In use for over 500 years: the hymn book and masterpiece by the Cistercian nun and choir master Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Cistercian convent of Rulle, Osnabrück (Germany) — Around 1300

Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Cistercian convent of Rulle, Osnabrück (Germany) — Around 1300
This hymnal was written by the conductress Gisela von Kerssenbrock (d. ca. 1300) and used for nearly 500 years
Gisela recorded the notation for the Latin hymns and masterfully illustrated her work with gilded initials
It contains nearly 1,500 hymns at a time when most codices of this type contained only around 650
Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock
- Codex Gisle
- Rulle Gradual
- Graduale von Gisela von Kerssenbrock
- Graduel de Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Short Description
The Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock is a medieval hymnal for the Gregorian choir of the Cistercian order at Marienbrunn bei Osnabrück. It was created around 1300 by the conductress Gisela von Kerssenbrock and was used at the Marienbrunn nunnery for around 500 years. The work was renowned for its 53 magnificent and valuable initials, which were elaborated into miniatures.
The Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock
A gradual is a collection of all Latin hymns, which accompanied daily mass in monastic orders and were sung by Gregorian choirs. Such a gradual of truly exceptional quality originates from the Marienbrunn Convent in Rulle bei Osnabrück. The Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock was drafted around 1300 by its namesake, Gisela of Kerssenbrock. She wrote down the notation for the Latin hymns and masterfully illustrated the pages of her work with gold initials on a polished gold background. In total the codex contains 53 embellished initials, some taking up a whole page. Additionally, there are 15 blue and gold initial entangled with flaming red tendrils, as well as 200 small, blue deposited gold initials.
The Word of God in Daily Hymns
The Gregorian choral singing was probably the most important and indispensable element of mass in medieval cloisters. The accompanied the important liturgical sacraments such as the entrance into the church, the preparation of the Eucharist, and the act of Communion. Usually a gradual from the 13th century contained around 650 hymns. The Gisela codex had a much greater volume. Nearly 1,500 hymns were contained therein in either an abbreviated or completed form.
Gisela – A Great Figure of the Abbey
Numerous depictions of nuns in their habits are recorded in the codex. One of the nuns depicted is explicitly identified as Gisela. Thereby it is verifiable that this was the Westphalian noblewoman Gisela von Kerssenbrock. She was the conductress of the choir in the Cistercian cloister of Marienbrunn. She organized the choir and the soloists, selected pieces for mass several times a day, instructed her fellow sisters in song, oversaw the library and scriptorium of the cloister, and was responsible for the production of musical manuscripts. She had one of the most important positions within the convent and applied herself to this assignment with devotion. The Gisela codex is her most magnificent and elaborate work of art.
An Exceptional Treasure Trove of Images
As was usual in medieval graduals, the Gisela codex limits its pictorial decoration to initials. This example is certainly decorated to so great an extent as no other work of its type. The initials were elaborated partly with whole page miniatures, which are upheld in tones of luminous blue and red and are set apart with shimmering gold backgrounds. The mistress Gisela impressed her deeply felt beliefs with sensible, ingenious pictures of biblical scenes. The meaning of respective hymns can be understood through the size of the text and the richness of the decoration.
A Significant History
The Gisela Codex is the artistic embodiment of the convent Marienbrunn bei Osnabrück. The gradual was in use for 500 years in one of the first 25 Westphalian nunneries of the Cistercian Order. During the period of secularization, the work came into the possession of the suffragan bishop of Osnabrück Karl Klemens, and is stored in the Diocese Archive of Osnabrück.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Codex Gisle
Rulle Gradual
Graduale von Gisela von Kerssenbrock
Graduel de Gisela von Kerssenbrock - Size / Format
- 344 pages / 35.5 × 26.0 cm
- Date
- Around 1300
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 53 historiated initials
- Artist / School
- Gisela von Kerssenbrock
- Previous Owners
- Karl Klemens von Gruben (Bishop of Osnabrück)
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Gradual of Gisela von Kerssenbrock“
Codex Gisle
- Publisher
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern – Lucerne, 2014
- Limited Edition
- 480 copies
- Binding
- Faithful replica of the original: Leather with embossings, corner pieces and two brass clasps
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Harald Wolter-von dem Knesebeck, Fabian Kolb and Hermann Queckenstedt
- 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
St. Peter Pericopes from St. Erentrud
The richest picture program of a high medieval Gospel manuscript: 55 masterful Romanesque miniatures on a shiny gold background
Experience MorePericopes of Henry II
Made at Reichenau by order of Germany's only canonized emperor: one of the most beautiful, splendid, and largest masterpieces of Ottonian illumination
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Music / Poetry
Do you feel elevated by monastic chant? Are you a sucker for chivalric love poetry? Music and poetry were among the most...Experience moreGothic
Gothic illumination is some of the most spectacular and iconic imagery of medieval art and first emerged in Northern...Experience more14th Century
How could a century of endemic warfare, famine, and the Black Death produce great minds like Petrarch, Boccaccio, and...Experience more13th Century
Despite ongoing religious wars and the threat of Mongol invasion from the East, this is a time of great personalities,...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
- 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)