Chronicon Holtzatiae
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Chronicon Holtzatiae auctore presbytero Bremensi'' is 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 ...
universal chronicle A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...
from the year 1448, but concentrating on the
County of Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
(the ''terra Holsacie'') and written by an anonymous
presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...
of
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
originally from Holstein. It has received three modern editions, the first by the philosopher
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...
in 1698. Other than that it has been rather neglected by
medievalists Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...
; its Latin is poor and its author imaginative. For the years before 1170 the principal source for the anonymous presbyter is Helmold's ''Cronica Slavorum''. After this date he has no discernible source. He describes himself as a ''scriba hujus patrie'' (scribe of this fatherland), probably indicating a low-level position in the comital chancery, then in its earliest stages. An analysis of the ''Chronicon'' suggests that he had access to comital documents and that he participated in the 1447 negotiations at
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
between Adolf VIII of Holstein-Rendsburg and Duke of Schleswig and the free people of the
Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Northern Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of ...
, wedged between Holstein and the sea. The ''Chronicon'' pays especially close attention to the west of the county (Dithmarschen, Krempermarsch, and
Wilstermarsch Wilstermarsch is an ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") in the county of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous ...
), and particularly to
Itzehoe Itzehoe (; nds, Itzhoe) is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km (31.7 mi) northwest of Hamburg and 24  ...
. This suggests that the anonymous presbyter may have hailed from the western country, or maintained links with the
Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monastery of Saint Lawrence/Our Lady at Itzehoe. The majority of counts of Holstein were buried there and since 1421 their memory was preserved through various memorial masses and other services rendered by the monks. The author of the ''Chronicon'' may have been one of the twenty vicars assigned special roles in this regard. The ''Chronicon'', interpreted in the political context of its compilation, was a propaganda tool for the Schauenburg dynastic line of
Holstein-Rendsburg Holstein-Rendsburg is the name of a county that existed from 1290 to 1459, ruled by a line of the Schauenburg family. Rise and fall of the county The Schauenburgs had ruled in Holstein since 1110/1111. In 1290, when Count Gerhard I of Holstei ...
. The
house of Schauenburg The House of Schaumburg was a dynasty of German rulers. Until c. 1485, it was also known as the House of Schauenburg. Together with its ancestral possession, the County of Schaumburg, the family also ruled the County of Holstein and its partitions ...
had ruled Holstein since Adolf I acquired it in 1101. Though six different cadet branches ruled the county divided after 1261, these were all, save the
Holstein-Pinneberg The County of Holstein-Pinneberg (), also known as the County of Schauenburg and Holstein-Pinneberg (), was a small territory which existed from 1290 until 1640, centred around Pinneberg in modern-day Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Rise and fall of ...
, reunited under the Rendsburg branch by 1390. At the time of the ''Chronicons compilation Adolf VIII was childless and facing a succession crisis in both Holstein and Schleswig, a fief of the
Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...
that was often in dispute between the Holsatian counts and Danish kings. When Christian of Oldenburg, who had married Adolf's sister in 1421, succeeded the Danish throne as
Christian I Christian I (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of Schleswig (within ...
in 1448, the succession problem and the problem of Danish interference in Holstein were suddenly resolved in favour of the Rendsburg interests.Rendsburg interests were made clear when Adolf VIII supported his brother-in-law's claim to the Danish throne despite that it came to him through the female line, and was thus not legal in Denmark. The maintenance of the high status of Itzehoe and the denigration of the claims of the counts of Holstein-Pinneburg to the county of Holstein-Rendsburg fuelled the anonymous presbyter of Bremen to compose his chronicle at this time. In the anonymous's own words: ' ("to complement the chronicle that brother Helmold of pious memory faithfully composed of the princes of Holstein and their neighbours"). ;References *Mathieu Olivier. 2005. Le prince et l'histoire dans le comté de Holstein, au miroir du ''Chronicon Holtzatiae Auctore Presbytero Bremensi''. ''Médiévales'', 48:99–122. ;Bibliography *Mathieu Olivier. 2002. "Nemet iuwe Saxen!": l'identité régionale dans le comté de Holstein au xve siècle à partir du ''Chronicon Holtzatiae Auctore Presbytero Bremensi''. MPhil diss. J.-M. Moeglin, dir. University of Paris. ;Notes {{Authority control 1448 books Holstein 15th-century Latin books