Ulrich von Richental

Ulrich von Richental, also recorded as Ulrich Richental and, in English sources, Ulrich of Richenthal, was born in Konstanz around 1360, with sources allowing a range of about 1356 to 1365 and no exact date established. No school, university, or degree is documented for him. Scholarship presumes he learned writing and notarial work from his father and received Latin instruction and minor clerical orders, since he is recorded as clericus Constantiensis by about 1380. He later worked as a notary and in an administrative capacity connected to the city council and diocese.

His central work is the Chronik des Konzils zu Konstanz, a German language vernacular chronicle composed in the 1420s that documents the Council of Constance in extensive, often eyewitness, detail. The earliest known richly illustrated manuscript copies date from about 1460 to 1470 and include pen drawings and heraldic devices, though the authorship of these illustrations in the later copies is not securely attributed to Richental personally. The chronicle was first printed in Augsburg in 1483 by Anton Sorg, with further printed editions in 1536 and 1575. Ulrich von Richental died in Konstanz, most commonly dated to 1437, though some sources place his death in a range of 1436 to 1438, and no exact calendar date has been established in modern scholarship.

No exact verbatim quotes from named critics in major outlets could be located for Ulrich von Richental. His reputation rests instead on historical and codicological scholarship, which values the chronicle for its eyewitness detail, its record of the Council's participants and ceremonies, and its extensive heraldic content. Scholars continue to debate the precise years of his birth and death and the authorship of the illustrations found in the chronicle's later manuscript copies.

No verifiable auction record exists for Ulrich von Richental. Searches of major auction record sources found only modern reproduction prints of manuscript illustrations, sold at retail print prices rather than through any auction house, and none of these carry documented hammer prices, sale dates, or auction locations. Surviving manuscript copies and leaves connected to his chronicle are held in institutional libraries and museums, not traded through the commercial gallery or auction market.

Ulrich von Richental has no gallery or estate representation, no catalogue raisonne, and no documented auction history. Anyone encountering his name in a commercial setting is most likely looking at a modern facsimile or reproduction print of a manuscript illustration rather than an original work with a verified sale record. Original manuscript witnesses of his chronicle are held exclusively in institutional collections, so any private offering described as an original Richental manuscript would warrant close scrutiny against known institutional holdings.