With Honour and Without Any Loss" — Jan of Michalovice's Knightly Expedition to Paris
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FASCICULI ARCHAEOLOGIAE HISTORICE, Fasc. VIII, PL ISSN 0860-0007 WOJCIECH IW AŃ CZAK „WITH HONOUR AND WITHOUT ANY LOSS" — JAN OF MICHALOVICE'S KNIGHTLY EXPEDITION TO PARIS The following paper has been devoted to the di- He most probably came from Freiberg in Saxony scussion of the expedition brought up in the title, which and a few works have been attributed to him so far. is supposed to have taken place on the turn of the 13th Besides the account of Jan of Michalovice's adven- century. However, our knowledge of the event derives tures, it is also «The Legend of the Holy Cross», neither from an account nor a historical reference. It is based on the Latin original, and «Tristan», a conti- from literature that we learn of Jan of Michalovice's nuation of the outstanding poet Gottfried von Strass- 3 achievement. Heinrich von Freiberg is the author ofthat burg's unfinished work, that are meant here . It is German poem. Before we present some scraps of infor- sometimes assumed that Heinrich von Freiberg is mation about the author himself, it should be pointed out also the author of a short humorous work. The chro- that Heinrich von Freiberg is one of the links of the who- nology of the appearance of his subsequent works le chain of the German court poets who found their home is unclear and the researchers' conclusions consi- and were given encouragement to write in Bohemia in derably diverge in this respect. The precise dating 4 the 13th century1. Both the last members of the Premy- of «Ritterfahrt des Johann von Michelsberg» has slid dynasty and the outstanding representatives of ari- stocratic families used to be the Maecenases of German 3 minnesngers. It was thanks to their hospitality and — His biography is almost completely unknown (cf.: e.g. J. B u m k e, Höfische Kultur, Literatur und Gesellschaft im which is still more important — generosity that a whole hohem Mittelalter, vol. 2, München 1987, 4th ed., p. 684: series of works, written by such poets as Reinmar von „...Gottfried von Strassburg, von dem nur das eine sicher ist, Zweter, Sigeher, Friedrich von Sonnenburg or Ulrich von das er ein studierter Mann war, ein clericus par excellence"), Etzenbach, came into being. Naturally, in return, prai- however, many studies have been devoted to the analysis of his sing the patrons' deeds became one of the main themes works: F. P i q u e t, L'originalité de Gottfried de Strasbourg of this kind of literature. dans son poème de Tristan et Isolde, Lille 1905; S. S a w i c k i, The biographies of these poets are usually incomple- Gottfried von Strassburg und die Poetik des Mittelalters, „Ger- te. Some scraps of information may be found in their own manische Studien", 124, Berlin 1930 (reprint Nenden 1967); works. This is also the case with Heinrich von Freiberg2. H. Scharschuch, Gotfried von Strassburg: Stilmittel — Stilästhetik, „Germanische Studien", 197, Berlin 1938 (reprint Nenden 1967); H. d e B o o r, Die Grundauffasung von Gott- 1 For further information cf. among the recent works: frieds „Tristan", „Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literatur- W. I w a ń c z a k, Tropem rycerskiej przygody. Wzorzec rycerski wissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte", 18, 1940, pp. 262-306; w piśmiennictwie czeskim XIV wieku, Warsaw 1985, pp. 64 seq., G.Weber, Gottfrieds von Strassburg „ Tristan " und die Kri- 171 seq., 272 seqq., and H-J. B e h r, Literatur als Machtlegitima- se des hochmittelalterlichen Weltbildes um 1200, vol. I-II, Stutt- tion: Studien zur Funktion der deutschsprachigen Dichtung am gart 1953; R. Goldschmidt Kunzer, The „ Tristan " of böhmischen Königshof im. 13. Jahrhundert, „Forschungen zur Ge- Gottfried von Strassburg. An Ironie Perspective, Berkeley 1973; schichte der älteren deutschen Literatur", 9, München 1989. C. S. J a e g e r, Medieval Humanism in Gottfried von Strass- 2 On the poet's life and work cf. especially the early works, burg's Tristan und Isolde, Heidelberg, 1977; G. W e b e r, as the recent ones have not added much to our knowledge: W. W. Hoffmann, Gottfried von Strassburg, 5th ed., Stuttgart T o i s c h e r, Die Heimat Heinrichs von Freiberg, „Mitteilungen 1981 ; R. G 1 e n d i n n i n g, Gottfried von Strassburg and the des Vereins für Geschichte der Deutschen in Böhmen", 15, 1887, School-Tradition, „Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literatur- No. 2, pp. 149 seqq.; F. W i e g a n d t, Heinrich von Freiberg und wissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte", 61, 1987, pp. 617-638; sein Verhältnis zu Eilhart und Ulrich, Diss. Rostock 1879; R. A. W o 1 f, Gottfried von Strassburg und die Mythe von Tri- W o 1 k a n, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur in Böhmen, Pra- stan und Isolde, Darmstadt 1989; R. Glendinning, Eros, gue 1894, pp. 200 seqq.; M. L i e s k e, Höfisches Leben und Agape, and Rhetoric Around 1200: Gervase of Melkley's Ars ritterliche Gesellschaft bei Heinrich von Freiberg, Diss. Greisfaid poetica and Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, „Speculum", 1922; G. Ehrismann, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur bis 67, 1992, pp. 892-925. zum Ausgang des Mittelalters, vol. 2, München 1935, pp. 68 seqq.; 4 Editions: Jan z Michalovic. Nemeck bsen tinetho veku, C. von Kraus, Studien zu Heinrich von Freiberg, „Sitzungs- ed. A. Kraus, Prague 1888; Heinrich von Freiberg. Mit berichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften", 1941; Einleitungenber Stil, Sprache, Metrik, Quellen und die A. Hilbrink-Beckmann, Der weltanschauliche Gehalt in Persönlichkeit des Dichters, ed. A. Ber n t, Halle 1906, Heinrichs von Freiberg Tristan, Diss. Marburg 1954. pp. 239-248. http://rcin.org.pl WOJCIECH IWAŃCZAK also been questioned. If one accepts the turn of the of Michalovice and the court made it possible for the 13th century as the possible date of the poem's appe- knight to hold the office of the King's highest cupbe- arance, the work must have been written between the arer from 1289 onwards". He married Johanka of 5 6 80s of the 13th century and the year 1319 , i.e. the Rožmberk and they had a couple of children12. Befo- differences in dating will be as big as forty years. re his death, in 1306, he bequeathed quite big proper- The poem's literary evaluation is also inconsistent, ty to his son13. as both critical and highly positive opinions concer- It is also important to note that the castle of 7 ning its poetic value can be referred to . Michalovice was built in the middle of the 13th cen- The situation is much less complicated as far as tury, 3 km from the old royal castle in Mladá Bole- the poem's protagonist, Jan of Michalovice's biogra- slav. It was named after the patron of the church erec- phy is concerned. He came from one of the distingu- ted at the same time in its suburbium, i.e. Archangel ished Czech families, the Markwartice. The first men- Michael, the patron of knights. At the beginning, ac- tion about this family could be found in the source cording to the fashion of using German versions of material as early as in the first half of the 12th centu- local names and surnames, the castle was called Mi- ry8. The knights of Michalovice are mentioned among chelsberg. The location of the castle seemed to be other branches of the family. References to Jan of excellent. Situated on the right bank of the Iser Ri- Michalovice appear from 1283 to 1306. A document ver, it was an inaccessible fortress. The ruins of the of 1283 presents Jan as a member of the elite of the castle with fragments of its defensive walls and a contemporary nobility, rallied to young King Vence- powerful round tower over 11 m in diameter have slas II, who enjoyed considerable advantages and pri- been preserved there up to now. The fact that the con- vileges in return for their genuine or alleged services struction of the castle was supervised by a Cister- to the King. The document of 28th August, 1283 sta- cian-Burgundian workshop, which erected also some tes that Jan of Michalovice transfers three villages other buildings in the neighbourhood, points to some and some vague rights to the estate of Děčin to the international relations.Henryk Kruhlaty was the last King and pays back a debt of 800 monetary units on representative of the Michalovice branch of the Mar- the appointed time and acquires 4 vast estates and kwartice family. He died in 1468 and not before long the castles of Velešín, Vitějovice, Ostré and Devin the castle was abandoned14. from the ruler. The pledge of his future faithful se- Jan of Michalovice's biography is especially in- rvice to the King is meant to compensate for the in- teresting for us, as the knight performs a dual func- equality ofthis exchange.The information that the King's tion. He appears to be a historical character and a generosity was a result of Jan of Michalovice's friends' literary protagonist. The castle of Michalovice, in entreaties can also be found in the document. The na- turn, may have been the hipothetical place of Jan of mes of some of the knight's friends are mentioned, too. Michalovice's meeting with Heinrich von Freiberg. Granting Velešín to Jan became the main cause of The lord of Michalovice was one the patrons of Ger- the unfavourable reaction on the part of the members man poets, therefore the possibility that he was the of the Vitkovci family, as the castle was surrounded innitiator of the poem devoted to praising his virtues on many sides by the estates belonging to this po- 10 cannot be excluded.