The Latin-Old High German Rule of St Benedict, one of the oldest monuments of the Old High German language.
Online Since: 09/14/2005
Manuscript compilation with mainly historical content, written for the most part in Latin and German, mostly by Gall Kemli, the wandering monk of St. Gall († about 1481). The manuscript contains, among many other texts, the Benedictine Rule, Latin and German riddles and proverbs, the only known copy of a Middle Rheinish Passion play in German from the 14th century, and a sort of curriculum vitae of the scribe Kemli.
Online Since: 12/23/2008
This quarto volume brings together various texts, mostly shorter in length, of which the bulk are spiritual essays and prayers, including: a treatise on the Passion (pp. 4–38), prayers on the Passion (pp. 68–84), prayers for the canonical hours (pp. 88–91), a treatise on the Fall (pp. 92–107), and another on the quattuor gemitus turturis (pp. 112-159); a Biblia pauperum indicates numerous saints and for what emergencies they can be invoked (pp. 160–193). Among the spiritual texts, there are also a few in German (e.g., pp. 218–220, 238). Two letters concern St. Gall: one is addressed to Abbot Eglolf (pp. 40–43), another to monks who have fled to St. Gall (pp. 85–88). Additional texts treat the Council of Constance and monastic reforms; also here there is a reference to St. Gall (pp. 239–250). The last quire is composed of parchment leaves and could have come from the fourteenth century; it contains a grammar and medical texts (pp. 251–266). The manuscript has a limp binding; for guards was used a German-language parchment charter, of which the year 1415 and the name of a ulrichen leman burger ze arbon are still legible.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This manuscript contains as its main text (pp. 1-199) the so-called Waldregel, an Early Modern High German translation of the Regula solitariorum (rule for hermits), which was written in the 9th or 10th century by the monk Grimlaicus, who probably was from Lorraine. The Waldregel is supplemented by further texts on the topic of the hermit's life and poverty: pp. 199–256 Hie vachet an ain ander buoch ainsidelliches lebens vnd von siner bewaerung …, Inc. Die muoter der hailigen cristenhait hat zwayer hand gaistlicer lüt; pp. 256–326 Das ander buoch von bewärung der armuot, Inc. Gelobet sy got vnser herr iesus cristus; pp. 326–334 Hie nach ain bredige, Inc. Fünf stuk sint dar inn begriffen. According to the explicit on p. 335, these four parts are consolidated under the title Waldregel, although only the first part until p. 199 goes back to the Regula solitariorum. On pp. 337–419 there follows a Spiegel der geistlichen Zucht. This is a translation of the booklet for novices by the Franciscan David of Augsburg († 1272). Prayers were added on pp. 420-422. For the most part, this codex was written by Father Johannes Hertenstein (OSB); it was the property of the hermitage in Steinertobel, not far from St. Gall. A copy of the first four texts can be found in Cod. Sang. 931.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This manuscript contains as its main text (pp. 1-180) the so-called Waldregel, an Early Modern High German translation of the Regula solitariorum (rule for hermits), which was written in the 9th or 10th century by the monk Grimlaicus, who probably was from Lorraine. The Waldregel is supplemented by further texts on the topic of the hermit's life and poverty: pp. 180–222 Hie fachet an ein ander buoch von der bewerung einsidliches lebens …, Inc. Die muoter der heilge kristenheit het zweyerhand geistlicher lüte; pp. 222–277 Dz ander buoch von bewerung armuot, Inc. Gelobet sy got vnser herre vnd got iesus cristus; pp. 277–284 [sermon] Inc. Fünf stuk sind dar inne begriffen. On pp. 285–289, prayers have been recorded. The decoration consists of simple red Lombard initials, on p. 1 and 3 with green pen-flourish. Except for the prayers, the manuscript is a copy of Cod. Sang. 930. It was the property of the hermitage of the church of St. George outside the walls of St. Gall. Three spiritual women who lived there in the 1430s are depicted in simple pen and ink drawings on the back pastedown.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Parts I, II and IV of a four-part manuscript in German of collected materials containing cloister rules (including the Benedictine Rule), prayers, and short spiritual texts. A comparative study of the script indicates that the volume was written by Benedictine monk Friedrich Kölner (Köllner, Cölner, Colner), who lived at the Abbey of St. Gall between 1429/30 and 1439. Part III, or the model on which it was based, was dedicated to Anna Vogelweider, a sister in the Cistercian women's cloister of Magdenau in Lower Toggenburg, according to an annotation which was later stricken through. This Anna was likely the aunt of a certain Sister Els (Elsbeth?), named in the record of a donation, from the women's community of St. George.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This codex, written by several scribes, contains theological writings very different from one another in seven parts interrupted by empty pages. Part I: pp. 1–14 table of contents and pp. 17–124 the text of De decem praeceptis by Heinrich von Friemar, pp. 124 Septem dona sancti spiritus contra septem peccata mortalia, pp. 125–139 Tractatus de confessione et de peccatis mortalibus et venialibus, p. 139 Quid sit vera poenitentia et confessio, pp. 139–140 a theological note and further notes on p. 142, pp. 143–173 the treatise De proprietate ad canonicos regulares religiosa by the theologian, astronomer and church politician Heinrich Heinbuche von Langenstein (1325–1397) as well as pp. 177–186 a fragment of the Expositio regulae S. Augustini. Part II contains a fragment of De sacramento ordinis on pp. 187–199, pp. 199–257 Notabilia super Cantica Canticorum by Frater Johannes, followed on pp. 258–260 by the sermon Omnia parata sunt venite ad nuptias. Parts III (pp. 261–284), IV (pp. 285–316) and V (pp. 317–340) contain more sermons. Part VI consists of 14th and 15th century Sibyllenweissagungen in German, (Von Kung Salomo wishait, pp. 341–361) and a fragmentary letter (pp. 361–362). Part VII contains moralizations from the Historia septem sapientium on pp. 365–376. In a note on p. 379 Abbey librarian Ildefons v. Arx reports about the illness and death of the former Abbey librarian Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger in the year 1823. An entry in the top margin of p. 1 attests that the manuscript was already in the St. Gall monastery in the 15th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This volume contains a single text, a German-language intepretation of the Song of Songs, of which 25 manuscript witnesses are currently known. This extensive text is probably not based on a Latin model and its structure becomes decreasingly systematic. Although it is based on passages from the Song of Songs, it does not contain an actual commentary, but is divided into three books: teachings on faith (Book 1, pp. 8–241), a monastic doctrine of virtue (Book 2, pp. 241–431), and discussions of sins, penance, etc. (Book 3, pp. 443–512). An extensive table of contents precedes the text (pp. 5–7). A colophon at the end of the second book (p. 431) states that this part of the manuscript was completed in 1497. The whole manuscript is written and rubricated in the same hand. According to an entry on p. 1, the manuscript came from a convent in Freiburg (Liber S. Galli Emptus 1699 Friburgi); Scarpatetti suggests Adelhausen (Dominican nuns). On an inserted piece of paper can be read a note about the profession of Sisters Margret Boshartin, Kattrin Ferberin and Anna Branwartin in Constance in 1511 and 1514; on the back there is a fragment of a letter (?). Half-leather binding contemporary to the text, with striped and stamped decoration and clasps. To the headband is affixed a braided, two-colored bookmark.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This manuscript in its original limp vellum binding contains as its main part (pp. 1-88; index p. 93) alphabetically ordered excerpts in Latin from writings by church fathers on various theological concepts (De abiectione – De voto). These are followed by shorter texts. On p. 89 there is a little-know characterization of peoples and tribes (especially from regions within Germany) in Medieval Latin verses; it is titled Versus de provinciis and it begins with Roma potens, reverenda Ravenna, Britannia pauper. Pp. 90-92 preserve a letter from a Parisian university teacher (Epistola cuiusdam egregii magistri parisiensis) about the evil of property, followed by an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer in Latin (pp. 94-100) and by more spiritual-ascetic texts in Latin (pp. 106-112) and in German. The table of contents on the inside front cover was written by Fr. Jodocus Metzler (1574−1639), longtime abbey librarian.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This composite manuscript likely is from Rhenish Franconia or from the Upper Rhine area and came into the possession of the Abbey of St. Gall in 1699, probably from the Convent of Poor Clares in Freiburg im Breisgau (like, for example, Cod. Sang. 985). The manuscript contains a large number of different sermons and mystical-ascetic texts, especially from the 13th and 14th centuries. Among them are, for instance, the treatise Von der Minne (pp. 7−19) attributed to Johannes Hiltalingen from Basel, the so-called sünde-version of the pseudo-Albert work Paradisus animae (pp. 62−68 and pp. 195−196), ten sermons passed down under the name of Bertold of Regensburg (pp. 70−104), the interpretation of the Lord's Prayer Adonay, gewaltiger herre (pp. 109−192), or the allegory Es ist ein hoher Berg (pp. 211−250) attributed to Johannes Tauler.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This manuscript contains the so-called Reformatio Sigismundi, a document about the reform of church and empire that was written anonymously in German in 1439 during the Council of Basel by an author who until today has not been reliably identified. The text was printed for the first time in 1476. The treatise presents reform proposals that emphasize the importance of pastoral care and that promote releasing secular clergy from obligatory celibacy and releasing bishops from exercising temporal power. The treatise also reports Emperor Sigismund's alleged vision, according to which a priest-king Frederick is said to have appeared to him with plans for the reform. In a colophon on p. 234, the writer gives his name as Petrus Hamer von Weissenhorn, chaplain in Kirchberg. He begins the chapters with red initials and decorates two of them with caricatures of bearded faces (p. 158 and 212).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This only surviving copy of the prose story Frau Tugendreich was written by an unknown author in the circle of Emperor Maximilian I in the second decade of the 16th century. The text is a mixture of a ‘Zeitroman' (a novel giving a critical analysis of an age) and a debate about the value of women or the lack thereof. An external narrative frame presents a discussion between a young narrator beholden to the courtly ideal and his more experienced master, who clings to a traditional view of women, about the value, significance and conduct of women. Unfortunately from p. 196 on, essential parts of the text have been lost due to missing pages. This copy, written in East Swabian dialect by scribe A. S. (p. 219), is dated 1521.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
This manuscript, dated in two places to the years 1465 (p. 393) and 1467 (p. 181) and perhaps written by eight different hands, belonged to the Benedictine Convent of St. George near St. Gall and became part of the Abbey Library of St. Gall as part of an exchange around 1780/82. The codex, written entirely in German, contains the explanation of the Decalogue by Marquard of Lindau (pp. 3−176); the song Ain raine maid verborgen lag from Spiegelweise by Heinrich Frauenlob (pp. 177−181); instructions regarding attention during prayer, attributed to Thomas Aquinas (pp. 182−186); the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit by Henry Suso (pp. 195−393); reflections on consecration (pp. 394−399) and on the Sunday (pp. 399−402); as well an anonymous treatise on death (pp. 405−422). Several parchment fragments from an 11th/12th century St. Gall liturgical manuscript containing neumes were used in order to reinforce this manuscript.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
A compilation of religious and ascetic content from the 15th century containing dicta, exhortations and sermons from saints and doctors of the church, treatises on the Sacrament, the Lord's Prayer etc. (by Meister Eckhart, David von Augsburg, Berthold von Regensburg and the Engelberg homilist, among others), the so-called St. Gall Christmas Play (St. Galler Weihnachtsspiel, also known as St. Galler Spiel von der Kindheit Jesu) as well as a commentary on the book of Daniel by Nicolaus of Lyra.
