The Tyniec Sacramentary is an

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem du ...

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 ...

written in , probably near

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

History

It is one of the oldest surviving codices in

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 ...

, where it first arrived during the Middle Ages, kept in Poland for almost 1,000 years. It was transcribed and decorated with illuminations in

, probably at the Monastery of St Pantaleon around 1072–75. Shortly afterwards or in the 12th century it was offered to the Benedictine Abbey in

Tyniec Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044. Etymology ...

near

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. It was stolen during the Swedish invasion in the 17th century. Repurchased in Kraków, it returned to Tyniec. In 1814 the manuscript was bought from the monks by

Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski Count Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski of Herb Jelita (13 January 1775 – 2 April 1856) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic), politician, landowner, and patron of arts. By birth he was a member of the House of Zamoyski. Biography Stanisław was the ...

and included in the library of the

Zamoyski family The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is an important Polish noble (''szlachta'') family belonging to the category of Polish magnates. They used the Jelita coat of arms. The surname "Zamoyski" literally means "of/from Zamość" and refle ...

in the Blue Palace in Warsaw. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

tried to take the manuscript to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, but thanks to the endeavours of librarians, scholars and diplomats, they left it in the Zamoyski Library. After the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

the manuscript was secretly evacuated and hidden in the collegiate church at Łowicz. After the war in 1946, Jan Zamoyski, the final owner of the Zamoyski family fee tail, deposited the family library with the

National Library of Poland The National Library (, ''BN'') is the national library of Poland, subject directly to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The main seat of the National Library is located in the Ochota district of Warsaw, adjacent to the Mo ...

. Since May 2024, the manuscript has been exhibited at the

permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth Permanent may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film * ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album) * "Permanent" (song), by David Cook *"Permanent", a song by Alex Lahey from ''The Answer Is Always Yes'', 2023 Other ...

in Warsaw.

Description

The Sacramentary contains prayers for the priest celebrating

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. Magnificently decorated, it is one of the most precious artefacts of the Ottonian manuscript painting school. The sumptuous form of ''The Sacramentary'' indicates that the codex belonged to the so-called king’s manuscripts, which reflected the monarchy’s splendour. The manuscript consists of 470 pages. 38 of them is written in gold and silver on purple-stained

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

pages. Pages 7–30 contains a calendar. The manuscript contains 13 decorated

initial In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter (books), chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means '' ...

s (two full-page plaited initials) and two fullpage miniatures – the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

and the '' Maiestas Domini''. It also contains the oldest musical notation in Poland in chironomic form.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Tyniec Sacramentay
' at the Polona digital library {{Manuscript-art-stub Christian illuminated manuscripts Manuscripts in the National Library of Poland