Prethodno priopćenje
A Medieval manuscript codex in the library of the museum of Slavonia Osijek
Stanko Andrić
; Hrvatski institut za povijest Zagreb - Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
A medieval manuscript codex of unknown origin and
in a relatively good condition has been recently discovered
in the Library of the Museum of Slavonia (in Osijek). It
was intended for and apparently used in a church institution,
since it contains various treatises dealing with topics of
Biblical exegesis, homiletics, ecclesiology, and moral and
pastoral theology.
The codex consists of 215 entire parchment leafs (the
first leaf being an empty dust cover) and a small fragment
of the last leaf. The main text is written mostly in black
(and at some places brown) ink, while initials and rubrics in
many parts of the codex are executed in red ink.
The main text is written in a tiny and careful Gothic
script, in two columns. Each column consists of 46 lines
on average, and each line contains usually between 45-50
characters. Corrections and interlinear additions are rare in
the main text. However, some marginal notes and additions
are clearly contemporaneous with the main text.
Changes and variations in the size and shape of the
script, sometimes visible in the continuous text as well,
suggest that the codex was executed by several hands
(scribes). On the margins of the main text (i.e. left, right,
and also usually wide lower margins), as well as on the
originally textless central parts of the leafs, there are various
notes and signs (conventional symbols, e.g. “nota”;
hands showing places in the text; anthropomorphous and
zoomorphous heads or drôleries), which have been added
subsequently, probably by several hands. These later additions
are usually done in a somewhat larger cursive script
and in brown ink.
Some pages are without any text (fols. 72v, 124v,
153v), while at many places leafs are or appear to be missing
due to cutting or tearing out of the codex. It is possible
that some leafs were removed from the codex even
before any text was written in it. For a definitive knowledge
about the places and the number of the missing leafs it will
be necessary to determine the gaps in the texts at the places
in question (after fols. 1, 5, 57, 91, 101, 108, 116, 163, 179,
181, 196, 212, 213, 214).
Besides that, some leafs are partly damaged by cutting
or tearing. Such mutilations reach into the main text on
fols. 1-4, 15-16, 27, 44-45, 59, 148, 182, 212, 214. Other
folios suffered only minor damages, covering only marginal
notes (on fols. 5, 12r, 28, 48, 57, 88). Also, some marginal
notes were damaged by what appears as a subsequent
trimming of the leaf edges. It is clear on the other hand that
some damages on the leafs preceded the writing of the main
text and that scribes adapted to their presence (this can be
seen, for example, on fols. 7, 11, 46, 61, 70, 89, 94, 101,
164, 174, 179).
Based on our examination of the codex so far, it contains:
eight main texts of different lengths and in more or less
complete transcriptions, one shorter text in a half-preserved
transcription, and one (last) text of which there is now a
small fragment only. The last two texts, found at the end of
the codex, appear to be later attachments to the main contents.
Besides that, there are also some brief marginal notes
of later origin in various parts of the codex.
Out of the eight main texts, five have been so far historically
identified. They are the well known writings by
medieval authors, one of whom belongs to the Early Middle
Ages (pope Gregory the Great’s Liber pastoralis, on fols.
189r-204v), and three were active around 1200: Robert of
Flamborough, Liber poenitentialis (fol. 110r-118r); Alan of
Lille, Liber poenitentialis (fol. 118r-124r) and Summa de
arte praedicatoria (fol. 153r-188v); Peter of Roissy, Manuale
de misteriis ecclesie (fol. 125r-144r). I have also proposed
working hypotheses regarding the authorship of two
more of the remaining texts found in the codex.
Among the younger notes in the codex, particularly
interesting seems to be the one found on fol. 204v, alongside
the main text occupying the left column. The note reads:
Anno D(o)m(ini) m(illesim)o ccc-o xcix-o xviii-o die mensis
Nouembris facta fuit choruscacio mirabilis per omnes partes
Slesie in crepusculo pridie Elizabeth.
On the basis of this historical note, we can conclude:
firstly, that the main text in the codex is certainly older than
1399; and secondly, that the codex was in use in a church
institution in Silesia at the end of the 14th century. Silesia
(Duchy of Silesia) belonged at that time to the Kingdom of
Bohemia which itself made part of the Holy Roman Empire.
As a terminus post quem of the codex’s creation we
can only take, at this moment, the time when the most recent
of the identified texts was written down. This is the Liber
poenitentialis by Robert of Flamborough, dating from
around 1210.
Since manuscript books and other handwritten docu- ments originating from the times before the 18th century
are extremely rare in Slavonia, the newly found medieval
codex from the Museum of Slavonia in Osijek means an
exceptionally interesting discovery (it could easily be the
oldest preserved book in Slavonia nowadays). In a future
investigation one will have to complete and publish a systematic
and detailed description of the codex and its contents,
thereby drawing the attention of the international scholarly
community to its so far unnoticed existence. From the viewpoint
of Slavonia’s cultural history, it will also be important
to try to find out how the codex arrived to Slavonia,
Osijek and eventually the Museum of Slavonia.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
95603
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.5.2010.
Posjeta: 927 *