Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Description

Bishop Otto von Freising (ca. 1112-1158) composed with the "Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus" the possibly most famous Latin world chronicle of the high Middle Ages. Completed in 1146, it was redacted at the request of Friedrich Barbarossa and dedicated to the emperor in 1157. In seven books, oriented on the revolutions in history ("mutations"), Otto describes the history of the world from the placement of Paradise to the catastrophe year 1146. The title alludes to the "Zwei-Reiche-Lehre" (two empire doctrine) by Augustine (i.e. the State of God vs the earthly realm of the devil). Accordingly, Otto adds to the "historical" description an eighth book about the future end of time and the eternal life. The work is, therefore, based on a great general salvation-historical concept, by which Otto as it were completed the historiographical tradition of the world chronicle. The present manuscript was created on the commission of Provost Heinricus von Schäftlarn (1164-1200). Datum: 2016

Author

Peter Czoik

Rights Statement Description

CC0