Johannes Letzner (29 November 1531 – 16 February 1613) was a
Renaissance-era German Protestant priest and historian of
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
, in particular of
Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Letzner studied briefly at
Wittenberg University in 1550–1551 before moving to
Uslar as cantor and school master, and later as vicar to
Parensen (1553)
Langenholtensen (1564),
Lüthorst (1583), Iber (1589) and finally to
Strodthagen where he retired in 1610 and died three years later.
Letzner's works were widely perused in 18th-century historiography of Germany, but they are now considered highly unreliable.
His magnum opus was going to be a "Great Chronicle of Brunswick-Lüneburg" ("Große Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Göttingensche Chronika") in eight volumes, on which he worked during 36 years of his life. This work was never printed in full, but the fifteen works Letzner published in print during his lifetime can be seen as portions of this work.
''Conradus Fontanus'' is one of the purported sources used by Letzner, allegedly a medieval chronicler who lived around 1200. Fontanus was included by
Adelung in his continuation of
Jöcher's ''Gelehrten-Lexicon'', but in 20th century scholarship has come to be considered as of dubious historicity, or spurious. He is also the author of a ''Historia S. Bonifacii'', a publication likewise criticized for fanciful inventions concerning local histories (he claims that at the
Hülfensberg Saint Boniface
Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...
destroyed the supposed Germanic god
Stuffo), even for the invention of sources.
Bibliography
*1590, ''Corbeische Chronica'' (history of
Corvey Abbey*1594, ''Stammbuch oder Chronik Des Uralten Adelichen und Gedenkwürdigen Geschlechts Der „von Berlepsch“'' ( history of the ''von Berlepsch'' noble family)
*1596, ''Dasselische und Einbeckische Chronica'' (chronicle of
Dassel and
Einbeck)
*1603, ''Historia Caroli Magni. Des Grossmechtigsten, Christlichen Roemischen und ersten Teutschen Keysers … Taten.'' (history of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
), printed by Andream Hantzsch at Hildeßheim.
[a surviving copy is kept in the Mainz city library, inv. no. 603/8 (]
/ref>
*1604, ''Ioannis Letzneri Chronica: und historische Beschreibung des Lebens, der Haendel und Thaten des teutsch. Röm. Keysers Ludovici Pii, und wie derselbe ... Corbei ... gestifftet samt angehengter Beschreibung der dreissig adelichen Geschlechter
* ''Chronica und historische Beschreibung des löblichen und weltberümbten keyserlichen freien Stiffts und Closters Walckenrieth'' (history of Walkenried Abbey)
* ''Hardessische Chronica'' (chronicle of Hardegsen)
References
* Hans Klinge Johannes Letzner. Ein niedersächsischer Chronist des 16. Jahrhunderts Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 52 1952 36-96
* Dieter Lent: ''Letzner, Johannes''. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent u. a. (Hrsg.): ''Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8. bis 18. Jahrhundert''. Appelhans, Braunschweig 2006, , S. 437f.
*
*
* Hans Klinge Johannes Letzner. Ein niedersächsischer Chronist des 16. Jahrhunderts Göttingen Jahr=1951
* Ludwig Simon, Johannes Letzenerus, Hardessianus. Zum 350. Todestag des Chronisten Johannes Letzner Northeimer Heimatblätter 1 1963
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letzner, Johannes
16th-century German historians
Clergy from Lower Saxony
1531 births
1613 deaths
German male non-fiction writers
17th-century German historians