IS
kaki )| i iv imi'i kai< >kis k( >man< »RUM vita
AUTOBK )i;kaim iv oi- EMPEROR Cl iaki is iv
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Nolite renes vestros coinquiiure, sed lumlios vestros pre-cingite, fortitudine mentis concingimini coniugiunr1,1 am-plectendo, quoniam spiritus sanctus effugiet luxurie se dantes, nec habitabit in corporibus subditis peccato.
Abstinete vos a malo accidie, ne vos trahat gravedine sua in profundum inferni.
Cavete ergo vobis ab omni peccato in etate tenera, quia parvus error in principio magnus erit in fine. Sed ambulate in lege domini sine macula, ut benediccionem accipiatis ab eo, qui ait: Beati inmaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege domini? ut sitis tamquam lignum, quodplantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo, et folium ems non defluet,2, sed asscriptum erit in libro víte, ubi asscripta sunt nomina iustorum.4 Quod vobis prestare dignetur, qui dignus fuit aperire librum et signacula eins.5
CAPITULUM III.
Successioni vestre diligenter scripsi verba preassumpta sapiencie et timoris dei, quantum mea parvitas divini auxilii capax fuit. Nunc de vana et stulta vita mea vobis scribere
comugium om. mss.
1 The word coniugium (marriage) docs not appear in the original Latin. 2Ps 118:1. The passage is cited again in ch. 12.
Do not pollute your kidneys, but gird up your loins and surround yourself with strength ol mind, embracing marriage.' The Holy Spirit will flee from those who give ill em selves to riotous living, nor abide in bodies subjected tO sm.
Keep yourselves from the evil of indifference so that it does not drag you down into the depths of hell by its weight.
Be on your guard therefore against all sin in your youth-I illness, because a small error in the beginning will be great .u the end. But walk in the law of the Lord without blemish SO that you will receive the benediction of him who has said: Blessed are those unblemished in their path, who walk in the law of the Lord,2 in order that you may be like a tree which is planted by the streams of waters, which will yield its fruit in its season and its leaf shall not wither,1 but it will be written in the book of life where are inscribed the names of the just.4 And may you be granted this by him who was worthy to open the book and its seals.-
CHAPTER 3
I (H you as successors I have carefully written the foregoing w oids of wisdom and the fear of God, at least so far as was in my poor abilities with divine help. Now I desire to write
1 Pi 1:3. 1 Phil 4:3. ' Kv 5:9.
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KARO] i iv IMPERATORIS ROMANORUM vita
,\u K »BIOGRAP1IV i >P EMPEROR Cl tARI ES IV
' I
cupio, ac de exordio transitus mei mundani, ut cedere vobis valeant in exemplum. Graciam autem michi a deo infusam et amorem studii, quod mei pectoris habuit tcnacitas, non tacebo, ut tanto magis speretis in divinoauxilio in laboribus villus succurrcrc quanto patres et predecessores vestri vo-liis magis annunciant. Nam et scriptum est: Patres nostri
< 11 xnunciaverunt nobis.1
< lupio ergo vos non latere, quod Heinricus septimus,2 Romanorum imperator, genuit patrem meum nomine Jo-hannem3 ex Margareta,4 ducis Bravancie filia. Qui duxit UXOrem nomine Elyzabeth5 filiam Wcnceslai secundi,6 Boemie regis, et obtinuit regnum ßoemie cum ea, quia masculinus sexus in progenie regali ßoemorum defecerat. It expulit Heinricum,7 Karinthie ducem, qui habebat in UXOrem sororem seniorem8 uxoris sue9 dicte, que mortua est in posterům sine prole, qui regnum Boemie causa eius-dem sororis ante eum obtinebat, prout clarius in cronicis Boemorum continetur.10
1 l's 43:2.
2 Henry VII of Luxemburg 1278/79-1313, King of the Romans I 108-12, Holy Roman Emperor 1312-13.
John of Luxemburg 1296-1346, king of Bohemia 1310-46.
1 Margaret of Brabant 1276-131 1, married Henry VII of Luxemburg in 1292.
5 [Elisabeth Přemysl 1292-1330, married John of Luxemburg in 1310. 'Wenceslas II Přemysl 1271-1305, king of Bohemia 1278-1305. 1 lenry of Carinthia 1265/70?-1335, king of Bohemia 1307-10. ' Anne Přemysl 1290-1313, first wife of Henry of Carinthia from 1306. 'John's.
