Vernacular Translations of Historical Writings in the Czech Lands in the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

This piece offers several translations of historical texts in the medieval Czech lands. The introduction briefly recapitulates and completes the already published results of the study of the beginnings and development of translations of historical works in the fourteenth century; the focus of the work here shifts to the fifteenth century, at the time of the Hussite Revolution and the turbulent years following, when the number of lay readers and the need for arguments for ideological propaganda increased. During the revolution preferred texts presented a defence of the orthodox faith, satirical petitions, and especially manifestos and political pamphlets, formulated according to the intended audience in Latin, Czech or German. By contrast, at this same time historical texts were composed in Latin and primarily intended for an educated audience, though translations of historical texts from Latin into Czech appeared again in the 1430s. At first, brief writings, Geschichte in Daten were translated. These translations were followed up by the contemporary annals already written in Czech. Only later, probably in the 1450s, was the basic historical work on the beginnings of the Hussite Revolution, the “Hussite Chronicle” by Laurentius of Březová, translated into Czech. In the late fifteenth century, Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s Historia bohemica was also translated into Czech for the first time. It then gained popularity in newer and better translations and adaptations during the sixteenth century. Around 1500, reports on contemporary events were translated from Czech into Latin for an educated audience, especially in urban environments, and sometimes even back into Czech, or from Latin into German for the wider public.