Cosmas Of Prague Research Articles

Genre et transgression du genre dans le récit de la Guerre des jeunes filles chez Cosmas de Prague

L’épisode de la Guerre des jeunes filles (en Tchèque Dívčí válka) est sans doute l’un des récits les plus connus parmi les légendes portant sur le passé mythique de l’état tchèque : ce conflit fictif entre jeunes femmes et hommes qui serait survenu durant le règne de Přemysl, fondateur légendaire de la dynastie des Přemyslides qui régna sur la Bohême de la fin du ixe siècle jusqu’en 1306, a ainsi eu un grand retentissement dans la culture de ce pays. La première mention de la Guerre des jeunes filles apparaît dans le neuvième chapitre du premier livre de la Chronique des Tchèques, œuvre rédigée en latin en 1125 par Cosmas de Prague, doyen du chapitre cathédral de Prague, et plus ancienne chronique de ce pays : dans son bref récit de cet évènement, le chroniqueur critique les mœurs des jeunes filles au temps des anciens Tchèques et leur fait porter la responsabilité du conflit. Nous allons donc démontrer en quoi les mœurs attribuées aux femmes tchèques avant la christianisation et leur prétendu conflit contre les jeunes hommes constituent un cas évident de transgression aux yeux du chroniqueur.

(Un)faithful Subjects of (Un)faithful Rulers

This article focuses on the role loyalty played in the relationship between rulers and their subjects in the earliest Central European chronicles, written at the beginning of the twelfth century: Gesta principum Polonorum by Gallus Anonymous, Chronica Boemorum by Cosmas of Prague, and the twelfth-century historiographical tradition of Hungarian Royal court, which survived as a part of the fourteenth-century century compilation called The Illuminated Chronicle. In the comparative study of those works article aims to analyze how authors of those works, closely connected to the ruling elites of recently Christianized Central European polities, imagined bonds of loyalty between rulers and their subjects, by analyzing the questions about its unilateral or mutual nature, accompanying responsibilities and consequences of breaking it. Answering those questions reveals common ideological underpinnings of the concepts of loyalty used in Central European narrative sources, which present a vision of loyalty as primarily a reciprocal bond characterized by its negative content. This highlights the ideological message of consensual lordship, which coexists in those narratives next to the strong ideas about divine origins of dynastic authority, constituting important common feature in the political and cultural development of Central Europe as a historical region.

Historiography and the Shaping of Regional Identity in Europe: Regions in Clio's Looking Glass ed. by Dick E. H. de Boer and Luĺs Adão da Fonseca

Reviewed by: Historiography and the Shaping of Regional Identity in Europe: Regions in Clio's Looking Glass ed. by Dick E. H. de Boer and Luĺs Adão da Fonseca Patrick Ball de Boer, Dick E. H., and Luĺs Adão da Fonseca, eds, Historiography and the Shaping of Regional Identity in Europe: Regions in Clio's Looking Glass ( Early European Research, 16), Turnhout, Brepols, 2020; hardback; pp. 301; 38 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. €85.00; ISBN 9782503590714. This book emerges from the EuroCORECODE programme, which funded research, under the European Science Foundation, into the development of regional cohesion from the Middle Ages to the present. EuroCORECODE comprised three 'Collaborative Research Projects': CURE (investigating the history of regional cohesion); CULTSYMBOLS (saints' cults as a focus for regionality); and UNFAMILIARITY (exploring perceptions of otherness). Contributions to this miscellany come from all three, though primarily the first: the volume's editors were CURE's project leaders. The scheme's nature was such that scholars from a nation were funded by that nation. Therefore, if a state chose not to participate there would be no research (generally speaking) on its regions. Since countries that opted out included France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy, those parts of Europe are not represented (Catalonia excepted). While this detracts from the volume's comprehensiveness, it is welcome to see a study go beyond the usual suspects and consider places that might otherwise receive less attention. As the foregoing perhaps suggests, the volume reflects strongly the institutional framework within which it arose. It opens with two chapters from the editors that introduce EuroCORECODE and the work's topic: regional history. The brief given to contributors was to describe how the historiography of their chosen region influenced its history. Then follow ten chapters, broken into two sets of five each. Part 1 deals with the medieval and early modern, as regional identity took shape; these manifest a close engagement with sources and chroniclers. Part 2 concerns nineteenth century attempts to enlist (pseudo-) historiography for nationalist purposes, with emphasis on the struggles of the day. The second section may be of less interest to Parergon's subscribers, except insofar as the material that nationalist historiographers drew upon referred, by definition, to the times that preceded their own. The focus, however, is the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the two most intrinsically fascinating chapters in this section (Michael Bregnsbo on Schleswig-Holstein and Ad Knotter on Dutch Limburg) have the most incidental connection to these earlier periods. As large tracts of Europe are excluded from consideration, the contributions tend to cover broadly neighbouring districts: Bohemia, Silesia, and Upper Lusatia (and Transylvania); Guelders and Limburg; Schleswig-Holstein, Scandinavia, and Livonia. This potentially sets up resonances between chapters. Catalonia is the only wholly outlying region; it had been intended to pair Flocel Sabaté's chapter with one on Portugal, but the latter was omitted following the illness of one of the editors (Fonseca), who was to have co-authored it. To my mind, the best chapter of the first section is Job Weststrate's on Guelders. It also features a useful conceptual overview of the whole volume, possibly because Weststrate had a postdoctoral position within the CURE project. [End Page 204] It is possible to lose sight of the work's broader objective, so his restatement of its aims is valuable. The first three chapters concern contiguous regions, whose politics and history are related, so these are well considered together. Jana Fantysová-Matějková examines the chronicles of Bohemian writers such as Cosmas of Prague, noting that their search for a 'better identity' (p. 86) led them to suppress or highlight different aspects of regional identity—linguistic, ethnic, or religious—as circumstances changed. Przemysław Wiszewski contends that in the Middle Ages the notion of 'Silesia' did not play a significant role in promoting regional cohesion. Lenka Bobková, Petr Hrachovec, and Jan Zdichynec explore how Upper Lusatian towns' chronicles reflected awareness of a common regionality. Cornelia Popa-Gorjanu argues that sixteenth-century accounts of Transylvania aimed at persuading outsiders it was worth defending from the Ottomans, who then threatened it. The chapters in Part 2 constitute medievalism, aside from Bregnsbo...