in vou about my fruitless and foolish liie, right Irom the beginning of my earthly existence, so that it might serve for vou as an example. However, concerning the grace with which God infused me and the love of study, which held a firm place in my breast, I shall not be silent, so that you might hope all the more to obtain divine help in your labors, to the extent that your fathers and predecessors tell vou of it. For it has been written: Our fathers have told us about it.x
I desire therefore it not remain unknown to you that the Roman Emperor, Henry VII,2 begat my father, named John,3 from Margaret,4 the daughter of the duke of Brabant. He in turn married Elisabeth,5 the daughter of King Wenceslas II of Bohemia,6 and obtained the kingdom of Bohemia through her, because the male line in the royal family of Bohemia had died out. He expelled Duke Henry of Carinthia,7 who had married the older sister8 of his9 aforementioned wife. (This sister later died without heir.) Henry had obtained the kingdom of Bohemia before John by virtue of this sister's position. All of this is more fully contained in the chronicles of the Bohemians.10
10 Charles refers in all probability to the Chronicon aulae regis (the Chronicle of Zbraslaw/Konigsaal) written by Peter of Zittau of which chapters 86-108 discuss in detail the story of Henry of Carinthia [Johann Loserth, ed., Chronicon aulae regis, Fontes rerum Austria-carum, Scriptores, 8 (Vienna: Karl Gerold, 1875), 215-313]. Wenceslas II, king of Bohemia, was survived by one son and two daughters. His son Wenceslas III 1289-1306 became king of Bohemia and Hungary but died heirless. John, the husband of Elisabeth, the younger daughter of Wenceslas II, obtained the crown of Bohemia after expelling Henry from the country in 1310.
KARI I] I iv IMPERAT« 'Ids lu >man< )RUM VITA
MH'oiiK K5RAPHY OP I'.MITKOK CHARLES IV
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Genuitque ulom Johannes, rex Bocmie, cum Flyy.abeth regina primogenitum smim nomine Wencesl.umr .umo domini millesimo trecentesimo XVI pridie idus Maii hora prima2 in Praga. Dcindc alium lilium nomine Ottogarum,3 qui in puerili etate decessit. Demum genuit et tercium nomine Johannem.4 Habuitque predictus rex duas sorores desponsatas, unam tradidit Ungarorum regi Karolo pri-mo,5 que sine liberis morcua est; secundam vero dederat Karolo/' Francorum regi.
Ipso regnante in Francia anno incarnacionis domini millesimo trecentesimo vicesimo tercio misiť me meus pater iam dictus ad dictum regem Francie, me existente in septimo anno puericie mee; fecitque me dictus rex Franco-rum per pontificem7 confirmari et imposuit michi nomen suum equivocum videlicet Karolus ct dedit michi in uxo-rem filiam Karoli,8 patrui sui, nomine Margaretám dictam Blancza." Mortuaque est uxor sua, soror patris mei, anno
misitque »iss.
1 Wenceslas, later called Charles, the author of this autobiography, 1316-7S, king of Bohemia 1346-7S, king of the Romans from 1346, Holy Roman Emperor from 1355.
2 5.00 a.m.
3 Otakar of Luxemburg 1318-20, second son of John of Luxemburg and Elisabeth Pfemysl.
4 John Henry of Luxemburg 1322-75, third son of John of Luxemburg, count of Tyrol 1335-41, margrave of Moravia 1355-75.
5 Charles Robert of Anjou 1288-1342, king of Hungary 1308-42; married Beatrice 1305-19, the younger sister of John of Luxemburg, in 13 IS.
This same John, king of Bohemia, begat through Queen Elisabeth his first-born son who was named Wenceslas1 in the year 1316 on the fourteenth of May at the first hour2 in Prague. Later, there was born a second son, named ( >takar,3 who died while still a child. Eventually there was .1 third son, named John.4 The aforementioned king had two married sisters: one he had given to King Charles I of I [ungary,5 but she died without children; the second he gave to Charles,6 king of the French.
While the king was ruling in France, my father sent me to him in 1323. At that time, I was in the seventh year of my youth. The king of the French had me confirmed by his bishop7 and bestowed upon me his own name, that is Charles, and gave me as a wife the daughter of his uncle Charles,8 a girl named Margaret, who was called Blanche.9 I lis own wife, the sister of my father, died in that same year
'•Charles IV Capet (the Fair) 1295-1328, king of France 1322-28, married Mary of Luxemburg 1304-24 in 1322.
'Some authorities have maintained that pontifex should here be understood as "pope" (rather than "bishop") and so presume that it was Pope fohn XXII who carried out Charles's confirmation and name change in Avignon in March/April 1324 in the presence John of Luxemburg and Charles IV Capet, king of France. But cf. BJ 28; Hillenbrand 83; Werunsky 1:11, n. 4;Jarrett 34. According to Mezni'k the confirmation happened earlier (292-93). On Charles's name change see Schneider; Seibt 117.
s Charles of Valois 1270-1325, count of Anjou and Valois, uncle of Charles IV Capet.
' Margaret/Blanche of Valois 1316-48, from 1324 wife of Charles IV of Luxemburg.