John of Hildesheim, O.Carm. ( la, Johannes de Hildesheim) (born in 1310/1320,

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 ...

, and died in 1375, Marienau) was a writer and Carmelite

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

town of

, then the capital of the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

- Bishopric of Hildesheim, an independent state within 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 ...

. Due to his status as a friar, he was able to travel through Germany, France and Italy, and his broad literary opus includes works of philosophy,

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. John is chiefly known as the author of the popular ''Historia Trium Regum'' (''History of the Three Kings''), which records the history of the

Three Magi The biblical Magi from Middle Persian ''moɣ''(''mard'') from Old Persian ''magu-'' 'Zoroastrian clergyman' ( or ; singular: ), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the G ...

, derived from the Biblical story, including their background before their journey to

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

trailing the famous Star, their lives after the Adoration, and the history of their relics (reputed to lie in the

Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral The Shrine of the Three Kings ( German ''Dreikönigsschrein'' or ''Der Dreikönigenschrein''), Tomb of the Three Kings, or Tomb of the Three Magi is a reliquary traditionally believed to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi, also known as the ...

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

). Also included is a lengthy account of the Magi's descendant, the fabled priest-king

Prester John Prester John ( la, Presbyter Ioannes) was a legendary Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian nation lost ...

of medieval legend. The work was attributed to John of Hildesheim by later commentators like Johannes Trithemius, but not all modern historians take this for granted. Others of John's works include ''The Mirror of the Source of Life'', a treatise on the nature of life, and writings in defense of the Carmelite Order.

External links

''The Mirror of the Source of Life'' from the-orb.net
* ttp://name.umdl.umich.edu/3KCol ''Three Kings of Cologne - An early English translation of the Historia Trium Regum'' by C. Horstmann, 1886

References

*Rudolph Hendriks (ed.), “A Register of the Letters and Papers of John of Hildesheim, O.Carm.” ''Carmelus'' 4 (1957): 116–235. 14th-century births 1375 deaths People from Hildesheim 14th-century Latin writers Carmelites 14th-century German Roman Catholic priests 14th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-writer-stub