Online Since: 12/12/2006
This composite manuscript was written for the quasi-monastic community of women of St. Georgen above St. Gall (see ownership note on p. 3); it contains numerous shorter and longer texts by Marquard von Lindau and other authors known by name as well as anonymous authors, among them: pp. 5-13: Marquard von Lindau, Deutsche Predigt; pp. 25-46 and 51-69: Marquard von Lindau, Von der Geduld; pp. 76-102: anonymous catechetical treatise Von einem christlichen Leben; pp. 149-260: Rulman Merswin, Neunfelsenbuch; pp. 261-262: Volmar, sermon; pp. 262-263: Stimulus amoris, German (excerpt); pp. 268-379: Marquard von Lindau, Auszug der Kinder Israel; pp. 381-404: Marquard von Lindau, De fide, German; pp. 405-447: Heinrich von St. Gallen, sermon cycle on the Acht Seligkeiten. About one third of the pages were written by the reform monk Friedrich Kölner (or Colner) from Hersfeld Abbey in Hesse, who was active at St. Gall Abbey from 1430 to 1436. He was the confessor for the sisters of St. Georgen. The remaining parts were written by several other hands in the 15th century.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This undecorated manuscript in Swabian–Alemannic was written by two hands and contains numerous German-language ascetic-mystical texts, among them the treatise De contemptu mundi (pp. 3−6), various sermons (pp. 7-33), salutations to Mary, prayers, exempla and sentences by church teachers (pp. 33-46), the legend of St. George (pp. 69-105), the first eight fables from the collection Edelstein by Ulrich Boner (pp. 116-129), the treatise Die besessene Schwester Agnes (pp. 131-215), and a mention of the ten commandments, each accompanied by a humorous rhyme (p. 108). The manuscript probably originated in the convent of the female Capuchins of the third order in Wonnenstein near Teufen; it became part of the Abbey Library of St. Gall in 1782 (cf. Cod. Sang. 1285, p. 12).
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This manuscript, written around 1500 by the Sisters of the third order of St. Francis at Wonnenstein near Teufen, not far from St. Gall, contains as an introduction a register (pp. 1−9) of manuscripts and printed works held in the convent library, compiled around 1500; it has a total of 110 entries. The majority consist of ascetic-edifying treatises; among them are Brother Conrad Nater's German translations of Bonaventure's Regula novitiorum (pp. 15−107), the German version of David of Augsburg's De exterioris et interioris hominis compositione (pp. 109−188), the Ermahnung zu einem wahren klösterlichen Leben by the Franciscan monk Heinrich Vigilis of Weissenburg (pp. 190−223), the treatise Die besessene Nonne Agnes (pp. 225−404), a treatise on the passion attributed to Bernardino of Siena (Lernung das lyden unsers lieben heren zu betrachten; pp. 406−475), revelations by the mystics Gertrude of Helfta and Christine Ebner (pp. 476−486), Bonaventure's Soliloquium in a shortened German version (pp. 496−713), as well as the treatise Vom Reuer, Wirker und Schauer by the so-called Kuttenmann (pp. 717−727). On 11 February 1782, the St. Gall Abbey librarian Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756−1823) acquired this manuscript, together with four other manuscripts (today Cod. Sang. 972a, Cod. Sang. 976, Cod. Sang. 977 and Cod. Sang. 991) from the community of Capuchin nuns at Wonnenstein.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript was written in 1499 (cf. dates p. 174 and 519) by a Sister of the Third Order of St. Francis at Wonnenstein near Teufen, not far from St. Gall. It contains a copy of the Schürebrand, a 14th century spiritual treatise from the circle of the Friends of God of Strasbourg (pp. 2-174); the first and third parts of the treatise Von dreierlei Abgründen (pp. 176-313), attributed to St. Bonaventure; and the Passion treatise Extendit manum by Heinrich von St. Gallen (pp. 315-519). The scribe asks for an Ave Maria on p. 519. In 1782, St. Gall Abbey librarian P. Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756-1823) acquired the manuscript together with four other manuscripts (today Cod. Sang. 972a, Cod. Sang. 973, Cod. Sang. 977 and Cod. Sang. 991) from the Community of Capuchin nuns of Wonnenstein.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This extensive prayer book, probably completed over time by a single hand, contains a treatise on the canonical hours (pp. 34–224) as well as a Marian office (the German version of the Officium parvum Beatae Mariae Virginis, pp. 225–343). These are accompanied by sermons and shorter treatises: at the beginning, texts on the sufferings of Christ, structured according to the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer (pp. 1–33, the first page is missing); at the end of the manuscript appear the short treatise Von der seligen Dorfmagd (pp. 344–346), a fragmentary treatise on the twelve virtues of the sacraments (pp. 347–352), a sermon by Johannes Nider (pp. 352–362), another sermon (In unser Capel die erst bredig von gehorsami, p. 363–384), as well as shorter texts and textual fragments (pp. 385–396). A late-medieval entry (p. 390) gives a name (das buch hadt hanns petris auch ze len). Fifteenth-century red-leather binding, detached bosses, and missing clasps; the hand-marbled pastedowns attest to a modern restoration.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
At the time this work, Die 24 Alten, which was completed in 1386, was written, the Franciscan Otto von Passau was a member of the Minorite convent in Basel. This piece, a form of guide to the Christian life, was widely used in women's convents for reading aloud during meals. This manuscript was written by a swester Endlin, probably at the Franciscan nuns' convent of St. Leonhard in St. Gall.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
This manuscript from 1467, which first belonged to the convent of the Poor Clares at Freiburg in Breisgau and was transported to the Abbey of St. Gall in 1699, contains, in addition to some Latin texts, many tracts for spiritual instruction in German translation. These include an Ars moriendi, the Cordiale de quattuor novissimis by Gerard van Vliederhoven, the so-called Hieronymus-Briefe(Letters of Jerome) translated by John of Neumark (ca. 1315-1356), the Spiegelbuch, a dialogical text in rhymed verses on living life properly, the trials of worldly life and everyday tribulations, with about twenty colored pen sketches, and a version of the legend of the Three Kings by John of Hildesheim (1310/1320-1375). The manuscript also contains some additional pen sketches: a unicorn (p. 87), images representing two Apostles (p. 107; Paul and John?), a man and a woman in secular dress, and a stag and a wild boar (p. 513). There are imprints in Carolingian minuscule on front and rear inside covers (rear inside cover: Hrabanus Maurus, De computo).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This manuscript contains three substantial treatises in German. At the beginning there is the life of Archbishop Johannes of Alexandria (pp. 5−83), written by Anastasius Bibliothecarius. It is followed by the edifying treatise Die vierundzwanzig Alten oder der goldene Thron der minnenden Seele by Otto of Passau (pp. 87−544) and the History of the Three Kings (Historia trium regum) by John of Hildesheim (pp. 546−602). The treatise by Otto of Passau is illustrated with 25 colored pen and ink drawings, outlined in red and extending the width of the column. The History of the Three Kings begins with a full-page miniature (p. 546), which shows the three Magi visiting the infant Jesus. The scribe and the illustrators of this manuscript, which possibly originated in the circle of the community of lay brothers of St. Gall, are unknown; stylistic characteristics suggest the Konstanz book illumination of Rudolf Stahel. The manuscript is dated to the year 1454 in three places (p. 93 as an inscription in a picture; p. 544; p. 602). In the 15th century the manuscript was the property of the community of lay brothers of the Monastery of St. Gall (who did not know Latin); in 1618 the manuscript was still in the library of the community of lay brothers. At least since 1755 it has been attested in the main library of St. Gall Abbey.