The indulgence letter for the monastery of Kostanjevica (1347, November 6)

The stylistic analysis of the Kostanjevica charter’s decoration is based on the comparisons with the Avignonese indulgence letters published thus far. These comparisons have proven valid when trying to answer the perennial questions raised when dealing with indulgence letters (or illuminated charters in general): Where and when was the decoration executed? Was it executed by an illuminator or possibly by the scribe? Was it the work of a single hand or the result of a collaborative undertaking? What meaning did the decorated document hold for the beneficiary? What prompted them to have the document issued to begin with? And so on.1 The present article addresses these questions in the case of the Kostanjevica charter (1347, November 6; image 1), kept in the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia (AS 1063, a. e.2 5964).3 The scarcity of documentary sources that would provide particular information on indulgence letters, their making, and the people involved in the process, is considerable. When trying to answer the above-mentioned questions, we can only depend on