The relationship between vernacular and Latin in medieval German charms: the Sélestat charm

This article proposes a historically grounded interpretation of the so-called Sélestat charm (Bibliothèque Humaniste, Cod. 134), a short bi- lingual marginal text whose opening line has resisted explanation since its first edition by Steinmeyer. Rather than seeking external “analogues,” the study applies a three-level method tailored to early medieval German charms: close reading of the textual units, analysis of page layout and pa- ratextual positioning, and reconstruction of the manuscript’s compilation logic. The decisive advance comes from codicological context: on the fac- ing page, the same hand copied a previously unnoticed and partially erased witness of the Legend of the Twelve Fridays. Read as a micro-dossier, the two marginal entries clarify the procedural force of the crux Sicuta sicunda which presupposes a penitential observance before initiating the thera- peutic action of touch and verbal performance. The Sélestat material thus demonstrates how early medieval charms derive meaning not only from formulaic counterparts, but from the local, manuscript-bound alignment of penitential instruction, liturgical authority, and vernacular efficacy.