The ''Chronicle of 957'' (sometimes called the ''Northern'' or ''Northumbrian Annals'') is an anonymous

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 ...

chronicle of

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

and the

Kingdom of York Scandinavian York ( non, Jórvík) Viking Yorkshire or Norwegian York is a term used by historians for the south of Northumbria (modern-day Yorkshire) during the period of the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was do ...

covering the years 888–957. It is preserved in the manuscript Cambridge CCC 139 as a part of the 12th-century '' History of the Kings'' attributed to

Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (died after 1129) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon entered the Benedictine monastery at Jarrow as a youth. It moved to Durham in 1074, and he was professed in 1085 or ...

. There it functions as a continuation, after a long gap, of the '' Old Northumbrian Annals'' that cover the years 732–806 and some annals drawn from

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his c ...

's ''Life of Alfred'' for 849–887. The two Northumbrian chronicles are, however, entirely independent. The ''Chronicle of 957'' is not contemporary with the events it describes, but was composed much later based on a now lost source (a set of Northumbrian annals or perhaps a unique Northumbrian recension of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

''). It ends with a note about the reign of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

(1042–1066). The first two

annal Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between anna ...

s in the ''Chronicle'', for the years 888 and 890, are translations from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

of the original ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. The annals for 893 and part of 894 are taken from the first continuation of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. They are derived from a manuscript which did not contain the errors of dating that crept into the surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts A, B, C and D. There is no further connection between the ''Chronicle of 957'' and the first continuation, but there are several annals common to it and the Peterborough version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. These are those for 899 (death of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

), 906 ( treaty of Yttingaford), 910 (

battle of Tettenhall The Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes called the Battle of Wednesfield or Wōdnesfeld) took place, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', near Tettenhall on 5 August 910. The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex met an army of Kingdom of Nort ...

), 914, 919, 923, 927 and 933, although the dating sometimes differs in the Peterborough version. Before 934, the ''Chronicle of 957'' contains information not found in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' only for the years 892, 899, 900, 901, 902, 912, 920, 925 and 934. Some bits of information appear to be drawn from the ''

Historia de Sancto Cuthberto The ''Historia de Sancto Cuthberto'' ("History of St Cuthbert") is a historical compilation finished some time after 1031. It is an account of the history of the bishopric of St Cuthbert—based successively at Lindisfarne, Norham, Chester-le ...

''. After 934, however, the entries are wholly independent of any version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and are also much fuller. The full ''Chronicle of 957'' may thus combine two shorter works, one also incorporated into the Peterborough chronicle and another one for 934–957 and not attested outside of the ''History of the Kings''.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend English chronicles Early medieval Latin literature