Пахарь и Музыка как гендерные персонификации чешской идентичности в культуре

The culture of the Czech National Revival produced a symbolic autoidentification in figures of the Plowman and the Music. The drawings of J. Mánes and the sculptures of J. Myslbek perpetuated these figures as gender symbols of the Czech identity. The figures of the Plowman and the Music are presented in the Mánes’ drawing “Domov”. The semantics of the drawing is versatile, which provides an impulse for its culturological interpretation. A symbolic figure of the Plowman in historical and cultural consciousness of Czechs has been associated with Přemysl the Ploughman — the legendary founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. According to the Czech legend told by Cosmas of Prague, Přemysl was elected the prince upon the request by the Czech ruler Libuše, who then married him. The title of the drawing refers to the song of J. K. Tyl, which had become somewhat of an unofficial Czech anthem of the 19th century. In the Mánes’ drawing Libuše is substituted by a symbolic figure of the Music as a personification of the national genius of Czechs. Historical-patriotic connotations generate the image of the Czech people, which formed in the epoch of the National Revival. Moreover, the Czech identity manifested itself in gender as a harmony of the male and female principles, work, and music. The idea of organic work as the basis of art is introduced into the drawing`s composition. A series of Mánes’ drawings “The Music” came to be a vivid embodiment of the national identity, showing the life of a peasant accompanied by music from birth till death. The Myslbek’s sculpture “The Music”, which became lobby`s centerpiece of a new Czech sacred place — The National Theater in Prague, is presented as a personification of the Czech identity in culture. A female image of the Music is identified with the soul of the people in a state of sociocultural and political emancipation.

ORIGO GENTIS V ČESKÉ STŘEDOVĚKÉ HISTORIOGRAF II

The author deals with the history of the founding myth of Czech Slavs from its oldest recording to the end of the Middle Ages. The legend of the origin of Czechs lived on in three phases of the Middle Ages. Stage one was captured by Cosmas of Prague († 1125) in the oldest nation-state chronicle. Another milestone was the founding legend in the Old Czech Chronicle recorded by so-called Dalimil from the early second decade of the 14th century. The founding myth changed fundamentally in two official chronicles which were written under the authority of Charles IV (1346-1378), the “Bohemian Chronicle” by Giovanni de’ Marignolli of Florence and the other “Bohemian Chronicle” by Přibík Pulkava of Radenín.

Święci Wojciech i Brunon z Kwerfurtu w tzw. Legendarium Magdeburgense – utwory hagiograficzne i kalendarz

The Legendarium Magdeburgense (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. Magdeb. 26 and 138) is a large two-volume hagiographical collection compiled in the mid-fifteenth century. It contains a reworking (abridgement) of the relatively rare longer redaction of the “Second Life” of St. Adalbert of Prague (inc. Nascitur by St. Bruno of Querfurt (Bibliotheca hagiographica latina; hereinafter: BHL 38), a selection from Miracula s. Adalberti (BHL 44, BHL 45), Vita et Passio Brunonis (BHL 1471b, BHL 1472) as well as a passio of Five Brothers (BHL 1148) in a version derived from Cosmas of Prague’s chronicle and a short extract from an epitome of Cosmas (the Brunswick epitome known from a single copy). The article focuses on the witness of Nascitur, its place within the manuscript tradition and the dating of the reworking. It is accompanied by a brief analysis of textual readings of Vita et Passio Brunonis and their value vis-a-vis the existing edition, as well as some notes concerning the remaining texts and the calendar entries for those texts’ saints. All of the above are supplemented with the remarks focused on Legendarium Magdeburgense compilers’ method.

