Codex Falkensteinensis Wasserburg Hartmannsberg

The Codex Falkensteinensis (also referred to as Codex diplomaticus Falkensteinensis or Liber traditionum comitatus Neuenburg-Falkenstein) is an important medieval

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

. It was written in 1166 as a feud directory and

urbarium An urbarium (, English: ''urbarium'', also ''rental'' or ''rent-roll'', , , , ), is a register of fief ownership and includes the rights and benefits that the fief holder has over his serfs and peasants. It is an important economic and legal sourc ...

by Canons of the

Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipali ...

monastery, commissioned by the Counts of Neuburg-Falkenstein. Composed at the Neuburg castle near Vagen it is considered the only preserved secular codex from the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

era, the oldest extant book of conveyances from a secular lordship and the oldest European family archive. The original

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

version is preserved in the archives of the Bavarian state, a second

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

edition is lost.

Historical and legal significance

The Codex Falkensteinensis, written in

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

, lists possessions and estates of the Counts of Falkenstein, covering a large area between the Bavarian

Mangfall The Mangfall () is a river of Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Inn. The Mangfall is the outflow of the Tegernsee lake and discharges into the Inn in Rosenheim. The Mangfall is long. Towns and villages on the Mangfall * G ...

valley, today's

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

and

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, in addition to the dynasty's core countries in the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

and Vils valleys.Peter Bergmaier (1966): Codex diplomaticus Falkensteinensis, deutsche Übersetzung. Der Mangfallgau 11: 5–68 Intending to take part in Friedrich Barbarossa's fourth Italian expedition, Siboto IV ordered to draft the manuscript, with the aim to secure the property situation for his under-age children, should he perish during the campaign. Originally, a second edition was written in German, in addition to the Latin version. It was cited by several historic authors, but was lost towards the end of the 17th century.Elisabeth Noichl: "Codex Falkensteinensis – Die Rechtsaufzeichnungen der Grafen von Falkenstein". C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, 1978. The oldest part of the Codex Falkensteinensis includes provisions for the guardianship of the count's children and a directory of

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s and allodial property of the Falkenstein lineage. Later additions that were added until about 1193 contain legal and historical notes and lists of revenue and harvest. Notably, the codex also includes recordings of an ecclesial penance, a medieval medicinal formula and a hint to a solar eclipse in 1133. A unique feature of the manuscript is that it contained the copy of a clandestine letter of Siboto IV to his lower-Austrian vassal Ortwin von Merkenstein, in which he ordered to eliminate his enemy Rudolf von Piesting. It remains unclear if Siboto ordered a

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

or blinding, or if the letter is forgery in order to disparage Siboto. An additional option is that the letter was written but kept by Siboto in order to use it as leverage towards his lower-Austrian relatives.

Artistic aspects

The Codex diplomaticus Falkensteinensis is richly endowed with illustrations and miniatures that are influenced by the transition from

byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome, decline of western Rome and ...

to European medieval illumination.Hans Petz, Hermann von Grauert und Johannes Mayerhofer: Drei bayerische Traditionsbücher aus dem XII. Jahrhundert: Festschrift zum 700jährigen Jubiläum der Wittelsbacher Thronbesteigung. Verlag von Max Kellerer, München 1880 The first pages of the manuscript are illustrated with a pictorial representation of the count's family, showing Siboto IV, his wife Hildegard von Mödling and his sons Kuno and Siboto V. This illustration is considered to be one of the oldest family portraits. Four additional miniatures depict the major castles of the lineage, the Neuburg castle, the Falkenstein castle, Hartmannsberg and Hernstein. Other illustrations portray animals and farmers.

External links

{{commons category, Codex Falkensteinensis
Online version of the Codex Falkensteinensis (KL Weyarn 1) and of Elisabeth Noichl's edition by the Bavarian State LibraryDigital version of the Codex Falkensteinensis in the cultural portal bavarikon

References

German noble families Former states and territories of Bavaria 12th-century illuminated manuscripts Medieval documents of Germany

Historical and legal significance

Artistic aspects

Further reading

External links

References