Thangmar (Thankmar) (b. about the middle of the tenth century; d. probably at

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

after 1022) was a German chronicler.

Life

His first appearance in history is as the head of the

cathedral school Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these ...

at Hildesheim; at a later date he became

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, and being at the same time

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

and librarian his position was a very important one. Thangmar was distinguished both as a scholar and a statesman; he taught several bishops including

Bernward of Hildesheim Bernward (c. 960 – 20 November 1022) was the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 until his death in 1022. Life Bernward came from a Saxon noble family. His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Having lost his parents a ...

Meinwerk of Paderborn Meinwerk (c. 975 – 5 June 1036) was the Bishop of Paderborn from 1009 until his death. He was a member of the aristocratic Immedinger family and was granted his see on the understanding that his property would pass to the diocese on his death ...

, and

Benno of Meissen Benno ( – 16 June 1106) was named Bishop of Meissen in 1066. Venerated since the 13th century, he was canonized in 1523. Benno did much for his diocese, both by ecclesiastical reforms on thHildebrandine modeland by material developments. He was ...

, as well as the

Emperor Henry II Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...

. He exercised great influence over Bernward, Archbishop of Hildesheim, and a large part of the affairs under episcopal control were directed by him. In 1000 he accompanied Bernward to

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 ...

, and was sent several times to the imperial court as the representative of the bishop to settle important matters, being highly esteemed by

Emperor Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of G ...

Works

After the death of Bernward in 1022 he wrote an account of the active and varied life of the bishop, a biography for which he had already gathered the material and of which he had probably written the first ten chapters during the years 1008-13. He had been an eye-witness of many of the events he relates and had taken as active part in all important measures. As he says himself, Bernward trusted him as a child does its father. Consequently, his ''Vita Bernwardi'' is one of the finest biographical productions of the Middle Ages, and is also one of the most valuable authorities for an important period of German history. He displays much affection for the dead bishop, and has written a plain and simple narrative, unrhetorical and truthful. It is only in the account of the dispute between the Archbishop of Hildesheim and Archbishop of Mainz as to the right of jurisdiction over Gandesheim that Thangmar appears at times to be a partisan of Bernward. Editions: *'' Mon. Germ. Hist.: Scriptores'', IV, 757-782; *

Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...

, '' Patrologia Latina'', CXL, 393-436. The life has been edited in German by Hüffer (Berlin, 1857), and by Wattenbach (Leipzig, 1892).

References

* Wattenbach, ''Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen'', I (Berlin, 1893), 346-349; *Beelte, ''Thangmar, sein Leben u. Beurteilung seiner Vita Bernwardi'' (Hildesheim, 1891)

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{Authority control 11th-century German historians German chroniclers 11th-century deaths 10th-century births Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 11th-century Latin writers