John of Viktring

Who was John of Viktring?

John of Viktring was a late medieval chronicler and political advisor to the rulers of Carinthia. He is also known as Johannes Victorensis, Johannes de Victoria, John of Victring, Johann von Viktring, or Joannes Victoriensis. In Slovene he is called Janez Vetrinjski.

Nothing is known of John's early life. In 1307 he became abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Viktring, near Klagenfurt in the Duchy of Carinthia. He was later both chaplain and confidential secretary to the Carinthian duke Henry of Gorizia-Tyrol. Upon the duke's death in 1335, John journeyed to the city of Linz at the request of the Henry's daughter, Margarete Maultasch, to defend her claims to her father's estates before the Emperor Louis IV of Wittelsbach. Nevertheless the two Austrian dukes, Albert II of Habsburg and his brother Otto the Merry, took possession of the contested Carinthian lands in her stead, and thereby became the lords of Viktring Abbey. They too learned to value the abbot's abilities and consulted him in all important government matters.