Non-autonomous Texts: On a Fifteenth-Century German Gregorius Manuscript (Constance, City Archive, Ms.AI 1)

Non-autonomous Texts:
On a Fifteenth-Century German Gregorius Manuscript
(Constance, City Archive, Ms.AI 1)
Diana Müller
The use of editions, which generally present individual texts, leads even
literary scholars to forget that medieval textual witnesses are usually
transmitted together with other texts in miscellanies. „If one adds,“ according
to Lothar Bornscheuer, to these literary miscellanies
the numerous compendia, florilegia, exemplary books, encyclopedia and so
forth, one should highlight as a main characteristic of medieval literature the
„compilatory“ use of an immense, hardly classifiable heritage of traditions and
conventions.1
Along with Latin texts, this observation also applies to vernacular literary
production in the German-speaking realm, which during the Late
Middle Ages experienced enormous growth. This process of compiling
includes both literature for transferring knowledge as weil as poetic and
religious texts. Miscellanies rose to the position of the dominant medium
in the Middle Ages for preserving and passing down texts.
The collective tradition-according to my thesis-is therefore an essential
characteristic of the medieval textual tradition, for in manuscript
miscellanies the texts do not necessarily simply appear accidentally and
autonomously next to one another. Individual texts take on new meanings
when they are transmitted in the company of related texts. And
therefore a collection of related texts can produce a text on its own with
its own individual meaning.
„The conventional form of transmission in the medieval codex,“
writes Franz M. Eybl, whose thoughtful observation 1 draw upon,
is often adjacent to completely heterogeneous texts, held together above all
through the cornmonality of the subject area or a specific intended purpose.
Lothar Bornscheuer, Topik. Zur Struktur der gesellschaftlichen Einbildungskraft
(Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1976), 13-14 (my translation).
NO>i-AUTONOMOLS TEXTS
Medieval codices arise in their respective historical figurations through use in
a concrete location. The text itself is variable. Generally we deal with miscellanies
which were combined in the scriptorium by a selective, corrective, and
compiliatory process of copying. Through this proximity the individual text is
not yet independent, but rather bound to supplernental texts, which authorize
it or are authorized by it.Z
85
During the Middle Ages one read and wrote, one could say, in textual
communities. The motivation behind the specific selection of the texts
for a codex and their arrangement can be aesthetic or pragmatic, thematic
or liturgical. Often several of these factors come together and are
joined by additional factors external to the text.
The collective way of handing down texts in miscellanies is among
the most conspicuous characteristics ofmanuscript culture, though it has
been hardly reflected upon theoretically. Therefore, in the following case
study the question to be discussed is whether, in addition to established
concepts such as the „openness,“ the „mouvance“ and the „variance“ of
texts, a further characteristic of the medieval textual tradition should be
added-the „non-autonomy“ of texts.
1. Macroscopic view: The text col/ection of the Constance manuscriptA f 1
Basing my analysis on a German-language codex from the first half of the
fifteenth century, 1 would like to deal with the phenomenon of a text
whose meaning is affected by the texts with which it is transmitted. And 1
would like to show which factors allow the individual texts to become
dependent parts and the miscellany to become a coherent whole.
The miscellany manuscript A 1 1, preserved in the City archives in
Constance, belongs to the !arge number of simply adorned and inconspicuous
vernacular books of the late Middle Ages. lt is a paper manuscript
which can be dated around 1425 on the basis of watermarks.3
Franz M. Eybl, „Typotopographie. Stelle und Stellvertretung in Buch, Bibliothek
und Gelehrtenrepublik,“ in Topographien der Literatur. Deutsche Literatur im
transnationalen Kontext, ed. Hartmut Böhme, Germanistische Symposien, Berichtsbände
27 (Stuttgart and Weimar: Metzler, 2005), 229-30 (my translation).
The report from july 26, 1959 completed by Gerhard Piccard reads: „Based on
the watermark it can be said with absolute certainty that ms. A 1, 1 was not
written before 1422. Likely timeframe of the transcription: 1422-1425“ (unpublished
watermark report bound to the manuscript Ms. A 11).
86 D IA NA MÜLLER
There are blank spaces for planned colored initials that were never filled.
Nevertheless, the spaces graphically mark an implied unity.
The individual texts of the miscellany are separated from one another
by a blank line and are thus recognizable as separate units. There
are no headings that would have separated the texts more clearly from
one another. The texts continue from one quire to the next, which precludes
the possibility of subsequent assembling of originally independent
parts and suggests that a purposeful plan was in place when the texts
were copied. This feature also corresponds to the original, continuous
foliation with Roman numerals on the recto of each folio.
The following texts are transmitted in the manuscript:
1r-4v
4v-12v
12v-45r
45r-63v
63v-77v
77v-85v
85v-87r
87r-89r
The Legend of Mary of Egypt
Wetzei von Bernau: Margareta
Hartmann von Aue: Gregorius
The Life ofthe Virgin Mary
Sibylline Prophecies
Der Spiegel [The Mirror] (version II from A Lament of Our Lady)
Rhyming couplets from the Ten Commandments
The Legend of Barbara
Subsequently added:
89r- 128v The Chronicle of Constance
in various margins there are chronological additions and a total
of 42 cooking recipes, as weil as medicine prescriptions
129r-v a letter about the persecution of the jews from 1411
The codex contains narratives, moralizing legends, biblical stories and
visionary tales from the second half of the twelfth century. They are followed
by a Chronicle of the City of Constance from the early fifteenth
century, which was written later with a different quill and includes notes
on local events that were added by readers. The codex owes its great
significance in the literary tradition to the narrative legend Gregorius by
Hartmann von Aue (fol. 12v-45r), which was composed in the 1190’s
and was based on an Old French dra~. lt is considered to be one of the
most prominent German texts of courtly literature. The text picks up the
Oedipus myth, relocates the plot to an Aquitanian court, and precedes
the mother-son incest with a brother-sister incest.
