Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (french: Aubri or ''Aubry de Trois-Fontaines''; la, Albericus Trium Fontium) (died 1252) was a medieval

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

chronicler who wrote in Latin. He was a monk of

Trois-Fontaines Abbey Trois-Fontaines Abbey (french: Abbaye de Sainte-Marie des Trois-Fontaines)literally "three fountains"; cf the Trappist abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, near Rome, which is also called the "Abbey of Three Fountains" (''Abbazia delle Tre Font ...

in the diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne. He died after 1252. He wrote a chronicle describing world events from the

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *'' Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing *Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it *Creationism, the belief that ...

to the year 1241.

Life and works

Alberic was likely from a noble

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

family which could afford a good education for him. He became a monk of Trois-Fontaines Abbey no later than 1230. In 1232 Alberic began his chronicle ''Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium'' and continued working on it at least until 1251 since he used a history by Gilles of Orval ''Gesta episcoporum Leodiensium'' ("Deeds of the

Bishops of Liège A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop i ...

"). His sources also included the universal chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux and Books 45-49 of Helinand of Froidmont's ''Chronicon''. Alberic's chronicle describes world events from the

and contains original writing starting from 674, when (according to the chronicle) the relics of St. Benedict were moved from a monastery in Monte Cassino to the

Fleury Abbey Fleury Abbey (Floriacum) in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, France, founded in about 640, is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia. Its site on the banks of the Lo ...

on the banks of the Loire. The chronicle ends abruptly with a description of the transfer of the body of

Jacques de Vitry Jacques de Vitry (''Jacobus de Vitriaco'', c. 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a French canon regular who was a noted theologian and chronicler of his era. He was elected bishop of Acre in 1214 and made cardinal in 1229. His ''Historia Oriental ...

(d. 1240) to the

Oignies Abbey Oignies Abbey (french: Abbaye d'Oignies; originally Priory of St Nicolas d'Oignies) is a former Augustinian monastery in Aiseau-Presles, Wallonia. Established in 1187, it is situated on the banks of the Sambre River in Belgium. Origin In 1187, f ...

in 1241. Alberic's chronicle was published in the ''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

'' in 1874.‘Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium’, ed. Paulus Scheffer-Boichorst, in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptorum'', vol. 23 (Hanover, 1874), pp. 631-950.
/ref>

References

Bibliography

*Reindel, K., 'Petrus Damiani bei Helinand von Froidmont und Alberich von Troisfontaines', ''Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters'' 53,1 (1997), 205-224. *Schmidt-Chazan, "Aubri de Trois-Fontaines, un historien entre la France et l'Empire", ''Annales de l'Est'', t.36, 1984, p. 163-192 * A. M. Wyrwa, Alberyk z Trois Fontaines i jego średniowieczna kronika świata, w: Cognitioni Gestorum. Studia z dziejów średniowiecza dedykowane Profesorowi Jerzemu Strzelczykowi, red. D.A. Sikorski, A.M. Wyrwa, Poznań-Warszawa 2006, s. 319-344 *A. M. Wyrwa, Alberyk z Trois-Fontaines o początkach chrześcijaństwa w Prusach, w: Wielkopolska - Polska – Czechy. Studia z dziejów średniowiecza ofiarowane Profesorowi Bronisławowi Nowackiemu, red. Z. Górczak, J. Jaskulski, Poznań 2009, s. 69-99 * ''Rech Régis.'
Alberich of Troisfontaines
// Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, ed. by Graeme Dunphy and Cristian Bratu. — Leiden: Brill, 2016. 1250s deaths French Cistercians French chroniclers 13th-century Latin writers 13th-century French historians People from Marne (department) Year of birth unknown French male writers {{France-historian-stub