C. 210
Mirador should be here!
[OHNE TITEL]
[SINE TITULO]
Beschreibung
The poem was probably composed in the context of the appointment of its author Girolamo Balbi to the first chair of Roman law at the University of Vienna in 1494. It is in the form of a dream narrative.
The poet dreams that he encounters a beautiful woman who identifies herself as the nymph of the Wien, a small river running through Vienna. The nymph gives a long speech, in whose course she touches on a number of topics: The poet is asked to come to Vienna and to fulfil his professional duties there. She herself has been commissioned to found and protect Vienna, a splendid city, by an unknown entity, perhaps God himself (this information has perished in a lacuna). The Viennese and the Romans are kindred, which should incent the poet to compose a history of Vienna. Next, the conquest of Vienna in 1485 in the context of the Austrian-Hungarian War between 1477 and 1490 is described and its destructions and cruelties are lamented. Matthias Corvinus moved his royal court to the newly conquered city and ruled large parts of Austria from 1482 to 1490. The nymph calls upon God for help and revenge, which is followed by an excursus on several great sons of Vienna. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus has received his well-deserved punishment and is dead. The nymph wishes the current emperor a long life and vanishes. In a short final address, the poet asks for her help and promises always to honour her in turn.
The present copy of the poem is pretty bad. Apart from a number of corruptions, there are at least three lacunae and one passage which has been inserted in the wrong place (see commentary). For more information, see Sommer 1991, 190-192.
The poet dreams that he encounters a beautiful woman who identifies herself as the nymph of the Wien, a small river running through Vienna. The nymph gives a long speech, in whose course she touches on a number of topics: The poet is asked to come to Vienna and to fulfil his professional duties there. She herself has been commissioned to found and protect Vienna, a splendid city, by an unknown entity, perhaps God himself (this information has perished in a lacuna). The Viennese and the Romans are kindred, which should incent the poet to compose a history of Vienna. Next, the conquest of Vienna in 1485 in the context of the Austrian-Hungarian War between 1477 and 1490 is described and its destructions and cruelties are lamented. Matthias Corvinus moved his royal court to the newly conquered city and ruled large parts of Austria from 1482 to 1490. The nymph calls upon God for help and revenge, which is followed by an excursus on several great sons of Vienna. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus has received his well-deserved punishment and is dead. The nymph wishes the current emperor a long life and vanishes. In a short final address, the poet asks for her help and promises always to honour her in turn.
The present copy of the poem is pretty bad. Apart from a number of corruptions, there are at least three lacunae and one passage which has been inserted in the wrong place (see commentary). For more information, see Sommer 1991, 190-192.
Kommentar
The author is not named, but some aspects of the content suggest Girolamo Balbi, cfr. introduction.
Anzahl Seiten
10
Anzahl Zeilen
209
Zeigt 201 - 213 von 213
| Transkribierter Text | Übersetzung | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 197 | Extremosque hominum Morinos Eburonque ferocem | die am äußersten Rand der bewohnten Welt lebenden Moriner und die grausamen Eburonen | Caesar tum Marte Sicambros...Morinos Eburonque
vv. 196–198: In ancient times, the Sicambri were a Germanic people who lived on the east bank of the Rhine river, close to Germany's present-day border with the Netherlands. The Morini were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in what is now the French department of Pas-de-Calais. The Eburones (the accusative singular Eburon is grammatically wrong, it should be Eburonem) lived in the Ardennes (RE 5.2, 1902-1903). The Batavi (characterized as 'gold-haired', that is, blond) were a Germanic tribe living in the area around the modern Dutch Rhine delta. It is difficult to define exactly which modern population the author identifies with each ancient tribe, but in general these verses must be an allusion to the Flemish revolts from 1482 to 1492 against Maximilian I, who ruled the county as regent for his son, Philip the Handsome. With the aim to regain the autonomy they had enjoined under Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482), Maximilian's wife, the rebels captured Philip and Maximilian himself in 1488, but they were defeated by Frederick III and his army. Thus the emperor (Caesar) whose absence is lamented in these lines seems to be Frederick.