What was initially a collection of edifying and moralizing texts (fol.
1r-89r) ends with what could be called a domestic book (fol. 89r- 128v,
including the marginal notes), which was expanded with a History of the
City of Constance and other notes on local events, home and garden work,
NON-AUTONOMOVS TEXTS 87
as well as a medicinal section. The Constance miscellany thereby exhibits
a clear conceptual break, which, on fol. 89r, is also optically visible
through changes in the script. Apparently in the process ofproducing the
manuscript there was a change in literary interests toward more pragmatic
uses that had no connection with the original planning.
Therefore, the following discussion refers only to the texts on fol. lr-
89r, a section that was purposely created as a collection. There one finds
stories that broach the issue of the fate of different female figures from
different perspectives. First-embedded in a background story in which
Saint Didymus appears-is a story of a girl who runs away from her parents
and becomes a prostitute. A further account is provided of the circumstances
that lead her to give up her sinful way of life and become a
particularly devoted believer. She, the later hermit Mary of Egypt, is active
as a prostitute, even on her pilgrimage:
Vnd do ich in dz schiff kam do fragt ma[n] mich wo ich den sold hett ze fuor Ion
Do antwurt ich army sünderin ich hette kaine Ion ich welty ger[n] in mine[n] lip
dar stekken vn[d] in geb{e]n dar.
And as I arrived at the ship, they asked me where I had the money for the
crossing. And 1 as a poor sinner answered that 1 had no money and that 1
would like to give them my body instead (fol. 2v).
After Mary finally arrives in Jerusalem, she is still hindered from entering
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was her objective. However, she
is nevertheless able to glimpse an image of Mary that suffices to trigger a
complete change of mind: do gieng ich vnd enphieng buoss vber min
schuld („I then went and began to repent because of my guilt,“ fol. 3r).
From this point on she leads an ascetic life in complete seclusion.
Although in her earlier life die ma[nnen] wo/ gefielent („men appealed
very much“) to her and she had so süss lustlichfröd mit manne[n] („such
sweet and lustful joy with men,“ fol. 2v-3r), the sinner is forgiven by God
because of her sincere and deeply feit penance.
lt is to be noted that my naming this text the Legend of Mary of Egypt
deviates from the index reference of the City Archives of Constance and
also from Burghart Wachinger’s description in the introduction of his
edition of Gregorius, where the text is recorded as the Legend of Patriarch
Didymus, a German version of the corresponding Vitae Patrum leg88
DIANA MÜLLER
end.4 This divergence reflects the perspective of a different reader. There
is no original title in the manuscript. 1 chose the alternative title Legend
of Mary of Egypt after reading the text not in isolation, but rather as part
of a compilation with an overarching organizational principle. The texts
in fol. lr-89r, all focus on women contextualizing the supposed Legend of
the Patriarch Didymus in such a way that one’s attention is steered very
clearly towards Mary of Egypt, one of the most prominent saints of the
Middle Ages.
The Legend of Mary of Egypt is followed by the Legend of Margaret of
Antioch in the form of a literary adaptation by Wetzei von Bernau. The
story of Margaret is preceded by a prologue that encourages readers to
do their best tobe virtuous:
{Wjess muotte ze ganczer tugend ste / der höre vnd merke dest er me / wa
man[n} ichtguotter dinge sage/ selige dz er nit dar an v[erjzage / eran tuot das
beste wa er muge /behüte sich vor valscher luge/ vor hasse vnd ach vor nide /
vntrüw er ach gar v[er]mide / hatz herhait vn[de] spot /so min[n]et in vnser
herre got / vnd all die weit besunder.
He who is completely focused on virtue / He listens and notices all the more /
When one does not talk sincerely / Blessed be the one, who does not
thereupon despair / Who does the best that he can / bewares of false lies / Of
hate and envy / Avoids infidelity /Agitation, hubris and mockery / Then our
Lord and, in particular, all the world love him (fol. 4v).
After a description of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise (fol.
4v) as a prime example of sinful behavior and its consequences, a positive
example follows: Margaret, the symbol of unwavering beauty, learns
of the dangers of attractiveness. The pagan King Olibrius is attracted by
her beauty and shows his interest in her. The Christian woman rejects
his overtures and also his marriage proposal. The aggrieved man
avenges himself: she is taken captive, tortured with torches and submerged
under water. Although this does not harm her, eventually she is
executed by decapitation. Nonetheless, the text still calls her a patron
saint for child-bearing women to whom she should provide help:
Vn[d} hilff in weliche[m] huse /es sy da ma[n] gebere[n] sülle ain kind /wer dich
durch mich denne an ruff geschwind/ dz denne dz kind / nit werd kru[m] ald
Cf. the entry in the index reference of the City Archives of Constance regarding
Ms. A 1 1; also Gregorius von Hartmann von Aue, ed. Hermann Paul and Burghart
Wachinger, corrected and extended edition (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2004), XIII.
NO:-<-ALTO:\OMOt:S TEXTS 89
/am ald blind/ noch ain stum stu[m] vn[d] ane witze[n] / vnd dz es ach nit der
bos goist besitze/ du muot[er] an ser gebere /gnädiger her des du mich gewere.
And help in a harne / In which a child is to be born / Those, who call you
through me / So that the child / Will get neither buckled, lame, blind / Nor
mute or mentally defected / And that the evil spirit will not possess it / (That]
the mother may give birth without pain, gracious Lord, grant this to me (fol.
llv).
This type of intercession is not an irrelevant detail, but rather an indicator
of a possible use and audience for the codex. A similar passage is
found in the Driu liet von der maget [Three songs of the Virgin] from the
priest Wernher (around 1172). There, a textual witness of the fourteenth
century says:
Hie schult ir wizzen vnder diu: / swa disiu buoche/ alliu driu / [werdent behalten},
/ diu maget wil des walten, / daz da nehein kint / werde krump noch
blint /[noch] niemer werde geborn / daz ewic/fche sf verlorn, / si welle ez selbe
fristen/ zuo dem jungisten, /so der lfp mit manigem sere scheidet von der sele.
At this point you should know of this / Wherever these three books / Will be
kept / There the Virgin will see to it / That no child / ls born either crippled or
blind / She herself wants to take care of this / Until the Last judgement /
When the body, with much pain, separates itself from the soul (Wesle, C: V.
3027 ff.).5
Whoever possesses the book will give birth to a healthy child-so goes
the popular belief. 6 Following this, alle frumen wfben („all pious women,“
Wesle, C: V. 3051) are expressly requested to transcribe and distribute
the Marian text. In this way the target audience of lay women is revealed.
lt is plausible to assume the same readership for the Constance Codex.
The third text of the miscellany is the Gregorius of Hartmann von Aue.
The legend teils the story of a double incest: a young noble woman is impregnated
by her brother. She then sets out on a pilgrimage so she can
give birth to her child unnoticed and far away from the court. The
child-Gregorius-is put out to sea, rescued by fishermen and raised in a
monastery. The trauma of not knowing his identity leads him to travel
Priester Wemhers Maria, Bruchstücke und Umarbeitungen, ed. Carl Wesle, 2nd
edition corr. by Hans Fromm (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1969).
Cf. also Nikolaus Henkel. „Religiöses Erzählen um 1200 im Kontext höfischer
Literatur,“ in Die Vermittlung geistlicher Inhalte im deutschen Mittelalter, ed.
Timothy R. jackson, Nigel F. Palmer and Almut Suerbaum (Tübingen: Niemeyer,
1996), l-21.
90 DIA:\A MÜLLER
through the land as a knight in order to find his parents. In one of these
beleaguered lands he helps a besieged princess fend offher enemies. The
two marry without knowing each other’s true identity- the princess is
his mother. Once they know that they are mother and son, they decide to
repent and live forever chaste. Gregorius later becomes Pope and both of
them are released from their incestuous sin. In the epilogue the narrator
Jets the reader know:
By disen guotte[n] märe[n] / von den siindäre[n] / wie sy nach nach grosser
schulde[n] / erwurbe[n]t gottes hulde{n] / dane so/ nieman de hain sündig[er]
ma[n] / geneme[n] so böse bilde/ dz er sy gott wilde/ dz er nicht gedenke also/
wiss die fräfel vn[d] fro /wie saftest du v[er]wasse[n] wese[n) / sit das dis sind
genese[n) /nach ir grosse[n] missetaut /so wirt din alle guott rautt / vn{d} ist
dz ich genese[n] so// so genes ich also wo/ („ .] vnd ist ach sin sünd krank/ so
kumet der selbe gedank /mit tusentfalt[er] missetaut / vn[d] wirt sin niem[er]
rautt /da so/ der sündig ma[n] /ein sälig bild neme[n] an/ wie viel er gesündet
hett /will er das sin wo/ werde raute/ ob er die riuwe begaut / vn[d] rechte
buosse bestautt.
From these good stories / Of these sinners / Who despite great guilt / Still attain
God’s grace / A sinner should never / Learn such a bad lesson /So that he
grows away from God / So that he does not think / Be insolent and cheerful /
How could you be damned / lf here they are saved /After their great outrages
/ Then you will be helped just the same / And if salvation is determined forme
/ Then 1 will also be saved like these. (.„] And even if his s ins are small / Then
thousands of misdeeds /Are attended by this thought / then he can no langer
be helped / The sinner should learn / A holy lesson from this / Regardless of
much how he has sinned / lf he wants to be saved / And when he shows
repentance and genuinely repents (fol. 44v-45r).
This summary warns readers that this story should not be misunderstood
as a trivialization of sinful behaviour. As the saying goes: if Gregorius
and his mother-wife received forgiveness for their grave misconduct,
then how much more readily will God forgive me for my lesser
ones. The legend shows that one may hope for salvation even after
serious offences-provided that one regrets such actions and exercises
sincere penance. The comments in the epilogue are linked to the prologue,
which precedes the main narrative and reflects on the sins of
youth and explains the risks of delaying contrition and repentance for
too long owing to the threat of unexpected death:
wer durch der helle scherge[n] raut/ den trost zuo sin[er] juge[n]t hautt / dz er
dar vff sündet / alz in die juge[n]t schündet/ dz er gedenket dar an/ du bist ain
junger ma[n] /aller diner missetaut /der wirt noch vif guot rautt /du gebüssest
sy in dem alt[e1] wo/ / der gedenket anders denne er so/ / er wirt es vi//icht
Nox-ALTO’\OMOLS TEXTS 91
entsetzet/ wa[n] in des wille[n} fetzet/ die ehaffte nott so der bitterlich tod /
den vorgedank richtet/ vn[d) in das alt{er] brichet / mit aine[m} schnel/e[n}
ende
He who, based on the counsel of the infernal executioner /Trusts in his youth
/ So that he continues to sin / Because youth pushes him / To it and thinks /
You are a young man/ For all your misdomgs / Redress will be created / You
can repent at a ripe old age / He thinks otherwise than he should / His plan
easily fails / For he is prevented from this wish by an act of God: / lf bitter
death / Takes revenge for hubris / And cuts short his lifetime / With an early
end (fol. 12v).
The prologue also incorporates a parable of the Two Ways and that of
the Good Samaritan. These parables tell about life as a simple, comfortable
path without obstacles that, however, leads to eternal death. This
path is contrasted with the path to bliss that is nonetheless cumbersome
and full of obstacles. They serve as illustrations to sensitize the reader to
the necessity of penitence and demonstrate the efficacy of contrition. In
addition, this religious framework, by highlighting its exemplary moments,
guides the reception ofthe text by readers.
