Johannes Deacon (chronicler)

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Johannes Diaconus (* around 940–945 or around 965–970; † after 1018) is the author of one of the oldest chronicles of Venice, known as Istoria Veneticorum , but also as Chronicon Venetum or Chronica Veneta .

life and work

Although the chronicle has been handed down in the manuscripts without the common title Istoria Veneticorum and the name of the author, since the author describes Doge Pietro II Orseolo particularly precisely, it is assumed that he was active in the vicinity. Johannes Diaconus also knew Emperor Otto III. personally and appears many times as an envoy. He organized the secret meeting between Otto and Pietro in Venice and he received a number of orders for legation trips from both rulers. On November 16, 1002, King Heinrich II referred to him as Capellanus the Doge. Well-informed and obvious closeness to the Doge and the Emperor make his authorship of the chronicle so likely that it is generally accepted.

In the chronicle a "Johannes Diaconus" in connection with the third meeting of Pietro Orseolo and Otto III. called. John went personally to Pomposa to take the emperor on a ship to Venice, where the two rulers conferred in secret. This secret meeting is reported in great detail and only in this chronicle, which is why it is assumed that the negotiator himself was the author of the chronicle, because only he could know the numerous details. Another process is also reported exclusively by Johannes: When Otto III. went to Rome to raise his relative Brun of Carinthia to Pope ( Gregory V ), he stayed in Ravenna to punish the Count of Rimini for appropriating church property. While this also does not report any other chronicle, the process is nevertheless documented by Otto III. confirmed on May 6, 996. Johannes may have played a part in this, too, because in another document, also issued in Ravenna at this time, he is also mentioned, which means that his simultaneous stay in the city is considered to be evidence.

Johannes first appeared in the sources in 995, when he was probably between 25 and 30 years old, according to a common assumption. Hence its increasing narrative density from the rule of the Doge Tribuno Menio (979–991). Luigi Andrea Berto, however, assumes that he was born between 940 and 945, because in a document one of the emissaries of Doge Pietro (IV) Candiano is named as "diaconus John". That would mean he would have been around 75 years old in 1018. This assumed higher age could explain the fact that with the beginning of Pietro's reign in 991 more detailed reports appeared in the work, which testify to deeper insights into the political processes and customs.

In 967 Johannes was therefore an envoy to Pietro Candiano, in 995 he also functioned in this task under Pietro Orseolo, who came from a family that was considered an opponent of the Candiano. It is possible that Johannes followed the example of other families who, given the style of rule of the Candiano, had also changed fronts. Consequently, Johannes devotes more space to the uprising against the Candiano and the death of the Doge.

In 995 and 1001 Johannes was appointed chaplain and envoy of Doge Pietro Orseolo to Otto III. called, in the years 1002 and 1018 with Heinrich II. 1018 he stayed as a representative of the abbess of San Zaccaria in Aachen . Of particular importance for our knowledge of the person of John is a document from the time of the Orseolo Doge, in which there is a reference to a sum of money that John was supposed to receive from the Doge for his expenses in Rome, which was probably during a diplomatic stay were created on the Tiber when Otto III. stayed there.

Gina Fasoli assumed that Johannes wrote exclusively in the church's interest, but Berto contradicted her. It is true that for John every Venetian victory was a victory of God, an angel had announced the birth of a son to Pietro Orseolo, and an angel had foretold the death of Otto II, whereby John proved himself to be a partial historian, but he by no means unceasingly praised the doges or rejects the performance of his opponents. He trusted that a factual presentation would more likely convince of the Doge's importance. Indeed, Venice was at the temporary peak of its power, because the city was on a par with the great powers of the time, the Roman-German Empire and the Byzantine Empire. This could also explain the abrupt end of the chronicle, because after the death of Pietro Venice lost the highest position of power of the High Middle Ages .

Nowhere does John quote the Scriptures or the classical authors. It was therefore assumed that he lacked the appropriate education, but this could also be explained by the fact that his work was aimed at lay people. In addition, as Berto notes, it is unlikely that the Doge's chaplain should not have known the relevant writings.

After 1018 there are no more references to John in the sources. Neither the place nor the time of his death are known.

Editions

His chronicle was first published in 1765 by Girolamo Francesco Zanetti , and again in 1890 by Giovanni Monticolo as part of the Fonti per la Storia d'Italia ' . An edition was last published in 1999 by Luigi Andrea Berto.

