Monastic calendar with obituary notes

Germany, Bremen, 15th century

Parchment

24, i' leaves

210 × 150 mm

Latin

1 (ff. 1r–20v) Calendar with obituary notes

Note: Begins with the Circumcision and ends with St Sylvester. Important events are noted by various late medieval scribes in both Latin and German. The majority of the notes are dated to the mid-15th to the early 16th century, the earliest date mentioned is 1393 (f. 4v) and the latest 1548 (f. 10r).

2 (f. 21r) List of endowed vigils

Note:

List of endowed anniversary vigils and masses, two of which are dated 1517 and one 1518.

f. 21v: ruled, but no text.

3 (ff. 22r–22v) List of novices received in the monastery

Note: List of novices received in the monastery, the majority dated 1517.

4 (ff. 23r–23v) List of transactions

Note: On f. 23v there are some simple drawings, some of which seem to pertain to the herring trade.

5 (ff. 24r–24v) List of novices

Note: List of novices accepted 1511–1516, 1493–1510.

Physical Description

Support

Binding/Endleaves

Locus: f. 25

Note: f. 25 is the back pastedown which has been detached.

Support: Parchment

Leaf dimensions: 210 × 150 mm

Textblock

Locus: ff. 1–24

Support: Parchment

Leaf dimensions: 210 × 150 mm

Collation

Formula: 1-3(8)

Note: VisColl collation.

Condition

Textblock

Parchment dirty and stained.

Layout

Columns: 1

Ruled lines: 30

Written area: 180 × 135 mm

Note: The left-hand side of each page has been ruled with three columns for golden numbers and Sunday letters. The texts on ff. 21r–24v are written on the same layout. Ruling in brown ink.

Script

Textblock

Description:

Feast days written in textualis, notes written in cursive or hybrida by several diffrent hands. ff. 21r–24v: the lists are written in cursive and hybrida by several different hands.

Additions

Binding/Endleaves

(LCI) Top left corner: National Library book label with current signum; upper part of board, in black ink by a modern hand: ‘24 blad (1-24)’, ‘Kongliga Bibliotheket i Stockholm’.

Textblock

(f. 1r) Top of page, in black ink by an early modern hand: ‘in 4^to ’; bottom of page, in brown ink by an early modern hand: ‘24.’.

(f. 2r, 3r) Upper left, outer column, in pencil: the date noted by a modern hand.

Binding

Description:

Medieval binding. Red leather over wooden boards. 3 raised bands and endbands. Spine, stamped in gold: ‘A 216’.

f. 25: the leaf previously used as a pastedown consists of a theological fragment with text written by two hands.

Binding dimensions: 225 × 155 × 25 mm

Condition: The leather covers the spine and a third of the boards. The leather is worn and cracked. Board attachments visible on LCI and RCI.

Contemporary: Yes

History

Origin

Germany, Bremen, 15th century. Bremen is mentioned on f. 23r and many of the mayors and bishops mentioned in the text can be tied to Bremen. The earliest date mentioned in the text is 1393 (f. 4v), but the majority of all dates are from the mid-15th to the mid-16th century.

Acquisition

The manuscript has been in Sweden since at least the 17th century. The signum found on f. 1r refers to Jaches's catalogue of 1698 (U 122, p. 306) where it is listed as ‘ms in 4o 24 Calendarium Moneasterii cuiusdam in Holsatia’; in the catalogue of 1734 (U 125e) it is listed as: ‘ms philos in 4o 21 Diarium monasterii cuiusdam in Holsatia in perg. ’. Both catalogues list the manuscript as derriving from a monastery in Holstein. This may be a mistake or point to the provenance of the manuscript before it came to Sweden.