The network behind a book:
the gronings-zutphens Maerlant manuscript
Abstract:
this research re-examined existing evidence to link one of the most famous
manuscripts of the early fourteenth century Netherlands, the so-called
Gronings-Zutphens Maerlant manuscript (Ms Groningen UB Hs 405) to production in
a crusader network. Are there clues that could link this manuscript to the
crusades and the end of the crusader states, the fall of Acre in 1291?
Nowadays it is not hard to obtain a book. Every bookseller sells printed books in all shapes and sizes, of diverse topics. You can just buy them off the shelf. This was vastly different in the Middle Ages. Manuscripts were written either for own use or on demand. To produce a book, a whole network of people were set to work. A scribe had to produce the text, that was copied from another book. This was most often not the same person as the
author of the manuscript’s text. Then the work was rubricated by a rubricator. In the production of luxury books many fancy-looking elements were added to the manuscript, such as miniatures, painted initials, pen work and gold applications. Most often, these different elements were added to the manuscript by various artists, all with their own expertise. After the pages were completed, the book was bound by a book binder, then delivered to the one who ordered it.
In codicology, the science that is concerned with the production of manuscripts, questions about the place and time of production of a codex are
prime tasks. In order for historians to use written sources, these data about locating and dating of a manuscript are very important, for obvious reasons. Codicologists try to solve these seemingly easy questions by detailed examination of certain characteristics of a manuscript. This detective work can sometimes prove to be very challenging, as research on the Gronings-Zutphens Maerlant manuscript shows. There are many conflicting theories, and in my research I tried to extract from these theories elements of evidence that this manuscript somehow came from a crusading-network.
The Gronings-Zutphens Maerlant manuscript is an early fourteenth century manuscript from the Netherlands. It contains, with some minute exceptions, various different texts from the Felmish author and poet Jacob van Maerlant. The manuscript consists of his ‘Rijmbijbel’ or rhyme bible, an excerpt from his ‘Spiegel Historiael’ and a selection of strophic poems. In the beginning of the manuscript, a calendar and some Easter date and moon tables can be found as well. The date and location of production are disputed by experts. This research is concerned with these disputes, among
others.
From the research of some experts on the codicological characteristics I tried to extract as much data as possible, that could link the production of the
manuscript to the end of the crusader states in 1291 and the crusades in general. There were some clues, but they did not form a coherent picture, and certainly not the answer to the place and time of production as I had hoped for.
The first clue concerns the place of production. There were two conflicting scenarios of production, one in a monastery, Marienweerd, and the
other in a city, Den Bosch. These theories were drawn from the names in the calendar in the beginning of the manuscript, names from the wealthy Van Zuylichem-family. This family had ties with both the monastery of Marienweerd and the city of Den Bosch. The only clue that could link the manuscript to the crusades, is an announcement in the publication of Jos Hermans, that concerned the donation of land in 1323, to be of use when a new venture to the Holy Land was to take place (1).
The link between the time of production and the crusades is circumstantial as well. For a long time, the manuscript was dated at 1339. But
one of the experts, Jos Biemans, showed evidence that some of the parts of the manuscript were indeed older than 1339, and that only the most recent parts of the manuscript date from that year and onwards. Hermans stated that the calendar in the beginning of the manuscript starts from 1301, which would make sense in the case the manuscript would have anything to do with the end of the crusader states and the fall of Acre in 1291 (2).
The last clue to link the manuscript to the crusades is concerned with a beautiful page filling miniature of the ‘wrake van Jeruzamel, the wrath of
Jerusalem. The miniature is the only one of its size in the manuscript and is inserted in the accompanying text with the same title. Actually the title of the miniature is derived from the text it is inserted in, the miniature itself does not give any clues about what it represents, other than the fact that it shows a siege upon an unidentifiable city. Could this miniature be inserted at the wrong place in the manuscript, because it actually represents a siege in crusader context, the siege of Acre for example? The text of the manuscript does contain a poem that regrets the end of the crusader age and the fall of Acre in 1291. But just as the other clues did, this clue does not give conclusive evidence for production of the codex in crusader context.
So, even though there are many inconsistencies in the manuscript that can be answered by a link to the crusades, there is no conclusive evidence that it did. Also, the clues do not add up and form a coherent picture with the rest of the research on the manuscript. Nevertheless I think looking in to this possible link with the crusades deserves some more attention and more thorough research. This manuscript keeps raising more questions every time you think you might have the answer to one of them.
M.L.K.
1.
Jos M.M. Hermans, Het Gronings Zutphense Maerlant handschrift: codicologische studies
rond handschrift 405 van de Universiteitsbibliotheek te Groningen (Groningen:
Publicaties van het Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis van de Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen, 1979): 72-73.
2.
Jos A.A.M. Biemans, “Het Gronings-Zutphense Maerlant-handschrift: over de noodzakelijkheid
der handschriftenkunde” Queeste, vol. 3, nr. 2 (1996): 212-213, Hermans: 69.
If this article interested you, you might also be
interested in:
Biemans, Jos A.A.M. “Het Gronings-Zutphense
Maerlant-handschrift: over de noodzakelijkheid der handschriftkunde.” Queeste,
vol. 3, nr. 2 (1996): 197-219.
Clemens, Raymond en Timothy Graham. Introduction
to manuscript studies. Ithaca en Londen: Cornell University Press,
2007.
Hermans, Jos M.M. Het Gronins Zutphense Maerlant
handschrift: codicologische studies rond handschrift 405 van de
Universiteitsbibliotheek te Groningen. Groningen: Instituut voor
Kunstgeschiedenis, 1979.
