The Making of Liturgy in the Ottonian Church: Books, Music and Ritual in Mainz, 9501050 [Hardcover]

A bold re-examination of the religious and political history of Ottonian Germany through its musical and liturgical books.This highly original study explores the religious life of early medieval Germany through its ritual books. Interdisciplinary in perspective, it sheds light on the histories of important manuscripts from the city of Mainz, challenging long-held assumptions about the ritual traditions and political dynamics of the Ottonian Church.This highly original study explores the religious life of early medieval Germany through its ritual books. Interdisciplinary in perspective, it sheds light on the histories of important manuscripts from the city of Mainz, challenging long-held assumptions about the ritual traditions and political dynamics of the Ottonian Church.This highly original study examines the history and religious life of the Ottonian Church through its ritual books. With forensic attention to the writing and design of four important manuscripts from the city of Mainz - a musician's troper, a priest's ritual handbook, a bishop's pontifical and a copy of the enigmatic compilation now known as the 'Romano-German Pontifical' - Henry Parkes transforms liturgical sources into eloquent witnesses to the ecclesiastical history of early medieval Germany. He also presents the first comprehensive revision of Michel Andrieu's influential 'Romano-German Pontifical' theory, from the dual perspective of Mainz's cathedral of St Martin and its Benedictine monastery of St Alban. Challenging long-held assumptions about the geographies of Ottonian power, in particular the central role of Mainz and its archbishops, the book opens up important new ways of understanding how religious ritual was organised, transmitted and perceived.Introduction: making liturgy; Part I. A Troper: 1. Recording music in the tenth century; 2. The historical import of a 'troper'; Part II. A Ritual Handbook: 3. The contested identity of Vienna, ?NB, Cod. 1888; 4. Intermingled song; Part III. EplÓb