Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 12600

Computistical-Astronomical Sammelhandschrift

Parchment — 137 ff. fols. — 301 × 207 mm — Prüfening — s. XII

Support: Foliated in pencil on the upper right corner of every recto page and the lower left corner of every verso page.

Layout: Most of the manuscript is written in one column, around 41 lines.Layout: Exception are ff. 22r-26r written in three columns.Layout: In Bede's DTR rubrication for titles of chapters in capitalis rustica, red initials and red for filling letters.

Script: Caroline minuscule showing initial gothical features, characteristic for s. XII² (long s and r are still often going below base line, the lower lobe of g closed but not connected from the upper one).

Hands: According to H. von Fichtenau (1937, pp. 321-2) Part 1 (ff.1-21) with the Annals to 1130 was written by one hand. Part 2 and 3 were copied by a different hand, with the exception at the end (f. 137, lines 13-21) where Wolfger from Prüfening took over. He also wrote further on the Annals for the years 1130-1154 (6r-v changing ink and ductus). It is probable that Wolfger supervised the production of the codex and in the first case step in because of difficulties in the text that was to be copied. The end of the Annals (f. 6v) was finished by another hand with similar features. The additions in the margins were added by another hand at the end of the 12th c.

Binding: Lederbinding with metal clasps and bosses.

History: Prüfening near Regensburg in s. XII². Based on the stylistical characteristics of the illustrations, Boecklers and Borchers suggest a realtive later date for the composition the 1210-1220. The manuscript was produced under the directions of Wolfger, who studied in Bamberg and moved around 1120 to Prüfening. His connections to Bemberg remained strong. According to Schmitz the three parts of the manuscript were joined together most probably shortly after 1200. The style of the illustrations in Part 2 shows 13th-century features (Mütherich, p. 57). The script, however, exhibits characterics of the second half of the 12th c. — The manuscript remained inPrüfening at least until 1314. Evidences for that are the annals mentioning f. 9v the death of Abbot Bruno in 1281 and the election of Abbot Ulrich. The death of the latter on the 14. March 1314 is noted in the calendar on f. 33r. In 1803 during the secularisation the abbey was dissolve and the library of Prüfening was transferred toRegensburg. How the manuscript arrived in Vienna is unclear. Boeckler suggested that the manuscript might have been part of the library ofCaspar von Nidbruck, who served as a kaiserlicher Rat in the court of Maximilian the II and Ferdinand the I. He bequeathed large part of his collection in Regensburg to serve the Reformation. Since many of his books were obtained from austrian monasteries, after his death Vienna asked for the books back. Boeckler considered it plausible that on that occasion our manuscript was mistaken as an austrian book and transferred to Vienna. To strengthen this hypothesis, Boeckler argued that Caspar von Nidbruck might have borrowed the manuscript from Regensburg, so that it was later found among his collection. According to Hermann once in Vienna the manuscript belong to the antiquarian Kuppitsch. Upon his death in 1849 it became part of the 'Neuer Fond' which includes manuscripts of the Hofbibliothek bought from or donated by Hammer-Purgstall.

Selected bibliography:Boeckler, Albert.Die Regensburg-Prüfeninger Buchmalerei des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts. Munich: Reusch, 1924 (esp. pp. 72-76). — Blume, Dieter, Mechthild Haffner, and Wolfgang Metzger. Sternbilder des Mittelalters. Vol. I, 1: Text und Katalog der Handschriften. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2012, pp. 548-553. — Blume, Dieter. "Körper und Kosmos im Mittelalter." InBild und Körper im Mittelalter. Ed. by Kristin Marek, 225-242. Munich: Fink, 2006. — Borchers, Renate. Die ikonographischen Quellen des Codex 12600 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien. Studien zur mittelalterlichen illustration profan-wissenschaftlicher Texte. Vienna, 1975. Diss. — Borst, Schriften, Vol. 1, pp. 315-316. — Buberl, Paul, and Hans Gerstinger. Die Byzantinischen Handschriften. 2. Die Handschriften des X. - XVIII. Jahrhunderts vols. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1938 (pp. 72-81). — Fichtenau, Heinrich von. "Wolfger von Prüfening,"Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 51 (1937): 313-357. — Hermann, Hermann Julius.Die Deutschen Romanischen Handschriften. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1926 (Nr. 46, pp. 73-81). — Saxl, Verzeichnis 2, pp. 12-14, 159-163. — Saxl, Fritz.Lectures. Vol. 1. 2 vols. London: Warburg institute, 1957 (pp. 58-72). — Munk Olsen, Catalogue 2, p. 273. — Mütherich, Florentine, ed.Regensburger Buchmalerei: Von frühkarolingischer Zeit bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters. Munich: Prestel, 1987 (Nr. 46, pp. 56-57). — Tabulae codicum manu scriptorum, praeter graecos et orientales in Bibliotheca Palatina Vindobonensi asservatorum. Vol. VII: Cod. 11501-14000. Wien, 1875, pp. 119-120. — Unterkircher, Franz.Inventar der illuminierten Handschriften, Inkunabeln und Frühdrucke der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek. Teil 1: Die abendländischen Handschriften. Wien: Prachner, 1957, p. 153.

