Winand von Steeg

Pal. lat. 411, f. 7v: example of a arbor consanguinitatis.

Winand von Steeg, also known as Winand or Wynadus Ort, was born in 1371 in Steeg in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier. He attended a Latin School in Deventer and then studied in Heidelberg and Würzburg, where he earned a doctoral degree in Canonical Law and later became a lecturer. He also worked as a preacher, canon, parish priest, and lawyer. He took part in the Council in Konstanz, attended several royal courts, and undertook many journeys and diplomatic residences for political entities.

The work of this humanist, theologian, and scholar include a collection of sermons, hymns, poems, academic writings, and a treatise on marriage law Mons quattuor fluvialium arborum (the mountain of the four river trees), which was based on a lecture by Winand at the University of Heidelberg.

For this exercise, you will transcribe two excerpts from this important text: one is a dedication to count palatine Ludwig III, and the other are instructions for calculating degrees of kinship based on a family tree.