The Book of Chronicles
The complete and annotated Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493. Excerpt from the introduction by Stephan Füssel
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The hand-written layout for Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik, or Chronicle of the World, widely known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, has survived in the municipal library of Nuremberg. The opening pages inform us of the contents and the names of the author and translator, and announce a chronicle of the world divided into six ages, and relating historical events with particular emphasis on a "description of the most famous and renowned" (folio CCLXX verso). In this respect, the Chronicle would appear, at first glance, to follow in the tradition of a conventional structure of human history within the framework of the Bible, in analogy to the six days of creation. In line with the chronology familiar from the Bible, this chronicle, too, is structured as follows (starting on folio VI recto):
A brief Seventh Age follows, reporting the coming of the Antichrist at the end of the world and predicting the Last Judgement. This is followed, somewhat unsystematically, by descriptions of various towns (see the detailed discussion in the Appendix). This narrative pattern conforms with that of the medieval "universal chronicles" written in Latin, as well as with vernacular chronicles. In the known Middle High German chronicles of the world, too, historical events are interwoven with digressions on the subject of natural catastrophes, wars, reports of the founding of cities, etc. Events occurring in other parts of the world are inserted parallel to the biblical stories; thus for example, in the Third Age there is a report on the founding of the city of Trier in the days of the Patriarch Abraham (folio XXIII recto), because this is where the legend fits in according to a synchronous view of time. The chronicle being a very flexible genre, it could choose to focus, depending on its compiler, on the history of a particular type of rule ("Imperial Chronicle"), a particular dynasty or city, or a certain vision of salvation ("Chronicle of Christ the Lord"). Hartmann Schedel chose to place particular emphasis on describing the most important cities of Germany and the Western world, whereby, as Kurt Gärtner has shown, what he actually wrote does not add up to "a cohesive story, in spite of the scholarly care with which family trees were researched, and in spite of the illustrated lists of Popes and Emperors and their polished chronology", but instead is more like an "illustrated manual of historical places and figures accompanied by an alphabetical register" (Gärtner, 1994).
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The hand-written layout for Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik, or Chronicle of the World, widely known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, has survived in the municipal library of Nuremberg. The opening pages inform us of the contents and the names of the author and translator, and announce a chronicle of the world divided into six ages, and relating historical events with particular emphasis on a "description of the most famous and renowned" (folio CCLXX verso). In this respect, the Chronicle would appear, at first glance, to follow in the tradition of a conventional structure of human history within the framework of the Bible, in analogy to the six days of creation. In line with the chronology familiar from the Bible, this chronicle, too, is structured as follows (starting on folio VI recto):
- the First Age of the World from the Creation to the Deluge
- the Second Age from the Deluge to the Birth of Abraham
- the Third Age from the Birth of Abraham to the Kingdom of David
- the Fourth Age from the beginning of the Kingdom of David to the Babylonian Captivity
- the Fifth Age from the Babylonian Captivity to the Birth of Christ
- the Sixth (and longest) Age from the Birth of Christ to the present day.
A brief Seventh Age follows, reporting the coming of the Antichrist at the end of the world and predicting the Last Judgement. This is followed, somewhat unsystematically, by descriptions of various towns (see the detailed discussion in the Appendix). This narrative pattern conforms with that of the medieval "universal chronicles" written in Latin, as well as with vernacular chronicles. In the known Middle High German chronicles of the world, too, historical events are interwoven with digressions on the subject of natural catastrophes, wars, reports of the founding of cities, etc. Events occurring in other parts of the world are inserted parallel to the biblical stories; thus for example, in the Third Age there is a report on the founding of the city of Trier in the days of the Patriarch Abraham (folio XXIII recto), because this is where the legend fits in according to a synchronous view of time. The chronicle being a very flexible genre, it could choose to focus, depending on its compiler, on the history of a particular type of rule ("Imperial Chronicle"), a particular dynasty or city, or a certain vision of salvation ("Chronicle of Christ the Lord"). Hartmann Schedel chose to place particular emphasis on describing the most important cities of Germany and the Western world, whereby, as Kurt Gärtner has shown, what he actually wrote does not add up to "a cohesive story, in spite of the scholarly care with which family trees were researched, and in spite of the illustrated lists of Popes and Emperors and their polished chronology", but instead is more like an "illustrated manual of historical places and figures accompanied by an alphabetical register" (Gärtner, 1994).
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Chronicle of the World - 1493. Hartmann Schedel
Padded cover, 23.9 x 34 cm (9.4 x 13.4 in.), 680 pages
Hartmann Schedel's Chronicle of the World: A groundbreaking encyclopedic work and lavishly illustrated book
Fictitious portrait of Hartmann Schedel from Schedel's own estate, pasted into a medical treatise.