Siglum: 
D-WI1 2 upper pastedown (fragment)
Summary: 
Bifolium used in the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century binding of the Riesencodex, which contains almost all of Hildegard of Bingen’s writings and musical compositions. Late eleventh- or twelfth-century Germanic neumes with dry-point staff lines and red line indicating F-clef. Damaged in some places, especially folio 1r, with faded rubrics, text, and musical notation; holes on fragment come from indentation of metal bosses from the Riesencodex binding cover. Monastic cursus. Bifolium dimensions are 445x297 mm.
Liturgical occasions: 
Ff. 1r-1v: Winter Temporale. 1r, Rogation Days; 2r, Missa pace.
Description: 

D-WI1 2 upper pastedown (fragment) was used along with D-WI1 2 lower pastedown (fragment) in the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century rebinding of the Riesencodex. The bifolium likely originally came from a processional, and contains three chants which were associated with/used in processions: two hymns and a litany which would have been sung on the Rogation Days (major and minor) before Ascension Thursday. The first hymn, "Humili preces," on folio 1r is incomplete, starting with part of stanza seventeen, "Quae geminis gaudens," as indicated in Analecta Hymnica. Both text and music are almost completely illegible, although enlarged red initials help show where the line of each stanza begins. The second hymn, "Ardua spes mundi," which begins about halfway down folio 1r, is also partly illegible; it continues on the verso side where text and music are clearer. "Aufer a nobis" is a litany which is divided between two columns starting on the lower half of folio 1v and is subdivided again into two more columns for the "Exaudi" section of the litany. The invocation of St. Alban's name in the litany is a reference to St. Alban, Bishop of Mainz, and indicates a regional connection to the Abbey of St. Alban in Mainz, center of the Hirsau reform which had an impact on Hildegard of Bingen.

In addition to the processional chants, the fragment contains part of the music and text of a "Kyrie" in a later, less skilled scribal hand (with partly illegible musical notation), as well as a "Gloria patri" and incipits for a Mass for Peace without musical notation. A 13th-century gradual from the Cistercian Abbey of Salem near Lake Constanz contains the same incipits for its own Mass for Peace, suggesting a southern Germanic connection of the upper pastedown. A late thirteenth- or fourteenth-century inscription written in Middle High German which includes the phrase, "eine Hus und eine Gartin zu Ibingen" (a house and a garden in Eibingen), appears to be a draft of a contract possibly involving a monastic community; notably, it references the village of Eibingen, which included a monastic community associated with Hildegard.

An earlier Latin colophon on the fragment reveals particularly striking clues regarding provenance. It reads as "Codex sanctae Mariae virginis sanctique Johannis" with "Johannis" crossed-out and "Georgii in biscobisberg" added in a later hand. Gottfried Zedler suggested in 1931, based on this inscription, that D-WI1 2 upper pastedown originally came from Kloster Johannisberg on Bischofsberg. However, Jennifer Bain has recently proposed a provenance of Georgenclause, which housed a female community originally associated with the double monastery at Johannisberg (itself governed by the St. Alban monastery in Mainz) before becoming an independent community in the early twelfth century. With the dissolution of Georgenclause in 1452, all goods were sent to Johannisberg, which subsequently closed in 1563. Given this timing, it is likely that the Riesencodex was rebound at Johannisberg sometime between 1452 and 1563. The D-WI1 2 upper pastedown comes from a processional likely created at Johannisberg before the nuns moved to Georgenclause, given the double monastery's association with the Abbey of St. Alban of Mainz and the reference to St. Alban in the litany.

The inclusion of both the D-WI1 2 upper and lower pastedowns in the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century rebinding of the Riesencodex contributes to a deeper understanding of its history and the liturgical climate which influenced Hildegard. Furthermore, although there is no evidence that the pastedowns came from either Rupertsberg or Eibingen, the preservation of Hildegard's twelfth-century chants in the Riesencodex itself at a time when such musical notation would have been considered obsolete, while using other eleventh- or twelfth-century sources as part of the binding, emphasizes yet again the singular import the magistra and her music had well after her lifetime.

Selected bibliography: 

Analecta hymnica medii aevi, L: Lateinische Hymnendichter Mittelalters. Ed. C. Blume and G. M. Dreves. Leipzig, 1907.

Bain, Jennifer. "Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission: A Case Study of 2 Fragments from the Riesencodex." Fragmentarium Video Conference, May 28th, 2021. Youtube video, 49:13. https://youtu.be/n8imxUS_gxE.

Bain, Jennifer. "Traces of Liturgy: Analysing Manuscript Fragments from the Binding of the Riesencodex." Unpublished manuscript, 2020.

Pfau, Marianne Richert, and Stefan J. Morent. Hildegard von Bingen: Der Klang des Himmels. Europäische Komponistinnen I. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag, 2005, p.142.

Schliephase. Geschichte von Nassau. Wiesbaden, 1975.

Van der Linde, Antonius. Die Handschriften der Königlichen Landesbibliothek in Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, 1877.

Vogel, Christian Daniel. Beschreibung des Herzogthums Nassau. Wiesbaden: Verlag von Wilh. Beyerle, 1843.

Zedler, Gottfried. Die Handschriften der Nassauischen Landesbibliothek zu Wiesbaden. Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, Beiheft 63. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1931.

Notes on the Inventory: 
The inventory for D-WI1 2 upper pastedown (fragment) was completed by Jennifer Bain (Dalhousie University) and Lucia Denk (Dalhousie University) with proofreading by Debra Lacoste (University of Waterloo). Melodies were entered by Lucia Denk.
Full Texts Entered by: 
Melodies Entered by: 
Complete / partial inventory: 
complete inventory
Full source / fragment: 
Fragment or Fragmented