(22-10-2021, 08:41 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I have not heard of the White and Black Ghibilines, I wonder if you are referring to the White and Black Guelphs. They are, however, Florentine, so I don't quite see how they fit with your Alsatian, Viennese, Slovenian individual.
Sorry, Mark, I was writing off memory and I mixed the two. By the time VM was written, the Guelphs were fighting among themselves and were referred to Imperial and Papal party. The situation is described in the book written by Gabriele Rosseti Disquisitions on the antipapal spirit, which can be found online. The book also explains how religious symbolism was used to criticize the Church (particularly in the works of Dante and Petrarch). It is in this spirit that the VM should be interpreted.
As to the Bavarian, Swabian, and Vienna connection - this connection goes back to the time of the Ottonian dynasty and to St. Hemma of Gurk. St. Hemma was the descendent of Emperor Henry II. He named Welf III as the Duke of Carinthia.
Her grandmother Hemma was granted the mining rights in Lieding (near Strasbourg) by Emperor Otto II in 975. Hemma was born in Peilenstein in the Mark an der Sann( Pilštanj in present day Slovenia) and was brought up at the Imperial court in Bamberg by Emperess St. Cunigunde. Hemma married the Carinthian count William II of Friesach, known as Margrave an der Sann. Both her husband and two sons were murdered.
The relationship with Emperor Henry must have been through the Emma of Altdorf, the daughter of Welf I, Count of Altdorf in Alamannia.
The history is vailed in mystery. One thing remains: the opposition to the powers that were writing the history has always find the way to leave some clues in the symbolic esoteric language.
At the time VM was created, the Counts of Celje were one of the wealthiest European families. According to historical sources, they have their origin in the Lords of Sanneck, the relatives of St. Hemma of Gurk. In the early 14th century, the Lords Sanneck allied with the Austrian Habsburgs in their conflict against Duke Henry VI of Carinthia. After saving the life of King Sigismund (of Luxemburg), King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, the Sanneks (Saunecks) were elevated to Counts and they adopted the name Counts of Cilli (named after their castle in Celje, Slovenia). Herman of Celje also became Sigismund's father-in-law.
The Counts of Celje and the Habsburgs had the contract of mutual inheritance and when the last Count of Celje died, most of their property was regained by the Habsburgs.
The Counts of Celje were apparently more wealthy than the Emperor and were related by marriages to most European families.
They were strong supporters of the Slovenian Carthusian monasteries. They founded the monastery of Pleterje where Kempf had been prior for several years. They could easily supply him with the expensive parchment.