Attached to the Gregorius as an additional text is the Life of the Virgin
Mary, a unique version though based in its essentials on the apocryphal
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.7 The passage in which the village inhabitants
learn of the pregnancy of the still underage Mary is described in detail:
Owe du alt{etj trug[er) / Vn{d] du valscher phleg[er] /wie hanst du der magt so
gephleg[en} / dz du bist bi ir gelege[n} /du wurt ir zuo aine[n} hüter geb[e]n /
Vn{d} söltest nit bi ir sin ge/ege[n] / Vntz das du sin von recht sö/test neme[n] {„.)
hetest du din bosshait nit mit ir getrib{e]n / sy wäre noch maget belibe[n).
Oh woe, you old fraud / And false caregiver / How could you care for the girl in
such a manner / That you slept with her/ You were placed at her side as a
guardian / And were not to sleep with her/ Until you could do so by right („.]
lf you had not performed your wickedness with her/ She would still be a virgin
(fol. 55v-56r).
After Joseph is initially accused of having impregnated Mary, she must
face the suspicion of the village community. They maintain that she müst
von aine[n] ma[n] han („ought to have [„.the child„.] from a man,“ fol.
56v). The facts, however, are made clear through a judgement of God-
Kurt Gärtner, „Marienleben der Konstanzer Hs. A 1 l,“ in Die deutsche Literatur
des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, vol. 2, ed. Kurt Ruh (Berlin and New York: De
Gruyter, 1987), vol. 6, 15.
92 DIANA MÜLLER
Mary and Joseph pass the ordeal by water-after Mary calls upon God as
her witness and again asserts her virginity:
Ich wil gott ze gezuge han / dz ich nie gewa[n] kaine[n] ma[n] / V[n)d also an
dise[n] tag kome[n] bin/ dz mich nie beruort kain bös[ er] sin.
1 want to have God as a witness / That ! never had a man / And have arrived
up to this day in this manner / So that an evil thought never touched upon me
(fol. 56v).
The Life of the Virgin is followed by the Sibylline prophecy. Though concentrating
on the birth and death of Jesus, it includes a listing of histori cal
rulers and material relating to the Antichrist and thereby portraying
the end of the world. The ambivalence of the text is here reduced by its
context within this collection as a whole. In an instructive-moralizing
textual environment, the prophecy has no propaganda function whatsoever,
but rather should
raise the reader’s or Jistener’s awareness ofthe imminent end ofthe world and
the Last judgement [ … ] and thereby prompt him to change his life, repent and
lead a life pleasing to God.8
The remarks on the coming of the Antichrist substantiate the general
theme of „life change“ by again conspicuously stressing the problem of
illegitimate pregnancies:
[..)end crist in der zitt wird empfange[n) in der muott[er] so vert der tiefe/ mit
gewalt in si Also wirt si des endes crist schwang[er] in ir vnd wa[n] dan[n] die
zitt ende hatt dz sich die zitt d[er] vierzig woch[en] ergatt Vn[d} si den tiefe/
geber[n] so/ so wirt si gross vn[d) schwartz als ain kol Vn[dj zespringet ze
stuke[n] alz ain glas ( . .) {V}nd alz er den[n] gebor[n] wirt so neme[n]t in die tiefe/
ze hand in ir pflicht vn{d) ler[n]t in bosshait manigfalt bis dz er wäre drissig
jar alt wie er die weit söl/e v[e1]kere[n] [..} Vn{d) bringen die weit ze vngelobe[n]
gar.
In these times the Antichrist will be conceived by his mother. The devil will violently
enter her and thus she will carry the Antichrist in her. And when then
the time comes to an end and the forty weeks are passed, and she shall give
birth to the devil, then she will become !arge and black as coal and shatter like
glass into pieces. [ … ] And when he is th en born, the devils will take him by the
hand in their care and will teach him much wickedness until he is thirty years
old and shall pervert the world and bring it to utter loss of faith (fol. 7 4v-75r).
Bernhard Schnell, „Sibyllen Weissagungen (deutsch),“ in Verfasserlexikon, vol. 8,
1141 (my translation).
NON-ACTONOMOL’S TEXTS 93
These terrifying descriptions of the consequences of rape are likely to
have lcft a lasting impression on readers. Furthermore, The Mirror ties in
with the prophecy. This text is a mix of Marian lament and moral teachings.
Here again the beauty of young women, the focus of the Legend of
Margaret, plays a role: there are allusions to the transience of feminine
beauty and the preeminence of internal values.
At this point the prologue of The Mirror should be examined more
closely, since it offers insights into the target audience for the collection,
reading customs, as weil as contexts of use. Here a first-person narrator,
who characterizcs himself as a lieben knecht („affectionate servant“) (fol.
78r), reports on how he translates a Latin Marian lament into German:
Ich sass a/lain an eine{m] tag / un{d} na{m] für mich marie{n] klag/ Ir gross
qua/ un{d} ir pin / dz wart mir völlec/iche[n] schin /an aine{m] büc/1elin /da
vand ich in latin Geschribe{n] was die maget sprach {„] do kam ze hand in
mine[n] muot / dz ich die wort die ich do vand / In tütsche walte tuon bekant
One day 1 sat alone / And devoted myself to the Marian sorrow / Her great torture
and her great pain / Became clear to me / With the help of a little book /
There 1 found written down in Latin what the Virgin said [„.] And it crossed my
mind / That 1 would Jike to make known in German / What 1 discovered there
(fol. 78r).
