dr Wojciech Baran

Section 4.: The Early-Piast "Codices pretiosi" as an attribute of power. Facts and interpretations

One of the most valuable and oldest medieval manuscripts from the Archives of the Cracow Cathedral Chapter is the Evangeliary of St. Emmeram, written in Carolingian script and adorned with beautiful illuminations on folio. The last detailed research on this masterpiece was conducted in the 1970s by Gerard Labuda and Bolesława Malik-Gumińska. Although the codex itself has remained unchanged since then, research methodologies and comparative studies on manuscripts of this stature have evolved significantly. In this paper, I aim to present the current state of preservation and storage of the codex, reassess the prevailing scholarly opinions on its gold decorations, and explore hypotheses regarding the book’s origins and its journey to Cracow Cathedral.