Ebook: The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle

Bloomington, 1977. - 181 p.This is an English prose edition of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, composed in Middle High German verse ca. 1290. It is based upon Leo Meyer’s 1876 edition of the text. The "Livonian Rhymed Chronicle" is both the earliest example of Teutonic Order Literature and the earliest surviving German literature written in Livonia. It is a vitally important source for 13th century events in Livonia, particularly the period 1267-90, for which it is the only source. Like many chronicles, this one begins with the creation of the world by God. However, it differs from other world chronicles, bypassing Biblical and classical events entirely, arriving in the medieval Baltic by line 127. From there, it concerns itself entirely with the actions of missionaries and crusaders in the Baltic in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The author is unknown, but is assumed to have been a knight-brother of the Teutonic Order. This hypothesis is based on his detailed accounts of battles, and the fact that these military events comprise the majority of his chronicle. Lutz Mackensen’s 1939 essay “Zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte Alt-Livlands,” in "Baltische Lande" v. 1, Carl Engel, ed. (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1939). offers some speculation on the author’s identity, associating him with a conspicuously unnamed brother who escaped capture in battle against Semigallians and later distinguished himself at the Battle of Sydobren. Mackensen suggests that this hero is, in fact, the chronicler, who has not named himself out of modesty.
The foreword (15pp) is mostly devoted to providing a historical background for the crusades in Livonia, beginning with the twelfth century missions and campaigns, paying particular attention to the Bishops of Riga, and their association with the Sword Brothers, and later, the Teutonic Order. Approximately the last third of the foreword relates what little is known about the unnamed author of the chronicle, and locates the chronicle in relation to other sources. It also notes some prominent historiography concerning the chronicle.