The book Minhagim ("Religious Customs") is attributed to Samuel of
Ulm, although the authorship is not unequivocally clear.
Contentwise the manuscript contains various teachings based on the
views of Jacob Moellin (1360-1427). He is regarded as one of the
most important spiritual authorities of the Ashkenazic world. The
manuscript probably was written in the last third of the 15th
century in Northern Italy, since the pen drawings can be placed in
the Northern Italian tradition of that period. Several motifs from
the manuscript seem to "grow" out of an ornament, such as a head
with a bumpy nose and heavy eyelids or a long city wall with round
towers, and are considered typical for Joel ben Simeon, the most
important representative of this Northern Italian tradition of
illustration.
