Sankt Florian Psalter

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Sankt Florian Psalter
Gothic minuscule
ContentsTrilingual translation of the Book of Psalms
Previously keptSt. Florian Monastery, Sankt Florian, Austria
Discovered1827

The Sankt Florian Psalter or Saint Florian Psalter (

Book of Psalms into that language. Its author, first owners, and place of origin are still not certain. It was named after St. Florian Monastery in Sankt Florian, a town in Austria
, where it was discovered.

Origins and history

It is not known exactly who was original owner of the book. Most likely it belonged to a female member of the

Polish historian of literature, Julian Krzyżanowski, suggested that the text is a copy of an older work, perhaps the St. Kinga's Psalter (whose very existence is still disputed by scholars) though admitted that there's scant evidence for this.[3]

It was rediscovered by local librarian, Father Josef Chmel, in 1827 in St. Florian Monastery, in the town of Sankt Florian near Linz, Austria.[4] It first published in print in Vienna in 1834, by Polish publisher Stanislaw Jan Borkowski.[2] In 1931 the psalter was purchased by Polish government for the National Library of Poland.[2] During World War II it was evacuated to Romania and later to France and Canada, and returned to Poland in 1959.[2] By 1939, whole book was published in

Lwow by Ludwik Biernacki.[2]

Currently, the book is kept at the National Library of Poland in Warsaw.[3]

Composition

The manuscript contains a trilingual translation of the

astrological and Christian symbology.[2][5]

The text is divided into three parts:

  • part one, psalms 1–101,
  • part two, psalms 102–106,
  • part three, psalms 107–150.
verso there are images of angels supporting a knot of interwoven letters "m" and the coat of arms of the Hungarian branch of the Capetian House of Anjou, both symbols associated with Queen Hedwig of Poland. Other illuminations on the page include images of a peacock, a bat, and wyverns
.

Each part was created at a different place in time. The first part was probably written in late 14th century, while second and third were written in the 15th century.[2] One date given for the year that the work on the Psalter begun is 1398;[5] another – 1370s.[4] In these parts, influences of the Czech language are visible, as probably the psalter was patterned after a similar Czech publication.[2]

The book has a format of 34,5 × 24,5 cm and a weight of about 4 kilograms.[2] The material used was parchment.[4]

Significance

It is the oldest surviving translation of the

zabytek) surviving to modern day in intact form.[7]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Grzebiennik (2003).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sekściński (2005).
  3. ^ a b c d Kaleta (2013).
  4. ^ a b c "Reading Europe – The St. Florian Psalter". Theeuropeanlibrary.org. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  5. ^ a b Mariusz Górniak, Roman Mazurkiewicz. "PSAŁTERZ FLORIAŃSKI – Psalm 1". Staropolska.pl. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  6. ^ "Zabytki literatury polskiej". polska.pl. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
  7. ^ "Encyklopedia PWN – Sprawdzić możesz wszędzie, zweryfikuj wiedzę w serwisie PWN – Psałterz floriański". Encyklopedia.pwn.pl. Retrieved 2014-07-07.

Sources

External links