Francis of Prague

František Pražský

Franz von Prag (also: Franziskus von Prag ; Czech: František Pražský ; * around 1290 , † around 1362 in Prague ) was a Bohemian chronicler .

Life

Francis of Prague studied in Rome from 1321 to 1323. After his return he was in charge of the then well-known Vyšehrad School of the Collegiate Foundation at St. Peter and Paul . For 1334 he was recorded as a chaplain and later as a preacher at the St. Vitus Cathedral and penitentiary - canon of Bishop John IV of Dražice . The latter commissioned him to continue collecting records and updating the Chronica Boemorum , which had not been carried out since 1283. Franz was supposed to record the life and work of the Prague bishops as well as the kings and princes.

The chronicle , written in Latin by Franz von Prag, consists of three volumes. It was created in 1342 and contains the history of Bohemia since the reign of King Wenzel I. As a source , Franz mainly used the royal hall chronicle of abbot Peter von Zittau , which he had written until 1338 at the request of the Waldsassen abbot. Franz wrote the remarks for the time afterwards independently.

After the death of Bishop Johann IV. Franz revised the text of the chronicle again in the years 1343–1353. He dedicated this to the Bohemian King and later Emperor Charles IV. Since he was not satisfied with the version , presumably because of critical comments about the government of his father John of Luxembourg , Franz had to revise the parts that were not acceptable.

The chronicle should not be outstanding stylistically and should not meet the requirements of objective reporting. Several entries are said to have been written without context, whereby the author should not have differentiated between important and unimportant events. His real interest is said to have been astronomical phenomena or natural disasters.

The chronicle was later continued by Benesch von Weitmühl ( Beneš Krabice z Veitmile ).

literature

• Jana Zachová: The Chronicle of Franz von Prague. Analysis of content and style . Charles University, Prague 1977.
• Johann Loserth (ed.): The Königsaaler historical sources. With the additions and continuation of Canon Francis of Prague. (Fontes rerum Austriacarum, 1st department, Scriptores, vol. 8), Vienna 1875.
• Marie Bláhová (Ed.): Kroniky doby Karla IV.Svoboda , Prague 1987.
• Jaroslav Polc: Agnes of Bohemia (1211–1282). King's daughter, abbess, saint. (Life pictures for the history of the Bohemian countries, vol. 6). Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-486-55541-3 , pp. 173-174.

Web links

• Franciscus praepositus Pragensis in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"
• Literature and other media by and about Franz von Prague in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic