The Burgerbibliothek Bern is a cultural institute of the Burgergemeinde Berne, a Civic Community. The Burgerbibliothek in its current state was established in 1951 when the town and university library was transformed into a foundation. Today the Burgerbibliothek is open to the public. Its scientific archives hold and preserve numerous important and internationally renowned manuscripts, records and photographic files. Among the best known collections are those of the medieval manuscripts, the Bongarsiana-Codices, documents concerning Swiss and Bernese history as well as bequests of important people such as Albrecht von Haller or Jeremias Gotthelf. The Burgerbibliothek also acts in an archival capacity for the Burgergemeinde (Civic Community), the guilds and the Burger’s societies. As a scientific institute, the Burgerbibliothek is of service to researchers and is also open to the interested public. Its collection is accessible in a beautiful reading room and conveyed through publications, guided tours and exhibitions.
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. A 94.1
Parchment · 3 ff. · 31 x 23.5 cm · France: Eastern · 11th century
Johannes Cassianus: De institutis coenobiorum (Fragment)
Three large-format leaves from a manuscript produced in Eastern France and containing the Instituta coenobiorum of John Cassian. The fragment, probably taken from a medieval book binding, came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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18 leaves (two whole quires and one bifolium) from a manuscript of the Cistercian abbey of Vauluisant. Additional parts of the manuscript are in Paris, BnF latin 2820. The fragment contains the end of Aelred of Rievaulx’s Compendium speculi caritatis and the beginning of Alcuin’s Compendium in cantica canticorum. In 1632, it came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 4 ff. · 18 x 13 cm · France · 2nd half of the 13th century
Petrus Alphonsi: Disciplina clericalis (Fragment)
Two bifolia from a manuscript produced in France and containing the last part of Petrus Alphonsi’s Disciplina clericalis. In 1632, it came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 8 ff. · 31.5-32 x 21-21.5 cm · France: area of Orléans · 1st quarter of the 9th century
Commentarius in Psalmos; Commentarius in Proverbia Salomonis (fragment)
This fragment consists of 8 leaves from a large-format manuscript that has long been associated with Theodulf of Orléans. It is actually a quire from Theodulf’s composite manuscript of biblical exegesis, which had until now been thought lost; its remaining parts are contained in MS Paris, BN lat. 15679. The quire, now bound, contains the end of the commentary on the Psalms as well as the beginning of the commentary on the Proverbia Salomonis. Thanks to a partially erased note of ownership, it can be demonstrated that this fragment once was the property of the Abbey of Saint-Mesmin, Micy; in 1632 it came to Bern as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 16 ff. · 20 x 15 cm · France: probably around Lyon · 9th century
Gregorius Magnus: Registrum epistolarum (Fragment)
Sixteen leaves (= 2 whole quires) of a manuscript probably produced around Lyon and containing the Registrum epistolarum of Gregory the Great. The text, apparently compiled from the Registrum Hadrianum(R), indictio II, appears to have been prepared for copying as late as the 9th century. In 1632, it came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · I + 2 + I ff. · 33 x 23 cm · France · 10th century
Fulgentius: Homilia de caritate (Fragment)
Bifolium from a large-format manuscript produced in France that contained Fulgentius’ Homilia de caritate. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 7 ff. · 18 x 13 cm · France: Eastern (?) · 1st half of the 13th century
Petrus Lombardus: Prologus in Isaiam; Prologi varii (Fragment)
7 leaves of a manuscript probably produced in Eastern France and containing Peter Lombard’s Prologus in Isaiam and other prologues to various biblical books. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 8 ff. · 18.5 x 11.5 cm · France: probably region of Orléans · 1st half of the 12th century
Ambrosius Autpertus: De conflictu vitiorum et virtutum (Fragment)
Four bifolia of a manuscript probably produced in the Orléans region and containing Ambrosius Autpertus’ De conflictu vitiorum et virtutum. The quire, which came from the Celestine abbey of Notre-Dame at Ambert, constituted the beginning of Bern, Burgerbibliothek Cod. 612. The fragment belonged to the Daniel family and came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 16 ff. · 18 x 12.5 cm · France (?) · end of the 13th – beginning of the 14th century