  • Girolamo Francesco Zanetti (ed.): Chronicon Venetum omnium quae circum feruntur vetustissimum, et Johanni Sagornino vulgo tributum e mss. codice Apostoli Zeno v. cl. , Venice 1765 ( digitized version ).
  • Georg Heinrich Pertz (Ed.): Chronicon Venetum (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, 7), Hanover 1846, pp. 4-38. ( Digitized version )
  • La cronaca veneziana del diacono Giovanni , in: Giovanni Monticolo (ed.): Cronache veneziane antichissime (= Fonti per la storia d'Italia [Medio Evo], IX), Rome 1890, pp. 59–171.
  • Mario Di Biasi (Ed.): La cronaca veneziana di Giovanni Diacono. Versione e commento del testo , 2 volumes, Ateneo Veneto, Venice 1986 and 1988.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto (Ed.): Giovanni Diacono, Istoria Veneticorum Edizione e traduzione (= Fonti per la Storia dell'Italia medievale. Storici italiani dal Cinquecento al Millecinquecento ad uso delle scuole , 2). Zanichelli, Bologna 1999.

Translations into Italian

  • Mario De Biasi: La cronaca veneziana di Giovanni Diacono , Venice n.d. [1986], pp. 15-113.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto (Ed.): Giovanni Diacono, Istoria Veneticorum Edizione e traduzione (= Fonti per la Storia dell'Italia medievale. Storici italiani dal Cinquecento al Millecinquecento ad uso delle scuole 2), Zanichelli, Bologna 1999.

literature

  • Giovanni Monticolo : I manoscritti e le fonti della cronaca di Giovanni diacono , in: Bullettino dell'Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo 9 (1890) 37–328.
  • Giovanni Monticolo: La cronaca del diacono Giovanni e la storia politica di Venezia sino al 1009 , Pistoia 1892.
  • Girolamo Arnaldi , Lidia Capo: I cronisti di Venezia e della Marca Trevigiana dalle origini alla fine del secolo XIII , in: Girolamo Arnaldi (ed.): Storia della cultura veneta , vol. 1: Dalle origini al Trecento , Vicenza 1976, p. 391-393.
  • Bruno Rosada: Il "Chronicon Venetum" di Giovanni Diacono , in: Ateneo veneto 178 (1990) 79-94.
  • Gherardo Ortalli : I cronisti e la determinazione di Venezia città , in: Storia di Venezia , Vol. 2: L'età del Comune , Rome 1995, pp. 767-782.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto: La "Venetia" tra Franchi e Bizantini. Considerazioni sulle fonti , in: Studi Veneziani , ns 18 (1999) 189-202.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto:  Giovanni Diacono. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 56:  Giovanni di Crescenzio – Giulietti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2001, pp. 8-10.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto: Il vocabolario politico e sociale della "Istoria Veneticorum" di Giovanni Diacono , Padua 2001, ISBN 88-7115-174-7 .
    • English: The Political and Social Vocabulary of John the Deacon's Istoria Veneticorum , Brepols, Turnhout 2013, ISBN 978-2-503-53159-5 , pp. 141-145.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto: La guerra e la violenza nella "Istoria Veneticorum" di Giovanni Diacono , in: Luigi Andrea Berto (Ed.): La guerra, la violenza, gli altri e la frontiera , Pisa 2016, pp. 11-40.
  • Luigi Andrea Berto: La storia degli altri. "Oriente" ed "Occidente" nella "Istoria Veneticorum" di Giovanni Diacono , in: Luigi Andrea Berto (ed.): La guerra, la violenza, gli altri e la frontiera , Pisa 2016, pp. 63-74
  • Claudio Leonardi: Pienezza ecclesiale e santità nella "Vita Gregorii" di Giovanni Diacono , in: Claudio Leonardi, Antonella Degl'Innocenti (ed.): Agiografie medievali , Florence 2011, pp. 307–322.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Theodor Sickel (ed.): Ottonis II. Et III. diplomata , Hannover 1893, n.192, p. 601 f., here: p. 601 ( digitized version ).
  2. ^ Theodor Sickel (eds.): Conradi I., Heinrici I. et Ottonis I. diplomata , in: MGH, Diplomata regum et imperatorum Germaniae , Hannover 1879–1884, n. 351.
  3. ^ Luigi Andrea Berto: Pietro IV Candiano, un doge deposto perché era troppo virtuoso o troppo autoritario? , in: Studi veneziani ns, 19 (2000) 163–168.
  4. ^ Theodor Sickel (ed.): Ottonis II. Et III. diplomata , n.165, 192, 397.
  5. ↑ Harry Bresslau (ed.): Heinrici II. Et Ardvini diplomata , Hanover 1900–1913, n. 24, 388.
  6. ↑ Roberto Cessi (Ed.): Documenti relativi alla storia di Venezia , Vol. II, p. 140.
  7. ↑ Gina Fasoli : I fondamenti della storiografia veneziana , in: A. Pertusi (ed.): La storiografia veneziana fino al secolo XVI. Aspetti e problemi , Florence 1970, pp. 11–31, here: p. 16.
personal data
SURNAME Johannes Deacon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Author of one of the oldest chronicles in Venice
DATE OF BIRTH at 940-945 or at 965-970
DATE OF DEATH after 1018