Egbert Psalter

Last updated
Christ crowning Gertrude and Yaropolk, illumination from the Trier Psalter Christ irina, Egbert Psalter.jpg
Christ crowning Gertrude and Yaropolk, illumination from the Trier Psalter
Maturnus of Cologne, from the earlier illuminations Maternus von Koeln, Egbert Psalter.jpg
Maturnus of Cologne, from the earlier illuminations

The Egbert Psalter (also known as the Gertrude Psalter or Trier Psalter) is a medieval illuminated manuscript Psalter preserved in the municipal museum of Cividale, Italy (Ms. CXXXVI). The psalter is an example of the illuminated manuscripts associated with the Ottonian Renaissance.

Contents

It was originally created around the year 980 by the monks of the Abbey of Reichenau (a monk named Ruodprecht is mentioned in the original dedication) [1] for Archbishop Egbert of Trier. In the mid-11th century, the book passed to Gertrude of Poland, wife of Iziaslav of Kiev. She included her prayer book as part of the codex and commissioned its illuminations, which curiously blend Byzantine and Romanesque traditions.

In the 12th century, the codex was in the possession of the Andechs-Merania family, and was given to Elizabeth of Hungary either by her mother, Gertrude of Merania, or by her aunt, Saint Hedwig of Andechs. According to a 16th-century note on folio 8r, Saint Elizabeth gave the codex to the cathedral of Cividale in 1229. [1]

The book features a large picture of Apostle Peter venerated by Gertrude and her son Yaropolk, whose Christian name was Peter. It is known that Yaropolk was the first to build a church to St Peter in Kiev and that he placed an image of that saint on his coins. In 1075 he was sent by his dethroned father to Rome in order to secure the Pope's support in recompense for bringing Russ (Ruth) under the patronage of St Peter ("patrocinium beati Petri"). There are two letters of Pope Gregory VII to the king of Poland and to Svyatoslav II of Kiev admonishing them to return the Kievan throne to Iziaslav.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedwig of Silesia</span> High Duchess consort of Poland

Hedwig of Silesia, also Hedwig of Andechs, a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from 1232 until 1238. She was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1267 by Pope Clement IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalter</span> Volume containing the Book of Psalms

A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons. They were commonly used for learning to read. Many Psalters were richly illuminated, and they include some of the most spectacular surviving examples of medieval book art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iziaslav I of Kiev</span> King of Rus

Iziaslav Yaroslavich was a Kniaz' (Prince) of Turov and Grand Prince of Kiev from 1054.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude of Merania</span> Queen consort of Hungary

Gertrude of Merania was Queen of Hungary as the first wife of Andrew II from 1205 until her assassination. She was regent during her husband's absence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude of Poland</span> Grand Princess consort of Rus

Gertrude-Olisava, was Grand Princess consort of Rus' by marriage to Iziaslav I of Kiev. She was the daughter of King Mieszko II of Poland and Queen Richeza of Lotharingia, and the great-granddaughter of German Emperor Otto II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottonian art</span> Style in pre-Romanesque German art

Ottonian art is a style in pre-romanesque German art, covering also some works from the Low Countries, northern Italy and eastern France. It was named by the art historian Hubert Janitschek after the Ottonian dynasty which ruled Germany and Northern Italy between 919 and 1024 under the kings Henry I, Otto I, Otto II, Otto III and Henry II. With Ottonian architecture, it is a key component of the Ottonian Renaissance. However, the style neither began nor ended to neatly coincide with the rule of the dynasty. It emerged some decades into their rule and persisted past the Ottonian emperors into the reigns of the early Salian dynasty, which lacks an artistic "style label" of its own. In the traditional scheme of art history, Ottonian art follows Carolingian art and precedes Romanesque art, though the transitions at both ends of the period are gradual rather than sudden. Like the former and unlike the latter, it was very largely a style restricted to a few of the small cities of the period, and important monasteries, as well as the court circles of the emperor and his leading vassals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthold, Duke of Merania</span>

Berthold IV, a member of the House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria and Carniola. By about 1180/82 he assumed the title of Duke of Merania, referring to the Adriatic seacoast of Kvarner which his ancestors had conquered in the 1060s and annexed to Istria and Carniola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Andechs</span>

The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in the 12th and 13th centuries. The counts of Dießen-Andechs obtained territories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ultimately dukes of a short-lived imperial state named Merania from 1180 to 1248. They were also self-styled lords of Carniola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egbert (archbishop of Trier)</span>

Egbert was the Archbishop of Trier from 977 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codex Aureus of Echternach</span> 11th-century illuminated Gospel Book

The Codex Aureus of Echternach is an illuminated Gospel Book, created in the approximate period 1030–1050, with a re-used front cover from around the 980s. It is now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaropolk Iziaslavich</span> Hereditary King of Rus

Yaropolk Iziaslavich or Yaropolk Iziaslavych was a Kniaz (prince) during the eleventh-century in the Kievan Rus' kingdom and was the King of Rus (1076–1087). The son of Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev (Kyiv) by a Polish princess named Gertruda, he is visible in papal sources by the early 1070s but largely absent in contemporary Rus sources until his father's death in 1078. During his father's exile in the 1070s, Yaropolk can be found acting on his father's behalf in an attempt to gain the favor of the German emperors and the papal court of Pope Gregory VII. His father returned to Kiev in 1077 and Yaropolk followed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Library</span> National library of the United Kingdom

The British Library is a research library in London that is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the two largest libraries in the world, along with the Library of Congress. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Zbyslava of Kiev, was a Kievan Rus' princess, member of the Volodimerovichi family, and by marriage Duchess of Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berthold (patriarch of Aquileia)</span> German/Hungarian archbishop

Berthold was the count of Andechs from 1204, the archbishop of Kalocsa from 1206 until 1218, and the patriarch of Aquileia from 1218 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Registrum Gregorii</span> 10th-century scribe and illuminator

The Master of the Registrum Gregorii, also known as the Registrum Master or the Gregory Master, was an anonymous 10th-century scribe and illuminator, active in Trier during the episcopate of Egbert of Trier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presentation miniature</span>

A presentation miniature or dedication miniature is a miniature painting often found in illuminated manuscripts, in which the patron or donor is presented with a book, normally to be interpreted as the book containing the miniature itself. The miniature is thus symbolic, and presumably represents an event in the future. Usually it is found at the start of the volume, as a frontispiece before the main text, but may also be placed at the end, as in the Vivian Bible, or at the start of a particular text in a collection.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trier Cathedral Treasury</span> Museum of Christian art, museum of medieval art in Cathedral of Trier, Mustorstraße

The Trier Cathedral Treasury is a museum of Christian art and medieval art in Trier, Germany. The museum is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier and is located inside the Cathedral of Trier. It contains some of the church's most valuable relics, reliquaries, liturgical vessels, ivories, manuscripts and other artistic objects. The history of the Trier church treasure goes back at least 800 years. In spite of heavy losses during the period of the Coalition Wars, it is one of the richest cathedral treasuries in Germany. With the cathedral it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Gertrude of Merania</span> 1213 murder of the queen consort of Hungary

Gertrude of Merania, the queen consort of Hungary as the first wife of King Andrew II, was assassinated by a group of Hungarian lords on 28 September 1213 in the Pilis Mountains during a royal hunting expedition. Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Gertrude's brother Berthold, Archbishop of Kalocsa were also wounded but survived the attack.

References

  1. 1 2 Sankt Elisabeth: Fürstin, Dienerin, Heilige. Sigmaringen: Thorbecke. 1981. pp. 336–38. ISBN   3-7995-4035-0.