Boleslaus Balbinus

Boleslaus Balbinus

A Jesuit historian of Bohemia, born 4 December 1621, at Königgrätz, of an ancient noble family; died 29 November, 1688 at Prague. His entire life was a devoted to collecting and editing the materials of Bohemian history, and his researches have often been utilized by the Bollandists. He wrote over thirty works, the most important of which is "Miscellanea Historica regni Bohemiae" or "Miscellany of Bohemian History" (6 vols., Prague, 1679-87) in which he described the chief historical events of his native land, lives of prominent Bohemians, etc. He also wrote in Latin an "Apology for the Slavic and especially the Bohemian tongue". Balbinus was the first to edit the ancient vernacular chronicle known as the "Life of St. Ludmilla and Martyrdom of St. Wenceslas", a new edition of which was published in 1902 by Dr. Pekár and is by him held to be the text of the tenth century, and therefore "the oldest historical work written in Bohemia and by a Bohemian". Balbinus wrote also "de archiepiscopis Bohemiae" (Prague, 1682) and "Bohemia Sancta, sive de sanctis Bohemiae, Moraviae, Silesiae, Lusatiae" (ibid, 1682).

Sommervogel, Bibl. des escriv. de la c. de J., s. v.; Lutrow, The Historians of Bohemia (London, 1905).

THOMAS J. SHAHAN