The eighth-century Codex Eyckensis is a Gospel Book based on two constituent manuscripts that were bound as a single codex from (presumably) the twelfth century until 1988. The Codex Eyckensis is the oldest book in Belgium. [1] Since the eighth century it has been kept and preserved on the territory of the present-day municipality of Maaseik, in Belgium (hence the name "Eyckensis"). The book was probably produced in the scriptorium in the Abbey of Echternach. It is housed in the church of St Catherine in Maaseik.
The Codex Eyckensis consists of two evangelistaries on 133 parchment folios measuring 244 by 183 mm each.
The first manuscript (Codex A) is incomplete. It consists of five folios, opening with a full-page Evangelist portrait (presumably depicting Saint Matthew), followed by an incomplete set of eight Canon Tables. The Evangelist portrait is rendered in Italian-Byzantine style, which is clearly related to that of the Barberini Gospels currently kept in the Vatican Library (Barberini Lat. 570). The portrait is framed in a border of Anglo-Saxon knotwork, comparable to the decoration elements in the Lindisfarne Gospels .
The Canon Tables provide an overview of corresponding passages in the four Gospels. In this way, the Canon Tables serve as table of contents and index to ease access to the texts. The Canon Tables in manuscript A are decorated with columns and arcades, the symbols of the four Evangelists and portraits of saints.
The second manuscript (Codex B) contains a full set of twelve Canon Tables and all four Gospel texts in Latin. The Canon Tables are embellished with columns and arcades, depictions of Apostles and the Evangelists’ symbols. The Gospel texts are written in a rounded form of the insular minuscule, which was characteristic of British and Irish manuscripts from the seventh and eighth centuries, but was also used in mainland Europe. The initial capital of each paragraph is outlined with red and yellow dots. The text was copied by a single scribe.
The Gospel text is a version of the Vulgate, mostly as translated by Saint Jerome (Hieronymus of Stridon, 347–420 CE), with a number of additions and transpositions. Comparable versions of the Gospel texts can be found in the Book of Kells (Dublin, Trinity College, ms 58), the Book of Armagh (Dublin, Trinity College, ms 52) and the Echternach Gospels (Paris, Bnf, ms Lat.9389).
The Codex dates from the eighth century and was first kept at the former Benedictine abbey of Aldeneik, which was consecrated in 728 CE. The Merovingian nobles Adelard, Lord of Denain, and his wife Grinuara founded this abbey for their daughters Harlindis and Relindis in “a small and useless wood" [2] near the river Meuse. The convent was named Eyke (“oak”), for the oak trees that grew there. Later, as the neighbouring village of Nieuw-Eyke (“new oak”—present-day Maaseik) grew and became more important, the name of the original village became Aldeneik (“old oak”). Saint Willibrord consecrated Harlindis as the first abbess of this religious community. After her demise, Saint-Boniface consecrated her sister Relindis as her successor.
The Codex Eyckensis was used at the convent to study and also to promulgate the teachings of Christ. Both evangelistaries that now constitute the Codex Eyckensis were presumably brought from the Abbey of Echternach to Aldeneik by Saint Willibrord.
The two manuscripts were merged into one binding, most likely in the course of the twelfth century.
In 1571 the abbey of Aldeneik was abandoned. From the middle of the tenth century, the Benedictine nuns had been replaced by a collegiate chapter of male canons. With the increasing threat of religious war, the canons took refuge in the walled town of Maaseik. They brought the church treasures from Aldeneik—including the Codex Eyckensis—to Saint Catherine's church.
