Eike von Repgow, a freeman of Rettichau near Aken on the Elbe, was in his time an advisor to the rulers of Thuringia, Brandenburg, Upper and Lower Saxony. In the early 13th century he set down the "Sachsenspiegel", thus creating a record of one of the oldest German legal codices, that was of immense impact on the Middle Ages. He aimed to collect a complete oral tradition of law in his mother land, Saxony, for any person studying this period of history. The writer presents the administration of the then law in two parts, Rural and Feudal. Testimonies on the impact and reception of the "Sachsenspiegel" are four comparatively complete "Codices Picturati", manuscripts with sequences of illustrations that explain or enlighten generally the practice of law in that period. The latest of these four documents is the "Wolfenbuettler Bilderhandschrift" and dates fom 1348 and 1362-71. It depicts the spiritual and material aspects of mediaeval life - political, legal, economic and social - as well as the real values of everyday life, such as tools and implements, clothing and weaponry, animal husbandry, agriculture and architecture.This commentary accompanies the first facsimile edition of the illuminated manuscript from the Herzog August Bibliothek. This publication aims to serve the scientific discussions of the relationship of text and illustrations, of oral and written tradition, of everyday life and thought in the Middle Ages. Also available is a three-volume set with the facsimile edition, modern German text and the commentary.
