COLLECTION NAME:
Rylands Collection
mediaCollectionId
Manchester~91~1
Rylands Collection
Collection
true
Image Number:
Bookreader German MS 2
image_number
Bookreader German MS 2
Image Number
false
Reference Number:
German MS 2
reference_number
German MS 2
Reference Number
false
Parent Work Title:
Deutsches Stammbuch
title_larger_entity
Deutsches Stammbuch
Parent Work Title
false
Alternative Parent Work Title:
Armorial
title_l_e_variant
Armorial
Alternative Parent Work Title
false
Translated Parent Work Title:
Book of German Families
title_l_e_translation
Book of German Families
Translated Parent Work Title
false
Creator:
Cranach, Lucas, 1515-1586
creator
Cranach, Lucas, 1515-1586
Creator
false
Creator Role:
Artist
creator_role
Artist
Creator Role
false
Date Created:
1565
date_created
1565
Date Created
false
Description:
Deutsches Stammbuch (Book of German Families) is a sixteenth-century armorial manuscript containing over 1,800 coats of arms of princes and nobles of the Holy Roman Empire on 178 paper leaves, with pagination in ink, in parallel with a foliation in pencil. The illustrations are labelled with, clear and legible Fraktur script, painted in gouache (opaque watercolour paint) on paper, in iron gall ink. The present manuscript, was produced in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger for Elector August of Saxony, and that it was copied from an earlier armorial of circa 1500 which was kept in Cranach’s workshop, probably as reference material. This older armorial was part of a late fifteenth century tradition of south German heraldic manuscripts, but also had connections to the Habsburg dynasty and to Emperor Maximilian’s second wife Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan (1472–1510) in particular. The reconstructed content of this original armorial offers significant new perspectives on late medieval understandings of the social and political structure of the Holy Roman Empire and on the relationship between women and heraldic knowledge. It opens with the arms of Bianca Maria (p. 1), followed by an unusual collection of the arms of princely ladies of the Holy Roman Empire (pp. 2–5). The subsequent pages contain a range of material which could be labelled ‘historical-didactic’, such as the arms of famous and legendary figures who embodied particular virtues. The contemporary European order is then represented by Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503), Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1415–93), his son Maximilian (1459–1519) and grandson Philip the Handsome (1478–1506) (pp. 19–23), followed by Italian and other European dynasties and rulers (pp. 24–35). The remainder is dedicated to the Holy Roman Empire, represented at first by the seven electors and so-called ‘Quaternionen’, quartets of arms representing different ranks, offices and estates (pp. 36–49). Leading prelates and princes of the Empire (pp. 50–76) are bookended by an imperial herald (p. 77) and the arms of the counts of Görz (p. 78). After this introduction, the main body of the armorial cycles through the regions and territories of the German-speaking Empire, beginning with Habsburg-ruled Tyrol (pp. 79–96). Both Tyrol and the Wettin lands in Saxony and Thuringia (pp. 101–85) are presented with arms representing the princes’ titles and claims at the head of a territorial nobility with a regional structure. Princes continue to play a prominent role, but are also intermingled with associations of lower nobles as we pass through Bavaria (pp. 192–206), Swabia (pp. 211–31), the Rhineland (pp. 232–67) and Franconia (pp. 271–85). There are smaller regional-territorial units for Hessen (pp. 287–95), Braunschweig-Lüneburg (pp. 297–302), Mecklenburg (pp. 305–7), Pomerania (pp. 311–13) and Brandenburg (pp. 315–20), ahead of Silesian dukes and notable Bohemian and Austrian nobles (pp. 325–35, 338–40) and ‘Frisian counts’ (pp. 341–2). Throughout the manuscript the paper bears the same watermark showing the Saxon electoral arms: the crossed swords of the office of imperial arch-marshall impaling the crancelin of the duchy of Saxony on a shield with small scrolls at its upper corners and a central finial shaped like the spade in modern playing card suits. The sole exception is a blank bifolium inserted at the front, which has a watermark from the town of Eger (present-day Cheb in the north-western Czech Republic). The binding of the manuscript further suggests that we are dealing with the armorial produced by Cranach’s workshop in 1565. Bound in tooled and gilded white leather, the upper cover is dominated by a large electoral Saxon coat of arms, although this is clearly a later insertion in place of the original decoration. The remainder of the decoration on both covers (the original leather being intact on the lower cover) is very much in the style of Wittenberg bookbinding in the mid-sixteenth century, using designs produced by rolls (some featuring decorative foliage, others allegorical figures) and stamps to create multiple borders around a central motif produced by pressing a larger plate into the leather. The lower cover is stamped within the central plate with the date 1565 and the initials ‘P. T.’ These particular initials are associated by bookbinding researchers only with the binder Paul Thiele, who was working in Wittenberg between the 1550s and 1575. Given that the manuscript was still unfnished in early December 1565 it seems unlikely that it was actually bound in this year, but the binding could well have been commissioned while the painting of the armorial was still ongoing.
