Albert of Aachen

Albert of Aachen at the feet of Christ - fresco in the apse calotte of the church of the Knechtsteden monastery (around 1160)

Albert von Aachen ( Latin Albericus Aquensis , French Albert d'Aix ; † around 1164) was a historian and cleric of the 12th century from the area around the Aachen royal palace . As founder , he worked at the continued construction of the Norbertine - monastery Knechtsteden in Dormagen , where he was also buried.

plant

In the years between 1125 and 1150 Albert von Aachen wrote the twelve books Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditionis , the only chronicle that reports in detail about the " People's Crusade of the Poor ", the forerunner of the First Crusade . The chronicle is still available today in a compilation . Albert used oral reports from participants and now-lost written eyewitness accounts. This also included a chronicle that a companion of the Duke and Crusader Gottfried von Bouillon may have written. The Duke, in turn, was a follower of the Roman-German Emperor Henry IV. Albert strongly emphasized his role, although the Emperor actually behaved defensively because of his quarrel with the Church during the crusade propaganda.

Expenses (selection)

• Albert von Aachen: History of the Crusades (excerpts)
• Historical-critical edition with translation into English: Historia Ierosolimitana. History of the Journey to Jerusalem (= Oxford Medieval Texts. ). Edited and translated by Susan B. Edgington. Clarendon Press, Oxford et al. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-920486-1 .
• Excerpts: Heinrich Hangenmeyer : Peter the Eremite. A critical contribution to the history of the first crusade . Leipzig 1879, pp. 320-328, 333-340, 360; archive.org .
• History of the first crusade. Translated and introduced by Hermann Hefele . 2 volumes (Volume 1: The Conquest of the Holy Land. Volume 2: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. ). Diederichs, Jena 1923 ( The old Reich ).

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Albert of Aachen. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , column 80.
• Peter Knoch : Studies on Albert von Aachen. The first crusade in the German chronicle (= Stuttgart contributions to history and politics. 1, ZDB ID 504012-7 ). Klett, Stuttgart 1966, (at the same time: Bonn, University, dissertation, 1965).
• Friedrich Krebs: On the criticism of Albert von Aachen. Alb. Aqu. Lib. I. u. II. Coppenrath, Münster 1881, ( online , also: Tübingen, University, dissertation, 1881).
• Bernhard Kugler : Albert of Aachen. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1885; Text archive - Internet Archive .
• Franz-Josef Schmale :  Albert of Aachen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 133 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Wilhelm Wattenbach :  Albertus Aquensis . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 207.

Web links

• Albert von Aachen: History of the First Crusade, Part One: The Conquest of the Holy Land (In six books) , complete translation into "New German" (orig. By Herman Hefele, Jena 1923)
• Literature by and about Albert von Aachen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Albericus Aquensis - Historia Hierosolymitanae Expeditionis (1095-1125) in Documenta Catholica Omnia . (PDF; 6 kB)
• Albert von Aachen in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"