Word, Image, and Copy: The Reception of Hrabanus Maurus's "In honorem sanctae crucis," c. 810-1600 CE Restricted; Files Only
Michael, Kelin (Spring 2023)
Abstract
Hrabanus Maurus’s collection of twenty-eight carmina figurata (“figured poems”), In honorem sanctae crucis (In Honor of the Holy Cross), was written in 810/814 CE and became a celebrated work across western Europe over the course of the next seven centuries. Dedicated to honoring the holy cross and portraying Christ as mediator and savior, Hrabanus departed from the traditional geometric poems of this genre to create works which operate not only visually and textually, but pictorially and textually. In doing so, his poems illuminate the capacity of text and picture to activate a multi-medial process of sacred image-making. This quality fascinated reader-viewers across time and space, the result of which can be seen in the over eighty full and partial manuscript copies that survive, as well as three early modern printed editions, each displaying idiosyncratic examples of text, color, image, and collated materials. My dissertation takes up these issues and investigates the impact of In honorem on the numerous societies that chose to produce copies of the work between the ninth and seventeenth centuries. By examining alterations to the copies’ form and content made during this range of time, this project ultimately creates an object biography of In honorem, which demonstrates how art can be seen as an active agent in constructing and participating in broader political and theological movements. Because In honorem survives in so many copies and was continuously modified by different social groups across several centuries, this manuscript is particularly situated to act as a case study which illustrates how one work of art retains relevance through cultural shifts. Hrabanus's figured poems illuminate the capacity of text and picture to stimulate a creative, innovative drive within audiences across time and space. This dissertation considers the lengthy reception of Hrabanus’s carmina figurata, why they enjoyed such a long and successful reception, and how images played a specific role in the work’s extended legacy.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION—HRABANUS MAURUS AND IN HONOREM
THE HISTORICAL HRABANUS
Hrabanus on the Roles of Text and Image
The Context for the Creation of Hrabanus’s In honorem
Audience Experience of In honorem
HISTORIOGRAPHY
METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER PLAN
CHAPTER I—BNF LATIN MS 2421: IN HONOREM SANCTAE CRUCIS IN PRE-CONQUEST ENGLAND
INTRODUCTION
Contents, Provenance, and Dating
LATIN 2421: WHAT DO CHANGES TO STYLE AND CONTENT MEAN?
Script
Facial Hair
Headgear
Color
Line and Modeling
Collated Materials: Optatian’s Panegyrics
THE PLACE OF IN HONOREM IN ALFRED’S ENGLAND
Alfred’s Educational Reforms and Court Culture
Military and Legal Reforms
The Resurrection of English Manuscript Production
THE CONTINUED USE OF IN HONOREM IN EARLY ENGLAND
The Trinity Hrabanus (Cambridge, Trinity College, B.16.3)
The Cambridge Songs Manuscript (Cambridge, University Library, MS Gg.5.35)
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER II—"PRESERVING THE CREATED FORMS”?: TRENDS IN ALTERATIONS TO IN HONOREM, 1000-1500 CE
INTRODUCTION
PATTERNS OF ALTERATIONS
Compilations
The Crucified Christ
Hrabanus Praying
Louis the Pious
New Images, Decoration, and Text
Tools/Learning Devices/Interactive evidence
Author and Artist Portraits
Absence of Pictorial Images
Unfinished and Reordered Copies
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER III— “MAKE THIS BOOK YOUR OWN”: JAKOB WIMPFELING, THE AGE OF PRINT, AND THE CONTINUING LEGACY OF IN HONOREM
INTRODUCTION
Contents
Previous Scholarship
Contributors
CREATING AND INTERACTING WITH A PRINTED IN HONOREM
Possible Exemplar(s)
Woodcut Images and Xylographic Printing
The Woodcut Artist
THE CONTRIBUTION OF WIMPFELING ET AL.’S FRAMING MATERIALS
Wimpfeling
Pictorial Approach: Reuchlin and Gallus (on Anshelm)
Textual Approach: Brant, Gresemundus, and Gallinarius
Balanced/Indifferent Approach: Simler, Gresemundus, Gallinarius, Gallus (on Hrabanus)
CUSTOMIZATION, COLLATIONS, AND POPULARITY
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER IV—RUDOLF II AND IN HONOREM: A RETURN TO MANUSCRIPT
INTRODUCTION
PROVENANCE, STYLE, AND ADDITIONS
Provenance
SCHOLARSHIP AND PRIMARY SOURCES
RUDOLFINE PRAGUE AND IN HONOREM
The Turmoil of Rudolf’s Reign
Rudolf’s Art Patronage
IN HONOREM IN RUDOLF’S KUNSTKAMMER AND STUDIOLO
CONCLUSION: THE VALUE OF MANUSCRIPTS
CONCLUSION – THE LEGACY OF HRABANUS AND IN HONOREM
Early Modern Interest in In honorem
Modern Interest in In honorem
Future Interest in In honorem
FIGURES
Introduction
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Conclusion
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Bischoff’s Kanalküste Group
Appendix B: Chart of Alterations Made to In honorem Copies – 1000-1500 CE
Appendix C: Timeline of Select Events in Church History
Appendix D: Transcriptions and Translations of Added Material
D.1: Wimpfeling’s Preface
D.2: Reuchlin’s Verses
D.3: Sebastian Brant’s Verses
D.4: Jadocus Gallus’s Verses
D.5: Theodore Gresemundus’s Verses
D.6: Johannes Gallinarius’s Verses
D.7: Georg Simler’s Verses
D.8: References to Hrabanus from other Sources (as included in Wimpfeling’s edition)
D.9: Georg Simler’s Added Poem after the ‘Intercessio Albini pro Mauro’ Print
D.10: Wimpfeling’s Epilogue
D.11: Wimpfeling’s Transcription of Hrabanus’s Epitaph
D.12: Thomas Anshelm’s Epigram
D.13: Dedication
Appendix E: Analysis of In honorem’s Prints
Appendix F: English Translations of Make it New Press Releases and Articles
BIBLIOGRAPHY
About this Dissertation
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