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Jans der Enikel (), or Jans der Jansen Enikel (), was a
Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * ...
chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and l ...
r and narrative poet of the late 13th century. He wrote a ''Weltchronik'' () and a ''Fürstenbuch'' (, a
history of Vienna The history of Vienna has been long and varied, beginning when the Roman Empire created a military camp in the area now covered by Vienna's city centre. From that humble beginning, Vienna grew from the Roman settlement known as ''Vindobona'' to b ...
), both in
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. Hi ...
verse.


Name and biography

In his own works, he identifies himself as Jans, the grandson of Jans: ''enikel'' is simply the Middle High German word for "grandson" (modern German: ''Enkel''). The exact form of the name varies, partly because of variant spellings in the manuscripts. The 19th-century editor, Philipp Strauch, called the chronicler Jansen Enikel, intending "Jansen" as a genitive referring to the grandfather, but forms with a definite article (e.g. Jansen der Eninkel or Jansen der Enenkel) are also found in 19th-century scholarship. From the mid-20th century, Jans Enikel became common, but this raised the danger of misconstruing "Enikel" as a surname: the second edition of the Verfasserlexikon, for example, erroneously listed him as "Enikel, Jans". Since the name itself is simply Jans, and Enikel is an identifier comparable with "Jans junior", the chronicler should always be alphabetized under J, not E. More recent scholarship has either returned to the definite article "Jans der Enikel", adopted a new suggestion "Jans von Wien" (), or simply used "Jans" with no extension at all. In the same passages in which he gives us his name, Jans claims to be a citizen of Vienna with full patrician rights. Elsewhere he mentions that a ''Herrn Jansen sun'', presumably his father, was honoured by the duke in 1239, and that as a child he had seen the army marching off to the
Battle of the Leitha River The Battle of the Leitha River was fought on 15 June 1246 near the banks of the Leitha river between the forces of the King Béla IV of Hungary and Duke Frederick II of Austria. The Hungarian army was routed, but Duke Frederick was killed, endi ...
, which means he could not have been born much after 1240. From other sources we know that he was a member of one of the highest patrician families of Vienna, and his name appears in Viennese council records for the years 1271–1302. In these records he appears as "Jans der Schreiber" (), so it is likely he was secretary to the city council (german: Stadtschreiber). These sources suggest that his father was the city judge Konrad, and his mother belonged to the powerful Paltram family. There are also references to his son and son-in-law. We even know his address, in Wildwerkerstraße, modern Wipplingerstraße. This makes him one of the best attested of all medieval German poets.


''Weltchronik''

