![Meister des Evangeliars von Echternach 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Meister_des_Evangeliars_von_Echternach_001.jpg)
The Echternach Gospels (Paris, Bib. N., MS. lat. 9389) were produced, presumably, at
Lindisfarne Abbey
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
in
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
around the year 690. This location was very significant for the production of
Insular manuscripts, such as the
Durham Gospels
The Durham Gospels is a very incomplete late 7th-century insular Gospel Book, now kept in the Durham Cathedral Dean and Chapter Library (MS A.II.17). A single folio of this manuscript is now in Magdalene College, Cambridge (Pepysian MS 2981). ...
(ms. A.II.17) and the
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...
(ms. Cotton Nero D. IV). The scribe of the Durham Gospels is believed to have created the Echternach Gospels as well.
[De Hamel, ''A History of Illuminated Manuscripts'', 32.] The Echternach Gospels are now in the collection of France's
Bibliothèque Nationale
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
in Paris.
This manuscript, and other such
Hiberno-Saxon
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from ''insula'', the Latin language, Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland ...
codices, were highly important instructional devices used in the Early Middle Ages primarily for conversion. The Echternach Gospels were probably taken by
Willibrord
Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg.
Early life
His fathe ...
, a Northumbrian missionary, to his newly founded
Abbey of Echternach
The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The Abbey was founded in the 7th century by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the pat ...
, now in Luxembourg, from which they are named.
It is significant that this early Hiberno-Saxon manuscript should have been brought here because, with Willibrord as Abbot, the scriptoria at Echternach would then become the most influential centre for Hiberno-Saxon style manuscript production in continental Europe.
[Oxford Art Online, ''Echternach''.]
Production
Early medieval manuscripts were produced in monastic scriptoria by scribes and artists. These manuscripts were made of parchment or
vellum
Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...
, stretched calfskin, that was then cut to size at the monastery. Next, a scribe would copy the words of the text before an artist would illuminate, or paint, them. The folios, or pages, would be bound after all the art was completed. Multiple scribes and artists would work on a single manuscript. The primary artist that worked on the Echternach Gospels is believed to be the same master who created the Durham Gospels at Lindisfarne.
This assumption is credible due to the similarities in the style of the art and the close date of production.
The styles of the Durham and Echternach Gospels belong to the Hiberno-Saxon style of early medieval Britain. This style is classified by intricate interlacing or linear patterns, flat geometric layout, and reduced schematic figures. The author portraits that precede each of the books in the Echternach Gospels depict the
symbols of the Evangelists in a very flat representation surrounded by geometric patterns. The tradition of portraying each author's portrait comes from the late antique Roman style of manuscript illumination.
As the Christian Church spreads across Europe, a resurgence of Imperial Roman conventions in art is evidenced as early as the 6th century through the
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
period. The Hiberno-Saxon artistic style, however, did not have a precedent for the naturalized figural representation growing in popularity. The very flat and stylized figural representation that we see in the Echternach Gospels are a result of the integration of the Roman author portrait convention depicted in the native visual language which emphasizes abstraction.
[Brown, ''Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age'', 10.]
Function
The Echternach Gospels were probably taken by Willibrord when he founded the Abbey of Echternach in the year 698. Willibrord, like many early medieval missionaries, travelled through Europe and used manuscripts to convert locals to Christianity.
The Echternach Gospels are an example of illuminated manuscripts that served as teaching tools as well as liturgical books. It is argued that the bright colours and abstract designs of Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts, in particular, captured the mysticism of Christianity for non-Christians. Because these converts were illiterate the images were hugely significant for their understanding of what was taught.
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, the eighth-century Northumbrian monk, writes that religious imagery was for the “intent that all who entered the church, even if ignorant of letters, might be able to contemplate … the ever-gracious countenance of Christ and his saints". The decoration of the text itself portrayed for the illiterate converts the mysticism and glory of the literal “Word of God.”
The importance of such manuscripts for medieval missionary work is evident in the work of the early British monks. For example, in the sixth century
Columbanus
Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in pr ...
founded many monasteries in Europe with an emphasis on manuscript production.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...
, sent by
Pope Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
in 597, travelled to England as a missionary for King
Æthelberht of Kent
Æthelberht (; also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert or Ethelbert; ang, Æðelberht ; 550 – 24 February 616) was King of Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his ''Ecclesiastical History of the Engli ...
, bringing many of his manuscripts with him as necessary conversion tools.
The introduction of these and other such imported Roman codices influenced the Insular manuscripts such as the Echternach Gospels a century later.
Context
The
Synod of Whitby
In the Synod of Whitby in 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome rather than the customs practiced by Irish monks at Iona and its satellite ins ...
at
Wearmouth-Jarrow was a significant Church ruling that affected the production of Insular manuscripts. The council was initially called to reconcile a dispute over the date of Easter and address other dissenting issues between Eastern and Western Christianity. Culminating with the ruling by King
Oswy
Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the chu ...
in 664, The Synod of Whitby stated an official preference of the Roman Christianity. Though this conclusion rejected Insular doctrine, the Hiberno-Saxon style script of manuscripts, however, was maintained and preferred throughout Europe.
[De Hamel, ''A History of Illuminated Manuscripts'', 37.] The result of this conflation of Eastern and Western Christianity is evident in the growing inclusion of Roman Style author portraits and Insular carpet pages while the text began to favour Roman capitals in Germanic runic-style script.
These collaborative manuscripts which incorporate Roman conventions are depicted in the European tribal styles. This developing framework of medieval Christianity contextualizes many of these Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts, including the Echternach Gospels, under the canvas of the multicultural Roman Church.
History and Relocation
The Echternach Gospels were removed from the abbey 1802 when it was secularized after the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.
Footnotes
{{Reflist
Bibliography
*Alexander, J. J. G. ''Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the 9th Century''. London: H. Miller, 1978.
*Bede (The Venerable). ''The Historical Works of the Venerable Beda''. Translated by Rev. Joseph Stevenson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1853.
*Brown, Michelle. ''Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.
*De Hamel, Christopher. ''A History of Illuminated Manuscripts''. London: Phaidon Press, 1997.
*Hunter Blair, Peter. ''An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977
*Oxford Art Online. “Grove Art Online: Manuscript.” Accessed June 4, 2013. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T053965?q=the+Echternach+Gospels&search=quick&pos=6&_start=1#firsthit
*
Schapiro, Meyer. ''The Language of Forms: Lectures on Insular Manuscript Art''. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 2005.
*
Snyder, James, Henry Luttikhuizen, and Dorothy Verkerk. ''Art of the Middle Ages''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
*Wilson, David M. ''Anglo-Saxon Art: From the Seventh Century to the Norman Conquest''. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984.
External links
Digitization of the Echternach Gospels at the Bibliothèque nationale de FranceNancy Netzer, ''Cultural interplay in the eighth century: the Trier Gospels and the making of a scriptorium at EchternachMore information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts
Gospel Books
7th-century biblical manuscripts
Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts
Bibliothèque nationale de France collections
7th-century illuminated manuscripts