Adam of Bremen

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Adam von Bremen, history of the Hamburg church . Vienna, Austrian National Library, Cod. 521 4, fol. 1 r.

Adam of Bremen , in Latin Adamus Bremensis (* probably before 1050; † October 12, probably 1081/1085), was a Bremen cleric and chronicler . He is the author of the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum , the Hamburg church history .

Life

Adam von Bremen's name has only come down to us from Helmold von Bosau , who partially used content from the Gesta in his Chronica Slavorum . According to his own statements in the introduction to his church history, he was not from Bremen. With a marginal note , only Germania superior is listed as the region of origin in the Gesta . Johann Martin Lappenberg suspected that he was born around 1040 in the Margraviate of Meißen . Others like Joachim Leuschner assume that Adam came from Eastern Franconia, possibly near Würzburg.

Bernhard Schmeidler's assumption that Adam received his training in Bamberg cannot be proven. In addition to the Bible and the Church Fathers, he was also familiar with numerous works by ancient writers such as Sallust , Cicero , Horace , Lucan and Virgil .

Under Archbishop Adalbert von Bremen he became canon of Bremen around 1066 . Presumably on behalf of the archbishop, he went on a trip to see King Sven Estridsson of Denmark . After returning from this trip, he became a magister scholarum ( cathedral scholast ) in 1069, i.e. head of the monastery school . Around 1075 he wrote his Hamburg Church History using older chronicles and documents as well as using reports brought with him from Denmark , which he presented to Archbishop Liemar , the successor of Adalbert, who died in 1072, in 1076. In order to justify the controversial mission claim, apparent documents should be made available to the Archdiocese of Bremen . He died on October 12th. The year of death is not known. According to the sources, Adam added additions to his work himself up to around 1080/81. According to legend, he was buried in the Ramelsloh monastery not far from Hamburg-Harburg.

Work and reception

In the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum the early medieval church history of Hamburg , Bremen and Scandinavia is described. In addition to the history of the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen, the work also contains a national and regional history of northern Central Europe. According to his own statements, his most important sources are Sven Estridsson and Bishop Adalbert. The work became famous because it is the first written record of the discovery of " Vinlands ", today's North America , by the Vikings. Adam also translated the Flemish place name Torhout into (Middle) High German "Turholz".

The original manuscript has not been preserved. A reconstruction of the "original" has not yet been successful. The Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum were soon written off and supplemented by sometimes contradicting scholia . The oldest surviving manuscript is dated to around 1100. The use of the work by Helmold von Bosau and Saxo Grammaticus can be proven . In the Middle Ages, however, its distribution was probably limited to northern Germany.

In 1579 a Gesta manuscript was found in Sorø Monastery , edited by the Danish historiographer and canon Anders Sørensen Vedel . This edition was of great importance for Danish historical research.

Adam von Bremen was also the only medieval author to describe the Uppsala Temple in Sweden, characterizing it in the most amazing way as a house made entirely of gold, with gods in the form of deadly sins inside. In the history of the church in Hamburg there is the description: Wodan , that means anger (Wodan id est furor) .

After Adam's reports were treated as factual reports in the past despite the fabulous descriptions of distant countries, modern researchers see the most important statement of the Gesta in the assertion that Hamburg had an early archiepiscopal position and the archbishopric of Bremen was responsible for mission areas extending beyond the imperial borders. but this was controversial at the time of writing.

Work editions

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Adam von Bremen  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Adam von Bremen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign. Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, p. 29.
  2. ^ Foreword to the translation by JCM Laurent. 2nd ed. 1893
  3. ^ Joachim Leuschner:  Adam of Bremen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 49 f. ( Digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign: Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, p. 29 note 4.
  5. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign. Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, p. 31.
  6. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign: Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, p. 30.
  7. ^ Gesta Hammaburgensis, Liber I., Chapter 18.
  8. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign: Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, pp. 31-33.
  9. ^ Henrik Janson: "Pictured by the Other: Classical and Early Medieval Perspectives on Religions in the North". In: Margaret Clunies Ross (Ed.): The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: Research and Reception. Volume 1. Turnhout 2018, pp. 7-40; Stephen A. Mitchell: Óðinn. In: Phillip Pulsiano, Kirsten Wolf (eds.): Medieval Scandinavia. To Encyclopedia. New York et al. 1993, pp. 444-445, here: p. 444.
  10. ↑ Volker Scior: The own and the foreign: Identity and foreignness in the chronicles of Adam von Bremen, Helmolds von Bosau and Arnold von Lübeck. Berlin 2002, p. 36.
personal data
SURNAME Adam of Bremen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bremen cleric and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH before 1050
DATE OF DEATH between 1081 and 1085