COSMAS of PRAGUE. – Bohemian priest and chronicler, b. ca. 1045 in Prague, d. there in 1125. He went to Liège, then to Germany, and in 1092 to Rome. He wrote a Chronica Bohemorum covering ancient times up to 1125, in three books. For the oldest part he could rely only on tradition, while the later part draws on monuments, documents, and direct testimony. He was a conscientious historian and a lively and engaging writer. He was called the Herodotus of Bohemia.
The Chronica was published several times: Script. rer. Bohem., Hanover 1602, pp. 1–14; 1607, pp. 1–172; 1620, pp. 1–172; Script. rer. Saxonicarum, I, Leipzig 1728, pp. 1967–2132; Script. rer. Bohem., Prague 1874, new series, II, pp. 1–282; PL, 166, cols. 9–388; Scriptores rer. Germanicarum, II, Berlin 1923, ed. B. Bretholz.