Confraternity Book of Saint Peter Facsimile Edition

This fraternity book from St. Peter in Salzburg is one of the oldest and most venerable monuments of Bavarian-Austrian history. It was written around the year 784 in Salzburg and continued until the middle of the 13th century to be the oldest, fully preserved written witness of Christian Salzburg during the time of Bishop Vergil (died 784). This famous codex contains the names of fraternity members, diocesan priests and laymen, who contractually interconnected themselves so that through prayer, missal sacrifice and good deeds, they could offer spiritual help in life and after death.

The manuscript, however, is not only valuable regarding the history of the church, but it also served as a unique linguistic and paleographic witness. In the series of books known of this sort, the fraternity book of Bishop St. Peter in Salzburg represents a unique sort. It's value lays not only in an abundance of important historical, paleographic and linguistic material but moreover an historical theological phenomenon becomes visible; the worldwide Christian attitude of the Salzburg Bishop Virgil surfaces, an Irish in the midst of the Bavarian-Frankish region.