''Visio Godeschalci'' is a 12th-century text relating the vision of a peasant of Harrie, now

Großharrie Großharrie is a municipality in the district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The village is located about 10 kilometers north east of Neumünster close to the Dosenmoor The Dosenmoor is a regenerative and, in places, preserved raised ...

in Holstein, named Gottschalk. In December 1189, during the siege of

Segeberg Segeberg (; frr, Segebärj) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, the city of Neumünster, the districts of Plön, Osthol ...

castle, Gottschalk fell ill, and during five days was presumed dead. His visions were recorded by two authors, surviving in two distinct but congruent accounts, both in

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 ...

, an extensive one (text A: Godeschalcus) and a shorter one (text B: Visio Godeschalci).

Two versions

''Godeschalcus''

The longer text presumably dates to between August and October 1190. The author presumably was a canon of

Neumünster Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). History The city was fi ...

monastery, originally from

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, and shows literary and philosophical education. In the section on

purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

, the author adds observations on current events, incidentally doubling as a primary source of everyday and legal affairs of the late 12th century Holy Roman Empire.

''Visio Godeschalci''

The author of the shorter version was presumably the priest of

Nortorf Nortorf is a town in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately 13 km northwest of Neumünster, and 25 km southwest of Kiel. Geography The location of Nortorf is south of the municipalit ...

. It is uncertain whether he had access to the longer text. The text is an account in the first person. This version is mentioned by

Caesarius von Heisterbach Caesarius of Heisterbach (ca. 1180 – ca. 1240), sometimes erroneously called, in English, Caesar of Heisterbach, was the prior of a Cistercian monastery, Heisterbach Abbey, which was located in the Siebengebirge, near the small town of Oberdollend ...

in his ''

Dialogus miraculorum Dialogus (Latin for dialogue) can refer to: * ''Dialogus de oratoribus'' (c. 100 AD), treatise on rhetoric attributed to Tacitus * ''Dialogus de musica'' (c. 11th c.), music treatise formerly attributed to Odo of Arezzo Odo of Arezzo or Abbot O ...

''.

Manuscripts

*Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Cod. 558 Helst., 1v-24r (Autograph) *Hannover, Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, Ms. XXIII 163, f.1-81

The vision

The vision shows the influence both of local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and of

Christian mythology Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and narratives, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christian l ...

. Gottschalk experiences separation from his body and is received to the afterlife by two angels. He is shown a vision of

, where he recognizes several prominent deceased atoning for their sins. He then sees

Heavenly Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the ca ...

, but is not allowed to set foot in it. Instead, he returns to his body.

Modern editions

*Erwin Assman: ''Godeschalcus und Visio Godeschalci.'' (Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte Schleswig-Holsteins, 74) Neumünster 1979

Bibliography

* Enno Bünz: ''Visio Godeschalci/Godeschalcus.'' In: Verfasserlexikon, 10, Sp. 404-408 * Peter Dinzelbacher: ''Visio Godesc(h)alci.'' In: Lexikon des Mittelalters 8, Sp. 1731 * Hedwig Röckelein: ''Otloh, Gottschalk, Tnugdal: Individuelle und kollektive Visionsmuster des Hochmittelalters.'' (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe III. Geschichte und Hilfswissenschaften. Bd. 319) Dissertation Tübingen. Frankfurt am Main 1987. {{italic title 12th-century Latin books Visionary literature Herzog August Library