''Brevis historia regum Dacie'' or ''Compendiosa Regum Daniae Historia'' (
English
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Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
: "A Short History of the Kings of Denmark") is a historical chronicle written in
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 ...
by
Sven Aggesen
Sven Aggesen (also known as ''Svend Aagesen,'' ''Aggessøn'', or ''Aggesøn'', in Latin ''Sveno Aggonis''; born around 1140 to 1150, death unknown) was the author of '' Brevis historia regum Dacie'', one of the first attempts to write a coherent ...
, a
Danish scholar from the 12th century, under the patronage of
Archbishop Absalon. Sven was a contemporary of
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...
, author of the more famous Danish chronicle, the ''
Gesta Danorum
("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...
'', and Sven's ''Brevis historia'' refers to Saxo by name.
Contents
''Brevis historia regum Dacie'' is a chronicle of kings of Denmark, starting with the lineage of
legendary kings of Denmark
The legendary kings of Denmark were, according to legend, the monarchs of Denmark, the Danes, or specific lands of Denmark (Zealand, Jutland or Scania) who preceded Gorm the Old, a king who reigned to and is the earliest reliably attested Danis ...
beginning with
King Skiold, which transitions into
historical Danish kings around
Gorm the Old
Gorm the Old (; ; ), also called Gorm the Languid (), was List of Danish monarchs, ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147 , and finally ending with the ascension of then-contemporary
Knut VI and his defeat of
Bugislav, Duke of Pomerania, in
1185
Year 1185 ( MCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* August – King William II of Sicily ("the Good") lands in Epirus with a Siculo-Norman expeditionary force of 2 ...
.
History
Manuscripts
Sven's works (both the ''Brevis historia'' and the law code ''
Lex Castrensis
Lex or LEX may refer to:
Computing
* Amazon Lex, a service for building conversational interfaces into any application using voice and text
* LEX (cipher), a stream cipher based on the round transformation of AES
* Lex (software), a computer pro ...
'') survive via two manuscripts, though neither is considered to be an accurate replica of his original writings. These are:
*AM 33 4to, an "inexpert" copy probably commissioned by Claus Lyschander (1558–1624) of an early and authentic manuscript. It is currently held in the
Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection
The Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection (, ) derives its name from the Icelandic scholar and antiquarian Árni Magnússon (1663–1730) — Arnas Magnæus in Latinised form — who in addition to his duties as Secretary of the Royal Archives and ...
in the
Arnamagnæan Institute
The Arnamagnæan Institute (, formerly ) is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, the collection bequeathed by the Icelandic scholar and antiquarian ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
.
Scans of manuscript AM 33 4to
''Historia legum Castrensium Regis Canuti magni and Compendiosa Regum Daniæ Historia'', at Handrit.is
*The second manuscript, likely from the late 13th century, was lost in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728
The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of the 23rd of October 1728. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (me ...
, but used as the basis for the first printed edition of Sven's works by Stephan J. Stephanius, at Sorø in 1642. Because the manuscript was lost, changes to the text can't be traced to their source (whether the 13th century scribe or Stephanius or any other).
Between 1915 and 1917, Martin Clarentius Gertz published the text from both sources, along with a reconstructed text that more closely reflected Aggesen's original work, i
Scriptores minores historiæ Danicæ medii ævi
This series also included the Latin texts of other early minor chronicles of Danish history, including the ''Chronicon Lethrense
( Danish: English: ''Chronicle of Lejre/Leire'') is a small Danish medieval work from the late 12th century, written in Latin.
Themes
Unlike '' Chronicon Roskildense'', which deals primarily with information presented as real historical facts ...
'' and ''Chronicon Roskildense
( Danish: English: ''Roskilde Chronicle'') is a small Danish historical work, written in Latin. It is one of the oldest known attempts to write a coherent account of Danish history by a Danish author, spanning from the introduction of Chr ...
'', the ''Compendium Saxonis Compendium Saxonis (also known as ''Abbreviatio Saxonis'') is a summary located in Chronica Jutensis. It contains a summary of Saxo’s ''Gesta Danorum'', about one-fourth the size of the original. It is written in Latin.
It is thought to have be ...
'', and others.
Translations
The primar
English translation of this work
with some commentary, is by Eric Christiansen, for the ''Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series'' in 1992.
References
{{reflist
Sources and external links
*CHRISTIANSEN, Eric,
THE WORKS OF SVEN AGGESEN TWELFTH-CENTURY DANISH HISTORIAN
, ''VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH TEXT SERIES'', vol 9, 1992
Latin text of ''Brevis historia regum Dacie''
ed. M. C. Gertz, in ''Scriptores minores historiae Danicae'', vol. 1 (1917)
12th-century history books
12th-century books in Latin
Chronicles about Denmark
Danish non-fiction books
12th century in Denmark