| Codex Manesse | |
|---|---|
| Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Cpg 848 | |
 Folio 371r, Johannes Hadlaub | |
| Also known as | Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift |
| Date | c. 1304 |
| Place of origin | Zürich |
| Language(s) | Middle High German |
| Author(s) | c. 140 named Minnesänger |
| Patron | Manesse family |
| Material | Parchment |
| Size | 426 folios |
| Format | 350 x 250 mm, 2 columns |
| Script | Textura |
| Contents | Minnesang |
| Illumination(s) | 137 whole-page miniatures, Lombardic capitals |
The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift[1] or Pariser Handschrift) is a Liederhandschrift (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German Minnesang poetry, written and illustrated between c. 1304 when the main part was completed, and c. 1340 with the addenda.
The codex was produced in Zürich (Switzerland), for the Manesse family.[2]
The manuscript is "the most beautifully illumined German manuscript in centuries";[3] its 137 miniatures are a series of "portraits" depicting each poet.
It is currently housed in the Heidelberg University Library.[4]
In 2023, Codex Manesse was admitted to UNESCO's Memory of the World.[5][6]
- ^ German: Great Heidelberg Song Manuscript, Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg Library, Codex Palatinus Germanicus 848
- ^ Koschorreck and Werner 1981 discern no fewer than eleven scribes, some working simultaneously, in the production.
- ^ Ingeborg Glier, reviewing Koschorreck and Werner 1981 in Speculum 59.1 (January 1984), p. 169. The only other contemporary illuminated song book is the Weingarten Manuscript, once thought to have been a model for the Codex Manesse.
- ^ "Codex Manesse". Heidelberg University Library. Heidelberg University. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Codex Manesse Admitted to UNESCO World Documentary Heritage". Informationsdienst Wissenschaft – Nachrichten (in German). 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "UNESCO-Weltdokumentenerbe Codex Manesse". Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission (in German). Retrieved 18 May 2023.