Why Put In Prayers?

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

We cannot know for sure – but all the prayers in the manuscript focus on death, and this booklet also contains a German translation of parts of the requiem, the mass for the deceased. It is tempting to explain the presence of the quire (?) filled with prayers as an act of commemoration: they might well commemorate the death of Margarethe who is at least indirectly present in two of the other texts, and connected with two more. But this is a speculative (if reasonable) interpretation of the ‘odd one out’ within the manuscript, not a proven fact.

Go back to ‘Why Put Them Together?’.

Why Put Them Together?

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

So what reasons are there for the separate booklets (?) to have been bound together? Here are some answers:

The texts in the booklets were quite new at the time.
They were written by local authors of high standing.
They were collector‘s items.
They represent the connection of two noble families (which can be concluded from the names in the manuscript).

Beginning of ‘Die Grasmetze’ by Hermann von Sachsenheim; Berlin, SBB-PK, Ms.Germ.Quart 719, fol. 196r.

It is obvious that the texts are interesting for different readers, catering to all tastes from the didactic to the erotic, and they also are a form of noble self-representation (like status symbols). Maybe not on a material level, since what you see here is the most elaborate page in a fairly average manuscript.

But the content – texts about love – seems to have worked as a means of representation: the texts show the marital and literary conjunction of two noble houses. They fit together well (as does the book). The only puzzling thing in this context are the prayers which seem quite out of place in this manuscript. But there might be one explanation for them which would also help us date the manuscript.

There is another manuscript from the same period that also shows how texts about love could function as a noble representation.

Solution to the German Riddle

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

edlle junckffrau radent waß ist daß
zwyernet fünff und eynß me
der fynffzehenst bustab am abc
bedrigt den man und nit me

Two times five = (the Latin numbers) V+V = W

and then add one = (the Latin number) I

the fifteenth letter of the medieval alphabet, where i and j are counted as one letter = P

–>WIP (‘woman’)

Which means: ‘Woman betrays Man and (does) nothing more.’

Go back to the riddle.

A Medieval German Riddle

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

At the end of the text by Erhard Wameshafft, we find a short riddle, filling the bottom of the page:

edlle junckffrau radent waß ist daß
zwyernet fünff und eynß me
der fynffzehenst bustab am abc
bedrigt den man und nit me

‘Noble young lady, guess what is this:
Two times five and then add one,
The fifteenth letter of the alphabet
Betrays men and nothing more.’ –>Solution

It is typical (although the only case in this manuscript) to fill empty space with short texts. This riddle seems to fit exceedingly well, since the previous text was dedicated to a junckfrawe (a young noblewoman or simply a girl), who is also addressed in the heading of the riddle. Is it the same junckfrawe? Do we have preserved here a joking conversation about love (where the presumably spoken answer of the junckfrawe, to which the riddle replies, is missing)? Or just an intelligent scribe adding a fitting text? This riddle will remain…

Go back to Erhard Wameshafft.

Read on to know what we can deduce by the names in this manuscript.

What the Names Tell Us

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

All the authors and other individuals named in this manuscript have connections either to the counts of Württemberg or of Königstein-Eppstein, who are themselves related by marriage: Margarethe, sister of Heinrich von Württemberg, named in the Liederbuch, is the wife of Philipp von Eppstein-Königstein, the son of Eberhard III. of Eppstein-Königstein mentioned in Erhard Wameshafft’s ‘Liebe und Glück’. The marriage took place in 1469, Margarethe died only two years later in 1471, so it makes sense to date the mentioning of Heinrich von Württemberg in the ‘Liederbuch’ during the time of courtship or early marriage. This is also a probably date of the Rhenish versions of the works of Hermann von Sachsenheim who was connected to Württemberg, at this time or slightly later. Although we have no written evidence, we now have a time-frame for the production of the individual booklets that fits well with the dating of the watermarks (?).

The question remains why all these separate booklets have been bound together at a later stage. Take a look at some possible answers.

Wameshafft (MHG Original Text)

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

Hie mit die red sich fullent
die ich duommer wameshafft
uß schlechttem sin an meinsterschafft (!)
zu küngsteyn uß syennen brach
fyer wochen was ich cranck vnd swach
daß ich das lant mocht bruchen niht
die will maht ich duß nü gedicht
myner genedigen junckfrawen hab ichß geschenckt
dass got des frumm herrn gedenck
vnd behuet sin son das edel bluot
wan sie mich detten alles gut
spis und dranck mit willen gern
got well die dugent rich gewer.

Go back to the information on Wameshafft.

Erhard Wameshafft

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

Erhard Wameshafft (or Waneshafft, as he is sometimes spelled) is again, possibly, an aptronym, an ‘Erhard‘ who is hoping against hope in matters of love. We find the name in the text, the ‘I‘ is adressed by one of the allegorical (?) ladies surrounding Lady Love. But this Wameshafft has more to tell about the production of his text:
Here now end the words which I, the dumb Wameshafft, did produce from meager mastery, at Königstein. I was four weeks so ill that I could not roam the lands. While I was ill, I made this new poem and I gave it as a gift to my graceful young lady, that God might remember the Lord and guide his noble son, because they did many good deeds and gave away food and drink willingly; God will reward the virtuous.
(View the original MHG text).

The unnamed lady could have been Anna, daughter of Count Eberhard III. of Eppstein-Königstein. We have only one other attested work by Wameshafft, which was commissioned by the counts of Katzenellnbogen, also from the same middle-rhenisch region.

At the end of the text by Erhard Wameshafft, we find a short riddle. Interested in some medieval mental exercise?

Learn more about the other author, Hermann von Sachsenheim.

Or go directly to the conclusions one can draw from the names in this manuscript.

Hermann von Sachsenheim

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

Hermann von Sachsenheim was of noble birth, twice married, and died in 1458. He probably studied law (he was certainly proficient in it), and he was in close contact with the counts of Württemberg: at least once, in 1432, he lent the count a considerable sum (after his second marriage he was, as this shows, quite rich). Together with the notes in the Königsteiner Liederbuch we now have a second clue linking the booklets of the manuscript to the House of Württemberg.

Learn more about the other author, Erhard Warmeshafft.

Or go directly to the conclusions one can draw from the names in this manuscript.

The Book and its Users.

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SBB-PK), Ms.germ.qu. 719

We have three authors named in the manuscript, Hermann von Sachsenheim, Erhard Wameshafft and Schoffthor. The last one remains just a name to us (an aptronym, denoting a writer as foolish as a sheep). But the other two give important clues for the world around the manuscript.

Read about Hermann von Sachsenheim.

Read about Erhard Wameshafft.

Booklets Bound Together

Posted on 4. October 2012 by nzotz

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SBB-PK), Ms.germ.qu. 719

How do we know the booklets (?) existed separately?
Most of the booklets end with empty pages, a clear indication that the book was not written continuously. Thus, for the making of the book as interesting as the texts are the empty pages in the manuscript. Empty are: 60v; 65v-67v; 101v-102v; 181v-185v; 191r-195v. Furthermore, the outer pages of the booklets show signs of use – they not only lay on a shelf, but were read quite frequently before being bound together as a book. Have a look for instance at the stains at the beginning of the 5th booklet:

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SBB-PK), Ms.germ.qu. 719, fol. 186r.

Go back to the overview of all texts contained in this manuscript.