end of the 12th century (after 1174). The flyleaves are from 1136/1140
Title
Office of the Holy Trinity and of Saint Bernard
Description
The first liturgical library of the nuns of Fille-Dieu, which today
is dispersed across all of Europe, has great significance for the
history of the Cistercian Order. The booklet FiD 1 (French musical
notation) contains the oldest offices of St. Bernard and of the
Trinity, which were introduced into the order in 1175 or shortly
thereafter. The flyleaves are remarkable as well. Together with FiD
2, they represent relics of antiphonaries that were copied around
1136/1140 and contain the original Cistercian liturgy, which was
copied shortly after 1108 in Metz by monks sent by Abbot Stephen
Harding. This liturgy was corrected within the framework of the
reforms of Bernard of Clairvaux. The existence of Bernardine drafts
had until now been known through antiphonary 12A-B from Westmalle
Abbey (Belgium) and through the one from Tamié Abbey 6 (Savoy).
Codicological analysis of the flyleaves of FiD 1 and of the
fragments of FiD 2 reveals that all pieces come from the Swiss
Abbey of Fille-Dieu; they share identical status and common
characteristics, irrespective of current holding sites. The same
hands and correcting hands can be recognized, the same types of
ornamentation and the same later touch-ups, which were done at the
earliest in the 16th century, probably by the nuns or by the monks
of Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron, VD), which was the mother house of
Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Rights
e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
