The ''Chronicle of Dalimil'' ( cs, Dalimilova kronika; Kronika tak řečeného Dalimila) is the first

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, 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 ...

written in the

Old Czech language The Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as ''Bohemian''. Early West Slavic Among the innovations in common West Slavic is the palatalization of vel ...

. It was composed in verse by an unknown author at the beginning of the 14th century. The Chronicle compiles information from older Czech chronicles written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and also the author's own experiences. The chronicle finishes before 1314, but it is usually published including the entries of later authors describing events up to 1319. The Chronicle alleged that in the Serbian/Sorbian language there is a land, known as Croatia, and in this country there was a chieftain whose name was Čech. The validity of the events are nowadays rejected by some western historians as purely mythological folklore, an archetypal

origin myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have st ...

. The events in the chronicle seem to simply reinterpret the myth of

Lech, Czech, and Rus Lech, Czech and Rus' (, ) refers to a founding legend of three Slavic brothers who founded three Slavic peoples: the Poles (or Lechites), the Czechs, and the Rus'. The three legendary brothers appear together in the ''Wielkopolska Chronicle'' ...

that is repeated in various forms in many other historical records and national chronicles, like

Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

. The Dalimil was translated three times into Middle High German (including the recently identified translation by

Merbort Merbort was a medieval German poet whose work is almost entirely lost. Nothing is known of the poet himself. Only four lines of verse survive, printed in 1639 by Martin Opitz in his commentary on the ''Annolied''. Opitz claimed to have a manuscr ...

), and once into Latin.

References

{{Authority control

External links

1920 version
West Slavic chronicles Czech literature 14th-century history books National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic