Helene Kottannerin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helena Kottanner (in) (* around 1400, † around 1475) was a royal chambermaid and writer. Her report on her participation in the dramatic events on the occasion of the birth of the heir to the throne Ladislaus Postumus in Hungary in 1439/1440 is one of the earliest German-language autobiographies by a woman.

Life

She was probably born around 1400. Her first marriage was to Péter Szekéles. He was the mayor of Sopron , now Sopron . When he died (1431), she married in Vienna Johann Kottanner, the chamberlain of the Vienna cathedral dean was. Since 1436/1437 she can be traced back to the royal court as tutor of the second daughter of King Albrecht II and Elisabeth . In 1439 she accompanied the royal family to Hungary as the queen's maid.

When King Albrecht II died during the trip in October 1439, he left the queen five months pregnant and the succession to the throne uncertain, as no male heir had been born by then. This is where Helena Kottanner's autobiographical notes come in. According to her testimony, she was commissioned by the pregnant Elisabeth to bring the strictly guarded St. Stephen's Crown from the Queen's Plintenburg ( Visegrád ) , which was kept there at the time. She succeeded in doing this with a Hungarian accomplice on the night of February 21st to 22nd, 1440. With this, the Queen wanted to guarantee the succession of her son Ladislaus , who was born the following day . The succession of the Habsburgs in Hungary was thus temporarily secured.

Helene Kottanerin reported on the events of 1439/1440 in a note that she probably had around 1450. To what extent the author truthfully described her own heroic deed and position at court is unclear; she described herself as a faithful advisor in all matters to her "daring and wise" queen.

plant

The autobiographical report by Helena Kottannerin has only survived in a German-language manuscript from the 15th century (ÖNB Vienna, Codex 2920). The manuscript comprises 16 sheets, only half of which has survived. After sheet 16, one or more sheets are missing, because the description of the events breaks off in the middle of the sentence. In the manuscript itself, the narrator's name is given several times with K and a larger gap, but her husband's name is spelled out once. A later hand added the name Helena Kottannerin to the first gap. The manuscript was first edited in the 19th century by an anonymous editor, who is believed to be the Viennese scholar Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher . The loss of text already corresponded to today's appearance, as the first editor indicated in the print image, without going into detail. The anonymous editor provided the edition with a foreword in which he referred to his “literary resolutions of a rich and happy youth”, with historical notes and a timetable.

reception

Helena Kottanner's dramatic report received several literary adaptations; once with the passages in which she believes she is exposed to the temptations of the devil on her way to the place where the crown is kept, by Doderer in his novel “ The Demons ” (there the name is spelled “Kotanner”) as part of a discussion about the perceptual abilities of people in the Middle Ages . Helene Kotanner is also dealt with in Doderer's dissertation.

expenditure

  • Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher (Ed., Anonymous): From the memorials of Helene Kottannerin 1439. 1440 . Engelmann publishing house, Leipzig, 1846 digital
  • Gustav Freytag (Hrsg.): From the Middle Ages to the Modern Times (1200-1500) (= ders. (Hrsg.): Pictures from the German past . Vol. 2,1). Leipzig, 1887, pp. 353-372
  • Karl Mollay (Hrsg.): The Memories of Helene Kottannerin (1439-1440) (= Wiener Neudrucke 2). Österreichischer Bundesverlag for Education, Science and Art, Vienna, 1971, ISBN 3-215-72208-9 , pp. 9–35
  • Daniel Kufner: The Memories of Helene Kottannerin (1439-1440) , 2015 (translation into New High German) pdf

literature

  • Franz von Krones :  Kottanerin, Helene . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 764 f.
  • W. Stelzer : Article in: author lexicon . 2nd Edition. 1985. Volume V, pp. 326-328
  • Beatrix Eichinger: Typical gender experience in the 15th century? The autobiographical writings of a woman and two men in comparison. The Memorabilia of Helene Kottannerin (1439-1440). Andreas Lapitz's Train to Rome 1451 and Other Memorable Stories. Hanns Hierszmanns, Thürhüthers Duke Albrecht VI. from Austria, report on the illness and death of his master , 1463, diploma thesis, Vienna, 1994
  • Albrecht Classen: The power of a woman's voice in medieval and early modern literatures. New approaches to German and European women writers and to violence against women in premodern times. Berlin 2007.
  • Barbara Schmid: Room concepts and staging of rooms in Helene Kottanner's report on the birth and coronation of King Ladislaus Postumus (1440–1457). In: Ursula Kundert , Barbara Schmid, Regula Schmid (eds.): Measuring-Representing-Staging. Room concepts and the reproduction of rooms in the Middle Ages and early modern times. Zurich 2007, pp. 113–138.
  • Barbara Schmid: An eyewitness report in the service of political advertising. Helene Kottanner, chambermaid at the court of King Albrecht II, and her writing about the birth and coronation of Ladislaus' Postumus. In: Barbara Schmid: Writing for status and rule. German autobiography in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. Zurich 2006, pp. 132–140.
  • Andreas Rüther: Kingmaker and chambermaid in the female gaze. The fight for the Hungarian crown (1439/40) as perceived by Helene Kottaner. In: Jörg Rogge (Ed.): Fürstin und Fürst. Family relationships and opportunities for action by noble women in the Middle Ages. Ostfildern 2004, pp. 225–247.
  • Horst Wenzel: Two women steal a crown. The memorable experiences of Helene Kottannerin (1439–1440) at the court of Queen Elisabeth of Hungary (1409–1442). In: Regina Schulte (Ed.): The Queen's Body. Gender and rule in the courtly world since 1500. Frankfurt 2002, pp. 27–48.
  • Sabine Schmolinsky: Between political function and role of the «virgo docta»: female self-testimonies in the 15th century. In: Fifteenth Century Studies. Volume 24, 1998, pp. 63-73.
  • Regina Schulte: The Memoirs of Helene Kottannerin (1439-1440) at the court of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (1409-42). In: The body of the queen: gender and rule in the courtly world, 1500-2000 . New York: Berghahn Books, 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heimito von Doderer: The demons. dtv 1985, ISBN 978-3-423-10476-0 , pp. 448-449.
    Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler (ed.): Helene Kotanner: Memories of a Viennese woman from 1440. In: Heimito von Doderer, The return of dragons. Essays / tracts / speeches. CH Beck Munich 1996. ISBN 3-406-40408-1 . Pp. 221-226.
  2. ^ Heimito von Doderer: On bourgeois historiography in Vienna in the 15th century. Dissertation at the University of Vienna. Vienna 1925.
    Heimito von Doderer: Helene Kotanner: Memories of a Viennese woman from 1440. In: The modern world: illustrated bi-monthly publication for art, literature, fashion. Vienna, Verlag "Moderne Welt". Year 6 1924/25, issue 13, pp. 10–12.
personal data
SURNAME Kottannerin, Helene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kottanner, Helena
BRIEF DESCRIPTION royal chambermaid and writer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1400
DATE OF DEATH around 1475