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A leaf from the Admonitio Generalis, decorated manuscript on vellum [Germany, Freising?, final decade of the 8th century]
Details
Charlemagne's Admonitio Generalis
A leaf from the Admonitio Generalis, decorated manuscript on vellum [Germany, Freising?, final decade of the 8th century]
Among the earliest survivals in existence of Charlemagne's famous Admonitio Generalis of 789, the cornerstone of the seismic reforms of his reign and the impetus for the Carolingian Renaissance that followed. The present leaf dates to within the life of Charlemagne himself.
215 x 140mm. 22 lines written in dark brown ink in a handsome, early Carolingian minuscule with pre-Carolingian features, ruled space: c.170 x 107mm, capitals touched in red or yellow, a stub of the facing leaf of the bifolium survives, prickings survive (recovered from a binding and thus with consequent darkening and creasing, cropped at top with the loss on one line of text, some worming to lower margin not affecting text, overall in good condition). Mounted and framed.
Provenance:
(1) The early Carolingian hand found here, datable to the end of the 8th century, preserves several elements of pre-Carolingian script, for example the open 'a' that resembles 'cc', pronounced -ct and -re ligatures, the angular open-bowl 'g', the insular -ri ligature with the vowel hanging below the line and occasional use of uncial 'd'. It is an exceptional example of emerging Caroline in its transitional phase. The script is close to that found in manuscripts produced at Freising before the turn of the 9th century, specifically Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 6302, datable to the fourth quarter of the 8th century (note the similar thickness of the letter forms, the insular ligatures, the Alemannic features including cc-a, open-bowl 'g', the uncial 'd' interspersed with straight-shaft 'd').
The history of Freising starts with St Corbinian (c.670-730), a Frankish hermit who founded a Benedictine monastery at the site in the 720s. No manuscripts survive from this early period, but we know that already under the third bishop, Arbeo (764–84), Freising possessed an established scriptorium. The scriptorium flourished under Arbeo's successors Atto (784-811⁄12), Hitto (811⁄12-836) and Erchanbert (836-54), with Caroline minuscule at Freising reaching its most developed form (on which see B. Bischoff, Die südostdeutschen Schreibschulen und Bibliotheken in der Karolingerzeit, 1980, p.211 ff.; and, more recently, E. Steinová, ‘Freising’ [digital pre-print], published on 6 August 2024 at: https://doi.org/10.17613/rb4w-pp45, who lists 203 manuscripts produced in Caroline minuscule at Freising in the first two and half centuries of its existence).
(2) The leaf was recovered from the binding of an incunable of Francesco Petrarca, Secretum de contemptu mundi, Antwerp: Gerard Leeu, 14 March 1489.
(3) Dreweatts, 6 July 2017, lot 1.
Text:
The leaf contains part of the Admonitio Generalis of Charlemagne, the text opening in ch.71, line 336: 'Similiter qui ad clericatum accedant' and ending in ch.76, line 361: '[...] nec in errorem per talia scripta populus mittatur sed soli [...]', according to the most recent edition, H. Mordek, K. Zechiel-Eckes and M. Glatthaar, eds., 'Die Admonitio generalis Karls des Großen', MGH Fontes iuris Germanici antiqui in usum scholarum separatim editi, XVI, 2013. It deals with the moral conduct of bishops and the clergy; the un-Christian practices of some abbesses; and the suppression of superstitious beliefs.
The text of our fragment accords most closely with one of the earliest manuscript witnesses, Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 496a Helmst., from the scriptorium of the Abbey of Fulda, founded in 744 by Boniface of Mainz (or Crediton - he was originally from Devon), one of the most prominent medieval writing centres in Germany. Specific textual variants that tally with the Wolfenbüttel Admonitio Generalis are 'accedant' (instead of 'accedunt'), ch.71, line 336; 'Salamone' (instead of 'Salomone'), ch.72, line 342; 'Omnibus' lacking in ch.73, line 1; the presence of 'sint' after 'canonichi' in ch.75, line 356.
Charlemagne's Admonitio Generalis was an elaborate and comprehensive code of law issued by the royal Frankish court in 789. Carolingian law was founded on capitularies, i.e. 'royal – that is, initiated by the Frankish rulers – statutes and announcements of legislative, administrative or religious-exhortative character, usually divided into chapters, with the magnates of the realm often involved in their drafting and/or promulgation' (H. Mordek, 'Leges und Kapitularien', Die Franken - Wegbereiter Europas. Vor 1500 Jahren: König Chlodwig und seine Erben, 1996, p.488). The Admonitio Generalis arose out of discussions Charlemagne had had with his lay and clerical advisors, including Alcuin of York. It is largely based on the Dionysio-Hadriana collection of canon law presented to Charlemagne by Pope Hadrian I in 774, but it expands on earlier provisions with original and revolutionary mandates. It was rapidly and widely disseminated and immediately implemented throughout the reign. So early a fragment as this is a prime indication of the efficient dissemination of the Admonitio Generalis's clauses.
