{"id":901,"date":"2022-08-31T16:57:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/?post_type=verhaal&p=590"},"modified":"2024-02-06T14:32:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T13:32:14","slug":"a-world-chronicle-of-wonders","status":"publish","type":"verhaal","link":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/stories\/a-world-chronicle-of-wonders\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chronicle of Wonders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the wall here at Dokkum city hall<\/a> is a group portrait painted by the artist Gerard Wigmana in 1697. It shows the man of the house, his family and servants, and an unknown, but seemingly important guest. In 2021, this painting was used in the Slavery exhibition<\/a> in the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam. Who was this man of the house? It was Julius Schelto van Aitzema, who was mayor of Dokkum in the 17th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This Julius Schelto van Aitzema owned a rather special book: the Liber Cronicarum<\/em>, also known as the Nuremberg Chronicle. This chronicle<\/span>A chronicle is a book recounting the history of a specific region or group. There are, for example, national chronicles, city chronicles, and world chronicles, but also chronicles about specific monastic orders. Medieval chronicles have been preserved from almost every country in Europe, which indicates that they were very popular. World chronicles were popular until the late Middle Ages; by then, more and more regional chronicles were written as well.<\/span>of the world was written by Hartmann Schedel, a physician from Nuremberg with a broad interest in art and science. It was published in 1493. Schedel wanted to describe the history of the world in six time periods, followed by the Apocalypse, based on Christian eschatology.<\/span>Eschatology is a theological term for the teachings about the end of time. Various religions have completely different ideas of what will happen. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, the three world religions, share the idea that there will be a prophet or a new Messiah. Christian eschatology, which is the subject of this World chronicle, focuses on the Second Coming of Christ and Judgement Day, the day on which God will judge everyone. In this chronicle, this process is described and illustrated extensively, as is the coming of the Antichrist. One illustration shows angels leading the fortunate ones to Heaven, while little devils are dragging people into their graves by their hair.<\/span>He collaborated on this with a team of artists and scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book was printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger, one of the most successful printers in Germany, and it became a bestseller: more than 2,000 copies were printed. The pages of this world chronicle are decorated with hundreds of illustrations in black and white, made using woodcuts.<\/span>Woodcuts are printed illustrations that are made using wood engraving. An image is cut into a piece of wood with a small chisel, after which it is covered with ink. The image is then printed on paper, which results in an ink illustration that is the mirror image of the wooden original. In Europe, the first woodcuts were made in the 14th century. After the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the technique was also used in book printing.<\/span>At the time, this made it the most illustrated book in the world. One example is the Danse Macabre<\/em>, the Dance of Death, a theme often used in medieval art. We see five skeletons, three of which are dancing happily while the fourth is playing an instrument and the fifth is just crawling out of its grave. This illustration is still very popular and is even printed on T-shirts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The <\/em>Danse macabre in Schedel’s chronicle and on a modern t-shirt<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In our copy, the illustrations at the beginning of the book have been hand-coloured, but the later illustrations are in black and white. Maybe a bookseller commissioned the colouring and it was never finished. Or maybe one of the earlier owners started it? This particular copy also contains lots of notes in the margins, and some phrases have been underlined. Also remarkable is the world map at the back of the book. It includes the current territory of the Netherlands, with a small island printed above Frisia, which is marked \u2018groningen\u2019 by hand. Who added the name?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, map inserted after fol. 299: “groningen” written on the island next to FRISIA <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
\n
\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, fol. 5v <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
\n
\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, fol. 2r: handwritten annotations in the margin <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
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\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, fol. 91r: Cologne on the Rhine with the Dom being built (part of the woodcut) <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
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\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, fol. 21r: Sodom and Gomorra (Bible, Genesis 19:1-29) <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n
\n
\n \n \"A\n\t\t\t <\/i>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n INC 163, fol. 14v: the patriarch Noah (Bible, Genesis 6-9) <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n

It could have been Rodolphus Kannegheter, who was a priest in Noordlaren at the end of the 15th century. Kannegheter was also a member of the prestigious society of Kalands Brethren.<\/span>Kalands Brethren were groups of laymen and clergymen in the Netherlands and the north of Germany who organized regular meetings that were mainly focused on prayers for the deceased. In addition, the Kalands Brethren helped to support the poor and vowed to lead a frugal life. They originally met on the first day of the month (Latin: Kalendae); hence their name. This society existed in Groningen since 1318 and it attracted prominent members, such as important clergymen. They met twice a year to sing psalms and share a meal. These were supposed to be frugal meals, but that was not always the case: sometimes they even received complaints about the amount of alcohol that was consumed.<\/span>This means that he was from the city of Groningen and that he was involved in a spiritual community in that city. Did he add Groningen\u2019s name to this world map and write the notes in the book? It is possible, but we do not know for sure. Maybe he was the first owner of this copy, but there may have been another owner before him: the text anno domini 1500<\/em> has been written at the front of the book, possibly by someone who owned the book before Kannegheter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Titelpage of Schedel\u2019s Chronicle including the handwritten note that master Rodolphus Kannegheter bequeathed it to the library of St. Martin\u2019s Church in Groningen. \u201cUsers, pray faithfully for the testator.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Kannegheter\u2019s death in 1506, his book was legated to the library of the Martinikerk<\/a>, which may have acted as the municipal library at the time. The book was probably used in the library by clergymen. In this library, books like these were put on a chain: one end of the chain was attached to the book cover and the other end to a bookcase, to prevent people from taking books with them. Much later, this book was briefly owned by someone called Jacob Canter, but it is unknown how the book got into his possession. We do know that in 1683 Jacob gave the book to Julius Schelto van Aitzema, the subject of the painting in the Dokkum town hall. Van Aitzema died in 1714. In 1758, this chronicle is first mentioned in the catalogue of the University of Groningen Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Kjelda Glimmerveen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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