Wall charts, history and European Identity

The picture shows 14 depictions of rural community life, taken from the so called “Sachsenspiegel”, the earliest medieval law code written by Eike von Repgow (1220-1235) in the 13th century. In this illuminated manuscript the text is supplemented by the addition of figurative depictions. You can see 1) the King as chief justice, 2) church and mill, 3) housebuilding and court of the counts, 4) adjudicating juryman, 5) sheep, 6) vine branch, 7) cow, goats and hen, 8) protecting the harvest from the devil by tying him up, 9) ducks and sheaves, 10) merchant 11) peasant with plough and rake, 12) winery, 13) courtly life, 14) paying the tax in kind.