The Egbert Psalter (also known as the Gertrude Psalter or Trier Psalter) is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

preserved in the municipal museum of

Cividale Cividale del Friuli (, locally ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the Northern Italy, North-Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The town lies above sea-level in th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(Ms. CXXXVI). The psalter is an example of the illuminated manuscripts associated with the

Ottonian Renaissance The Ottonian Renaissance was a renaissance of Byzantine art, Byzantine and Late Antiquity, Late Antique art in Central Europe, Central and Southern Europe that accompanied the reigns of the first three Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian Dynasty, ...

. It was originally created around the year 980 by the monks of the

Abbey of Reichenau Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives) in southern Germany. It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Visigothic Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, w ...

(a monk named Ruodprecht is mentioned in the original dedication) for Archbishop Egbert of Trier. In the mid-11th century, the book passed to

Gertrude of Poland Gertrude-Olisava (c. 1025 – 4 January 1108), was a Polish princess and the grand princess consort of Kiev by marriage to Iziaslav I. She was the daughter of Mieszko II Lambert and Richeza of Lotharingia, and the great-granddaughter of Otto II ...

, wife of Iziaslav of Kiev. She included her prayer book as part of the

codex 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 ...

and commissioned its illuminations, which curiously blend

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and Romanesque traditions. In the 12th century, the codex was in the possession of the Andechs-Merania family, and was given to

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (, , ; 7 July 120717 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her hus ...

either by her mother,

Gertrude of Merania Gertrude of Merania ( 1185 – 28 September 1213) was Queen of Hungary as the first wife of Andrew II from 1205 until her assassination. She was regent during her husband's absence. Life Gertrude was the daughter of the Bavarian Count Berth ...

, or by her aunt, Saint

Hedwig of Andechs Hedwig of Silesia (also Hedwig of Andechs (, , ; 1174 – 15 October 1243), a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from ...

. According to a 16th-century note on folio 8r, Saint Elizabeth gave the codex to the cathedral of Cividale in 1229. The book features a large picture of

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

venerated by Gertrude and her son Yaropolk, whose Christian name was Peter. It is known that Yaropolk was the first to build a church to St Peter in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and that he placed an image of that saint on his coins. In 1075 he was sent by his dethroned father to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in order to secure the Pope's support in recompense for bringing Russ (Ruth) under the patronage of St Peter ("patrocinium beati Petri"). There are two letters of

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

to the king of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and to

Svyatoslav II of Kiev Sviatoslav (, ; , ) is a Russian and Ukrainian given name of Slavic origin. Cognates include Svetoslav, Svatoslav, , Svetislav. It has a Pre-Christian pagan character and means "one who worships the light" (likely in reference to the sun). In ...

admonishing them to return the Kievan throne to Iziaslav.

References

External links

Egbert Psalter
overview and full reproduction of the codex: Cividale del Friuli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, CXXXVI. {{Authority control Ottonian illuminated manuscripts Illuminated psalters 10th-century biblical manuscripts Manuscripts in Latin

See also

References

External links