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript was written in the years 1521 and 1522 by the copyists Regina Sattler, Dorothea von Hertenstein and Elisabeth Schaigenwiler in the Dominican Cloister St. Katharina in St. Gall; it is the only manuscript to transmit the spiritual works of the Dominican Monk Wendelin Fabri (around 1465 - after 1533), who was born in Pforzheim. Between 1510 and1518, while Spiritual (chaplain and confessor) at the Dominican Cloister Zoffingen in Constance, for reading aloud during meals at the cloister, he created spiritual treatises about the Eucharist, about the five loaves of barley bread of the religious and about the fruits of the Holy Mass, the collations of the seven O-Antiphons, as well as the treatises Villicatorius and Prudentia simplex religiosorum. The manuscript came to the monastery library of St. Gall between 1780 and 1782; at the end of the 16th century, it had still been at the Dominican Cloister St. Katharina in Wil.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This folio-size manuscript contains a single text, the Gemahelschaft Christi mit der gläubigen Seele (redaction: Es spricht ain haidischer maister es sy besser und nützer), an extensive and still-unedited book of monastic edification. The anonymous author may have been an Augustinian Hermit; his readership largely consisted in female religious communities. Indeed, the present manuscript comes from such a community; based on a comparison of scripts, it was copied and dated by Angela Varnbühler, the chronicler and long-time prioress of the convent of St. Catherine in St. Gall (colophon on p. 842/843). In the run-up to the Reformation, the librarian Regula Keller sent this manuscript and another (today lost) to the women's community in Appenzell, as reported by the letter accompanying the shipment that is pasted on p. 2. From there, the codex went to Wonnenstein Cloister, and in 1782 to the Abbey Library (ownership entry by P. Pius Kolb on p. 4). Two entries from 1584 attest that a certain Hans Bart had das Buoch gelernet (p. 1 and p. 845). The manuscript is laid out in two columns and rubricated throughout. A bookmark and a single leaf from a post-incunable breviary printed in the workshop of Erhard Ratdolt in Augsburg are inserted. Between pp. 839 and 840 many leaves have been removed (loss of text). Unadorned leather binding, contemporary with the text, with two clasps (one lost). On the wooden boards the offsets of two German-language charters are visible.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This manuscript contains the work Die 24 Alten oder der goldene Thron der minnenden Seele (completed around 1386) by the Franciscan Otto of Passau. This work, a sort of guide to Christian life in sentences, is addressed to laymen, to lay brothers in monasteries, and to nuns. According to a colophon on p. 512, this manuscript was written by the reformist monk Friedrich Kölner (or Colner), who came from Hersfeld Abbey in Hesse and was active at the Monastery of St. Gall between 1430 and 1436; it was intended for the monastic women's community of St. Georgen above St. Gallen, whose confessor he was.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The main text of this manuscript, which shows signs of intense use, is the Rule of St. Benedict in a German translation (pp. 3-107). Based on a comparison of the script with that of Cod. Sang. 546, this text was written by the St. Gall monk Fr. Joachim Cuontz († 1515). According to a 1504 note of ownership on p. 1, the manuscript belonged to the monastic women's community of St. Georgen above St. Gallen. On pp. 120-121 there is an admonition to the sisters to keep the Rule, also written by Fr. Joachim Cuontz. In between and after, there are short texts by other hands: pp. 108-112 an instruction on how to pray the "Heavenly Rosary" following on pp. 112-117, a spiritual song for rosary meditation in 13 verses with the promise of indulgence (Inc. gott vater in dem höchsten tron), p. 118 an exhortation to the sisters to be vigilant (according to 1 Pt 5:8-9) and to ask for blessings, pp. 123-125 a dictum and the rhyming prayer of Nicholas of Flüe (ain guotti hailsamy lerr von bruoder clausen in schwitz, Inc. bruoder klaus von underwalden, and bruoder klausen gewonliches gebett, Inc. O min gott und min schöpfer nim mich und gib mich gantz zuo aigen). On p. 126 there are notes of ownership (?), on p. 128 (according to Paul Staerkle, Die Handschriften des ehemaligen Klosters Wiborada zu St. Georgen, in: Die hl. Wiborada, vol. 2: Die Verehrung der Heiligen, St. Gallen 1926, p. 84) a register for the transport of sand from 1477-1487, "which stipulates some services from the quarry donated to the church for the new church construction” ("der einige Dienstleistungen aus dem der Kirche geschenkten Steinbruch zum neuen Kirchenbau festsetzt”).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The monk Friedrich Kölner (also Colner), originally from Hersfeld Abbey in Northern Hesse, was active at the Monastery of St. Gall between 1430 and 1436; together with several confreres, he introduced internal reforms there. At this time Friedrich Kölner also served as confessor for the quasi-monastic community of sisters of St. Georgen above St. Gall. For them he translated numerous texts from Latin into German. The texts in Cod. Sang. 998 are primarily about virginity and chastity. The volume contains numerous sentences of the church fathers in Alemannic with Middle German reflexes; texts by Bernard of Clairvaux are frequent. In addition the volume contains translations of books I and II (pp. 67-139; pp. 141-187) of Imitatio Christi by Thomas à Kempis, various sermons and excerpts, translated into German, from the treatise for novices by David of Augsburg De exterioris et interioris hominis compositione secundum triplicem (pp. 291−299 and pp. 319−338).
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This manuscript contains the German-language treatise on Corpus Christi by the “Mönch von Heilsbronn”, a monk of the Cistercian monastery of Heilsbronn located between Nuremberg and Ansbach, who probably lived in the 14th century. The small-format manuscript with a limp vellum binding comes from St. Leonhard Convent near St. Gall and was later owned by the community of women of St. Georgen above St. Gall.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript, which features two ownership notes from the community of sisters of St. Georgen above St. Gall (probably from the period around 1500) on p. 3, contains two spiritual texts from the 13th and 14th century, respectively. They are a translation into German of instructions regarding the Rule of his Order by Humbert of Romans, Master General of the Dominican Order († 1277) (pp. 5–295), and an Upper German version of the work Die geistliche Hochzeit (Brulocht) by the Flemish theologian Jan von Ruusbroec († 1381) (pp. 296–482).
