Gesta

This article deals with the genre of historical sources; for the official information system abbreviated as GESTA on the state of federal legislation see there.

A writing called Res gestae or Gesta ( Latin gesta , actions, events, incidents' ) or a so-called book is a report of deeds. Usually the focus is on the deeds of famous personalities or peoples. The genus was mainly used in the Christian early and high Middle Ages. The term refers to a single work; However, it is a plural word in Latin and is also used that way in German (e.g. "The Gesta Treverorum were written ..."). Due to the meaning of "deeds", it can only be associated with the genitive of a person or group of people (or a corresponding adjective).

background

Specific medieval chronicles are referred to as "Gesta", where they report, for example, the deeds of a dignitary or an institution. During this period, works were also called "Gesta", which, strictly speaking, were individual biographies. Examples of this are the Gesta Frederici (report of the acts of Frederick ) or the Gesta Chuonradi imperatoris des Wipo .

Many writings of this genre deal with the history of abbots or bishops or registers of the history of the monastery or the diocese based on their dignitaries. In the Gesta it is less about the life descriptions than about the events and deeds that were accomplished during this time. The model for such writings could be the Liber Pontificalis , in which continuous notes about the popes were entered. Another example is the Gesta episcoporum Mettensium by Paulus Diaconus, which addresses “the deeds of the bishops of Metz”. Around the year 1100 the Gesta Treverorum was created , in which the history of the city was connected with that of the diocese for the first time.

Gesta Regum Anglorum

The Gesta Hammaburgensis sive Bremensis ecclesiae by Adam von Bremen is noteworthy because it is not a pure church history of Hamburg-Bremen, but also a report on the Nordic peoples and countries. The Gesta ducum Normanorum is known from Western Europe and tells of the "deeds of the Norman dukes". In England, William of Malmesbury wrote the volumes of the Gesta regum anglorum and the monk William of Rennes wrote the Gesta regum britanniae (of the deeds of the kings of Britain).

In the Gesta, in contrast to the chronicles , the story is not structured in chronological order, but rather in a coherent narrative.

Known Gesta (selection)

Gesta Hungarorum (cover picture)

• Gesta abbatum monasterii Sancti Albani by Henry Thomas Riley
• Gesta Christi , from Christianization
• Gesta Danorum , on early Danish history
• Gesta abbatum fontanellensium , Events at the Fontenelle Saint Wandrille Abbey
• Gesta Francorum et aliorum hierosolimitanorum , about the first crusade
• Gesta Friderici , of the deeds of Frierich I in Lombardy and of the holy expedition
• Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum - History of the Archdiocese of Hamburg with a description of Scandinavia and the first mention of Greenland and America .
• Gesta Hungarorum : the gesta of an author known only with the initial P. of his first name and the Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum by Simon Kézai about the settlement of the Magyars
• Gesta Innocentii III. the deeds of Pope Innocent III.
• Gesta martyrum romains
• Gesta Regis Henrici , from the government of King Henry II and Richard I.
• Gesta regum anglorum atque historia novella
• Gesta Romanorum , a collection of medieval novellas and legends
• Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium , by the monks of Redon
• Gesta Treverorum , the deeds of Trier
• Res gestae Saxonicae , the Saxon history of the Widukind by Corvey
• Res gestae divi Augusti
• Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum by Gallus Anonymus

Web links

• Gesta medieval-lexikon.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gesta Chuonradi imperatoris. ( geschichtsquellen.de ).
2. ^ Gesta and official lists. uni-hamburg.de, accessed on May 30, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Thomas Walsingham: Gesta abbatum monasterii Sancti Albani . 3 parts. London 1867 (English, babel.hathitrust.org , babel.hathitrust.org , babel.hathitrust.org - reprint, Lessing, Wiesbaden 1963, 1965, 1968).
4. ^ Charles Loring Brace: Gesta Christi: or, a history of humane progress under Christianity . AM Armstrong & Son, New York 1890 ( archive.org ).
5. ^ Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum. (No longer available online.) Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999, archived from the original on October 6, 2010 ; accessed on May 31, 2020 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Samuel Löwenfeld: Gesta abbatum fontanellensium . Hahn, Hanover 1886 ( archive.org ).
7. ↑ Beatrice A. Lees: Anonymi Gesta Francorum et Aliorum Hierosolymitanorum . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1924 ( archive.org ).
8. ^ Oswald Holder-Egger: Gesta Federici I. Hahn, Hanover 1892 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
9. ^ Adamus [Bremensis]: Adami Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum . Ed .: Georg HeinrichPertz, Johann Martin Lappenberg. Hahn, Hanover 1846 ( reader.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
10. ↑ M. Florianus: Chronica Hungarorum… Volume 2 . Leipzig 1883 ( archive.org ).
11. ↑ James M. Powell: The Deeds of Pope Innocent III . Catholic University of America Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8132-1362-0 , JSTOR : j.ctt284xfp .
12. ^ Albert Dufourcq: Etude sur les Gesta martyrum romains . A. Fontemoing, Paris 1900 (French, archive.org ).
13. ^ Benedict of Peterborough: Gesta Regis Henrici = the Chronicle of the reigns of Henry II and Richard I, AD 1169-1192 . Ed .: William Stubbs (=  Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores . Volume 49 ). two volumes. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, London 1867 ( archive.org , archive.org ).
14. ↑ William of Malmesbury: Gesta regum anglorum atque historia novella . Ed .: Thomas Duffus Hardy. tape 1 and 2. Samuel Bentley, London 1840 ( archive.org , archive.org ).
15. ^ Hermann Oesterley (Ed.): Gesta Romanorum . Weidmann, Berlin 1872 ( reader.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
16. Jump up ↑ The Monks of Redon: Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium and Vita Conuuoionis . In: Caroline Brett (Ed.): Studies in Celtic history . Boydell Press, 1989, ISBN 0-85115-504-9 , ISSN  0261-9865 .
17. ↑ Medieval manuscripts / Ms. lat. Qu. 9 - Gesta Treverorum . In: uni-frankfurt.de . urn : nbn: de: hebis: 30: 2-44930 .
18. ^ Widukind von Corvey: Rerum gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres. ( geschichtsquellen.de ).
19. ^ Theodor Mommsen : Res gestae divi Augusti: ex monumentis ancyrano et apolloniensi . Weidmann, Berlin 1865 ( archive.org ).
20. ↑ Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum: new research on the so-called Gallus Anonymus . In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages . 65th volume, issue 2. Böhlau, Cologne 2009 ( deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de ).