The Leiden Wigalois Manuscript

For around 150 years, the richly illustrated Wigalois manuscript from Amelungsborn Abbey in Germany has rested largely unnoticed in the collections of Leiden University Library. Only recently has this unique codex, known as LTK 537, begun to attract the scholarly attention it deserves.
This volume offers the first full transcription of the manuscript’s Middle High German text, accompanied by an accessible introduction and detailed commentary. In combining textual accuracy with contextual depth, the editors aim to open up this fascinating work to a wider international audience.
Commissioned in 1372 by Count Albrecht II of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen, and produced by a Cistercian monk in Amelungsborn Abbey, the manuscript presents an exceptional interplay of text and image. With no fewer than forty-nine vividly coloured miniatures, it stands as a jewel of German Arthurian literature.
The story of Wigalois, son of Gawain, unfolds as a continuous sequence of chivalric adventures, culminating in the liberation of a kingdom and a royal marriage. The manuscript’s artistic and rhetorical richness, from its opening Tree of Paradise to its expressive banderoles, reflects the creative collaboration between scribe and illuminator — and the enduring appeal of medieval romance.

Jef Jacobs was a professor of Medieval and Early Modern German Studies at Leiden University. His main interests are Old and Middle High German language, religious German literature of the Middle Ages, medieval mysticism and German literature of the Baroque.

Barend Verkerk was a teacher of German language and literature. He studied German language and literature at Utrecht University with special interest in Medieval studies and theology.