Turnier-, Fecht- und Ringbücher in den Bibliotheken der Ernestiner

Abstract

AbstractInitial attempts to reconstruct private libraries of the Ernestine princes and recent findings shedding new light on the provenance of manuscripts illustrating and describing dual combat in the Late Middle Ages have revealed that members of this dynasty possessed significant volumes of this genre in the 16th century. Due to their enthusiastic interest in noble fighting competitions, the electoral princes of Saxony commissioned magnificently illuminated tournament books and promoted the publication of Fabian von Auerwald’s well-known grappling book. They also collected fighting manuals and claimed some precious manuscripts depicting dual combat as spoils of war. A number of the books were acquired in connection with the education of the young princes. If they indeed served as instructive manuals for learning forms of knightly combat remains speculative. Indisputable, however, is their symbolic function of presenting evidence of the opulence and wealth of the Ernestine court, documenting the participation of the princes in competitions and commemorating the learning of combative skills. Duke Ernest the Pius of Saxe-Gotha inherited a large number of these highly valued manuscripts in the 17th century. In the ducal library that he founded at Friedenstein Palace they continued to serve as media of courtly representation. Due to shifting political developments the majority of these manuscripts are now preserved in other library collections.