Wipo of Burgundy
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Wipo of Burgundy (also Wippo, d. 1048?) was chaplain to Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, whose biography he wrote in chronicle form, "Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris", and presented to Conrad's son, Henry III, in 1046, not long after the latter was crowned. In this work Wipo fully understands his subject, is fresh and animated, and, though affectionate, not a mere eulogist or a flatterer, for he sees Conrad's failings clearly. But he does not fully grasp the general conditions of the age, especially the emperor's manifold relations to the ruling princes and the Church. His style is simple and fluent, and his language well-chosen.
Among his extant writings are the maxims, Proverbia (1027 or 1028), and Tetralogus Heinrici in rhymed hexameters. Presented to Emperor Henry in 1041, it is a eulogy of the emperor mixed with earnest exhortations, emphasizing that right and law are the real foundations of the throne. He wrote the famous sequence for Easter, Victimae paschali laudes, and a touching lament in Latin on Conrad's death.
Editions
- Breslau, Wiponis Gesta Chuonradi II ceteraque quae supersunt opera (Hanover, 1878; German tr. by Pfluger, Berlin, 1877; by Wattenbach, Leipzig, 1892).
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