Jans der Enikel

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Pope Joan illustration from a c. 1420 manuscript of Jans' Weltchronik[a]

Jans der Enikel (transl. Jans the grandson), or Jansen Enikel (transl. Jans' grandson), was a Viennese chronicler and narrative poet of the late 13th century.[1][2] He wrote a Weltchronik (history of the world) and a Fürstenbuch (transl. "Book of princes", a history of Vienna), both in Middle High German verse.

Name and Biography[]

In his own works, he calls himself "Jans, the grandson of Jans", and claims to be a citizen of Vienna with full patrician rights.[c][d]
Evidence outwith his own writings confirms that he was a member of one of the highest patrician families of Vienna, and his name appears in Viennese council records for the years 1271–1302.[3] In these records he appears as "Jans der Schreiber" (transl. "Jans the scribe"), so it is likely he was secretary to the city council (German: Stadtschreiber).[3]

Weltchronik[]

The Weltchronik tells the history of the world, starting even before the six-day creation by telling of Satan's rebellion in Heaven, and relating the Biblical stories of the Old Testament[4][5] (oddly not the New), then continuing with Alexander the Great[6] and other classical Greek and Roman material, and on down the list of Emperors through Charles the Great[7][8] to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.[9][10]

Jans is known for the free-and-easy approach he takes to his material, altering details casually for their entertainment value and incorporating motifs from the most diverse sources, for which reason 19th century writers were extremely disparaging about him.[e] One interesting feature is the unusually large amount of Jewish material he borrows.[11] Jans is the first writer in the German language to recount the legend of Pope Joan.[12]

The style is anecdotal, with many fun tales inserted into what might otherwise be sober history. For example, the reign of Frederick II is interrupted to tell an entirely fictional story of a nobleman named Friedrich von Antfurt. This Friedrich subjects a duchess to what we today could only call sexual harassment, to the point where she thinks up a ruse to get rid of him. She promises to give him what he wants (the poet makes no bones about the fact that he only wants her body) provided he takes part in a joust wearing her chemise (underdress) instead of his armour. She is of course counting on him being killed. But he survives, and there has to be a reckoning.[13]

The earliest manuscripts of the Weltchronik were copiously illustrated with coloured miniatures, and the original cycle of miniatures was so well integrated with the text that it was clearly part of the author's programme.[14][15]
From the 14th century, the text of the Weltchronik was reused in compilation manuscripts together with the Christherre-Chronik and the Weltchronik of Rudolf von Ems, most famously by the great compilator  [de], and the miniatures were also taken into the compilations. In all, some 50 manuscripts contain text of Jans' Weltchronik, either "pure text" or compilations, though the illustrations disappear from the 15th century. Fragments are still occasionally being discovered.[16]

Fürstenbuch[]

The Fürstenbuch (transl. Book of princes) is the earliest known history of the City of Vienna. It is shorter than the Weltchronik and has received far less scholarly attention, but it is an important historical source for the development of patrician society.[17][18]
For English-speaking readers it is interesting for giving an Austrian perspective on the imprisonment of Richard Lionheart in Austria in 1193.[19]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Bibliotheca Palatina CPG 336, folio 203r.
  2. ^ i.e. with patrician status
  3. ^

    Der ditz getiht gemachet hât,
    der sitzt ze Wienn in der stat
    mit hûs und ist Johans genant.
    an der korôniken er ez vant.
    der Jansen enikel sô hiez er.

    The one who composed this poem
    he sits in Vienna in the town
    with house[b] and is called Johans.
    In the chronicles he found this.
    Jans' grandson was his name.

    —Weltchronik, verses 83–87
  4. ^

    Ich bin Jans genant
    daz getiht ich von mir selben fand
    hern Jansen eninchel heize ich
    des mac ich wol vermezzen mich,
    daz ich ein rehter Wienner bin

    I am called Jans.
    I wrote this poem myself.
    The grandson of Master Jans is my name.
    This I may well boast,
    that I am by law a citizen of Vienna.

    —Fürstenbuch, verses 19–23
  5. ^ For example the editor of his works,  [de], called him a "Reimschmied" (lit. 'rhyme smith').

References[]

  1. ^ Geith 1980.
  2. ^ Dunphy 2010.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Perger 1969.
  4. ^ Dunphy 1998.
  5. ^ Viehhauser 2003.
  6. ^ Ross 1971.
  7. ^ Geith 1977.
  8. ^ Hafner 2002.
  9. ^ Liebertz-Grün 1984.
  10. ^ Dunphy 1994.
  11. ^ Przybilski 2004.
  12. ^ Boureau 1993, p. 116–117.
  13. ^ Dunphy 1999.
  14. ^ Roland 1991.
  15. ^ Günther 1993.
  16. ^ Becker 2011.
  17. ^ Brunner 1950.
  18. ^ Liebertz-Grün 1980.
  19. ^ Morgan 1965.

