Otto I. of Freising, Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus

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 (1122-1190) 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 of the 12th century (Clm 1001), commissioned by Propst Heinricus von Schäftlarn (1164-1200), originates from the Weihenstephan monastery and already contains later insertions (interpolations). It does not represent the original version, which itself is no longer preserved. Since 1143 Otto dictated the chronicle to his chaplain Rahewin (ca.1120-1170) at the request of the monk Isingrim of St. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg. The work is preserved in 46 manuscripts of the 12th to 16th centuries, predominantly in southeast Germany.

To the digitised copy