Heinrich von Herford (also ''Heinrich von Hervord'', ''Henricus de Hervordia''), anglicized as Henry of Herford (c. 1300 – 9 October 1370), was a Dominican friar, chronicler, historian, and theologian.

Biography

Born around 1300 in

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford. Geography Geographic locat ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, then part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, Heinrich probably attended the Latin school of the Imperial Abbey, today the Friedrichs-Gymnasium Herford. He was then

professed A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddin ...

in into the Dominican friary at Minden. There he wrote his chronicle ''Liber de rebus memorabilioribus'' (A Book of Memorable Things), in which he summarizes the work of earlier historians from

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

down to the writers of his own age. The work, which is continued down to the coronation of the

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

in 1355, was one of the chief sources of historical information in fourteenth-century literature. It was reprinted under the editorship of

August Potthast August Potthast (13 August 1824, Höxter, Province of Westphalia13 February 1898, Leobschütz), was a German historian, was born at Höxter, and was educated at Paderborn, Münster and Berlin. He assisted GH Pertz, the editor of the '' Monu ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

in 1859. He also composed the ''Catena aurea in decem partes distincta'', a summary of theology, and a treatise, ''De Conceptione Virginis gloriosae''. Heinrich of Herford died on 9 October 1370 in the Dominican monastery of St. Paul in Minden, where he had spent most of his life. Heinrich's writings must have earned him some fame, as shortly after his death the Emperor Charles IV arranged for the transfer of Heinrich's remains to a more honourable tomb and also provided for a large funeral, attended by a number of people of secular and spiritual significance.Klaus Peter Schumann: ''Heinrich von Herford. Enzyklopädische Gelehrsamkeit und universalhistorische Konzeption im Dienste dominikanischer Studienbedürfnisse'', Münster 1996 (Quellen und Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Religionsgeschichte 4 = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Westfalen 44/4),

References

;Attribution * Cites sources: **Fabricius, ''Biblioth. med. aet.'' (1735), III, 658-9 **

, ''Chronicon Henrici de Hervordia'' (Göttingen, 1859), Diss. I; **Franklin, ''Dictionnaire des Noms, Surnoms et Pseudonymes Latins de l'histoire littéraire du Moyen Age'' (Paris, 1875) **Wegele in ''Allgemeine deutsche Biographie'' (1881); **Streber in ''Kirchenlex''.; ** Wilhelm Diekamp in ''Zeitschr. Gesch. Altert. Westfal.'' (1899), LVII, 90-103; **

Hugo von Hurter The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings. Friedri ...

, ''Nomenclator''; **Chevalier, ''Répertoire des sources historiques du Moyen Age'' (Paris, 1905).

Literature

* August Potthast: ''Liber de rebus memorabilioribus sive chronicon Henrici de Hervordia''. Göttingen 1859 * Anette Baumann: ''Weltchronistik im ausgehenden Mittelalter. Heinrich von Herford, Gobelinus Person, Dietrich Engelhus''. Lang, Frankfurt am Main u.a. 1995, * Klaus Peter Schumann: ''Wundergeschichten des Mindener Dominikaners Heinrich von Herford.'' Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins, Jahrgang 55 (1983), S. 87-102. * Klaus Peter Schumann: ''Heinrich von Herford. Enzyklopädische Gelehrsamkeit und universalhistorische Konzeption im Dienste dominikanischer Studienbedürfnisse'', Münster 1996 (Quellen und Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Religionsgeschichte 4 = Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Westfalen 44/4), * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herford, Heinrich von 1370 deaths German Dominicans 14th-century German historians Year of birth unknown German male non-fiction writers