Part I (ff. 1-6)

1r-6v Annales ratisponenses Annals of Regensburg and Prüfening from AD 1 to 1167. Ihesus christus uiui dei filius et omnium conditor temporum … — … Eberhardus ratisponensis episcopus inibi etiam obiit. Chuno successit. Ed. in MGH. SS. 17, pp. 577-590 (here 579-588).

Part II (ff. 7-41)

1130-1170

7r Astrological table for finding the planets within the zodiac. Hec pagina adeo utilitatem sui commendat ut sine ea nullam sibi quisque astrologiae noticiam promittat … — … per ordinem signis horae binae et bine substituuntur. Three-dimensional meander decoration in the inner margin.

7v-14r Cycli decemnovennales Paschal tables for the 19-year cicle with annals in the margin. ›Incipiunt annales dominicae incarnationis‹

(7v-10v) Annales Pruveningenses (MLXXXXII) expeditio ierusalem sub gotfrido … — … Adolfus romanorum rex in bello occiditur. Written by several hands. Ed. in MGH. SS. 17, pp. 606-609.

14v-16v Excerpts from Libri computi (III.2-9, 14; IV.10) ›De anno et partibus eius‹ ›Quot athomos habet annus vel partes eius‹ ›Quot modis soleat annus nominari‹ ›De mundano anno qui quindecim milibus solarium… ac senacae philosophorum auctoritas‹ ›Unde conficiatur bissextus‹ ›De mensura crementi bissextilis‹ Annus solaris habet IIII tempora menses XII … — … XV KL aprilis arietem possit aggredi. Borst, Schriften, Vol. 2, 1186-1192, 1196-97, 1212.

Pliny: De praesagiis tempestatum Possibly taken from the Libri computi (V.12), but corrected agains a copy of Pliny's Naturalis historia (Borst, Schriften, Vol. 1, p. 316). Qui tempestatum serenitatisue presagia inuestigare et depraehendere nititur his indicis innitatur. Sol oriens sed non feruens serenum … — … sudorem repositorus reliquentia diras tempestates prenuntiant. Borst, Schriften, Vol. 3, pp. 1282-1293.

18r-v Text on geometry and on the distances between planets. Excerpt from Cassiodor 's Institutiones, followed by an excerpts from Censorinus ' De die natali.

Cassiodor: Institutiones Lib. II,6 Nunc de geometricam uideamus in his que sunt que ad VII planetas et reliqua sidera pertinent. Geometria namque est disciplina magnitudinis inmobilis et formarum … — … Unde censorinus in libro quem scripsit ad cerellium quintum spatia ipsium celi terrae ambitum per numerum stadiorum disctincta curiositate descripsit dicens PL 70, 1212D

Censorinus: De die natali cap. 13 Pytagoras prodidit hunc totum mundum musica factum ratione septemque stellas inter celum et terram uagas … — … quia si uellem in unum librum separatim congerere tantum tamen in angustiis uersarer.

Apparently the reader of Cassiodorus followed his recommendation to read Censorinus for the one who would read it "multa philosophorum mysteria brevi lectione cognoscit."

Hermannus Contractus: De mensura astrolabii (ch. 1-9) ›De tribus circulis astrolabii inveniendis‹ In metienda igitur subtilissime inuentionis Ptholomei wazzalchora id est plana spera … — … ingenium in huius modo rerum usu exercitanti alias debet notificari. 20v, 21r diagrams representing an astrolab. Table with the Zodiacal signs.

21v blank.

22r-23r Bede. Excerpt from De temporum ratione (I.1 De computo vel loquela digitorum) on finger reckoning preceded by:

Isidore. Excerpt from 's Etymologiae (XI, 1, 70-71). Digiti nuncupati quod decem sunt uel quia decenter iuncti existunt … — … Ungulas ex greco uocamus. Illi namque has unicem dicunt.

Cum dicis unum in leua digitum inflectens minimum in medium palmae artum infiges … — … [D] ecies centena milia cum dicis ambas manus insertis inuicem digitis complicabis. On f.22r drawings of hands beside the three columns of text. On ff. 22v-23r medallion with human figures from the waist up making the hand signs. On f.23r the last illustration is in colour representing an entire human figure of a man.

Excerpts from Libri computi (V.) Borst, Schriften, Vol. 3, pp. 1251-1273.