description
Deutsches Stammbuch (Book of German Families) is a sixteenth-century armorial manuscript containing over 1,800 coats of arms of princes and nobles of the Holy Roman Empire on 178 paper leaves, with pagination in ink, in parallel with a foliation in pencil. The illustrations are labelled with, clear and legible Fraktur script, painted in gouache (opaque watercolour paint) on paper, in iron gall ink. The present manuscript, was produced in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger for Elector August of Saxony, and that it was copied from an earlier armorial of circa 1500 which was kept in Cranach’s workshop, probably as reference material. This older armorial was part of a late fifteenth century tradition of south German heraldic manuscripts, but also had connections to the Habsburg dynasty and to Emperor Maximilian’s second wife Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan (1472–1510) in particular. The reconstructed content of this original armorial offers significant new perspectives on late medieval understandings of the social and political structure of the Holy Roman Empire and on the relationship between women and heraldic knowledge. It opens with the arms of Bianca Maria (p. 1), followed by an unusual collection of the arms of princely ladies of the Holy Roman Empire (pp. 2–5). The subsequent pages contain a range of material which could be labelled ‘historical-didactic’, such as the arms of famous and legendary figures who embodied particular virtues. The contemporary European order is then represented by Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503), Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (1415–93), his son Maximilian (1459–1519) and grandson Philip the Handsome (1478–1506) (pp. 19–23), followed by Italian and other European dynasties and rulers (pp. 24–35). The remainder is dedicated to the Holy Roman Empire, represented at first by the seven electors and so-called ‘Quaternionen’, quartets of arms representing different ranks, offices and estates (pp. 36–49). Leading prelates and princes of the Empire (pp. 50–76) are bookended by an imperial herald (p. 77) and the arms of the counts of Görz (p. 78). After this introduction, the main body of the armorial cycles through the regions and territories of the German-speaking Empire, beginning with Habsburg-ruled Tyrol (pp. 79–96). Both Tyrol and the Wettin lands in Saxony and Thuringia (pp. 101–85) are presented with arms representing the princes’ titles and claims at the head of a territorial nobility with a regional structure. Princes continue to play a prominent role, but are also intermingled with associations of lower nobles as we pass through Bavaria (pp. 192–206), Swabia (pp. 211–31), the Rhineland (pp. 232–67) and Franconia (pp. 271–85). There are smaller regional-territorial units for Hessen (pp. 287–95), Braunschweig-Lüneburg (pp. 297–302), Mecklenburg (pp. 305–7), Pomerania (pp. 311–13) and Brandenburg (pp. 315–20), ahead of Silesian dukes and notable Bohemian and Austrian nobles (pp. 325–35, 338–40) and ‘Frisian counts’ (pp. 341–2). Throughout the manuscript the paper bears the same watermark showing the Saxon electoral arms: the crossed swords of the office of imperial arch-marshall impaling the crancelin of the duchy of Saxony on a shield with small scrolls at its upper corners and a central finial shaped like the spade in modern playing card suits. The sole exception is a blank bifolium inserted at the front, which has a watermark from the town of Eger (present-day Cheb in the north-western Czech Republic). The binding of the manuscript further suggests that we are dealing with the armorial produced by Cranach’s workshop in 1565. Bound in tooled and gilded white leather, the upper cover is dominated by a large electoral Saxon coat of arms, although this is clearly a later insertion in place of the original decoration. The remainder of the decoration on both covers (the original leather being intact on the lower cover) is very much in the style of Wittenberg bookbinding in the mid-sixteenth century, using designs produced by rolls (some featuring decorative foliage, others allegorical figures) and stamps to create multiple borders around a central motif produced by pressing a larger plate into the leather. The lower cover is stamped within the central plate with the date 1565 and the initials ‘P. T.’ These particular initials are associated by bookbinding researchers only with the binder Paul Thiele, who was working in Wittenberg between the 1550s and 1575. Given that the manuscript was still unfnished in early December 1565 it seems unlikely that it was actually bound in this year, but the binding could well have been commissioned while the painting of the armorial was still ongoing.
