Gallus Anonymous

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Gallus Anonymus († after 1116) was a Benedictine monk and chronicler .

Its name and origin are unclear. The only consensus in research is that he was not a Pole . The Poznan Medievalist Tomasz Jasiński (* 1951) put forward the thesis of an Italian-Venetian origin. Due to training and the reception of other works in Bamberg in the chronicle , Johannes Fried also supported the thesis that Gallus came from Bamberg, perhaps even bishop Otto von Bamberg himself. Theses on northern France, the Rhine-Meuse region ( Liège ), southern France and Hungary ( Somogyvár ) were also put forward as origin . Occasionally it has also been suggested that heBohemian or Italian origin. In the chronicle, however, there are no references to the nationality of the author. The training locations and the circumstances that led him to piastic Poland are also discussed . Most of the scientists suspect that he came to Poland shortly before the Chronicle was written.

Gallus Anonymus wrote the Latin Cronica et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum, the first tradition that dealt with the history of the Polish duchy . For his portrayal, Gallus used no longer preserved Polish annals and a lost Adalbert vita, but no documents were used. Oral transmission at court must have been particularly important for his reports . The work was created in the time of Bolesław Schiefmunds around the year 1115/1116 and was intended to legitimize and justify in favor of the Polish dukes. The work was created during the power struggle between the Polish Duke Boleslaw III. and his older half-brother Zbigniew . The fratricidal struggle ended with the capture and blinding of Zbigniev. This approach aroused strong criticism from Zbigniev's supporters. In order to overcome this crisis, it was useful to write a history that would gloss over the deeds of Bolesław and stabilize the further rule in the country. The rulers of the Piasts form the focus of the representation. Gallus Anonymus takes the view that the power of the Piast dynasty was willed by God. The chronicle wants to show what wonderful deeds Boleslaw Schiefmund and his ancestors did. Compared to the Empire the chronicler accept a subordination of Poland, but the emperors could not interfere in the internal affairs of Poland.

The chronicle is the most important tradition of high medieval Poland. The work consists of three books and covers a reporting period of 250 years. Book I begins with the mythical early days of Poland and reports on the most important deeds of the rulers up to the birth year of Bolesław III. 1085. Book II. Is more detailed and covers the period from 1086 to 1109. Book III. focuses on the events from 1109 to 1113. The representation ends with the description of the conquest of the Pomeranian fort Nakło on the Netze . Each of the three parts has a preface in the form of a dedication letter and a rhyming epilogue . Until the second decade of the 12th century, the historiographical work is often the only one to offer a representation of the original news on early piastical history. In 1551 Marcin Bielski wrote the history of Poland in Polish for the first time.

Also in the 16th century, Marcin Kromer entered the name Gallus in the so-called Heilsberg manuscript . This name should emphasize the French origin. In 1749 Gottfried Lengnich , the editor of the first edition, interpreted the designation Gallus as author. This enabled the name to assert itself in science.

In more recent research, the questions of the chronicler's origin, his sources and literary models, and the political function and effect of the text dominate.

Work editions

  • Galli Anonymi cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica N. p.2). Edited by Karol Maleczynski. Krakow 1952.
  • Poland's Beginnings - Gallus Anonymus: Chronicles and Deeds of the Dukes and Princes of Poland. Translated, introduced and explained by Josef Bujnoch. Graz et al. 1978, ISBN 3-222-10554-5 .
  • Gesta principum Polonorum. The deeds of the princes of the Poles (= Central European medieval texts. Vol. 3). Edited by Paul W. Knoll and Frank Schaer. Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-9241-40-7 .

literature

  • Johannes Fried : Did Gallus Anonymous come from Bamberg? In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 497-545. ( Digitized version )
  • Gerard Labuda : Gallus Anonymous . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 4, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7608-8904-2 , Sp. 1099.
  • Eduard Mühle : Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum. New research on the so-called Gallus Anonymous. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 459–496 ( digitized version ).
  • Eduard Mühle: New suggestions on the origin of Gallus Anonymus and the interpretation of his chronicle. In: Journal for East Central Europe Research , Vol. 60 (2011) pp. 267–285.
  • Andrzej Pleszczyński: The empire and the relationship of the Piast state to it in the judgment of the chronicle of the so-called Gallus Anonymus. In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien , Vol. 43 (2009), pp. 297-314.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Eduard Mühle: Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum. New research on the so-called Gallus Anonymous. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 459–496, here: p. 464. ( digitized version )
  2. Tomasz Jasinski: O pochodzeniu Galla Anonima. Krakow 2008.
  3. Johannes Fried: Did Gallus Anonymous come from Bamberg? In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 497-545, esp. 520 ( digitized version ).
  4. Monika Murawska: royalty and nobility in Gallus Anonymus. In: Jürgen Sarnowsky (Ed.): Images - Perceptions - Ideas. New research on the historiography of the high and late Middle Ages. Göttingen 2007, pp. 77–95, here: p. 81.
  5. The most important research opinions on origin collects: Eduard Mühle: Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum. New research on the so-called Gallus Anonymous. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 459–496. ( Digitized version ) Eduard Mühle: New suggestions on the origin of Gallus Anonymus and the interpretation of his chronicle. In: Zeitschrift für Ostforschung , Vol. 60 (2011) pp. 267–285 ( online )
  6. Monika Murawska: royalty and nobility in Gallus Anonymus. In: Jürgen Sarnowsky (Ed.): Images - Perceptions - Ideas. New research on the historiography of the high and late Middle Ages. Göttingen 2007, pp. 77–95, here: p. 82.
  7. Anna Aurast: “Neighbors” as Strangers ?: “National” demarcation in the imagination of Gallus Anonymos and Cosmas von Prague. In: Jürgen Sarnowsky (Ed.): Images - Perceptions - Ideas. New research on the historiography of the high and late Middle Ages. Göttingen 2007, pp. 55–75, here: p. 57.
  8. Anna Aurast: Guests, Strangers, Enemies. External images in the Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus. In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien , Vol. 43 (2009), pp. 439–452, here: p. 442.
  9. Andrzej Pleszczyński: The Empire and the ratio of Piastenstaates to him in the judgment of the chronicle of the so-called Gallus Anonymus. In: Frühmittelalterliche Studien , Vol. 43 (2009), pp. 297-314, here: pp. 306-309.
  10. ^ Eduard Mühle: Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum. New research on the so-called Gallus Anonymous. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Vol. 65 (2009), pp. 459–496, here: p. 463 ( digitized version )