Kaufungen 1011

Älteste Urkunde der Gemeinde Kaufungen in deutscher Übersetzung
Die Urkunde mit der ältesten schriftlichen Erwähnung der Gemeinde Kaufungen im Landkreis Kassel liegt jetzt in einer für Laien verständlichen Übersetzung vor. Aus Anlass des 1000-jährigen Bestehens des Ortes in diesem Jahr habe man das von König Heinrich II. unterzeichnete Schriftstück aus dem Jahre 1011 publiziert, teilte der Kasseler Euregio-Verlag am Donnerstag mit. Neben Erläuterungen zur Urkunde mit der Erwähnung von "Coufungon" selbst werde in dem von Ingrid Baumgärtner und Christian Presche verfassten Buch auch die Entwicklung der Kaufunger Kloster- und Stiftsgründung beschrieben.
Das Kaiserpaar Heinrich und Kunigunde hatte seinerzeit ihren königlichen Hof von Kassel nach Kaufungen verlegt. Als Kaiserin Kunigunde schwer erkrankte, gelobte sie, im Falle ihrer Gesundung an dieser Stelle ein Kloster zu stiften. 1017 wurde mit dem Bau eines Benediktinerinnen-Klosters begonnen. 1025 trat Kunigunde nach dem Tod ihres Mannes selbst als Nonne in das Kloster ein, wo sie 1033 starb.

On the occasion of the one thousandth anniversary of a royal charterissued by Henry II of Germany and dated 10 August 1011 for the royalmonastery Hersfeld, which also contains the first mention of the place Kaufungen near Kassel and documents the king's presence there, Ingrid Baumgärtner and Christian Presche have written this useful andhandsomely produced short volume. Shortly after issuing this charter, King Henry II had a second charter produced on 20 August 1011 for the archbishopric of Magdeburg, which also documents Henry II's presenceat Coufungon. These constitute the first two mentions of the place, Kaufungen, at which later Henry II and his wife, Kunigundefounded a significant royal convent. In addition to the mere commemoration of these two charters as the first documented instances for Kaufungen and theexplanation of the background and context of their issue, this volume has a much more didactic purpose.
First, it provides a primer onroyal charters and contains facing Latin-German texts of the documents. Second, it provides a brief summary of the place Kaufungenin its geographical and historical context and of the earlyfoundational history of the like-named royal convent. Thus, in Germany, Gymnasium teachers could use this volume to instruct advanced Gymnasium students or, more likely, instructors and professors could employ it usefully in an Übung or introductory graduate practicum, to teach the fundamentals of royal charters and to discuss their specific historical context.
In the English-speaking world this volume could serve the same purpose, perhaps even with enhanced value,in introductory university graduate classes, which demand a knowledge of German, for the volume contains proper modern German that, however, is not particularly difficult. Thus, the shortness of the volume, theease and clarity of the German, and the information contained in it,combine to make it a fine choice to introduce royal charters in aspecific historical context in a beginning graduate class, regardless of the teaching language of the university.The authors begin by providing a short background to the two chartersthat they address and describing the historical context and the actualcontents of the charters. Next, they give a detailed explanation of the structure and components of a royal charter using partial blow-uppictures from the Hersfeld charter to illustrate each part. They examine the initial protocol, which includes the Chrismon, theinvocation, and intitulation, discuss the arenga and notification, and then move to the actual "body" or text of the charter, which contains the exposition and disposition of the document, meaning the historyand conditions behind the request, the person(s) or petitioner(s) requesting the grant and those supporting them, and the legal content of the charter. Finally they explain, discuss, and illustrate the three-part final protocol, which comprises the authentication by the ruler with his monogram, there cognition by the notary or chancellor, and the three-part dating formula with localization, followed sometimes by an apprecation orpious words of benediction.
The authors explain and illustrate each of these components clearly, provide a beautiful photograph of theoriginal royal charter and seal, and append Latin-German facing translations of both charters [….]

This is a neat little volume that is lavishly produced as German books so often are. The first didactic section provides a fine brief introduction for German students or Anglophile graduate students to royal charters, and the section devoted to the convent Kaufungen gives decent overview of itsearly foundation and some of the problems surrounding it and its laterexistence. The book stands out in terms of its excellent illustrations and maps, the reproduction of the original Hersfeld charter, and the facing Latin-German translations of the two charters addressed. These features enhance its value for teaching. Moreover, the authors provide an up-to-date and extensive bibliography.