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The theft of medieval art from Quedlinburg was perpetrated by United States Army Lieutenant Joe T. Meador in the days prior to the end of World War II in Europe. Precious church objects stored near Quedlinburg, Germany were found by the U.S. Army. They were placed under guard, but eight extremely valuable objects went missing, including a 9th-century illuminated manuscript gospel book, the "Samuhel Gospels", ''Samuhel Evangeliar'' in German, a printed evangeliary (book of gospel readings for services) dating to 1513 (the ''Evangelistar aus St. Wiperti''), both with jewelled book-covers,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals USA v MEADOR )〕 as well as reliquaries, an ivory liturgical comb and other objects. The most famous illuminated manuscript associated with the town, the 5th-century Quedlinburg Itala fragment, once in the church, had been moved to a museum in Berlin and was not stolen. The missing artifacts started resurfacing in 1987. After various lawsuits against and negotiations with the heirs of the by-then deceased Meador, they were restored to their rightful owners. An account of the theft and how he traced it to the Meador family was published in 1997 by William Honan, an author and journalist working for ''The New York Times''. ==Theft== Quedlinburg Abbey was founded as a proprietary church of the Ottonian Imperial family by Emperor Otto the Great in 936 as a memorial to his father. Over the following centuries, it accumulated a rich collection of treasures donated by the Imperial family. At the Protestant Reformation, it was converted into the Lutheran Church of St. Servatius. During World War II, the treasure was moved for security to a mineshaft southwest of the town. On April 19, 1945, the cache was found by a unit of the advancing U.S. Army, the 87th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, and placed under guard. In June, church authorities complained that eight precious objects were missing.〔 However, investigations proved futile and the matter was dropped in 1949 because, by then, Quedlinburg was part of East Germany. First Lieutenant Meador was a member of the 87th.〔 Before the war, in 1938, Meador had received a bachelor's degree from North Texas State University, majoring in art,〔 so he would have had a better appreciation than most of the value of the find. Several of his fellow soldiers reported seeing him entering the mine and leaving with bundles.〔 Letters he wrote to his family indicate he mailed at least several of the objects home to Whitewright, Texas.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theft of medieval art from Quedlinburg」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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