This reference to sources is followed by an instruction on reading. The
text should act as a mirror to the soul and should be referred to often, in
order to recognize God’s goodwill:
Vnd land diss k/ain büchelin / iuw[er] se/e spiegel sin / es so/ der spiegl sin
gena[n]t / ir sond es dik neme[n] ze hand /so müge[n}t ir gottes min{n]e /er
kenne{n] wo/ dar in{n]e.
And let this little book /Bea mirror ofyour soul / lt should be called The Mirror
/ You should often refer to it /In this way you may discover God’s love (fol.
78r).
There are isolated sprinklings of Latin to evoke a scholarly tradition,
such as the biblical quotation Ct 3,11:
Er {Salomon] sprichet in /atin Egredimini ftliae syon et videte regem Sa/omone[
m} in dyademate q[uo} coronavit eu[m} mat[er] sua (fol. 78r).
However, no knowledge of Latin is necessary to understand this passage
since the quotation is repeated in German a few verses later:
Da von ir tohtern von syon /sehend den künig Salomon / gand uss her egredimini
/und sehend wie schön der kung si
94 DIANA MÜLLER
Daughters of Zion / See the King Solomon / Go out egredimini / And see how
beautiful the King is (fol. 78v).
One further detail is important: the readership is often addressed directly
in this text as kind „child“ (fol. 78r-v) or raine frowen „pure
warnen“ (fol. 78v). This fits with the image of the target audience suggested
by the texts analysed earlier, namely young warnen.
At the beginning it is pointed out that all those die diss buechelin lesend
od[er] höre[nd] lesen („who read or hear this little book read“) could
expect friendship and leniency frorn Mary if one liset oder häret mit weht
(„read or hear with proper disposition“)-in other words in a conscientious
and disciplined rnanner (fol. 77v). In connection with the preceding
prayer to Jesus and to Mary, guidance for contemplation for the young
fernale readership takes shape.9 This instructive, educational attitude is
taken up later, when general guidelines for ways to express emotional
life, enjoyable activities, consumption of alcohol, moral and religious
comrnitrnents as weil as agreeable conduct with Fellow rnen are listed:
Mittrainer vn{d} mit guotter zucht /dar an fit der sele frucht / ze masse lachen
vn{d} waine{n} vif/ tantze[n] jliehe{n] vn{d] der weite spil / lützel rede[n] dz ist
guott /die ogen twinge[n] vn[d] den muott / Guoter gebärde bis beraitt / Vnd
min{n]e alle kiuschhait / alsam ain tub ainfaltig sin / Mitt masse trinken starken
win / wache{n} lange betten gern/ So wirt der me[n]sch ain lucern /Ob er icht
hatt beschaidenhait / diu al/{e]r tugende{n] krone trait / Min{n]en vn[d]
minne[n]t gott /Mit fliss behalten sin gebott / ain fridliches hertze han / vn{d]
lasse[n] al/e[n] argen wan /Hie bi so/ sin demütikait / die ist guott mit gedultekait.
The thriving of the soul / Depends on clean and good conduct / Restrained
laughing and much crying / Keep yourself away from dance and worldly game
/ Speak little that is good / Curb eyes and spirit / Make efforts at good behavior
/ And love all chastity / Be innocent as a dove / Drink strong wine in moderation
/Be always alert and pray gladly / In this way man becomes a light/
Modesty bears the crown of the virtuous / Love God / Abide by His Commandments
/ Have a peaceful heart / And Jet all anger be / In addition, also be
humble and patient (fol. 78v).
In the rnain section of The Mirror, the first-person narrator finally asks
Mary to evoke her suffering at the crucifixion of Jesus; she complies and
describes the painful lass of her child.
Hans-Joachim Ziegeler, „Unser vrouwen klage,“ in Verfasserlexikon, vol. 10, 95.
No:-;-AuTo-;oMOl.S TEXTS 95
[N]un merkend von den zehen gebott („Now read the Ten Commandments
carefully,“ fol. 85v), the manuscript continues. In the context of
this miscellany the Ten Commandments remind readers of their own
moral insufficiency and urge them to Christian acts. Transformed into a
rhyming couplet poem and furnished with educational vocabulary, they
supplement the remaining texts with concrete rules of conduct.
This story is followed by the legend of Barbara, a cruel and dramatic
story about a beautiful and strong-minded woman, who tries to resist
the pagan beliefs of her father with her Christian convictions. Barbara is
locked by her father in a tower with two windows; after she has a third
window constructed as a sign of the Trinity, her father tries to stab her
with his sword. At first saved when a fissure opens in the mountain, she
is subsequently tortured and has her breasts cut off. The legend with its
evocation of sexual abuse, ends with Barbara dying from her injuries.
Her father and adversary thereupon meets his death:
Vnd also er nach de[m] berg gat mit dem volk da hatt sich besehen war ain dikken
wolk Vnd bracht sinn schwebe/ vn{d) regen Vnd v[er}brant in{n] dz man fand
flaisch noch gebain enweder Also ward er gar v[er]lore[n].
And as he went with the people to the mountain, a thick cloud arose and
poured down brimstone and rain. These burned him, so that one found neither
tlesh nor bones. He had completely vanished (fol. 89r).
In an infernal scenario of fire and brimstone, the father is overtaken by
God’s punishment. Barbara, on the other hand, reached the kingdom of
heaven because of her steadfast adherence to her Christian convictions.
These texts from the Constance manuscript have two main facets: the
legends of saints, and a moralizing and didactic literature. The veneration
of saints suggests that the collection has been tailored for lay piety.
The level of complexity assumes no knowledge of theology. lnstead of
theological reasoning these texts are built on narratives and emotions.
Sporadic Latin elements in The Mirror are no indication of Latin
knowledge on the part of the target audience, since the passages are
promptly repeated in German.
