Editing Widukind of Corvey

{{Short description|10th-century Saxon chronicler}}
''' Widukind of Corvey''' (c. 925{{spaced ndash}}after 973; {{langx|de|Widukind von Corvey}}, in [[Italian language|italian]] ''Vitichindo Sacco di Corvey'', in [[Latin]] VVITICHINDI SAXO) was a medieval [[Saxons|Saxon]] chronicler. His three-volume ''[[Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres]]'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century [[Kingdom of Germany|Germany]] ([[Germania]]) during the rule of the [[Ottonian dynasty]].

==Life==
[[File:Corvey Westwerk.png|thumb|[[Princely Abbey of Corvey|Corvey Abbey Church]], westwork]]
In view of his name, he possibly was a descendant of the Saxon leader and national hero [[Widukind]], mentioned in the ''[[Royal Frankish Annals]]'', who had battled [[Charlemagne]] in the [[Saxon Wars]] from 777 to 785. Widukind the Chronicler entered the [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] abbey of [[Princely Abbey of Corvey|Corvey]] in the [[Westphalia]]n part of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] around 940/42, probably to become a [[tutor]]. It is widely assumed that he had reached the age of 15 upon his access, though it has been recently suggested that he may have joined the Order as a child. In 936 [[Henry the Fowler]], the first [[East Francia|East Frankish]] king of the Saxon ducal Ottonian dynasty had died and was succeeded by his son [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto the Great]].

Otto's rise as undisputed ruler of a German kingdom against the reluctant [[stem duchy|dukes]] made great impression on the Benedictine monk. By his own admission, Widukind first wrote several Christian [[Hagiography|hagiographies]] before he began his ''Res gestae Saxonicae''. He dedicated the chronicles to Abbess [[Matilda, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Matilda of Quedlinburg]] (c. 955{{ndash}}999), daughter of Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto the Great]], like himself a descendant of the Saxon leader Widukind. The annals were written after Otto's coronation by [[Pope John XII]] on 2 February 962; however, though both Otto and his father Henry the Fowler are named ''[[Imperator]]es'', this incident is not mentioned. After the elevation of Matilda's brother [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]] as co-emperor in 967 and the death of her half-brother Archbishop [[William (Archbishop of Mainz)|William of Mainz]] one year later, the abbess remained the only important member of the Ottonian dynasty in the Saxon lands under regent [[Hermann Billung]]; therefore, Widukind may have begun the writing – or started all over again – to create a kind of [[mirrors for princes|mirror for princes]].

The annals were continued until Otto's death on 7 May 973. Widukind probably died thereafter at Corvey Abbey.

==Work==
{{main|The Deeds of the Saxons}}
The ''Res gestae Saxonicae'' are significant historical accounts of the times of Otto the Great and Henry the Fowler, modelled on the works of the Roman historian [[Sallust]] and the deuterocanonical [[Books of the Maccabees]]. Widukind wrote as a Saxon, proud of his people and history, beginning his narration not with the [[Roman Empire]] but with a brief synopsis derived from the orally-transmitted history of the Saxons and their struggles with the [[Franks]], with a terseness that makes his work difficult to interpret.

Widukind of Corvey starts with the wars between [[Theuderich I]], King of [[Austrasia]], and the [[Thuringii]], in which the Saxons played a large part. An allusion to the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity under Charlemagne brings him to the early Saxon dukes and details of the reign of Henry the Fowler, whose campaigns are referred to in some detail.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Widukind (historian)|display=Widukind|volume=28|pages=620–621|first=Arthur William|last=Holland}}</ref> He omitted Italian events in tracing the career of Henry, nor does he ever mention a pope, but one of the three surviving manuscripts of his ''Gesta'' was transcribed in [[Duchy of Benevento|Benevento]], the Lombard duchy south of Rome.<ref>[http://www.evellum.com/ductus/demo/engine/ductus/frames/bibliography/lowe_loew1972a.html Evellum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040526032651/http://www.evellum.com/ductus/demo/engine/ductus/frames/bibliography/lowe_loew1972a.html |date=2004-05-26 }}</ref> The second book opens with the election of Otto the Great as German king, treats of the risings against his authority, again omitting events in Italy, and concludes with the death of his first wife [[Eadgyth|Edith of England]] in 946. In the third book the historian deals with Otto's expedition into France, his troubles with his son [[Liudolf, Duke of Swabia|Liudolf]] and his son-in-law, [[Conrad, Duke of Lorraine]], and the various wars in Germany.<ref name="EB1911"/>

A manuscript of ''Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres''  was first published in [[Basel]] in 1532 and is today in the [[British Library]]. There are two other surviving manuscripts. The best edition was published in 1935 by Paul Hirsch and Hans-Eberhard Lohmann in the series ''[[Monumenta Germaniae Historica]]: Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum editi''. A German translation appears in the ''Quellen zur Geschichte der sächsischen Kaiserzeit'' published by Albert Bauer and Reinhold Rau in 1971. An English translation is found in an unprinted doctoral dissertation: Raymond F. Wood, ''The three books of the deeds of the Saxons, by Widukind of Corvey, translated with introduction, notes, and bibliography'' (University of California, Los Angeles, 1949).<ref>Raymund F. Wood, The three books of the Deeds of the Saxons, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1949, [https://www.proquest.com/docview/301830925 available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]</ref>

Widukind is also credited with ''vitae'' of St Paul and St Thecla doubtless based on the 2nd century ''[[Acts of Paul and Thecla]]'', but no traces of them now remain.{{sfn|Holland|1911}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Widukind of Corvey}}
* An English translation with notes by Raymund F. Wood, The three books of the Deeds of the Saxons, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1949, [https://www.proquest.com/docview/301830925 available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses] {{Subscription required}}{{closed access}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widukind of Corvey}}
[[Category:Old Saxony]]
[[Category:920s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:10th-century German historians]]
[[Category:German male writers]]
[[Category:10th-century Saxon people]]
[[Category:10th-century writers in Latin]]