Leon Allatios’ Entführung der Bibliotheca Palatina und weitere Selbstzeugnisse von Griechen über den Dreißigjährigen Krieg

Abstract

This article explores narrative sources, which were left behind in the early stage of the Thirty Years War by Greek-Orthodox migrants. The most impressive text of this kind, which heretofore has been explored by scholars for different scopes, but has not been interpreted as testimonial of the war, is the final report of the catholic convert Leon Allatios from Chios for his principals at the Roman court. Allatios in 1622/23 was commissioned to organize the deportation of the Bibliotheca Palatina. The article analyses how the mobility of Allatios and other Greeks was affected by the events of war. Furthermore it focuses on the narrative strategies used by such migrants in communicating their experiences in the Holy Roman Empire, and finally it reconstructs the practices and processes used by Allatios for the accomplishment of his mammoth task; for his testimony of the abduction of the famous library from Heidelberg represents an interesting topic for studies on the history of knowledge.