(23r-26r) De ordine ac positione stellarum in signis Est quidem hic ordo et positio syderum que fixa celo plurium coaceruatione stellarum … — … Anticanis habet in toto corpore stellas III. Illustrations of the constellations. There was too little place left for the illustration. As a consequence in several places the artist painted only parts of the figures. An artistic sollution which hinders the use of the illustrations as help to identify the constellation.

(26v) Pliny the Elder: De positione et cursu septem planetarum Inter celum et terram certis discreta spatiis VII sydera pendent … — … cum tardissime a tricesima luce ad easdem uices exit. On f.27r diagram for planetary order. Circular diagram of concentric circle representing the planetary orbits.

(27r) Pliny the Elder: De intervallis eorum Interualla eorum a terra multi indagare temptarunt … — … Ita VII tonis effici quam dyapason armoniam uocant. On f.27v diagram for planetary intervals. Concentric circles representing the orbits of the planets this time positioned according to the distances stated in the text.

(27v-28r) Pliny the Elder: De absidibus earum Tres autem quas supra solem diximus sitas occultantur … — … sicut in rotis radios ut subiecta figura demonstrat. Diagram for planetary absides left unfinished. In the outer circular band the twelve zodiacal signs in their natural order. The inner of the circle divided into twelve equal part, where one would expect to see the concentric planetary circles.

(28v, 29v) Pliny the Elder: De cursu earum per zodiacum circulum [C] ur autem magnitudines suas et colores mutent … — … sed inter omnia sydera martis maxime inobservabilis est cursus.

29v Micro and macrocosmos diagram. The twelve winds on the four sides represented by human heads with wings. In the middle a rectangular with the four elements and world directions on each side. In the centre a human figure."Macrocosmos constat ex quatuor elementis igne aere aqua et terra. Sic et microcosmos id est homo constat ex isdem IIII elementis igne aere aqua terra. De igne sumit calerem de aere spiritum de aqua humorem de terra corpus. Sed et IIII hec elementa significant IIII euangelia quae per IIII partes mundi ad saluationem totius generis humani per XII apostolos et per successores eorum episcopos et presbiteros predicantur".

30r Personification of the four elements as human figures.

30v Cumputistical table for the "cyclus decemnovenalis" (?)

31r Excerpt from Geometria incerti auctoris (cap. 60). Part of the text taken also in Libri computi (VI.7) ›De magnitudine terreni orbis per umbram solis depraehensa‹ Eratosthenes philosophus itemque geometria subtilissimus … — … nunc puncto a interuallo e circulum scribimus. Bubnov 1899, Appendix IV. pp. 362-364. Borst, Schriften, Vol. 3, pp. 1318-1320.

31v Abbo Floriacensis. Excerpt from Computus vulgaris. Efemeris uel ephemerida est subputatio singularum dierum… mensibus signis terminis annis cicli decennovenalis. Quadratus hic equilateralis qui dicitur tetragonus … — … Terminos quoque seper inuenies si obseruaueris lunam. Febr. X. Martis II. Aprilis XIIII. Maii XX. Iunii IIII. Table Berlin, SB, Ms. Phill. 1833, f. 33v.

32r-37v Calendar with later added necrology of abbots from Prüningen. MGH, SS 7, p. 609.

38r-40r Computistical tables.38r "Cursus lunae per duodecim signa"; On 39r a marginal note: "Hii omnes eximii conputiste fuere Nestor capuarius episcopus[uel victor obscure scriptum], Anatolius laodicie episcopus … Beda in testimonium computi sui sumpsit. Beda ipse, Rabanus, Elbericus. Hii duo imitatores bedae fuerunt. Herimannus sueui gena phylosophus quamuis ultima in computatione sua est subtilissimus. Hic multa et ammirabili et hactenus inaudita regula composuit". 39v "In quo signo sit luna cottidie". In the upper margine a later 14th-century note dividing the zodiac in three groups: aries, libra, aquarius and sagittarius - "bona"; cancer, capricornus, pisces and virgo "media"; and thaurus [!], gemini, leo and scorpio "mala". 40r unfinished rota diagram.

40v-41v blank.

