Josef Bonaventura Pitter

Josef Bonaventura Pitter (born November 5, 1708 in Třebechovice pod Orebem , † May 15, 1764 in Rajhrad ) was a Bohemian monk and historian . He emerged primarily as a collector of historical documents.

Life

Pitter came from a poor family. His father was a farmer and also pursued the pottery trade. An uncle named Eleutherius Lochmann, a Franciscan from Hostinné , placed the young Pitter as a choirboy in Broumov Abbey and had him complete the Humaniora there . After passing the novitiate , Josef Pitter took the religious vows in Broumov in 1727 or 1728 and received the religious name Bonaventura. Then Pitter studied philosophy and theology in Břevnov Abbey and was ordained a priest in 1733. He worked as a teacher in Břevnov and Police nad Metují . In 1746 he received the post of secretary, librarian and archivist of the Benedictine order in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.

In 1756 Pitter was sent to Vienna to represent his order in a dispute with the Archbishop of Prague. There he made the acquaintance of the court archivist Theodor Anton Taulow von Rosenthal , received the title of "kk Bohemian historiographer", became Maria Theresa's confessor and, at her encouragement, was elected provost and prelate of Rajhrad Abbey in the same year . There he spent the remaining years of his life. Pitter died in Rajhrad in 1764 after a two-year illness.

plant

Pitter has dealt with history since his studies. He was particularly interested in diplomacy . Only five of his works appeared in print. He also left 25 manuscripts and a rich collection of documents from the Benedictine order, older Bohemian historians and monastery chronicles. Contemporaries such as František Martin Pelcl and Enlightenment historians such as Josef Dobrovský expressed appreciation for Pitter's life's work, but also regretted that he was unable to make his collection more accessible to the public.

Printed works:

Hlas na výsosti (1748)
Pietas Benedictina (1751)
Řehole aneb zákon sv. otce Benedikta opata (1760)
Thesaurus absconditus in agro Brevnoviensi (1762)
Venceslai a Chwaletitz Benedictini Rejhrad. Tractatus de passione et morte Domini Nostri Jesus Christ (1764)

Literature and Sources

Constantin von Wurzbach : Piter, also Pitter, Joseph . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 22nd part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1870, pp. 361–363 ( digitized version ).
František Martin Pelcl: Illustrations of Bohemian and Moravian scholars and artists, together with brief reports of their lives and works , Part 4, pp. 142–151. Matthäus Adam Schmandl, Prague 1782. (Contemporary biography and obituary - online )
Ottova encyklopedie obecných vědomostí, díl XIX, 1909, p. 804.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Pitter, Josef Bonaventura
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bohemian monk and historian
DATE OF BIRTH	November 5, 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH	Třebechovice pod Orebem
DATE OF DEATH	May 15, 1764
Place of death	Rajhrad