John Canaparius (german: Johannes Canaparius) was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk at the Aventine monastery in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. It had been long assumed that in the year 999 he wrote the first ''Vita sancti Adalberti episcopi Pragensis'', or "Life of St.

Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, Vo ...

" just two years after Adalbert's death. Adalbert was sent by

Pope Gregory V Pope Gregory V ( la, Gregorius V; c. 972 – 18 February 999), born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin, Emperor Ott ...

to convert the pagan

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians (Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that in ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and had come to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, apparently taking the route along the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

River to reach the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

at „urbem Gyddanyzc“., which is identified with the later

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

(Danzig). Then a small trading and fishing settlement with wooden buildings, it was anyway recorded by Canaparius as „ urbs“, city. It is, however, now assumed by Johannes Fried, that the 'Vita' was not written by Canaparius, but was written down in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, with the oldest traceable version having been at the imperial Adalbert shrine at

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

. It was only recently recovered at the Marienstift, and is used to reconstruct the archetype of the 'Vita'.Jürgen Hoffmann, Vita Adalberti. Früheste Textüberlieferungen der Lebensgeschichte Adalberts von Prag (Europäische Schriften der Adalbert-Stiftung-Krefeld, Band 2), Essen 2005

Bishop

Notger of Liège Notker or Notger is a masculine Germanic given name. It may refer to: Historical * Notker the Stammerer ("Notker I"), Latin poet, possibly composer and monk in Saint Gall *Notker Physicus ("Notker II"), physician and painter *Notker Labeo ("Notker ...

, a hagiographer himself, apparently had knowledge of the earlier handwritten ''Vita'' from Aachen. The imperial court at Aachen had in 997 assembled immediately upon receiving word of Adalbert's death and had thereupon planned the upcoming events. Another famous biographer of Adalbert was St.

Bruno of Querfurt Bruno of Querfurt ( 974 – 14 February or 9/14 March 1009), also known as ''Brun'' and ''Boniface'', was a Christian missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania for trying to spread Christianity. H ...

who wrote his hagiography in 1001–1004.

Nikolaus von Jeroschin Nikolaus von Jeroschin (c. 1290 – 1341) was a 14th-century German chronicler of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. Nikolaus joined the Teutonic Order as a chaplain of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, during the time of Grand Master Gottf ...

translated the ''Vita Sancti Adalberti'' into

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

in the 14th century.

Editions in Latin

Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores (in folio) Bd. 4, S. 581-595
*Johannes Canaparius, S. Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita prior, hrsg. von Jadwiga Karwasińska, Monumenta Poloniae historica, Seria nova 4/2, Warschau 1969;

Literature

*Johannes Fried, ''Gnesen – Aachen – Rom. Otto III. und der Kult des hl. Adalbert. Beobachtungen zum älteren Adalbertsleben'', in: Michael BORGOLTE (Hg.), Polen und Deutschland vor 1000 Jahren. Die Berliner Tagung über den „Akt von Gnesen“, Berlin 2002, S. 235 ff.

External links

Besprechung des gedruckten Aufsatzes von 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canaparius, John 10th-century Italian writers Italian Benedictines Christian hagiographers 10th-century Christian monks 10th-century Latin writers