|
| 198 | Et multa auricomum frenabat caede Batavum. | und bezwang mit viel Blutvergießen die goldhaarigen Bataver. | Morinos Eburonque...Batavum
vv. 196–198: In ancient times, the Sicambri were a Germanic people who lived on the east bank of the Rhine river, close to Germany's present-day border with the Netherlands. The Morini were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in what is now the French department of Pas-de-Calais. The Eburones (the accusative singular Eburon is grammatically wrong, it should be Eburonem) lived in the Ardennes (RE 5.2, 1902-1903). The Batavi (characterized as 'gold-haired', that is, blond) were a Germanic tribe living in the area around the modern Dutch Rhine delta. It is difficult to define exactly which modern population the author identifies with each ancient tribe, but in general these verses must be an allusion to the Flemish revolts from 1482 to 1492 against Maximilian I, who ruled the county as regent for his son, Philip the Handsome. With the aim to regain the autonomy they had enjoined under Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482), Maximilian's wife, the rebels captured Philip and Maximilian himself in 1488, but they were defeated by Frederick III and his army. Thus the emperor (Caesar) whose absence is lamented in these lines seems to be Frederick.
|
| 199 | O Caesar mi, vive diu et pete sidera sero! | O mein Kaiser, lebe lang und steige erst spät zu den Sternen auf! | |
| 200 | Hoc te Roma rogat, rogat et cum supplice mundo: | Darum bittet dich Rom und flehend zusammen mit ihm der ganze Erdkreis: | Roma...mundo
In this line, the nymph of the Wien speaks not (only) in her own name but reports the pleas of Rome (the notional capital of the Holy Roman Empire) and the world at large.
|
| 201 | Intersis terrae humanis contentus habenis! | Bleib auf der Erde, gib dich mit der Herrschaft über die menschliche Welt zufrieden! | Intersis terrae humanis contentus habenis!
The poem breaks off in the manuscript after this line but can be completed by the following fragment (202-209) which was erroneously bound into the codex eight folios earlier.
|
| 202 | Non vitiis hominum redeas tu ad sidera iniquus! | Mögest du nicht aus Ärger über die Laster der Menschen zu den Sternen zurückkehren! | |
| 203 | Iamque vale, nec plura loquor, sat diximus. At tu | Und nun leb wohl, ich möchte nicht weiter sprechen, ich habe genug gesagt. Du aber | Iamque vale, nec plura loquor, sat diximus
With this line, the nymph of the Wien turns away from the emperor and addresses the poet again.
|
| 204 | Consiliis pare, quae nunc tibi sanguine iuncta | befolge meine Ratschläge, die ich, in Blutverwandtschaft verbunden, dir gerade | sanguine iuncta
the nymph calls herself blood-related to the poet because of the kinship between the Romans and the Viennese described in vv. 43-50.
|
| 205 | Ipsa dedi." Ex oculis tenues evanuit auras, | gegeben habe." Da entschwand sie aus meinem Blickfeld und löste sich in zarte Luftschwaden auf, | |
| 206 | Haec ubi <dicta> dedit. Quam tali voce secutus: | nachdem sie diese Worte gesprochen hatte. Folgendes rief ich ihr nach: | |
| 207 | „Nympha, loci decus, ah nostro succurre labori! | „Nymphe, du Zierde dieses Ortes, ach, hilf mir bei meiner Arbeit! | |
| 208 | Semper honos nomenque tuum et tua semper apud me | Auf ewig sollen deine Ehre und dein Ruhm, auf ewig soll deine Erhabenheit für | |
| 209 | Maiestas, numquam et labatur pectore nostro!" | mich fortbestehen, und niemals aus meinem Herzen schwinden!" |
Dum visu difficilia lectu ob marginem folii resectam
185
ve coni. : ut O
189
meus coni. : mens O
193
fatis corr. : fatus O
196
debellabat corr. : debellat O
201
contentus corr. : contetus O
206
quam corr. : quem O
206
dicta suppl. : deest in O
209
post versum sequitur comp. indicans finem carminae O