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This manuscript, written in 1498, is from the library of the regular community of sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis at the lower hermitage (Untere Klause) of St. Leonhard, outside the city gates of St. Gall. The unknown principal scribe — she wrote up to p. 536 — asks future readers for an Ave Maria in two places (p. 201; p. 536). The manuscript contains: in the beginning a copy of the Schürebrand (pp. 10−201) that is significant in terms of textual history; in the middle (pp. 206−339) parts 1 and 3 of the treatise Von dreierlei Abgründen attributed to St. Bonaventure; and in the end (pp. 344−535) the treatise on the passion Extendit manum by Heinrich of St. Gall. The salutation to Mary (“Mariengruss”) added to the end of the manuscript (pp. 537−539) was written by another hand. After the Reformation and the dissolution of the community of sisters of St. Leonhard, the manuscript came to the library of the Benedictine nuns of St. George and finally in 1780/82 to the Abbey Library of St. Gall.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript was written by the Benedictine Friedrich Kölner among others and was meant for the Hermitage of St. George; in addition to a translation of the life of St. Benedict (after Gregory the Great's Dialogi, Liber 2) and an excerpt from the Eucharist treatise of Marquard of Lindau, it contains an especially early version of prayers from the “Wilhelm-Gebetbuch” and the “Ebran-Gebetbuch” by Johannes von Indersdorf. Furthermore, it transmits several of the “Engelberger Predigten”, thus completing the collection contained in Cod. M 47 from the archive of the Convent of the Dominican sisters at St. Katharina in Wil. It bears mentioning that both of these manuscripts are based on an earlier model, to which also the manuscripts Cod. Sang. 1919 and Wil M 42, which were created about 50 years later, owe their (complementary) selection of „Engelberger Predigten“.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The five parts of this manuscript were written by various scribes, among them the St. Gall Conventual Hans Conrad Haller (1486–1525), who was calligrapher, priest and, from 1523 until 1525, librarian of the monastery of St. Gall; he wrote various works such as a missal and other spiritual literature, as well as a life of Notker Balbulus. In Cod. Sang. 1006 Haller frequently left colophons, e.g., on p. 531 and p. 540. The five parts of the manuscript contain the following texts: part I (pp. 13–45) Prayers on the Passion and – partly in fragments – liturgical plays, among them the Ludus ascensionis on pp. 33-44. Part II (pp. 46–65) a prayer to St. Dorothea, which, according to the scribe, was translated from the Latin and written down in 1430 (pp. 61-62). Part III (pp. 66-80) Der Seele Klageby Heinrich der Teichner. Teil IV (pp. 81–95) liturgy of the hours on the Passion of Christ. Part V (pp. 96-762) a wide variety of devotional texts such as prayers and meditations, among them on pp. 188-190 Ein babst lag uurmals an dem tod, pp. 406–486 St. Anselmi Fragen an Maria and pp. 508–524 a German Salve Regina in rhyme.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Around 1500, this composite manuscript of theological-mystical content, which may have originated in Northern Bavaria and have been completed in the area of Lake Constance, was the property of the spiritual community of Franciscan sisters at the lower hermitage (Untere Klause) of St. Leonhard, west of the city of St. Gall, which was dissolved in the wake of the Reformation. This volume contains more than thirty mostly anonymous sermons, treatises and excerpts of treatises of Dominican character. Among them are Eberhard Mardach's open letter Von wahrer Andacht (pp. 83–116), a sermon by Johannes Tauler (pp. 129−156), the treatise Liebhabung Gottes an den Feiertagen by Thomas Peuntner from the year 1434 (pp. 232−237), excerpts from the Auslegung der zehn Gebote by Marquard of Lindau (pp. 238–245), the beginning of the prologue and three chapters of the anonymous Theologia deutsch (also called Der Frankfurter; pp. 287–297) that was published in print in its entirety for the first time by Martin Luther in 1518, as well as excerpts from a German version of Der Minnebaum (Arbor amoris; pp. 323–331), which differs significantly from other manuscripts.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
The manuscript is entirely copied by the Hersfeld reform monk Friedrich Kölner, who was active in the monastery of St. Gall from 1430 to 1436. Among other things, he took over the spiritual care of the women's community of St. Georgen. The manuscripts written by him, of which twelve survive, were produced chiefly for this group of recipients, and this can be assumed for the present manuscript, which is in a handy octavo-format. It contains an extensive sermon cycle, introduced by a sermon presumably by Rulmann Merswin (pp. 2–22: Leben Jesu / Von der geistlichen Spur), which Kölner ascribes to Johannes Tauler (the same combination of texts can be found in Cod. Sang. 1067). The forty sermons that follow are actually by Tauler (pp. 22–557). Under the rubric Von der drivaltikait on pp. 134–147 appears the pseudo-Eckhartian composite treatise Von dem anefluzze des vaters. Tauler's Lenten discourses are missing; instead Kölner refers to two letters by Johannes von Schoonhoven. Although these are not contained in the present volume, they are available in Kölner's own translation in St. Katharina in Wil, Klosterarchiv, Cod. M 47, another manuscript that Kölner probably wrote for the women in St. Georgen. The single-column manuscript is densely written and thoroughly rubricated. The unadorned binding was restored in 1992; the book block shows signs of numerous medieval reparations as well.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This parchment manuscript contains Latin sermons by Berthold of Regensburg († 1272) in a copy from the second half of the thirteenth century or the first half of the fourteenth century. It begins with the feast of St. Stephen Protomartyr (26 December; p. 1a) and stretches to the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist (29 August; p. 181b). There then follow additional sermons and other texts, including two that bear the titles De passione (p. 197a) and De resurrectione (p. 199b) respectively. On p. 209 the text breaks off at the end of the right column. Then follows on pp. 210a–215a in a larger script what are apparently sermons on the Conversio sancti Pauli (p. 210a) and on the Purificatio beatae Mariae (p. 213a), although both of these feasts already appear in the original part (p. 23b and 31b). In the fourteenth century, another hand wrote a German text in the right column of p. 215 (Wilt du wizzen wie …). According to the note on p. 216, in 1433, the chaplain Jodocus Maiger gave this book to Nicholaus Jeuchin or Jenchin, parish priest of St. Mangen (a church outside of the city of St. Gallen). Worthy of note are the decorative, four-color stitching with a zig-zag pattern on p. 111/112, the pen drawing on p. 150a, as well as the library stamp of Abbot Diethlem Blarer, from the period 1553–1563 on p. 216. The wooden binding probably comes from the fifteenth century.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
The manuscript was written in a textualis probably in the second half of the thirteenth or the first half of the fourteenth century. The old foliation runs from I to CLXXXIII and from CCLXV to CCLXXX (pencil foliation: 184–209). The current foliation is A–B in pencil and then I–CLXXXIII in red ink, and finally 184–216 in pencil. The table of contents, inserted in the fourteenth century on the last, separate gathering (fol. 211r–214v) uses Roman numerals from I to CCLXXVIII without gaps. This shows that several quires were lost at some point after the production of the table of contents, a fact that was already noted on the table of contents in the fifteenth century with “vacat”. The surviving leaves transmit, in the first place, sermons of Berthold of Regensburg († 1272) on Sundays and the Feasts of Saints (fol. Ir–CLXXIIIIv) and then – owing to the mentioned loss of leaves – only the end of his sermon on the common of saints (fol. 184r–184v). In between and afterwards are other sermons (Sermones ad religiosos, Sermones ad speciales) or spiritual texts by the same hand, although at the end (fol. 209r–210r) by another hand. According to the table of contents, there follow (fol. 214r–215v) further entries, probably from the fourteenth century, including a few in the German language. According to the ownership mark Liber sancti Galli on fol. Br, the codex was in the Abbey of St. Gall in the fifteenth century at the latest.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
This manuscript, which originated probably in 1484 in the Convent of the Dominican Sisters of St. Katharina in St. Gall, constitutes the first (remaining) half-volume of a collection which, as indicated in the table of contents, originally comprised 151 sermons, organized according to the church year, and in all likelihood meant to be read daily at mealtime. Among others, it contains sermons by Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Nikolaus von Straßburg, Rudolf Goltschlacher, Meister Wilhelm, Felix Fabri (?), Jordan von Quedlinburg and several from the corpus of the „St. Georgener“ and „Engelberger Predigten“. Remarkably, regarding the inventory of “Engelberger Predigten”, Cod. Sang. 1066 is exactly complementary to Cod. Sang. 1919 and Wil M 42, which also originated in the Convent of the Dominican sisters of St. Katharina in St. Gall. Cod. Sang. 1919 and Wil M 42 are directly or indirectly based on the same model *C to which also cod. Sang. 1004 and Wil M 47, created 50 years ealier in the St. Gall Benedictine Monastery, owe their selection of Engelberger Predigten; in contrast, Cod. Sang. 1066 is based on a manuscript from text group *Y3, close also to Cod. 752(746) from the library of the Benedictine Monastery of Einsiedeln.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This folio-volume contains an extensive sermon cycle, introduced by a sermon presumably by Rulmann Merswin (ff. 1ra–5vb: Leben Jesu / Von der geistlichen Spur), which here is ascribed to Tauler (as in Cod. Sang. 1015). The sermons that follow (ff. 5vb–235ra) are actually by Tauler. On ff. 85va–93va, under the rubric Von der drivaltikait, is the pseudo-Eckhartian composite treatise Von dem anefluzze des vaters; on ff. 235ra–241va are four letters of Henry Suso (Letters 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Little Book of Letters), followed by another sermon. The manuscript, arranged in two columns, is carefully written, corrected in many places, and rubricated throughout. Each sermon is introduced by an ornate initial, usually five lines high, with very simple red and blue pen flourishes; a few initials are someone larger and more elaborately presented (e.g., f. 190vb). Well preserved late-fifteenth-century leather binding with decorative lines, five bosses on each side (only one on the back is missing) and two clasps. Two owner's marks on the front pastedown attest to the ownership of the book by the sisters of St. Leonhard cloister, and later by those of St. Georgen in St. Gall.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
St. Gall Abbot Ulrich Rösch's (1462-1491) book of heraldry, containing 1,626 coats of arms of prominent people from the laity and the clergy, mostly from the southern region of Germany. This heraldic book was probably prepared in the Heidelberg workshop of Hans Ingeram for an unknown customer from the area between the Neckar River and the Upper Rhine. In the 1480s St. Gall Abbot Ulrich Rösch purchased the volume and had numerous coats of arms from Swiss and German border areas added in the back pages; these were drawn by Winterthur artist Hans Haggenberg. One of the most important heraldic record books of the 15th century.
Online Since: 12/23/2008
Book of heraldry by the universal scholar Aegidius Tschudi (1505-1572) of Glarus, produced at some point between 1530 and 1572. It contains more than 2,000 coats of arms of the aristocratic families of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Many of the coats of arms include genealogical explanations in Tschudi's hand.
