Heinrich der Löwe und Mathilde von England

The Gospels of Henry the Lion were intended by

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

Duke of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...

, for the altar of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

in the church of St. Blaise's Abbey, Brunswick, better known as

Brunswick Cathedral Brunswick Cathedral (german: Dom St. Blasii (et Johannis), lit. in en, Collegiate Church of Ss. St. Blaise, Blaise and John the Baptist) is a large Lutheran Church (building), church in the City of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany. The church ...

. The volume is considered a masterpiece of Romanesque book illumination of the 12th century. The

gospel book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazar ...

was made for the duke on commission at the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Helmarshausen Abbey Helmarshausen Abbey (german: Kloster Helmarshausen) was a Benedictine monastery situated in the small town of Helmarshausen, now part of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, Germany. History The abbey was founded here near the River Diemel in 997 by the n ...

. As for its date, the church in Brunswick was built in 1173, and the altar of the Virgin Mary was dedicated in 1188. The creation of the gospel book was formerly placed by most authorities at about 1175 ("early dating") but today the balance of opinion puts it at about 1188 ("late dating"). The manuscript, containing 266 pages with the text of the four

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s, 50 of them full page illustrations, was sold by auction on 6 December 1983 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for £8,140,000. The purchase price was raised, in the context of a German national initiative for the preservation of national treasures, by the

German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

, the ''Bundesländer'' of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, the

Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a Germany, German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of ...

and private donors (largely from Brunswick). It was the most expensive book in the world until 1994, when

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

bought the

Codex Leicester __NOTOC__ The Codex Leicester (also briefly known as the Codex Hammer) is a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. The Codex is named after Thomas Coke, who purchased it in 1717; he later became the Earl of Leicester. The manus ...

, a manuscript by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

. The gospel book, preserved completely intact, with 50 full page miniatures, is kept in the

Herzog August Bibliothek The Herzog August Library (german: link=no, Herzog August Bibliothek — "HAB"), in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, known also as ''Bibliotheca Augusta'', is a library of international importance for its collection from the Middle Ages and ear ...

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

, and for security reasons is displayed only once every two years.

References

*''Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen.'' Complete facsimile of Codex Guelf. Noviss. 2°, Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (also Clm 30055 of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich). 1,000 numbered copies of the manuscript in 2 volumes (facsimile and commentary). Frankfurt am Main. 1989 *Abs, H. J., Fleckenstein, J., Kötzsche., D., 1985. ''Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen.'' Documentation to the authorised facsimile edition. Frankfurt am Main: Insel- Verlag. *Kötzsche, D. (ed.), 1989. '' Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen''. Commentary on the facsimile. Frankfurt am Main. *Klemm. E., 1988. ''Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen erläutert.'' Frankfurt am Main. *Gospels of Henry the Lion: Sale Catalogue, 6 December 1983. Sotheby's, London. *Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600''. Köln, TASCHEN, 2005.

External links

Brunswick Cathedral website: brief description of the Gospel Book, with images
{{Authority control Gospel Books 12th-century books 12th-century illuminated manuscripts Herzog August Library Culture in Braunschweig Christianity in Braunschweig

See also

References

External links