The Ur Visconti Bateleur/Magician?

Huck said:

http://ota.oucs.ox.ac.uk/scripts/download.php?otaid=1960
Download

http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~Harsch/germanica/Chronologie/12Jh/Zatzikhoven/zat_la00.html
German short description

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Thank you for this Huck- but unfortunately the download will not open or can be read because there is apparently a error in the dowload email from Oxford.

The second link is in German which is tortuous for me to translate with my appalling school German taught by an Irish Nun

That is why I await an Amazon purchased book that may come by snail mail across the waters of the world.

But thank you for the effort.
~Rosanne

BrightEye said:

That was brillian, dear Rosanne!! I always had an innate sense that the Magician was a writer, way before I ever looked at a Visconti deck. That is such a cool idea!

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I think it is quite an exciting idea! One of course that may come to nothing- but I like the thought of this -that Tarot may have had more influence from Germany than is presently thought. Of course if you look at Lombardy- that may well be a natural consequence of who the Lombards and Franks were anyway.
Not only that, but it raises the question of the History of the Magician/Bateleur.
I think it would be 'COOL IDEA' if the Paspesse was the Lady of the Lake- the Virgin from Maidenhead - a Nun? Therefore likely to be or possibly be Saint Marcellina- Saint Ambrose the Bishop of Milan's sister. Patron Saint of Milan in a way. Saint Ambrose had a special attachment to the idea of Nuns.
Here are some images of Saint Ambrose.... (our Le Pape??)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose
and his sister Saint Marcellina as a possible Papesse??
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/2885260076_0aa434bc0e.jpg?v=0

It is a pity I cannot find online the picture I have of her with her crown and her prayer book that is in a Saints of the Church book I have. It is so Papesse like. She apparently is shown often with a book because she is supposed to have taught her brother to read. I am presuming that (at this point) that as the Lady of Lake she teaches Lanzelet as well.
This is what the Catholic Encyclopedia has to say in part about her...

On Christmas Day, probably in 353, she received the veil of consecrated virginity from the hand of Pope Liberius. The advice, which the pope addressed to her on this occasion, has been preserved by St. Ambrose (De virginibus, III, i-iii), especially emphasized being the obligations of Christian virgins to preserve virginal purity. After Ambrose had become Bishop of Milan (374), he summoned his sister thither, and found in her a zealous assistant in fostering and extending the ascetic life among the maidens of Milan. To her Ambrose dedicated his work on virginity, written in 377 ("Libri III de virginibus ad Marcellinam".

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~Rosanne

The Church where it is supposed that Francesco Sforza placed the straw hat on the altar flanked by the four wooden Virtues is called Santa Maria Assunta in Fermo where he was to be married in 1438. When he did marry Bianca in 1441 it was in the Cathedral in Cremona, Bianca's dowry town. That Cathedral was also called Santa Maria Assunta. Also called Santa Maria Assunta was the church that Francesco Sforza meet with Emperor Sigismundo When he was crowned with the Iron Crown the year he was betrothed to Bianca Visconti. It would seem this particular name played out throughout Sforza's life. Interesting tidbits for enjoyment.
~Rosanne

Well just to show I am not totally onesided in my argument- here is a mosiac from the Siena Church of Santa Maria Asunta. This of course could be our dear Papa- only that on 'is head is not a Bishop's Mitre. Not that it says so- but that could well be Saint Marcellina behind the Eastern fellow with the script. I forgot to ask the guide about it; this is because I was so taken with the four Virtues again of Temperance/Prudence/Justice/Fortitude. I kept thinking- no wonder Faith Hope and Charity are not in the Visconti Sforza- every where I looked following the trail of Francesco Sforza through Italy- these are the four constant Virtues on show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hermes_mercurius_trismegistus_siena_cathedral.jpg

Enjoy Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus- he has made it all the way through till today.
Only thing is he does not appear in Lanzelet- unless he is the Hermit in the Wood.
~Rosanne

Whoops Rosanne that link doesn't go through.

Whoops and oops- is that better?
~Rosanne

Yowza! Indeed. What beauty!

I'm attaching it for good luck.

Have a guess as to why he is in a Catholic Cathedral?

