Strictly speaking, this manuscript (COD 3655) is a “Stadtbuch” (city register). In addition to the lists of new citizens up to 1441 (actually the oldest register of citizens written by town clerk Werner Hofmeier fol. 1r-53v), it contains statutes, copies of documents, notes regarding the administration (including a catalog of the treasure of St. Peter's Chapel, fol. 19r, and an instruction manual for the new clock in the “Graggenturm”, fol. 24r), as well as chronicled notes. Worth mentioning among the latter are notes about the battles of Sempach (fol. 22r), Näfels (fol. 22r) and Arbedo (fol. 49r). The binding of wooden boards covered in pigskin, on which is painted the coat of arms of Lucerne, dates from the second half of the 16th century. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This second Register of Citizens contains the list of new citizens for Lucerne from 1479 until 1572. The volume ist valuable as a source regarding immigration to Lucerne, since the individual entries give not only the names of the new citizens, but also their exact origins. At the same time it shows the gradual isolation of the citizenry of Lucerne over the course of the 16th century, as fewer and fewer newcomers were able to enjoy the rights of citizenship. In addition to the original register, which is ordered by first names, the imposing leather-bound volume also contains an index by the municipal archivist Joseph Schneller († 1879). (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

As part of a great lawsuit against necromancers and treasure seekers, the Lucerne authorities in 1718 confiscated this meticulous copy of the Schlüssel Salomos, a book of spells that had evidently been widely read in certain quarters and of which various versions had been in circulation. Through the rituals for conjuring spirits described in the book, people around the priest Hans Kaspar Giger hoped to become wealthy. The volume was labeled “superstitious” by the authorities, was sealed and placed in the archives. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

The oldest necrology of the Franciscan Monastery of Lucerne has not survived; KF 80 is the second necrology and includes parts of the lost first volume; the entries go up to 1734. Two important donor families, who were particularly close to the monastery, were remembered specifically in a separate section with their family coats of arms: the Martin family (fol. 17v) and the Sonnenberg family (fol. 62-63v). After the dissolution of the monastery, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives in 1838. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

Together with the “Schwarzbuch” (KU 4b), this urbarium offers a comprehensive overview of the rights and possessions of the Cistercian Abbey, which reached its economic peak in the second half of the 15th century. Copies of documents and compilations of rights and dues, organized according to geographic criteria, demonstrate the size of the abbey’s possessions. The “Weissbuch” covers the core of St. Urban’s manorial power around Pfaffnau and Roggliswil and in the Bernese Upper Aargau region. After the dissolution of the monastery, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives in 1848. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

Together with the “Weissbuch” (KU 4a), this urbarium offers a comprehensive overview of the rights and possessions of the Cistercian Abbey, which reached its economic peak in the second half of the 15th century. Copies of documents and compilations of rights and dues, organized according to geographic criteria, demonstrate the size of the abbey’s possessions. The “Schwarzbuch” contains sources regarding possessions in the administrative area of Zofingen and Sursee, which reached into the Canton of Solothurn and the Basel area. After the dissolution of the monastery, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives in 1848. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

On the occasion of the 1517 rebuilding of St. Urban's Abbey, which had burned down in 1513, the Cistercian monk Sebastian Seemann (1492-1551), abbot of St. Urban's beginning in 1535, wrote a history of the monastery, embedded in the history of the Swiss confederation and in general church history. The burning of the monastery and the peasant revolt of 1513 are described in detail. This same volume contains an accounts book for all of the monastery’s various offices. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1848, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives. (jag)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

The oldest necrology of St. Urban’s Abbey, in a 16th century binding with wooden boards, has unfortunately survived only in fragments. The first part (fol. 3-14v) consist of the abbey’s necrology; the second part contains the incomplete Liber anniversariorum benefactorum (only Jan. 1-12, May 1 - Sept. 1, Sept. 4-7, Sept. 22 - Dec. 31) with supplements; the third part comprises the Officium defunctorum, a litany and supplements with a register of members of the abbey’s lay brotherhood. After the dissolution of the monastery, this volume, along with the monastery archives, became part of the state archives in 1848. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

The precarious condition of this volume (missing its binding and several quires, with the sewing dissolved and with discoloration caused by various substances) indicates that it was intensively used for a long period of time. The recipes from different areas (human and veterinary medicine, kitchen) are from the 15th-17th century. This manuscript was deposited in the state archives along with the archives of the patrician family Balthasar from Lucerne. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

Hans Salat (1498-1561) from Sursee was secretary to the Lucerne court of justice from 1531-1540; during this time he wrote his chronicle of the Reformation from a Catholic point of view. This manuscript, purchased from a private collection in 2004 by the State Archives of Lucerne, is an autograph by Salat and was dedicated to the government of Lucerne. (jag)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This small-format volume was donated to the State Archives in 1988. An ownership note on the flyleaf suggests that it originated in the area of Southern Germany. The little book, written in an unskilled script, contains recipes and instructions, some of which border on magic. (jag)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

The exact origin of this manuscript is unknown; the script and the language suggest that it was created in the Southern Alemannic region. The contents covering astrology, grafting trees, bleeding, advice regarding health, urology and recipes for the most part are taken from well-known sources and mostly correspond to Codex 102b of the Zentralbibliothek Zurich. The author probably did not come from an academic background, but must rather have been a medical practitioner. In this sense, the volume can be characterized as a “house book of folk medicine”, probably the oldest of its kind. It is also considered the oldest source for the so-called “iatromathematical corpus”. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

By his own account, Hans von Hinwil, lord of Elgg castle (1498-1544), wrote his family book in the year 1541. An introduction to the history of the family is followed by the coats of arms of his ancestors in chronological order. This manuscript can be compared with other well-known family books such as those of the lords of Eptingen or the lords of Hallwyl; however, for Eastern Switzerland it constitutes a unique example among the nobility of the formation of tradition in words and in images. (jag)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This is the only know work of monogrammist B.G.; it was created in 1557 for Abbot Peter I. Eichhorn (†1563) of Wettingen Abbey. While most of the many initials are based on woodcuts by Bernard Salomon (Quadrins historiques de la Bible, Lyon 1553), the painter composed the decoration of the margins independently and very charmingly with allusions to the name of the client (Eichhorn = squirrel) who commissioned the work as well as to a motif of geese. (jag)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

The Liber vitae is the oldest surviving martyrology from the Benedictine abbey or collegiate church of St. Leodegar in Lucerne. It was begun in 1445 by the conventual Johannes Sittinger, who made use of an older, now-lost necrology. The entries go up to 1691, the leather binding is from 1620. (jag)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This manuscript contains two texts: the Speculum virtutis by Abbot Engelbert von Admont (ca. 1250-1331), which is a reflection on leadership in the Aristotelian spirit, and a tract by Marquard von Lindau (d. 1392) on the merits of all living beings based on their divine creation and on the merits of the human soul. (kam)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

In addition to sermons and sermon-related material pertaining to Sundays, saints’ days and feast-days dedicated to Mary, the manuscript contains part of S. Bonaventure’s (1221-1274) commentary on the four books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, and the treatise De arca Noe by Marquard of Lindau (d. 1392). (kam)

Online Since: 06/09/2011

This manuscript contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Exodus and Leviticus, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland. (kam)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

Commentaries by the Franciscan monk Nicholas of Lyra (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel (I and II Kingdoms), with illustrations produced in central Switzerland. (kam)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

Contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland. (kam)

Online Since: 03/22/2012