Manessa Codex Available Online.

Whilst this has been available for some time I only recently stumbled across a link to the site which hosts the full Codex.  The site also offers a full facsimile as a free pdf download. Do take care as the pdf is a whopping 101 Mb.



For those of you who don’t know about the Manessa Codex it’s an illuminated manuscript  from 1304 – 1340.  The main interest for wargamers is the 137 miniatures like that on the right depicting nobles and famous rulers in full armour, and their heraldic colors and devices taking part in tournament combats.  I also found that Wikipedia Commons offers many of the pages as high resolution image files.

The Wikipedia entry for the Codex notes that caution is required regarding the heraldry as the Codex was compiled up to 100 years after the deaths of some of the nobles.  Even so there’s inspiration aplenty here.
Recommended.