Johannes Rothe

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Beginning of the Gotha manuscript of the Thuringian State Chronicle, 1487

Johannes Rothe (* around 1360 in Creuzburg ; † May 5, 1434 in Eisenach ) was a town clerk , canon , important German historian and late medieval author.

Life

As the son of an advisable family, Johannes Rothe was to become a clergyman. Judging by his writings, he received a high and learned education. Rothe spent his entire life in the Eisenach area.

For a decade he worked as a council clerk ( notarius ), historian and author, and in this function he took care of the processing and collection of the city's legal books .

He became an episcopal chaplain and appeared for the first time in 1387 as a priest in the Marienstift ( collegiate monastery of the Frauenkirche). In 1394 he remained in this position as vicar at the Marienstift until he was promoted to the circle of canons in 1412 . In 1432 he was granted the dignity (dignity) of the schoolmaster (scolasticus) of the chapter.

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He wrote writings on a variety of topics. In addition to his chronic , didactic and legal writings, these are also sacred poems. He wrote three chronicles from an ever-expanding perspective: the Eisenach city chronicle (around 1414), the Thuringian state chronicle (around 1418/1419) and the Thuringian world chronicle , which he dedicated to Landgrave Anna von Schwarzburg, which he dedicated to Landgrave Anna von Schwarzburg. These works established his reputation as the father of Thuringian historiography.

In his ten years as a council clerk, Rothe wrote the legal book of the city of Eisenach, which was later handed down in various versions (Eisenach, at the northwestern foot of the Thuringian Forest, had received city charter in 1283). His work consisted of ten books and linked parts of the Meißen law book , the glossed Sachsenspiegel , the Schwabenspiegel and the Decretum Gratiani , the Digest , the decretals and other learned sources with the Eisenach city mirror of 1283 and Eisenach court habits of the 14th century. It appeared in the form of a (not preserved) chain book.

In Elisabethleben , he tells the story of the life and suffering of Landgrave Elisabeth of Thuringia in verse. Rothe had already dealt with Elisabeth's life in his historical works. Elisabeth's life, which comprises more than 4000 verses, describes the life stages of St. Elisabeth. In addition, it also tells a Thuringian state history up to the 13th century, the age of the ruling dynasty of the Ludowingers . The motifs are those still known today from the Singers' War at the Wartburg and the rose miracle . This gives today's readers or listeners an insight into late medieval piety and culture .

In his Ritterspiegel Rothe summarized the class teachings of the late foothills of high medieval knighthood . With the late medieval didactic poem , he addressed a young, aristocratic audience.

Publications

  • Johannes Rothes Elisabethleben . Based on the estate of Helmut Lomnitzer ed. by Martin J. Schubert and Annegret Haase (German texts of the Middle Ages 85). Berlin 2005.
  • Johannes Rothe: The praise of chastity. Edited by Hans Neumann (= German texts of the Middle Ages. 38). Berlin 1934.
  • Johannes Rothe: Passion. Edited by Alfred Heinrich (= Germanistic treatises. 26). Wroclaw 1906.
  • Johannes Rothe: Düringische Chronik des Johann Rothe (= Thuringian historical sources. 3), ed. by Rochus von Liliencron , Jena 1859 ( digitized version ). Reprint 2007, ISBN 978-3-938997-47-5 [= Weltchronik].
  • Johannes Rothe: Thuringian country chronicle and Eisenacher chronicle. Edited by Sylvia Weigelt (= German texts of the Middle Ages. 87). Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-05-004406-4 .
  • Johannes Rothe, Heinrich Clûzenêre: Ritterspiegel. Central German poems . In: Karl Bartsch (ed.): Publications of the literary association in Stuttgart . tape 53 . Stuttgart 1860 ( books.google.de [accessed on February 20, 2010] full text).
  • Johannes Rothe: The Knight's Mirror . Edited, translated and commented by Christoph Huber and Pamela Kalnig. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021787-2 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Johannes Rothe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Rothe, Johannes in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Where this happened is not known.
  2. ^ Sylvia Weigelt (ed.): Johannes Rothe, Thüringische Landeschronik and Eisenacher Chronik. Akademie-Verlag Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-05-004406-4 , p. IX
  3. ↑ Book secured against theft by chaining, especially legal records
personal data
SURNAME Rothe, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Author of chronic, didactic and legal writings, as well as works of spiritual prose
DATE OF BIRTH around 1360
PLACE OF BIRTH Creuzburg , Werra
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1434
Place of death Eisenach