THE HEIDELBERG SACHSENSPIEGEL

A complete illuminated manuscript in 60 full page color plates 

The Sachsenspiegel (lit. Saxon Mirror), was composed in Latin by Eike von Repgow between 1225 and 1235 and is Europe’s first written record of customary law. Its translation into Low German made it also the first prose work written in the German vernacular language. The work covers a wide range of legal topics including administrative, constitutional and criminal law, as well as laws concerning inheritance, property rights and the regulation of disputes. There are approximately 400 extant versions of the manuscript, four of which include illuminations. These are named after their present locations: Heidelberg, Oldenburg, Dresden and Wolfenbüttel. The Heidelberg Sachsenspiegel (c. 1300) is the earliest of the four. It is presently held by the Heidelberg University Library.

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