Wipo (WIPRO), apparently a native of Burgundy, lived in the first half of the eleventh century. He was chaplain to Emperor Konrad II, whose biography he wrote in chronicle form, “Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris”, and presented to Konrad’s son, Henry III, in 1046, not long after the latter was crowned. Wipo fully understands his subject, is fresh and animated, and, though affectionate, not a mere eulogist or a flatterer, for he sees Konrad’s failings clearly, But he does not fully grasp the general conditions of the age, especially the emperor’s manifold relations to the ruling princes and the Church. His style is simple and fluent, and his language well-chosen. Among his extant writings are the maxims, “Proverbia” (1027 or 1028), and “Tetralogus Hein-rid” in rhymed hexameters, presented to Emperor
Henry in 1041. It is a eulogy of the emperor mixed with earnest exhortations, emphasizing that right and law are the real foundations of the throne. He wrote the beautiful Easter sequence, “Victimie paschali laudes”, and a touching lament in Latin on Konrad’s death. The best edition of his works is that of Breslau, “Wiponis Gesta Chuonradi II ceteraque quae supersunt opera” (Hanover, 1878; German tr. by Pfluger, Berlin, 1877; by Wattenbach, Leipzig, 1892).
PATRICIUS SCHLAGER