Imperial Abbey of Helmarshausen Reichskloster Helmarshausen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 997–1538 | |||||||||
| Status | Imperial Abbey | ||||||||
| Capital | Helmarshausen Abbey | ||||||||
| Common languages | West Low German | ||||||||
| Government | Theocracy | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
| 997 | |||||||||
1011 | |||||||||
1160–91 | |||||||||
1176–88 | |||||||||
• Protectorate of Hesse | from 1479 | ||||||||
| 1538 | |||||||||
• Paderborn renounced rights | 1597 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
Helmarshausen Abbey (German : Kloster Helmarshausen) was a Benedictine monastery situated in the small town of Helmarshausen, now part of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, Germany.
The abbey was founded here near the River Diemel in 997 by the nobles Eckehard and Mathilde. It received great privileges from Emperor Otto III and was an Imperial abbey (reichsunmittelbar). It flourished particularly in the 12th century, but its geographical position exposed it to the repeated efforts of the Bishoprics of Paderborn, Cologne and Mainz to extend their territories and spheres of influence. The monastery was dissolved during the Reformation.
The abbey is of particular significance as the home of an especially skilled scriptorium and goldsmith's workshop, producing illuminated books and manuscripts, liturgical and ornamental pieces in gold for church use, and jewellery. This was set up by Roger of Helmarshausen, a highly skilled goldsmith and artist-monk, who moved to Helmarshausen from Stavelot Abbey in 1107. He is sometimes considered to be the author of the medieval treatise on art and crafts, De Diversis Artibus.
The scriptorium at Helmarshausen Abbey also produced the Gospels of Henry the Lion, an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels (or gospel book) written between about 1176 and 1188 by the monk Herimann (mentioned by name in the dedication), commissioned by Duke Henry the Lion for Brunswick Cathedral. The volume was sold at auction on 6 December 1983 at Sotheby's in London for £8,140,000, which made it the most expensive book in the world until the sale of the Codex Hammer in 1994.
Only a few buildings remain of the former abbey, which are now used by the present parish for various purposes, including as a leisure centre and a kindergarten. A facsimile of the Gospels of Henry the Lion is displayed in the local museum.
| Imperial abbeys and colleges (Reichsabteien, Reichsklöster und Reichsstifte) |
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| Imperial charterhouse (Reichskartause) | ||
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Coordinates: 51°37′52″N9°27′34″E / 51.63111°N 9.45944°E
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| National libraries | |
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the British Library in London. The manuscript is one of the finest works in the unique style of Hiberno-Saxon or Insular art, combining Mediterranean, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic elements.
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include proclamations, enrolled bills, laws, charters, inventories and deeds.
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Ireland, Scotland or England, and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from each of these areas. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is regarded as a masterwork of Western calligraphy and the pinnacle of Insular illumination. The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells, County Meath, which was its home for centuries.
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
The Pericopes of Henry II is a luxurious medieval illuminated manuscript made for Henry II, the last Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor, made c. 1002–1012 AD. The manuscript, which is lavishly illuminated, is a product of the Liuthar circle of illuminators, who were working in the Benedictine Abbey of Reichenau, which housed a scriptorium and artists' workshop that has a claim to having been the largest and artistically most influential in Europe during the late 10th and early 11th centuries. An unrivalled series of liturgical manuscripts was produced at Reichenau under the highest patronage of Ottonian society.
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.
Roger of Helmarshausen was a well-known goldsmith and metalwork artist, and also a Benedictine monk.
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.
The Bamberg Apocalypse is an 11th-century richly illuminated manuscript containing the pictorial cycle of the Book of Revelation and a Gospel Lectionary of the books of pericopes. This medieval illuminated manuscript was created during the Ottonian dynasty; it is unknown whether it was commissioned by Otto III or Henry II. It was completed sometime between 1000 and 1020. There is proof that Henry II donated this illuminated manuscript in 1020 to Collegiate Abbey of St. Stephan, on the occasion of its inauguration. The Bamberg Apocalypse is now located in the Bamberg State Library.
Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island. It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charles Martel, and, more locally, Count Berthold of the Ahalolfinger and the Alemannian Duke Santfrid I (Nebi). Pirmin's conflict with Santfrid resulted in his leaving Reichenau in 727. Under his successor Haito the monastery began to flourish. It gained influence in the Carolingian dynasty, under Abbot Waldo of Reichenau (740–814), by educating the clerks who staffed Imperial and ducal chanceries. Abbot Reginbert of Reichenau built up the important book collection. Abbot Walahfrid Strabo (842–849), who was educated at Reichenau, was renowned as a poet and Latin scholar.
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.
Helmarshausen is a village and a part (Stadtteil) of the town of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, central Germany. It was formerly the location of Helmarshausen Abbey, an Imperial abbey (Reichsabtei) of the Holy Roman Empire. Helmarshausen lies on the river Diemel, 1.5 km south of Bad Karlshafen proper.
Egbert was the Archbishop of Trier from 977 until his death.
The Gospels of Otto III is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages and has twelve canon tables, a double page portrait of Otto III, portraits of the four evangelists, and 29 full page miniatures illustrating scenes from the New Testament. The cover is the original, with a tenth-century carved Byzantine ivory inlay representing the Dormition of the Virgin. Produced at the monastery at Reichenau Abbey in about 1000 CE., the manuscript is an example of the highest quality work that was produced over 150 years at the monastery.
The Secret of Kells is a 2009 animated fantasy film about the making of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the 9th Century.
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. 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.
Merovingian illumination is the term for the continental Frankish style of illumination in the late seventh and eight centuries, named for the Merovingian dynasty. Ornamental in form, the style consists of initials constructed from lines and circles based on Late Antique illumination, title pages with arcades and crucifixes. Figural images were almost totally absent. From the eight century, zoomorphic decoration began to appear and become so dominant that in some manuscripts from Chelles whole pages are made up of letters formed from animals. Unlike the contemporary Insular illumination with its rampant decoration, the Merovingian style aims for a clean page.
Insular illumination refers to the production of illuminated manuscripts in the monasteries of Ireland and Great Britain between the 6th and 9th centuries, as well as in monasteries under their influence on continental Europe. It is characterised by decoration strongly influenced by metalwork, the constant use of interlacing, and the importance assigned to calligraphy. The most celebrated books of this sort are largely gospel books. Around sixty manuscripts are known from this period.
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.
The Emperor's Bible, also known as Codex Caesareus, Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis or the Goslar Gospels, is an 11th-century illuminated manuscript currently in Uppsala University Library, Sweden. Despite its name, it is not a Bible but a Gospel Book. The book was made in the scriptorium of Echternach Abbey, and is one of four preserved large Gospel Books made there during the 11th century. It was commissioned by Emperor Henry III and donated by him to Goslar Cathedral, where it remained until the Thirty Years' War. It was then lost for about 100 years. Its previous richly decorated cover was also lost at this time at the latest. The book later appeared again in the possession of Swedish diplomat and civil servant Gustaf Celsing the Elder. At the death of his son, it was acquired by Uppsala University.
