Türi’s Codex: Traces of Research Origin of the Oldest Date Manuscript Cover in Estonia

Recent research by Dr. Arar Leneid and his colleagues provided new insights into the preparation of the oldest dated manuscript in Estonia. Published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage, this study was established to determine the age and origin of wooden covers used to combine codexes in the 15th century.

The Gothic manuscript, tied to two oak boards, first entered the hands of parents in 2021. The manuscript for centuries was called the Codex of Tuli and was completed in 1454 in the church village of the church of the time.

As soon as it was written, it fell into possession of the Dominican Frier in Tallinn. It is indicated by an inscription found in a manuscript that reads “Iste liber pertinet conuentui reualiensi,” which literally translates as “This book belongs to the abbey of the realiens.”

Freal disbanded in 1525 following the Lutheran reforms in Tallinn, and later the Codex fell into “no use” in Tallinn archives.

The content of the codex is essentially a Latin dictionary, says Dr. Kolk, one of the researchers involved in the study, “Essentially it’s a dictionary of the users who learned it.”

“Its focus lies in biblical language, but it also includes a wide range of other topics. The last few pages include a Latin German dictionary of another poem, a popular middle-aged genre for remembering the content. Both dictionaries were the most widespread in late medieval German-speaking regions.”

“I don’t know much about the user of the manuscript. The writer who engraved his name in the book may have been a priest in a country parish.

“Later, Codex was intended for collective use of monks, as it belonged to the Dominican Friar’s Chains Library. However, users left no significant trace of their use in the book. In 1525, the monastery disbanded during reform, and since then the Codex was “denied.”

While examining the wooden covers of the Codex, I noted that the front panel had non-functional round holes repaired with wooden plugs. The holes are the remains of previous use of wooden planks, indicating that at least the previous cover originally served a different purpose.

Few studies focus on the dating and origin of wooden book covers. “The problems have been hardly studied. Of course, the most obvious reason is that, when the cover is in an intact state, the wood inside the cover often does not have access to dendritic studies (the study of tree rings).

“Because the manuscript was taken fragmentary for conservation, we looked for various available means of studying the material, but we didn’t have much budget to use,” Dr. Kolk said.

“Strontium isotope analysis combined with arborism chronology seemed appropriate for board applications and dating. Additionally, it appears to be an excellent opportunity to test the combined use of both methods at a theoretical level, and perhaps in other analyses, this kind of combined research was being conducted at several institutions.

Using both dendritic cytology and strontium isotopic analysis, researchers were able to date and determine the geological origin of the tree.

The back cover, holding 120 tree rings and nine bone rings, revealed that the tree on which the board was made likely fell down between 1454 and 1466. The time and inscriptions take on fresh wood and trees indicate the date the manuscript was completed.

Both dendrochnology and SR isotope analysis showed that it was likely supplied in Lithuania between Riga and Kleipda.

However, the front cover was sourced from a tree that fell at least 88 years before the manuscript was completed around 1366. It was sourced from oak trees, which are likely to be grown in Poland, around the confluence of the Bug and Naleu rivers.

According to Dr. Cork, “The carpenter (or bookbinder) made these pieces of wood available in his workshops.

“Recycling was very common, but at least in slightly different book areas, we use the leaves of old parchment manuscripts to use the ‘buffer’ between the wooden board and the paper inside the codex. There are also many other examples in this manuscript.

The holes found in front covers that were repaired using wooden plugs are the remains of the original use of wooden boards before being reused as book covers.

It is unknown exactly what this original wood was used.

“Now we have no plans for further research in this field, but we hope to return to researching book cover materials at some point in the future. Still, Arar and his arborist colleagues have other continuing research into the origins of historical wood,” says Dr. Cork.

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