H: Gergely Pápának eredetiroͤl, Istennek tsudálatos rendeléséboͤl
Presentation
Edition: Peter Andersen
Collaboration : Enikő Dácz (translation)
Brief description
- Witnesses: 4 editions
- Acronyms: H-1 to H-4
- Total length of the witnesses: 50 pages
- Published and transcribed witness: H-1
- Length of the transcribed witness: 424 lines and 3089 words (H-1)
- Numerical reference: lines according to the editio princeps
- Author: János Haller
- Place: Hungary
- Date: 1681/1682
- Source: L6-24
In the editio princeps of 1695, the Hungarian version of the Good Sinner is entitled Gergely Pápának eredetiroͤl, Istennek tsudálatos rendeléséboͤl [“on the origin of Pope Gregory and the extraordinary disposition of God”]. It was written by János Haller (1626-1697), who was born in Sânpaul or Kerelőszentpál in present-day Romania, and is part of a relatively free translation of the Latin version of the Gesta Romanorum of which it constitutes the 81st chapter. It was produced from the edition published in 1508 in Haguenau (L6-24), as the translator explains at the end of his register of chapters.
János Haller belonged to a large and still prosperous dynasty, the Haller von Hallerstein. Originally from Nuremberg and initially patricians, this family had joined the imperial nobility from the 15th century. A branch of the family then settled in Transylvania. The translator comes from there. Around 1660, he was appointed head of the county of Torda and became actively involved in the struggles between the princes of Transylvania and the Turkish sultan. In 1678, after supporting a failed conspiracy, he was taken prisoner and spent four years in captivity in the castle of Făgăraș. He took advantage of this time to produce three translations which he published as a trilogy under the title Hármas historia [“triple story”].
The first translation, consisting of 69 chapters, is devoted to the life of Alexander the Great. As he himself explains, Haller used for this part a Latin edition published in 1494 in Strasbourg, the Historia Alexandri Magni Regis Macedonie de preliis (GW 879). The second part is a complete translation of the 181 chapters of the Gesta Romanorum. The third part relates the Trojan War in 59 chapters according to the version written in the 13th century by Guido delle Colonne and printed from around 1475 under the title Historia destructionis Troiae. Haller does not explain which edition he used. His source appeared nine times in Latin before the end of the 15th century (GW 7224-7232) and was translated into many other languages before Haller did it. On the cover, Haller dates his trilogy as a whole from 1682 after having signed the introduction to the third part in 1681. The second part was therefore probably written between these two dates.
As early as 1672, Haller had begun his literary career with a work in the glory of peace, Pays, a békeséges türcinek Payssa [“Shield of peaceful tolerance”], but it was Hármas historia which earned him the success. His trilogy appeared at least four times until 1795. He is also known for his diplomatic activity. After his captivity, he was sent to Vienna by the prince of Transylvania Abaffi I to conclude peace with Emperor Leopold and became the architect of a treaty signed on June 26, 1686. This document is known as “Haller’s Treatise”. In 1691, he became a member of the Transylvanian government as treasurer and died in 1695 in his native castle.