Konrad of Ammenhausen's 'chess -book': A case study of late medieval book production and readership.

摘要

This study is concerned with Konrad of Ammenhausen's ‘Schachzabelbuch’. Konrad, a Benedictine monk and priest at Stein a. Rh., translated the chess-allegory from Jacobus de Cessolis' Latin ‘Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium ac popularium super ludo scaccorum’ in 1337. The tent remained popular over the course of ∼150 years (until ∼1500; 22 mss. still extant). With the help of these manuscripts, this study attempts to sketch an image of the work's sociological context(s) (e.g. circumstances of production, medieval audiences).;The 1st chapter provides background information on the history of the chess-game and the development of its literary allegorization which culminates in Jacobus de Cessolis' Latin chess-allegory and its translation into almost all European vernaculars (special attention is given to the three German verse translations besides Konrad's ‘Schachzabelbuch’).;The 2nd chapter provides information on Konrad of Ammenhausen's life, his historical and cultural background, as well as his work and techniques as a translator. As a result, Konrad's chess-book is described as a ‘three-in-one-florilegium’ (morals, learning, entertainment).;The 3rd chapter offers an introduction to the procedures and techniques of lay professional manuscript production in late medieval Germany as it became relevant for the production of most of the extant Konrad-manuscripts. In a second section, the ‘Schachzabelbuch’-scribes are introduced and placed into their sociological contexts. The chapter closes with an overview of the manuscripts' various pictorial programs.;In the 4th chapter, the manuscripts' codicological characteristics and other indicators gathered in appendix 1 (manuscript descriptions) are used to create a picture of the manuscripts' historical and cultural situatedness and to answer the questions of their patrons' ranks, historical contexts and possible interest in the text.;By attending to questions on the manuscripts' ‘place in life’, such as ‘modes of production’, the social contexts of their owners, or their use to their readers, this study hopes to offer another piece to the puzzle of cultural and readership studies, as well as to regionality studies and the study of medieval mentalities.