Chronicle of Morea

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Excerpt from the Chronicle of Morea

The Chronicle of Morea or the Chronikon of Morea ( Greek Χρονικόν του Μορέως ; Aragonese Libro de los fechos et conquistas del principado de la Morea, Crónica de Morea ; French Chronique de Morée ; Italian Cronaca di Morea ) is an anonymous chronistic work of the 14th century. Century. The chronicle is the most important source for the organization of the feudal principality of Achaia . During this time, Frankish nobles settled in Morea , as the Peloponnese was called at that time. Versions in four languages ​​have survived: French, Greek, Italian and Aragonese. The Greek version is set in verse. In over 9,000 lines, the chronicle describes events between 1204 and 1292 that followed the First Crusade (in the various versions also later events).

content

The events recorded in the chronicles begin at the time of the First Crusade . They are listed in the overview. This is followed by events from the Fourth Crusade , the fall of Constantinople and mainly from the conquest of Morea and the establishment of the Principality of Achaia by Wilhelm I of Champlitte , followed by events during the reign of Gottfried I of Villehardouin , Gottfried II of Villehardouin , Wilhelm II of Villehardouin and after his death in 1278 during the reign of his successor, Isabelle de Villehardouin with her two husbands.

Traditional texts

The work has been handed down in four versions: Greek, Italian, French and Spanish. The Greek text is the only one in meter. The French, Italian and Aragonese texts are in prose.

As for the dating of the text, it is certain that the Greek and French texts are the oldest versions. The Italian text is a translation from the Greek, and the Aragonese is based on the Greek and French. It cannot be determined with certainty whether the text in the Greek or French version is older. Charles Hopf, the first editor of the Italian text, took the view that the Greek text arose from the French, or at least from a lost previous copy. John Schmitt, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the French text emerged from the Greek and also that the Greek text was the prototype. Even Karl Krumbacher agreed with this view. Later research by Spadaro again supported the position that the French text was more original, as it was also represented by G. Kechalioglou (Γ. Κεχαγιόγλου) and Michael Jeffreys and supported with arguments.

In addition, there is also the view that all traditional texts are descendants, while the original text is lost.

The Greek text

The verses of the Greek text are written in popular language with a series of Franconian loanwords. They are accented but without rhymes . The meter is 15-syllable, a so-called political meter.The text has been handed down in two originals and three copies:

  • Ms. Havniensis 57 (14th – 15th centuries, Royal Library , Copenhagen) 9219 verses
    • Ms. Taurinensis B.II.I, Biblioteca Reale , Turin, next related to the Copenhagen text.
  • Ms. Parisinus graecus 2898 (15th – 16th century, Bibliothèque nationale de France , Paris) 8191 verses
    • Ms. Parisinus graecus 2753, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
    • Ms. Bern 509 grec, Bern Burgerbibliothek , both copies of the Paris version.

The oldest of the manuscripts is the Copenhagen manuscript, its language is the most ancient. The more recent text, Parisinus graecus 2898, uses simpler language, fewer Franconian loanwords and fewer anti-Hellenic remarks. In the century that lies between the texts, numerous linguistic changes have taken place, which testifies to the rapid development of the Greek language. The Copenhagen text covers events up to 1292.

The author of the Greek text

The author of the Greek text seems to have been a so-called Gasmoulos (Greek γασμούλος), a descendant of a Frankish father and a Greek mother, or a Hellenized Franconian. He mastered the Greek language and was not only familiar with colloquial language, but also mastered the educational language, which is evident in some of the forms that he uses. In addition, he also knew the Franconian language well, which can be recognized by his Franconian loanwords. The question therefore arises whether the use of these loanwords suggests a translation from French, or whether he is a witness to the Frankisation of his culture.

The French text

The French text has only survived in one manuscript ( Bibliothèque royale de Belgique , Brussels Ms. 15702), in which it bears the title Livre de la conqueste de la princée de l'Amorée . The text begins: "C'est le livre de la conqueste de Constantinople et de l'empire de Romanie, et dou pays de la princée de la Morée". From this heading it can be concluded that this work was compiled from other older copies. The additions to the manuscript go back to 1305.