Online Since: 12/23/2008
This codex, written by multiple hands, contains a nearly complete copy of Conrad of Megenberg's natural history (Das Buch der Natur); only a few chapters are missing, some of which are due to a loss of pages. Quires 17 (pp. 371–394) and 18 (pp. 395–418) are bound in the wrong order. A contemporary table of contents introduces each of the parts of the third book (on animals) and of the fourth book (on trees). The numbers of the leaves given there correspond to the individual parts' foliation, which frequently starts over. On the back paper pastedown there is an ownership mark written in the hand that numbered the leaves: sint der bletter CClxxvj bletter vnd ist dz ůrrich [Ulrich] von fulach. This note indicates that a total of 12 leaves have been lost. As the dedication to Abbot Joseph von Rudolphi (Abbot 1717–1740) on the front pastedown shows, this volume was in the Abbey Library of St. Gall by the eighteenth century at the latest.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
This is a liturgical manuscript from the Cistercian nuns' cloister Günterstal near Freiburg im Breisgau, written partly in Latin and partly in German. The manuscript was bought in the year 1782 by the St. St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743-1820), parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg, which was owned by St. Gall. Among other texts, the manuscript contains readings from a martyrology and from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the months of September and October; pericopes from the Epistles and from the Gospels for Sundays and saints' days in September; legends of the saints according to the Alsatian Legenda Aurea for the month of September; German language texts from the Old Testament books of Tobit, Judith, and Esther as well as version B2 of the Dekalogerklärung by Marquard of Lindau. Together with Cod. Sang. 1141 and Cod. Sang. 1142, as well as probably six more now lost volumes, this manuscript was part of a large Günterstal lectionary, containing sermons as well as martyrological and liturgical texts. Here and there throughout the volume, a prior loss of pages can be noted (e.g. between p. 350 and p. 351); between the various parts, there frequently are blank pages.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
Liturgical manuscript from the Cistercian Nuns' Cloister Günterstal near Freiburg im Breisgau, written by various hands, partly in Latin and partly in German. The manuscript is damaged at the end. It was purchased in the year 1782 by the St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743-1820), parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg, which was owned by St. Gall. The manuscript contains, among other texts, readings on the martyrology and on the Rule of Saint Benedict for the month of August in both languages (p. 1-94), Latin Lectiones for August, Latin pericopes from the Gospels from the 10th Sunday after Pentecost with sermons as well as German-language legends of the saints according to the Alsatian Legenda Aurea for the month of August (p. 395-502). Together with Cod. Sang. 1140 and Cod. Sang. 1142, as well as probably six more now lost volumes, this manuscript was part of a large Günterstal lectionary, containing sermons as well as martyrological and liturgical texts. Several pages were already cut out before the pagination at the end of the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Liturgical manuscript from the Cistercian Nuns' Cloister Günterstal near Freiburg im Breisgau, written by various hands, partly in Latin and partly in German. The manuscript was purchased in the year 1782 by the St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743-1820), parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg, which was owned by St. Gall; it contains, among other texts, a calendar (p. 1-12), sermons (p. 57-213), pericopes from the Epistles and from the Gospels (p. 222-271), further liturgical texts and prayers for the celebration of the Commune sanctorum , an incomplete copy (p. 490-624) of the popular treatise Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit (The little Book of Eternal Wisdom) by the Constance mystic Henry Suso († 1366), the Latin Gospel of Nicodemus (p. 659-695), a German prose version of the Gospel of Nicodemus (p. 695-761), as well as the Lamentationes Jeremie in Latin (p. 762-770). Together with Cod. Sang. 1140 and Cod. Sang. 1141, as well as probably six more now lost volumes, this manuscript was part of a large Günterstal lectionary, containing sermons as well as martyrological and liturgical texts. Several pages (for example between p. 489 and p. 490) were already torn out or cut out before the pagination at the end of the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This 15th century paper manuscript was written in the Alemannic region; around 1500 it belonged to a women named Anna Wiechbalmer. This as yet little studied composite manuscript contains, among others, legends written in prose on the life of Saint Clare of Assisi in German (pp. 1−18) and excerpts from the German Lucidarius, a popular book that offers theological and scientific knowledge in a question and answer format (pp. 19−48). The manuscript contains numerous medical recipes, especially about the healing power of different plants (pp. 49−74; pp. 138−145), blessings against worms (p. 74), against ulcers (pp. 101−102), and for livestock (pp. 127−128), as well as a poem about the plague (pp. 132−134) written by Hans Andree, a (lay) physician working in Konstanz, including rules of conduct in case of an occurrence of the plague. Sentences by mystics and other spiritual texts (pp. 77−101, pp. 103−104), excerpts from the work Die 24 Alten des Otto von Passau (pp. 105−119), and German language hymns, songs and prayers (pp. 129−131; pp. 135−138), among them a German version of the first stanza of Media vita in morte sumus) on p. 131 complete the manuscript. At the beginning (p. B), there is a rudimentary table of contents by the librarian P. Franz Weidmann (1774−1843).
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This volume contains the translations into German of the lives of St. Gall saints, as well as occasional poems by the preacher, poet and musician Anton Widenmann (1597-1641) of St. Gall Cathedral. Pages 29-129 contain the translation of the life of Gallus by Walafrid, pp. 283-317, 321-403, 407-448 and 459-481 contain the translations of the lives of Otmar, Notker and Wiborada, and pp. 487-562 contain those of St. Gall monks such as Iso, Ratpert and many more. Pages 273-282 contain Widenmann's translations of hymns to Gallus and Otmar (in part with musical notation); there are more liturgical chants on pp. 448-458. The codex concludes with occasional poems for holidays on pp. 563-613. In addition, on pp. 1-28 and 131-271, it contains five dialogues between a Catholic cleric and a Protestant from Toggenburg about religious questions, probably recorded by Abbot Pius Reher.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This manuscript was written in 1583 during the abbacy of Prince-Abbot Joachim Opser (1577-1594) by the Cantor Johannes Strang who died young († 1588; profession 1580), based on notes by Father Heinrich Keller. Mostly in Latin but often also in German, the manuscript describes the worship practices of the Monastery of St. Gall in the course of the year from January 1 to December 31. This Directorium cultus divini is one of the most important sources of information about the monastic liturgy in the monastery after the Reformation. It refers to prayers and chants that were said and sung on certain days or to the order of liturgical processions (even separately for days of fair versus bad weather). The volume contains directions for the decoration of the church and numerous notes that are interesting for their cultural history, such as those relating to the St. Gall custom of naming a boy abbot (abbas scholasticus). In addition to a list of anniversaries, p. 1 also contains historical notes about various events internal to the monastery. This volume was continued until 1606.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript, with an imposing binding, bears the title “Schlacht-, Nammen-, Schilt- und Waappen-Buoch von denen noch bewusten Graffen, Freyen, Edlen, Ritter und Knechten, welche mit Hertzog Leopoldo II. von Oesterreich auff St. Cirilli den 9.ten Tag Iulij 1386 vor Sempach umbgekommen und erschlagen worden” (Book of the battle, name, escutcheon and coat of arms for the known counts, freemen, nobles, knights and soldiers who perished or were slain along with Leopold II, Duke of Austria on St. Cyril, the 9th day of July 1386 at Sempach). Joseph von Rudolphi (1717−1740), abbot of St. Gall, commissioned this copy in 1738, because, after studying the Chronicon Helveticum, the great historical work by the scholar Aegidius Tschudi (1505−1572) of Glarus, and a copy thereof that he had arranged to have made for his monastery shortly before from the exemplar at Schloss Gräpplang near Flums (Cod. Sang. 1213−1220), he had found certain discrepancies with an older copy of the “Wappenbuch von Sempach”. A colorful painting of the battle has survived as a sort of frontispiece on a parchment bifolio (pp. 6−7); it is similar to the painting in the Schlachtkapelle (“battle chapel”) of Sempach and, according to Franz Weidmann's manuscript catalog (Cod. Sang. 1405, p. 2002), it was “von einem gar alten Kupferstich getreülich abgemalet worden” (faithfully copied from a quite old copperplate print). Apparently Joseph Leodegar Bartholomäus Tschudi (1708−1772), a descendant of Aegidius Tschudi, is responsible for the book decoration (p. V1). After extensive introductory comments, the volume's rich ornamentation with the coats of arms begins with a portrait of Duke Leopold III (p. 34).
Online Since: 06/22/2017
In 1669, Georg Franz Müller (1646−1723) from Alsace traveled for eleven months from Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta) and then spent 13 years on various Indonesian islands as a soldier in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Cod. Sang. 1278, which supplements his illustrated travel diary (Cod. Sang. 1311), gives a chronological account of his travels; in addition, there are detailed descriptions of people, plants and animals he encountered in the Far East and on his voyage there (pp. 1-457). This copy, completed by two scribes at the Monastery of Mariaberg near Rorschach between 1701 and 1705, contains in an appendix (pp. 460-489) two smaller-format collections of documents with the listing “souvenir pieces”, which Georg Franz Müller brought back to Europe from his stay in East India. In various places, Müller corrected and/or completed this copy.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
In an elegant binding decorated with gold, Abbey Librarian Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756-1823) compiled for his Abbot Beda Angehrn (1767-1796) a list of new acquisitions and accessions between 1780 and 1792: Verzeichniss der Handschriften, Bücher, Kunst und Naturprodukte, welche seit dem 23. Oktober 1780 bis Ende Mayes 1792 der Stift St. Gallischen Bibliotheke sind einverleibt worden. This volume thus is a unique document of the acquisition policy and practice of the Monastery of St. Gall. In barely twelve years, a total of 335 incunabula and postincunabula, around 4,000 later printed works, as well as 146 manuscripts were integrated into the library. Most of these manuscripts came to the current abbey library (in exchange for printed literature of ascetic-spiritual character) from St. Gall women's cloisters such as the Benedictine nuns of St. George, the Capuchin nuns of Altstätten or the Dominican nuns of Wil. Accessions to the coin collection, the natural history collection, and the cabinet of curiosities, new acquisitions of paintings and prints, as well as alia quaedam bibliothecae illata (diverse other acquisitions of various types such as chairs made of Spanish cane or a new library seal) are mentioned. Also listed are general expenditures for bookbinding as well as monetary contributions owed to the library by those officials and clergy onto whom the abbot had newly conferred a secular office or a parish.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript was written by the St. Gall monk Jakob an der Rüti (1562-1615), probably for private use. The first part (f. 1r-125r) contains responsories for the principal feast days of the liturgical year with melodies in German plainsong notation ("Hufnagelnotation") and often with directions for processions. These are followed by directions regarding the location of certain Vespers (f. 126r-128r), more directions on the order of processions f. 128v-136v), melodies for the doxology (f. 139r-140v), directions for the Vespers of the boy abbot (abbas scholasticus) on the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist and on the eve of the Feast of the Circumcision (f. 140v-147v), as well as prayers for processions (f. 150r-155v). Jakob an der Rüti decorated the manuscript with several somewhat clumsy pen sketches and borders (full-page decoration f. 1r, 58v-59r and 77v-78r, also representations of figures in initials). On f. 126r he gives his name in initials (F.I.A.R.), on f. 125r his name is written out (erased, legible under UV-light: Per me fratrem Jacobum An der Rüti …um Anno 1582).
