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Guido de Columnis – The Trojan War

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The most extensive Troy cycle in the German-speaking countries

The Austrian National Library's facsimile edition of Codex 2773 presents one of the most unusual Troy manuscripts from the late Middle Ages: although the codex contains a verbatim translation of the Troy novel Guidos, it is primarily intended to be a picture book. With 334 miniatures on 478 pages in the format 27.5 x 37 cm, it has the most comprehensive Troy cycle in the German-speaking countries, enabling the user to relive the heroic epic from the Argonaut legend to the tragic death of Odysseus. The great effort with which the manuscript was produced is remarkable. The translation was made especially for this purpose, the text was written in the representative book script Textura. Last but not least, it is the enchanting miniatures that make this manuscript so special.

A handbook of the courtly lifeworld

Guido de Columnis wrote his Troy story as early as the 13th century, the popularity of which can be seen from the large number of translations. The present manuscript with its enchanting miniatures was created in Regensburg in the 15th century and can be seen as a handbook of courtly life in the Middle Ages.

A picture book of the fall of Troy

There is hardly any ancient legend that still holds the same fascination as the story of the fall of Troy. The episodes about the robbery of the Greek king's wife Helena by her lover Paris, the dramatic fights between the heroes Hector and Achilles and, last but not least, the outwitting of the Trojans with the help of the Trojan horse are part of our cultural awareness.

[Translate to Englisch:] Guido de Columnis – Der Trojanische Krieg

Nevertheless, the Troy legend had a special status in the aristocratic world of the Middle Ages, as numerous noble houses invented Trojan ancestors and traced their families back to various Trojan heroes.

[Translate to Englisch:] Trojanischer Krieg

Extremely popular in Europe

So it was not Homer's or Virgil's epics, which were anchored in the pagan world of gods, that formed the basis for the spread of the legend in the Middle Ages, but supposed eyewitness reports that purported to describe the events on the battlefield in detail.

[Translate to Englisch:] Trojanischer Krieg

The Sicilian Guido de Columnis also drew from these, whose Historia destructionis Troiae, written in the 13th century, achieved extraordinary popularity and was translated into numerous languages.

[Translate to Englisch:] Guido de Columnis – Der Trojanische Krieg

Details

Size: 27,5 x 37,0 cm
Length: 478 pages
Number of copies: 998

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