Aventinus 86

Johannes Turmayr's 1520 History of Bavaria, Chapter 86, - translated and annotated by Ras Feqade, AD 2021.

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### Chapter 86. Of king Heccar, for short Hag, the nineteenth king in Germany around the Danube and in Bavaria, Nordgau and Bohemia.

After king Brenner, I find that his son, the hero **Heccar**, ruled for thirty-one years. This name, as the old death registers and namelists indicate, was something the old Bavarians liked and often used for their children. The Greeks and Latins make thereof Hector in the style of their language. He was a wonderful, honest hero in his body, including that one doesn’t bother him in the mouth, which is commonly called a good Heccerl as the saying goes.

[Heccar ruled 31 years, as stated here and in Anderson, which would be from 1207 to 1176 BC, the year his son Frank succeeded him. Anderson gives the alternate spellings Hogkar, Hykar, Highter, Hiccar and Hechter.]

Our people write much about him in the poetic way, as he even traveled in Asia, gave king Priam, along with the war women mentioned above, support against the Greeks, and went home to Bavaria with great goodwill and honor. Quite a few believe that it was the loyal Duke Heccard with the leather shoe, whom the unlearned put in Bavaria long after the birth of Christ, when Duke Welf ruled in Bavaria at the same time, and went to Jerusalem, died on the way in the island of Cyprus. So they are pronounced, differently and differently, wherever it is needed briefly or completely, in such a way that the unlearned do not take it for a single name but for two, as Chunrad Chuno Chuenzel, likewise Sigl for short or Seifrid Sigmund whole, Welf short Welfart whole, as Heccar or Heccarl for short, is in full Heccard.

The ancients put him under the gate of hell as a judge who warns the people and taught how to keep themselves in hell; there is another saying: I warned you to be faithful to Heccard. We have two more common proverbs about the faithful Heccard and leather shoes, and a whole German history with rhymes and bad rhymes, but described in a poetical way and the old custom.

That is the reason why Heccar should have fought Asia and the Greeks. Eusebius and Jerome recorded in their chronicles that the German war women mentioned above, before the city of Troy was occupied by the Greeks, overran Greece and occupied the city of Thebes. According to what all others write, to Priam, king of Troy, there came to help often and thickly, the said women's queen **Penthesilea**, who in Asia in the land over against Constantinople, called by the ancients Pontus and Bithynia, lived by the sea in the city of Alophen, and had her royal seat, and did much more honestly, of which the old poets also write, sing and say. The ancients continue to write more (such as Jordanes and others who were German and write of the Germans), that the king and prince of the Germans in Siebenburg and around the Danube there, king **Teutschram**, his son **Telephus** and **Eruphil**, gave the Trojans help and support against the Greeks. Strabo also says such things, and Posidonius too, that they came from Europe from the Danube.

[Heccar is also mentioned in French accounts of his contemporary king Rhemus, as his son-in-law Hagtor or Hictar who took squadrons of Gauls as well to Troy, found it already deserted, and joined a group of Trojan expatriates on the Maeotis (Azov), where he begat his heir Frank.

Teutschram was king over the German Cimmerians, as were later Telephus and Euriphilus, who are also in Magnus' annals as ruling the Getae.]

Teutschram had Priam's daughter, by name Auge, who is beautiful, in marriage, had acquired a son from her, called Telephus. So Stephen of Constantinople writes in the book that he has described of the notable ones from all over the world; Dares, a Trojan, also writes in the book of the Trojan War how Hercules, with the help of Teutschram, conquered the giant and king **Diomedes** in the land of Thrace, where Constantinople is located. And Telephus (as Pindar says) alone was allowed to pass Achilles. Pindar also reports how Hercules was one with the Germans even at the origin of the Danube, brought jousting and tournaments from Germany to Greece, which was always held in the fifth year before the city Olympia, as I will describe later.

[Auge was actually the daughter of Sigl or Sagillus the Geto-Cimmerian chief under Brenner, and it was actually Heracles Alcaeus the Greek, who first married Auge and begat Telephus, whom Teutschram would raise as a stepson after he married Auge.

The remainder of this chapter is an off-topic digression on astrology, omitted from translation.]

### 87. Of the captains of the Jews, the thirteenth fourteenth and fifteenth, with the names Ahialon, Abdon, Samson.

[...]

[This chapter follows the careers of Elon [1165-1155 BC), Abdon (1155-1147 BC), and the Philistine subjection (1147-1107 BC), including the judgeship of Samson (1127-1107 BC). This is slightly off for the reign of Heccar.]

During Samson's time the Germans were victorious in Italy, occupied Milan, toasted peacefully with the king of Gaul, which in addition would be one people, one kingdom with the Germans; the Italians write that themselves.

