Conrad Grünenberg, also spelled Konrad, Grünemberg, Grünberg (probably born around 1415; died 1494) was a

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

from

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

in southern Germany, known as the author of three books, two

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centu ...

s and a

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

: the ''Österreichische Wappenchronik'' (''lit.'' "Austrian armorial chronicle", c. 1470); the ''Wappenbuch'' (''lit.'' "Book of coat-of-arms", c. 1483), containing some 2000

coats-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, which he presented as a gift to Emperor Frederick III;Reginald Grünenberg
Ritter Conrad, mein Vater und ich
WELT.de, Axel Springer SE, 24 August 2009, retrieved 30 March 2020Extant in some eight

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s. The likely original is the Berlin ms. (Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, VIII. HA II, Nr. 21), dated 9 April 1483 in the preface but presumably completed in 1485/86. Others include

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the bigg ...

br> Cgm 145
an
Cgm 9210
Cgm 9210 is a copy dated 1602–1604 with numerous changes. and the illustrated description of his 1486 pilgrimage to Jerusalem (extant in two original manuscripts, both from 1487, the Karlsruhe and the Gotha

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

).Konrad von Grünenberg: Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem - Cod. St. Peter pap. 32
/ref>Denke (2010:53)

Life

Grünenberg was perhaps born around 1415 or earlier, as the son of the mayor of Constance. He is first mentioned in 1441 as a judge and church architect. By 1465, he had been in the service of Emperor Frederick III for some time, and at the latest 1486 on held the rank of ''

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles a ...

''.Denke (2010:92) In Jerusalem, he was probably made a

Knight of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

. He was furthermore a member of the Aragonese

Order of the Jar The Order of the Jar ( es, Orden de la Jarra, german: Kannenorden) was a chivalric order founded by Ferdinand of Antequera in 1403. After Ferdinand became King of Aragon in 1412, it became a royal order and lasted until 1516.D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre B ...

and of the Austrian

Order of Saint George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

Holy Land pilgrimage (1486)

His pilgrimage to the Holy Land lasted 33 weeks, from April to early December 1486. Starting out in Constance on 22 April, he travelled to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

via

Rheineck Rheineck is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Rheineck is first mentioned about 1163 as ''castellum Rinegge''. In 1218 it was mentioned as ''Rinegg''. An older ...

Sterzing Sterzing (; it, Vipiteno ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. History Origin The town traces its roots to 14 B.C., when Nero Claudius ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

, and (31 May) from Venice by galley via

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, wh ...

in Istria, Dalmatia (

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, Lesina,

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

and Ragusa) to Corfu, Modon in

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...

, then on to Candia on

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

(

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

, Galini, Famagusta), arriving in Jaffa on 24 July. Travelling by donkey, he visited

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Sheph ...

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

Emmaus Emmaus (; Greek: Ἐμμαούς, ''Emmaous''; la, Emmaus; , ''Emmaom''; ar, عمواس, ''ʻImwas'') is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before tw ...

(i.e.

Imwas Imwas or Emmaus ( ar, عِمواس), known in classical times as Nicopolis ( gr, Νικόπολις, lit=City of Victory), was a Palestinian Arab village located southeast of the city of Ramla and from Jerusalem in the Latrun salient of the W ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

. On 1 September he took a ship back from Jaffa, reaching Venice on 16 November ( Saint Othmar's day), returning home in early December.Denke (2010:466) The two original illustrated manuscripts describing the pilgrimage were already completed in 1487 and are considered to be

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

. The slightly older one is being kept at the Baden State Library in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

as Cod. St. Peter pap. 32; and the next and more detailed one is being kept at the Gotha Research Center of the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

. Both codices contain coloured drawings, and while some of the drawings in the Karlsruhe codex seem to be made by Grünenberg himself, the Gotha codex is illustrated with larger drawings that combine features of the Karlsruhe drawings with features borrowed from

Erhard Reuwich Erhard Reuwich ( nl, Reeuwijk) was a Dutch artist, as a designer of woodcuts, and a printer, who came from Utrecht but then worked in Mainz. His dates and places of birth and death are unknown, but he was active in the 1480s. He came from a famil ...

's work, originating from Reuwich's own 1483-4 pilgrimage. The Karlsruhe codex has been interpreted as Grünenberg's own private copy, with the Gotha codex, which contains a more elaborate text and more detailed drawings, interpreted as a presentation copy dedicated to some important personality.Denke (2010:59-60)

References

Revised and facsimile editions

*Stillfried-Alcantara, Hildebrandt, ''Des Conrad Grünenberg, Ritters und Burgers zu Costenz, Wappenbuch. Volbracht am nünden Tag des Abrellen do man zalt tusend vierhundert drü und achtzig jar.'' Görlitz 1875–1884, (new facsimile edition 2009) *Johann Goldfriedrich, Walter Fränzel (eds.). ''Ritter Grünembergs Pilgerfahrt ins Heilige Land 1486'', Leipzig 1912, (''Voigtländers Quellenbücher'' 18), (new facsimile edition 2009). *Aercke, Kristian (ed.), ''The story of Sir Konrad Grünemberg's pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1486'' (2005). *Denke, Andrea,
Konrad Grünembergs Pilgerreise ins Heilige Land 1486. Untersuchung, Edition und Kommentar
' (2010).

Bibliography

*Andreas Klußmann, ''In Gottes Namen fahren wir. Die spätmittelalterlichen Pilgerberichte von Felix Fabri, Bernhard von Breydenbach und Konrad Grünemberg im Vergleich'' (2012). *Christof Rolker, ''Konrad Grünenbergs Wappenbuch: acta et agenda'', in: Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 162 (2014), 191–207 * Philipp Ruppert, ''Ritter Konrad Grünenberg'', in: Konstanzer geschichtliche Beiträge. Zweites Heft, Konstanz 1890, 34–3 *Claudia Zrenner, ''Die Berichte der europäischen Jerusalempilger (1475-1500): ein literarischer Vergleich im historischen Kontext'' (1981)

External links

in Geschichtsquellen des deutschen Mittelalters (''lit.'' German medieval historical sources), Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(last edit, as of March 2020: 10 Sep 2019) * Christof Rolker,
The baron who became an architect: (mis-)remembering Konrad Grünenberg (d. 1494)
', 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenenberg, Conrad Medieval Knights of the Holy Sepulchre People from Konstanz 1494 deaths Travelogues Holy Land travellers Year of birth unknown