- Kaiserchronik
The "Kaiserchronik" ("Der Keiser und der Kunige buoch", "the book of emperors and kings") is a
12th century German epic poem. It is at once a kind of "Legend of all the Saints" and a confused but remarkable account of theRoman emperors and also of theGerman emperor s and kings up to the crusade of KingConrad III (1147 ). The language is comparatively good and often quite poetic. The chronicle was written about1150 . Undoubtedly the work of an ecclesiastic ofRatisbon , an earnest partisan of the Guelphs, the chronicle is not improbably to be referred toKonrad der Pfaffe , who composed the well-known "Song of Roland" ("Rolandslied "). He drew his information from the "Chronicon Wirzeburgense ", the "Chronicle of Ekkehard ", and the "Annolied "; it may be that he also drew from some earlier record or rhymed chronicle. Judging from the large number of manuscripts still extant (twelve complete and seventeen partial), it must have been very popular, and it was twice continued in the 13th century. The original poem, according to modern authorities, ended with verse 17283; the first addition, called "Bavarian", comprised 800 verses, while the second, the "Swabian", which brought the poem to the Interregnum (1254–73), consisted of 483 lines. The chronicle was first published in full by Massmann, with careful researches into manuscripts, investigation of authorship, age, etc. The best edition is that of Schröder.References
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08592c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia] (1913)
*Gredy, "Ueber die Kaiserchronik ein Gedicht des 12. Jahrhunderts. Mit neuhochdeutschen Uebertragungen und Anmerkungen" (Mainz, 1854)
*Massmann, "Die sogenannte Kaiserchronik, Gedicht des 12. Jahrhunderts in 18578 Reimzeilen" (Quedlinburg, 1849–54)
*Schröder, "Die Kaiserchronik eines Regensburger Geistlichen" (Hanover, 1892) in "Mon. Germ. Deutsche Chroniken", I,i; Appendix I is the Bavarian, appendix II the Swabian continuation.
*Welzhofer, "Untersuchungen über die deutsche Kaiserchronik" (Munich, 1874), in "Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum", XIV, XVII, XIX, XXVI, XXXII, XXXIV.External links
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/german/frames.pl?file=kchr.xml etext] (virginia.edu)
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