The Franciscan in the pulpit

Franciscan

The Franciscan in the pulpit

(Hyr ste)et dy bruder van sunte franciscus orden
(uppe) eyneme predickstul unde seeth ...
(leven wold)e gy sunder grot(e not)
(nu mute gi lide)n den bitteren doet
.............den konde an liuen
...............t syner....
............unde met myne..
.................litche.....
........... redyen..ik......
.......... den pypen wike
(bytterlyken s)terven ys dy erste sanck
(dy ande)r alzo dy klokkenklanck.
(dy drudde van) frunden syn vorgeten
(al)tydes dat svlle gy weten

Here the brother of the order of St. Francis(1) is standing
in a pulpit and says ...(2)
You would live without great need
Now you must suffer the bitter death
.............could in life
.............
.............and with my
.............
.............
...........give way to the fife
Bitterly dying is the first song
the second [is] like the ringing of bells
The third [is to] be forgotten by friends
This you should always know.(3)

The start of the dance of death in Berlin.
The start of the dance of death in Berlin

Notice the little monsters, one of which is playing a bagpipe - the same instrument used in Tallinn. In other dances of death the music is always supplied by the dead.

Footnotes: (1) (2) (3)

Giovanni Francesco Bernardone (Francis of Assisi - 1182-1226) founded several orders. Franciscans are preachers and these "grey brothers" are not allowed to possess any goods, but must live of alms, however, they usually built their own churches on ground conceded to them for that purpose.

It's interesting that the Franciscan is allowed to introduce the dance of death in St. Mary's Church, which is a parish church and does not belong to the Franciscan friary's complex.

It's not clear whether something is missing here. The two first lines don't rhyme, and as the lithograph at the top of the page shows there's room for another word or two.

On the other hand, this scene has 14 lines of text as opposed to all the other scenes, that have 12 lines. Thus the two first lines could be an (unrhymed) introduction, in spite of them being written with the same type as the rest of the text.

The "three songs" are reminiscent of the 3 songs in Dodendantz. See a comparison of Berlin's dance of death and Dodendantz