The patron saints that appear here are exclusively female, targeted at
girls and women. Mary of Egypt is the patron of penitent women, Margaret
of wet nurses, virgins, pregnant women as weil as women desiring a
96 DIA~A MC1.LER
child, while Barbara is considered the patron saint of girls.10 The Virgin
Mary is also naturally deemed to be a suitable advocate for pregnancy
and birth.11
In addition, the three saints as weil as Mary are presented in the legends
as adolescent women-a group which could therefore easily have
identified with them. Even the acts and actions in the legends have a
strong relevance to young women. There is a recognizable subtext of adolescence,
sexuality, feminine charm and the associated risks. By raising
the issues of prostitution, the beauty of youth, rape and unwanted pregnancy,
the stories warn readers ofthese dangers.
The legends are combined with moral didactic tales. In this category 1
count the Sibylline prophecy, The Mirror and also the poem of the Ten
Commandments. The Sibylline prophecy with the portrayal of the apocalypse
and the worldly court serves to draw attention to the end of the
world and the Last Judgement. Readers are invited to question their own
way of life, to do penance, and to lead a life agreeable to God. The Mirror
is a text teaching behavior and virtue, as are the Ten Commandments. In
addition to serving as an example, the legends show the zeal with which
the Christian notions of morality and piety should be embraced. The
contents are immediately understandable: readers are to compare the
idealized model with their own behavior and moral attitudes. In this way
they may question their own piety. They can then re-discipline their own
faith and strengthen their own virtues. Such a devout, pious and virtuous
life will eventually lead them to salvation-so the promise goes.
The function of the Constance miscellany thereby becomes evident: it
is an educational book aimed at young lay women. The selected texts are
designed to make girls aware of dangers, such as the Joss of virginity outside
marriage and the social stigmatization of children born out of wedJock,
and are also to be morally instructing in this regard. In the process,
the theme of „sexuality“ determines the moral discussion and the question
of committing sin. The knowledge that is to be conveyed follows the
Christian doctrine of salvation, in which the central ideas of „penitence“
and „conversion“ are the prerequisites for divine grace. The mode of instruction
follows the principle of imitatio in illustrating correct behavior
10 Cf. the respective entries in Lexikon der Namen und Heiligen, ed. Otto Wimmer
and Hartmann Metzer (Innsbruck: Tyrolia-Verlag, 1988).
11 Britta-Juliane Kruse, Verborgene Heilkünste. Geschichte der Frauenmedizin im
Spätmitte/alter, Quellen und Forschungen zur Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte 5,
239 (Berlin and New York: De Gruyter, 1996), 15 7.
NON-At.:TO:-.i-Ai;ro-:oMOLS TEXTS 99
This suggests reservations about selecting a sto1y concerning the
incestuous relationship of a noble brother and sister at thc Aquitainian
court and its scandalous results. The text is perfectly suited to raise
awareness of relationships out of wedlock and on how to deal with unwanted
pregnancies; but at the same time, a positive fate befalls both the
female protagonist as weil as her child born out of wedlock-Gregorius
is selected as Pope and also his mother-aunt-wife finds salvation. This is
a bold message which could not stand on its own as part of an educational
book, but rather required legitimization and additional explanation.
The added explanation was conferred through the prologue and
enhanced via the addition of the two parables. This example shows that
textual variances of medieval writings and the intended meaning of text
collections can be closely connected.
3. Miscellanies as a complex medium
To what extent onc sees a text as an autonomous unit as opposed to a
part of a !arger textual structure depends on cultural norms and habits.
The typical medium of manuscript culture is the miscellany, a book
that-like the Constance manuscript-unites diverse texts. Fundamentally
the category „autonomy“ of a text offers a wide spectrum of possibilities
for gradation and had different meanings in the Middle Ages than
in modern times. In the nineteenth century, the era of ambitious editions
of vernacular medieval literature, German philologists highlighted
independence by making individual editions of selected works. Early
research thereby made medieval literature „conform to the author-text
model suggested by the printed book.“13 This type of processing and
presentation of literary heritage is sti ll common practice.
In order to understand the effect of pre-modern texts in their historical
milieu, it is necessary to consider their regular transmission in textual
communities, textual variants, and the socio-cultural function of
texts. In the case of Constance A 1 l, such an approach reveals how a
loosely associated group of thematically related texts could be conceptually
coordinated with one another. The coherence of the texts in lr-89r
is defined via different factors: the codicological finding that the text
13 John Dagenais, The Ethics of Reading in Manuscript Culture. G/ossing the libro de
Buen Amor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 19.
100 DIAl\A MCLLER
distribution was carried out tactically across the individual layers and
also the uniform layout of the codex.
In addition, the compiler seems to have selected and arranged the
texts in order to complete an „educational book for girls.“ This strategy
also creates connections among the texts, allowing them to become a
single entity. First and foremost, the knowledge for obtaining salvation is
passed on. This happens primarily via the subtext that teils of extramarital
sexuality, illegitimate pregnancy and rape, and pervades the entire
text collection. Moreover, in this way the texts raise awareness about the
dangers specific to warnen and principles of sexual morals.
Summarizing the characteristics of the Constance manuscript miscellany,
1 would suggest six categories, which, in my opinion possibly
have a wider application:
1. Supertext: By selecting, combining and arranging existing
elements, a coherent „supertext“14 is formed.
2. Serial structure: The „supertext“ consists of individual texts,
which are strung together.
3. Col/aborative form of production: Text formation and book
production take place separately. Along with the authors of the
individual texts, the compiler also „writes“ the „supertext“ by
selecting, arranging and making editorial decisions on the texts.
4. Situation dependency:1s the text collection is tied in its
communicative structures to the circumstances as weil as the
discourses of the time of origin of the codex.
