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

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. 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 Fonta ...

in the

diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. 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 tha ...

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 Giles of Orval (french: Gilles d'Orval; la, Aegidius Aureaevallensis) was a Cistercian monk and historian. Originally from the prince-bishopric of Liège, he lived and worked in the abbey of Orval in the archdiocese of Trier. His major work was ...

''Gesta episcoporum Leodiensium'' ("Deeds of the

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

"). His sources also included the

universal chronicle 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 ...

Sigebert of Gembloux Sigebert of Gembloux (Sigebertus Gemblacensis; 1030 – 5 October 1112) was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII and Pascal II. Early in his life h ...

and Books 45-49 of

Helinand of Froidmont Helinand of Froidmont (c. 1150—after 1229 (probably 1237)) was a medieval poet, chronicler, and ecclesiastical writer. Biography He was born of Flemish parents at Pronleroy in France around 1150. He studied under Ralph of Beauvais. Richard W ...

'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 Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

were moved from a monastery in

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 ...

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 Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

. 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 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.
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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