Uwe Braumann's edition of the necrologies from the cathedral at Constance is the latest in the Libri memoriales et necrologia series of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica since Johannes Nospickel's 2004 edition of the necrology of the monastery of Michelsberg in Bamberg. Braumann's edition of the Constance necrologies is a vastly larger and more comprehensive work than the fifteen-page long partial edition that F. L. Baumann published in the first volume of the MGH's Necrologia Germaniae series in the late nineteenth century (Necrologia Germaniae Tomus 1. Diocesis Augustensis, Constantiensis, Curiensis, Berlin, 1888, pp. 282-96). The differences between the two editions are startling: whereas Baumann partially transcribed the death notices and kept annotation to a minimum--thereby producing what amounted to a summary edition of the Constance memorial books--Braumann has now provided a comprehensive critical edition complete with extensive introductory material, commentary and annotation in line with the practice of the recent editions in the Libri memoriales et necrologia series.
Braumann's introduction spans 184 pages. It begins with a general historiographical overview of the study of necrologies and memorial books (1-5), and surveys complementary sources for the history of the Constance cathedral chapter (5-9). This introductory material is followed by a section devoted to the history of the cathedral chapter until the end of the sixteenth century (9-45), which provides valuable historical context for understanding how memorial books functioned in the capitular milieu.
The longest section of the introduction is devoted entirely to the manuscript sources (46-110). Braumann uses six manuscripts in total, which together transmit seven distinct versions of the necrology. Three of the versions used by Braumann--those transmitted in Karlsruhe, Generallandesarchiv, 64/70 and 64/10, as well as one of two versions transmitted in Karlsruhe, Generallandesarchiv, 64/9--were unknown to Baumann. The oldest manuscript source dates from between 1253 and 1255 (Karlsruhe, Generallandesarchiv, 64/8). The treatment of the manuscripts in the introduction is extremely thorough, with the editor not hesitating to provide the reader with helpful visual aids such as quiring diagrams (69) or tabular representations that show the contents of individual manuscripts with respect to their quiring (56, 57, 75). It is commendable to see Braumann insisting upon such impeccable methodology when the importance of quiring is sometimes overlooked in the discussion of manuscripts. Two more historically oriented sections, discussing the memorial books as historical sources for the cathedral and burial in the cathedral respectively, conclude the introduction.
Braumann takes the oldest extant necrology (MS 64/8) as the basis for the first edition (187-355). Beginning with the Feast of the Circumcision (1 January), each date is treated in its own section and the entries of MS 64/8 are augmented by the entries of the other manuscripts. Through a well thought-out system of symbols it is immediately clear which entries have come from which manuscripts. The entries are thoroughly furnished with footnotes identifying, as far as possible, and commenting upon the persons and places named therein, while each section is provided with its own critical apparatus. The reproduction of MS 64/8 in excellent colour plates at the end of volume two offers interesting possibilities for comparing the original and the editorial presentation of it. The second edition (359-441) is based upon the much more abbreviated necrology in MS 64/10 and follows the same editorial presentation as the first edition. Here, however, only one reproduction is provided in volume two (Plate 61: fol. 1v). The two editions are supplemented by a source appendix (Quellenanhang) that presents other material found in the manuscripts. Its contents range from a yearly schedule of capitular disbursements to benefactions by chapter members.
The second volume comprises a detailed inventory (Personenkommentare) of the persons recorded in the necrologies, complete with full bibliographical details (493-707); a catalogue of cathedral functionaries and office holders (708-25); comparative tables showing the distribution of feast days in each manuscript (726-46); an excursus and catalogue of the manuscripts' scribal hands (747-63); a plan of the cathedral and two maps showing cathedral possessions in the Breisgau and Constance area respectively (766-71), as well as an extensive index. Then follows one of the great glories of this edition: the beautiful manuscript plates, sixty of which are in colour and two in black and white. These reproductions present the necrology of MS 64/8 in full while offering a sampling of the other manuscripts.
Considered as a whole, Braumann's edition continues the exemplary standards that have typified German medieval scholarship from the second half of the twentieth century onwards, particularly in relation to its command and presentation of large bodies of detail. In Braumann's edition scholars have at their disposal a set of sources that affords a uniquely rich perspective on both the communal and eschatological concerns of a medieval cathedral. Those who might argue that a single cathedral does not warrant such in-depth treatment surely miss the point, for it is precisely such meticulous research that enables historians to draw accurate and meaningful conclusions on a wide variety of topics. The edition provides the basis for prosopographical research, for the exploration of institutional history, for commemorative history and--which is of immense importance for our understanding of medieval spirituality--for research on the perceived intersection between earthly life and the afterlife in the middle ages. It is to be hoped too that scholars grappling with similar questions in non-German institutions will find this edition useful for comparative purposes. The Monumenta Germaniae Historica is to be congratulated for bringing Braumann's outstanding editorial and source-based research to the attention of the scholarly community.