In it, Charlemagne, casting himself as a new Josiah responsible for the moral and cultural salvation of his subjects, lays out his religious and educational aspirations for the kingdom: the clergy were to lead by disciplined example; ecclesiastical roles were to be granted on merit alone; liturgical rites were to be standardised to ensure doctrinal consistency; pagan and superstitious practices were to be banned; bishops and abbots were required to establish schools in every episcopal see and monastery for reading, writing, singing, and basic arithmetic; scriptural and liturgical books were to be systematically corrected to ensure the production of accurate copies of fundamental texts. The Admonitio Generalis represented a 'conscious formulation of a policy and vision for a Christian Frankish kingdom' (R. McKitterick, Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity, 2008, p.240); it was one of the springboards for the educational reforms of Charlemagne's reign which would see the foundation and expansion of scriptoria across the realm and a key driver of the great Carolingian Renaissance.
The most recent edition (H. Mordek, K. Zechiel-Eckes and M. Glatthaar, 2013), and the online repository of Frankish Capitularies, Capitularia, hosted by the University of Cologne, record some 43 surviving manuscripts of the Admonitio Generalis as well as its inclusion in the collection of Ansegisus. All of these are in institutional collections. Of these only three date to the late 8th- or early 9th-century: the aforementioned Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 496a Helmst.; Brussels, KBR, 8654-72; and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 1603. Thirteen are datable to the 9th century: Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, XXXIII and XXXIV, from northern Italy and Pavia respectively; Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, VLQ 119, from south-west France; Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, G. 58 sup., from Bobbio; Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Lat. 14468, from Regensburg, Lat. 14508, from northern France, and Lat. 19416, from Bavaria; Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 10758, from Reims and Lat. 18237, from Tours; St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 677, from St Gall and 733, from south-west Germany; Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2232, from southern Germany; and finally Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 130 Blank.
Christie’s would like to thank Prof. Rosamond McKitterick for her help and advice in cataloguing this manuscript.
A leaf from the Admonitio Generalis, decorated manuscript on vellum [Germany, Freising?, final decade of the 8th century]
Among the earliest survivals in existence of Charlemagne's famous Admonitio Generalis of 789, the cornerstone of the seismic reforms of his reign and the impetus for the Carolingian Renaissance that followed. The present leaf dates to within the life of Charlemagne himself.
215 x 140mm. 22 lines written in dark brown ink in a handsome, early Carolingian minuscule with pre-Carolingian features, ruled space: c.170 x 107mm, capitals touched in red or yellow, a stub of the facing leaf of the bifolium survives, prickings survive (recovered from a binding and thus with consequent darkening and creasing, cropped at top with the loss on one line of text, some worming to lower margin not affecting text, overall in good condition). Mounted and framed.
Provenance:
(1) The early Carolingian hand found here, datable to the end of the 8th century, preserves several elements of pre-Carolingian script, for example the open 'a' that resembles 'cc', pronounced -ct and -re ligatures, the angular open-bowl 'g', the insular -ri ligature with the vowel hanging below the line and occasional use of uncial 'd'. It is an exceptional example of emerging Caroline in its transitional phase. The script is close to that found in manuscripts produced at Freising before the turn of the 9th century, specifically Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 6302, datable to the fourth quarter of the 8th century (note the similar thickness of the letter forms, the insular ligatures, the Alemannic features including cc-a, open-bowl 'g', the uncial 'd' interspersed with straight-shaft 'd').
The history of Freising starts with St Corbinian (c.670-730), a Frankish hermit who founded a Benedictine monastery at the site in the 720s. No manuscripts survive from this early period, but we know that already under the third bishop, Arbeo (764–84), Freising possessed an established scriptorium. The scriptorium flourished under Arbeo's successors Atto (784-811⁄12), Hitto (811⁄12-836) and Erchanbert (836-54), with Caroline minuscule at Freising reaching its most developed form (on which see B. Bischoff, Die südostdeutschen Schreibschulen und Bibliotheken in der Karolingerzeit, 1980, p.211 ff.; and, more recently, E. Steinová, ‘Freising’ [digital pre-print], published on 6 August 2024 at: https://doi.org/10.17613/rb4w-pp45, who lists 203 manuscripts produced in Caroline minuscule at Freising in the first two and half centuries of its existence).
