This is the first page of the famous "Carmina Burana" manuscript, found in 1803 in the monastery of Benedikt Beuren by Freiherr Christoph von Aretin, first published in 1847 by Johann Andreas Schmeller, and now Codex 4660 in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich.
It is a collection of songs, in both Latin and German, dealing with both religious and secular topics, and also contains some liturgical dramatic scenes. Some of these songs have become very well known through their musical setting by Carl Orff.
This picture shows the first page of the manuscript.
At the top is the wheel of fortune. The figure at the top is a king, and the writing in the margin says: "Regno," "I rule"; the word next the figure at the right is "regnavi," "I have ruled"; the word next to the figure at the left is "regnabo," "I will rule"; and the writing under the figure at the bottom is "sum sine regno," "I am without rule." As the wheel revolves, each figure experiences good and bad fortune in turn.
Under the picture is the text of a song about the fickleness of fortune.
The marks between the lines are a form of musical notation called "staffless neumes." They show, to someone who already knows the song, where the melody goes up or down, and how many notes are on each syllable, but they do not indicate either pitch or rhythm.