The Italian text

The Italian version is called Cronaca di Morea . It is a copy of the previous copies and is based on the Greek text in the version of the Turin library. However, it contains some errors. It has come down to us in a single manuscript in Venice . The signature is: Append. Ital. CI VIII, No 712.

The Aragonese text

Under the title Libro de los fechos et conquistas del principado de la Morea , the Aragonese text goes back to the end of the 14th century (around 1393) and is based on the Greek text and other later sources. It was compiled on the instructions of Juan Fernández de Heredia , the Grand Master of the Order of St. John in Rhodes . The text covers events up to 1377.

The first print editions

The Chronicle of Morea was little known for a long time, as the text was not distributed in print until the 19th century.

The first printed edition of the Greek Chronicle was made in 1840 by Jean Alexandre Buchon and contained the Greek text based on the Parisian manuscript. Buchon gave this book the title Βιβλίον της κουγκέστας του Μωραίως (Biblion tes Kounkestas tou Moraios - Book of the Conquest of Morea), deviating from the original text. In the second edition in 1845 he used the Greek text from Copenhagen as a basis.

In 1889 John Schmitt published both texts in a synoptic edition.

In 1911 the French text was edited by Jean Longnon.

The Italian text was submitted by Charles Hopf in 1873.

The Aragonese text was published in 1885.

meaning

Despite some historical inaccuracies, the chronicle is a valuable historical source for the feudal society of its time. A number of laws and customs of the Principality of Achaia are mentioned in the Chronicle. Their colored descriptions make the living conditions appear alive. However, due to admiration for the Franks and a certain aversion to Byzantine culture, the Chronicle did not become part of popular culture after the Franks withdrew from the Peloponnese .

From a literary point of view, the chronicle is significant because since the fall of Constantinople in 1453 a symbolic border has been drawn between medieval and modern Greek. The Chronicle of Morea is assigned to medieval Greek . However, it shows the enormous development of the language of this time. Together with ptochoprodromic poems and acritic songs (gr. Ακριτικά τραγούδια) it stands at the beginning of modern Greek literature, although the linguistic quality is poor and the meter is bumpy.

The withdrawal of the Franks from the Peloponnese caused the Chronicle of Morea to be forgotten, but its linguistic meaning could be put on a par with the Roland song in France or the Cantar de Mio Cid in Spain.

The Chronicle of Morea was also the source of inspiration for numerous Greek writers whose works deal with the corresponding historical epoch, for example Alexandros Rhizos Rhankaves (Ο Αυθέντης του Μορέως), Angelos Terzakis (Άγγελος Τεργκαντης (ρεργαη) and ραέης ρσηης ( ρρσαης) - Μαρία Δοξαπατρή).

At least in name, Tolkien's dwarf kingdom Moria could be borrowed from the Greek epic.

text

The following is a text example (στ. 1424–1443) from the Greek text:

