Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

Teutonic Knights.

[Rule, statutes, and customs of the Teutonic Order] [manuscript].

[Germany, 14--]

23 leaves : paper ; 273 x 203 (203 x 150-155) mm. bound to 276 x 205 mm. + 1 note.

The rule, statutes, and customs of the Teutonic Order (Deutschen Orden), also known as the Teutonic Knights, or Brothers, of the Hospital of St. Mary of the German House in Jerusalem, in 3 parts: 1. The rule and life of the order (f. 2v-8v), including a prologue (f. 2v-3r) that discusses the order's founding in 1190, 2. the statutes, or laws, of the order (f. 9r-16r), 3. and the customs, or other laws (alia statuta), of the order (f. 16r-22r). The conclusion of the third section is followed by papal and imperial indulgences, or confirmations (f. 22r-22v), and then by papal benedictions in Latin (f. 22v-23r). The codex includes a table of contents (f. 1r-2r), with references only to section numbers, rather than to page or leaf numbers. The manuscript seems to have been part of a larger work (Sterns); the remnants of a finding tab (f. 2) mark the beginning of the text.

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger.

A note found with the manuscript, perhaps dating from the 19th century, claims that the manuscript once belonged to the Commandery of Beuggen, but no evidence in the manuscript appears to support this claim.

Collation: Paper, i (modern paper) + 23 + i (modern paper); 1¹¹(+ 10, f. 10, the other end of which is pasted down on f. 2r) 2¹²; [1-23]; modern pencil foliation, upper right recto.

Layout: Written in 44-58 long lines.

Script: Written in a German cursive hand.

Decoration: 2-line initials in red at beginnings of sections; rubrics in red. Initial letters of sentences generally stroked with red.

Binding: Modern half vellum.

Origin: Written in Germany in the 15th century (Zacour-Hirsch).

UPenn Ms. Codex 1087

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania Ms. Codex 1087