[The ruler of Tyrrhenia in Heccar's reign was Mezentius, who succeeded Tyberinus in 1205 BC, and Tarchon III, who followed Mezentius in 1180 BC when Aeneas killed him. Despite the loss of Milan, the Tyrrhenians seem to have been active in the 'Nine Bows' or Sea Peoples coalition by the time of Mezentius, who is mentioned in Aeneid and other classical sources.]

### 88. Of the vast, powerful city of Troy, across the sea in Asia against Greece and Constantinople, as this side of the sea in Europe, about how it was destroyed.

When Heccar ruled here with us in Germany, and with the Jews the captain, according to the Jews' calculations, was the strong Samson, Troy, the kingdom and city, was destroyed; for what causes, follows afterwards.

But since this war is well known to us, even the unlearned, I want to put together again with short words regarding the Trojan king, so that it can be understood in a basic way how the majority of minor bad causes, the majority of them are very bad and look like nothing, so be competent of people, eternal and in the long, even the evil in the long does not go unpunished. The tight limps and always sneaks after the sinner on the track.

#### The Kings of Troy.

The first king, who reigned at Troy 64 years, is king Dardanus. After him, his son Erichthonius owned the Trojan kingdom 46 years, after whom there came to the kingdom king Tros, from whom Troy kept the name. Since the 60 years had been in violence, he gave his final inheritance into the hand of his son, called Ilus. After this one, who ruled 54 years, there followed in the kingdom king Laomedon, father of king Priam. Laomedon ruled 33 years, Priam 40. And Priamus, since the Greeks did not want to return his sister Hesiona, who would have abducted her from his father (as I said above), by whom his father had also been slain, he wanted to reward the Greeks with the same value, as they opposed such and vastly and his son was violently opposed, namely Hector, Helenus and his daughter Cassandra, who foretells that land and people would come to ruin from it and that the city of Troy would be exploited, would cost many good people; The Erythrean Sibyl foretells the same thing. People like to say 'how good is it?' What must be sent itself.

[This reflects the classical list of Trojan kings, ultimately dependent on an earlier form of the *Manethonian Supplement* with its gaps. The last king before the gap is Tros (1618-1558 BC). The other name for Troy, Wilusha (Ilium), appears in Hittite records by 1425 BC, so the king Ilus I for whom it was named must have ruled then or before. The king Kukunni (Cycne) is known from c. 1350 BC from Hittite records. Ilus II is the first king after the gap, ruling 1318-1266 BC, who must have been the same as Aleksandu in Hittite records for those years. Priam or Piyama-radu was already active in politics in the reigns of Aleksandu (Ilus) and Laomedon. Hector was evidently not Priam's real son, but adopted by him, and the same as Heccar of Bavaria, son of Brenner I.]

King Priam sent his son Alexander, whom we call Paris, with many ships and young companions over to Europe in Greece, who takes care of his host Menelaus, king in Greece, his housewife, Helena, with much good attention. The Greek princes and lords to rake such went across the sea in Asia, fought ten years there. Subsequently they won the city with cunning and treachery at night, plundered, burned, strangled everyone, left no one with anything to look at, but only Aeneas and Antenor, who had handed the city over to the enemy (as ours wrote); but they would still have to vacate the country, so Titus testifies to Livius and the ancients as well. Helenus with his sworn and two young boys, his in laws, Hector's wife and children, was imprisoned and frozen for life; he always had advised his father, he should chase Paris out of the country with Helena. King Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, brought him home with him. Therefore it is a great foolish job, also a shame, that quite a few of our German lords and princes come from Troy, no matter how many traitors did not come to this country only but in Italy, just as they would never have been in Germany before Troy, so before the kingdom of Troy seven hundred years the German arch-kingdom stood, and Troy had under the aforementioned six kings, no longer than 299 years. And when Troy was destroyed, one counts from the beginning of the German Arch-Kingdom at a thousand years (less seven years), from the beginning of the world 2800, less 12 years.

And then for the sake of a few women there was a great, difficult, protracted war between Asia and Europe; because the world had stood still, its never so good people, princes and lords, from some countries have been at war. It was, as it is reckoned, located in the middle of the earth: Asia, Europe and Africa, the depraved strangled each other, the father was on one side, the son on the other. Much bloodshed occurred, luck was circular: now there was the question of those who made names on both sides much and great damage on land and on water, to good creatures and people, many people perished, many kings and princes and blatant heroes; great blood was shed. And the Greek princes, since they had now razed the city, put an end to the war, were on their way back home, spent so many misfortunes on land on water that they did not come home again, perish and die in misery. Quite a few, who had already come home, would be murdered by their wives and next of kin, and if no one is dead for them, as much as they were concerned with Troy. Such unfortunately approached them, which some believe and have also written, moved by the misfortune that the Greeks conceded, that the Trojans were incumbent on and the Greeks had been overcome and that he, Hector, beat Achilles to death.

This Achilles was also a good doctor, invented the power of the wortkraut, as we also called medicinal herbs, schabab and habmichlieb, healed the wounds with it; in Greek still called Achilles herb from him. But I come back to Troy.

It is the common saying that the Germans would have been in this war and their war women (as I also mentioned above from old writings) and would have come home from it...

[Rambling, barely comprehensible paragraphs of little value omitted]

Dares Phrygius, a priest, was on the Trojan side in this war; Likewise Dyctis from Crete was on the Greek side; they have described this war, their books are still available.

### 89. Of the Latins, whence the Romans came

Eight years after the city of Troy was destroyed, at this time **Aeneas** the Trojan, who (as some say and write) surrendered the city of Troy, and was a magician who sacrificed his first wife to honor the gods with the sword, came into Italy into the region where Rome is and at that time was of the king **Latinus**. He gave his daughter Lavinia to Aeneas for marriage. And Aeneas built him a wonderful city, it was called after his wife Lavinium. He ruled after his in law Latinus' death three years, from whom the same place in Italy was called Latin country (as later the name was called Roman from the capital of the country Rome) and the language still Latin.

[According to most annals it was only 3 years after the fall of Troy, 1180 BC when Aenius received Latium from Latinus, king of Italia (south of the Tiber); Aeneas ruled until 1176 BC.

And it was at this time that Carmenta, the queen, invented the Latin alphabet and letters.

The Romans come from the Latins, as is indicated in the German Titus Livius at the beginning, so that it is not necessary to write much further about this matter.

And this Aeneas was born from the royal ancestry of the kings of Troy, his father's name was Anchises, lord Capis, uncle Assaracus, who was the youngest son of the third king of Troy, named Tros, and brother of the fourth. Called Ilus.

### 90. What happened to the Greek princes when they returned home

As I said above, no Greek prince returned home with joy. **Agamemnon**, a king of kings, the chief general, was murdered by his own wife and cousin, his father's brother-son by the name of **Aegistus**, and the murderer ruled for seven years together with the men and women. Then **Orestes**, with the advice of his sisters Electra, avenged the death of his father, slew his own mother together with his stepfather and waited in the land of Morea; ruled seventy years, lived ninety.

[Agamemnon apparently ruled Mycenae 1198-1168 BC; Aegistus succeeded him until 1161 BC when Orestes came to the throne, but he could not have reigned 70 years, as the Heracleidae took over in 1103 BC, following Orestes, Tisamenus, Penthilus and Cometes, who therefore had only 58 years between them, as Eusebius says.]

The old man Nestor, who lived for three hundred years, lost all his people on the water. So Diomedes never went home; Meanwhile, his wife had taken another who owned his land by force. He came and fled behind Rome in Apulia. Teucer likewise had to put on a fleeting footing. His father Telamon didn't want to know or hear and dared not come under his eyes. His brother Ajax became senseless, stabbed himself; the other Ajax drowned in the sea with the ship and people.

Ulysses lost all of his people on the water, he swam naked and flopped out, hardly got away, had to move over a miserable twenty years. So the hero Achilles was somehow shot in a church by Paris in front of the city of Troy. Since he thought that Polyxena, Paris' sister, should be given to him in marriage, Paris standing under the altar with an arrow, gave him the blessing. But his son Pyrrhus named the land of Epirus, such a place and corner in Greece against the west and south. And since he was named to a woman Harmonia, the daughter of the king Menelaus and Helene, and wanted to be introduced, he was stabbed to death in the most famous church of the time, called Delphi, by the betrayal of the priest Machareus of the above-mentioned Orestes, whom Harmonia had promised before marriage. And Menelaus, a cause of the war, if he has now recaptured his wife, he suffered a lot of hardship on the way home on the water; the wind even knocked him into Egypt, since **Thuoris** reigned there at that time, whom Homer calls Polybus. But Helenus, Priam's son, because of his wisdom and humility, was more worldly in Greece and in the locality and peninsula towards west and south, called Chaonia, took his brother Hector's wife for marriage, helped his cousins ​​and step sons, put them back in Asia, entered the kingdom of Troy and city again, put the sons and descendants of the traitor Antenor out of it, whom the Greeks would have obeyed the country to withdraw from him.

[Aventinus' own works are the source for the name of Epirus being from Ophir in the 24th century BC, so the derivation from a Pyrrhus at this time ought to be rejected. "Thuoris" is actually Twosret, the Queen of Egypt who ruled during part of the Trojan War (1191-1189 BC), but in Greek accounts was Pharaoh throughout and after the conflict.]