Βουλὴν ἀπῆραν μ 'ἐκεινοὺς τοὺς τοπικοὺς Ρωμαίους,
ὅπου τοὺς τόπους ἔξευραν, τοῦ καθενὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν,
Κ' εἶπαν κ'ἐσυμβουλέψαν τους τὸ πῶς ἔνι ἡ Ἀνδραβίδα,
ἡ χώρα ἡ λαμπρότερη στὸν κάμπον τοῦ Μορέως ·
ὡς χώρα γὰρ ἀπολυτή κοίτεται εἰς τὸν κάμπον,
οὔτε πύργους οὔτε τειχέα ἔχει κἀνόλως 'ς αὔτην.
Ἐν τούτῳ ὡρμήσασιν ἐκεῖ, ὁλόρθα ὑπαγαῖνουν,
ἐξαπλώσαν τὰ φλάμπουρα τοῦ καθενός φουσσάτου ·
κι ἀφότου ἐπλησιάσασιν ἐκεῖ στὴν Ἀνδραβίδα,
Κ 'ἐμάθασιν οἱ Ἀνδραβισαῖοι ὅτι ἔρχονται οἱ Φράγκοι,
ἐξέβησαν μὲ τοὺς σταυροὺς ὁμοίως μὲ τὰς εἰκόνας
οἱ ἄρχοντες καὶ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς χώρας Ἀνδραβίδου,
καὶ ἦλθαν κ 'ἐπροσκύνησαν τὸν Καμπανέση ἐκεῖνον.
Κ 'ἐκεῖνος ὁ παμφρόνιμος, καλά τους ἀποδέχτη,
ὤμοσεν κ' ὑπισκήθη τους νὰ μὴ τοὺς ἀδικήσῃ,
οὔτε ζημία να λάβουσιν ἀπὸ τὰ ἰγονικά τους,
τιμήν, δωρεὰς να ἔχουσιν κ 'εὐεργεσίας μεγάλας ·
Ὅλοι τοῦ ὑπωμόσασιν δοῦλοι του ν' ἀποθάνουν.
Κι ὅσον ἀπεκατέστησεν τὴν χώραν Ἀνδραβίδας,
βουλὴν ἐπῆρεν μετ 'αὐτοὺς τὸ ποῦ να φουσσατέψῃ.

The first verses in translation read:
I want to give you a saga to hear, a saga of great power.
And if you pay attention to me, I hope you will like the saga.
This is what happened when the Franks acquired the area of ​​beautiful Morea with arms.

