“Christianity is a religion of written revelation.” These are the words of Christopher de Hamel in his classic A History of Illuminated Manuscripts (1994).[1]. And they fit perfectly with the reign of Charlemagne (748-814), the initiator of Europe’s first large-scale cultural revival, before the Italian Renaissance, in full Byzantine iconoclasm. Charlemagne continues the economy, on the bright side of European civilization.

Legend has it that Emperor Otto III (980-1003) opened the tomb of Charlemagne in 1000. After almost 200 years, the young emperor at the age of 20 not only opened the tomb, but also deciphered the great secret left to mankind by Charlemagne. It is said that in the imperial tomb, next to the entire body of the emperor, the purple shroud and his magnificent scepter, was a manuscript[2]. Therefore, the manuscript itself was a symbol of imperial power. In addition, of all the objects left by Charlemagne, the manuscript remained the only authenticity of the promised eternity.

Today it is almost impossible for us to realize the importance of such a manuscript. In the virtual and digital age, the past foundation of all devices has been forgotten, and the danger of this forgetting, in turn, remains abhorrent. And the silent traces of this danger reach us at the moment when, for example, the Latin language disappears from the education agenda in the culture of a European country. We speak of dead languages ​​not because languages ​​once died, but because people forgot to speak them. The death of any language is preceded by the spiritual death of a person. Oblivion is the mark of the death of the spirit. Now we even observe reduplication, we forget what we have forgotten. The memory of the world is a living organism and consists of a network of all meanings embodied in unforgotten things. Keeping my great-great-grandfather’s beautifully decorated silver lighter is a real way to contribute to the world’s memory. The memory of the world is not an abstraction, but something concrete, something that affects us even when we forget, or perhaps then most. Also, the fact that we forget important things does not mean that those things lose their importance, but only that our spiritual burden increases and we become smaller and smaller to carry it.

Coincidentally or not, the UNESCO program where all the spiritual wonders of the world are stored is called “Memory of the World”. Recently, the oldest manuscript from Romania, the Carolingian manuscript, entered the world circulation thanks to this program. The date of May 18, 2023 is historical. This is the first documentary element of Romania that entered the UNESCO heritage. Is this event a big deal for us? It has a lot to do with how we feel about forgetting. If we manage to get out of the redundant oblivion that forgets, this moment must be significant for Romania, and positive consequences and mobilization for a high classical culture must follow immediately!

In the Battianeum Library[3], a branch of the National Library of Romania, there is half of a gospel book from Lorsch (the height at which it can be identified, MS II 1), after the name of the monastery in Germany where it was originally kept. Catalogs mention the existence of this manuscript as early as 850-860[4]. The Battianeum Library holds the Gospels of Mark and Matthew (Evangelium Secundum S. Mattheum et S. Marcum), the Vatican Library holds the Gospels of John and Luke, the Sacred Museum of the Vatican holds the back cover, exquisitely carved in ivory, and the cover of the Victoria Museum and Alberta. The half in Alba Iulia has 111 pages, is fully decorated with selected floral and geometric motifs, and contains three spectacular portraits. Two of them represent the two evangelist apostles, and the third represents the Savior in glory (Maiestas Domini). The manuscript can be dated to around 810. In Romania, the codex is known mainly as Codex Aureus. The name derives from the gold ink used by the scribes with such skill, although the codex is also painted with silver ink.

In 1782, a year after taking office as bishop of Transylvania, the founder of the Battianeum library, Ignatius de Battian (1741-1798), received a historic opportunity, which he took full advantage of. He buys a collection of about 8,000 exhibits from the Imperial Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Migazzi (1714-1803). This is a unique moment that not only quickly promotes Battiani to the ranks of some of the most important collectors, but also permanently cements him in the memory of posterity. In this collection, which contained ancient books, rare editions, incunabula (the first edition published in Europe in 1488 by the humanist Demetrius Chalcondylus, for example, the works of Homer; his brother Laonicus, being the chronicler of the fall of Constantinople) and manuscripts, in a place of honor and at the head of the list were the Carolingian codes. It is surprising and wonderful to observe the bishop’s desperate interest and concern in his letters to his librarian in Vienna, Emericus Daniel (1754-1804). He asks him to keep a close watch on any information regarding the collection, Migazzi’s intentions, to keep the whole process completely confidential, and best of all, to keep it secret, to send him the catalogs of the collection with the highest priority, to go see the cards in person, besides , even assuming the poor condition of some of them to be able to negotiate a price. Bishop Battiani even drafts a contract of sale, which he sends through Daniel Migazzi. On July 17, 1782, he informed his librarian that the volumes were already in Transylvania. The value of the collection was 12,000 Rhenish guilders, which is a significant sum. The amount was to be paid in installments, so some researchers have confused the fact that the deal did not take place until 1786.

Bishop Battiani, besides all his qualities, had two in which he was supreme: tact and diplomacy. Accompanied by a brilliant sense, they made contemporaries consider Batiani a great patron of the arts and sciences. Under his careful participation in Alba Iulia, on the present site of the Battianeum Library, a European-known astronomical observatory, a scientific research library and a printing house for the publication of the results were to work. Most of all this succeeded. Read the whole article and comment on Contributors.ro