(2) The leaf was recovered from the binding of an incunable of Francesco Petrarca, Secretum de contemptu mundi, Antwerp: Gerard Leeu, 14 March 1489.
(3) Dreweatts, 6 July 2017, lot 1.
Text:
The leaf contains part of the Admonitio Generalis of Charlemagne, the text opening in ch.71, line 336: 'Similiter qui ad clericatum accedant' and ending in ch.76, line 361: '[...] nec in errorem per talia scripta populus mittatur sed soli [...]', according to the most recent edition, H. Mordek, K. Zechiel-Eckes and M. Glatthaar, eds., 'Die Admonitio generalis Karls des Großen', MGH Fontes iuris Germanici antiqui in usum scholarum separatim editi, XVI, 2013. It deals with the moral conduct of bishops and the clergy; the un-Christian practices of some abbesses; and the suppression of superstitious beliefs.
The text of our fragment accords most closely with one of the earliest manuscript witnesses, Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 496a Helmst., from the scriptorium of the Abbey of Fulda, founded in 744 by Boniface of Mainz (or Crediton - he was originally from Devon), one of the most prominent medieval writing centres in Germany. Specific textual variants that tally with the Wolfenbüttel Admonitio Generalis are 'accedant' (instead of 'accedunt'), ch.71, line 336; 'Salamone' (instead of 'Salomone'), ch.72, line 342; 'Omnibus' lacking in ch.73, line 1; the presence of 'sint' after 'canonichi' in ch.75, line 356.
Charlemagne's Admonitio Generalis was an elaborate and comprehensive code of law issued by the royal Frankish court in 789. Carolingian law was founded on capitularies, i.e. 'royal – that is, initiated by the Frankish rulers – statutes and announcements of legislative, administrative or religious-exhortative character, usually divided into chapters, with the magnates of the realm often involved in their drafting and/or promulgation' (H. Mordek, 'Leges und Kapitularien', Die Franken - Wegbereiter Europas. Vor 1500 Jahren: König Chlodwig und seine Erben, 1996, p.488). The Admonitio Generalis arose out of discussions Charlemagne had had with his lay and clerical advisors, including Alcuin of York. It is largely based on the Dionysio-Hadriana collection of canon law presented to Charlemagne by Pope Hadrian I in 774, but it expands on earlier provisions with original and revolutionary mandates. It was rapidly and widely disseminated and immediately implemented throughout the reign. So early a fragment as this is a prime indication of the efficient dissemination of the Admonitio Generalis's clauses.
In it, Charlemagne, casting himself as a new Josiah responsible for the moral and cultural salvation of his subjects, lays out his religious and educational aspirations for the kingdom: the clergy were to lead by disciplined example; ecclesiastical roles were to be granted on merit alone; liturgical rites were to be standardised to ensure doctrinal consistency; pagan and superstitious practices were to be banned; bishops and abbots were required to establish schools in every episcopal see and monastery for reading, writing, singing, and basic arithmetic; scriptural and liturgical books were to be systematically corrected to ensure the production of accurate copies of fundamental texts. The Admonitio Generalis represented a 'conscious formulation of a policy and vision for a Christian Frankish kingdom' (R. McKitterick, Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity, 2008, p.240); it was one of the springboards for the educational reforms of Charlemagne's reign which would see the foundation and expansion of scriptoria across the realm and a key driver of the great Carolingian Renaissance.
The most recent edition (H. Mordek, K. Zechiel-Eckes and M. Glatthaar, 2013), and the online repository of Frankish Capitularies, Capitularia, hosted by the University of Cologne, record some 43 surviving manuscripts of the Admonitio Generalis as well as its inclusion in the collection of Ansegisus. All of these are in institutional collections. Of these only three date to the late 8th- or early 9th-century: the aforementioned Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 496a Helmst.; Brussels, KBR, 8654-72; and Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 1603. Thirteen are datable to the 9th century: Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, XXXIII and XXXIV, from northern Italy and Pavia respectively; Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, VLQ 119, from south-west France; Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, G. 58 sup., from Bobbio; Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Lat. 14468, from Regensburg, Lat. 14508, from northern France, and Lat. 19416, from Bavaria; Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 10758, from Reims and Lat. 18237, from Tours; St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, 677, from St Gall and 733, from south-west Germany; Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 2232, from southern Germany; and finally Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 130 Blank.
Christie’s would like to thank Prof. Rosamond McKitterick for her help and advice in cataloguing this manuscript.
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts