Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. For 1199 and 1200 he describes the war of Philip and Otto in Saxony and on the Rhine, King Knud VI of Denmark's pressure on Count Adolf III of Holstein that led to the Danish conquest of Holstein in 1201, the position of Lübeck between the Danes and the German kings, Archbishop Hartwig II of Bremen, and the first voyages of Bishop Albert to the Livs on the Düna. He is well informed on northern Germany and the Baltic and adds material on Byzantium and the crusades.
About this source
- Title
- Chronica Slavorum
- Author
- Arnold of Lübeck
- Author's dates
- abbot of St John's, Lübeck, from 1177; died 1211 or 1214
- Written
- about 1209 to 1210
- Language
- Latin
- Covers
- 1171 to 1209
- Kind
- Chronicle
Loud's English translation of 2019 is not freely online. The 1853 German translation is public domain.
Where to read it
Editions
- J. M. Lappenberg (ed.), Arnoldi Chronica Slavorum, MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum 14 (Hanover 1868)
- J. M. Lappenberg (ed.), Arnoldi abbatis Lubecensis Chronica, MGH Scriptores 21 (Hanover 1869), pp. 100 to 250
Translations
- J. C. M. Laurent (trans.), Die Chronik Arnolds von Lübeck, Die Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit, XIII. Jahrhundert, 3. Band (Berlin 1853), German
- G. A. Loud (trans.), The Chronicle of Arnold of Lübeck (Routledge 2019), English, under copyright (not freely online)
Read it online
About the source
Realms this source covers in 1200
- Otto IV: Welf and royal lands
- Philip of Swabia: Staufen and royal lands
- County of Holstein
- Archbishopric of Bremen
- Duchy of Saxony (Bernhard of Anhalt)
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Mecklenburg and Schwerin
- Duchy of Pomerania
- Principality of Rügen
- The Livs
- Other imperial lands
- Archbishopric of Cologne
- Archbishopric of Magdeburg