan is portrayed as the perfect lover and as the perfect knight, who as a Knight of the Round Table participates in the search for the Holy Grail. The Geneva manuscript is incomplete. It ends with the jousting competition between King Arthur and Tristan, in which the latter unseats the King and Yvain from their saddles. The defeated pair then returns to Roche Dure (Volume 3 of the Philippe Menard edition, 1991). At this time there are 82 known manuscripts and manuscript fragments of this work.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. The work described the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. This work describes the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This composite manuscript consists of three volumes and seven different codicological units. It transmits more than 30 works, Athanasian as well as pseudo-Athanasian, often in several copies. The texts were written in the 16th century in Northern Italy, in Switzerland or in Germany, perhaps on the initiative of Theodore Beza, in order for Peter Felckmann to prepare the first edition of the works of Athanasius in Greek, which was published in 1600-1601 by Commelin in Heidelberg. The manuscript preserves only late texts, but it is of great historical importance due to its status as the model for the editio princeps of Athanasius' works. It is the source of all the textual variants identified by Felckmann, that were then taken up by Montfaucon in 1686 and passed on by Migne.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This composite manuscript consists of three volumes and seven different codicological units. It transmits more than 30 works, Athanasian as well as pseudo-Athanasian, often in several copies. The texts were written in the 16th century in Northern Italy, in Switzerland or in Germany, perhaps on the initiative of Theodore Beza, in order for Peter Felckmann to prepare the first edition of the works of Athanasius in Greek, which was published in 1600-1601 by Commelin in Heidelberg. The manuscript preserves only late texts, but it is of great historical importance due to its status as the model for the editio princeps of Athanasius' works. It is the source of all the textual variants identified by Felckmann, that were then taken up by Montfaucon in 1686 and passed on by Migne.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This composite manuscript consists of three volumes and seven different codicological units. It transmits more than 30 works, Athanasian as well as pseudo-Athanasian, often in several copies. The texts were written in the 16th century in Northern Italy, in Switzerland or in Germany, perhaps on the initiative of Theodore Beza, in order for Peter Felckmann to prepare the first edition of the works of Athanasius in Greek, which was published in 1600-1601 by Commelin in Heidelberg. The manuscript preserves only late texts, but it is of great historical importance due to its status as the model for the editio princeps of Athanasius' works. It is the source of all the textual variants identified by Felckmann, that were then taken up by Montfaucon in 1686 and passed on by Migne.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This is a 16th century paper manuscript with a watermark. The medical text contains the eleven books of Galen's De simplicium medicamentorum [temperamentis ac] facultatibus. The narrow and «pointue» (pointed) script is reminiscent of that of Demetrius Moschus, a Greek humanist who was active in Venice and Ferrara (middle of the 15th century – after 1519). This copy is incomplete, as attested by several blank spaces intended to hold illuminated initials. The codex was purchased by Aleandre Petau in 1655. It was passed on to the pastor and theologian Ami Lullin and, after his death, it was bequeathed to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This 13th century Byzantine manuscript contains a great number of scholia, which partially complete those of older manuscripts and which testify to the environment during production and to the habits of the manuscript's annotators and successive owners. To be distinguished among these are Theodorus Meliteniota, who restored and completed the already damaged manuscript in the 14th century, as well as Henri Estienne (Henricus Stephanus), who owned the manuscript in the second half of the 16th century and used it for his 1566 edition of Homer's poems, which remained the standard into the 18th century. With the exception of several accidental short lacunas or gaps, the manuscript contains a complete Iliad, including an interlinear paraphrase for the first twelve books.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This immaculately preserved Italian 13th century massoretic Bible was employed as a study manual for learning the cantillation notes for the Torah readings. The significance of this massoretic bible lies however within its provenance, where it must have been acquired sometime in the mid-15th century by Solomon Finzi, a famous Jewish banker from Mantua, who owned a large library of Hebrew manuscripts. Lastly, a letter inserted at the beginning of the manuscript testifies to the use of this bible as one of the 615 biblical manuscripts collated for Benjamin Kennicott's Vetus Testamentum hebraicum variis lectionibus (1776-1780).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This medium format bible from northern France arrived at the Bibliothèque de Genève between 1667 and 1701 and is one of the oldest donations to this library, once called the Académie de Genève. Furthermore, this bible was also used as one of the 615 biblical manuscripts collated for Benjamin Kennicott's Vetus Testamentum hebraicum variis lectionibus (1776-1780).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This Megillat Esther consists of thirty round text medallions, surrounded by multicolored engraved decorations with floral, animal and baroque architectural designs. This unbeknownst scroll is one of six extant scrolls composed of the “lion, lamb and bear” motif, produced by the famous engraver Shalom Italia (ca. 1619-1664). He also engraved numerous Esther scrolls of different motifs that are still preserved in special collections, museums and libraries throughout the world.