Part III (ff. 42-137)

Bede: De temporum ratione(ch. 66-71 on ff. 105r-135v)

(42r-v) Prolog: ›Incipit prefatio bede presbuteri‹ De natura rerum et ratione temporum duos quondam stricto sermone libellos … — … nihilominus debitae fraternitatis intemerata iura custodiat. ›Explicit prefatio.‹

(42v) Capitula: ›Incipiunt capitula operis sequentis‹ I. De computo uel loquela digitorum … — … LXXII. De septima et octaua etate futuri seculi. ›Expliciunt capitula.‹

(43r-97r) Text: ›Incipit compotus Venerabilis Bedae presbiteri‹ De ratione temporum domino adiuuante dicturi necessarium duximus … — … in questionem uenerant quando uel quales fuerint euidentius agnoscant. ›Explicit liber de temporibus.‹ f.45r two drawings of horologium in form of two semicircles the first showing the mathematical relation between puncti, minuta, partes and momenta: "hec astrolabica ratione probanda sunt. Horologium cum punctis minutis partibus et momentis hoc modo erit". The second "Partos nihil alius dicimus quam cottidiano solis in celo progressus ut in argumentatione lunaris computi.Ideo (?) ut scias per etatem cuiuslibet lunae per tetragonum ductae eiusque summa numeri iterum per trigonum ductae monstrate tibi tot partibus lunam a sole distare." f.49v diagram illustrating the night shadow cast by earth that sometimes touches the moon in the form of a pointed pyramid ("columna pyramidis"). Bede says: "acuminatis instar pyramidum tenebris" f.51r rota diagram of the planetary orbits represented as concentric circles the outher most being the zodiac divided in the twelve signs. Each planet represented by a red star spread around the zodiac. A correction of the place of the sun (from beginning of Virgo to the border line between Libra and Scorpio) could suggest the intentional recording of an observation of the planetary position. f.65v illustrations of the different possitions of the moon crescent (to ch. 25). f.75r globe with the five circles and zones and the zodiacal band, which curiously crosses perpendicularly all other. Side-by-side an Isidorian rota of the five circles represented as petals of a flower (to illustrate ch. 34). f.76v two rota diagrams, first illustrating the relations between the four seasons-world directions-qualities (calidus/siccus etc.); the second a micro-macro cosmos showing relations between the four elements-seasons-qualities-humours. Some interlinear notations and marginal notations.

97r-105r Bede: De natura rerum ›Incipit liber bedae de natura rerum‹

Capitula.

(97r) I. De quadrifario opere dei. II. De mundi formatione … — … XXI. Argumentum de cursu lunae per signa. ›Expliciunt capitula.‹

(97r) Text: ›Incipiunt uersus eiusdem.‹ Naturas rerum uarias lanetis et aeui | Perstrinci titulis tempora lata citis … — … atque inde africa a meridie usque ad occidentem extenditur. ›Explicit liber bede De natura rerum.‹

105r-135v Bede: De temporum ratione(ch. 66-71) ›Incipit chronica eiusdem.‹ [D] e sex huius mundi aetatibus ac septima uel octaua quietis … — … aeternam cuncti caelestium praemiorum mereamur accipere palmam. Amen. Rest of the page (12 lines) left blank.

136r-137r Excerptum de astrologia Duo sunt extremi uertices mundi quos appelant polos … — … que ad ipsum usque decurrit accipiens.

137r Ps. Priscianus: De sideribus Ad boree partes arcti uertuntur et angues … — … inc [!] sequitur pistrix simul eridanique fluenta.

137r-v Anonymus Sangallensis Herodius dixit elicen licaonis fuisse filiam quae a ioue uiolata … — … propter iouem quod in bouem sit fabulose conuersus.

137v Short text (prognostica). "Tres dies et noctes sunt in quibus si uir generatus fuerit sine duobio corpus eius integrum manet usque ad diem iudicii. Hoc est in VI K. et III. K. et ID Febr. etsuum (?) mysterium ualde mirabile est."

Abreviated Literature:

Borst, Schriften	Borst, Arno. Schriften zur Komputistik im Frankenreich von 721 bis 818. 3 Vols. (MGH: Quellen zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, 21, 1-3) Hannover: Hahn, 2006.
Bubnov 1899	Gerberti postea Silvestri II papae Opera mathematica 972-1003. Ed. Nicolai Bubnov. Berlin: Friedländer, 1899.
Munk Olsen, Catalogue 2	Munk Olsen, Birger. L’ étude Des Auteurs Classiques Latins Aux XIe et XIIe Siècles. Vol. II. Catalogue des manuscrits classiques latins copiés du IXe au XIIe siècle: Livius - Vitruvius, Florilèges - Essais de plume. Paris: CNRS, 1985.
PL	Patrologia latina ed. J. P. Migne. - Paris 1844ff.
Saxl, Verzeichnis 2	Saxl, Fritz. Verzeichnis Astrologischer Und Mythologischer Illustrierter Handschriften Des Lateinischen Mittelalters. Vol. 2: Die Handschriften der National-Bibliothek in Wien. Heidelberg: Winter, 1927.

Catalogued by: Ivana Dobcheva

(draft version: 2018-06-01)

How to quote: Ivana Dobcheva, 'Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 12600 - Aratea Digital' (https://github.com/ivanadob/aratea-data/blob/master/data/descriptions/desc__vienna_onb_12600.xml last update: 2018-06-01).