5. Openness of the reception: Attention can be either focused on the
meditative-edifying effect of separate texts (which corresponds
with the accustomed reception of Books of Hours); or attention
can be focused on the indirect insights and teachings of the
14 J borrow the term from the study by Michele Camillo Ferrari, fl ‚Liber sanctae
crucis‘ de Rabano Mauro. Testo-immagine-contesto, Lateinische Sprache und
Literatur des Mittelalters 30 (Bern: Peter Lang, 1999). Ferrari defines „supertexts“
as texts that come together in a codex and form themselves into a semantic
unit.
2s Cf. Christian Kiening, „Medialität in mediävistischer Perspektive,“ Poetica 39
(2007): 344; Peter Strohschneider, „Situationen des Textes. Okkasionelle Bemerkungen
zur ‚New Philology‘,“ in Philologie als Textwissenschaft. Alte und Neue
Horizonte, ed. Helmut Tervooren and Horst Wenzel, special issue of Zeitschrift für
deutsche Philologie 116 (Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 1997), 62-68.
NO>-i-ACTONOMO\JS TEXTS !01
doctrine of salvation and sexual morals by reading and understanding
the text collection in its entirety.
These attributes of medieval text transmission can be summarized and
condensed into the characteristic of „non-autonomy“:
6. Non-autonomy: The individual texts of a miscellany may be understood
as separate units and be independently received; however,
an important dimension of meaning-and exactly that which
sheds light on the „circumstances in which transmission educates,
maintains and changes“16- reveals itself through the reception of
the individual texts as dependent parts of an (intended) collection.
***
Manuscript culture often reproduced older sources. A creative element
was the act of connecting texts into new semantic entities. Our analysis
of Constance A 1 1 shows how miscellanies-the most widely used
medium of textual dissemination of the Middle Ages-may have
functioned.
Strategies may be developed both for editions and for the understanding
and interpretation of fiction in order to provide „access to
medieval tradition, which is based on the medium.“t7 In so doing we can
meet both the demands of „New Philology“1s and do justice to
manuscript culture. Thus, the interpretation of texts of manuscript
culture would no langer concentrate on individual texts, but rather on
the contexts of manuscripts. Instead of projecting the perspective of the
printing press era onto manuscript culture, the specific conditions of
manuscript culture should be taken into account through strenger
consideration of the „non-autonomy“ of texts and the compilation of
manuscripts. Thanks to this approach, even canonical texts such as the
Gregorius can be perceived in a different light-such as here in the
Constance miscellany A 1 1 as part of an educational book created for lay
women.19
16 Kiening. „Medialität,“ 344 (my translation).
11 Kiening, „Medialität,“ 293 (my translation).
ie See Speculurn 65, no 1 (1990), which is devoted to „The New Philology.“ Cf. also
Philologie als Textwissenschaft
19 Ulrich Ernst’s ascription of Constance A 1 1 to a monastic setting (Reichenau)
should be corrected. Cf. Ulrich Ernst, Der ‚Gregorius‘ Hartmanns von Aue. Theologische
Grundlagen – legendarische Strukturen – Überlieferung im geistlichen
Schrifttum, Ordo 7 (Cologne: Böhlau, 2002), 233 and 251.
Medieval Manuscript Miscellanies:
Composition, Authorship, Use
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
SONDERBAND XXXI
Medieval Manuscript Miscellanies:
Composition, Authorship, Use
edited by
Lucie Dolezalova and Kimberly Rivers
Krems 2013
Reviewed by
Holly Johnson
and Farkas Gabor Kiss
Cover design by Petr Dolefal
with the use of MS St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, 692
(photo Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen)
GEDRUCKT MIT UNTERSTÜTZUNG
VON
CHARLES UNIVERSITY RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
„UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL
INTELLECTUAL T RADITIONS“
AND
„PHENOMENOLOGY AND SEMIOTICS“ (PRVOUK 18)
BOTH AT THE FACULTY OF HUMAN!TlES, CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE
UND DER
CZECH SCIENCE FOUNDATION
WITHIN THE RESEJl.RCH PROJECT
„INTERPRETING AND APPROPRIATING ÜBSCURITY
IN MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT CULTURE“
(GACR P405/10/P112)
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
– ISBN 978-3-901094-33-.10
Herausgeber: Mediwn Aevum Quotidianurn. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der materiellen
Kulrur des Mittelalters, Körnermarkt 13, 3500 Krems, Österreich. Für den Inhalt verantwortlich
zeichnen die Autoren, ohne deren ausdrückliche Zustimmung jeglicher
Nachdruck, auch in Auszügen, nicht gestattet ist. Druck: KOPITU Ges. m. b. H., Wiedner
Hauptstraße 8-10, 1050 Wien, Österreich.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
Table of Contents
Lucie Dolefalova and Kimberly Rivers
1. TAXONOMY AND METHODOLOGY
Medieval Miscellanies and the Case of Manuscript British library,
Cotton Titus D.XX
Greti Dinkova-Bruun
The Art of Regensburg Misce/lanies
Adam S. Cohen
looking for the Purpose behind a Multitext Book:
The Miscellany as a Personal „One-Volume library“
Eva Nyström
II. AUTHORSHIP AND NON-AUTONOMY OF TEXTS
Non-auconomous Texts: On a Fifteenth-Century German „Gregorius“ Manuscript
1
14
34
70
[Constance, City Archive, Ms. A 11) 84
Diana Müller
The Appearance of „A rtes praedicandi“ in Medieval Manuscripts 102
Siegfried Wenzel
Creating the Memory of God in a Medieval Miscellany: Melk MS 1075,
Jean de Hesdin (fl. 1350-1370), and late Medieva/ Monastic Reform 112
Kimberly Rivers
Multiple Copying and the lnterpretability of Codex Contents:
„Memory Miscellanies“ Compi/ed by Ga/lus Kemli {1417-1480/1) of St Gall 139
Lucie Dolefalova
III. USE
An Educational Miscel/any in the Carolingian Age: Paris, BNF, Tat 528 168
Alessandro Zironi
The Constitution and Functions of Collections of Patristic Extracts:
The Example of the Eucharistie Controversy (9th-11 th centuries) 182
Stephane Gioanni
Theological Distinctions, Their Col/ections and Their Effects. The Example
ofln Abdiam and In Naum 194
Csaba Nemeth
The Wiesbaden Miscel/any.
