### Rogerius, Planctus destructionis
Rogerius A historiographer, who was born in Italy around 1205. In 1233 he accompanied Jacob of Pecorar, papal legate to Hungary as a chaplain. Andrew II appointed him to be the main dean of Várad because of the role he played in the making of the Bereg treaty. From 1243 he became the main dean of Sopron, in 1249 he was the canon of Zagreb, then the archbishop of Spalato. In 1243-1244 he wrote the history of the Tartar Invasion based on his own experiences in Nagyvárad. On the base of an antique preface (Boethius) he gave the title "Carmen misarabile" (= miserable song) to his work, which in spite of the title is not a poetic work, but a prosaic one in the frame of a letter. The author offered his work to Jacob of Pecorar. Scholastic and dialectic methods and the high stylistic value make it an outstanding work of Hungarian historical literature. It traces the catastrophe of the Tartar Invasion back to socio-historical causes - a quite modern method in his age. According to him these causes should be found in the development of the Hungarian society in the 1230s. No manuscript of it survived, but as an appendix got into the primitive print of János Thuróczy's chronicle. He died in 1266. SzK Planctus destructionis regni Ungarie per Tartaros A Latin lament, which was written at the latest in 1242. As the earliest relic of Hungarian secular lyrics it contains 62 five-line verses. It describes the demolition of the 1241-1242 Tartar Invasion and it contains a prayer for diverting the danger. Its author is an excellent stylist, probably a prelate, or a highly educated monk. The historical data in the work are undoubtedly authentic. The most important element is the blaming of certain layers of Hungarian society for the catastrophe. It survived in only one copy from the 14th century. SzK