REICHENAU. - Called "Augia dives", an island on Lake Constance, joined to the mainland by a causeway; today it belongs to Baden. It was the seat of a historic Benedictine abbey.
In the year 724 Charles Martel donated to Bishop Pirmin the island of Sindlezzeisan situated on the Rhine near Lake Constance. Pirmin founded there a Benedictine monastery later called "Augia dives" (R.). The authentic text of Charlemagne's diploma has been restored by K. Brandi from a 12th-century forgery (Die Gründung der Abtei R., I, Munich 1925, p. 10 ff.). Pirmin also concerned himself with the foundation of Hornbuch, where he died in 754; the epitaph is preserved by Rabanus Maurus (MGH, Poëtae latini aevi Carolini, II, p. 224). On his figure see I. Perez, S. Pimenio, in Boletín de la R. Academia de la historia, 77 (1920), p. 132 ff.; G. Jecker, St. Pirminis Herkunft und Mission in der Kultur der Abtei R., I, Munich 1925, pp. 19, 36; id., Die Heimat des hl. Pirmins, des Apostel der Alamannen, in Beiträge zur Geschichte des alten Mönchtums und des Benediktinerordens, XIII, Münster 1927.
Pirmin's successor at R. in 727 was Heddo, who introduced the Benedictine Rule; in 734 he was elected bishop of Strasbourg. There followed the abbots Kebe (734-36), Arnefrid (736-46), Sidonius (746-60), John (760-82), Peter (782-86), Waldo (786-806), who was also bishop of Pavia and of Basel; Haito (806-23), likewise bishop of Basel. Charlemagne made two rich donations to R. when he visited it in 780 and in 813.
The development of the monastic constitution of R. up to the reform of 817 has been studied by M. Rothenhäusler and C. Beyerle (Die Regel des heil. Benedikt. das Gesetz des Inselklosters und seine Verwirklichung, in the Beiträge cit., pp. 263-315). Further privileges were granted by Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald, who was buried in the monastic church of Mittelzell. It had immunity from secular authority, the iurisdictio fori and exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. Other abbots were Erlebald (823-38), who is said to have received the relics of St. Mark from Bishop Ratold; Walafrid Strabo (846-49), one of the most distinguished intellectuals of the Carolingian age; Hatto III (891-913) founded Oberzell and became archbishop of Mainz; Heribrecht obtained the relics known as those "of the Blood." Ruodman (972-85), Wittigowo (985-97), Immo (1006-1008), Berno of Cluny (1008-48) and Hermannus Contractus renewed the scriptorium. Pope Gregory V (996-99) conferred privileges on the abbey, as did the Ottonian emperors. Notable is the bull of Innocent II of 22 March 1207 concerning the abbey's possessions and rights. Great prosperity led to the relaxation of the Rule and to decline; the abbey was incorporated in 1521 into the diocese of Constance, whose bishops became commendatory abbots of R.; the personnel was reduced to twelve monks including the prior. In 1757 the novices were abolished. The monastery was secularized in 1802. The literary production of the abbey was very active and fruitful and spread throughout Germany and also into Italy. It suffices to recall the Evangeliary of St. Ausfriede in the archiepiscopal museum of Utrecht, that of Emperor Otto in the cathedral of Aachen, the manuscript of the Gospels offered by the canon Illinus to the cathedral of Cologne, the Sacramentary of the abbey of St. Maximin at Trier, today in Paris (Bibl. nation., Cod. lat. 18005); the majority of the manuscripts donated by Emperor Henry II to the cathedral of Bamberg. The zenith of R. was under the Ottonian dynasty.
The school of R. had among its most illustrious teachers and pupils Waldo, Haito, Erlebald, Wetti, Hatto, Reginbert and Walafrid Strabo; when the latter died in 849 the flourishing period of the school began to decline. The development of the liturgy in R. and its relations with the Roman liturgy, its relics, etc. were set forth by A. Manser and C. Beyerle, Aus dem liturgischen Leben der R., in the Beiträge cit. (pp. 316-437). The poets were Walafrid Strabo and Ennenrich of Eltwangen, Burcard, Ruotpert, Abbot Berno, Hermannus Contractus (A. Bergmann, Die Dichtung der R. im Mittelalter, in the Beiträge cit., pp. 711-55). From the scriptorium of R. came Walafrid Strabo (839-849), Hatto III (891-913), archbishop of Mainz, Abbot Immo, St. Meinrad count of Zollern (861), founder of St. Mary of Einsiedeln, Hermannus Contractus (1054). Famous are the Library of R. and the school of miniature painting, whence the codex of Egbert (H. Sierp, Walafrid Strabos Gedicht über dem Gartenbau, poëma de cultura arborum, in the Beiträge cit., pp. 756-72). The principal historical works are the annals of the early times and the works of Hermannus Contractus and of his pupil Berthold (J. R. Dieterich, Die Geschichtsschreibung der R., in the Beiträge cit., pp. 773-801). The activity of Reginbert and of his pupils in the transcription tion of the manuscripts was studied by K. Preisendanz, Aus
Bücherei und Schreibstube der R., in the Beiträge cit., pp. 657-
683. The most considerable group of manuscripts of the dispersed Library of R. is preserved in that of Karlsruhe
(A. Holder, Die Reichenauer Handschriften beschrieben und
erläutert, I, Leipzig 1906; II, ibid. 1914; III, ibid. 1918).
