The ''Chronica Boemorum'' (Chronicle of the Czechs, or Bohemians) is the first

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

in which the

history of the Czech lands The history of the Czech lands – an area roughly corresponding to the present-day Czech Republic – starts approximately 800 years BCE. A simple chopper from that age was discovered at the Red Hill () archeological site in Brno. Many differen ...

has been consistently and relatively fully described. It was written in 1119–1125 by Cosmas of Prague. The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

includes information about historical events in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

land from ancient times to the first quarter of the 12th century. At the same time, the Chronicle is not limited to Czech national historiography, also revealing the relationship between various European states during the 10th–12th centuries. The author of the chronicle had been known as the dean of the chapter of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Cosmas of Prague. Being a valuable

historical source A historical source encompasses "every kind of evidence that human beings have left of their past activities — the written word and spoken word, the shape of the landscape and the material artefact, the fine arts as well as photography and film." ...

, especially as it relates to events whose contemporary was Cosmas, the Czech Chronicle in many respects set the direction for the subsequent development of the Czech annals. The chronicler worked on the chronicle until his death in 1125. Despite some inaccuracies and a vivid expression of the author's own position, the scientific level is high for that era and the importance of the events described in it put Cosmas of Prague into one of the most significant chroniclers of

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. The ''Chronica'' was continued by various, collectively called Cosmas's continuators, down to 1300.

Literature

References

External links

''Chronica Boemorum''
— the chronicle accessible on-line at ''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The (Latin for "Historical Monuments of Germany"), frequently abbreviated MGH, is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of parts of Northwestern, Central and Souther ...

'' {{Authority control 12th-century books Chronicles in Latin Czech chronicles Czech manuscripts