For centuries, people were convinced the Codex Eyckensis had been written by Harlindis and Relindis, the first abbesses of the abbey of Aldeneik, who were later canonized. Their hagiography was written down in the course of the ninth century by a local priest. [3] This text mentions that Harlindis and Relindis had also written an evangelistary. In the course of the ninth century the cult of the relics of the saintly sisters became increasingly important and included the veneration of the Codex Eyckensis, which inspired deep reverence as a work produced by Harlindis and Relindis themselves. [2]
However, the final lines of the second manuscript refute this explicitly: Finito volumine deposco ut quicumque ista legerint pro laboratore huius operis depraecentur (At the completion of this volume, I ask all who read this to pray for the worker who made this manuscript). The male form laborator (“worker”) clearly indicates that the person who wrote the manuscript was a man. [4]
A comparative analysis performed in 1994 by Albert Derolez (University of Ghent) and Nancy Netzer (Boston College) has revealed that manuscript A and manuscript B both date from the same period, that it is highly probable that both were created at the scriptorium of the abbey of Echternach and that they may even have been produced by the same scribe. [5]
In 1957 an attempt to conserve and restore the Codex Eyckensis was made by Karl Sievers, a restorer from Düsseldorf. He removed and destroyed the 18th-century red velvet binding and then proceeded to laminate all folios of the manuscript with Mipofolie. Mipofolie is a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foil, externally plasticized with dioctyl phthalate. With the passing of time, this foil produced hydrochloric acid which attacked the parchment and had a yellowing effect on the foil itself. The transparency and colour of the parchment were affected, and polymers present in the foil could migrate to the parchment and render it brittle. After the lamination, Sievers rebound the codex. To be able to do so, he cut the edges of the folios, which resulted in fragments of the illumination being lost. In a new extensive restoration effort between 1987 and 1993 the Mipofolie lamination was meticulously removed by a team of the Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, led by the chemist Dr Jan Wouters. [6] For the restoration of the folios after the removal of the laminate, an innovative parchment leafcasting technique was developed. [7] [8] [9] To complete the restoration, the two constituent manuscripts of the Codex were bound separately. [10]
The oldest photographic documentation of the Codex Eyckensis dates from approximately 1916 (Bildarchiv Marburg). [11] On the occasion of the restoration, the manuscript was photographed at the Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK–IRPA). A facsimile was published in 1994. [12]
In 2015, the Codex Eyckensis was digitised [13] on site in Saint Catherine's church by the Imaging Lab and Illuminare [14] – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art | KU Leuven. This project was led by Prof. Lieve Watteeuw. [15] The high-resolution images were made available on line in cooperation with LIBIS (KU Leuven).
The Codex Eyckensis was recognised and protected as immovable heritage in 1986. In 2003 the Codex Eyckensis was recognised as a Flemish Masterpiece. [16]
In the course of 2016–2017 a team of researchers from Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art | KU Leuven (Prof. Lieve Watteeuw) and the Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (Dr. Marina Van Bos) will again study the Codex Eyckensis.
Further information, regularly updated, is available on the websites of the Maaseik Museums, [17] the Book Heritage Lab-KU Leuven, [18] and the Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK–IRPA). [19]
Maaseik is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size and in population, it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg. The town is the seat of the administrative arrondissement of Maaseik (kieskanton). Internationally, Maaseik is known as the assumed birthplace of the famous Flemish painters Jan and Hubert van Eyck.
The Bobbio Orosius is an early 7th century Insular manuscript of the Chronicon of Paulus Orosius. The manuscript has 48 folios and measures 210 by 150 mm. It is thought to have been produced at the scriptorium of Bobbio Abbey, which was founded by Saint Columbanus in 612. It appears in an inventory of the monastic library done in 1461. The monks gave the manuscript to the Ambrosian Library when it was founded in 1606 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo.
The Echternach Gospels were produced, presumably, at Lindisfarne Abbey in Northumbria around the year 690. This location was very significant for the production of Insular manuscripts, such as the Durham Gospels and the Lindisfarne Gospels. The scribe of the Durham Gospels is believed to have created the Echternach Gospels as well. The Echternach Gospels are now in the collection of France's Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
The Godescalc Evangelistary, Godescalc Sacramentary, Godescalc Gospels, or Godescalc Gospel Lectionary is an illuminated manuscript in Latin made by the Frankish scribe Godescalc and today kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It was commissioned by the Carolingian king Charlemagne and his wife Hildegard on October 7, 781 and completed on April 30, 783. The Evangelistary is the earliest known manuscript produced at the scriptorium in Charlemagne's Court School in Aachen. The manuscript was intended to commemorate Charlemagne's march to Italy, his meeting with Pope Adrian I, and the baptism of his son Pepin. The crediting of the work to Godescalc and the details of Charlemagne's march are contained in the manuscript's dedication poem.
British Library, Harley MS 1775 is an illuminated Gospel Book produced in Italy during the last quarter of the 6th century. The text is in Latin and is a mixture of the Vulgate and Old Latin translations. This text is called "source Z" in critical studies of the Latin New Testament.
The Schuttern Gospels is an early 9th century illuminated Gospel Book that was produced at Schuttern Abbey in Baden. According to a colophon on folio 206v, the manuscript was written by the deacon Liutharius, at the order of his abbot, Bertricus.
The La Cava Bible or Codex Cavensis is a 9th-century Latin illuminated Bible, which was produced in Spain, probably in the Kingdom of Asturias during the reign of Alfonso II. The manuscript is preserved at the abbey of La Trinità della Cava, near Cava de' Tirreni in Campania, Italy, and contains 330 vellum folios which measure 320 by 260 mm.
The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The abbey was founded in the 7th century by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the patronage of a succession of rulers, and was the most powerful institution in Luxembourg.
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The Church of Saint Anne is a partly Romanesque, partly Gothic church in Aldeneik, Belgium.
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Aldeneik Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Aldeneik, currently a mainly residential parish of Maaseik, in the province of Limburg in eastern Belgium. It was founded in 728. The Benedictine nuns were replaced by canons in the 10th century. In the 16th century the canons moved to nearby Maaseik, and Aldeneik was abandoned.
The Sainte-Chapelle Gospels or the Sainte-Chapelle Gospel Book is an Ottonian illuminated manuscript now housed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris as Latin 8851. It is made up of 156 parchment folios, in a 38.5 cm by 28 cm format, making it one of the largest manuscripts of its era. It includes miniatures such as the canon tables, Christ in majesty and the Four Evangelists. It is the work of the Master of the Registrum Gregorii, the most famous illuminator of the Ottonian Renaissance.
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Jan Van der Stock is a Belgian art historian and exhibition curator. He is a full professor at the University of Leuven, where he lectures on Medieval and Renaissance Arts, Graphic Arts, Iconography, Iconology, and Curatorship. He is the director of Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art and holder of the Van der Weyden Chair – Paul & Dora Janssen, the Veronique Vandekerchove Chair of the City of Leuven and the Chair of Medieval Sculpture in the Low Countries. Jan Van der Stock was the husband of Prof. dr. Christiane Timmerman and is the father of Willem and Liza Van der Stock.
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Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art KU Leuven, is a university-led research and documentation centre. It is situated in the University Library in the town of Leuven, Belgium and is accessible to both academics and students. The focus on Medieval and Early Modern Art from the Southern Low Countries in a European perspective is facilitated by both research and doctoral projects that are in turn supported by a vast international network of universities, institutions, and museums.
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The Anjou Bible, or Bible Angevine, is an illustrated manuscript created c. 1340 in the court of King Robert I of Naples and Sicily. The Bible consists of 344 folios with two full-page illustrations and over 80 small miniatures, dated initials, and marginal miniatures. The work is considered a masterpiece of Italian literature from the fourteenth century.
In 1957, the parchment of the Codex Eyckensis (8th century) was systematically laminated with the commercial plastic film, Mipofolie.
High-level destructiveness analysis of synthetic membranes without touching the 8th century parchment of the Codex Eyckensis revealed a polyvinylchloride polymer with 30 % (w/w) monomeric plasticizer;
In the '60s, people believed in the eternal existence of plastics
After just a few decades, the laminate had itself decayed, accelerating the destruction of the manuscripts. In 1990, a team led by Jan Wouters of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels had to painstakingly peel away the PVC film (The Paper Conservator, vol 19, p 5).