Ulrich of Richenthal

Ulrich von Richental (* 1360, † 1437) was a citizen of Constance, which became known by its German -language chronicle of the Council of Constance ( 1414-1418 ).

Life and work

Ulrich Richental was the son of Constance town clerk and had (probably as a merchant ) it brought some prosperity in the city, where he owned the house and real property; He also made ​​numerous extended trips.

Of his own accord, he wrote in the years after 1420 in German language an extensive chronicle of the Council of Constance, in whose first part he the most important events in the course of the meeting was devoted to to introduce all participants especially in the second part. As an eyewitness Ulrich had the Church Assembly witnessed ( for example, in July 1415 the execution of Jan Hus attended ) and recorded his experiences in the built in diary form, the church year following work which he had to embellish at their own expense with pictures and coats of arms, in which he except oral Überliefertem and own notes heranzog diverse statistical material from municipal records and files.

Of outstanding source of value, more than Richental presentation of the political and church historical context and his descriptions of ceremonial procedures, especially the numerous detailed information about the food and feed prices, which make up a color image of the thriving urban economic life and of the bourgeois everyday life of the conciliar years can win. Richental work counts in the words of Thomas Martin Bucks for " Gegenwartschronistik (...) for the citizens of the city of Constance, even for city dwellers in general," without being " only a purely secular -understand historical production " display; " The border between historiography and literary characteristics " was " certainly not drawn exactly " at Richental.

The custom built in Richental order illustrations show " in the substantial realism a wealth of life: portly prelate, bitter warriors, fine courtiers, thick meat faces with Stulpnasen, raw bailiffs, bespectacled Chancellor, papal singers with wide open mouth and closed eyes ."

Tradition and history of the Council Chronicle Edition

The Council Chronicle Richental survives in 16 manuscripts, which are two exceptions all taken within a short time in the second half of the 15th century. Only ten manuscripts date from the years 1460 to 1475 and can be partly due to the work of Constance chroniclers Gebhard Dacher († 1471 ) traced that even 1483 was published by Anton Sorg in Augsburg editio princeps influenced the Chronicle. After Buck the striking temporal clustering of tradition in the years from 1460 is a sign that Richental work for part of a " post-conciliar collective memory and historical culture " in Constance, at a time when the city lost its former political and economic leadership had. The first edition of 1483 is its numerous woodcuts and more than 1000 coats of arms heraldic also a significant source.

1882 was Michael Richard Buck in the series Library of the literary club in Stuttgart a text output of the Chronicle out.

In 1964 a first facsimile edition of that copy of the Richental Chronicle, preserved in Constance Rosgartenmuseum; of its associated text volume also includes sample images of other manuscripts and texts by Karl Fink, Otto Feger and Lilli Fischel. In 2002, the Museum created after the issuance of 1964 a CD -ROM that provides access to the complete facsimile and the text version via various control menus.

According to some published in essay form preparations to tradition, structure, content and iconography of the Chronicle put Thomas Martin Buck 2010, a new edition of the text Richentalschen work before; as part of the Monumenta Historica Germaniae to follow digital critical editions of the various editorial stages. Including the new research article published in 2013, a new annotated facsimile edition of Constance handwriting.

Table of manuscripts

The following overview table of the currently known manuscripts based where otherwise noted, the descriptions in the continuously updated signature Census and the traditio-historical study of Bucks 2010.

Handwriting Census

Handwriting Census

Werkausgaben

First edition

• Ulrich Richental. ͦ The Concilium bu ch happen to ͦ Costencz ... Anton Sorg, Augsburg 1483 ( full text )

Critical Edition

• Thomas Martin Buck ( ed.): Chronicle of Council of Constance from 1414 to 1418 by Ulrich Richental ( = Constance historical and legal sources Volume 41. ). January Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7995-6841-8.

Facsimile

• Ulrich Richental: Chronicle of the Council of Constance ( 1414-1418 ). With an annotated booklet of Juergen Klöckner. Theiss -Verlag, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-8062-2782-6.