Nikolaus von Cosel

Nikolaus von Cosel (also Nicolaus von Kosel ; Polish Mikołaj z Koźla ; Czech Mikuláš z Koslí ; Latin Nicolay de Cosla , also Nicolay de Cosil ; * around 1390 in Cosel , Duchy of Cosel ; † after 1423 ) was a Silesian theologian and Franciscan minorite . He is considered to be the earliest German writer in Upper Silesia .

Life

The life dates of Nikolaus von Cosel are not known. However, his vita can partly be deduced from a manuscript ascribed to him . It was probably located in a Silesian monastery and came to the Wroclaw University Library when it was secularized in 1810 . It was discovered there after 1823 by the then curator and later professor August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben . He first referred to the incomplete text bundle in 1829 with the essay "Nicolaus von Kosel, a Bohemian and German poet from 1417". Since he dedicated the essay to the Prague librarian Václav Hanka , he edited only the Moravian songs of the manuscript with a German translation, while he added three German songs unedited. Since he was primarily interested in the texts, his information about the author was partially incorrect or not clear. It was not until the Breslau folklorist Joseph Klapper (1880–1967) was able to demonstrate the importance of the manuscript from 1922 in several essays.

Nikolaus was born in Cosel around 1390. In the manuscript he describes himself on sheet 9 as "Nicolay de Cosla" and on sheet 83 as "Nicolay de Cosil". He probably received his training in Oberglogau , where a collegiate monastery and school had been located since 1379 . There he acquired both Latin and Slavic language skills. On the occasion of the provincial chapter in the Bohemian town of Czaslau , he entered the Order of Minorites as a novice in 1414 , and a year later he took his vows . It is not known when he was ordained a priest. In any case, in 1416 he was the “preacher of the Bohemians” ( predicatori Bohemorum ) in Oberglogau as “fratri Nicolao” . In 1417 he belonged to the Olomouc Minorite Monastery, where he was given the trustworthy position of secretary to the provincial . During this time he reported on the clashes between German and Czech monks, which among other things led to threats and assaults against the Oberglogauer Guardian . At his request, he returned to the Oberglogau monastery in the summer of 1417. There he wrote the main part of his notes, including all important German texts. According to an entry from 1417, it can be assumed that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in order to obtain the portiuncula . In 1421 he was sent to the Jägerndorfer Minorite Monastery. His further life is not known. A handwritten entry on page 16 of his manuscript shows that he was still alive in 1423.

Nicholas attached great importance to the veneration of Mary . It results from the listed German prayers and songs. In one of the prayers he calls himself: “O you very gracious iuncfraw Maria, mother of mercy and mylde geberynne of all! I Niclos command hewte in deyn hende (...) ”.

Since it is assumed that the manuscript found in the Wroclaw University Library comes from the Minorite Monastery of Cosel, which was founded in 1431 and where the Oberglogau convent fled because of the Hussite Wars , it is possible that Nikolaus also returned to Cosel. According to also unsubstantiated assumptions, he could have been the first Guardian there.

Handwriting

The manuscript in quarto format can be found under the call number IQ 466 in the Wroclaw University Library. It was probably bound in a monastery between two wooden covers covered with light-colored leather. Eight of the original 151 sheets are missing. The paper used shows a watermark with an ox head with a cross bar between the horns. The unadorned leaves were described by Nicholas at different times. Since he recorded everything that seemed worth knowing to him, the manuscript gives a good insight into the living conditions at that time.

The manuscript, written during the Hussite awakening, is an important source for the cultural history of the Upper Silesian-Moravian region due to its variety of topics. In addition to theological topics, which deal with questions of canon law, pastoral care and questions of faith, he also wrote numerous Latin, Moravian and German hymns. It also includes mathematical, scientific, and medical entries. Hymns take up a large space. Nikolaus firmly rejected the conflict against the German upper class that the Hussites pursued, as did their demand for apostolic poverty. Therefore, he also criticized the Bohemian King Wenceslaus , who favored the movement. In contrast, he highlighted his father Charles IV , who had always defended the church and its teaching.

A Latin-German glossary written in Olomouc , which was probably used for teaching purposes, was of particular importance . The vocabulary reflects the vocabulary of the Moravian-Silesian population of that time. There are also five entries with Slavic hymns.

literature

• Werner Bein: Nikolaus von Cosel . In: The beginnings of literature in Upper Silesia up to early humanism . Edited by Gerhard Kosellek, Frankfurt / Main [u. a.] 1997, ISBN 3-631-32750-1 , pp. 41-58
• Joseph Klapper: Brother Nikolaus von Kosel . In: From the past of Upper Silesia . Vol. 2, 1922, pp. 3-20.
• lu:  Nicolaus von Kosel . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, p. 621 f.

Web links

• Nikolaus von Kosel and Laurentius von Ratibor (Polish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In: “Monthly magazine from and for Silesia”, 1828, pp. 738–751.
2. ^ Gundolf Keil : Joseph Klapper and the specialist prose research. In: Jan Harasimowicz (Ed.): Wrocław University in the European Culture of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Papers from the International Scientific Conference, Wrocław 4–7 October 2011. Wydawnictwo Uniwerytelu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2015 (= Commemorative Book for the 200th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State University in Wrocław , 4), ISBN 978-83-229-3401- 2 .