Conrad Grünenberg, also spelled Konrad, Grünemberg, Grünberg (probably born around 1415; died 1494) was a patrician from Constance in southern Germany, known as the author of three books, two

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coat of arms, 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 m ...

s and a travelogue: the ''Österreichische Wappenchronik'' (, ); the ''Wappenbuch'' (, ), containing some 2000 coats-of-arms, 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 typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

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 (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central "State libraries of Germany, Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest u ...

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 (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

).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''.Denke (2010:92) In Jerusalem, he was probably made a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. He was furthermore a member of the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese Order of the Jar and of the Austrian

Order of Saint George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

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 ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

via Rheineck,

Sterzing Sterzing (; ) 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. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Hi ...

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

and

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

, and (31 May) from Venice by

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

via

Poreč Poreč (; known also by several alternative names) 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, which was designated a UN ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

(

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

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

, Lesina,

Korčula Korčula () 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 Krk. The populat ...

and

Ragusa Ragusa may refer to: Places Croatia * Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...

) to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, Modon in

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

, then on to

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

(

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

, Galini,

Famagusta Famagusta, also known by several other names, is a city located on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It is located east of the capital, Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime ...

), arriving in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

on 24 July. Travelling by

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

, he visited Lydda,

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

Emmaus Emmaus ( ; ; ; ) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus. Although its geograp ...

(i.e. Imwas),

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. 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 Intern ...

. The slightly older one is being kept at the

Baden State Library The Baden State Library (, BLB) is a large universal library in Karlsruhe. Together with the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, the BLB is the legal deposit and regional library for Baden-Württemberg. Library Profile Established around 1500, ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

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 () 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 German reunification. Therefore ...

. 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 () 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 family of painter ...

'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 (),

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(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