Cosmas of Prague

(c. 1045 - 1125)

Cosmas of Prague studied grammar in Liège; around 1086 he became canon of Prague. Called “the first Slavic historian of a Slavic people” by one of his translators, Cosmas began writing his chronicle when he was nearly eighty years old, intending to trace the Czech people back to Noah. Some historians believe the work was commissioned by Bohemian dukes, while others suggest that Cosmas had no need for a patron. In the 1810s Cosmas’ chronicle was used as source material for a collection of forged manuscripts purported to be romantic epics from early Bohemia.