bavarikon4UDescription
Ludwig the Bavarian (born 1282/86, ruled 1314-1347) confirms and extends the privileges of the imperial city of Regensburg. He also lists some of the more important ones individually, especially regarding customs and trade. This was existential for the imperial city, which lived primarily from its long-distance trade. It was therefore not merely an administrative act, but a great act of state. For this, Ludwig adopted several external, but no longer common, features that distinguished earlier royal charters. The most striking feature is the display typeface in the first line. This picks up the "littera elongata", but above all it continues it: Ludwig’s name is a detailed decorated illumination whose L initial is adorned with a woman’s face, possibly that of Empress Margarethe of Holland (1307/10-1356). In the following "intitulatio" the words "God", "Roman", "Emperor" and "Augustus" are distinguished with ornate initial letters, in the rest of the first line still the beginnings of the sentence of the immortalisation formula and preamble. A large monogram and an elaborately designed "signum line" – the word "Imperator" conceals a drawing of a crowned man’s face – are found at the end of the document’s text. Lastly, the "corroboratio" reveals a gold bull (no longer preserved today). Only the silk threads are still there.
Author
Thomas Engelke