Good morning! I promised that I would spend some time this morning giving you a tour of @StaBi_Berlin
Theol. Lat. q. 140. There’s a lot to love about this manuscript. Buckle up…
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN838355358&PHYSID=PHYS_0009&DMDID=DMDLOG_0009&view=picture-double

You’ve already seen how this manuscript gave Gottschalk of Lambach his name. Gottschalk’s initials, script, and musical notation have been identified in dozens of manuscripts, even some that weren’t produced in Lambach (on the Danube in Austria, west of Vienna).

His skills were so prized that he was loaned out to nearby scriptoria like Admont and Melk (here’s a Vere dignum monogram he produced in the Admont Missal, @MedievalMss W. 33): https://art.thewalters.org/detail/88685/decorated-monogram/

The Berlin manuscript is one of his masterpieces. Let’s start on f. 2r, with this amazing frontispiece in Gottschalk’s typical orange and purple. There’s a lot going on here.

In the center, we see the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus flanked by angels. In the lower left corner, we see Gottschalk himself, kneeling and presenting the finished manuscript.

At first, the frontispiece seems busy, not to mention difficult to parse. But if we look at it alongside the facing page, it starts to make sense. Gottschalk has written the contents of the manuscript on the facing verso, and there is a direct correlation with the frontispiece.

1. The Life of St. Nicholas (more on this in a minute!)

2 and 3. Two versions of the Life of St. Gall: in the miniature, St. Gall actually reaches out of his frame to present Gottschalk to the Virgin. This suggests that St. Gall may have been of particular importance to Gottschalk.

4. The Life of St. Othmar

5. The Life of St. Lambert

6. The Passion (i.e. martyrdom) of St. Jerome

7. A Tract by St. Hugh (of St-Victoire) on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, recited by the Virgin Mary), followed by other theological texts.

The frontispiece is a visual table of contents! The other illustrated Saints are of import in Germanic lands or in Lambach in particular: John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Oswald, John (Disciple of St. Gall), Columbanus, Kilian (one of the patrons of Lambach).

Original verses! Annue sanctorum precibus pia virgo piorum/ Clemens adtende pro parvis magna repende/ Suscipiat munus per te sacra trinus et unus./ Aspice latorem pro spe da rem meliorem/ Solve reum perduc et eum pius in paradysum/ O splendor patris adtende precamina matris.

Next, scenes from the Life of St. Nicholas, with more verse: Qui solidat fragiles artus firmat pueriles./ Equora sedantur desperati recreantur/ Salve nos Christe ne nos mundus voret iste/ Fit spes dampnatis iustos facit ex sceleratis/ Celesti signo plebs gaudet presule digno.

And look at this beautiful Annunciation scene on f. 113r! MORE VERSES! Salve virgo pia spes mundi sancta Maria/ Ex te nascetur per quem mundus redimetur/ Maria: Me deus aspiciat et quod spondes mihi fiat/ Ut pariam prolem castum servando pudorem.

And the Tower of David on f. 143v has EVEN MORE VERSES! Arx ego sum fortis spes iusta pulsio mortis/ Iustos alarum bene proteget umbra mearum.

But wait, there's more! On f. 1 we find a list of books held by the Lambach Abbey in the late 12th c., as recorded by Gottschalk himself! A treasure trove of information. What were the monks reading? Boethius! Homer! Pamphylus! Aesop! Ovid! No wonder Gottschalk was such a poet.

And FINALLY let’s look at the inside boards of the fifteenth-century binding, where we see offsets of pastedown fragments that have been removed! What might we do about THAT (she asks innocently)? Tune in tomorrow! Have a great day, everyone, and stay safe!