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(Genalogy of the Christian tradition of the illustrious princes, the lords and dukes of Stettin) mid-14th century. Poland. A chronicle of the dynasty of the dukes of West Pomerania to 1344 (1365). Written possibly in 1345 by an author connected with the cathedral at Kamień Pomorski, the text gives brief genealogies of the dukes of West Pomerania from Bogislaw I to the death of Otto I in 1344, highlighting their piety. A brief note by another hand records the death of Barnim IV in 1365. A main source is the Camminer Chronik. Photocopies of a copy written in the 1460s have survived (Hamburg, SB & …

(Annals of the Kraków chapter) 1266. Poland. Annalistic chronicle in Latin, written in Kraków in connection with the canonization in September 1266 of St. Stanislaus, the 11th-century bishop of Kraków. The Annales begin with a prologue, in which an anonymous author expresses his intention "to transform the older annals into a concise chronicle of events from the creation of the world, aiming at the readers' moralization and a theological reflection" (Kozłowska-Budkowa). His aim was to incorporate into a historical narrative an account of Stanislaus, based on the a…

(Chronicle of Wielkopolska / Greater Poland) 14th century. Poland. A Latin prose chronicle of Polish history in 164 unnumbered chapters with titles, running from legendary times until 1273, where it breaks off in the middle of a sentence. From 913, annual dates are given, in the style of the annals. For the 13th century the text concentrates mainly on the history of Greater Poland.This is one of the most frequently discussed texts in the Polish tradition of historical writing. It was undoubtedly written in Greater Poland, but its date and author are controv…

[Genealogia stargardensis] 1348-51. Poland. A brief Latin genealogical chronicle of the dukes of West Pommerania from the baptism of Wratislaus I in 1124 to the death of Wartislaw IV in 1326. It was written by a monk of the Augustinian-eremites' monastery in Stargard Szczeciński on the River Ina. It is known only through excerpts in the German-language Chronik von Pommern of Thomas Kantzow (ca 1505-42). Marek DerwichBibliography Text G. Jähnke, Die Pomerania des Johannes Bugenhagen und ihre Quellen, 1881, 46-47. O. Heinemann, Johannes Bugenhagen Pomerania, 1900, XXX-XXXI, note. 8. E…

[Jan, Janek, Janko z Czarnkowa] ca 1320-87. Poland. Son of Bogumił, the alderman of Czarnków (Greater Poland), a country gentleman probably from Ruszków near Opatów (Lesser Poland). His brother Szymon and his nephew Henryk worked in the royal chancellery. Janko of Czarnków was a lawyer who held office as canon of Butzen in Mecklenburg until 1356 and of Poznań, as cantor in Wrocław, as a diplomat in Avignon (1362-66), as archdeacon of Gniezno from 1367, and as crown deputy chancellor of the treasury during the years 1366-71. In 1372 he was exiled from Poland for the …

9th century. Austria. An anonymous Latin chronicle of the Eastern mission, written in Salzburg in 870-71. It is a polemical and apologetic work. The aim of the author (who was probably Adalwin, Archbishop of Salzburg) was to justify the Salzburg archdiocese's rights to Pannonia by presenting the priority of the Bavarian clergy in the Christianization of the Slavic peoples. This was a reaction to the growing activity of the Saints Constantine and Methodius, which was gaining the support of the Holy See. Chapters 1-2 are dedica…

(Long or large chronicle of the Poles or Lechites) 14th century. Poland. A collection of Latin historical sources, the largest and best known such collection from medieval Poland. It was compiled mainly during the years 1375-87 in Gniezno by Janko of Czarnków, himself the author of some of the texts it contains. Janko began to gather material on his return to Poland from Mecklenburg in 1356, and continued with several breaks until his death in 1387, but worked intensively on the corpus only after his political career ended. Soon after …

[Angelus de Stargardia] 14th century. Pomerania (Poland). Monk and lector in the Augustinian-eremites' monastery in Stargard Szczeciński on the River Ina. Originally from Saxony, he acted as an envoy to the papal curia in Avignon in 1345/6.In 1345-47 he wrote a Latin chronicle of the West Pomeranian Duchy, the so-called Protocollum sive Notula satis notabilis de Pomeranorum Stetinensium ac Rugie principatu, a tendentiously polemical treatise dedicated to the Duke of Szczecin, Barmin III (1344-68). Its composition was connected with the ongoing argument b…

15th century. Poland. Around 1475 he wrote a chronicle tract entitled Cronica de ducatu Stettinensi et Pomeraniae gestorum inter Marchiones Brandenburgenses et duces Stettinenses Anno domini 1464, anchoring the rights of the dukes of Pomerania-Wolgast, Wartislaw IX and Erich II to succession after the death in 1464 of the last duke of Stettin, Otto III, in defiance of the claims of the Margrave of Brandenburg Frederick II (supported by the Emperor, Frederick III). The author cites unknown documents and historical events, drawing among other sources on the Protocollum of Augustine …

[Kamminer Chronik, Chronica Caminensis] 14th century. Poland. A chronicle of the dukes of West Pomerania covering the years 1170-1326, written ca 1326-40 by an author connected with the cathedral at Kamień Pomorski (Cammin in Pommern). Although the work is in Latin, it is usually known by the German title coined by Jähnke. The text gives brief genealogies of the dukes from Bogislaw I to Wartislaw III, highlighting their gifts to the cathedral. However, it contains many factual errors.This chronicle was used by Augustine of Stargard, and it is likely that it was Augustine who, i…

[Annales Mansionariorum Cracoviensium; Excerpta cronice Polonorum; Rocznik świętokrzyski] 1399/1400. Poland. Latin national annalistic chronicle, begun after 16 August 1399 in the royal chancellary in Kraków, most probably by the notary Mikołaj Trąba. In 123 extensive annalistic notes he presents the events of Polish history from 966 to 1399. The first part, covering the history up to 1283, is an adaptation of the Annales capituli Cracoviensis dicti breves supplemented and extended with information from other sources, notably the Annales Polonorum deperditi , Catalogi episco…

[Konstanty Michailović] ca 1435-ca 1501. Serbia, then Hungary, Bohemia and Poland. Author of a chronicle of the Turks known in several Slavonic languages.Born ca 1435 in Ostrovica (Niška Banja) in Serbia, son of a Serb named Michał Konstantynovic. In 1455 he was taken prisoner in Turkey and enlisted into the Janissary, eventually becoming an officer. In 1463, while in command of the Zweczaj castle in Bosnia he was taken prisoner to Hungary, which he saw as liberation. We are not sure what happened to him next; he stayed …