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This beautiful Mahzor for the High Holidays (Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur) of the Jewish liturgical year, according to the north French rite (Nussaḥ Tsarfat) is accompanied by a great deal of liturgical poems (piyyutim). This manuscript preserves the liturgy recited by the once flourishing communities of medieval northern France. Several catchwords are surrounded by figurative ink drawings. The volume entered the Bibliothèque de Genève at an unknown date between 1667 and the end of the 17th century, having been previously owned by the physician of Andrea Doria, Condottiere of Charles Quint (1500-1558).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This paper manuscript which is dated thanks to its watermarks, is divided into two distinct textual units bound together. The first work is an Ashkenazi 14th century incomplete copy of the remarkable legal work Mishneh Torah by Maimonides (1135-1204), containing books 1, 2 and 5. The second text is an Italian 15th century anonymous lapidary entitled Inian ha-Avanim, followed by a text listing the carats of pearls and spinels, as well as the value of silver and gold in several cities and regions, including locations such as Paris, Venice, Genoa and Sicily. This miscellany entered the Bibliothèque de Genève at an unknown date between 1667 and the end of the 17th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This manuscript consists of four texts: an anonymous treatise on arithmetic and astronomy, an anonymous commentary on the Sefer ha-Mispar by R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca. 1092-1167), the treatise She'elot Tiviot (Problemata Physica) attributed to Pseudo-Aristotle, and the ethical and didactic poem Musar Haskel by R. Hai ben Sherira Gaon (ca. 939-1038). The She'elot Tiviot, translated from Arabic into Hebrew by Moïse Ibn Tibbon (died ca. 1283), are especially important since Ms. heb. 10 contains a version in four chapters. Of a total of seven known surviving manuscripts in the entire world containing the She'elot Tiviot, only three other manuscripts comprise these four chapters.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This manuscript contains an anonymous Hebrew paraphrase of the first five books of Averroes' (Abu al Walid Muhammed Ibn Rushd, c.1126-1198) Commentaire Moyen (middle commentary) on the Organon attributed to Aristotle. From the 13th century on, Hebrew paraphrases and compilations of certain books of the Organon were written by intellectual Jews from Provence, such as Jacob Anatolio Abba Mari (ca. 1194-1256); more than fifty manuscripts of this work of his have survived. The anonymous paraphrase found in the Bibliothèque de Genève's Ms. heb.12 is part of the same series.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This remarkable manuscript, created in the 9th century in the Rhineland, contains the text of the four Gospels in their Latin version, written in Carolingian minuscule. The manuscript is decorated with, among others, two initials embellished with interlace and with canonical tables presented in arcades in vivid colors.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
Brought out by the Dominicans of Saint-Jacques in Paris, biblical verbal concordances are independent works that make it possible to locate all occurrences of a term in the Bible. Listed in alphabetical order, each word is referred to the abbreviated name of the biblical book in which it appears, followed by the chapter number – the division into chapters had been definitively established around 1200 – and a letter from A to G (since each chapter was arbitrarily divided into seven parts when the numbering of the verses did not yet exist). The Bibliothèque de Genève's copy belongs to the fourth version of the Dominican Concordances, in which the chapters are divided into four (from A to D) instead of seven parts. This copy, dated 1308, was a gift to the Dominican convent of Plainpalais in Geneva at the beginning of the 15th century (f. 394v).
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The first page of this manuscript contains a note in Latin, listing the six texts that make up the volume; the note is contemporaneous with the manuscript that was executed during the 12th century. The note identifies four of the texts as treatises by Augustine – De doctrina christiana, Contra Felicianum arrianum, Explanatio epistolae ad Galatas, De consensu quatuor evangelistarum – and reports not knowing "nescitur" who wrote the last two texts. Modern criticism recognized in these texts the De vita christiana attributed to Fastidius (4th-5th century) and a treatise on the Trinity identified as the Pro fide catholica and attributed to Fulgentius Ruspensis (467-532). This copy was executed very carefully, the text was checked and corrected, and the main divisions are marked by elegant ornamental initials in red and blue. The origin of the manuscript, before its publication in the 1620 catalog of printed books and manuscripts of the Bibliothèque de Genève, is unknown.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript contains sermons by Augustine in uncial script, written by a single hand in the late 7th or early 8th century. The outer leaf of each quire (quinio) is parchment, while the remaining leaves are papyrus. These 53 leaves (8 quires) were unbound from a volume originally containing 30 quires (between 304 and 308 leaves). 63 additional leaves (8 quires) are held in Paris (Paris, BnF, lat. 11641); one additional leaf, originally between f. 26 and f. 27, constitutes St. Petersburg NLR, Lat.F.papyr. I.1; all other leaves have been lost. During the 9th century the volume was part of the library of Florus of Lyon, who added numerous marginalia to the manuscript in his own hand.
Online Since: 06/22/2010