Johannes Burckard

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Johannes Burckard (sometimes also Burchard or Burckardus , Italian Burcardo ; * around 1450 in Niederhaslach in Alsace ; † May 15, 1506 in Rome ) was protonotary of the Holy See and from 1484 to 1503 master of ceremonies at the Roman Curia . He is important because of his editions of liturgical books and his ceremonial diary Liber notarum (1483 to 1506), which is an essential source for life at the court of the Popes of the Renaissance.

Palazzetto del Burcardo in Rome

Life

Burckard came from a poor background and received his training at the collegiate monastery of St. Florentius in his Alsatian birthplace. First he was a clerk at the Vicar General of Strasbourg , from where he fled because of a forgery of a document. Since 1467 he stayed in Rome, from 1475 he is mentioned as a member of the court ( family ) of Pope Sixtus IV and was ordained a priest the following year . In accordance with the customs of his time, he acquired numerous benefices in Alsace (and was granted citizenship of the city of Strasbourg in 1477 ), including the provost of Moutier-Grandval ; As was customary at the time, the benefices were administered by representatives, only the income went to the owner.

In 1483 he was appointed papal master of ceremonies as the successor to Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini . As such, he was not only responsible for the entire liturgy , but also for the organization of all other ceremonies at the papal court.

In Rome, Burckard built the so-called Torre Argentina (German: Strasbourg Tower), which gave the Largo di Torre Argentina its name. Today the tower is integrated into the Palazzetto del Burcardo (Via del Sudario 44) and is no longer visible from the outside.

In 1503 Burckard was appointed bishop of Orte and Civita Castellana . His tomb is in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.

His diary "Liber notarum"

For use at the papal court he put on a notebook in which he recorded the events at the Curia in detailed descriptions; but not only did he keep records of the protocol obligations, but also reports on conversations with the popes, cardinals and envoys. They extend over the time of Popes Innocent VIII , Alexander VI. , Pius III. and Julius II. In particular, the descriptions of the conditions at the court of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI are regarded as an important source for the evidence of his decadence.

These notes, known as Liber notarum , were not published until over four hundred years after the author's death. The authenticity of the entire work was first questioned by de Roo , later by Monaldi & Sorti . The reason for this is the lack of any handwritten original texts and the collage-like composition of the various texts, which suggest a later insertion of foreign texts to denounce the Borgia Pope. This edition also contains a proven plagiarism, the copy of a spicy story from the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio .

Works

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter de Roo: Material for a History of Pope Alexander VI, his Relatives and his Time , Brügge, Desclée, De Brouwer and Co., 1924, Volume II.
  2. ↑ Review of Burckhard's diary in the appendix ("An Apolog") by: Monaldi & Sorti: The doubts of Salai ("I dubbi di Salai"), Kindler Verlag, Munich, 2008
  3. ↑ In the appendix of: Monaldi & Sorti: Die Zweifel des Salai ("I dubbi di Salai"), Kindler Verlag, Munich, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Burckard, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burchard, Johannes; Burckardus, Johannes; Burckardus, Johannes; Burcardo, Giovanni; Burchard of Strasbourg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protonotary of the Holy See and master of ceremonies at the Roman Curia
DATE OF BIRTH around 1450
PLACE OF BIRTH Niederhaslach , Alsace
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1506
Place of death Rome