Dalimil’s Chronicle

Dalimil’s Chronicle
(ca. 1310)
   The so-called Dalimil’s Chronicle is the first verse chronicle in the Czech language, dating probably to the beginning of the 14th century. The name Dalimil is traditionally given to the author of this text, but it seems unlikely that any such person ever existed. Based largely on the 12th-century Latin Chronica bohemica (Bohemian Chronicle) by a canon named Cosmas, Dalimil’s Chronicle gives the story of Czech history from its mythic beginnings to about the year 1310.
   Some scholars have suggested that the unknown author of the chronicle was a high-ranking clergyman; others that he was a minor aristocrat. In either case, he is quite outspoken in his views. There is a good deal of moralizing in the chronicle, which is doubtlessly why a cleric has been proposed as its author. But more significant is the chronicler’s vehement condemnation of foreign influences in Bohemia. Certainly the impact of Italian and French power had been felt Dalimil’s Chronicle 171 in the region, but most especially the chronciler resents German hegemony.With a nationalistic fervor unusual in medieval Europe, he fiercely condemns German influence, foreign knights and their customs, and any Czech rulers who grant privileges to foreigners. The chronicler’s evaluation of past Bohemian rulers is based chiefly on their attitude toward Germans: Those who showed favor to Germans are invariably categorized as bad kings.
   On the positive side, the chronicler expresses a real affection for the Czech land, traditional Czech customs, and the Czech language. His choice to write a chronicle in the vernacular Czech language is in itself a nationalistic gesture, paralleling in its own way DANTE’s choice to write in Italian or CHAUCER’s in English. At one point in his poem, the chronicler depicts the princess and seer Libuˇse prophesying that if the Czechs allow themselves to be ruled by foreigners, their language will disappear. In part, the chronicler’s apparent xenophobia may stem from the end of the native Przemyslid dynasty in Bohemia with the death of Wenceslas (Vaclav) III and the ascension of the 14-year-old John of Luxembourg to the Czech throne. The chronicler’s chief goal was to advocate for an independent Czech state with its own native language.
   Written at the beginning of what is known as the ˇCzech Gothic period, Dalimil’s Chronicle is written in irregular rhymed verse. The author made rather uncritical use of his sources and, as a result, mixes myth and legend quite freely. For example, he tells the story of a man named ˇ Cech, who killed a man in Croatia and was forced to flee with his six brothers. After a time they came through a forest and climbed a hill called ˇRíp. From that high vantage, he saw that the land was good and claimed it for his own and his descendants. For more recent events, those covering the period 1230–1310, Dalimil’s Chronicle is far more reliable.
   Bibliography
   ■ Thomas, Alfred. Anne’s Bohemia: Czech Literature and Society, 13101420. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.

Encyclopedia of medieval literature. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chronicle of Dalimil — The Chronicle of Dalimil or Chronicle of so called Dalimil (Czech: Dalimilova kronika; Kronika tak řečeného Dalimila) is the first chronicle or story written in Czech language. It was created in verses by an unknown author at the beginning of the …   Wikipedia

  • Šárka — For musical and literary evocations of the myth, see Šárka (disambiguation). The story of Šárka (a woman s name) is a character in the so called Maidens War in Bohemian tradition. It first appeared in the twelfth century Chronica Boëmorum of… …   Wikipedia

  • Šárka (Janáček) — Šárka is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by Julius Zeyer, based on Bohemian legends of Šárka in Dalimil’s Chronicle . Written in 1887, the opera lay unproduced for many years and was first performed at the Brno Theatre… …   Wikipedia

  • Czech literature — is the literature written by Czechs or other inhabitants of the Czech state, mostly in the Czech language, although other languages like Old Church Slavonic, Latin or German have been also used, especially in the past. Modern authors from the… …   Wikipedia

  • Neklan — was the sixth of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the (also mythical) founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj. The names of the princes were first recorded in Cosmas chronicle and… …   Wikipedia

  • Hostivít — was the last of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the (also mythical) founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj. The names of the princes were first recorded in Cosmas chronicle and… …   Wikipedia

  • Di tutsch kronik von Behem lant — (hochdeutsch: Die deutsche Chronik des Böhmenlandes; tschechisch: Rýmovaný německý překlad staročeské Dalimilovy kroniky) ist eine deutschsprachige Reimchronik des 14. Jahrhunderts.[1] Die Chronik behandelt die Geschichte Böhmens. Sie ist eine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Oldřich Oak — The Oldřich Oak in Peruc The Oldřich Oak (Czech: Oldřichův dub), also known as the Prince Oldřich Oak, is a Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) tree[1] located in the market town …   Wikipedia

  • Гостивит — в «Чешской хронике» Вацлава Гаека Гостивит (чеш. Hostivít)  последний из семи легендарных князей Чехии от легендарного основателя династии Пржемысловичей Пржемысла Пахаря, до первого исторически достоверного князя Боривоя. Имена этих князей… …   Википедия

  • Неклан — в «Чешской хронике» Вацлава Гаека Неклан (чеш. Neklan)  шестой из легендарных князей Чехии, происходящий из рода легендарного основателя династии Пржемысловичей Пржемысла Пахаря до первого исторически достоверного князя Боривоя. Имена князей …   Википедия

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”