The Chronicle of Dalimil (Czech: Dalimilova kronika; Kronika tak řečeného Dalimila) is the first chronicle written in the Old Czech language.[1] It was composed in verse by an unknown author at the beginning of the 14th century. The Chronicle compiles information from older Czech chronicles written in Latin and also the author's own experiences. The chronicle finishes before 1314, but it is usually published including the entries of later authors describing events up to 1319.[1]
The Chronicle alleged that in the Serbian/Sorbian language, there is a land, known as Croatia, and in this country there was a chieftain whose name was Čech.[2]
The validity of the events are nowadays rejected by some western historians as purely mythological folklore, an archetypal origin myth. The events in the chronicle seem to simply reinterpret the myth of Lech, Czech, and Rus that is repeated in various forms in many other historical records and national chronicles, like Primary Chronicle.
The Dalimil was translated three times into Middle High German (including the recently identified translation by Merbort), and once into Latin.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 Marie Bláhová (2010). "Dalimil". In Dunphy, Graeme (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. Leiden: Brill. pp. 504–505. ISBN 90-04-18464-3.
- ↑ Kowalski, Wawrzyniec (2021). The Kings of the Slavs: The Image of a Ruler in the Latin Text of The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja. Brill. p. 63. ISBN 9789004447639.
...and Dalimil presented it in a confusing version, claiming that a certain "lech" [man], whose name was "Čech", came from a land "v srbském jazyku" [in the Serbian language] called "Charvaty".