
The ''Codex Vigilanus'' or ''Codex Albeldensis'' (Spanish: ''Códice Vigilano'' or ''Albeldense'') is an
illuminated
Illuminated may refer to:
* Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts
* Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house
* ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album)
* Illuminated manuscript
See also compilation of various historical documents accounting for a period extending from antiquity to the 10th century in
Hispania
Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
. Among the many texts brought together by the compilers are the canons of the Visigothic
Councils of Toledo, the ''
Liber Iudiciorum'', the decrees of some early
popes and other
patristic writings, historical narratives (such as the ''Crónica Albeldense'' and the ''
Life of Mohammed''), various other pieces of
civil and
canon law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
, and a calendar. It is now in the library of
El Escorial monastery, with the shelfmark D.I.2.
The compilers were three monks of the
Riojan monastery of
San Martín de Albelda: Vigila, after whom it was named and who was the illustrator; Serracino, his friend; and García, his disciple. The first compilation was finished in 881, but was updated up to 976. The original manuscript is preserved in the library of
El Escorial (as Escorialensis d I 2). At the time of its compilation, Albelda was the cultural and intellectual centre of the
Kingdom of Pamplona. The manuscripts celebrate with illustrations not only the ancient Gothic kings who had reformed the law —
Chindasuinth,
Reccesuinth, and
Ergica — but also its contemporary dedicatees, the
rulers of Navarre:
Sancho II of Pamplona and his queen,
Urraca, and his brother
Ramiro Garcés,
King of Viguera.
The codex contains, among other pieces of useful information, among the earliest mention and representation of
Arabic numerals
The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numera ...
in the
West. They were introduced by the
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
into Spain around the early 8th century.
The illuminations are stylistically unique, combining
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...
,
Mozarabic, and
Carolingian elements. The interlace patterns and the drapery show Carolingian, as well
Italo-Byzantine, influence. The use of animals as decoration and for supporting columns also parallels contemporary Frankish usage. More Carolingian and less Byzantine influence is evident in the ''
Codex Aemilianensis'', a copy of the ''Vigilanus'' made at
San Millán de la Cogolla in 992 by a different illustrator.
[Guilmain, "Forgotten," 36–37.]
Notes
Sources
{{commons category, Codex Vigilanus
*Guilmain, Jacques.
Interlace Decoration and the Influence of the North on Mozarabic Illumination (in Notes). ''The Art Bulletin'', Vol. 42, No. 3. (September, 1960), pp 211–218.
*Guilmain, Jacques.
Zoomorphic Decoration and the Problem of the Sources of Mozarabic Illumination. ''Speculum'', Vol. 35, No. 1. (January, 1960), pp 17–38.
*Guilmain, Jacques.
The Forgotten Early Medieval Artist. ''Art Journal'', Vol. 25, No. 1. (Autumn, 1965), pp 33–42.
*Bishko, Charles Julian.
Salvus of Albelda and Frontier Monasticism in Tenth-Century Navarre. ''Speculum'', Vol. 23, No. 4. (October, 1948), pp 559–590.
976
10th-century illuminated manuscripts
Visigothic Kingdom
Medieval history of the Basque Country
Mozarabic art and architecture
10th century in Navarre
10th-century writers in Latin