Through the LIBRARY it is possible to consult the data sheet of several important codices that enable to reconstruct the written culture of the patriarchate of Aquileia. Moreover, for many codices, the complete reproductions are made available, which makes this site a true virtual library of patriarchal Friuli.

Egbert’s Psalter (Codex Gertrudianus)

  • Reichenau, 977-993 (980 ca.), Kievan Rus’, 1078-1086; parchment; mm 238 × 188; ff. II, 231, II’.
  • Cividale del Friuli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Archivi e Biblioteca, codex CXXXVI.

Produced at Reichenau and subsequently enriched in the Kievan Rus’, the codex came to Friuli thanks to the patriarch Berthold of Andechs.

The Psalter was offered by the monk Ruodprecht to the archbishop Egbert of Trier (977-993), as it is evidenced by the verses and the dedication scene at the beginning of the manuscript. In the eleventh century it passed to the Polish princess Gertrud, wife to the grand prince of Kiev Iziaslav I (1054-1078), and mother to Jaropolk, prince of Kiev (dead in 1086). It subsequently came to the Zwiefalten monastery, as it can be inferred by the integrations to the calendar. A member of the family of Andechs-Merania, the patriarch of Aquileia Berthold (1218-1251), uncle to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, came by the Psalter he would have later given to the Chapter of Cividale, according to the tradition. In 1350 the manuscript appears in the inventory of the treasure of Cividale.

The Psalter script, work of several hands, and above all its decoration allow to ascribe the manuscript to the Reichenau monastery, being a strong point of its production. The prayers and miniatures added in the Kievan Rus’ in subsequent times, between 1078 and 1086, are the work of several artists and turn out to be the most antique miniature evidences of the old Rus’: St. Peter with the princess Gertrud, the prince Jaropolok and his wife (f. 5v), the Nativity (f. 9v), the Crucifixion (f. 10r), the Maiestas Domini and the coronation of prince Jaropolok and his wife, respectively introduced by St. Peter and St. Irene (f. 10v), and the Virgin on the throne (f. 41r).

Country of locationItaly
LocationCividale del Friuli
Library / CollectionMuseo Archeologico Nazionale, Archivi e Biblioteca
ShelfmarkCXXXVI
LanguagesLatin
Support materialParchment
Extentff. II, 231, II’
Formatmm 238 × 188
Place of originReichenau; Kievan Rus’
Age977-993 (980 ca.), 1078-1086
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