Online Since: 06/23/2014
Travel diary ("Reisebuch") of Alsatian world traveler Georg Franz Müller (1646-1723). Müller was employed by the Dutch East India Company between 1669 and 1682 as a soldier in the Indonesian archipelago. In the "Reisebuch" he illustrated people, animals and plants that he encountered during his voyage (via South Africa) to Indonesia and his travels in Indonesia. He also composed simple, sometimes clumsy verses, about all these people, animals and plants, and wrote them out in his idiosyncratic, difficult to read script.
Online Since: 12/23/2008
The manuscript was bought in the year 1779 by the St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743-1820), parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg, which was owned by St. Gall. It contains liturgical instructions for the church year, divided into two parts (de tempore and de sanctis). Written in German, its stated aim is to avoid ‘vnwißenheit' (ignorance) in liturgical matters. Information on collects has been left out both for reasons of space and because only priests needed this information. This may indicate that the manuscript was intended for nuns (the masculine form is, however, retained throughout). It remains to be seen to what the source text mentioned in the prologue – ‘Index' – refers.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
The manuscript contains a number of normative texts from the Cistercian nuns' convent of Günterstal, written partly in German and partly in Latin. It begins with a treatise on simony, in Latin and German, which was written by ‘brůder Johannes' and dedicated to ‘der erwurdigen frowen von Mulhein', presumably Veronica von Mülheim, who was abbess of the convent from December 1504 until her death in May 1508. Johannes may have been a monk from Tennenbach, the Cistercian monastery which had responsibility for the cura animarum of the nuns. The rest of the manuscript contains a number of translations of normative texts from the Cistercian order, including the Liber definitionum and the Ecclesiastica Officia. Their use for nuns is highlighted by the German translations and the inclusion of only relevant chapters. Many of these were also transmitted in the Cistercian nuns' convent of Lichtenthal, near Baden-Baden. Although the convent was never formally reformed, the manuscript points to reforming impulses in the early part of the sixteenth century. The manuscript was bought in 1782 by the St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743-1820), parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg, which was owned by St. Gall.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This manuscript was written by the Freiburg University Theology Professor Jodocus Lorichius (1540-1612) for the Cistercian nuns of Günterstal. It was dedicated to the convent's abbess, Maria Störin von Störenberg. Following a prologue by Lorichius on the usefulness of liturgical ceremonies, the author provides the nuns with German translations of two of the founding texts of the Cistercian order from the twelfth century: the Exordium Cistercii, a narrative of the early history of the order, and the Ecclesiastica Officia, a set of regulations for liturgical and monastic life. It concludes with a short justification of why Cistercians pray the Seven Penitential Psalms on a Friday. A set of statutes (the Usus Conversorum) for lay brothers, translated into German, is appended. Lorichius dedicated four printed books to the nuns of Günterstal between 1581 and 1598, all in German, and this manuscript must be seen as part of this wider relationship.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This small-format manuscript begins with a description of the festivities for the translation of the relics of St. Otmar and Notker Balbulus into the rebuilt Church of St. Otmar in the year 1628 (pp. 4–46). There then follow poems written for this feast (p. 47–630). These are overwhelmingly the work of the young monks Athanasius Gugger, Basilius Renner and Chrysostomus Stipplin, all of whom professed in 1626, as well as the monastery schoolboy Placidus Bridler (professed in 1630). Most of the poems are written in Latin, a few are also in German or Greek. In general, several poems together form an emblem, which then ends with a Latin and a German explanation of the image. Several emblems are summarized as a so-called affixio on a theme; frequently, following an affixion appears an appendix with logogriphs (letter-riddles) or other riddles. The images for the 1628 affixiones have not survived, although it is clear from the description of the translation-festivities that 976 large-format leaves with images, verses, and explanations hung in the cloister of the abbey (pp. 31–32). On pp. 631–727 there are further emblems and speeches of the same authors on various occasions in 1631.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
Collected Fragments Volume I from the Abbey Library of St. Gall ("Veterum Fragmentorum manuscriptis codicibus detractorum collectio tomus primus"). The volume contains, among many varied single pages and fragmentary texts, fragments from the Aeneid and the Georgics by Vergil from the late 4th century which are significant to textual history (11 pages and 8 small strips), 17 smaller and larger bits of text from a pre-Vulgate Vetus-Latina version of the Gospels from the early 5th century, fragments of a copy of the comedies of Terence from the 10th century, documents from the 9th through 15th centuries, small fragments in Hebrewscript, and the "St. Galler Glauben und Beichte II" (formulas for shrift or confession, together with professions of faith from the 11th century). Pater Ildefons von Arx (1755-1833) assembled this composite volume in the year 1822 and dedicated it to his former supervisor, Abbey Librarian Pater Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756-1823).
Online Since: 07/31/2009
Collected Fragments Volume II from the Abbey Library of St. Gall ("Veterum Fragmentorum manuscriptis codicibus detractorum collectio tomus II"). Among other texts, this volume contains 110 smaller and larger single leaves from the oldest Vulgate version of the Gospels, produced in northern Italy (Verona?) in about 410/420, fragments of Psalm manuscripts in Latin and in Greek from the 7th and the 10th centuries respectively, and a large number of Irish fragments from the Abbey Library dating from the 7th through the 9th century, including a picture portraying Matthew the Evangelist with his emblems (p. 418), a full-page decorated cross (p. 422) and a "Peccavimus" decorative initial (p. 426).
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This volume, initiated and probably for the most part written by Abbey Librarian Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756−1823), contains diary entires and a large number of copies of letters and documents about the events at St. Gall Abbey and in the territory of the princely abbey between March 10 and August 31, 1798. The contents mirror the chaos reigning at the time: the invasion of St. Gall by French troops, the precipitous events at the monastery and in the territory of the princely abbey, the evacuation of the abbey library and the monastery archives to neighboring countries, the expulsion and the fate of the St. Gall monks, their contacts with the Helvetic authorities, the hectic diplomatic efforts to avert an inescapable fate, the desperation of some of the monks (p. 228: Domine, salva nos, perimus!). The letters convey both the internal correspondence among the conventuals of the monastery and the external contacts of a monastic community in the process of dissolution; they are written mostly in German, occasionally in Latin.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
The St. Gall Conventual P. Joseph Bloch (1754−1799) compiled this history of the lay brothers of the Monastery of St. Gall from numerous sources in 1793. The text is written partly in Latin and partly in German. In the first part (fol. 6r−21r), Bloch introduces the institution of the lay brothers. He describes the residences of the lay brothers or conversi over the centuries, he discusses their tasks and duties and their conduct with respect to worldly goods, and he describes their seal. In the second part he recounts, in chronological order, important episodes and stories about the lay brothers from the 15th century to the year 1793 (fol. 22r−79v). A third part lists the names of all the lay brothers who were part of the community from the abbacy of Eglolf Blarer (1426−1442) until 1793 (fol. 89r−101r). Between parts 2 and 3 the author inserted, like a transcript and written by another hand, serious exhortations by Prince-Abbot Beda Angehrn (1767−1796) to the lay brothers from the year 1775 (fol. 80r−83v). Because of several problems, the St. Gall abbot had called all the lay brothers to him. The manuscript's frontispiece (fol. 4v) shows a lay brother in 16th century garb.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This Festschrift for Fr. Aegidius Hartmann (1691–1776), dean of St. Gall, is titled Corona gloriae et sertum exultationis. The monastery community dedicated it to the dean on the occasion of the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood on 16 October 1766. Three poems, odes and eulogies each praise Fr. Aegidius Hartmann as minister of the sacraments, as pastor and as priest celebrating this jubilee. Each poem is preceded by an emblem of a flower in a garden; the three sections each begin with a wreath of three flowers. The Festschrift was drawn and probably also written by Fr. Dominikus Feustlin (who also wrote the four-volume antiphonary Cod. Sang. 1762, 1763, 1764 and 1795). At the end of the manuscript, two small-format booklets contain texts honoring Abbot Beda Angehrn. He received the first of these, titled Duplicis piique voti unanimis consensio, in 1778 from students in Kreuzlingen. The second, titled Alte und neue Dichtkunst. Ein Tafelgesang, was also presented in 1778 by the Imperial Abbey Petershausen in Constance. Both texts were probably meant for a musical performance since they contain arias and a choral piece each, but they lack any musical notation.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This volume contains mostly the collected notes of St. Gall Abbey librarian P. Franz Weidmann (1774-1843) on the manuscript holdings of the Abbey Library and on the history of St. Gall Abbey and its catchment area; also several alphabetical indexes on the manuscript holdings (subject index, St. Gallen authors, scribes, and owners), copies by Weidmann of texts from St. Gall manuscripts, and excerpts from secondary literature.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This volume is written primarily in Latin; in the first part (pp. 1-480) it contains information about the consecration of churches, chapels, altars and bells at St. Gall Abbey and in the territory of the “Alte Landschaft” (a subject territory of St. Gall Abbey) (pp. 1-187), in the Thurgau (pp. 188-263), in the Rhine Valley (pp. 264-309), and in the Toggenburg (pp. 310-457); furthermore about the churches in the urban area of St. Gall, St. Lawrence, St. Mangen and St. Leonard (pp. 475-480). This part was written around 1706 by the St. Gall monk and custos Fr. Gregor Schnyder (1642–1708) and contains numerous additions from the period up to 1788. On an unnumbered leaf before p. 57, there is a pen and wash drawing of the monastery's tower clock that was completed in 1661. The second part (p. 487-556) is written by the St. Gall monk Chrysostomus Stipplin (1609–1672). It contains a calendar of the feast days of saints for St. Gall Abbey, indicating for each one where the respective celebration is held (pp. 487-501), a list of chapels and altars with the dates of their consecration (pp. 501-502), two lists of altar patronages (pp. 503-506 and 507-509) arranged according to the calendar, an overview of all the altars together with the relics they contained (pp. 509-515), as well as a list of all relics in the monastery and its chapels (pp. 519-556). The first part concludes with a site index (from the time period of the last additions).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
