Add MS 11847

This manuscript is known as the 'Alheide Psalter' after its scribe, who identifies herself as 'Alheide' in a colophon (f. 186r). It was probably produced in a convent in central Germany, perhaps Thuringia, for an aristocratic female patron (see Kaufmann, 'The Alheide Psalter' (2010), pp. 125–139).

Contents:

ff. 1r-2r: A paper bifolium containing a description of the manuscript in German by a certain Professor Lichtenstein, in which he identifies the scribe as St Adelheid, Abbess of Vilich (d. c. 1015) (f. 1r); followed by an English translation of the description and a note by Sir Frederic Madden (b. 1801, d. 1873), Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, pointing out that the identification cannot be correct because the manuscript dates from after the saint's lifetime (f. 2r).

ff. 3v-9r: Calendar, including some saints venerated in Saxony and the Upper Rhine, e.g. Godehard of Hildesheim (5 May); and Mauritius, whose relics were venerated in Magdeburg (22 September); and some venerated in central Germany such as St Reginswind, whose tomb was at Lauffen am Neckar (15 July); with two added saints, Cunegundis, wife of Henry II (9 September, canonised 1200), and Elizabeth of Hungary (19 November, canonised 1235).

ff. 9v-16r: Cycle of prefatory miniatures (see Decoration).

ff. 17v-170r : Psalter.

ff. 170r-184r: Canticles.

ff. 184v-185v: Litany, with central German saints including Burkhard, bishop of Würzburg (14 October).

f. 186r: A Prayer, in Latin, beginning 'Usquequo Domine oblivisceris'; followed by instructions for prayers for comfort and for a friend who is travelling, in German, beginning 'So wirdes du getrostet. Du solt neme ein licht' (ed. and trans. Kauffman, 'The Alheide Psalter' (2010), p. 129); and a scribal colophon in German, 'Hie niemet diz ende nv lobe dines lieben kindes Alheide hende' (Here we come to an end, so commend the hands of you dear child Alheide) (ed. and trans. Kauffman, 'The Alheide Psalter' (2010), p. 129).

In the upper margins of many pages from ff. 17v-110v: added instructions for the uses of individual psalms in Middle High German (Gebetsanweisungen), written in a mid-15th century hand (ed. and trans. Kauffman, 'The Alheide Psalter' (2010), Appendix, pp. 134-35).

Decoration:

12 calendar pages in gold and colours, with arcaded frames featuring foliate, animal and human decoration, and labours of the months and signs of the Zodiac (ff. 3v-9r).

14 full-page prefatory miniatures in colours and gold: the Tree of Jesse (f. 9v); the Annunciation (f. 10r); the Nativity (f. 10v); the Adoration of the Magi (f. 11r); the Baptism of Christ (f. 11v); the Last Supper (f. 12r); the Crucifixion flanked by the Virgin and St John (f. 12v); the Harrowing of Hell (f. 13r); the Three Marys at the empty Tomb (f. 13v); the Resurrection (f. 14r); the Ascension (f. 14v); Pentecost (f. 15r); the Trinity as the Throne of Mercy (f. 15v); the Last Judgement with the dead rising from their graves (f. 16r).

1 full-page initial 'B' at Psalm 1, in gold interlace on a blue and green ground, painted with white dots and vines (f. 17v). 9 large decorated initials in colours and gold, either coloured interlace on a gold ground or gold interlace on a coloured ground, often zoomorphic or inhabited: Psalm 38 (f. 58r); Psalm 51 (f. 72v); Psalm 52 (f. 73v); Psalm 68 (f. 86v); Psalm 80 (103r); Psalm 97 (f. 118v); Psalm 101 (f. 120v); Canticles (f. 170r); Litany (f. 184v). 1 leaf missing and replaced with a decorated initial of the 14th century, in colours and gold: Psalm 26 (f. 42v).

Smaller decorated initials in colours and gold, often foliate or zoomorphic, for each psalm. Partial borders in the Litany (ff. 184v-185v).

Pink and green silk stitches in the upper margins of the pages suggest that there were curtains over the miniatures and major initials (ff. 9-16, 17, 58, 72, 86, 103, 120). One curtain still surviving (f. 170).