Repair works on the Rhine riverbank wall in Basel, Switzerland, have uncovered a seal stamp that belonged to the late 13th century cantor of Basel cathedral.
The seal was discovered last month during underwater archaeological excavations at the foot of the Pfalz, the viewing terrace overlooking the Rhine behind the Münster Cathedral. “Pfalz” is derived from the Latin word for palace and the terrace is named after the bishop’s palace which used to be next to it. The cathedral’s cloister can be accessed directly from a gateway on the Pfalz.
The pointed oval seal die is made of brass and is in excellent condition. It depicts a man in ecclesiastical robes standing at a lectern holding a large book. A cantor was a church’s choir master who selected the music, led the chants during mass and sang the solo parts. He also played an important administrative role as a manager of the liturgical library, who was in charge of updating the cathedral’s records (deaths, charters, annals, etc.).
Surrounding the image on the edges of the seal is the inscription ECCE(LESIA).BASILIEN(SIS) + S(IGILLVM) RVDOLFI.CANTORI, meaning Cathedral of Basel, Seal of Rudolph Cantor. Surviving records identify the seal owner as cathedral cantor Rudolf Kraft who lived at what is now Augustinergasse 8 in Basel between 1296 and 1305, literally a minute’s walk from the Pfalz.
Basel wasn’t even part of the Swiss Confederacy when this seal was in use. That happened 200 years later when the Canton of Basel joined the confederation in 1501. The renovation of the riverbank wall has brought to light remains from 2,000 years of the city’s history and every period from then to now.
The riverbank wall and the Münsterfährbödeli landing stage are currently being renovated to protect the historic structures on Basel’s Rhine riverbank. The muddy excavated material is being systematically examined with metal detectors by the Archaeological Soil Research team. Depending on visibility, Basel archaeologists are using underwater cameras and drones for the first time. This approach allows for the most precise possible documentation of the archaeological structures and finds, even under difficult conditions.
The archaeological discoveries at this location are no coincidence. As early as the winter of 1932/33, 580 Roman-era coins and numerous medieval objects were unearthed during periods of low water. For centuries, waste, rubble, and building materials from the Palatinate and the bishop’s residence were dumped down the slope into the Rhine. Collapses, such as the Rhine slope collapse in 1346 and the Palatinate in 1502, also contributed to the numerous objects sliding into the river.
Rudolf the cantor is depicted atop his coat of arms with his boar spear (‘Saufeder’).
The term ‘Pfalz’ is indeed derived from ‘palatina’ or palace, but in Medieval times they were itinerant courts for the king, usually in distances of 30 to 40km to each other, or a day’s travel. There may, or may not, have been a royal palatinate that ended up in the river before the bishop’s palace 🤔️
The archaeological record in this context seems a bit patchy. There was a celtic fortification with ‘murus gallicus’, then the Romans, and all of a sudden, allegedly the Münster popped up. In fact, there was an earlier church in the 9th century damaged by invading Magyars, and in 1019 HRR Emperor Henry II consecrated the ‘Heinrichsmünster’ in Basel.
In 1012, Henry II had consecrated the ‘Heinrichsdom’ in Bamberg, and there had likewise been a Bronze-/ Iron Age fortification, (the Babenberger’s) ‘Babenburg’, several instances of the Cathedral -and- Henry’s palatinate, indeed at the spot of the later ‘Alte Hofhaltung’/ the old bishop’s palace still visible.
King Henry the Fowler had established the “Burgenordnung” of 926 against the Magyars:
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“…Et primum quidem ex agrariis militibus nonum quemque eligens in urbibus habitare fecit, ut ceteris confamiliaribus suis octo habitacula extrueret, frugum omnium tertiam partem exciperet servaretque. Caeteri vero octo seminarent et meterent frugesque colligerent nono et suis eas locis reconderent. Concilia et omnes conventus atque convivia in urbibus voluit celebrari. …”
One in nine of the rural warriors (agrarii milites) was chosen and had to live in “castles” (“urbibus”, i.e. ring walls) so that he could build homes for his eight comrades. He had to keep a third of the harvest, but was not allowed to work in the fields. The remaining eight had to entertain the ninth, and all courts, markets and banquets were to be held at those fortified ‘cities’.
More “worldly” verses from Tanhûser / Tannhäuser (~1250AD) –on YT– watch?v=hJhCY__HwK0
Siboto III.(?) von Tannhausen is depicted in the ‘Codex Manesse’ manuscript (ca. 1320, Page 264r), wearing the Teutonic Order habit, suggesting he might have fought in the Sixth Crusade (1228–1229). Moreover, the ‘Deutschhauskirche’ in Würzburg is in possession of the tombstone of Siboto III of Tanhusen.
The song (‘Steter dienest der ist guot’) is heavily ironic and mimics the conventional Minne songs:
Despite the tasks in each verse getting more and more impossible, the singer won’t give up the struggle to fulfill his Missus’ shopping list – with all what she wants from the Holy Land – And of course beyond!
I tried to put the song into English:
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Constant service that’s done well,
done to ladies that look ‘belle’,
As I have done to mine.
A salamander I must get her,
Ah! One thing she strictly tells me:
The RED ONE it just has to be!
Brought from [French] Provence into the land,
to Nuremberg; In that I will succeed.
And the Danube over the Rhine,
Once I make that true, what I want she’ll do.
But where I say “Yes!” she will say “No!”
Such is what “in accord” we do.
Thanks to that I have the girl of mine,
The one I call my sweet sunshine.
-Heia hey!
For too long I did not concubine.
CHORUS: Yes – today and forever more ‘Yes’
Loud and completely, and still ‘Yes!’.
An aching weapon it turns to be,
What does this love mean to me?
The pure one and praiseworthy?
That she wont make me glad,
is what in essence makes me sad.
Sweet delusion, though, keeps me happy
that I am getting from that ‘Frouw’:
In case the ‘Miuseberg’ would be flat
Snowfree, ‘Sweety’ will reward me that.
All that keeps my own heart blurred,
is what I see in her ensured.
My will she fullfills with certainty,
once I build her a house of ivory,
The house atop a lake, she asks from me.
I’d have gracious friendship for gallantry,
in case I bring to her from Galilee,
From every collateral free,
a mountain that I would put it on,
that Mr. Adam must have sat upon–
Heia hey!
All other deeds would be surpassed.
CHORUS
A tree that once in India stood!
Huge, of course, that’s understood.
My will she would fulfill flat,
So let’s see if I get all that:
I must gain for her that ugly Grail,
that once possessed Lord Parcyfail.
And the apple that Paris did address,
for ‘Minne’ to Venus the Lovegodess.
A strong mantle at last sainted,
the woman that remains untainted.
Many other wonders she proposed:
What grievous things on me imposed!
For the Ark she is feeling strongly,
that Noah himself had timbered longly.
Heia hey!
Brought I that, how dear I would be!
CHORUS