Wipo of Burgundy (alsoWippo orWigbert;c. 995 –c. 1050), often simplyWipo, was a priest, poet andchronicler.^[2] He was achaplain to theHoly Roman EmperorConrad II and may have acted as a tutor to his sonHenry III, to whom he dedicated a number of works. His biography of Conrad II, entitledGesta Chuonradi II imperatoris, is a key source for Conrad's reign. The well-known musicalsequence,Victimae paschali laudes is often attributed to him, though its authenticity remains uncertain.

Information on Wipo's life is chiefly available from his writings.^[1] His name, sometimes spelled "Wippo", is a shortened form of "Wigbert".^[1] It is believed that he was born in theSwabian German-speaking portion of theBurgundy, because his name is Swabian. He shows a close interest in Burgundian affairs in his writings, and claims to have personally knownHenry I [de],Bishop of Lausanne (985–1018).^[3] In the course of his education he gained close familiarity with theVulgate Bible and with a classicalLatin texts. He does not refer to anypatristic texts.^[3] Volker Huth argues that the prologue of theGesta Chuonradi shows philosophical affinities with the 9th-century theologianHelperic [de], who was based at theAbbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre in northwestern Burgundy.^[4]

Present at theelection of Conrad II asKing of the Germans in 1024, he most likely followed the emperor on his campaigns intoBurgundy (1033) and against theSlavs (1035), both of which he describes in detail in his writings.^[5][3] The didactic tone that he adopts in writings dedicated to Henry III might indicate that he had been his tutor.^[6] After Conrad's death in 1039, he remained at court. He may be the same as a "Wipert" who is named as Henry III'sconfessor in theAnnales Palidenses.^[7] The latest event that Wipo refers to in his writings is the coronation of Henry III as emperor in 1046. It is unclear how long he lived after that.^[3]

Wipo's most well-known work is theGesta Chuonradi II imperatoris (The Deeds of Emperor Conrad II), "the major and almost the sole nonofficial source for [Conrad's] reign" and an important source for the developing ideology of "pontifical kingship" which would culminate in theInvestiture Controversy under Conrad's grandsonHenry IV.^[8] Wipo presented this work to Conrad's sonHenry III in 1046, shortly after Henry was crowned Emperor. The text opens with a letter to Henry III and a prologue. In the prologue, written before 1046, the work is presented as a pair of biographies, of Conrad and Henry. In the letter, written after 1046, the life of Conrad is presented as an independent work.^[6] The narrative opens with Conrad's election in 1024 and continues through his reign in an annalistic format, concluding with his death in 1039. Wipo's main source was his own memory and oral reports from other members of the court, but he also employed a chronicle written at theReichenau Abbey.^[6] Wipo strews short snatches ofhexameter poetry throughout the work, and appends a nine versecanticle inrhymed hexameters, which he wrote at the time of Conrad's death at the end of the biography.

The opening letter and prologue claim that the work was intended to provide an account of an exemplary contemporary Christian prince, as a counterpoint to the Biblical kings of the Old Testament and the pagan rulers known from Classical literature. Both the Vulgate text of the Bible and Classical authors, especiallySallust andMacrobius' commentary on theDream of Scipio, are frequently alluded to in the text.^[3][4] Wipo generally presents Conrad in very positive terms, sometimes modifying the facts in order to make Conrad a better exemplar. However, he declares himself willing to criticise Conrad for errors, and occasionally does so.^[5] Most biographies in Wipo's time were lives of saints or of kings presented as saintly figures, so the decision to write about Conrad as a layman was an innovative one.Karl F. Morrison characterises the work as "an honest if not penetrating annalistic account of a secular ruler in unecclesiastical, unsanctimonious terms."^[9] The work was not widely read in the Middle Ages and now survives in only a single manuscript held in theGenerallandesarchiv [de] inKarlsruhe.^[10]

Among Wipo's other extant writings are the maxims,Proverbia (1027 or 1028), andTetralogus Heinrici inrhymedhexameters. Presented to Henry in 1041, theTetralogus is a eulogy of the emperor mixed with earnest exhortations, emphasising that right and law are the real foundations of the throne.^[5] TheGesta Chuonradi refers to other poetic works that are now lost: aGallinarius (probably on Conrad's conquest of Burgundy), a hundred verses on the especially cold Burgundian winter of 1033, and an account of Conrad's 1035 campaign against the Slavs and the massacre that followed.^[3]

The famoussequence forEaster,Victimae paschali laudes is also attributed to Wipo, but this is uncertain.^[2]

• Harry Bresslau (ed.):Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi 61: Die Werke Wipos (Wiponis Opera). Hanover, 1915 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica,digitalised)

• Mommsen, Theodore E.; Morrison, Karl F. (2000). "The Deeds of Conrad II".Imperial Lives and Letters of the Eleventh Century. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. pp. 52–100.ISBN 978-0-231-12121-7.

• Crocker, Richard L. (2001)."Wipo".Grove Music Online. Oxford:Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30429.ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved30 September 2021.(subscription,Wikilibrary access, orUK public library membership required)
• Hiley, David (2016) [2007]."Wipo".MGG Online. Kassel:Bärenreiter.doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30429.(subscription required)
• Mommsen, Theodore E.; Morrison, Karl F. (2000).Imperial Lives and Letters of the Eleventh Century. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.ISBN 0231121210.
• Huth, Volker (2009)."Wipo, neu gelesen. Quellenkritische Notizen zur ›Hofkultur‹ in spätottonisch-frühsalischer Zeit"(PDF). In Bihrer, Andreas; Kälble, Mathias; Krieg, Heinz (eds.).Adel und Königtum im mittelalterlichen Schwaben Festschrift für Thomas Zotz zum 65. Geburtstag. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. pp. 155–168.ISBN 978-3-17-020863-6.

• Julian, John (1882).A Dictionary of Hymnology. New York:Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 1222–1224.

• 10th-century births
• 11th-century deaths
• People from Burgundy (French region)
• 11th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire
• 11th-century writers in Latin
• Chroniclers from the Holy Roman Empire
• 11th-century German clergy
• 11th-century German writers
• 11th-century composers

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