Bernardus Papiensis: Summa decretalium (Fragment)
Sixteen leaves (= two whole quires) from a manuscript probably produced in France and containing Bernard of Pavia’s Summa decretalium. In 1632, the fragment, illuminated in the Cistercian style, came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 10 ff. · 19.5–20 x 13.5–14 cm · France · 12th century
Constantinus Africanus: Viaticus (Fragment)
5 bifolia (=1 quire) from a manuscript produced in France and containing the beginning of Constantine the African’s Viaticus. In 1632, the simply-decorated fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 2 ff. · 23 x 17 cm · France: Paris (?) · 13th century
Boethius: De institutione musica (Fragment)
Bifolium from a magnificently-illuminated manuscript produced in France and containing Boethius’ Institutio musica, which once was in the library of the Sorbonne, as attested by the other parts of the same manuscript in Paris, BnF latin 16652 (olim Sorbonne 909). In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 18 ff. · max. 39 x 28.5 cm · France: Loire region · 2nd/3rd of the 11th century
Passiones et Homiliae sanctorum (Fragment)
An extensive part (18 leaves) of a large-format homiliary, probably coming from the Loire area, and decorated with various initials in a Romanesque style. The leaves, which belong to at least three different quires, are today heavily damaged and bound together. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars. In the 20th century, a leaf was lost and was found again in Zurich in 1944.
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Parchment · 1 f. · 29 x 20 cm · France · beginning of the 13th century
Petrus Lombardus: Sententiae (Fragment)
Single leaf of a manuscript produced in France and containing Peter Lombard’s Sentences. It was probably later used as a limp binding. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 1 f. · 31.5 x 22 cm · Eastern France (?) · 13th/14th century
Augustinus: De adulterinis coniugiis (Fragment)
Single leaf from a manuscript probably copied in Eastern France. The unfinished leaf of Augustine’s De adulterinis coniugiis was probably later used as flyleaf of a manuscript containing Isidore’s Etymologies. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 1 f. · 33 x 23 cm · France · 12th century
Gesta Treverorum (Fragment)
Single leaf of a manuscript produced in France and containing the Gesta Treverorum. Other parts of this manuscript can today be found in Paris (BnF, latin 5873) and in the Vatican (B.A.V., Reg. lat. 1283). In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 8 ff. · 27.5 x 17.5 cm · France (?) · end of the 13th/first half of the 14th century
Humbertus de Romanis (Pseudo-): De eruditione religiosorum (Fragment)
Four bifolia (= 1 quire) of a manuscript that contained the treatise De eruditione religiosorum by (Pseudo-)Humbert of Romans, which recently was ascribed to Guilelmus Peraldus. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 1 f. · ca. 30 x 24 cm · France: Metz region · end of the 10th/beginning of the 11th century
Gregorius Magnus: Homiliae in Evangelium (Fragment)
A single leaf in two halves from a manuscript probably produced in the Metz region and containing Gregory the Great’s Homiliae in Evangelia; another part of the manuscript can be found in Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 168 (flyleaf). In 1632, the fragment, with a beautiful initial, came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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Parchment · 1 f. · 33.5 x 23 cm · France: Metz · 13th/14th century
Prosa de sancto Eligio; list of chapters from Cod. 111 (Fragment)
Former flyleaf of Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 111, an anthology with saints’ lives from the Cistercian abbey of Pontiffroy (Moselle départment). In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars and was detached from its host volume probably between 1854 and 1875.
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Parchment · 1 f. · 31 x 23 cm · Western Germany (?) · 11th/12th century
Gregorius Magnus: Moralia in Hiob (Fragment)
A single leaf with Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Hiob, that, together with Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 132, ff. 1-4, served in the 11th century to complete the text of this manuscript (ff. 5-149). Palimpsest: the original manuscript from the beginning of the 9th century contained Clement of Rome, Recognitiones. In 1632, the fragment came to Bern as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
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