This quaestio disputata by the Augustinian Johannes of Paltz (around 1445-1511) is a perfect illustration of the working methods of medieval scholasticism. The manuscript was written in Erfurt in the summer of 1486 and has as its topic the refutation of three errors. The first regards those who claim “to be able to calculate and foresee the Last Judgment.” It seems that this document is the only handwritten version of this text, which is known through two printed editions from the 15th century. Franz Xaver Karker (1812-1892), Canon of the Cathedral of Breslau (today Wroclaw in Poland), donated this work to the Fribourg library. (jur)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

This small but extensive (198 ff.) prayer book is written in a variant of North German (Middle Low German). In accordance with the female form in many of the prayers, it was intended for a woman. With the exception of one full-page miniature depicting Christ as the gardener before Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), all illuminations have been removed. An ex-libris on the front pastedown informs us that this small manuscript was a gift to the Fribourg Library in 1891 from Franz Xaver Karker, canon of Wroclaw Cathedral. (ber)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This elegant codex, written in humanistic script, was commissioned by Pope Leo X († 1521). The Medici coat of arms can be found in the middle of the original binding's cover, in a rich frieze on the frontispiece, and in the initials on f. 3v and f. 134v. The decoration is attributed to the famous Florentine illuminator Attavante degli Attavanti († 1525) or his circle. This codex is from the collection of Major J.R. Abbey. (ber)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

Fragment from a Glagolitic breviary with texts for August 13th and 14th; based on the script, it can be dated to the 15th century. It belonged to Franz Miklosich (1813-1891), one of the most important Slavicists of his time, and was a gift to the Basel Antiques Collection, the precursor of the Basel Historical Museum. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

Books of the Old Testament, a gift of Bishop John of Constanz (760-782) to the monastery of St. Gall; compendium of 27 medical and pharmaceutical treatises by known and unknown authors of the 9th century. (smu)

Online Since: 09/14/2005

A copy of the Pauline Epistles with a miniature of Paul the Apostle, preaching in front of a great number of Jews and pagans, copies of Alcuin's works "De dialectica" and "De rhetorica" and of the work "Peri hermeneias" of Apuleius of Madaura (?), written in the monastery of St. Gall in the second half of the 9th century, with amendments from the 11th century. (smu)

Online Since: 09/14/2005

A compendium of 39 medical texts by known and unknown authors, produced in the second half of the 9th century, most likely in northern Italy, already obtained at an early date by the Abbey Library of St. Gall. This codex includes—sometimes in unique exemplars—an alphabetically ordered Greek-Latin herbal glossary, the treatise De re medica by one Pseudo-Plinius (Physica Plinii), and a longer medical tract entitled Liber Esculapii. (smu)

Online Since: 12/23/2008

Collection of medical manuscripts from the monastery of St. Gall, written in about 900, with five longer and several shorter medical-pharmaceutical treatises, representing in some cases the best, or even the only surviving copies worldwide. Among these may be found, for example, Pliny the Younger's chapter on medicine, the Medicinae ex oleribus et pomis (Medicines from vegetables and fruits) by the Roman agrarian and medical author Gargilius Martialis (3rd century), and the treatise Oxea et chronia passiones Yppocratis, Gallieni et Urani, which is found in very few manuscript copies. This manuscript also includes (on page 82) a magic sphere for predicting life and death. (smu)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

A small-format compendium of ten different medical texts, produced shortly after 800 in an unknown scriptorium, probably in Italy. The contents also include a treatise by the Greek physician Anthimus in the form of a letter to the king of the Franks Theoderich "On the diet" (De observatione ciborum), through which we gain insight to the nutritional habits of one Germanic people. (smu)

Online Since: 07/31/2009