Freising manuscripts

As Freising Manuscripts (Slovenian Brižinski spomeniki, Latin. Monumenta Frisingensia ) is a series of three texts referred to in the Slovene language were written in the second half of the 10th century or the first half of the 11th century and thus the earliest evidence of represent the Slovene language and written in the Latin alphabet Slavic language at all. The written testimonials also provide information on the etymology and language of the Slavic Carantanians. The name of the documents refers to the source of the documents.

Content

The Freising Manuscripts consist of three independent ecclesiastical texts on parchment contained in a Latin codex, the so-called mission handbook of Bishop Abraham. This refers to Bishop Abraham of Freising ( 957-993 ). Two of the texts contain Beichtformeln, the third text provides a Beichthomilie dar. When writing the Carolingian minuscule was used. Noteworthy is the complete absence of Germanisms, which points to a still predominantly Slavic population in this region.

History and reception

The texts emerged 972-1039 and were used in the ecclesial practice in the mission work of the Diocese of Freising in his estates in Carinthia. At the place where the Freising Manuscripts were written down, is not clear. The manuscripts were probably in the lower Moelltal where the Diocese of Freising on the Lurnfeld had possessions.

As a result of 1803 decided secularization of church property in Bavaria the Codex came to the Bavarian State Library in Munich, where the Freising Manuscripts discovered in 1807. There is the manuscript until today ( Clm 6426 ).

In connection with the Growing National aspirations of the Slav peoples of Austria -Hungary, Slavic linguistics began the origins and similarities of the Slavic languages ​​to search. Against this background, in 1822 was a first edition of the text Freising Manuscripts by the Slovene Jernej Kopitar linguist, published in Vienna. Kopitar even suspected Bishop Abraham of Freising was Slovenian origin and come even as the author of the manuscripts in question.

Of the Freising monuments there is a facsimile edition, which was published before the Second World War in Ljubljana.

Importance

The Freising Manuscripts are not only the oldest testimony of the Slovenian language, but in general a Slavic language in the Latin script; they originated about the same time the oldest preserved texts in Old Church Slavonic.