'Et nata ex etymo fabula:' Cosmas of Prague, the Medieval Practice of 'Etymologia,' and the Writing of History

This article represents a larger project that seeks to understand the function and implications of the use of etymologies in the writing of history in the Middle Ages. I examine the strategy of historians to etymologize within the framework of grammatical theories and historiographic methods of Latin scholarship. I conclude that, contrary to the traditional view that medieval etymologies are literary tropes and wordplay in all contexts, medieval historians used etymology as an epistemological instrument of discovery that helped them verify anecdotal information from oral tradition in order to adapt it to Christian historical discourse. This article focuses on the earliest annalistic narrative about the history of Bohemia, the Chronica Boemorum (c. 1125), and examines how its author, Cosmas of Prague, utilizes etymologies in the legendary sections of his masterpiece, and what role he ascribes to them in the mechanism of story-telling. Close reading and formal analysis of selected passages with etymological content show that etymologies are used as evidence to recover reality outside language (i.e. discover origins), and in that capacity they motivate the story itself and expand the narrative.

Историографический метатекст в «Повести временных лет» и в «Чешской хронике» Козьмы Пражского

Studie je věnována srovnání metody historické práce v Povesti vremennych let a Kosmově Kronice české. U těchto děl středověkého dějepisectví bývá obvykle podtrhována především jejich ideová a tematická blízkost, zatímco samotný přístup k historické práci a žánrová specifika obou textů byla dosud jen velmi málo reflektována. Komparace je založena na analýze tzv. historiografického metatextu, tedy pasáží, v nichž autoři komentují podstatu historické práce, vyslovují se ke smyslu takových textů pro čtenáře, komentují použité ústní či písemné prameny a způsob nakládání s nimi, a konečně způsob, jímž je reálný sled událostí přenášen do literárního textu, tedy otázky struktury a vztahu mezi narativní linií a chronologií. Výrazné odlišnosti mezi historiografickým metatextem v Povesti vremennych let a Kosmově Kronice české dokládají zásadní odlišnosti mezi chápáním smyslu historické práce u českého kronikáře a staroruských letopisců.

SERBO-RUSSIAN CONTACTS IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

This paper tries to determine the period when the first contacts between Serbs and Russians happened and to follow their development, as well as the parallels between the two nations up until the end of the Early Middle Ages, i.e., the end of the 12th century. It is needless to say that the sources on this topic are extremely scarce. We shall rely on the data provided by Cosmas of Prague because there was some confusion over the similarity of the names Russian (Serbian: Rus) and Ras (citizen of Raška). We shall try to answer the question when the first encounters between the two nations could have happened.We shall point out the importance of worship in the Slavic language, the intertwining of the culture of both these nations, and the similarities when it comes to establishing the cults of the first saints. The first recorded arrival of a Russian to Serbia dates form the end of the 12th century. A monk came to Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja’s court, and after that Rastko left and went to a Russian monastery on Mount Atos.

The Chronicle of the Monk of Sazava and the Kievan Chronicle: A Comparison of the Historigraphical Method

The article defines the main characteristic features of the Chronicle of the Monk of Sazava,one of a number of Bohemian Latin historiographic works that belong to the group of so-called continuations of Cosmas’s chronicles (Continuationes Cosmae); the article compares the method of the Monk of Sazava with the method used in Old Russian historiography of the same period, namely in the Kievan Chronicle. It focuses on the role of the chronological line in the narrative structure of both texts, and reveals their tendency to break the chronological narrative frame. This tendency, however, is not consistent, and the chronological line is not replaced by another structural principle (as happens, for example, in the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle). Such an approach is defined as hybridization of annalistic structure. The tendency to break the year-by-year structure is related to the insertion of independent literary works into the chronologically organized historical narration, which is particularly evident in the way in which the Monk of Sazava incorporated the text entitled De exordio Zazavensis monasterii into the chronological narration of Cosmas. The typological similarity of the Chronicle of the Monk of Sazava and the Kievan Chronicle is also evident in their ability to incorporate the texts of a non-literary (legal) character. In both chronicles under consideration, the role of the author is more important than in annals, however, the importance of the author is still lower (particularly in the case of the Kievan Chronicle) than in such Latin medieval works by an individual author, as in the Chronicle of Bohemians by Cosmas of Prague. In this respect, the texts analysed here are defined as texts that exceeded the frame of the genre of annals, but did not become chronicles, since their authors could not overcome the diverse character of the sources they used; they were not able to provide the text with a unified narrative perspective and thus to act as an authority defining the method of narration and guaranteeing the credibility of judgment.

Who, where and why? Foundation Myths and Dynastic Tradition of the Piasts and the Přemyslides in Chronicles of Gallus Anonymus and Cosmas of Prague

Much has been written about each of the medieval chronicles by academics from various fields of studies. If anything should be added, it seems that possibilities lie in a comparative study of the medieval texts. There are several reasons to justify such an approach to the chronicles by Anonymus called Gallus and Cosmas of Prague. Both narratives were written in a similar time period, in neighbouring countries, becoming evidence for the conscious forming of a dynastic vision of the past, as well as milestones in passing from the oral to the written form of collecting, selecting and passing on of tradition. Also similar is the scope of the authors’ interests, as well as the literary genre and courtly and chivalric character of their works. Firstly, the founding myths will be deconstructed in a search for three fundamental elements that determine the shape of the community: the main character, the place and the causing force. Secondly, a comparison of both bodies of lore will follow.

Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics, by Lisa Wolverton

Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics, by Lisa Wolverton

Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics by Lisa Wolverton

Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics. By Lisa Wolverton. (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press. 2014. Pp. xviii, 307. S65.00 clothbound, ISBN 978-0-8132-2691-0; ISBN 978-0-8132-2692-7 e-book.)This book is second monograph about Cosmas (c. 1045-1125), oldest Czech chronicler and canon of Chapter of Prague; it also is first written by a non-Czech author. Lisa Wolverton, author and associate professor of at University of Oregon, aims at offering a reinterpretation of main piece of Czech medieval historiography, which has been reached by author during her work on an English translation of Cosmas's chronicle. She is particularly interested story, narrative shape and style of Cosmas' history (p. 2). She offers a detailed analysis of language, way of expression, intentions, and content of chronicle; at same time, she contextualizes and compares it works of some contemporary historians of Latin Europe. She wants read Cosmas chronicle in all its fullness with new eyes (p. 18).The book is composed of seven chapters. In introduction, author gives fundamental information about present study of Cosmas's work, its author, and chronicle itself, as well as discusses her book's goals. Her work is motivated by tendency Anglo-Saxon world overlook Cosmas's chronicle or consider it only relation chroniclers' view on women. Wolverton wants bring the text into interpretative frame of Anglophone medievalists (p. 3). At same time, she would like correct supposed absence of Czech (and Polish) literature, with only a handful of articles and one monograph trying to analyze text on its own terms (p. 3). However, Wolverton neglects several recent works by Czech historians (such as Martin Wihoda, Petr Kopal, Josef Zemlicka, and this reviewer) that analyze problems similar those examined by author.In second chapter, The Historian's Craft, she analyzes sources of Cosmas's narrative detail, examines method of composition, and successfully reconstructs Cosmas's procedures for work. Using a detailed analysis of Cosmas's text, she disproves Dusan Trestik's hypothesis that Annales Pragenses served as Cosmas's source and considers other sources. She states that Regino of Prum deeply influenced Cosmas because of language, way of expression, source of information about past events, and especially craft of history.The third chapter, The Pessimistic Theory of Power, is dedicated Cosmas's political opinions on politics and functions of law, appointment and position of monarch, and critique of political power. …

Cosmas of Prague: narrative, classicism, politics

Cosmas of Prague: narrative, classicism, politics

Wolverton's "Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics" (Book Review)

Wolverton's "Cosmas of Prague: Narrative, Classicism, Politics" (Book Review)

Charlemagne in Medieval East Central Europe (ca. 800 to ca. 1200)

During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the legend of Charlemagne gained widespread popularity, as the figure of the emperor became a model for rulers and crusaders. However, at the same time, there was no equivalent cult of the emperor in East Central Europe, despite intensive intellectual exchange with those parts of the continent in which Charlemagne served as the highest political ideal. The examination of two early texts—the chronicles of Gallus Anonymus and Cosmas of Prague—reveals that although not completely absent from the chroniclers’ repertoire of historical parallels and examples, Charlemagne was either mentioned simply as a chronological marker or (especially in the Chronicle of Cosmas of Prague) given attributes that do not appear in any other contemporary works and which suggest a local reinterpretation of his role in history and of his personality. Additionally, this is confirmed by an examination of a slightly later text—the Gesta Hungarorum, the earliest surviving work of medieval historiography in Hungary.

Cosmas of Prague: the chronicle of the Czechs

Cosmas of Prague: the chronicle of the Czechs

The Chronicle of the Czechs, by Cosmas of Prague

The Chronicle of the Czechs, by Cosmas of Prague

Cosmas of Prague and the Western Migration of Jews to Poland

Cosmas of Prague and the Western Migration of Jews to Poland