Vita sancti Adalberti episcopi Pragensis
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The Vita Sancti adalberti episcopi Pragensis or Sancti adalberti Pragensis episcopi et Martyris vita prior and shortly Vita prior ( German Life of St.. Adalbert , Bishop of Prague , Polish Żywot pierwszy świętego Wojciecha ) is in medium-Latin written hagiografische writing about life ( Vita ), the mission and martyrdom of Adalbert of Prague . The incipit is Est locus in partibus Germanie .
Authorship
The author of the vita is not known. Traditionally the authorship is attributed to the Benedictine monk Johannes Canaparius , who lives in the monastery of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio in Rome . There he would have used the report of Adalbert's stepbrother Gaudentius von Gnesen and the stories of other local monks as a source.
Lore
The original manuscript was probably made between 997 and 999 and has not survived. However, up to now 29 manuscripts are known that contain the entire text, as well as 8 manuscripts that partially transmit the text. The oldest manuscripts date from the early 12th century. The differences in the wording of these manuscripts are so great that one can assume three different editorial offices.
Most of the manuscripts go back to the first and at the same time longest editorial team ( Redactio imperialis vel Ottoniana ). This group includes manuscripts that are stored north of the Alps, namely in Belgium , the Netherlands , Germany , Austria , the Czech Republic and Poland . The second editorial team ( Redactio Aventinensis altera ) is based on manuscripts from central and northern Italy and one from Austria. The third and shortest editorial team ( Redactio Cassinensis ) is assigned manuscripts from southern Italy.
In 1328 Nikolaus von Jeroschin translated the vita "Sent Adalbrechtes Leben" of Johannes Canaparius into German verse.
content
The vita consists of 30 chapters. Chapters 1 to 6 describe Adalbert's country of origin, parents and childhood. Chapters 7 to 26 deal with Adalbert's vocation as bishop, his activity as a bishop, the double expulsion from Prague and his entry into the Benedictine order in Rome. The final chapters 27 to 30 cover the stay in Poland, the preparations for the mission and the mission including martyrdom by the Prussians .
The miracles scattered throughout the work and the prophetic dreams sent by God play an important role .
style
The work is written in rhythmic art prose, which is characterized by a large number of stylistic figures , in particular by metaphors .
In addition to a good knowledge of the Bible, the text also shows familiarity with the works of Gregory the Great and perhaps with those of Augustine of Hippo , Prudentius and other contemporary hagiographic writings.
reception
This vita in the Redactio Aventinensis altera was the main source for the vita of Bruno von Querfurt . In addition, Leo Marsicanus used the vita for his Chronicon monasterii Casinensis . Also Cosmas of Prague knew the Vita.
expenditure
- Jadwiga Karwasińska (Ed.): S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica. Nova Series . Volume IV. Fasc. 1). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1962.
literature
- Teresa Michałowska: Średniowiecze (= Wielka Historia Literatury Polskiej . Volume 1 ). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2002, ISBN 978-83-01-12851-7 , p. 76-82 (first edition: 1995).
- Teresa Michałowska: Vita prior . In: Literatura Polskiego Średniowiecza . Leksykon. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2011, ISBN 978-83-01-16675-5 , p. 849-850 .
- Miłosz Sosnowski : The Latin source of the Adalbert Vita of Nikolaus von Jeroschin . In: Marie-Luise Heckmann and Jürgen Sarnowsky (eds.): Schriftlichkeit im Preußenland (= conference reports of the Historical Commission for East and West Prussian State Research. Vol. 30), Osnabrück: fiber-Verlag, 2020 ( [1] ), p. 99-123
Web links
- Vita s. Adalberti episcopi Pragensis. In: Repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages". September 6, 2012, accessed October 16, 2019 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jadwiga Karwasińska (ed.): S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica. Nova Series . Volume IV. Fasc. 1). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1962, p. IX .
- ^ A b Teresa Michałowska: Vita prior . In: Literatura Polskiego Średniowiecza . Leksykon. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2011, ISBN 978-83-01-16675-5 , p. 850 .
- ↑ Jadwiga Karwasińska (ed.): S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica. Nova Series . Volume IV. Fasc. 1). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1962, p. XXXIV .
- ↑ Jadwiga Karwasińska (ed.): S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica. Nova Series . Volume IV. Fasc. 1). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1962, p. XXIX .
- ↑ Jadwiga Karwasińska (ed.): S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior (= Monumenta Poloniae Historica. Nova Series . Volume IV. Fasc. 1). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw 1962, p. XXXVIII .