Lorenz von Brösau

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Lorenz von Brösau (also Laurentius von Brösau , Czech Vavřinec z Březové , Latin Laurentius de Brzezowa ; * around 1370 in Brösau near Kuttenberg , Chrudimer Kreis , † around 1437 in Prague ) was a Bohemian writer and chronicler.

Life

The son of the lowly noble Wenceslas von Brösau ( Václav z Březové ) passed his bachelor's examination at Prague University in 1390 . At the age of twenty, with the support of Queen Sophie of Bavaria, he applied to Pope Boniface IX. permission to carry out church ceremonies. The Pope assigned him the parish of Laun on May 17, 1391 . Lorenz did not take up the office of pastor, but continued to study in Prague, the work in Laun was carried out by his deputy and Lorenz only received the parish license.

On March 22, 1399, he completed his studies as a master of the arts . However, he did not get ordained a priest, but asked the Prague Archbishop Johann von Jenstein for a further dispensation for his law studies, which he presumably did not complete. In the meantime he received further ecclesiastical benefices, which he did not administer spiritually but rather secularly and thus improved his income. In 1402 the subdeacon Lorenz asks the Pope again for a benefit , possibly in exchange for an existing one. His request was granted and he exchanged and received other ecclesiastical goods without leaving Prague or being ordained a priest. In 1406 he was the owner of several town houses in Prague.

After 1407 he turned away from spiritual activity more and more and directed his interest to the royal court. In his works he describes himself as the servant of Wenceslaus IV. He writes the world chronicle for the royal chamberlain Johann von Eisenberg . It is also believed that he was employed in the king's offices and later as a town hall clerk in Prague's New Town . When his sponsor and probably his relative, the highest hunting master Wenceslas IV, Jára z Roztok, died in 1413 , the king granted him the interest from some of the lands near Melnik .

In 1411 the representative of the intellectual class of Prague took part in the Quodlibet Plutarchus by Jan Hus and answered this with his Utrum ex generis nobilitate nobiles nobilibus ex morum honestate sint meliores . After the start of the Hussite Wars , he stayed in Prague, took an active part in the movement and supported Jakobellus von Mies . In 1431 he showed his joy at the victory of the Hussites over the royal armies at the Battle of Taus , but also expressed his ardent desire for peace. In the last years of the Hussite Wars he devoted himself to safeguarding his possessions, carefully observing the development of the Basel Council and trying to achieve a positive result for the Bohemian population with other masters at Prague University.

He also seems to have continued to act as an advisor to the royal successor Sigismund . In 1436 he was named as a witness and expert in negotiations between the Prague citizens and the king.

Works

Although active, he inscribed himself in the annals of history not as a politician, but as a writer and historian. He translated some medieval works. Some anonymous works from the beginning of the 15th century are also ascribed to him. His most important work is the Hussite Chronicle, in which the events from 1414 to 1422 were recorded in detail.

Translations

Fonts

  • Carmen insignis Corone Bohemie (last published 1951 and 1979)

Chronicles

  • Chronicon (Hussite Chronicle) (last published in German 1998, before 1954)
  • Česká Kronika světa

literature

  • Josef Pekař: Vavřinec z Březové . In: Žižka a jeho doba . Díl prvý doba se zvláštním zřetelem k Táboru. 2nd Edition. Vesmír, Prague 1933, p. 37–62 (Czech, online [accessed July 18, 2015]).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lorenz von Brösau
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vavřinec z Březové; Laurentius von Brösau
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian writer and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH around 1370
PLACE OF BIRTH Brösau near Kuttenberg , Chrudimer district
DATE OF DEATH around 1437
Place of death Prague