Moosburg
A Liber ordinarius of the collegiate monastery St. Kastulus.
St. Kastulus, Moosburg, existed as a Benedictine monastery from the 8th century until 1021. In 1021, it was changed into a community for canons (a collegiate monastery), while the Benedictines were moved to nearby Weihenstephan (Freising). The monastery's patron saint Kastulus is a Roman martyr and catacomb saint. After the collegiate monastery was relocated to Landshut (1598), Kastulus's relics were translated to the city likewise. Landshut's parish church, St. Martin, was raised to a collegiate church. Following the community's dissolution in the wake of the secularisation of 1803, a major part of the library, including medieval manuscripts, became the property of the Ludwig Maximilian University, which had moved to Landshut in 1800. The university relocated again in 1826, and since then these books have been held by the University Library in Munich. Further parts of the former Moosburg Library ended up in the Royal Court Library (Königliche Hofbibliothek) in Munich (today's Bayerische Staatsbibliothek).
Known medieval liturgical manuscripts: Liber ordinarius, c. 1360 (D-Mbs clm 9469). Gradual-cantionale, 1357-1360 (D-Mu 2° Cod. ms. 156). Partial antiphonary, c. 1500 (D-Mbs clm 9468). Partial antiphonary, c. 1500 (D-Mbs clm 23085 and 23086).
Breviaries in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the University Library in Munich: D-Mbs clm 23068 (14th century, summer part) and 24005 (c. 1500, summer part). D-Mu 2° Cod. ms. 149 (1370, full breviary)
A facsimile of the so-called ‘Moosburg Gradual' (D-Mu 2° Cod. ms 156) was edited and published with a scholarly commentary by David Hiley. An additional detailed description by Hiley is also available online on the website of the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns. ‘The Moosburg Gradual is a musical manuscript completed in 1360 ... that now is held in Munich University Library. This gradual is significant because it contains not only the usual liturgical chants but also a collection of songs for the Christmas period, including for the Bischofsspiel (the election of a ‘boy bishop' on the Feast of the Holy Innocents). As the image of the gradual's endowment at the beginning of the manuscript shows, the canons Ernst von Landshut, Johannes von Perchausen and Otto von Wartenberg were involved in its production.
Johannes von Perchausen († 15 August 1362), a composer, rector scholarium and dean, can also be identified as the compiler and scribe of the Moosburg Liber ordinarius edited here. In the prologue, Perchausen introduces himself as the author of the Liber ordinarius referred to as ‘Breviarium Ecclesiae Mosburgensis'. Among other things, he describes his manner of proceeding, using the ordinarius of the Diocese of Freising as a template. Perchausen assembles a compilation of the diocesan ordo and local customs. This "local colour" is particularly evident in the mention of churches, chapels and altars typical of Moosburg in processions. The Moosburg proprium also included special liturgical plays, such as the dramatic depiction of Christ's ascension on the eponymous feast day (a figurine of Christ was pulled up to the "Ascension Hole" or Himmelfahrtsloch in the nave of the monastery church), or the descent of the Holy Ghost, let down from the roof in the form of a wooden bird, at Whitsun.
by Robert Klugseder