The ''Weltchronik'' tells the history of the world in around 30,000 lines of verse, starting even before the six-day creation by telling of
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
's rebellion, and relating the
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
stories of the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, then continuing with
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
and other classical Greek and Roman material, and on down the list of Emperors through
Charles the Great Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
to
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II ( German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerus ...
. Jans is known for the free-and-easy approach he takes to his material, altering details casually for their entertainment value and incorporating motifs from the most diverse sources, for which reason 19th century writers were extremely disparaging about him: Strauch, for example, wrote him off as a "Reimschmied" (). One interesting feature is the unusually large amount of Jewish material he borrows. Jans is the first writer in the German language to recount the legend of
Pope Joan Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The s ...
. The style is anecdotal, with many fun tales inserted into what might otherwise be sober history. For example, the reign of Frederick II is interrupted to tell an entirely fictional story of a nobleman named Friedrich von Antfurt. This Friedrich subjects a
duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
to what we today could only call sexual harassment, to the point where she thinks up a ruse to get rid of him. She promises to give him what he wants (the poet makes no bones about the fact that he only wants her ''lîp'', her body) provided he takes part in a
joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponent ...
wearing her
chemise A chemise or shift is a classic smock, or a modern type of women's undergarment or dress. Historically, a chemise was a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts common ...
(underdress) instead of his armour. She is of course counting on him being killed, but he survives, and there has to be a reckoning: when the duchess still refuses to submit to him, he vindictively exacts a humiliating revenge by forcing her to wear the torn and bloody chemise to church. Other scurrilous tales include a story of Noah's son visiting his wife's bedroom on the ark in violation of a strict prohibition; of Noah discovering wine when his goat became drunk; of how the Emperor
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...
gave birth to a toad; and of the enchantment that led Charles the Great to commit necrophilia. From the 14th century, the text of the ''Weltchronik'' was reused in compilation manuscripts, which have a very complicated history. The earliest are combinations with the ''
Christherre-Chronik The ''Christherre-Chronik'' (named after its opening words, "Christ the Lord") is a 13th-century world chronicle from Thüringen, written in Middle High German rhyming couplets. It was written by a churchman in the service of Henry III, Margrave ...
'' known as the ''Enikel-Christherre-Mischtext'', which in turn was developed into the so-called ''Erweiterte Christherr-Chronik''. There are also compilation manuscripts that combine parts of Jans' ''Weltchronik'' with excerpts from
Rudolf von Ems Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet. Life Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Mon ...
and
Heinrich von München Heinrich von München is author-persona of a 14th-century chronicle written in a series of versions in Middle High German verse. Largely a compilatory work, it copies or reworks vast chunks of text from earlier verse chroniclers, supplementing these ...
. In all, some 50 manuscripts contain text of Jans' ''Weltchronik'', either "pure text" or compilations. Fragments are still occasionally being discovered. The earliest manuscripts of the ''Weltchronik'' were copiously illustrated with coloured miniatures, and the original cycle of miniatures was so well integrated with the text that it was clearly part of the author's programme. Many of Jans' miniatures were also taken into the compilations. However, from the 15th century the manuscripts are gradually less well laid out, and the illustrations are no longer copied.


''Fürstenbuch''

The ''Fürstenbuch'' () is the earliest known history of the City of Vienna, and indeed it is probably the first town chronicle in the German language. It is shorter than the ''Weltchronik'' and has received far less scholarly attention, but it is an important historical source for the development of patrician society. For English-speaking readers, the ''Fürstenbuch'' is interesting for giving an Austrian perspective on the imprisonment of
Richard Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ove ...
in Austria in 1193. Jans tells how Richard, travelling incognito, seeks shelter in Duke Leopold's kitchen, where he is put to work turning a goose on a spit over a fire. When he is recognized and captured, he is mocked as an ''edele brâtaer'', a "noble goose-roaster". The account of the Austrian Duke Frederick II, the Quarrelsome contains a fictitious account of his conflict with the emperor at the Diet of Verona (1245), which nevertheless is understood as presenting a pro-Austrian slant on political reality. When the emperor invites the duke to dinner, the duke declines, claiming he has enough money to buy his own dinner. The Emperor responds by forbidding any citizen to sell him firewood for his kitchen, but the Duke outwits him by burning walnuts.


Critical text and translations

*Critical edition: Philipp Strauch (ed.),
Jansen Enikels Werke
' ( MGH, ''Scriptores'' 8: ''Deutsche Chroniken und andere Geschichtsbücher des Mittelalters'', Vol. 3), Hanover & Leipzig 1891–1900, ; Reprint Munich 1980 *Excerpts with English translations: Graeme Dunphy (ed.), ''History as Literature: German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse''. Kalamazoo 2003. *English translation of the Virgil section: Jan M. Ziolkowski and Michael C. J. Putnam, ''The Virgilian Tradition: The First Fifteen Hundred Years'', 2008, 928–930
Text and bibliography
on dunphy.de


See also

*
Medieval German literature Medieval German literature refers to the literature of Medieval Germany. It can be subdivided into two main periods: *Old High German literature Old High German literature refers to literature written in Old High German, from the earliest texts ...
*
Rudolf von Ems Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet. Life Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Mon ...
*''
Christherre-Chronik The ''Christherre-Chronik'' (named after its opening words, "Christ the Lord") is a 13th-century world chronicle from Thüringen, written in Middle High German rhyming couplets. It was written by a churchman in the service of Henry III, Margrave ...
''


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jans der Enikel 13th-century Austrian poets 13th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire German chroniclers 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Middle High German literature Austrian male poets