Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online
Das Portal zu Geschichte und Kultur des Freistaats

Die Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online wird seit einiger Zeit nicht mehr aktualisiert und schrittweise nach bavarikon umgezogen. Die Suche steht leider nicht mehr zur Verfügung. Auf den einzelnen Projektseiten der BLO finden Sie die direkten Verlinkungen zur neuen Präsenz der Angebote in bavarikon.

The DFG Collaboration Project "Literacy in Southern German Nunneries"

ger

Cultural Transmission. Line of Enquiry: "Libraries and Archives in Association with Research"


This project, jointly undertaken by the Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek), the Bavarian Main State Archive (Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv) in Munich and the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) / Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), makes accessible, and presents in scholarly form, the mediaeval book holdings of selected Bavarian nunneries and their archival transmission up to 1550, placing them in the context of historical developments. The excellent state of survival of the libraries of the Dominican nuns of Altenhohenau, the Bridgettine convent of Altomünster, the Poor Clares (St Jakob am Anger) and Franciscan nuns (Pütrichhaus) in Munich and of the Benedictine nuns in Neuburg an der Donau makes it possible to use the manuscripts, papers and documents from the archives and incunabula to gather, in a systematic fashion, information about the nature of convent libraries, the range of duties carried out by the office holders, and the female communities’ image of themselves.  Our criteria include the composition of the book collections and ways in which they were put together; the nuns’ activity as copyists; the languages used; the women’s authorship; their literary interests and their exchange of books with other spiritual communities as well as with lay circles.

Using the holdings of the Bridgettine convent of Altomünster – a double foundation – as the basis for our discussion, we examine possible ways in which the book collections of the female and male communities might have differed from each other.  Documents and correspondence dealing with the day-to-day administration of the religious houses have also been preserved in considerable number. They include convent chronicles; account books; rent rolls; records of fiefs and their accompanying obligations, ownership and settlements concerning the estate (Lehnsbücher); registers; records of convent property ownership, the transaction of goods and the traditions of to ecclesiastic institutions (Traditionsbücher) and so forth. These allow us additional valuable insight into the actual situation within the convents, into the structuring of their economic and financial administration and the organization of their archives.  Moreover, the convents' "mundane" internal records, written for their own use, must be treasured not least as examples of one of the rare areas in which written documents were compiled by women themselves.

After the dissolution of the monasteries, the historical records of the houses were divided up, documents finding their way into both archives and libraries; hence a reconstruction of original holdings is particularly vital here. The Information about the convents’ records has hitherto been accessible only through older, or else manuscript, regesta, inventories and other aids to locating documents. As part of our project, the surviving sources have been digitized and made accessible using modern criteria. Through a concentrated synthesis of the sources, the manifold activities of these often highly educated women and of their politically influential communities can be grasped and presented with a depth of focus not previously possible; and their share in the literary production of the age can be established.

 

Project Team

  • Project management: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Project management, BSB München: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Admin. project management, GDA München: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Project-coordination: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Analysis: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Analysis: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. , M.A.
  • Research, BayHStA: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Research, BSB München: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.
  • Research, BSB München: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können.

 

 

DFG