Editions and translations

literature

  • Volker Hentrich: The representation of the Fourth Crusade in the Chronicle of Morea , in: Conceptual worlds of medieval tradition , Göttingen 2006, pp. 157–190.
  • Linos Politis : Ιστορία της νεοελληνικής λογοτεχνίας. ΜΙΕΤ, Athens 1978, pp. 33-34.
  • Teresa Shawcross: The Chronicle of Morea. Historiography in Crusader Greece . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ in the Appendix, Volume 9, Notes by the Editor, edition: (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906) Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), ed. JB Bury with an Introduction by WEH Lecky
  2. ^ A b Jean-Claude Polet: Patrimoine littéraire européen. De Boeck Université, 1995, ISBN 2-8041-2077-5 , pp.?.
  3. ↑ Charles Hopf: Cròniques gréco-Romance inédites ou peu connues, Berlin 1873rd
  4. ↑ John Schmitt, The Chronicle of Morea, [To Chronikon Tou Moreōs] A history in political verse, relating the establishment of feudalism in Greece by the Franks in the thirteenth century, Methuen & Co., London, 1904
  5. ↑ G. Spadaro, “Studi introduttivi alla cronaca di Morea” Siculorum Gymnasium NS 12 (1959) 125-152
  6. ↑ Γ. Κεχαγιόγλου: Δυσκολίες στο κείμενο του " Χρονικού του Μορέως" . In: Ελληνικά 27, 1974, pp. 254–267 and Γ. Κεχαγιόγλου: Συμπληρωματικά για το "Χρονικόν του Μορέως". In: Ελληνικά 28, 1975, pp. 420-425.
  7. ↑ Michael Jeffreys: The Chronicle of the Morea: Priority of the Greek version . In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 68, 1975, pp. 304-350.
  8. ↑ More research on this topic:
    PD Mastrodimitri (Π Δ Μαστροδημήτρη..), Η ποίηση του νέου ελληνισμού, Ίδρυμα Γουλανδρή-Χορν, Athens 2001, p 125, Pt.1,
    HG Beck: Ιστορία της Βυζαντινής δημώδους λογοτεχνίας. ΜΙΕΤ, Athens 1988, pp. 249-252.
    A. Panagiotis: Study Medieval Greek. Museum Tusculanum Press, 1992, ISBN 87-7289-163-7 , pp.?.
    Cyril Mango: The Oxford History of Byzantium. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, ISBN 0-19-814098-3 , pp.?.
  9. ↑ this meter was used for secular poems and also πολιτικός στίχος, Decapentasyllabic verse (gr. Δεκαπεντασύλλαβος) or as imaxefmeni stichi (ἡμαξευμένοι στίχοι called "like a racing car on the road").
  10. ↑ P. Kalonaros (Π.Καλονάρος), Το Χρονικόν του Μορέως. Athens 1940, p. Η '; HG Beck, Ιστορία της Βυζαντινής δημώδους λογοτεχνίας. ΜΙΕΤ, Athens 1988, p. 251.
  11. ↑ Henri Tonnet: Ιστορία τής Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας. ελλ. μτφρ. Papadimas, Athens 1995, pp.?.
  12. ↑ Georgios Chatzidakis (Γεώργιος Χατζιδάκις) was able to show that the spelling with omega is older than that with omicron. Στη βιβλιογραφία χρησιμοποιείται και η ορθογραφία με ωμέγα, Μωρέως, αντί για Μορέος, αν και ο Georgios Chatzidakis (Γεώργιος Χατζιδάκις) έχει δείξει από παλιά ( Και πάλιν περί του ονόματος Μορέας, Πρακτικά Ακαδημίας Αθηνών, 6, 1931, σελ. 219 κ.εξ . ) ότι το μεσαιωνικό τοπωνύμιο Μορέας παράγεται από το αρχ. ουσ. μόρον "μούρο"
  13. ↑ P. Kalonaros (Π. Καλονάρος), Το Χρονικόν του Μορέως. Athens 1940, p. Θ '.
  14. ↑ P. Kalonaros (Π.Καλονάρος), Το Χρονικόν του Μορέως. Athens 1940, p. H '.
  15. ↑ Εγκυκλοπαιδικό Λεξικό Ελευθερουδάκη, entry "Χρονικόν Μωρέως", Εκδ. Ελευθερουδάκης 1931.
  16. ↑ JB Bury, p. 386, Appendix Vol. 9, Notes by the Editor, (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906) In: Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776) , ed. JB Bury with an Introduction by WEH Lecky.
  17. ↑ Jean Alexandre Buchon: Chroniques étrangères relatives aux expéditions françaises pendant le xiii siécle. Paris 1840.
  18. ^ Jean Alexandre Buchon: Recherches historiques sur la principauté française de Morée et ses hautes baronies. Paris 1845.
  19. ↑ John Schmitt: The Chronicle of Morea. Munich 1889; John Schmitt: The Chronicle of Morea, [To Chronikon Tou Moreōs] A history in political verse, relating the establishment of feudalism in Greece by the Franks in the thirteenth century. Methuen & Co., London 1904.
  20. ^ Jean Longnon: Livre de la conqueste de la princée de l'Amorée. Paris 1911.
  21. ^ Charles Hopf: Chroniques gréco-romanés inédites ou peu connues. Berlin 1873.
  22. ^ A. Morel-Fatio: Libro de los fechos e conquistas del principado de la Morea. Geneva 1885.
  23. ↑ Panagiotis Zepos : Το δίκαιον εις το Χρονικόν του Μορέως . In: Επετηρίς Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών 18, 1948, pp. 202-220.
  24. ^ Jean-Claude Polet: Patrimoine littéraire européen . De Boeck Université, 1995, ISBN 2-8041-2077-5 , pp.?.
  25. ↑ An example of the language change is the use of the "θυγάτηρ", which is still in use today, in contrast to the older "θυγατέρα". G. Horrocks: Greek. A History of the Language and its Speakers . Longmann, London & New York, S.?.
  26. ↑ Π. Καλονάρου : Το Χρονικόν του Μορέως, Athens 1940, p.?.
  27. ↑ Καμπανέσης αποκαλείτο ο Γουλιέλμος Σαμπλίτης , λόγω του τόπου καταγωγής τουυ, της Καμπανας, Champagne, τλλς, τλλς

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