In this volume, written primarily in German, the St. Gall custos Fr. Kolumban Brändle (1720−1780) as author and compiler and Brother Gall Beerle (1734−1816) as scribe tell of the festivities that occurred on the occasion of the transfer of catacomb saints to the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall in the 18th century. The general introduction (fol. Vr – fol. VIIIr) is followed by sometimes extensive documentation about the transfers of Benedict to the Capuchin Convent of St. Scholastica in Rorschach in 1732 (fol. IXv−2v), of Justin to Gossau in 1743 (fol. 63v−68v), of Julian to the Capuchin Convent Notkersegg in 1748 (fol. 69v−77v), of Valentine to Goldach in 1761 (fol. 78v−129v), of Celestine to Waldkirch in 1763 (fol. 130v−167r), of Clementia to the Benedictine Convent of St. Wiborada in St. Georgen in 1769 (fol. 168v−226v), of Theodorus to Neu St. Johann in 1685 (fol. 228v−237r), of Placidus, Felicissimus, Victor, Prosper and Redempta to Neu St. Johann in 1689 (fol. 238v−246r), about the centenary of the transfer of Theodorus to Neu St. Johann in 1755 (fol. 247r−265r) and the centenary of the transfer of Marinus to Lichtensteig in 1757 (fol. 266v−291r), as well as about the transfer of Theodorus to Berneck in 1766 (fol. 292v−352v). These descriptions are accompanied by watercolor paintings of the catacomb saints dressed in festive garb. In addition the volume contains records, documents and reports about the authorization obtained from Rome to venerate Eusebius of Viktorsberg as a saint in the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall (fol. 3v−54v) as well as about the order of the Pancratius-procession in Wil in 1738 (fol. 55r−62v). The volume also contains a little-know ink sketch of Iberg Castle near Wattwil (fol. 238v).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Verbatim copy of Books I-III of the Alchemy Compendium Aureum Vellus oder Guldin Schatz und Kunstkammer printed in 1598/99 by Georg Straub in Rorschach. The woodcuts in the third part (Splendor Solis, pp. 219–270) are executed as colored watercolors and, except for a small number of differences, are copied exactly from the print version. A pen and wash drawing on p. 116 depicts Paracelsus.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This small-format volume contains two written works by the hand of Mathias Jansen, as attested by a 1774 colophon on p. 201. On pp. 7-39, Jansen gives a kind of inventory of the paintings of St. Gallen Cathedral, describing each vault and field. Page 20 contains a report on the improvement of a painting representing St. Otmar and other saints.The second work, on pp. 40-201, collects historical reports about the life, the afterlife and the cult of St. Otmar, which take the form of log entries recording decisions as well as preparations for and the process of actions related to the cult of the saint, such as the elevation of the remains of St. Otmar in 1773/1774. On p. 99, there is a drawing of a decorated altar. Pages 202-207 contain later additions from 1823 or shortly thereafter. On p. 39 and p. 202 there are sporadic entries (after 1823) about the bas-reliefs by the sculptor Johann Christian Wentzinger, on p. 39 also about the new paintings by the artist Antonio Moretto in the choir. Pages 1-6 and 208-236 are blank. According to a note on the inside of the front cover, this book, originally from the Notkersegg Convent of Capuchin nuns, became the property of St. Gall Bishop Greith probably around 1852. Since 1930 it has been held in the Abbey Library as a deposit of the episcopal library.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Beginning with a Dominican calendar from Strasbourg, this volume contains, among others, several texts by the Italian theologian and philosopher Bonaventura (1221-1274), the Regula monachorum ad Eustochium by the church father Jerome, excerpts from the ascetic-mystical treatise Stimulus amoris, the instructions for a monastic life by the Franciscan Heinrich Vigilis of Weissenburg, and David of Augsburg's work De compositione exterioris et interioris hominis, all in German. The volume, declared the Franciscan "Encheiridion asceticum" by Kurt Ruh, probably came to the Dominican cloister Wil in 1590 along with other Strasbourg manuscripts (Codd. Sang. 1904, 1915 and perhaps 1866).
Online Since: 10/07/2013
Composite manuscript with sermons and spiritual instructions, written around 1487 in the Dominican cloister St. Katharinen in St. Gall by the prioress Angela Varnbüeler. Among others, the volume contains a detailed sermon about Saint Clare of Assisi, into which is incorporated her vita; an open letter from a father to his spiritual children, attributed to a Franciscan monk; a sermon about suffering, death and the sacraments (an interpretation of John 16,21); and a meditation Von der Maß des gaistlichen Crutz, falsely attributed to Anselm of Canterbury.
Online Since: 10/07/2013
A copy of the so-called Engelberger Predigten. Homilies in German for a variety of occasions during the church year, written in about 1400 in a Dominican cloister, possibly at St. Katharinental near Diessenhofen, where the manuscript was held for several centuries.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Psalter/Breviary for a Dominican women's convent. On pp. 1-12 it contains a calendar of saints with many female saints and several rare saints. The presence of saints from St. Gall and Constance suggests that the volume was created in the Diocese of Constance. On pp. 390-393 there are instructions for prayer in German. Noteworthy are thirteen miniatures and initials in gold leaf. This volume is from the convent of Dominican nuns of St. Katharina auf dem Nollenberg near Wuppenau (Thurgau); according to a note of ownership, it was the property of the convent at least since the 16th century. Since 1930 it has been a deposit of the episcopal library of St. Gall at the Abbey Library.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
An important copy, in terms of textual history, of the Reformatio Prediger Ordens by the Dominican Johannes Meyer (1422-1482) of Basel. This copy originated in the Dominican cloister of St. Katharina in St. Gall, written in 1483 by Sister Elisabeth Muntprat (1459-1531). This work, which was copied from a model belonging to the cloister of St. Katherine in Nurnberg, is a valuable source for the history of the Dominican order in the German speaking world.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Compilation of mystical treatises, referred to as the Greith'scher Traktat for the first editor Carl Greith (1807 -1882, Bishop of St. Gall from 1862). The primary sources for the German text are Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler and Henry Suso. The manuscript, which is defective at the end, is from the Convent of Dominican nuns of St. Katharina in St. Gall (later Wil), where it was probably written as well. Even the text itself may have been compiled by a scribe from the convent, based on a collection of texts. Since 1930 it has been a depositof the episcopal library of St. Gall at the Abbey Library.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
German Psalter, complete except for one missing leaf at the end: Psalms (pp. 1-164), canticles (pp. 164-178). With few figured initials (dog p. 1, fish p. 141, p. 153 and p. 157). The volume is from the St. Katharinen Convent of Dominican nuns in St. Gall; whether it was written there cannot be determined for certain. Since 1930 it has been in the Abbey Library as a deposit of the episcopal library of St. Gall.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
Paper manuscript setting forth moral and social wrongdoings by means of illustrations of stories from biblical, classical and medieval history as well as of contemporary works about manners and social customs. In the lower third of each page is a proverb in rhyme calling to mind the Christian virtue that forms a counterpoint to the moral wrong depicted.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Chronicle of Appenzell by Bartholomäus Anhorn (1566-1640, 1623-1626 priest in Speicher, 1626-1640 parish priest in Gais both in Appenzell Ausserrhoden). The manuscript describes events from the history of the undivided canton of Appenzell and the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Outer Rhodes), created in 1597, with special emphasis on the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
Collection of drawings of flags captured as booty, as well as Appenzell stained glas heraldic panels, landscapes and buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, created by the illustrator Johann Ulrich Fitzi, with commentary by the historiographer and commissioner of the work, Johann Caspar Zellweger.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Three volumes of scientific treatises by Johann Georg Schläpfer on historical, biological, geological, medical and philosophical topics as well as several drawings and watercolors of landscapes, plants, animals and anatomical specimens, made by Johann Ulrich Fitzi.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Three volumes of scientific treatises by Johann Georg Schläpfer on historical, biological, geological, medical and philosophical topics as well as several drawings and watercolors of landscapes, plants, animals and anatomical specimens, made by Johann Ulrich Fitzi.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Three volumes of scientific treatises by Johann Georg Schläpfer on historical, biological, geological, medical and philosophical topics as well as several drawings and watercolors of landscapes, plants, animals and anatomical specimens, made by Johann Ulrich Fitzi.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
A collection of German prayers, most likely copied for a lay patron ca. 1500-1520.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
