Literatur und Klosterreform

The South German Benedictine monastery of St. Mang in Füssen (diocese of Augsburg) is examined here with reference to the connections discernible between the monastery's espousal of the reform of the order and the books added to its library in the second half of the 15th century. Analysis of the content of the new acquisitions reveals that they are by no means invariably related to the reform, but rather reflect a variety of (partly conflicting) interests. Though small in number, the books written in the vernacular turn out to be a nucleus of German-language writing in an area otherwise clearly dominated by Latin.