Johannes de Thurocz

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Ipolyság
Years active	1486 – 1488
Notable works	Chronica Hungarorum

Johannes de Thurocz (Hungarian: Thuróczi János; Slovak: Ján z Turca or Ján de Turocz, German: Johannes de Thurocz, variant contemporary spelling: de Thwrocz) (c. 1435 – 1488 or 1489), was a Hungarian historian^[1][2] and the author of the Latin Chronica Hungarorum ("Chronicle of the Hungarians"), the most extensive 15th-century work on Hungary, and the first chronicle of Hungary written by a layman.

Life

Thurocz's parents came from

, and Johannes' father Peter inherited this estate.

Thurocz was educated in a

: "magister" in front of his name was merely a polite title for an official or civil servant.

Chronicle

Thurocz's chronicle was written in three main parts:

• The first part is Thurocz's interpretation of a poem by
  Charles II of Hungary
  , and was probably written on the initiative of Thurocz's superior Stephen of Haserhag (the general notary of the Royal court), or perhaps that of the country judge Thomas Drági. Physically, this part is attached to part c) below.
• Thurocz wrote the second part was written in 1486 and describes the deeds of
  Louis the Great
  . This part in turn consists of three sub-sections:

1. the so-called Hunnish chronicle based on old Hungarian chronicles (Chronicon Pictum, Buda Chronicle) and preserved manuscripts, in which Thurocz attempts to correct the errors of his predecessors;
2. an interpretation of the history of the Hungarian Kingdom from 895 (arrival of the Magyars) until the rule of King Charles I of Hungary (1307 – 42);
3. a history of part of the reign of Louis I of Hungary (reigned 1342 – 82), which arose through incorporation of a chronicle written by John of Küküllő.

• The third part describes events from the death of King Charles II the Small (died 1386) until the conquest of
  Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini
  and was based largely on existing diplomatic documents and letters. However, information from the Cosmographia was selected somewhat one-sidedly and haphazardly.

According to his own words in the work's dedication, Thurocz had no ambitions as an historian. In fact, his chronicle contains many errors and omits a number of significant events. Besides more reliable sources, the work relies extensively on oral tradition, folk songs and anecdotes, and contains many references to "miraculous" events and wonders.

Destiny and fortune play a significant role in history as seen by Thurocz. Like many of his contemporaries he was convinced of the close relationship between human fortune, historical events and the motion of celestial bodies.

Thurocz sought an explanation of a number of events in the moral imperative. He gave much attention to describing the inner feelings of historical characters, but had an evident tendency to idealize the Hungarian heroes Attila and Matthias Corvinus, while downplaying the significance of Hungary's queens.

Early editions

The first editions of Chronica Hungarorum were published in 1488 in

.

Extant early editions include:

• Illuminations the hand coloured woodcut illustrations (55), the initial letters Inc C 75, accession number F 1450/76 Slovak National Library at Matica slovenská in Martin, Slovakia, the second edition, Augsburgian, 2. version (variant)
• Bucharest, National Library of Romania, Inc. I 41 Datare sigura: 03/07/1488 III Non. Jun. 1488
• The
  Braşov, Romania (Parohia evanghelică C. A. Biserica Neagră
  1251/2).
• The Augsburg Augusta Vindelicorum edition, dated 3 June 1488. Publisher Erhard Ratdolt for Theobald Feger, a citizen of Buda.
• German 1490 manuscript: one copy at Heidelberg (Cod. Pal. germ. 156); another at Cambridge, Massachusetts, Houghton Library, (Ms. Ger. 43 [formerly Nikolsburg, Fürstl. Dietrichsteinsche Bibl., Cod. II 138]).

See also

• Sources of early Hungarian history
• Chronica Hungarorum

References

External links

• The German illuminated manuscript and the German-language text
• The original Latin text of the chronicle