From the 11th to the 31st of March, an exhibition presents the medieval manuscripts of the Cathedral Libray of Esztergom. Titled “For They Enjoy for Your Souls…” – Codices in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom, the exhibition is on look at in the recently restored exhibition rooms of the Bibliotheca.
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Cathedral Library of Esztergom preserves forty-5 medieval manuscript guides, which are exhibited collectively for the 1st time now, in March 2022. The exhibition honors the archbishops and canons of Esztergom as perfectly as the donators and past house owners of the manuscripts, by whose generosity the library became the largest collection of codices amongst ecclesiastical libraries of Hungary. The written culture of medieval Hungary is represented by fourteen codices copied in several Hungarian scriptoria. Two previous Hungarian manuscripts – early linguistic information – stand out from between the Latin books on account of their particular price. The Nagyszombat Codex was well prepared in the monastery of the Poor Clares in Óbuda. It has meditations and guides for penance and confession. The Jordánszky Codex is the most comprehensive medieval Bible translation into Hungarian, and is named after is previous proprietor, Elek Jordánszky, a canon of Esztergom. Out of the codices preserved in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom, without a question three have been employed in Esztergom prior to 1543. These are the 12th-century Expositiones tremendous Cantica Canticorum, László Szalkai’s (1475-1526) schoolbook published by the foreseeable future archbishop amongst 1489 and 1490, and the codex of vicar-general Albert Pesthy. The manuscript collection owned by the Archbishop and the Chapter of Esztergom was even more enriched through the sojourn of the Archbishopric in Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia). Liturgical publications and astronomical performs were acquired, as nicely as a manuscript that contains letters by Saint Gregory the Good, copied in the Benedictine Abbey of Moissac in the 11th century. In 1555, Nicholaus Olah )1493-1568), archbishop of Esztergom, donated the two-quantity Bakócs Gradual to the church of Esztergom The luxurious Wladislav Gradual originates from Prague from the initially decade of the 16th century. It retains Bohemian musical product, richly illuminated with historiated initials as nicely as border decorations with floral motifs, animal figures, and scenes from daily everyday living.
Right after the library moved again to Esztergom in 1853, János Scitovszky (1785-1866), archbishop of Esztergom, József Dankó and Nándor Knauz, canons of Esztergom every single bequeathed 4 codices to the collection. Between these, there was a 12th-century cathedral schoolbook made up of a commentary of the Track of Tracks amid other texts, and several manuscripts of Bohemian origin.
Most codices in the library originated and had been utilized in Central Europe, in Bohemia, Vienna, and Southern Germany. Nevertheless, some of the manuscripts came from the English, Italian, and French territories. The decoration of Peter Lombard’s commentary on the Psalms is a substantial-top quality products of English miniature painting. The exhibited manuscripts present a large array of medieval ecclesiastical literature encompassing books on liturgy, theology, church legislation, astronomy, lexicography, as properly as sermon collections, prayer books, and schoolbooks.
The exhibition coincides with the publication of a catalog describing with excellent erudition the medieval manuscripts preserved in the Esztergom e-book collections (The Codices of the Cathedral Library of Esztergom, the Archiepiscopal Simor Library, and the Esztergom Town Library). The guide was edited by Edit Madas and created by Kinga Körmendy, Judit Lauf, Edit Madas, and Gábor Sarbak. Kinga Körmendy’s comprehensive introduction presents the heritage of the collections and the comprehensive descriptions are accompanied by numerous indices, appendices, a bibliography, and coloration plates. The book is the most the latest volume of the Fragmenta et codices in bibliothecis Hungariae collection. The e book can be ordered here: [email protected]. A German-language model of the catalog is forthcoming.
(Text and photographs by the Cathedral Library of Esztergom)
