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[Chronicon Zwetlense] 12th-14th century. Austria. This title refers to a group of five Latin chronicles, which were all written in the Cistercian monastery of Zwettl. These five chronicles are the Annales Zwetlenses proper, and four so-called Continuationes Zwetlenses. These five works lack chronological and stylistic unity, and it is difficult to establish their connection and sources.The Annales Zwetlenses proper (14th century) cover the years 1-1349, using excerpts from the Annales Mellicenses for the early years. For the 13th century, the author helped himself from a…

15th century. Germany. Latin annalistic town chronicle of Cologne in crude hexameters spanning the years 1081-1472. Events related include the wheelings and dealings of the city's nobility, legal cases, the city's wars, struggles with the archdiocese, famines, natural events like the drying out of the Rhine, good wine harvests or earthquakes, pilgrimages of foreign kings to the tomb of the Magi and also the most important events in European secular and ecclesiastical history. The author usually dedicates one verse to stating the year and then one verse …

[Anonymi Ratisponensis Chronicae Fragmenta] 1160. Germany. A Latin royal chronicle written in Regensburg (Bavaria), possibly at the monastery of St. Emmeram, which is mentioned twice as a burial place. The chronicle begins around 750 with the Donation of Pippin, and relates the well-known family history and succession of the Pippinian and Carolingian dynasties in the Frankish empire and how they expanded their power in Europe. The deposition of Tasillo and the annexation of the dukedom Bavaria are mentioned. Today only fragments of the codex are preserved: Munich, BSB, Clm 29090.See…

Annales Scotorum Vindobonensium 13th century. Austria. Latin annals spanning the years 1225 until 1233. The chronicle is the only surviving chronicle from the Benedictine Hiberno-Scots monastery in Vienna. It is a continuation of older, now lost chronicles, which date back to the 12th century. While the older annals borrowed from chronicles from Klosterneuburg, the Continuatio Scotorum is an independent report. It gives us the major events in the Holy Roman Empire, especially in Austria, including the marriages, deaths and murders of monarchs and po…

mid-14th century. Germany. This Latin annalistic chronicle of Popes and Emperors was compiled in Regensburg, probably by a Franciscan who was hostile to the Dominicans. Compiled from the Annales Altahenses, Annales Ratisponenses and Annales Halesbrunnenses, it runs to the death of Emperor Henry VII in 1313, where it breaks off abruptly, presumably due to a lack of sources. The popes are listed complete with the dates of their reign. The council of Vienna (1305) about confessions, funerals and other sacraments is also mentioned. There is…

late 15th century. Germany. Monk at the Benedictine monastery of Ensdorf (Oberpfalz, diocese of Regensburg). Apparently he had previously been at the monastery in Lindenhardt by Creußen; the two monasteries had close connections. In 1480 he wrote a history of the house at Ensdorf in German.The chronicle starts in 888 with the founders' genealogy and history, and relates the whole history of the monastery from its foundation in 1121 until 1472. The founding family are the Wittelsbachers, but some of the family members are confused with othe…

13th century. Italy. This universal chronicle by an anonymous author who probably came from Mantua (Mantova) begins with a detailed ancient history. Then follows a list of popes from Adrianus in 1156 until 1274, and biographies of the emperors Frederick I and Frederick II, ending with the latter's death in 1250. Both parts are embellished with the exact dates of the reign, their special talents and virtues, and important events in the European history. The main sources are Martin of Opava and Jacob of Voragine. The text is preserved in Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, cod. A III 10, and in Vatic…

[Cronica apostolicorum et imperatorum Basileensia] 13th century. Switzerland? Annalistic intertwined lists of popes and emperors spanning the years 796-1208, with the exact dates and important events of these reigns. Sources include the Chronica pontificum et imperatorum Tiburtina, which was also used by Martin of Opava. At the end there is a mention of the deposition of bishops in Basel, which might indicate the place of writing. Manuscript: Basel, UB, D IV, 4.Miriam WeberBibliography Text O. Holder-Egger, MGH SS 24, 1879. Literature  O. Holder-Egger, "Einiges zur Quellenkri…

(Annals of Würzburg) late 12th century. Germany. A three-part annalistic chronicle in Latin about the history of the second crusade, albeit with serious chronological and factual errors. Within the three parts (the years 1125-58, 1201-04 and 1215) there is an entry for every single year. The anonymous clerical author, who lived in Würzburg, continued Ekkehard of Aura's Chronicon universale. His critical attitude mirrors a wider rejection of the second crusade. He says that many of the crusaders did not go because of their faith but because of debt, fea…

(Chronicle of the Holy City of Cologne) [Koelhoffsche Chronik; Kölner Chronik von 1499] 1499. Germany. Anonymous history of the city of Cologne to the date of writing, written for the print medium in the local German dialect and published the same year by Johan Koehlhoff.The well-read author was probably a member of the clergy. His work often reads like a compilation of a plethora of other chronicles. Important sources are Martin of Opava, the Chronica Agrippina of Heinrich von Beeck, Jacob of Voragine and Gottfried Hagen's Reimchronik. The treatment of his sources is often rathe…

14th century. Germany. Two-part chronicle in Middle High German rhyming couplets from the Benedictine abbey of Kastl in the Bavarian Oberpfalz, relating the legendary history of the founding family, the Counts of Kastl-Habsberg-Sulzbach. A list of the people buried in the monastery follows. We read about how the family came to the region and built a castle, which later was to become the monastery. Their history is related up until about 1170. The chronicle was commissioned by Abbot Herman in 1324 to provide a s…

(Bavarian chronicle of emperors and popes) 13th century. Germany. Short Latin imperial and papal chronicle by an anonymous author of either Slavic or Bavarian origin. The imperial history deals first with the origins and secular history of the Germanic tribes and their rulers, then after Charlemagne's reign focusses on the western Roman empire. The author includes etymologies, German heroic legends and linguistic history. The derivation of Teutonici from Theuto, god of the Thuringians and Thon, god of the Saxons, appears to be unique. Closer to his own time his accoun…

14th century. Austria. A Middle High German cartulary chronicle in rhyming couplets which exists also in a Latin version in Leonine Hexameters, and in a Latin prose reduction. The Latin text has no title in the literature, but we might call it Chronicon rhythmicum Zwetlense.All three versions stand at the beginning of the Liber Fundationorum Monasterii Zwetlensis, also known as the Bärenhaut or Stifterbuch des Klosters Zwettl, an important cartulary codex containing a collection of documents relevant to the monastery, now Zwettl, Stiftarchiv, manuscript 2/1. The German versi…

mid-15th century. Switzerland. A short German-language chronicle written in the city of Basel. The main focus of the chronicle is the years 1444 and 1445, when the city temporarily withdrew its allegiance to the Austrian Dukes because of actions by the Austrians and the French dauphin against the city's interests. The chroicle reports on the ensuing war. This is followed by two decisions of the city council and the document announcing the banishment of all Austrian aristocracy from the city. The events brea…

(Chronicle of the bishops of Regensburg) 14th century. Germany. Short Latin text published under the title Anonymi authoris chronicon episcoporum Ratisbonensium anno 1377 confectum by von Eckhart, who wrongly assumed it to be by an anonymous independent chronicle. In fact, it is a verbatim copy of the catalogue of bishops of Regensburg in the second part of Konrad von Megenburg's Tractatus de Limitibus Parochiarum Civitatis Ratisbonensis. The date given in the edition is also wrong, as the chronicle was written shortly before Konrad's death in 1374.Likewise, the so-called Chronico…

15th century. Italy. Franciscan author of an annalistic chronicle about the city of Viterbo in Latin from 1080 until 1450. It begins with a legendary history of Viterbo and other Italian cities since Japhet, son of Noah. Apart from the year 1080, when we hear about the foundation of the church of Santa Maria Nova in Viterbo, we are only given specific information from the year 1169 onwards. From then on we have notes for almost every year. The most detailed information is for the years of the emperor Frederick II's siege of the city (1243-47). The chronicle also relates legends abou…

[Leonardus Tornatoris] late 15th century. Austria. Author of a Latin chronicle of events in the diocese of Salzburg and the Austrian Empire, spanning the years 580 till 1495. It was incorrectly published under the title Chronicon Anonymi Auctoris Sanpetriensis (Chronicle by an Anonymous Author from the Monastery of St. Peter), as the author Leonardus Tornatoris (Leonard Drechsler) was considered to be only the copyist.Up to the year 1452 the chronicle is an almost exact copy of the list of the bishops of Salzburg from Johannes Serlinger's Catalogus Pontificum Salisburgensium, only …

15th century. Germany. An anonymous chronicle from Lübeck. The name "Rufus" stems from Helmold of Bosau's Slavic Chronicle published by Bangert in 1659. Not a single manuscript confirms this name. Schnobel connects it to a chronicle that is included in a manuscript from Lübeck from the year 1594. Grautoff adopts the name even though he doubts the existence of a Rufus who participated in the creation of the chronicle. The first part of the chronicle, which spans the years from 1105 to 1395, mostly replicates the chronicle of Johannes Rode [Ruffus] for the years from 1105 to 1349, and…

ca 1358 - post-1439. Germany. Author of two chronicles of Lübeck, the first spanning the years 1105-1276, and the second one the period from the beginning to 1347. The identity of the author remains controversial. While some ascribe the entire text to Rode, others doubt this, seeing characteristics that place it in the tradition of the Mendicant Order Chronicles, suggesting it originates from the St. Katharinenkloster in Lübeck.The first Chronicle opens at the time of the Germanification of the Slavic Wends carried out by Duke Gotschalk, and is thus oriented on Helmold's Slavic Chroni…