Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Discovering William of Malmesbury: The Man and his Works
- 2 Gesta Pontificum Anglorum: History or Hagiography?
- 3 William of Malmesbury and Civic Virtue
- 4 The Ironies of History: William of Malmesbury's Views of William II and Henry I
- 5 William of Malmesbury and the Jews
- 6 Advising the King: Kingship, Bishops and Saints in the Works of William of Malmesbury
- 7 Roman Identity in William of Malmesbury's Historical Writings
- 8 William of Malmesbury and the Chronological Controversy
- 9 William of Malmesbury and Durham: The Circulation of Historical Knowledge in Early Twelfth-Century England
- 10 William of Malmesbury as Librarian: The Evidence of his Autographs
- 11 William of Malmesbury: Medical Historian of the Crusades
- 12 German Emperors as Exemplary Rulers in William of Malmesbury and Otto of Freising
- 13 Lector amice: Reading as Friendship in William of Malmesbury
- 14 William of Malmesbury's Historical Vision
- 15 Verax historicus Beda: William of Malmesbury, Bede and historia
- 16 William of Malmesbury and the Britons
- 17 Words, Words, Words . . .
- Epilogue: The Rediscovery of William of Malmesbury
- Index
12 - German Emperors as Exemplary Rulers in William of Malmesbury and Otto of Freising
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 August 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Discovering William of Malmesbury: The Man and his Works
- 2 Gesta Pontificum Anglorum: History or Hagiography?
- 3 William of Malmesbury and Civic Virtue
- 4 The Ironies of History: William of Malmesbury's Views of William II and Henry I
- 5 William of Malmesbury and the Jews
- 6 Advising the King: Kingship, Bishops and Saints in the Works of William of Malmesbury
- 7 Roman Identity in William of Malmesbury's Historical Writings
- 8 William of Malmesbury and the Chronological Controversy
- 9 William of Malmesbury and Durham: The Circulation of Historical Knowledge in Early Twelfth-Century England
- 10 William of Malmesbury as Librarian: The Evidence of his Autographs
- 11 William of Malmesbury: Medical Historian of the Crusades
- 12 German Emperors as Exemplary Rulers in William of Malmesbury and Otto of Freising
- 13 Lector amice: Reading as Friendship in William of Malmesbury
- 14 William of Malmesbury's Historical Vision
- 15 Verax historicus Beda: William of Malmesbury, Bede and historia
- 16 William of Malmesbury and the Britons
- 17 Words, Words, Words . . .
- Epilogue: The Rediscovery of William of Malmesbury
- Index
Summary
One of medieval Germany's most celebrated histories, Otto of Freising's Historia de Duabus Ciuitatibus, or as he himself called it De Mutatione Rerum, penned between 1132 and 1146, is often cited as evidence that the so-called Twelfth-Century Renaissance reached Germany. Otto studied in Paris and wrote excellent Latin, which seems to prove this point. Nevertheless, while most twelfth-century historians looked for their inspiration to works of classical learning, Otto's work is deeply influenced by Augustine's De Ciuitate Dei and his model is not classical Roman thought. Although his treatment of Augustine is rather innovative, he still adheres to the Church Father's late antique pessimism. Otto cast his work in the mould of providential history, which – at least in theory – treats the whole world as its subject. As his narrative progresses, Otto tries to bring to light God's actions in the world, while also emphasising that no human can really perceive God's will. In doing so, however, Otto is somewhat ambivalent. Sometimes the rise of the Church in and after the Investiture Controversy leads him to suggest that the final disunion of the ciuitas permixta (the mixed state), is drawing near and therefore Judgement Day is not far distant. At other times, he seems to think that the rise of the Church will be followed by decadence and decline, as had been the case with every other empire down to his own times. Otto of Freising's other great work, the Gesta Friderici is, at first sight, astonishingly different. Begun in 1156, this work, commissioned by his nephew Barbarossa himself, is characterised by a far more positive view of history and the world. In it Otto describes the beginnings of Frederick Barbarossa's reign as a new dawn for the empire and in this way turns the Historia's view of the imminent end of the world upside down. However, despite these two seemingly incompatible texts, Otto of Freising's view of world history is internally consistent, as Hans-Werner Goetz has pointed out. Otto simply chose to analyse the turn of events differently after his nephew gained the throne. As he saw it, a new power cycle was about to begin and it is Frederick who gets the benefit of it.
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- Discovering William of Malmesbury , pp. 139 - 152Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2017