Among the manuscripts, notable are the fragmenta that have
supplied the formulae Augienses (MGH, Leges, V, Berlin
1886, XXI-XXIII, p. 347); ancient hymns (F. J. Mone,
Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters, I, pp. 97, 111, 183,
218; II, p. 450, III, p. 430). A sacramentary followed
by a palimpsest fragment of the Gallican Psalter; the Sacramentary of the 6th century was reconstructed in 54 pages by C.
Mohlberg (Fragments palimpsestes d'un Sacramentaire gé-
lasien de R., in Revue d'histoire ecclésiast., 11 [1910],
pp. 471-82; see also A. Dold, Das Palimpsestsacramentar
in Codex Augiensis, CXI, Ein Messbuch ältester Struktur
aus dem Alpengebiet, Beuron 1925). The codex of the Apocalypse in the Library of Bamberg (A II, 42), the Evangeliary of Geron, archbishop of Cologne, now in the Library of Darmstadt (no. 1948); the Psalter of Egbert
archbishop of Trier at Cividale; the Evangeliary of the abbey of Poussay now in Paris (Bibliothèque nation., lat.
1051-4); the Evangeliary of Egbert now in the Municipal Library
of Trier contains 51 illustrations of the life of
Christ (on the activity of the Scriptorium of R. cf. G. Baesecke,
Das Schrifttum von R., in Beiträge zur Geschichte der
deutschen Sprache u. Literatur, 51 [1927], pp. 206-22.
H. Wölfflin, Die Bamberger Apokalypse, eine Reichenauer
Bilderhandschrift vom Jahre 1000, 2nd ed., Munich 1921;
F. Kraus, Die Miniaturen des Codex Egberti
in der Stadtbibliothek zu Trier, Freiburg im Br. 1884;
S. Beissel, Die Bilder der Handschrift des Kaisers Otto im
Münster zu Aachen, Aachen 1886; J. K. Hecht,
Der romanische Kirchenbau des Bodenseegebietes, Basel 1928; A. Schmidt, Die Miniaturen des Gerohodex.
Ein Reichenauer Evangelistat des X. Jahrhunderts, Leipzig
1924; id., Die Reichenauer Hs. CXC der Stadtbibliothek
zu Leipzig, ibid. 1927; J. Sauer, Die geschichtlichen Beziehungen der R. zu Italien und zum Osten. Studien zum
Kunst des Ostens, Vienna 1923; A. Goldschmidt, Die
deutsche Buchmalerei, II, Die Ottonische Buchmalerei,
Florence-Munich 1928. On the whole body of manuscripts
of R.: A. Holder, Die Reichenauer Handschriften be-schrieben und erläutert, I. Die Pergamenthandschriften,
Leipzig 1906; II. Die Papierhandschriften. Fragmenta,
Nachträge, ibid. 1911; III. Grundstock der Bibliothek:
Die alten Kataloge. Zeugnisse zur Bibliotheksgeschichte
gesammelt und bearbeitet von Karl Preisendanz, 1918).
The three villages of Oberzell, Mittelzell and Unterzell or Niderzell (from "cella") contain notable churches. In the center
of the Island is the Cathedral dedicated first to the Blessed Virgin, then to St. Mark. It was erected by Abbot Eddo and dedicated in 816; it was frescoed in 985; in the middle of the 11th
century it was enlarged. In the Treasury there is the Reliquary of
St. Mark (m. 1.20×0.42, of the first half of the 14th century),
a rectangular casket with a roof, entirely covered with leaves of
gilded silver with scenes of the life of Christ and two episodes
relating to the history of the relics of St. Mark and their
translation to R.
To the northeast of the Island, Egino, bishop of Verona, founded
in 799 the church of Sts. Peter and Paul, which, however, in its
present Romanesque form dates back to the beginning of the 12th
century. It is divided by columns into three naves; beneath
the high altar is the tomb of Egino. In 1880 in the church of St. George at
Oberzell, on the island of R., it was discovered that it had been
entirely frescoed in the time of Abbot Wittigowo (985-97);
one notes there: medallions with Prophets; the Twelve Apostles;
the Raising of Lazarus, the Healing of the woman with the issue of blood; the Raising of the son of the widow of Nain and of the daughter
of Jairus; the Healing of the leper; the Exorcism of Gerasa;
the Healing of the dropsical man; the Storm on the lake of Galilee;
the Healing of the man born blind. For the paintings, see J. Sauer,
Die Monumentalmalerei der R. (pp. 902-55). For the sacred buildings of R., see O. Grüber, Die Kirchenbauten
der R., in the Beiträge cit., pp. 821-71); K. Grüber has studied the Reich. Plastik bis zum Anfang des Mittelalters in the
Beiträge cit. (pp. 872-901). The Treasury preserves a reliquary in gilded silver that would have contained particles of the blood of the Redeemer, brought from the East as a
gift to Charlemagne; a manuscript preserved at Karlsruhe (Codex Augiensis, 84), of the end of the 10th or 11th century,
tells its vicissitudes; but the Reliquary is not earlier
than the 12th century: on the reverse a Greek inscription says: "Signore, succour Hilarion Igirithon your servant and hegumenos of your monastery" (A. Heisenberg, Das Kreuzreliquiar der R., in Sitzungsberichte der bayer. Akad. der
Wissenschaft; Philos. und philolog. und hist. Klasse, 1926;
K. Künstle, Die Kunst des Klosters R. im IX. und X.
Jahrhunderte und der neuentdeckte karolingische Ge-
mäldezyklus zu Goldbach bei Überlingen, Freiburg im Br.
1906; id., R. Seine berühmtesten Äbte, Lehrer und Theologen, ibid. 1924; Cottineau, II, 2427-30).
Enrico Josi