Liber viventium Fabariensis

The Liber viventium Fabariensis is probably the most important surviving work of Raetian book art. This manuscript was originally designed as a Book of Gospels and is richly adorned with initials, frames for canonical tables, and full-page miniatures of the symbols the Four Evangelists. Beginning ca. 830, the names of monks who joined the monastic community along with the names of Pfäfers Abbey’s living and deceased benefactors were listed in the empty frames of the canon tables. In addition to its function as evangeliary, commemorative book, and register of the monastic brotherhood, the Liber viventium also served as a cartulary and treasure catalog of Pfäfers Abbey. Due to the legal significance that the Liber viventium retained until modern times, the volume is housed in the archival holdings of Pfäfers Abbey.