A Curious Contemporary Coloured Woodcut Festival Book for the Wedding of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria
Wirri [also: Wirrich], Heinrich. Ordenliche Beschreybung der Fürstlichen Hochzeyt/ die da gehalten ist worden/ durch den Durchleüchtigen Hochgebornen Fürsten vnnd Herrn/ Herrn Wilhelm Pfaltzgraf beim Rheyn/ Hertzog inn Obern vnd Nidern Bayern sc. Mit dem Hochgebornen Fräwlin Renatta/ geborne Hertzogin auß Luttringe[n]… Augsburg, Philipp Ulhart, 1568.
A remarkable and unusually vivid Renaissance festival book documenting the spectacular 1568 wedding celebrations of the Bavarian crown prince Wilhelm V and Renata of Lorraine, richly illustrated with 37 heraldic woodcuts, folding armorial plates, tournament scenes, and large contemporary hand-coloured woodcuts depicting one of the great dynastic festivities of sixteenth-century Europe.
Part wedding chronicle, part heraldic compendium, part tournament book, and part visual spectacle, the work survives here in a richly coloured copy from the distinguished Austrian-Bohemian noble family of Harrach.
Edition & Bibliographic Information
A-F4 [G-H4] I-P6 O-V2 X6 = 22 leaves, 1 folding leaf, 8 additionally inserted blank leaves, 41 numbered leaves, 2 leaves, leaves 42–48, 2 leaves, leaves 49–55, 1 leaf.
Illustrated with 37 heraldic woodcuts, of which 36 are contemporary coloured, together with one double-page folding plate of Bavarian noble arms, one large composite double-page woodcut fragment depicting the ceremonial entry of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria into the masquerade festivities, two small woodcuts of commemorative medals, five double-page contemporary coloured tournament woodcuts, and final armorial woodcuts of both author and printer. Every page surrounded by ornamental woodcut borders. Folio (268 × 185 mm).
Eighteenth-century marbled calf binding over five raised bands with gilt spine label and rich floral gilt tooling in compartments, blind fillet borders on covers, marbled endleaves, and red edges throughout. Binding rubbed with worming at head and split at foot; somewhat closely trimmed; composite giant woodcut surviving only fragmentarily; occasional light foxing and worm traces.
The Wedding that Announced the Bavarian Counter-Reformation
The marriage of Wilhelm V of Bavaria (1548–1626) and Renata of Lorraine (1544–1602) represented far more than a dynastic union.
The festivities offered a public preview of one of the most culturally ambitious Catholic courts of the late Renaissance. Wilhelm V, later known as “Wilhelm the Pious,” would become one of the great princely patrons of the Counter-Reformation, deeply connected both to the Habsburgs and to the Medici. Renata brought with her knowledge of French and Spanish court culture acquired at the ducal court of Lorraine.
Their court would later sponsor major architectural, religious, and artistic projects in Munich, including the Jesuit college, the Michaelskirche, and the Hofbräuhaus. Even today the famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Munich preserves the memory of the wedding tournament.
The festivities themselves lasted eighteen days and included representatives of the highest European nobility together with approximately 5,000 mounted participants. Orlando di Lasso composed the festival music.
Heinrich Wirri: Wandering Singer and Master of Ceremonies
The chronicle was written by the Swiss wandering performer Heinrich Wirri (1520–1572), an unusually colourful figure who had previously worked as a weaver and tailor before reinventing himself as singer, actor, heraldic entertainer, and ceremonial “Pritschenmeister.”
Travelling on behalf of Emperor Maximilian II from Vienna to Munich, Wirri was commissioned to report upon the festivities. His account moves fluidly between eyewitness report, genealogical catalogue, heraldic record, satirical verse, ceremonial handbook, and illustrated festival chronicle.
He openly admits that bad weather caused him to arrive late in Munich. Fortunately, his clothing convinced the gatekeepers that he was “von dem Kaisr ain Hündlin” and “kain gfer,” allowing him entrance into the festivities.
Heraldry, Tournaments, and Spectacle
The book begins with an extensive heraldic presentation of the principal participants.
Duke Albrecht V and his consort appear first as hosts, followed by bridegroom, bride, Christina of Denmark, and numerous dynastic relatives. Foreign rulers including the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the Queen of Poland are represented through ambassadors and delegates.
One particularly charming detail reveals Wirri’s conscientiousness as a reporter: unable to identify the arms of Ott von Byland, envoy of the Duke of Jülich, he simply admits:
“Sein Wappen mir erkandt ist nitt.”
The large folding armorial plate arranges the Bavarian noble families in circular formation around the ducal arms. Nearly all heraldic devices are coloured in red, yellow, green, blue, and black by a skilled contemporary painter, greatly enhancing both clarity and visual splendour.
Particularly impressive are the five double-page tournament woodcuts, vividly coloured and filled with mounted combats, banners, armour, and heraldic display. The enormous composite woodcut depicting the four-horse ceremonial entry of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria into the masquerade festivities appears inspired by Dürer’s Triumphal Procession for Maximilian I.
A Heraldic Curiosity from the Harrach Library
The present copy acquired an additional historical dimension through its later ownership by the Austrian-Bohemian Counts of Harrach, one of the great aristocratic families of the Habsburg world.
An armorial ex-libris bearing the Harrach ostrich-feather crest appears on the pastedown, while the title bears the stamp:
“Ex bibliotheca Viennensi.”
The inserted blank leaves replacing gatherings G-H remain especially intriguing. One almost suspects that the book may have functioned partly as a genealogical and heraldic album into which additional names and arms could theoretically be entered long after the festivities themselves had passed. Even centuries later, aristocratic families remained intensely concerned with lineage, precedence, and dynastic memory.
The result is one of the most curious and visually engaging German festival books of the sixteenth century.
Provenance
Early nineteenth-century armorial ex-libris of the Counts of Harrach on pastedown; title stamped “Ex bibliotheca Viennensi.”
Literature
Not in Adams; ADB 55, 387; BM STC German 920; not in Brunet or Colas; Goedeke II, 326, no. 4,2 (“Wire”); Graesse VI/2, 464; not in Hiler; Lipperheide Sbc 4–5; Schottenloher, Bibliographie III, 29454b; VD16 W 3586; Vinet 706 (“volume rare et fort recherché”).
For a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, number 58:
Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II