Description
false
Language Code:
ger
language
ger
Language Code
false
Language:
German
language_name
German
Language
false
Subject:
Nobility--Germany--Heraldry
subject
Nobility--Germany--Heraldry
Subject
false
Subject:
Nobility--Germany--Genealogy
subject
Nobility--Germany--Genealogy
Subject
false
Subject:
Heraldry--Germany
subject
Heraldry--Germany
Subject
false
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
category
Manuscripts
Category of Material
false
Sub-Category:
Codex
class
Codex
Sub-Category
false
Sub-Category:
Bindings
class
Bindings
Sub-Category
false
Technique Used:
Handwriting
technique
Handwriting
Technique Used
false
Technique Used:
Painting (image-making)
technique
Painting (image-making)
Technique Used
false
Technique Used:
Gold tooling
technique
Gold tooling
Technique Used
false
Medium:
Ink
medium
Ink
Medium
false
Medium:
Watercolour (paint)
medium
Watercolour (paint)
Medium
false
Support:
Paper
support
Paper
Support
false
Support:
Leather
support
Leather
Support
false
Creation Site:
Germany
location_creation_site
Germany
Creation Site
false
Time Period Covered:
15th -16th Century CE
temporal_coverage
15th -16th Century CE
Time Period Covered
false
People Covered:
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, 1415-1493
people_covered
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, 1415-1493
People Covered
false
People Covered:
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519
people_covered
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519
People Covered
false
People Covered:
Bianca Maria, Empress, consort of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1472-1510
people_covered
Bianca Maria, Empress, consort of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1472-1510
People Covered
false
People Covered:
August, Elector of Saxony, 1526-1586
people_covered
August, Elector of Saxony, 1526-1586
People Covered
false
People Covered:
Alexander VI, Pope, 1431-1503
people_covered
Alexander VI, Pope, 1431-1503
People Covered
false
Item Height:
440 mm
item_height
440 mm
Item Height
false
Item Width:
290 mm
Current Repository:
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Provenance:
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
former_repository
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
Provenance
false
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work:
The University of Manchester Library
work_rights
The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work
false
Access Rights:
References:
● F. Taylor, Supplementary Handlist of Western Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library (Manchester, 1937), pp. 37-43
references
● F. Taylor, Supplementary Handlist of Western Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library (Manchester, 1937), pp. 37-43
References
false
References:
● Ben Pope, ‘The Empress, the Elector and the Painter: The Armorial of Bianca Maria Sforza, Copied for August of Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Manchester, John Rylands Library, German MS. 2)‘, in: Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 94.2 (2018), pp. 1–49
references
● Ben Pope, ‘The Empress, the Elector and the Painter: The Armorial of Bianca Maria Sforza, Copied for August of Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Manchester, John Rylands Library, German MS. 2)‘, in: Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 94.2 (2018), pp. 1–49
References
false
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2018-08-14
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2018-09
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Collection Code:
Rylands
collection_code
Rylands
Collection Code
false