Codex Vindobonensis 751

Last updated

The Codex Vindobonensis 751, also known as the Vienna Boniface Codex, is a ninth-century codex comprising four different manuscripts, the first of which is one of the earliest remaining collections of the correspondence of Saint Boniface. The codex is held in the Austrian National Library in Vienna.

Contents

History of the codex

The section containing the Boniface correspondence dates from the ninth century, and was most likely copied in Mainz—Boniface had been appointed archbishop of Mainz in 745, and the copyist used originals of the letters available there. [1] The codex was later moved to Cologne, where it was marked (on 166v) as belonging to the library of the Cologne Cathedral. [2]

The modern history of the codex begins in 1554 when Kaspar von Niedbruck  [ Wikidata ], who had entered the service of Maximilian II in that year, found the manuscript in Cologne and brought it to Vienna. Von Niedbruck collected materials to aid with the composition of the Magdeburg Centuries (a comprehensive church history first published in 1559), and gathered many manuscripts for the Imperial Library, which he allowed Matthias Flacius and his collaborators to copy. [1] As indicated in von Niedbruck's correspondence, the codex was sent to George Cassander after September 1755. Next mention of the codex is in the catalog entry by Hugo Blotius, the first librarian of the Imperial Library, in 1597. [3] Correspondence between Sebastian Tengnagel of the Imperial Library and Johann Pistorius, confessor to Rudolf II, indicates that the codex was in Prague, whence Tengnagel had sent it to Nicolaus Serarius  [ Wikidata ] in Mainz who used it to publish his edition of the Boniface correspondence (1605). Corrections and notes in the hands of Tengnagel and Blotius prove that they had already worked on copying and editing the correspondence before the codex was sent to Prague. [4]

It is not known when the codex returned to Vienna, though it was there by 1802, when the German historian Georg Heinrich Pertz read it. It was used also by Philipp Jaffé (who published an edition of the correspondence in 1866), and, according to the visitors log in Vienna, between 27 October and 20 November 1882 it was studied almost daily by Wilhelm Diekamp. The codex later traveled to Berlin, where Michael Tangl used it for his own edition (published 1916), and to Essen, where it was exhibited in 1956. [5]

Contents

It is not known when the four codices that make up Vindobonensis 751 were bound together—certainly before 1554. Also unknown is what the original cover looked like; the current cover is the work of Gerard van Swieten, librarian for Maria Theresa, and preserves nothing of the old cover. It is made of cardboard covered with white parchment and stamped *17*G*L*B*V*S*B*55*, that is, Gerardus Liber Baro Van Swieten Bibliothecarius, 1755. [6]

The first page shows the remains of what appears to have been an ornamented "E". In the top-left corner is barely visible a small person walking left and holding something long in the right hand. [7]

The four parts of the codex are: [2]

  1. The Boniface collection (1-78)
  2. Texts from the New Testament: Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle of Jude, and First Epistle of Peter.
  3. A glossary of the Old and the New Testament in German
  4. Various homiletic texts and documents related to canon law

Script

The handwriting of the Boniface collection is a careful Carolingian minuscule from the mid-ninth century. The manuscript is written by a single scribe, with the exception of the two last pages, which are written in a different though contemporary hand. [8] The few corrections (that there are few indicates the quality of the scribe's work) are done by three hands—first, that of the copyist; second, that of a different, contemporary corrector, who made seven corrections; and besides some minor early corrections, the third hand is that of Sebastian Tengnagel.

The Boniface correspondence

The Vienna Codex is one of the three oldest codices containing the Boniface correspondence; those three contain the entirety of the known correspondence. The oldest is Cod. lat. Monacensis 81112 (1), still from the eighth century. The Cod. Carlsruhensis, Rastatt 22 (2) is a bit younger than the Vienna Codex (3). Michael Tangl proposed that the letters that those three codices have in common come from a common ancestor: 1 and 2 were copied from a lost codex y, and y and 3 were copied from a lost codex x. [9]

Collectio pontificia and collectio communis

A striking difference between the Vienna Codex and the others is that the Munich and the Karlsruhe Codex contain the so-called collectio pontificia, the letters to and from the various popes with whom Boniface dealt, which is lacking in the Vienna Codex. All three contain the so-called collectio communis, the letters written to and from others, besides popes (the terminology is Tangl's). But to the collection communis the Vienna Codex adds a great number of other letters, esp. those written to and by Lullus, Boniface's successor in Mainz. For these, which were not found in the x or y codices, the copyist must have had access to the originals in Mainz. [10] An odd insertion is a poem by an unknown cleric to Aldhelm, and four poems by Aldhelm, [11] followed by a selection from Isidore of Seville's De ecclesiasticis officiis [12] and a few prayers (40-48r). [10]

Scripts and symbols

An odd characteristic of this codex is that the scribe in the continuation of the correspondence, after the Aldhelm poems and the Isidore letter and now copying directly from the archive in Mainz, also copies a number of graphic and other symbols, such as crosses and Chi Rhos, and adds some other typographical oddities, such as majuscules and what appear to be copies of the sender's addresses and signatures and even drawings of the holes and strings used to close a letter (for instance, 63r, for a letter by Lullus). [13]

Secret code

Palindrome, Codex Vindobonensis 751, fol. 39v. Codex Vindobonensis 751 palindrome.tif
Palindrome, Codex Vindobonensis 751, fol. 39v.

Boniface had acquainted a number of his co-workers on the continent with a way of writing that adopted a coded alphabet, derived from other scripts including Greek majuscules, uncial script used by Anglo-Saxon scribes, and even runes (on 4v the rune for "M", and the rune "ur" for "V". An additional coded element is employed on 39v, where the adapted alphabet reads "FUFBNNB", where the vowel ("A") is replaced by the following consonant ("B"), rendering "FUFANNA", the name of an abbess. [14]

Two further oddities are a palindrome on 39v added to the end of a letter, "METROHOCANGISSITISSIGNACOHORTEM", a puzzle that has not yet been solved—and the palindrome is written in a vertically mirrored way as well (the lacuna is one of four holes in the vellum on this page). [15] This example is cited as the kind of poetic and literary game popular in Aldhelm's time and thereafter. [16] Folio 34r contains a line in Old English: "Memento saxonicum uerbum: oft daedlata dome foreldit sigi sitha gahuem suuyltit thiana." [15] The line is listed in the Anglo-Saxon Corpus as "A Proverb from Winfrid's Time" (Winfrid was Saint Boniface's original name), and is cited as the earliest English poetic proverb, and was translated by Elliot V.K. Dobbie as "Often a sluggard delays in his [pursuit of] glory, in each of victorious undertakings." [17]

Editions of the manuscript

Folios 1-77 of the Vienna Codex were published in facsimile in 1971. [18]

Related Research Articles

Codex Sinaiticus Handwritten copy of the Bible in Greek

Codex Sinaiticus or "Sinai Bible" is one of the four great uncial codices, ancient, handwritten copies of a Christian Bible in Greek. The codex is a historical treasure.

Saint Boniface 8th-century Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint

Boniface, born Winfrid in the Devon town of Crediton in Anglo-Saxon England, was a leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He organised significant foundations of the church in Germany and was made archbishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which became a site of pilgrimage. Boniface's life and death as well as his work became widely known, there being a wealth of material available—a number of vitae, especially the near-contemporary Vita Bonifatii auctore Willibaldi, legal documents, possibly some sermons, and above all his correspondence. He is venerated as a saint in the Christian church and became the patron saint of Germania, known as the "Apostle to the Germans".

Masoretic Text Authoritative text of the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the masorah. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE).

Uncial script Capital letter-only writing system in Greek and Latin

Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek, Latin, and Gothic.

Codex Vaticanus 4th-century handwritten Bible manuscript in Greek

The Codex Vaticanus is one of the oldest copies of the Bible, one of the four great uncial codices. The Codex is named after its place of conservation in the Vatican Library, where it has been kept since at least the 15th century. It is written on 759 leaves of vellum in uncial letters and has been dated palaeographically to the 4th century.

Anglo-Saxon runes Symbols used in the writing system of early Anglo-Saxon peoples

Anglo-Saxon runes are runes used by the early Anglo-Saxons as an alphabet in their writing system. The characters are known collectively as the futhorc (fuþorc) from the Old English sound values of the first six runes. The futhorc was a development from the 24-character Elder Futhark. Since the futhorc runes are thought to have first been used in Frisia before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, they have also been called Anglo-Frisian runes. They were likely used from the 5th century onward, recording Old English and Old Frisian.

Austrian National Library

The Austrian National Library is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collections have been relocated within the Baroque structure of the Palais Mollard-Clary. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was originally called the Imperial Court Library ; the change to the current name occurred in 1920, following the end of the Habsburg Monarchy and the proclamation of the Austrian Republic. The library complex includes four museums, as well as multiple special collections and archives.