Register of the assets of the inhabitants of the communities Bergün, Filisur, Latsch and Stuls, compiled by the public notary and chancellor at the time, later Landammann (magistrate) and pastor Tumesch Zeuth; it was updated about every ten years, first in German and, towards the end, also in Romansh. Its significance is not well documented; perhaps originally it served as a basis for financing the communities' buying their freedom from the Bishop of Chur in 1537, later perhaps it served as a key for distributing the communities' income from, among other things, the Valtellina districts, from pensions, from tariffs on goods and tolls on roads, etc. Currently this is the oldest known manuscript from Bergün; it is the property of Werner Dübendorfer of Eglisau. The book containing its continuation, probably up to 1799, has been lost.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
Collection of recipes for preparing medicines. The form in which the recipes are presented ranges from a list of ingredients to more or less detailed texts including information about the preparation as well as the use of the medication. In the index, the recipes are divided into 10 chapters according to dosage form (pp. 456-479). At the end of each chapter there are several pages that have been left blank for additional recipes. The manuscript, which was created in 1739, is from the pharmacy of the former Capuchin Convent of Wattwil. It contains numerous 18th century additions in various hands. Since the dissolution of the Capuchin Convent St. Mary of the Angels of Wattwil in 2010, the manuscript, as part of the convent pharmacy, belongs to the Foundation Kloster Maria der Engel Wattwil.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Collection of recipes for preparing medicines. The form in which the recipes are presented ranges from a list of ingredients to more or less detailed texts including information about the preparation as well as the use of the medication. There is no index. The manuscript, which was written in 1755, is from the chapter of the noble secular canonesses of Schänis (fol. Br). Several recipes are later additions. The numerous blank pages indicate that it had been planned from the beginning to leave room for additional recipes. It is not known when the manuscript became part of the pharmacy of the former Capuchin Convent of Wattwil. Since the dissolution of the Capuchin Convent St. Mary of the Angels of Wattwil in 2010, the manuscript, as part of the convent pharmacy, belongs to the Foundation Kloster Maria der Engel Wattwil.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Collection of recipes for preparing medicines. The form in which the recipes are presented ranges from a simple list of ingredients to more detailed texts including information about the preparation as well as the use of the medication. There is an index (pp. 262-264). The manuscript is from the pharmacy of the former Capuchin Convent of Wattwil; in 1881 it was “improved and written” (“verbessert und geschrieben”) based on an older original (p. E). The book contains a few additions up to the 20th century. Since the dissolution of the Capuchin Convent St. Mary of the Angels of Wattwil in 2010, the manuscript, as part of the convent pharmacy, belongs to the Foundation Kloster Maria der Engel Wattwil.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This herbal contains descriptions of medicinal herbs in alphabetical order along with the medicinal effects attributed to them. An index (p. 94) is appended to the recipes, but it ends already at number 5 “anise”. This manuscript is from the pharmacy of the former Capuchin Convent of Wattwil and was written in the first half of the 20th century. Since the dissolution of the Capuchin Convent St. Mary of the Angels of Wattwil in 2010, the manuscript, as part of the convent pharmacy, belongs to the Foundation Kloster Maria der Engel Wattwil.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This manuscript contains the Psalms, ordered according to the arrangement of the liturgy of the hours, in Latin and each followed by the German translation. It was copied by two woman scribes, nuns in the Dominican Convent of St. Katharina in St. Gall. One hand is probably that of Angela Varnbühler. The binding consists of simple wooden tablets, covered in leather without any ornamentation, which is typical for the first phase of the St. Katharina scriptorium; it constitutes an additional element to attest to the origin of the manuscript.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
This small volume consists of two parts, containing prayers and meditations on various topics, to be read in 30 days. One part (ff. 1r-45r) – today at the beginning of the manuscript, but originally probably at the end – was written by Maria Ferrin, as can be read on f. 45r. The current second part was copied by two hands from the second half of the 15th century – beginning of the 16th century. A parchment fragment from a lectionary was used for the limp vellum binding.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
After the city council of St. Gall ended the enclosure of the convent of Dominican sisters at St. Katharina on May 2, 1528 and the convent gradually broke up, only Regula Keller and two sisters remained in its buildings, where they continued to work throughout 1543, copying the Augustinian Rule and Constitutions. The reading of the Rule and the Constitutions was more strongly emphasized in the reformed cloisters, in keeping with the character of their religious observance.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This work presents a guide to the Christian life in 24 speeches, each following a particular theme, put together using brief selections from more than 100 authors. In the late Middle Ages this was a favorite text for reading aloud at meals, especially the long and detailed life of Mary attributed to the “12th elder“, which combines the story of Christ's Passion with an account of the fate of Mary.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
Formerly referred to in the reseach literature as the "Chronic" or "Chronicle", this was in truth the convent record book of the Cloister of St. Katharina in St. Gall (61r:...und sol dis also in des convents buoch gesetz werden...). The content consists of chronologically ordered entries concerning the business transactions of the convent. The manuscript was produced in the course of the reform period, as the convent was converted from private to communal ownership. Thus this convent book served as a record of the transfer of administrative authority of St. Katharina to the convent community itself and made it possible for the sisters to maintain oversight of the goods they had brought with them when they joined the convent. Records concerning building projects, decoration, scriptorium, legal conflicts and donations, entries concerning individual sisters, pastoral staff and employees as well as sporadic entries about the history of the convent were also set down in this manuscript.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This breviary from the second half of the 15th century, written by the Dominican nuns Cordula von Schönau and Verena Gnepser of the cloister of St. Katharina in St. Gall, contains a calendar as well as the summer portion of the Proprium de tempore (Easter Sunday through the 25th Sunday after the octave of Pentecost), the In dedicatione ecclesiae, the Collectae de sanctis et de communi sanctorum (Tiburtius and Valerian through Dominicus), the Officium commune sanctorum as well as two psalters and a hymnal. In the calendar, which opens the paper manuscript, are some entries in the hand of Verena Gnepser containing the names of relatives. This indicates personal use of this breviary by Verena Gnepser.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This manuscript contains various liturgical and ascetic texts. The volume was written by various more or less practiced hands; one wrote a date .I.5.I.3. with his initials J. ae. (f. 47v), another only his initials J. h. L. (f. 101v). A parchment fragment of a document from the bishop of Konstanz from the year 1441 was used as binding.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The first half of this manuscript contains two sermons on charity translated from Latin. They were copied in 1589 by a scribe who signed as F. C. A. (f. 7v). The rest of the manuscript is the work of two different scribes who were active in the second half of the 15th century; this part contains a sermon for members of religious orders (ff. 8r-30r) and a treatise about sin and repentance (ff. 31r-49r). A calendar page (November/December, 14th century) containing several obituary notes was used for the binding.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The title of this manuscript is misleading: it does not mean, as it would in formal research, a collection of short biographies of the sisters of a particular cloister written by close associates in the following generation of sisters. On closer examination, the contents of the St. Gall Book of Sisters has two parts, probably composed at the beginning of the 1480s: Part 1, fols. jr-xxiiijv (pp. 5-14r of the new pagination): digests of the history of the cloister during the years 1229-1488, with references to supporting documents. Part 2, fols. xxvir-xxxvjr: letters exchanged between the Dominican nuns of St. Gall and those of the convent of St. Katherine in Nurnberg; fols. xlviijr-CClvjr are not in letter form (without salutations and formulas of greeting, etc.), but rather are records of Nurnberg usances (financial transactions) edited in report form, grouped by themes; fols. CCLIXr-CCLXIVv: a register.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
Described in fols. Ir-lxxxjv: a catalog of properties, farms and land holdings together with information on their productivity and income generated; after fol. 84 an inserted fascicle contain an index, in a hand from about 1600, with alphabetical locators on to the right-hand edge of the spread.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
Beginning in 1797, the Wädenswil reading society, which was founded in 1790, kept a handwritten annal that chronicled all local events of any given year. A member of the society would be designated as chronicler, who had the task of describing, by the end of the year, all events in Wädenswil that, from his point of view, were of importance. Detailed obituaries of individual personages are contained in the chronicle. For most years, it also includes descriptions of the weather, statistics regarding the population and an overview of food prices. In addition to local events, it also touches on cantonal and federal issues (among them the Bocken War, the Ustertag, the Sonderbund War). The chronicle was handwritten until 1886; the handwritten part consists of two volumes in folio-format. Later volumes consist of pasted newspaper clippings (1890 until 1945) and of typed pages, bound by year (1948-1974). The two volumes for the period from 1797 to 1886 are considered one of the most important sources for the history of Wädenswil in the 19th century.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This manuscript of the 'chess book', an allegorical treatment of the social order based on the game of chess, originated during the 1420s, probably in Lucerne. 24 ink-wash drawings show representatives of various social positions.
Online Since: 07/31/2009