638 sacramentary
became one of the bases for an electoral system for the
Holy Roman Empire by defining who were the seven
electors. It consisted of two parts. The first covered
customary law on inheritance, the family, legal procedure,
criminal law, and laws to maintain public peace. The
second part concerned feudal obligations, especially
those of Saxony.
See alsoFEUDALISM AND THE FEUDAL SYSTEM;FREDER-
ICKII, EMPEROR AND KING OFSICILY.
Further reading:Maria Dobozy, trans., The Saxon
Mirror: A Sachsenspiegel of the Fourteenth Century
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999);
Guido Kisch, Sachsenspiegel and Bible: Researches in the
Source History of the Sachsenspiegel and the Influence of the
Bible on Mediaeval German Law (1941; reprint, Notre
Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1960);
Guillermo F. Margadant, The Illustrations of the Sachsen-
spiegel: A Medieval German Law Book(Austin: Joseph D.
Jamail Center for Legal Research, The University of Texas
School of Law, 2000); Theodore John Rivers, “Sachsen-
spiegel” DMA10.602–604.
sacramentary During the Middle Ages, the sacramen-
tary was principal book used for the celebration of MASS.
In it nearly all the PRAYERSof the Christian Church were
preserved. It was also among the most illustrated liturgi-
cal books of the early Middle Ages. It contained all the
prayers for the celebrant, whether pope, bishop, or
priest, for each day of the liturgical year. It also con-
tained the canon of the Mass or eucharistic prayer. The
sacramentary contained the formularies, usually three
orations and a preface for the temporal and the sanc-
toral. These were usually supplemented by a CALENDAR,
ritual prayers, and blessings for baptism, EXORCISM,
funerals, penitential services, and various votive masses.
Many of these were made and decorated simply or lav-
ishly. They are recorded from the time of Pope LEOI in
the fifth century. The most common model for them was
associated with Pope GREGORYI THEGREAT, whose pres-
tige enhanced its authority. During the CAROLINGIAN
RENAISSANCEand reform, these books were standardized
for a common liturgy throughout the empire. In the 12th
century, the contents of the sacramentary were included
in the MISSAL.
See alsoILLUMINATION; LITURGICAL BOOKS.
Further reading:Yitzhak Hen, ed., The Sacramentary
of Echternach (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS. lat. 9433)
(London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1997); Richard W.
Pfaff, Medieval Latin Liturgy: A Select Bibliography
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982), 72–79;
Cyrille Vogel, Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the
Sources,trans. William G. Storey and Niels Krogh Ras-
mussen (Washington, D.C.: Pastoral Press, 1986).
sacraments SeeSEVEN SACRAMENTS.
Sacred College SeeCARDINALS, COLLEGE OF.sacristy The sacristy or sacrariumin LATINwas the
place where sacred and valuable objects, such as RELICS,
liturgical vessels, and VESTMENTS, were kept. It was the
place where the priest and the ministers put on those
vestments. Most of these areas or rooms in medieval
churches have not survived or have been heavily redone.
Only a few CATHEDRALSfrom the late middle Ages and
RENAISSANCEhave kept their original sacristies.
See alsoAMIENSCATHEDRAL; CHARTRES, CATHEDRAL OF.
Further reading: Reinhard Bentmann, Churches of
the Middle Ages,trans. Anthony Lloyd (London: Cassell,
1979); Paul Hetherington, Byzantine and Medieval
Greece: Churches, Castles, and Art of the Mainland and
Peloponnese(London: J. Murray, 1991); H. W. van Os,
Vecchietta and the Sacristy of the Siena Hospital Church: A
Study in Renaissance Religious Symbolism, trans. Eva
Biesta (New York: A. Schram, 1974); Colin Platt, The
Parish Churches of Medieval England (London: Secker
and Warburg, 1981).Saffarids (Safawids) The Saffarids were a ruling Mus-
lim dynasty from Sistan in eastern Persia or IRANbetween
873 and 900. The dynasty founded in Khorasan by Yaqub
ibn al-Layth (al-Saffar, the coppersmith) (r. 867–79), a
former MERCHANTwho organized a local militia of mer-
chants and craftsmen to defend their trades. By 873 the
Saffarids had conquered the major part of Khorasan, most
of Persia, and territory well east into Afghanistan and
even India. Yaqub died in 879 and was succeeded as emir
by his brother, Amr (r. 879–900). The dynasty reigned
until 900, when Emir Amr was captured and dethroned
by the SAMANIDS. The empire quickly fell apart, but the
family remained a local power in Sistan for several cen-
turies, even surviving the invasion of the MONGOLS.
Further reading: Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The
Islamic Dynasties (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1967), 103–106; Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The
History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz:
(247/861 to 949/1542–3)(Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Pub-
lishers in Association with Bibliotheca Persica, 1994); R.
M. Savory et al., “Safawids,” Encyclopedia of Islam
8.765–793; Roger Savory, Iran under the Safavids(Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980); Colin Turner,
Islam without Allah?: The Rise of Religious Externalism in
Safavid Iran(Richmond, England: Curzon, 2000).saffron Saffron in the Middle Ages was an expensive
and important spice used primarily as flavoring for food,
particularly in Mediterranean foods, especially those
using fish or rice. It also served as a dyestuff for yellow to
bright orange and as a medicinal drink. Saffron consisted
of the whole or powdered dried stigmas of the flowers of