Several codices are known simply as "Vienna Codex" in certain fields:

Biblical manuscript A handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible

A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures to huge polyglot codices containing both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the New Testament, as well as extracanonical works.

Minuscule 424, Ο12, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th century. Formerly it was designated by 66a and 67p.

The Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Austrian National Library in Vienna was formed in April 2008 by merging the departments of "Manuscripts, Autographs, and Closed Collections" and of "Incunabula, Old and Valuable Books".

Minuscule 482

Minuscule 482, ε 1017, is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. It is dated by a colophon to the year 1285 . Scrivener labelled it by number 570. The manuscript has complex context, but faded in parts. The text exhibits more numerous and bolder textual variants than usual manuscripts of the four Gospels. Marginal apparatus is given fully.

Codex Marchalianus

Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 6th century. Marginal annotations were later added to the copy of the Scripture text, the early ones being of importance for a study of the history of the Septuagint.

<i>Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum</i>

The Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum is a Latin collection of capitularies identifying and condemning superstitious and pagan beliefs found in the north of Gaul and among the Saxons during the time of their subjugation and conversion by Charlemagne.

Great uncial codices

The great uncial codices or four great uncials are the only remaining uncial codices that contain the entire text of the Bible in Greek.

Hours of James IV of Scotland

The Hours of James IV of Scotland, Prayer book of James IV and Queen Margaret is an illuminated book of hours, produced in 1503 or later, probably in Ghent. It marks a highpoint of the late 15th century Ghent-Bruges school of illumination and is now in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. It is thought to have been a wedding gift from James IV of Scotland or another Scottish nobleman to James's wife Margaret Tudor on the occasion of their marriage, perhaps finishing a book already started for another purpose. A number of artists worked on the extensive programme of decoration, so that "the manuscript in its entirety presents a rather odd picture of heterogeneity". The best known miniature, a full-page portrait of James at prayer before an altar with an altarpiece of Christ and an altar frontal with James's coat-of-arms, gave his name to the Master of James IV of Scotland, who is now generally identified as Gerard Horenbout, court painter to Margaret of Austria; he did only one other miniature in the book. The equivalent image of Margaret is the only image by another artist, using a rather generic face for the queen's portrait, and in a similar style to that of the Master of the First Prayer Book of Maximilian. Other artists worked on the other miniatures, which include an unusual series of unpopulated landscapes in the calendar – perhaps the Flemish artists were not sure how Scots should be dressed.

Nag Hammadi Codex XIII is a papyrus codex with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts in Coptic. The manuscript is dated to the 4th century.

Ragyndrudis Codex

The Ragyndrudis Codex is an early medieval codex of religious texts, now in Fulda in Germany, which is closely associated with Saint Boniface, who, according to tradition, used it at the time of his martyrdom to ward off the swords or axes of the Frisians who killed him on 5 June 754 near Dokkum, Friesland. This long association has given the codex the status of a contact relic.

Damascus Pentateuch 10th-century Hebrew Pentateuch manuscript

The Damascus Pentateuch is a 10th-century Hebrew Bible codex, consisting of the almost complete Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. The codex was copied by an unknown scribe, replete with Masoretic annotations. The manuscript is defective in its beginning, as it starts with Genesis 9:26, and Exodus 18:1–23 is also missing. In 1975 it was acquired by the Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, which in 2008 changed its name to "National Library of Israel". The codex was published in a large, two-volume facsimile edition in 1978. It should not be confused with another manuscript, the Damascus Crown of medieval Spanish origin, containing 24 canonical books.

The Ars Bonifacii is the title given to a Latin grammar ascribed to Saint Boniface.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Unterkircher 9.
  2. 1 2 Unterkircher 13.
  3. ↑ Unterkircher 10.
  4. ↑ Unterkircher 11.
  5. ↑ Unterkircher 12.
  6. ↑ Unterkircher 13-14.
  7. ↑ Unterkircher 14.
  8. ↑ Unterkircher 17.
  9. ↑ Unterkircher 23.
  10. 1 2 Unterkircher 23-25.
  11. ↑ Unterkircher 33.
  12. ↑ Meyvaert 552.
  13. ↑ Unterkircher 24-26.
  14. ↑ Unterkircher 27-28.
  15. 1 2 Unterkircher 28-29.
  16. ↑ Hahn 18.
  17. ↑ Bammesberger.
  18. ↑ Meyvaert 552-553.
Bibliography
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.