An early new High German translation of the Historia trium regum by Johannes de Hildesheim edited from Pap. Man. no. 15., Stadt und Stiftsarchiv, Aschaffenburg

Abstract

The historia trium regum is an account of the lives of the Three Kings which was written in Germany between 1364 and 1375 by Johannes of Hildesheim. This Latin work rapidly became popular and was translated into German as early as 1389. Although an Early English translation and Middle Dutch translations have been edited the subject of the German translations has not previously been examined. In 1842 K. Simrock edited part of the German translation of 1389 but abridged the text and modernised the language. An attempt to edit the most popular German translation - that of 1389 - in a form as close as possible to that of the original is, then, not unjustified. Although the major part of the original research involved in the present edition has been devoted to the German translations, more particularly to that of 1389, I found it necessary to widen the scope of the thesis. The discussion of any translation must include a study of the original for they have the subject matter in common. The historia trium regum has its roots in a mass of legendary material so that the thesis also includes a summary of the development of the legend of the Three Kings, some knowledge of which is indispensable for an appreciation of the historia trium regum and consequently of any translation of the Latin work. Chaps. I and II of the Introduction are chiefly the outcome of an attempt to sift and summarise existing material 011 the subject of the legend of the Three Kings in general and of the historia trium regum in particular. In Chap. Ill of the Introduction I have dealt with the translations of the historia trium regum, more especially with the German translations. Chap. IV is concerned exclusively with the German translation of 1389. The text has been edited in full, in spite of the length, from the most reliable of the extant mss. i.e., Pap. Man. no. 15., Stadt-und Stiftsarchiv, Aschaffenburg. In the Linguistic commentary I have attempted to clear up obscurities in the text and indicate points of linguistic interest. The Notes on the Text are devoted to the subject matter, mainly to the sources from which the historia trium regum was compiled.