Anonymous von Herrieden

Anonymus von Herrieden (also: Anonymus Haserensis ; † after 1075) was an author of episcopal vites in the 11th century in the diocese of Eichstätt .

life and work

The name Anonymus von Herrieden is an emergency name with a reference to the place Herrieden , since the actual personal name has not been passed down. There is only one handwriting left by the stranger, a biographical work on the Eichstätt bishops up to Bishop Gundekar II , who died on August 2, 1075 and the anonymous person attended his funeral. From this text, which was created in 1078 at the latest, it can be concluded that he was a canon at Eichstätt Cathedral and that he had a position of trust as a chaplain with the reform-minded Gundekar II. His literary knowledge makes him appear as a highly educated man. He gives Herrieden Abbey as his home , where he attended school. According to his own account, he was also the author of a "Libellus Agnetis", that is, a biography of Empress Agnes , whose court chaplain he was before his bishopric. He dedicated this vita to his - probably bodily - brother "G.", who was in the service of the Bishop of Würzburg . Both were also related by blood to the Eichstätter cathedral treasurer and later Merseburg bishop Woffo (1055-1058). From this it can be concluded that the brothers were of noble origin. The Vita Agnetis has not been preserved any more than other works mentioned or announced by himself.

Since the anonymous person dealt with reform-minded personalities, he himself will have adopted a similar attitude. In contrast, he took an anti-papal and pro-imperial position in the investiture controversy.

Episcopal Churches

The chronologically described bishop's vitae are handed down in a single manuscript as an introduction to the Vita Gundekar II, which only existed in its beginnings, which was laid out in 1483 by Erasmus Pintzberger in the monastery of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm and which was soon transferred to the Augustinian canons of Rebdorf . Today the manuscript is kept in the diocesan archive of Eichstätt.

Theories about himself

Various attempts have been made to dissolve the anonymity of the Vitenschreiber who identifies himself as a member of Henry IV . This is how Margarete Adamski saw in her book “Herrieden. Monastery, monastery and town in the Middle Ages until the conquest by Ludwig the Elder. Bavaria in the year 1316 ”(Kallmünz 1954) in it the Herriedener archdeacon , provost and benefactor of the monastery named Heysso. In contrast, Eduard Matthäus Werner described it in his dissertation “Anonymus Haserensis von Eichstätt” (Munich 1966) as “likely” that the Anonymous Bishop Udalrich I , the successor of Gundekar II, was. Both are considered refuted.

literature

• The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . Volume 11, Supplements and Corrections. de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, ISBN 978-3-11-016832-7 , column 113-116.
• Stefan Weinfurter : Sancta Aureatensis Ecclesia. On the history of Eichstatt in the Ottonian-Salian times. In: Journal for Bavarian State History . Volume 49, 1986, pp. 3-40.
• Stefan Weinfurter: The history of the Eichstätter bishops by Anonymus Haserensis. Edition - translation - commentary. (Eichstätter Studies, New Series, Volume 24). Blow . Regensburg 1987, ISBN 3-7917-1134-2 .

Web links

• Introduction and text (Latin and German) of the Episcopal Vites