Translatio imperii - Citizendia

Translatio imperii, Latin for "transfer of rule", is a concept invented in the Middle Ages for describing history as a linear development: a succession of transfers of power from one supreme ruler (emperor) to the next. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology The word linear comes from the Latin word linearis, which means created by lines. An emperor (from the Latin " Imperator " is a (male Monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an Empire or another type of

Definition

Jacques Le Goff^[1] describes the "translatio imperii" concept as typical for the Middle Ages for several reasons: the idea of linearity of time and history was typical for the Middle Ages; the "translatio imperii" idea typically also neglected simultaneous developments in other parts of the world (of no importance to medieval Europeans); the "translatio imperii" idea didn't separate divine history from the history of worldly power: medieval Europeans considered divine (supernatural) and material things as part of the same continuum, which was their "reality". Jacques Le Goff (born January 1, 1924 in Toulon) is a prolific French Historian specializing in Also the causality of one reign necessarily leading to its successor was often detailed by the medieval chroniclers, and is seen as a typical medieval approach.

Not surprisingly, each medieval author described the "translatio imperii" as a succession leaving the supreme power in the hands of the monarch ruling the region of the author's provenance:

Otto of Freising (living in German region): Rome → Byzantium → Franks → Longobards → Germans (=Holy Roman Empire);
Chrétien de Troyes (living in medieval France): Greece → Rome → France^[2]
Richard de Bury (England, 14th century): "Athens" (Greece) → Rome → "Paris" (France) → England

Medieval and Renaissance authors often linked this transfer of power by genealogically attaching a ruling family to an ancient Greek or Trojan hero; this schema was modeled on Virgil's use of Aeneas (a Trojan hero) as mythic founder of the city of Rome in his Aeneid. Otto von Freising ( Otto Frisingensis) (c 1114 in Klosterneuburg – September 22, 1158) was a German Bishop and chronicler Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group The Lombards ( Latin Langobardi, whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and Trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca France in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Charlemagne in 814 to the middle of the 15th Richard Aungerville (or Aungervyle) ( January 24 1287 &ndash April 14 1345) commonly known as Richard de Bury, was England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or This article is about the Roman hero For other uses see Aeneas (disambiguation. Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in Continuing with this tradition, the twelfth-century anglo-Norman authors Geoffrey of Monmouth (in his Historia Regum Britanniae) and Wace (in his Brut) linked the founding of Britain to the arrival of Brutus of Troy, son of Aeneas. Geoffrey of Monmouth ( Gruffudd ap Arthur or Sieffre o Fynwy) (c The Historia Regum Britanniae ( English: The History of the Kings of Britain) is a pseudohistorical account of British history WACE (730 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format Roman de Brut or Brut is a verse literary history of Britain by the poet Wace. In Britain and Ireland the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non- Romanised Brutus ( Brut, Brute, Welsh Bryttys) a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, was known in medieval British legend In a similar way, the French Renaissance author Jean Lemaire de Belges (in his Les Illustrations de Gaule et Singularités de Troie) linked the founding of Celtic Gaul to the arrival of the Trojan "Francus", the son of Hector; and of Celtic Germany to the arrival of "Bavo", the cousin of Priam; in this way he established an illustrious genealogy for Pepin and Charlemagne (the legend of "Francus" would also serve as the basis for Ronsard's epic poem, "La Franciade"). Jean Lemaire de Belges (c 1473 &ndash c 1525 was a Walloon poet and historian who lived primarily in France. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western In Greek mythology, Hectōr ( "holding fast" or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and one of the greatest fighters in the In Greek mythology, Priam ( Greek Πρίαμος Priamos) was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son Pepin or Pippin (714 &ndash 24 September 768) called the Short, and often known as Pepin the Younger or Pepin III, was Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his Pierre de Ronsard ( 11 September, 1524 – December 1585 was a French Poet and "prince of poets" (as his own generation in France

References

^ Le Goff, Jacques. La civilisation de l'Occident médieval. Paris. 1964; English translation (1988): Medieval Civilization, ISBN 0-631-17566-0 – "translatio imperii" is discussed in Part II, Chapter VI, section on "Time, eternity and history".
^ De Troyes, Chrétien. Cligès. Cligès is a poem by the Medieval French poet Chrétien de Troyes, dating from around 1176. Circa 1176.