The Spalatin Chronicle Family Trees

[click images for much larger versions]

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony until his death in 1535, called upon his chief secretary/librarian/tutor, George Burkhardt (known as George Spalatin), to compile a chronicle of the German regions of Saxony and Thuringia. Incidentally, both Frederick III and Spalatin were ardent supporters of Martin Luther and important figures (especially Spalatin) during the Reformation.

The (never fully completed) 3 volume 'Spalatin Chronik' from about 1510 includes more than 1000 miniature paintings produced by the workshop of Lucas Cranach, and is hosted online in its entirety with translations of the middle german (only into modern german I'm afraid) by the State Library of Coburg, among other partners.

The website has no thumbnail images and employs a zoom architecture which took me ages to fully work out overcome using 'page source' so as to obtain the large images above. Of the ~300 pages in Volume I, there are perhaps 50 of these family trees depicted. But there is much, much more curious medieval imagery - battles, houses, people &c - through the 3 volumes from which I'll sample again in the future.

This translated page is about the best background description I found about the 'Spalatin Chronik'. [original page in german]