Schreitwein – alledged chronicler of Passau and author of the bishop’s catalogue, a very detailed diocese report, first printed and released in 1793 entitled Cathalogus Archiepiscoporum et Episcoporum Laureacensis et Patauiensis Ecclesiarum per N. Schreitwein collectus ad Fridericum Tertium Romanorum Imperatorem. This catalogue was considered as a reliable source, and has been consulted by Austrian-Bavarian historiographs since the 16th century.
While Albert Behaim first reckoned him as a bishop, Schreitwein was later identified as Abbot Secundinus of Trient, but critical research has finally declared him fictitious or imaginary.
How did this mix-up happen?
Schritowinus (or Schritwinus) owes his existence to the Bavarian historiograph Johannes Turmair (1477-1534), called Aventin. In his annals he refers to Schreitwein, whose scripts he alledgedly found in Passau. Today historians agree that a mistake in reading or writing that lead to the so-called "Schreitwein version" which, in fact, was the second version of the Cathalogus presulum Laureacensium (the Secundinus) written by Thomas Ebendorfer.
Leidinger, Georg: Untersuchungen zur Passauer Geschichtsschreibung des Mittelalters, Verlag der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, München, 1915, p. 121 f.
Heger, Hedwig: Das Lebenszeugnis Walthers von der Vogelweide, Verlag A. Schendl, Wien, 1970, p. 22 f.
edited by: Susanne Kipke