The history of Bern from its foundation until 1465: the last and perhaps most beautiful city chronicle by the great Diebold Schilling
Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
Bern (Switzerland) — Around 1480

Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
Bern (Switzerland) — Around 1480
The chronicle recounts the history of Bern from the city's founding up to the year 1465
Diebold Schilling the Elder (1445–1486) was a court clerk and author of several chronicles
It contains 344 miniatures of a heretofore unknown quality with particularly realistic human figures

Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
Repelling a Cavalry Charge
Appenzell is a historic Swiss canton which is entirely surrounded by the larger canton of St. Gallen. With the help of Bern and other members of the Old Swiss Confederacy, they established their independence on May 15, 1403 at the Battle of Vögelinsegg by blocking a mountain pass and forcing the battle on their own terms. Identifiable by their bear flag, a phalanx of Bernese troops armed with pikes and halberds repel a charge by the knights serving the Prince-Bishop of St. Gallen.
Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
- Diebold Schillings Spiezer Bilderchronik
Short Description
The Spiez Illuminated Chronicle brings the glorious series of city chronicles by Diebold Schilling to a close. The work is the most artistically significant by the chronicler and gives proof of the Bern master’s talent one last time with his exceptionally rousing illustrations.
Diebold Schilling’s Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
The so-called Spiez Illuminated Chronicle is the last work by the popular author and chronicler from Bern, Diebold Schilling. On 808 pages written in Schilling’s finest script, it depicts the history of the city of Bern from its beginnings to the year 1465. The work focuses on the family history and triumph of the Junker and councilman Rudolf von Erlach, who commissioned the work. The text is accompanied by 344 highly valuable illustrations.
The Commissioner, Rudolf von Erlach
Diebold Schilling produced the Spiez Chronicle for a private commissioner, namely the public official Rudolf von Erlach. They were close confidants to one another, Schilling’ wife was even godmother to a son of Rudolf’s. Rudolf von Erlach could look back on a glorious past, his family were among the most important people in the political system of Bern and he himself had fought in the conflict with the Burgundians for his homeland and thereby attained fame and honor as well as a high position in the council of Bern. He was at the highpoint of his extremely successful career at the time that he commissioned the Spiez Chronicle.
Schilling’s Masterpiece
In his work, Rudolf’s friend and chronicler bound the renowned history of the family with a self-confident image of the city of Bern, and therewith created his last and most artistically valuable masterpiece. He worked on it until his death in the year 1486. The elegant script stands in the tradition of Schilling’s famous previous works, e.g. the Zurich Chronicle.
Quality of the Highest Order
What makes the work especially admirable are the 344 miniatures contained therein, which are of a heretofore unknown quality. The pen and ink drawings, containing varying graduations of color, possess an uncannily expressive power and dramatic depth. The illustrator has succeeded in intertwining various plotlines in the picture and effectively synchronizing the fore- and backgrounds. In numerous illustrations, dramatic events of war are seen in the foreground, while ideal landscapes are revealed in the background through a window. In the text, scenes of war are predominantly depicted as well. The depictions of human figures are unusually realistic for the time of its creation and begets the extraordinary talent of the illuminator.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Diebold Schillings Spiezer Bilderchronik
- Size / Format
- 808 pages / 39.0 x 28.0 cm
- Origin
- Bern (Switzerland)
- Date
- Around 1480
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Illustrations
- 344 mostly full-page illustrations
- Artist / School
- Diebold Schilling the Elder (c. 1445–1485)

Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle
Third Stroke across the Grimsel into Valais, 1419
One of the events depicted in this history is the Raron Affair, a rebellion in the Canton of Valais from 1415 to 1420, which nearly caused a civil war within the Swiss Confederation. In 1419, Bernese troops once again crossed the Grimsel Pass to invade Valais in support of their allies, the Raron family, with an army of 13,000 that burned villages as it moved through the canton to punish the rebels.
Identified here by Bern’s coat of arms – the bear – the main column of soldiers emerges from the pass as a moving forest of pikes while other units set fire to buildings. These pen and ink drawings are considered to be the finest of any of Schilling’s chronicles and the human figures in particular are exceptionally realistic for the period.
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Diebold Schilling's Spiez Illuminated Chronicle“
Diebold Schillings Spiezer Bilderchronik
- Publisher
- Faksimile Verlag – Lucerne, 1990
- Limited Edition
- 980 copies
- Binding
- The leather binding with blind tooling, corner and centre fittings and two metal clasps has been made by hand in a time-consuming process. The headband is faithful to the original and has been stitched by hand and modelled after antique craftsmanship. The double leaves were sewn by hand on five cords.
- Commentary
-
1 volume (600 pages) by Alfred A. Schmid, Pascal Ladner, Carl Pfaff, Roger Sablonier, Hugo Schneider and Robert Wyss
Language: German - 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.
Matching Works
Rosary of World History - Subḥat al-aḫbār
Not a paper scroll as usual: the family tree of a proud Ottoman dynasty in rare book form
Experience MoreDe Aetatibus Mundi Imagines
First Michelangelo's pupil, then one of the greatest artists of the Iberian Renaissance: Francisco de Holanda's uniquely illuminated world chronicle
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Gothic
Gothic illumination is some of the most spectacular and iconic imagery of medieval art and first emerged in Northern...Experience more15th Century
Come and explore an age of stark contrasts as Europe comes back from the brink: calamities like the Fall of...Experience moreChronicles
Take a deep dive into history with a medieval chronicler, trace the history of the world or focus on the history of a...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo