The ''Christherre-Chronik'' (named after its opening words, "Christ the Lord") is a 13th-century world chronicle from Thüringen, written in
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
rhyming couplets. It was written by a churchman in the service of
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave ...
, and may be seen as attempting a spiritual answer to the courtly world chronicle of
Rudolf von Ems
Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet.
Life
Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Mon ...
. The work begins with the creation of the world and was apparently intended to follow world history until the poet's own day, but it was never finished. It breaks off during the account of the book of judges, and in the manuscripts it is continued with text from other chronicles, including (ironically) that of Rudolf, and also sometimes the ''Weltchronik'' of
Jans der Enikel
Jans der Enikel (), or Jans der Jansen Enikel (), was a Viennese chronicler and narrative poet of the late 13th century.
He wrote a ''Weltchronik'' () and a ''Fürstenbuch'' (, a history of Vienna), both in Middle High German verse.
Name and ...
.
There is still no edition of this text. Excerpts with English translations can be found in:
Graeme Dunphy
Graeme Dunphy (born 1961) is a British professor of translation.
Biography
Dunphy was born in Glasgow in 1961. He studied German at the University of Stirling between 1979 and 1984, and Hebrew and the Old Testament at the University of St A ...
(ed.), ''History as Literature: German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse''. Kalamazoo 2003.
German chronicles
German books
13th-century history books
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