Magnus of Reichersberg (died 12 April 1195Norbert Kössinger (2016)
"Magnus of Reichersberg"
in Graeme Dunphy and Cristian Bratu (eds.), ''

Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle The Medieval Chronicle Society is an international and interdisciplinary organization founded to facilitate the work of scholars interested in medieval annals and chronicles, or more generally medieval historiography. It was founded in 1999 and in ...

'', Brill Online.) was an

Augustinian canon Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, ...

and historian who worked at

Reichersberg Abbey Reichersberg Abbey (german: Stift Reichersberg) is a monastery of the Innviertel Congregation of the Austrian Augustinian Canons. It lies on the Inn River in Reichersberg, Upper Austria. History Original monastery The nobleman Wernher von Reic ...

from the 1160s.. He wrote a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

chronicle of Reichersberg covering the years 1167–1195. This was a continuation of the annals of

Gerhoh of Reichersberg Gerhoh of Reichersberg (Latin: ''Gerhohus Reicherspergensis.'' b. at Polling 1093; d. at Reichersberg, 27 June 1169) was one of the most distinguished theologians of Germany in the twelfth century. He was provost of Reichersberg Abbey and a Cano ...

, whose political and ecclesiastical ideas are reflected in Magnus' work. Although he was a supporter of

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

, he was not ill-disposed to the

Emperor Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

, Alexander's chief rival.. He is an important source for Frederick's participation in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

(1189–1190). He incorporated into his chronicle the diary of

Tageno Tageno (died 1190) was a Bavarian clergyman and crusader. He was a minor cleric of the cathedral of Passau from at least July 1183. He became dean of the cathedral in 1187 and joined the army of Frederick Barbarossa on the Third Crusade in 1189. H ...

, a copy of which was sent to him from the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

; a letter from Bishop

Diepold of Passau Bistumswappen of Passau.Diepold Count von Berg, also: Theobald, (c. 1140, – 3 November 1190) was the 11th Bishop of Passau from 1172 to 1190. Biography Diepold von Berg was born around 1140 as the son of Diepold von Berg-Schelklingen and Gise ...

; an anonymous letter to the master of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

in Italy, Archembald, about the

battle of Hattin The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of t ...

; and a letter by Terricus, preceptor of the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, and a survivor of Hattin. He also made use of an early draft of the ''

History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick The ''History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick'' (Latin: ''Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris'') is an anonymous Latin account of the campaign waged by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, as part of the Third Crusade. It covers t ...

''., pp. 4–5. Continuations added to his chronicle after his death bring it down to 1279. The first continuator records Magnus' date of death.

References

{{reflist 1195 deaths Augustinian canons 12th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire