Ekkehard of Aura
Ekkehard of Aura (Latin: Ekkehardus Uraugiensis; born c. 1080, died 20 February 1126) was the first abbot of Aura from 1108. The monastery was founded by Bishop Otto of Bamberg on the Franconian Saale river, near Bad Kissingen, Bavaria.[1][2] It is thought that Ekkehard was a member of the Bavarian aristocracy.[2]
A Benedictine monk and chronicler, he made updates to the World Chronicle (Chronicon universale) of Frutolf of Michelsberg, adding important German history between 1098 and 1125 during the reign of Emperor Henry V, in which he sided strongly with the papacy in the Investiture Controversy. He was a participant in the Crusade of 1101 (Lerner, 1989), and provided important source material for the Rhineland massacres of Jews and for the First Crusade.[3]
While the Crusade of 1101 was considered a failure, Ekkehard did manage to journey to Jerusalem, although his stay in the Holy City was only brief.[2] He returned from the Holy Land via Rome, before returning to Germany, where he became a monk at the abbey of Tegernsee in 1102/03 before moving to Michaelsberg abbey near Bamberg, although these claims have been contested.[2] It is also thought that Ekkehard spent some time in Würzburg, due to the dedication he included when writing the Life of St Burchard. It was here that Ekkehard met Otto of Bamberg, who would later go on to found the monastery of Aura and install Ekkehard as its first abbot. Aura was founded to be part of the Hirsau network of monasteries, which were hugely influential nodes in a network of reform-minded monasteries.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Ekkehard of Aura (Uraugiensis), Benedictine monk and chronicler, b. about 1050; d. after 1125. Very little is known of his life. About 1101 he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and in 1106 took part in the Council of Guastalla. Apparently he belonged at first to the monastery of St. Michael at Bamberg, and later (1108 or 1113) was abbot of the monastery of Aura, founded by Bishop Otto of Bamberg, on the Franconian Saale, near Kissingen, Bavaria; this monastery followed the Rule of Hirschau. The "Chronicon universale", called after Ekkehard, is the chief source for the history of Germany during the years 1080-1125. In its present form it is divided into five books: the first contains ancient history from the Creation to the building of the city of Rome; the second extends to the birth of Christ; the third reaches the time of Charlemagne; the fourth goes to the opening of the reign of Emperor Henry V; the fifth contains an account of the reign of this ruler. No other medieval general chronicle covers so much ground; in the manuscripts now extant it is evidently not the work of one man but represents rather a fusion of various recensions and continuations. Bresslau, in his acute investigation of the subject (Neues Archiv für Ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, VII), traces these changes, for the most part, to Frutolf, prior of St. Michael's (d. February 17, 1103). It is now believed that Ekkehard simply rewrote the greater part of the chronicle, and that his original contribution is the account of the reign of Emperor Henry V. The chronicle, taken as a whole, is a very skillful compilation, and shows in the selection and arrangement of the matter a sound understanding and mastery of the material at hand. The language is good and simple, and the presentation clear and well summarized. Continuations were written by various chroniclers, among whom may be mentioned Conrad of Lichtenau and Albert of Stade. Ekkehard's chronicle has been published several times (Mon. Germ. Hist., Script., VI, 13-265; Migne, P.L., CLIV, 459-1060). A German translation was issued by Pflüger (Leipzig, 1893), as vol. LI of the series "Geschichtsschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit".
References
- Back to citation Patricius Schlager (1909). "Ekkehard of Aura". In Catholic Encyclopedia. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Back to citation occurrence 2.3 Chronicles of the investiture contest: Frutolf of Michelsberg and his continuators: selected sources. Thomas John Henry McCarthy, Corpus Christi College. Library. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 2015. ISBN 978-1-5261-1286-6. OCLC 926070737.
- Back to citation Mulinder, Alec. "Ekkehard of Aura". The Crusades - An Encyclopedia. p. 392.
Further reading
- Ekkehard of Aura from the Catholic Encyclopedia
- Albert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura, "Emico and the Slaughter of the Rhineland Jews" from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
- Ekkehard of Aura, Hierosolymita and World Chronicle (On the Crusades) from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
- Robert E. Lerner, "Ekkerhard of Aura", Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Volume 4, pp. 417–418, 1989. ISBN 0-684-17024-8
- McCarthy, T. J. H., Chronicles of the Investiture Contest: Frutolf of Michelsberg and his continuators. Manchester: Manchester Medieval Sources. 2014. ISBN 9780719084706.