{"id":903,"date":"2022-08-31T15:54:04","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T13:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/?post_type=verhaal&p=586"},"modified":"2023-05-27T11:57:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T09:57:31","slug":"een-kroniek-aan-de-ketting","status":"publish","type":"verhaal","link":"https:\/\/frisia.rug.nl\/en\/stories\/een-kroniek-aan-de-ketting\/","title":{"rendered":"Chronicle on a Chain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Martini Church<\/a>\u00a0has been an important part of the city of Groningen since the early Middle Ages. The church\u2019s library was filled with books that were mainly used as reference works by the clergymen of the city, but the library may have acted as a municipal library as well. In the 16th century, the\u00a0Liber Cronicarum<\/em>, or the Nuremberg Chronicle, was kept in the library for a long time. 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. How did this book end up in the library of the Martini Church<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This world chronicle was written by Hartmann Schedel, a physician from Nuremberg with a broad interest in art and science. It was published in 1493. He wanted to describe the history of the world, 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>Schedel collaborated on this with a team of artists and scholars\u2014all of them humanists, like Schedel himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n