Königsaaler Chronicle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Illustration of the Luxembourg dynasty in a manuscript in the Königsaaler Chronik from the 14th century

The Chronicon Aulae Regiae (German Königsaaler Chronik ; also Chronik von Königsaal , Zbraslaver Chronik or Chronik des Peter von Zittau ; Czech Zbraslavská kronika ) is a late medieval Latin chronicle, one of the most important historical sources on the history of Bohemia in the 13th and 14th centuries (from 1253 until 1338) and has a geographical horizon that extends far beyond Bohemia. The chronicle was written by the abbots of the Cistercian monastery Königsaal near Prague (Czech: Zbraslav ) Otto von Thuringia and Peter von Zittau .

The Königsaaler Chronik was started by Abbot Otto von Thuringia and continued by Peter von Zittau. The chronicle is the Waldsassen abbot Johannes III. von Elbogen and consists of three books:

  • Book I covers the years 1253–1316. It contains 130 chapters and a biography of King Wenceslas II (Chapters 1–51 were written by Otto von Thuringia, abbot from 1312 to 1314.)
  • Book II contains the years 1317-1333 and consists of 30 chapters,
  • Book III covers the years 1333–1338 and consists of 15 chapters.

The chronicle is also an important source for the German imperial history. In addition to the history of the monastery, it describes the events in all of Bohemia and extends beyond that for the period from 1306 to 1337. In addition to Wenzel II, Emperor Heinrich VII as well as King John of Luxembourg and his wife Elisabeth , whose confessor Peter was and who particularly supported the Königsaal monastery, are shown. The ruling house of the Přemyslids (which died out in the male line in 1306 ) is extremely positive and the acquisition of Bohemia by the House of Luxembourg in 1310 is described in detail. The chronicle is also significant because Peter was a credible eyewitness as a contemporary.

The chronicle in Middle Latin, some of which was written in Leonine verse , is also of great literary value. It contains extensive spaces with a total of 2651 hexameters. Josef Bujnoch worked on the German translation until his death in 2009. He only finished Book I. A publication of his work together with a new translation of Book II and III was edited in 2014 by Stefan Albrecht.

Francis of Prague used the King's Hall Chronicle as a source for the Chronicle of Prague he wrote. This in turn served Benesch von Weitmühl as a source for the continuation of the Chronica Boemorum des Cosmas of Prague .

literature

Stefan Albrecht (ed.): The Königsaaler Chronik (= Robert Luft, Stefan Albrecht, Joachim Bahlcke, Andreas Helmedach, Thomas Winkelbauer, Volker Zimmermann [ed.]: Research on the history and culture of the Bohemian countries . Volume 2 ). Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2014, ISBN 978-3-653-99369-1 , doi : 10.3726 / 978-3-653-04044-9 (Latin, original title: Chronicon Aulae regiae . Translated by Josef Bujnoch).

Web links

Commons : Zbraslavská kronika  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jana Nechutová: The Latin Literature of the Middle Ages in Bohemia. Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna / Weimar 2007, p. 154 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Chronikon Aulae Regiae in the Repertory of Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages
  3. ↑ Jana Nechutová: The Latin Literature of the Middle Ages in Bohemia. Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna / Weimar 2007, p. 156 ( online ).