Add MS 15686

Contents:

ff. 1r-33r: The Rule of the Minorite Order of Sisters of St Clare, a German translation of the Regula sororum sancta Clarae, promulgated by Pope Urban IV, 18 October 1263, written for the nuns of St Clare of Villingen, Swabia; ending with a Latin colophon, 'Explicit regula Sancte Clare virginis, in Villigu[m]' (f. 30v).

f. 33v is blank.

Decoration:

The decoration of the manuscript was undertaken by the German artist Sibilla von Bondorf (b. c. 1450, d. 1524); see the inscription, 'Hec picture est a sorore Sibilla de bondorff orate deum pro ea' (f. 1r). Sibilla was also responsible for the decoration of a copy of St Bonaventure's Legenda Sancti Francisci, translated into German by Konrad von Bondorf (now Add MS 15710).

8 full-page framed miniatures in colours and silver of Christ and the Virgin Mary, saints, friars, and nuns with banners bearing captions in Latin and German in red or blue (ff. 1r, 1v, 30v, 31r, 31v, 32r, 32v, 33r).

3 large framed initials on gold grounds with decoration and partial foliate borders in colours and gold (ff. 2, 12v, 22r).

Foliate extensions in brown with red or blue into the lower margins of some folios (ff. 3r, 8r, 11r, 12r, 13v, 14r, 16r, 17r, 25r, 26r).

Initials in blue or red, some with decoration. Rubrics in red. Highlighting in red.

The subjects of the miniatures are as follows:

f. 1r: The Virgin Mary and Child with with a bishop, perhaps St Giles (or Aegidius), taking an arrow from the breast of a wounded deer.

f. 1v: St Francis with stigmata, holding a crucifix and book, and St Clare holding a monstrance and book, with praying nuns between them and Christ and a dove above. Scrolls with the words, 'Ego vos elegi ut eatis et fructu[m] afferatis et fructus vester maneat' (John 15) and 'Ich bin din eige[n] du wellest in gott fröhlich zeige[n]'.

f. 30v: Christ as the Good Shepherd with a lamb in one arm and in the other is a woman in secular clothing, perhaps the reader, who is praising him ('de deu[m] laudamus' issues in a banner from her head); a nun, perhaps St Clare, is kneeling at his feet with three angels above; the colophon in red states, 'Explicit regula S[an]c[t]e Clare vir[g]i[n]is, in Villigu[m]'.

f. 31r: St Bernardino of Siena with a sun inscribed 'IHS' (Jesu) and a book; Agnes of Assisi, sister of St Clare with a book and lilies; a shield with coat of arms is on the ground between them; banners above their heads identify them.

f. 31v: St Anthony of Padua with a book and lilies and St Louis, as a king and bishop, with a mitre, holding a crozier and book; a banner above their heads identifies them.

f. 32r: St Henry, in bishop's robes and St Elizabeth holding a crucifix with a wounded Christ; banners above their heads identify them.

f. 32v: St Bonaventure, seated in a cardinal's hat and robe; a dove coming down from God, with the word 'Sapie[n]cia] in a banner inspiring St Bonaventure, who is writing in a book.

f. 33r: Christ stands with the host in his hands; a woman in secular clothing, perhaps the patron, kneels and embraces his robe; a dove with a halo is perched atop a tower, a ladder leads upwards from earth to heaven, with the words 'Ego sum via veritas' (I am the true way).