Codex Lonsdorfianus
This document
represents a Collection of documents from the 8th - 15th century, dealing with
rights and possessions of the church in Passau.
The name
of the Codex:
It is named after Otto von Lonsdorf
who was bishop of Passau from 1254 to 1265
AD. The following latin written
sentence can be seen on the inside of the cover: "Istum librum scribi
fecit dominus Otto Pataviensis Episcopus dictus de Lonstorf." These
words prove that Otto was the founder of this collection.
The aim
of the Codex:
The main concern of bishop Otto was the safeguarding of property of the church of Passau as well as the retrieval
of lost goods in the diocese of Passau. Therefore he specified
the privileges of the diocese and its monasteries in the Codex Lonsdorfianus. Thus he created a legal basis to the posessionss of the church in the diocese of Passau.
The content
of the Codex:
The important collection of old documents and other sources about rights and
ownership in the bishopric of Passau contains information
about the history of Passau as well as data
about historical incidents in Bavaria, Bohemia and Austria. Concerning Austria two reports are
especially important: The Raffelstettener- Customs-Order
and the charter of the convent of Kremsmünster from
the year 777. Apart from an income-listing of the church of Passau and the inventory
of the cathedral's library the reader can also study some transcripts of the
oldest documents of the diocese.
The description
of the Codex:
The codex
measures 19 cm by 27 cm, was written from the 13th century and to the 15th
century and consists of 231 pages of parchment.
The location
of the Codex:
Today the volume is housed in the Bavarian Main State Archive in Munich. Its signature is
"HL Passau 3". It is printed in the Monumenta
Boica XXVIII and XXIX.
The valuation
of the Codex:
The Codex represented for several decades a legal basis for the secure inventory
of the possession of the church. Because of its significance the Codex became
famous across the borders of Passau. The Codex can furthermore be considered
as extremely valuable in the field of linguistics and palaeography.
- Egon Boshof et.al.:
Geschichte der Stadt Passau (Regensburg 1999) S. 93
- Josef Breinbauer: Otto
von Lonsdorf. Bischof von Passau 1254 – 1265 (Köln
1992) S. 273ff., 282
- August Leidl: Otto von
Lonsdorf (1254-1265). In: August Leidl, Die
Bischöfe von Passau 739-1968 in Kurzbiographien (Passau
1978) S. 27 f.
- A. Maidhof: Das
Passauer Stadtrecht. Ein Beitrag zur
bairisch-österreichischen Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte
(Passau 1927) Urbare I, S. 16
- Alois Schmid: Otto von
Lonsdorf. In: Erwin Gatz/Clemens Brodkorb,
Die Bischöfe des Heiligen Römischen Reiches 1198 bis
1448: ein biographisches Lexikon (Berlin 2001) S. 554 f.
- Ulrich Schmid: Otto
von Lonsdorf. Bischof zu Passau 1254-1265 (Würzburg
1903) S. 85 f., 89
edited by: Marion Lischke
translated by: Alexander Frankenberger
(17.8.2004/13.5.2005)
