Codex Germanicus

Codex Germanicus

At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, European manuscript production was experiencing its last and most brilliant flowering at the same time that book printing was spreading across the continent. Nonetheless, the upper nobility continued to favor handmade codices using parchment over printed books with inexpensive paper. While there was obviously a rivalry between the two methods, there was also overlap and borrowing between them. One of the most beautiful examples of this is a manuscript stored today in the Budapest University Library under the shelf mark Codex Germanicus 3.

An Imperial Commission?

The Codex Germanicus is an early 16th century German manuscript that is a transcription of a contemporary printed prayerbook known under the short title Gilgengart, of which two editions were published on rough parchment in Augsburg by Johann Schönsperger the Elder (1455–1521) in 1520 and 1521. He had been appointed court printer to Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) in 1508 and although there is no direct link to the Emperor, there are numerous indicators both in the script used and the circumstances of the print that it was originally an imperial commission, but was not finished during Maximilian’s lifetime. This would by no means be the only printed book commissioned by Maximilian whose final publication was delayed by financial restrictions, even if the letters and woodcuts were already finished.

The Hungarian Connection

Maximilian had previously commissioned the copying of printed books by hand, and the fact that the text of the manuscript was adopted for a female audience indicates that it may have originated as a wedding gift for his granddaughter Mary of Austria (1505–58), who married King Louis II of Hungary (1506 –26) in 1515. After the death of her husband in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Mary fled to Preßburg, modern Bratislava, Slovakia where she stayed for several months and deposited some of her treasures and books in the local church library. After the library was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II (1741–90), the manuscript was acquired in 1782 by Michael Winkler, who was a priest in Bonyhád, Hungary. This explains how the manuscript first came to Hungary in the early 16th century and returned there in the late 18th century.

The Unique Contents

The masterfully written Fraktur text adorned by golden initials appears to be based on the 1520 print but is not an exact copy despite being written in the same dialect: there are small deviations in formatting, spelling, and male forms are replaced by female ones (e.g. “ich arme Sünderin” instead of “ich armer Sünder”). In contrast to the texts of other German prayerbooks that developed since the 14th century, the Gilgengart text differs in both form and content. It contains 47 independent texts assembled from various sources, 19 of which are devoted to the Virgin Mary, but lacks a calendar and some other typical elements. Overall, the texts share four themes in common: penance, the acquisition and accumulation of indulgences, and devotion to the suffering Christ and Mary.

A Synthesis of the Arts

There are no indicators of the circumstances under which the manuscript originated because both the title page and original binding are missing, but it was created with 111 folios of fine parchment cut to 133 x 100 mm. The seven woodcuts decorating the manuscript originate from Hans Weiditz the Younger (1485 – ca. 1537), also known as The Petrarch Master, during his early period. They are characterized by their preference for a diagonal spatial perception, central compositional scheme, the proportions of dark and light areas, and the motifs of the ornamental frames. Weidtz was influenced by his master Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531) as well as other contemporaries like Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), Hans Schäufelein (ca. 1480–1540), and Leonhard Beck (ca. 1480 – 1542). 23 pages are also adorned with elaborate woodcut frames with typical vegetal and zoomorphic themes that were likely colored in by the same hand that was responsible for the initials. The current leather binding from the turn of the 18th century was created in Tyrnau, Austria.