{{Short description, Manuscript The Codex Hersfeldensis was a

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 printing, printed or repr ...

from the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. Written between 830 and 850, the codex was found in

Hersfeld Abbey Hersfeld Abbey was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse-Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda. The ruins are now a medieval festival venue. History H ...

in the first half of the 15th century. The codex was brought to Italy by

Enoch of Ascoli Enoch of Ascoli ( 1400 – c. 1457) was a humanist and agent of Nicholas V in charge of collecting manuscripts around Europe for the newly founded library of the pope. He is notably responsible for the finding and retrieval, from a German monaste ...

in 1455, where it was divided up and copied. The original has since been lost. The ''Codex Hersfeldensis'' is considered to be the original source for the surviving manuscripts of the ''Opera Minora'' – the shorter works of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, including the ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

''. In 1425, Heinrich von Grebenstein, a Hersfeld monk visiting Rome, informed the apostolic secretary, humanist, and collector of Latin manuscripts,

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classi ...

, of the discovery of copies of ancient works at the abbey. Grebenstein sent a list of the works to Poggio who recognized the value of the finds and sent his agent

Niccolò Niccoli Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The f ...

to Hersfeld to obtain a detailed inventory. In 1431, Niccoli identified three writings of Tacitus as works contained within the codex (''

'', ''

Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the mid ...

'', ''

Dialogus de oratoribus The ''Dialogus de oratoribus'' is a short work attributed to Tacitus, in dialogue form, on the art of rhetoric. Its date of composition is unknown, though its dedication to Lucius Fabius Justus places its publication around 102 AD. Summary The ...

''), as well as a fragment of

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

's ''De grammaticis et rhetoribus'' from ''De viris illustribus'' with their

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

and volume in

folia ''La Folía'' (Spanish), or ''Follies'' (English), also known as ''folies d'Espagne'' (French), ''La Follia'' (Italian), and ''Folia'' (Portuguese), is one of the oldest remembered European musical themes, or primary material, generally melodic, ...

: * ''Cornelii Taciti De origine et situ Germanorum liber, ��xii folia'' * ''Cornelii Taciti De vita Iulii Agricolae, ��xiiii folia'' * ''Dialogus de oratoribus, ��xviii folia'' * ''Suetonii Tranquilli De grammaticis et rhetoribus, ��folia vii'' Though Poggio tried to obtain it for himself, the codex was not brought to Rome until Enoch of Ascoli acquired it as part of

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV, Po ...

's search for books in Germany and Northern Europe. After a few copies were made of the individual works, the manuscript disappeared without a trace. The only existing manuscript that is considered a direct copy of the ''Codex Hersfeldensis'' is the '' Codex Aesinas Latinus 8'', discovered in 1908 (catalogued as Codex Vittorio Emanuele 1631 in the

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma (''Rome National Central Library''), in Rome, is one of two central national libraries of Italy, along with ''Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze'' in Florence. In total, 9 national libraries exist, ...

). The humanist Stefano Guarnieri created the ''Aesinas'' in the period after

Pietro Candido Decembrio Pietro (also known as Pier and Piero) Candido Decembrio (in Latin, Petrus Candidus Decembrius) (1399–1477) was an Italian humanist and author of the Renaissance, and one of those involved in the rediscovery of ancient literature. Life The son ...

described the ''Codex Hersfeldensis'', no later than 1474. It contains parts of the Agricola, the full Germania, as well as other writings. Eight folia written in

Carolingian minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one reg ...

are included in the Agricola section. This Agricola fragment is generally considered to be the only original piece of the ''Codex Hersfeldensis'' that has survived to the present day.

References

* Ludwig Pralle: Die Wiederentdeckung des Tacitus. Verlag Parzeller, Fulda 1952 *

Bernhard Bischoff Bernhard Bischoff (20 December 1906 – 17 September 1991) was a German historian, paleographer, and philologist; he was born in Altendorf (administrative division of Altenburg, Thuringia), and he died in Munich. Biography He was the son of E ...

: ''Das benediktinische Mönchtum und die Überlieferung der klassischen Literatur.'' In: ''Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens'' 92 (1981), S. 165–190, hier S. 181. *Michael Fleck: ''Der Codex Hersfeldensis des Tacitus: eine abenteuerliche Geschichte aus der Zeit der Renaissance.'' In: ''Hersfelder Geschichtsblätter''. Band 1 (2006), S. 98–113. * Heinz Heubner: ''Die Überlieferung der Germania des Tacitus.'' In:

Herbert Jankuhn Herbert Jankuhn (8 August 1905 – 30 April 1990) was a German archaeologist of Prussian Lithuanian heritage who specialized in the archaeology of Germanic peoples. He is best known for his excavations at the Viking Age site of Hedeby, and for h ...

, Dieter Timpe (Hrsg.): ''Beiträge zum Verständnis der Germania des Tacitus. Bericht über die Kolloquien der Kommission für die Altertumskunde Nord- und Mitteleuropas im Jahr 1986.'' Teil 1. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1989, ISBN 3-525-82459-9, S. 16–26. *Harald Merklin: ''′Dialogus′-Probleme in der neueren Forschung''. In: Wolfgang Haase et al. (Hrsg.): ''

Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt , commonly referred to by its German acronym, ''ANRW'', or in English as ''Rise and Decline of the Roman World'', is an extensive collection of books dealing with the history and culture of ancient Rome. Akin to a journal and published in various ...

'' II. Prinzipat, Band 33,3. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 1991. ISBN 3-11-012541-2, S. 2255–2283. * Dieter Mertens: ''Die Instrumentalisierung der „Germania“ des Tacitus durch die deutschen Humanisten.'' In: Heinrich Beck (Hrsg.): ''Zur Geschichte der Gleichung „germanisch–deutsch“: Sprache und Namen, Geschichte und Institutionen.'' Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2004, ISBN 978-3-11-017536-3, S. 37–101 ('' Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', 34
online als PDF
. * Charles E. Murgia: ''Review Article: The Minor Works of Tacitus. A Study in Textual Criticism Cornelii Taciti Opera minora by M. Winterbottom, R. M. Ogilvie.'' In: ''Classical Philology'' 72, 4 (1977), S. 323–343. * Charles E. Murgia, R. H. Rodgers: ''A Tale of Two Manuscripts.'' In: ''Classical Philology'' 79, 2 (1984), S. 145–153. *Rodney P. Robinson: ''The Inventory of Niccolo Niccoli.'' In: ''Classical Philology'' 16, 3 (1921), S. 251–255.

* Franz Römer: ''Kritischer Problem- und Forschungsbericht zur Überlieferung der taciteischen Schriften.'' In: Wolfgang Haase et al. (Hrsg.): ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II. Prinzipat, Band 33,3. de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 1991, ISBN 3-11-012541-2, S. 2299–2339. * Rudolf Till: ''Handschriftliche Untersuchungen zu Tacitus Agricola und Germania, mit einer Photokopie des Codex Aesinas.'' Berlin-Dahlem 1943. *

Michael Winterbottom Michael Winterbottom (born 29 March 1961) is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—''Welcome to Sarajevo'', '' Wonderland'' and '' 24 Hour Party People''� ...

: ''The Manuscript Tradition of Tacitus' Germania.'' In: ''Classical Philology'' 70, 1 (1975), S. 1–7. Lost documents