The Deli berate Construction of a Haphazard Collection 218
Kees Schepers
An Interpretation of Brunetto Latini’s Tresor in a
Fifteenth-Century Miscel/any Manuscriptnuscripts 240
Dario del Puppo
The Romances of British Library, Cotton Vite/lius D.111 256
Elizabeth Watkins
Contributors 270
Index librorum manuscriptorum 275
General Index 279
Colour Plates 285
Figures
Figure 1: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 14731, fol. 78r, Table ofthe
Temple Showbread (Mensa propositionis). See also the colour plate at the end of
the volume.
Figure 2: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 14731, fo l. 80r, Noah’s Ark. See
also the colour plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 3: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 14731, fo l. 82v-83r, Labyrinth/
Jericho. See also the colour plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 4: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cl m. 14731, fo l. 83v, World map. See
also the colour plate at the end ofthe volume.
Figure 5: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 13002, fo l. 7v, Microcosm. See
also the colour plate at the end ofthe volume.
Figure 6: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cl m. 13105, fol. 83r, Initials from
Honorius, lnevitabile. See also the colour plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 7: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 13074, fol. 81v-82r, Scenes from
the Life of James the Less. See also the colour plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 8: Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 14159, fol. 187v, Sons of Noah
diagram. See also the colour piate at the end of the volume.
Figure 9: An example of an easily recognizable break between codicological units,
where the blank Jeaf at the end ofthe preceding unit was later used for personal
annotations by an owner ofthe book (Cod. Ups. Gr. 8, fo l. 87v- 88r).
Figure 10: Compared to Figure 9, the break between the units is here less apparent,
since the space left over at the end ofthe quire was in a second relay utilized by
the scribe himself. The micro-texts added at the end ofthe unit link up with the
preceding narrative and rhetorical texts, whereas the next unit, beginning on f.
104, is devoted to medical texts (Cod . Ups. Gr. 8, fo l. 103v-104r).
Figure 11: Drawing of a cherub. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex
Vindobonensis 12465, fol. 75v. By permission ofthe Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek. See also the colour plate at the end ofthe volume.
Figure 12: Drawing of a seraph. Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex
Vindobonensis 12465, fol. 76v. By permission of the Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek. See also the colour plate at the end ofthe volume.
Figure 13: Conrad Celtis’s mnemonic alphabet, Melk, Stifstbibliothek, 1075, pp. 878-
79. Image provided by the Hili Museum and Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN.
Figure 14: Alphabetic table to the Rule of St. Benedict: Si9nationes capitulorum
Re9ulae S. Benedicti secundum a/phabetum. Melk, Stifstbibliothek, 1075, pp. 881-
82. Image provided by the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN.
Figure 15: St. Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 972b, p. 150, Cena nuptialis.
Figure 16: St. Gall, Stiftsbiblioth ek, 293, p. 29, Cena nuptialis.
Figure 17: St. Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 692, p. 13, Cena nuptialis.
Figure 18: St. Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 692, cover.
Figure 19: Paris, BNF, lat. 17371, fol. 153 (electronic elaboration).
Figure 20: Paris, BNF, lat. 528, fol. 71v (electronic elaboration).
Figure 21: Paris, BNF, lat. 5340, fol. 146v, 11’h century.
Figure 22: Wiesbaden, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 3004B10, fol. lv: Salvator
Mundi ( copyright Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv). See also the colour plate at the end
of the volume.
Figure 23: Wiesbaden, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 3004 B 10, fol. 2v (copyright
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv). See also the colour plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 24: Wiesbaden, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 3004 B 10, fol. 3r (copyright
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv). See also the colour plate at the end ofthe volume.
Figure 25: Wiesbaden, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 3004 B 10, fol. 24v: The
Adoration ofthe Magi (copyright Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv). See also the colour
plate at the end of the volume.
Figure 26: New Haven, CT, Beinecke Library, 1030, c. 52v.
Figure 27: New Haven, CT, Beinecke Library, 1030, c. 53r.
Figure 28: New Haven, CT, Beinecke Library, 1030, c. 2r.
Acknowledgements
This volume contains selected, peer-reviewed and revised contributions to
an international conference Medieval Manuscript Miscellanies: Composition,
Authorship, Use, which took place at the Charles University in Prague on
August 24-26, 2009. The event and the publication of the book were
supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, a junior research grant to Lucie
Dolefalova from the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech
Republic, no. KJB801970701 („Remembering One’s Bible: Reception of
Summarium Biblie in 13t1′-15th c.“), by two Charles University Research
Development Programs: „University Centre for the Study of Ancient and
Medieval lntellectual Traditions“ and „Phenomeno-logy and Semiotics“
(PRVOUK 18) both undertaken at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles
University in Prague, and by a three-year post-doc grant to Lucie
Dolefalova from the Czech Science Foundation „Interpreting and Appropriating
Obscurity in Medieval Manuscript Culture,“ no. P405/10/Pl12,
carried out at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. lt was
possible to finish editing the book thanks to a Sciex-CRUS fellowship to
Lucie Dolefalova at the „Mittellateinisches Seminar“ at the University of
Zurich. We are also grateful to Petr Dolefal who designed the book cover, as
weil as to Adela Novakova who prepared the index.
Further gratitude goes to the Centre for Medieval Studies, part of the
Philosophical Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Prague for providing
the rooms for the conference. We are especially ind ebted to all the
contributors for their kind patience du ring the editing process.