Saxon World Chronicle
The Saxon World Chronicle (SW) is the first German-language chronicle in prose . It was written in Middle High and Middle Low German. In contrast to other chronicles of its time, it is written in prose instead of in rhyme. The time of origin is unclear; the research proposals range from phases between 1225 and 1229 to between 1260 and 1275. In the 19th century, Ludwig Weiland distinguished three groups in his edition of the text transmission ( reviews A, B and C). Michael Menzel subdivided his study (1985) further into six reviews.
It was probably written in the area of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg . For a long time it was considered the work of Eikes von Repgow , the author of the Sachsenspiegel . Today this ascription is no longer valid. It was suspected on the basis of a quotation in the rhyme preface of the Chronicle: "daz is des van Repegouwe rat" . The SW tells the story of the world. Beginning with the creation of the world by God, the chronicler quickly moves on to the history of Rome in order to then report in more detail the events of the first Frankish , then the Holy Roman Empire . The chronicle ends in the reign of Frederick II , which corresponds to the presence of the chronicler. Depending on the manuscript, continuations are included. In contrast to the chronicles of this time (see Rudolf von Ems , the Christherre Chronicle or Jans der Enikel ), it shows little interest in biblical narratives and in its versions A and B remains almost sober-annalistic, which is not untypical for the type of world chronicle is. The Saxon World Chronicle has been handed down in over 50 manuscripts and fragments and has been extended several times.
output
- German chronicles and other history books of the Middle Ages 2: Saxon World Chronicle. Eberhard's rhyming chronicle from Gandersheim. Brunswick rhyming chronicle. Chronicle of the monastery of S. Simon and Judas zu Goslar. Holstein rhyme chronicle. Edited by Ludwig Weiland . Hanover 1877, pp. 1–384 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
- The book of the world [facsimile and commentary volume:] The book of the world. Commentary and edition on the 'Saxon World Chronicle'. Ms. Memb. I 90 Gotha Research and State Library, edited by Hubert Herkommer, Lucerne 2000 (with reprint).
literature
- Hubert Herkommer : Tradition of the Saxon World Chronicle. A contribution to the German historiography of the Middle Ages. Beck, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-406-02838-1 .
- Karl Heinrich Krüger : The universal chronicles. ( Typology des Sources du Moyen âge occidental vol. 16). Brepols, Turnhout 1985.
- Michael Menzel : The Saxon World Chronicle. Sources and material selection (= Constance working group for medieval history. Lectures and research. Special vol. 34). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1985, ISBN 3-7995-6694-5 (also: Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 1983/84) ( online ).
- Gabriele von Olberg-Haverkate: Zeitbilder - Weltbilder. Folk-language universal chronicle as an instrument of collective memoria. A text-linguistic and cultural-scientific investigation. ( Berlin Linguistic Studies 12). Weidler, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89693-526-7 .
- Friedrich Scheele: The Saxon world chronicle. In: Hans Höfinghoff, Werner Peters, Wolfgang Schild , Timothy Sodmann (eds.): Alles was Rechts. Legal literature and literary law. Festschrift for Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand on her 70th birthday. ( Item Medieval Studies, Vol. 3). Item-Verlag, Essen 1996, ISBN 3-929-15112-X , pp. 123-138.
- Jürgen Wolf : The Saxon World Chronicle as reflected in its manuscripts. Tradition, text development, reception. ( Munster medieval writings vol. 75). Fink, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-770-53221-X ( digitized version of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb00050027-7 ).
