The ''Annales Ceccanenses'', also called the ''Chronicon Ceccanense'' or ''Chronicon Fossae Novae'', is a chronicle of

universal history A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...

from the

birth of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man na ...

down to 1218. It was begun in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century by an anonymous monk of

Fossanova Abbey Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a church that was formerly a Cistercian abbey located near the railway-station of Priverno in Latina, Italy, about south-east of Rome. History Fossanova is one of the finest examples of early Burgundian ...

, near

Ceccano Ceccano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, central Italy, in the Latin Valley. History The town had its origins as an ancient Volscian citadel that surrendered to the Romans in 330 BC (424 Ab Urbe Condita).''The History ...

. It is partially dependent on the '' Annales Cavenses'' and '' Annales Casinenses'', and contains no original material prior to the year 1120. After that, however, it is a valuable source, especially for the history of the

Papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Auguste Molinier Auguste Molinier (30 September 185119 May 1904) was a French historian. Biography Born in Toulouse, Auguste Molinier was a student at the École Nationale des Chartes, which he left in 1873, and also at the École pratique des hautes études; an ...

"2289. Annales Ceccanenses"
''Les Sources de l'histoire de France—Des origines aux guerres d'Italie. III. Les Capétiens, 1180–1328'' (Paris: A. Picard et fils, 1903), p. 21. The ''Annales'' is preserved in two manuscripts: in Rome,

Biblioteca Vallicelliana The Biblioteca Vallicelliana is a library in Rome, Italy. The library is located in the Oratorio dei Filippini complex built by Francesco Borromini in Piazza della Chiesa Nuova. The library holds about 130,000 volumes of manuscripts, incunabula ...

, L42 and in Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, IV.F.8. Both are transcriptions of the original from Santa Maria a Fiume made at Fossanova on 7 July 1600 by a certain Benedetto Conti di Sora. The original is now lost. According to both copies, the author of the chronicle was the "lord of Ceccano", Count John, and a member of the family of the counts of

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the ...

. The chronicle's first editor in 1644,

Ferdinando Ughelli Ferdinando Ughelli (21 March 1595 – 19 May 1670) was an Italian Cistercian monk and church historian. Biography He was born in Florence. He entered the Cistercian Order and was sent to the Gregorian University in Rome, where he studied under t ...

, accepted Conti's note about the authorship, but

Ludovico Muratori Lodovico Antonio Muratori (21 October 1672 – 23 January 1750) was an Italian historian, notable as a leading scholar of his age, and for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. Biography Born ...

pointed out that Conti could have been confused by the incorporation verbatim of certain documents issued by Count John into the chronicle itself. He therefore preferred to see it as anonymous. In the 19th century, the editor

Georg Heinrich Pertz Georg Heinrich Pertz (28 March 17957 October 1876) was a German historian. Personal life Pertz was born in Hanover on 28 March 1795. His parents were the court bookbinder Christian August Pertz and Henrietta Justina née Deppen. He married twi ...

proposed that the ''Annales'' was the work of Count John's

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

, the priest Benedetto da Ceccano, who is attested in documents from 24 July 1196, 22 August 1201, 8 March 1209, 4 August 1209 and 3 September 1209. His main argument was the character of the chronicle, which incorporates Papal bulls and documents issued by the counts of Ceccano and has a keen interest in ceremonial and procession. These features give the ''Annales'' its historical value. Less informative, but more interesting are some

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s directed against the

Emperor Henry VI Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...

and his

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

incorporated into the chronicle. These are attributed to John, a deacon and monk of

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

Notes

{{reflist 1218 books 13th-century history books French chronicles 13th-century Latin books Works published anonymously Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor