Commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I: a rich source of medieval German literature
Ambras Book of Heroes
Eisack, South Tyrol (Italy) — 1504–1517

Ambras Book of Heroes
Eisack, South Tyrol (Italy) — 1504–1517
Commissioned by Maximilian I (1459–1519), King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor
It took 12 years for the scribe, Hans Reid, to write the incredible text of this 486-page “giant book”
The collection of texts contained here are a valuable resource for medieval German literature
Ambras Book of Heroes
- Ambraser Heldenbuch
Short Description
The Ambras Book of Heroes is just one of the fantastic illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I, King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor. It encompasses numerous Middle High German epics, among them the Nibelungenlied, Hartmann’s Erec and Iwein, and Ulrich of Lichtenstein’s Frauenbuch – all valuable fundamental texts for medieval research. It is a "giant book", being ca. 40 x 36 cm in size and counting 486 pages, and its scribe, Hans Reid, took twelve years to write its incredibly neat, uniform, and decorated text. The book features a wonderful pictorial program including many of the flora and fauna one would expect, as well as symbols alluding to its imperial patron and his personal symbols of rule, like the pomegranate.
Ambras Book of Heroes
The Ambras Book of Heroes is a significant work in the tradition of high and late medieval German epic poetry. It encompasses numerous Middle High German epics, among them the Nibelungenlied, Hartmann’s Erec and Iwein, and Ulrich of Lichtenstein’s Frauenbuch, all valuable basic texts for medieval research. The scribe Hans Ried, customs officer on the Eisack near Bolzano, copied the Book of Heroes for King Maximilian I, who had commissioned it for his own use. This "giant book", as it was also called because of its oversized format (406 x 360 mm) and for which no less than 122 calves had lost their skins, is fascinating due to the accomplished beauty of its script, which has been executed in uniform lettering from the first to the last page. 118 of the manuscript’s 486 pages (243 folios) are ornate with elaborately painted initials and with imaginative marginal decoration, making it a unique document for the history of art as well.
A Masterpiece of Calligraphy
The Ambras Book of Heroes was written down in German cancelleresca script and masterly executed by the experienced calligrapher Hans Ried. Its unified form, which is maintained throughout the entire book, lends the script a particular character, and it deserves to bear its own name in scribal history as the "script of the Book of Heroes". The overall impression of Ried’s handwriting is also characterized by the numerous, frequently hair-fine diacritic marks which often puzzled those who had to transcribe texts from the Ambras Book of Heroes by use of film or partial copies reduced in size. The facsimile version in the original format thus constitutes a valuable replacement of the manuscript. Writing down the Ambras Book of Heroes took over twelve years, a very long period of time, even for a manuscript of such huge dimensions. Ried was therefore reproached as being a “clever lazybone”, a reproach which, however, seems unjustified, as he was not only concentrating on accomplishing the Book of Heroes alone. Moreover, the experienced calligrapher put great diligence into the script and the elaborate decoration of the first and last lines of each page, so that we may estimate a maximum performance of probably three columns (= one page) per day.
The Illumination
The numerous small initials were added at a later stage, perhaps by a special rubricist, whereas the large initials were executed by one painter in a single pass. The initials are painted in various colors, mostly red or blue, on golden, finely patterned grounds, while some initials are executed in blazing gold upon a colored background. The imaginative ornamentation which decorates 118 pages of the book is loosely dispersed across the broad margins. Numerous plants and animals, which impress the beholder with their naturalistic and detailed execution, as well as depictions of human figures, betray the hand of an experienced master who seems to have derived some of the motifs in free variation from books of hours from the Low Countries. The marginal decorations serve as decorative embellishment and are sometimes closely linked to the contents, such as on fol. 212v where the depiction of a sword broken on the scale armor of a dragon illustrates the relevant text on the same page. The frontispiece of the Ambras Book of Heroes shows two men in harness, probably the heroes guarding the entry to the book named after them. An immediate reference to the patron and eventual owner of the manuscript is the depiction of pomegranates, one of Maximilian’s inscribed emblems, which might be interpreted as symbolic metamorphoses of the orb, in allusion to the world’s domination by the emperor.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Ambraser Heldenbuch
- Size / Format
- 486 pages / 46.0 x 36.0 cm
- Origin
- Eisack, South Tyrol (Italy)
- Date
- 1504–1517
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 1 full-page illustration and miniatures in the margin
- Artist / School
- Scriptor: Hans Ried
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Ambras Book of Heroes“
Ambraser Heldenbuch
- Publisher
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Graz, 1973
- Binding
- Leather
- Commentary
-
1 volume (40 pages) by F. Unterkircher
Language: German
With 13 illustrations.
A scholarly documentary written by Franz Unterkircher gives an introduction to the making and history of the Book of Heroes and the script and decoration of the manuscript. It provides a description of the codicological analysis as well as a summary of its contents. In addition, it lists the registered documents of all records referring to the scribe Hans Ried and the Ambras Book of Heroes, with a reproduction and transcription of the five most eminent documents in the illustration section.
The Ambras Book of Heroes contains:
1. Der Stricker, Frauenlob
2. Moritz von Craon (sole manuscript in existence)
3. Hartmann von Aue, Iwein (manuscript d)
4. Hartmann von Aue, Das (erste) Büchlein
5. Das sogenannte zweite Büchlein
6. Heinrich von Türlin, Der Mantel
7. Hartmann von Aue, Erec
8. Dietrichs Flucht / Dietrich’s Flight (manuscript d)
9. Die Rabenschlacht / The Battle of Ravenna (manuscript d)
10. Die Klage (unfinished)
11. Kudrun (only manuscript)
12. Biterwolf / Biterolf (sole manuscript in existence)
13. Ortnit (manuscript A)
14. Wolfdietrich A (sole manuscript in existence)
15. Die Böse Frau (sole manuscript in existence)
16. Herrant von Wildon, Die getreue Hausfrau (sole manuscript in existence)
17. Herrant von Wildon, Der verkehrte Wirt (sole manuscript in existence)
18. Herrant von Wildon, Der nackte Kaiser (sole manuscript in existence)
19. Herrant von Wildon, Die Katze (sole manuscript in existence)
20. Ulrich von Lichtenstein, Frauenbuch (sole manuscript in existence)
21. Wernher der Gärtner, Meier Helmbrecht (manuscript A)
22. Der Stricker, Pfaffe Amis
23. Wolfram von Eschenbach, Titurel (fragment)
24. Der Priester Johann (fragment) - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
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