Textmanuscripts - Les Enluminures
267 folios on paper, watermark unidentified (difficult to discern), modern foliation in pencil, 1-267, lacking one leaf with loss of text (collation i9 [-9, lacking the final calendar leaf after f. 8, with loss of text] ii-viii8 ix10 x-xiii8 xiv6 xv-xxvi8 xxvii8 [-6, lacking one leaf after f. 213, with no loss of text (the text on f. 213v continues without interruption on f. 214; a blank leaf that was between f. 213 and 214 was probably removed when the manuscript was assembled)] xxviii-xxxiii8 xxxiv4), no catchwords or signatures, ruled in lead (justification 114 x 57 mm.), written in brown ink in hybrida script in a single column on 17-19 lines, rubrics in red, capitals touched in red, music on ff. 264-266 on 4 five-line staves ruled in black, red and yellow ink with Hufnagel notation, rastrum 17 mm., 1- to 5-line initials alternating in red or blue throughout, thirty-seven 3- to 9-line initials painted in many colors and decorated with carnations, pansies, roses and imaginary carrot flowers, which at times extend into the margins (ff. 9, 18, 21v, 27v, 35v, 43, 47, 56, 63v, 75, 83, 91, 94, 96, 113, 120, 132v, 136, 139v, 143, 175v, 177v, 201, 209, 217v, 220, 227, 230, 235, 240, 243, 245v, 248, 249v, 252v, 256v, 259v), stains from water damage in the upper margins on ff. 247-263, paint partly flaked on f. 132v, a small tear on f. 179, some small stains and signs of use, otherwise in good condition. Bound in 1649 in dark brown vellum over wooden boards, gold-tooled with a frame of multiple filets, fleur-de-lis in the corners, stamped in gold in the center of the front board with the coat of arms of Christ including his monogram “IHS,” the initials “A C R” and the date “1649,”and in the center of the back board with the monogram of the Virgin Mary “MAR” flanked by three stars at the Calvary and a bouquet of lilies, the front pastedown is stamped in ink with the date “1649,” leather very worn on both covers and spine, lacking two original clasps and catches, in overall satisfactory condition. Dimensions 152 x 100 mm.
Manuscripts owned and/ or made by women hold special interest for today’s scholars. This charming Breviary made for the use of the Augustinian nuns at the convent of St. Cecilia in Cologne, where it was probably written and decorated by the nuns themselves, is adorned with thirty-seven striking floral initials using a great variety of decorative forms and a rich array of colors.
1.The manuscript was written and decorated for the Augustinian canonesses of Maria zum Weiher in St. Cecilia’s convent (Cäcilienkloster), Cologne, very likely by the nuns themselves; there is no internal evidence allowing us to date this closely; the binding is dated 1649, but it seems likely, based on the evidence of the script and decoration that this dates earlier, perhaps c. 1525-1575. Details of the decorated initials can be compared with other sixteenth-century manuscripts from the convent (Online Resources, Antiphonal of Anna Hachenberch, and the Prayerbook, now at Stanford University, formerly Les Enluminures, TM 823).
There is abundant liturgical evidence confirming where this was copied. The translation of St. Evergislus (or St. Eberigisil), bishop of Cologne, whose relics were transferred in the tenth century to a precious shrine in St. Cecilia’s church, and kept there until the nineteenth century, received special attention in our book. The beginning of the Office celebrating his feast is marked by a 5-line decorated initial in the Sanctorale (f. 256v) and specific hymns to be sung on this feast were copied on ff. 107-108. The main feast of St. Evergislus (October 24) is included in red in the calendar, and his translation (March 28) is indicated as a duplex feast with nine lessons. The translation of St. Evergislus is also singled out as one of the twelve feasts of the Church year during which the Marian salutation “Ave Maria virgo amabilis” was instructed to be sung in this community (ff. 174v-175), and on f. 265r-v musical notation is provided for “Benedicamus Domino” to be sung at the end of the Office on this feast day.
The Office for the patron saint of the convent, St. Cecilia, is marked by a decorated initial on f. 259v. St. Cecilia’s feast day, 22 November, would have been on the now-lost calendar leaf. Further evidence for placing the manuscript in Cologne is the inclusion of the feast of St. Ursula of Cologne and her 11,000 virgin companions in red in the calendar (21 Oct). A prayer to St. Ursula is also included among the suffrages on f. 195v and musical notation is provided for singing the closing salutation “Benedicamus Domino” on the feast of St. Ursula and her companions on ff. 264v-265. Other Cologne saints in the calendar are St. Gereon of Cologne, whose feast day is in red and marked as duplex (10 Oct), St. Severin of Cologne in red (23 Oct), and St. Heribert of Cologne (16 Mar). The local feast of the translation of St. Cassius and St. Florentius of Bonn is also included (25 km south of Cologne; 3 May).
Special attention was paid to the office of St. Agnes, with the beginning of the Office marked by a fine, large (8-line) initial (f. 227). St. Agnes was the patron saint of girls and chastity, of special relevance in this manuscript made for nuns. Other female saints whose Offices were singled out with decorated initials include St. Lucy (f. 18), St. Agatha (f. 240), St. Eugenia of Rome (f. 248), and the patron saint, Cecilia (f. 259v).
The convent of St. Cecilia (Cäcilienkloster), founded in the late ninth century, declined steadily after the thirteenth century. Only two canonesses were living there in 1474, when the convent was granted to the Augustinian regular canonesses of Maria zum Weiher. St. Cecilia’s remained a convent of Augustinian canonesses from 1474 until its secularization in 1802. The calendar, which is sparsely filled, lacks Augustinian feasts, but the nuns did, however, personalize the rest of the book to their use, including prayers to St. Augustine among the suffrages on f. 195r-v.
2. Note written within the calendar on f. 1, in a quick informal script, “pour les capucins de [M?]eaux,” which may be evidence that our manuscript was given to the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor in Meaux (c. 50 km north-east of Paris) in France in the seventeenth century or eighteenth century. The Capuchins were established in Meaux in 1611 and dissolved in 1791.
3. Bound in its present binding in 1649 (initials “ACR,” with the date on the front, and “MAR,” on the back), but the origin of this binding has not been identified.
4. Nineteenth-century (?) pen trials in brown ink on the last leaf, f. 267v, and the back pastedown: “Nom h // A A // Aaaa ...” A small dove, drawn on paper and cut out, perhaps in the 19th century, is loosely inserted between the leaves.
5. Given on May 26, 1907, by the priest Johan Stahlhut to the missionaries of Sleidan (street), according to the inscription in the upper margin of f. 1: “Dono dedit Missionariis Sleidani/ Parochus Jo[hanne]s Stahlhut. 1907. 26. Maii.” Johann Sleidan (1506-1556?) was a historian of the Protestant Reformation. Born in Luxembourg, he studied literature and law in Liège, Cologne, Paris and Orléans, and served as diplomat to Cardinal du Bellay. He became a Protestant and had to move to Strasbourg where he finished writing his history of the Reformation, among other works. He also translated the works of Froissart, Philippe de Commynes and Claude de Seyssel. A street in Strasbourg (and perhaps in other cities elsewhere?) bears his name.
6. Belonged to the seminary of the Lower German Province of the Redemptorist Congregation in the twentieth century. The Redemptorist Congregation (CSSR) was founded by Alfons of Liguori (1696-1787) in 1732. The Lower German Province was established in 1859, and the order opened a seminary and college in 1861 in Maria Hamicolt near Dülmen, Westphalia, which was relocated to Trier in 1898. In 1902, the college moved again to Geistingen in Siegtal (incorporated into the town of Hennef later, and then known as Hennef-Geistingen). In 1996, it ceased use as an active seminary; in January 2006, it was sold by the Order, and the library was dispersed (Online Resources). Some of the manuscripts, including this one, were transferred the Redemptorist monastery at Heiligenstadt; when this monastery was in turn closed in 2018, the manuscripts were sold.
ff. 1-8v, Calendar, with the months following in continuous manner (rather than beginning at the top of the page); lacking one leaf at the end with October 25-December 31; includes numerous saints venerated at St. Cäcilien (see provenance above); also noteworthy is the presence of the dies natalis of St. Benedict (21 Mar; 9 lessons) and his translation of St. Benedict (11 July), and the absence of Augustinian feasts;
ff. 9-90v, Temporale and Sanctorale cycles intermixed, from the first Sunday in Advent until Easter;
ff. 91-112, Hymns for the Church year from the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (30 Nov) until Easter, including at the end hymns for the Common of Saints; [f. 112v, blank];
ff. 113-175, Ferial Psalter with hymns, according to the secular use followed by the Augustinians, beginning with the first psalm on Sunday Prime, Ps. 21, “Deus deus meus respice ...”;
ff. 175v-199v, Common of Saints (evangelists, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins), followed by suffrages of the Virgin, angels, St. John the Evangelist, St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine (lacking rubric), St. Ursula (lacking rubric), St. Nicolas (lacking rubric), St. Thomas (lacking rubric), St. Mary Magdalene (lacking rubric) and St. Catherine (lacking rubric); [f. 200rv, blank];
ff. 201-263v, Sanctorale, winter part from St. Andrew the Apostle (30 Nov) to St. Ambrose of Milan (4 Apr), followed by the feasts of the Translation of St. Evergislus, the Translation of St. Cecilia, and St. Saturnin;
The stub after f. 213 is from an empty leaf that was removed at the time of making the manuscript. No text is missing from the hymn to St. Lucy which begins on f. 213v and continues without a break on f. 214: “In tua patientia posse-//disti animam tuam, Lucia sponsa Christi.”
ff. 264-266, Closing salutation “Benedicamus Domino” with musical notation for all feasts (f. 264r-v), for the feast of the Commemoration of the 11,000 Virgins and that of the conversion of St. Paul (ff. 264v-265), for the feasts of Epiphany, St. Joseph, the Translation of St. Evergislus, and St. Eugenia (f. 265r-v), and for the feast of the Massacre of the Innocents (ff. 265v-266); [ff. 266v-267v, blank, but ruled for music].
There were seven Augustinian convents in Cologne (Krämer, 1989, p. 406). When Weiherkloster, located outside the city walls, was emptied and destroyed in 1474, the 51 nuns of Maria zum Weiher relocated to St. Cecilia, which at the time was a secular convent inhabited only by the superior and a novice. Although the community had declined since the thirteenth century, the convent preserved a prestigious past. Its church, dedicated to the Roman martyr St. Cecilia, was one of the twelve large Romanesque churches of Cologne. Before 1450, the nuns had commissioned the magnificent Virgin with the Violet from Stefan Lochner (now in the Kolumba Museum in Cologne).
St. Cäcilien remained a convent of Augustinian regular canonesses until secularization in 1802 (since 1956 it has been the home of the Schnütgen Museum). The size and scope of its library is unknown, and no catalogue survives. It was likely dispersed during the French occupation of the Rhineland. The largest extant set of books (approximately twenty-four volumes) came by way of the self-styled Baron Hüpsch into what is now the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt, mostly prayer books and devotionalia produced between c.1510-1626. A small number of liturgical volumes are more widely dispersed (for the library see Gückel, 1993, pp. 333-335). The Darmstadt prayer books from St. Cäcilien in Cologne are described as nos. 69-71 and 78-96 by Achten and Knaus, 1959.
The prayers and readings for the Divine Office of the church, celebrated by the clergy and members of the religious orders throughout the day and night, are included in a Breviary. The celebration of the Divine Office was an essential part of the religious reform introduced at St. Cecilia’s when the convent was taken over by the regular canonesses of Maria zum Weiher in 1474-1475. Breviaries include the words for both the chanted and spoken texts of the Office, but usually no musical notation. In our book, musical notation is only provided for the closing salutation sung at the end of the Office, which was added at the end of the book, written on paper from a different source than the rest of the book, but around the same time, in the same script, and probably by the same person.
Achten, Gerard, and Hermann Knaus. Deutsche und niederländische Gebetbuchhandschriften der Hessischen Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek Darmstadt, Darmstadt,1959.
Gückel, I. Das Kloster Maria zum Weiher vor Köln (1198-1474) und sein Fortleben in St. Cäcilien bis zur Säkularisation, Cologne, 1993.
Hamburger, J. Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1997.
Harper, J. The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century: A Historical Introduction and Guide for Students and Musicians, Oxford, 1991.
Hemfort, E. Monastische Buchkunst zwischen Mittelalten und Renaissance: Illuminierte Handschriften der Zisterzienserabtei Altenberg und die Kölner Buchmalerei 1470-1550, Bergisch Gladbach, 2001.
Hülz, H. Bischof Evergislus: ein Kölner Heiliger und seine Bedeutung in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Cologne, 2006.
Krämer, S. Handschriftenerbe des deutschen Mittelalters, Teil 2: Köln-Zyfflich, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge: Deutschlands und der Schweiz, Ergänzungsband I, Munich, 1989.
St. Cäcilien convent in Cologne
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._C%C3%A4cilien
Antiphonal of Anna Hachenberch from the convent of St. Cecilia, Cologne, c. 1520-1530, Inv no. C 44, a-b, Rheinisches Bildarchiv
https://www.museum-schnuetgen.de/Ways-to-discover-the-collection?kat=21
Prayerbook, St. Cäcilien, Cologne, c. 1550-1575 (formerly Les Enluminures, TM 823)
https://www.textmanuscripts.com/medieval/german-prayer-book-91775
The library of the Redemptorist Seminary in Hennef-Geistingen (Monumenta Germaniae Historica)
https://www.mgh.de/en/mgh-library/about-the-mgh-library/redemptorist-seminary-library
TM 1132
