The ''Annales Cavenses'' are a chronicle compiled at the
La Trinità della Cava abbey in
Cava de' Tirreni,
province of Salerno, southern
Italy.
It consists of annalistic entries spanning the years 568 to 1318, i.e. essentially the entire duration of the
Middle Ages in Italy (but only for the last two centuries or so compiled contemporaneously with the events recorded).
Some of the entries are of scientific interest as historical records of events such as
earthquakes
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
or
astronomical phenomena
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...
. The text was first edited in 1839 by
Georg Heinrich Pertz in his ''
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 ...
''.
Not to be confused is the so-called ''
Chronicon Cavense'' (also known as ''Annalista Salernitanus''), a work which was once considered authentic but in 1847 was established as an 18th-century forgery due to
Francesco Maria Pratilli Francesco Maria Pratilli (16891763) was an Italian priest, scholar, antiquarian, whose name is known, from the 19th century, for being involved in a vast series of skilled forgeries.
Life and works
Born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Santa Maria in Ð ...
(Georg Heinrich Pertz, Rudolf Köpke, ''Über das Chronicon Cavense und andere von Pratillo herausgegebene Quellenschriften'', in "Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde", IX (1847), 1–239).
References
* Bartolomeo Capasso, ''Le fonti della storia delle provincie napolitane dal 568 al 1500 '', edizione E. Oreste Mastrojanni, Napoli, 1902 (''ristampa anastatica'', Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1997 ) pp. 19–22.
*
Georg Heinrich Pertz''Annales Cavenses''in ''
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 ...
'', 1839
* Fulvio Delle Donne (ed.), ''Annales Cavenses'', Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, 2011 (Fonti per la storia dell’Italia medievale - ''Rerum Italicarum Scriptores'', series III)
External links
badiadicava.it
Italian chronicles
Medieval Italy
{{italy-stub