Lieftinck, G.I. Problemen met betrekking tot het
Zutphens-Groningse Maerlant-handschrift. Mededelingen der Koninklijke
Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen afdeling Letterkunde, nieuwe reeks, deel
22, nr. 2. 67-99. Amsterdam: N.V. Noordhollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij,
1959.
The entire manuscript can be appreciated from the
RuG online facsimile collection:
http://facsimile.ub.rug.nl/cdm/compoundobject/collection/manuscripts/id/3821
author of the manuscript’s text. Then the work was rubricated by a rubricator. In the production of luxury books many fancy-looking elements were added to the manuscript, such as miniatures, painted initials, pen work and gold applications. Most often, these different elements were added to the manuscript by various artists, all with their own expertise. After the pages were completed, the book was bound by a book binder, then delivered to the one who ordered it.
In codicology, the science that is concerned with the production of manuscripts, questions about the place and time of production of a codex are
prime tasks. In order for historians to use written sources, these data about locating and dating of a manuscript are very important, for obvious reasons. Codicologists try to solve these seemingly easy questions by detailed examination of certain characteristics of a manuscript. This detective work can sometimes prove to be very challenging, as research on the Gronings-Zutphens Maerlant manuscript shows. There are many conflicting theories, and in my research I tried to extract from these theories elements of evidence that this manuscript somehow came from a crusading-network.
The Gronings-Zutphens Maerlant manuscript is an early fourteenth century manuscript from the Netherlands. It contains, with some minute exceptions, various different texts from the Felmish author and poet Jacob van Maerlant. The manuscript consists of his ‘Rijmbijbel’ or rhyme bible, an excerpt from his ‘Spiegel Historiael’ and a selection of strophic poems. In the beginning of the manuscript, a calendar and some Easter date and moon tables can be found as well. The date and location of production are disputed by experts. This research is concerned with these disputes, among
others.
From the research of some experts on the codicological characteristics I tried to extract as much data as possible, that could link the production of the
manuscript to the end of the crusader states in 1291 and the crusades in general. There were some clues, but they did not form a coherent picture, and certainly not the answer to the place and time of production as I had hoped for.
The first clue concerns the place of production. There were two conflicting scenarios of production, one in a monastery, Marienweerd, and the
other in a city, Den Bosch. These theories were drawn from the names in the calendar in the beginning of the manuscript, names from the wealthy Van Zuylichem-family. This family had ties with both the monastery of Marienweerd and the city of Den Bosch. The only clue that could link the manuscript to the crusades, is an announcement in the publication of Jos Hermans, that concerned the donation of land in 1323, to be of use when a new venture to the Holy Land was to take place (1).
The link between the time of production and the crusades is circumstantial as well. For a long time, the manuscript was dated at 1339. But
one of the experts, Jos Biemans, showed evidence that some of the parts of the manuscript were indeed older than 1339, and that only the most recent parts of the manuscript date from that year and onwards. Hermans stated that the calendar in the beginning of the manuscript starts from 1301, which would make sense in the case the manuscript would have anything to do with the end of the crusader states and the fall of Acre in 1291 (2).
The last clue to link the manuscript to the crusades is concerned with a beautiful page filling miniature of the ‘wrake van Jeruzamel, the wrath of
Jerusalem. The miniature is the only one of its size in the manuscript and is inserted in the accompanying text with the same title. Actually the title of the miniature is derived from the text it is inserted in, the miniature itself does not give any clues about what it represents, other than the fact that it shows a siege upon an unidentifiable city. Could this miniature be inserted at the wrong place in the manuscript, because it actually represents a siege in crusader context, the siege of Acre for example? The text of the manuscript does contain a poem that regrets the end of the crusader age and the fall of Acre in 1291. But just as the other clues did, this clue does not give conclusive evidence for production of the codex in crusader context.
So, even though there are many inconsistencies in the manuscript that can be answered by a link to the crusades, there is no conclusive evidence that it did. Also, the clues do not add up and form a coherent picture with the rest of the research on the manuscript. Nevertheless I think looking in to this possible link with the crusades deserves some more attention and more thorough research. This manuscript keeps raising more questions every time you think you might have the answer to one of them.
M.L.K.
1.
Jos M.M. Hermans, Het Gronings Zutphense Maerlant handschrift: codicologische studies
rond handschrift 405 van de Universiteitsbibliotheek te Groningen (Groningen:
Publicaties van het Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis van de Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen, 1979): 72-73.
2.
Jos A.A.M. Biemans, “Het Gronings-Zutphense Maerlant-handschrift: over de noodzakelijkheid
der handschriftenkunde” Queeste, vol. 3, nr. 2 (1996): 212-213, Hermans: 69.
If this article interested you, you might also be
interested in:
Biemans, Jos A.A.M. “Het Gronings-Zutphense
Maerlant-handschrift: over de noodzakelijkheid der handschriftkunde.” Queeste,
vol. 3, nr. 2 (1996): 197-219.
Clemens, Raymond en Timothy Graham. Introduction
to manuscript studies. Ithaca en Londen: Cornell University Press,
2007.
Hermans, Jos M.M. Het Gronins Zutphense Maerlant
handschrift: codicologische studies rond handschrift 405 van de
Universiteitsbibliotheek te Groningen. Groningen: Instituut voor
Kunstgeschiedenis, 1979.
Lieftinck, G.I. Problemen met betrekking tot het
Zutphens-Groningse Maerlant-handschrift. Mededelingen der Koninklijke
Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen afdeling Letterkunde, nieuwe reeks, deel
22, nr. 2. 67-99. Amsterdam: N.V. Noordhollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij,
1959.
The entire manuscript can be appreciated from the
RuG online facsimile collection:
http://facsimile.ub.rug.nl/cdm/compoundobject/collection/manuscripts/id/3821