He is thought to have foretold the arrival of Christianity. Must have been psychic! (maybe he had Tarot )

~Rosanne

Rosanne said:

Thank you for this Huck- but unfortunately the download will not open or can be read because there is apparently a error in the dowload email from Oxford.

The second link is in German which is tortuous for me to translate with my appalling school German taught by an Irish Nun

That is why I await an Amazon purchased book that may come by snail mail across the waters of the world.

But thank you for the effort.
~Rosanne

Click to expand...

The download works, but you get a very difficult text.

The other text translates as this (a short content description):

"Verse 1 - 666
Prolog. King Pant, father of the Lanzelet and tyrannical ruler in Genewis. His death in an uprising of the subjects. Flight of the mother with the small Lanzelet. His abduction by a Wasserfee (water fairy) to an island inhabited by women only . The education of Lanzelet. His desire to experience the world. Armament and departures. The "tumber Tor"'s (stupid guy) encounter with the dwarf. Instruction in the arts by the castle-owner Mr Johfrit de Liez.

Verse 667 - 1356
Encounter with the Knights Kuraus and Orphilet. Joint journey to the castle of the "gestrengen" (rigorous) Galagandreiz. Night of love with his sexuell interested daughter. Lanzelets battle with Galagandreiz and Galagandreiz' death. By marrying the daughter Lanzelet becomes the new leader of the country.

Verse 1357 - 2249
Secret start to new deeds. Arrest and detention at the prison fortress of the castle owner Linier of Limors. Victory over a giant, lions and against Linier in a fighting contest. Marriage with Ade, niece of the Linier and again Lanzelet becomes ruler.

Verse 2250 - 3474
Another departure. Duel with Walwein (= Gawain), the Arthurian knight. Winning the tournament in Djofle. Rejection of the invitation of King Arthur.

Verse 3475 - 4673
Ride to the castle Schatel-le-mort (chateaux of death). Magic the Mabuz, the son of the Wasserfee. On Mabuz' command the killing of Iweret, enemy of the Wasserfee. Marriage to his daughter Iblis.

Verse 4674 - 5678
The messenger of the Wasserfee comes with the message about Lanzelets origin and name. Lanzelet at the court of his uncle Arthur. Fight with the king Valerin. Vow of subjugation by Valerin. The celebration at the court of Artus. Lanzelet in the hands of the Queen of Pluris.

Verse 5679 - 6562
The Magic Cloak of the Wasserfee. Lancelot's liberation from the hands of the Queen of Pluris by the knights Walwein (Gawain), Karjet, Erec and Tristant (Tristan).

Verse 6563 - 7444
Abduction of Arthur's wife Ginover by the King Valerin. His impregnable fortress "Verworrener Tann" (= labyrintical forest). Promise of help by the magician Malduc on condition, that Erec and Walwein would be delivered to him. Conquest of Valerins castle, Valerin's death and the liberation Ginovers.

Verse 7445 - 8468
Eric and Walwein are threatened by death in the prison of Malducs castle. Liberation of the two through Lanzelet and his 100 knights. Death of Malduc. Feast of Joy at the Artushof. Lady Elidia, who by magic had been changed to a dragon, is freed by the kiss of Lanzelet. Lanzelets return to the throne of Genewis. Reunion with his mother.

Verse 8469 - 9444
Return to Artushof. Lanzelet takes the reign in the land of his wife Iblis. The coronation ceremony in Dodone. Lanzelet becomes a prudent governing integral Dodone king. The end of Iblis and Lanzelet after a long and happy time. Epilogue.
"

Thank you Huck!

Missed the bit about the night of Love with Galagandreiz's daughter in my haste to get it read at the Library. Not very chaste for a play or a poem for your wife now is that? But then again Sforza was married first to Polissena Ruffo, a Calabrese noblewoman in much the same sort of...ummm tryst. He was only 17 and she died two years later and her property gave him his original money and status.

I think in the translation I read the water fairy is a mermaid- who takes him to Maidenhead (Isle of Virgins)where the Lady of the Lake is?
I should have photocopied the library book ( as much as I could)

You have been helpful Huck, but silent- do you think there is any merit in this Lanzelet idea- or it is unlikely?

~Rosanne