Jans the Enicle

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Jans der Enikel ( Jans Jansen Enikel , † after 1302 ) was a Viennese patrician , poet and chronicler of the late 13th century .

Name forms

The poet's name was Jans , which means Johann or Hans, also called himself Jans, the Jansen enikel or heren Jansen eninchel , to underline his identity as the grandson of a better-known Jans. This results in several variants:

  • Jans the grandchildren or Jans the grandchildren - probably the most precise name
  • Jansen Enikel - the most common form in 19th century literature
  • Jansen der Eninkel or Jansen der Enenkel - also common in the 19th century
  • Jans Enikel - the most common form in the second half of the 20th century
  • Enekl, Enekel, Ennichel, Enninchel, Enenckel, Enenkel - various outdated spellings, partly from late manuscripts

In addition there are the names Jans der Schreiber (documented in Vienna documents from 1275–1302), Enenckel von Albrechtsberg (a misidentification of the 17th century) and Jans von Wien (a suggestion from 1999).

Life

Jans is one of the best documented German-speaking writers of the 13th century. He was probably born around 1230-1240. His grandfather was already a leading patrician in the city of Vienna. His father or perhaps his uncle, the city ​​judge Konrad, was honored in 1239 by Prince Friedrich II .

In 1262 Konrad's widow entered a monastery. On his mother's side, Jans was related to the important Paltram and Greif families. He seems to have had good relations with the Schottenkloster in Vienna . He owned a house on Wipplingerstraße (Wildwerkerstraße). He appears in Viennese documents from 1271–1302, from 1275 with the name “Jans der Schreiber”, which may indicate an activity as a town clerk . His son (Konrad) and son-in-law (Jörg) are also occupied.

In 1894, Enenkelstraße was named after him in Vienna- Ottakring (16th district) . There is also an Enenkelstraße in Linz .

Works

The Tower of Babel . Scene from the world chronicle. Based on manuscript 2921 of the ÖNB, formerly kuk Hofbibliothek Wien (14th century)

World chronicle

The world chronicle is a history of the world in around 30,000 Middle High German verses (rhyming pairs), which fits into the series of medieval world chronicles . It was begun in 1272 at the latest, but Jans may have written on it in the 1280s, and he may have made several versions. The content begins with God's act of creation , processes a large part of the narrative material from the Old Testament , then conveys Homeric and other ancient material, then jumps over to Charlemagne and continues to report on medieval history up to the death of Emperor Frederick II. in 1250. This last emperor enjoys one of the most detailed biographies in the chronicle.

“The one who ditz gotiht made, he
sits ze Wienn in the stat
with hûs and is called Johans.
at the korôniken er ez vant.
the Jansen enikel sô hiez er.
from the buoch nam he lêr. "

- Extract from the world chronicle

Prince Book

Jans probably wrote his book of princes according to the world chronicle: it may have been written around 1280–1290. The book of princes is also written in pairs of rhymes and contains about 4000 verses. It tells the history of the city of Vienna from its foundation to the 13th century. The book of princes remained unfinished, but it almost extends into the poet's lifetime and probably represents most of the poet's original concept.

"I'm Jans called
daz tiht I found the same from myself
hern Jansen eninchel I heat
the mac I want to avoid myself because I
'm a real Viennese."

- Excerpt from the Prince's Book

Significance for literary studies

The editor of his works, Philipp Strauch , gave Jans a bad reputation, as he describes him as a rhymer who can be trusted to do anything stupid. Indeed, Jans deserves praise more as a narrator than as a poet: the rhymes are often far-fetched, but his predominantly anecdotal treatment of the content is an important source of cultural history.

Jans is one of the earliest urban writers in German. As a world chronicler, he ties in with a vernacular tradition that is mainly represented by the imperial chronicle , the world chronicle of Rudolf von Ems , the Saxon world chronicle and the Christherre chronicle , but as a patrician he gave this tradition completely new accents.

In the world chronicle in particular, Jans offers motifs that are interesting in terms of literary history. Among other things, he is the first to report in German the story of Popess Johanna , and also the story of Saladin's table, which is considered the literary predecessor of Lessing's parable of the ring in Nathan the Wise . The processing of Jewish narrative material is of great interest. The paraphrasing of Bible stories is also often highly original.

The world chronicle is regarded as the source for a number of later Middle High German works, above all the world chronicle compilation of Heinrich von Munich and the German history Bibles .

It is also important for literary studies that the Fürstenbuch reports on otherwise unproven aspects of the history of minnesong at the Viennese court.

Significance for historical science

The World Chronicle is a very interesting testimony to the historical image of the 13th century and the self-image of the Viennese citizens , but it is not very productive as a source for the historical events listed there. At most, in the last thousand verses, which deal with the politics of the poet's lifetime, historical knowledge can be gleaned, for example on the tensions between Vienna and the emperor .

The Fürstenbuch is the first attempt at a history of the city of Vienna and contains some interesting information, for example on the history of the Berghof . The earliest mention of the Austrian colors red-white-red is found here .

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Jans von Wien  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Jans the Enicle
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jans the Jansen enikel; heren Jansen eninchel; Jans the scribe; Enenckel from Albrechtsberg; Jans of Vienna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Middle High German poet and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH after 1302