Sources[]

  • Becker, Stefan (15 January 2011). "Die Weltchronik aus der Wirtsstube" [The world chronicle from the pub] (in German). Mittelbayerische Zeitung.
  • Boureau, Alain (1993). The Myth of Pope Joan. Chicago University Press.
  • Brunner, Otto (1950). "Das Wiener Bürgertum in Jans Enikels Fürstenbuch" [Vienna's citizenry in Jans Enikel's Book of Princes]. Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung (in German). 58: 550–574.
  • Dunphy, Graeme (1994). "Images of the Emperor Frederick II in the Universal Chronicle of Jansen Enikel". Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik. 40: 139–158.
  • Dunphy, Graeme (1998). Daz was ein michel wunder: The Presentation of Old Testament Material in Jans Enikel's Weltchronik. Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik. Göppingen.
  • Dunphy, Graeme (1999). "Der Ritter mit dem Hemd: Drei Fassungen einer mittelalterlichen Erzählung" [The knight with the chemise: Three versions of a medieval tale]. Germanisch-Romanische Monatschrift (in German). 19: 1–18.
  • Dunphy, Graeme (2010). "Jans der Enikel". In Dunphy, Graeme (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. 2. Leiden: Brill. p. 905. ISBN 90-04-18464-3.
  • Geith, Karl-Ernst (1977). Carolus Magnus: Studien zur Darstellung Karls des Großen in der deutschen Literatur des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts [Carolus Magnus: Studies about the depiction of Charlemagne in German literature of the 12th and 13th centuries] (in German). München.
  • Geith, Karl-Ernst (1980). "Enikel, Jans". Verfasserlexikon. II. cols. 565–569.
  • Günther, Jörn-Uwe (1993). Die illustrierten mittelhochdeutschen Weltchronikhandschriften in Versen: Katalog der Handschriften und Einordnung der Illustrationen in die Bildüberlieferung [The illustrated Middle High German world chronicle manuscripts in verse: Catalogue of manuscripts and classification of the illustrations in consideration of the historical dissemination of images] (in German). München.
  • Hafner, Susanne (2002). "Charlemagne's Unspeakable Sin". Modern Language Studies. 32: 1–14.
  • Liebertz-Grün, Ursula (1980). "Bürger, Fürsten, Dienstherren, Ritter und Frauen. Gesellschaftsdarstellung und Geschichtsbild in Jans Enikels 'Fürstenbuch'" [Citizens, princes, employers, knights and ladies. Depiction of society and understanding of history in Jans Enikel's Book of Princes]. Euphorion (in German). 74: 77–94.
  • Liebertz-Grün, Ursula (1984). Das andere Mittelalter: Erzählte Geschichtserkenntnis um 1300. Studien zu Ottokar von Steiermark, Jans Enikel, Seifried Helbling [The other middle ages: Narrated historical insights from around 1300. Studies about Ottokar von Steiermark, Jans Enikel, Seifried Helbling] (in German). München.
  • Morgan, Estelle (1965). "Two notes on the Fürstenbuch". Modern Language Review. 60: 395–399.
  • Perger, Richard (1967–69). "Die Grundherren im mittelalterlichen Wien: III. Teil. Bürgerliche und adelige Grundherrschaften" [The landlords of medieval Vienna – Part III: Civic and feudal manorialism]. Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien (in German). 23/25: 7–102.
  • Przybilski, Martin (2004). "di juden jehent: Die Aufnahme jüdischer Erzählstoffe in der 'Weltchronik' des Jans von Wien" ["di juden jehent": Inclusion of Jewish tales into Jans of Vienna's 'Weltchronik']. Ashkenas: Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur der Juden (in German). 14: 83–99.
  • Roland, Martin (1991). Illustrierte Weltchroniken bis in die zweite Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts [Illustrated world chronicles until the second half of the 14th century] (Thesis) (in German). Wien.
  • Ross, D.J.A. (1971). Illustrated Medieval Alexander-Books in Germany and the Netherlands. Publications of the Modern Humanities research Association. 3. Cambridge.
  • Viehhauser, Gabriel (2003). Die Darstellung König Salomos in der mittelhochdeutschen Weltchronistik [The depiction of King Solomon in Middle High German world chronicles] (in German). Vienna: Edition Praesens.

Critical text and translations[]

  • Critical edition: Philipp Strauch (ed.), Jansen Enikels Werke (MGH, Scriptores 8: Deutsche Chroniken und andere Geschichtsbücher des Mittelalters, Vol. 3), Hanover & Leipzig 1891–1900, OCLC 719031710; Reprint Munich 1980 (in German)
  • Excerpts with English translations: Graeme Dunphy (ed.), History as Literature: German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse. Kalamazoo 2003.
  • English translation of the Virgil section: Jan M. Ziolkowski and Michael C. J. Putnam, The Virgilian Tradition: The First Fifteen Hundred Years, 2008, 928–930
  • Text and bibliography on dunphy.de (in German)
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