The ''Chronicle of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif of Sens'' ( la, Chronicon Sancti Petri Vivi Senonensis, french: Chronique de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif de Sens) is an anonymous Latin chronicle written at the

Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif The Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif (french: Abbaye de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif) was a Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Sens, France, in the Archdiocese of Sens. History The first abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, Saint Ebbo, was bishop of S ...

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

between about 1100 and 1125 with continuations added into the 13th century. The original work was attributed to a monk named Clarius by Dom Victor Cottron in 1650, but this is not now accepted. It is, however, sometimes still labeled the ''Chronique dite de Clarius'' ("Chronicle said to be of Clarius"). The ''Chronicle'' is mainly a history of the abbey and of the city of Sens.Régis Rech
"Chronicon S. Petri Vivi"
in Graeme Dunphy and Cristian Bratu (eds.), ''

Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle The Medieval Chronicle Society is an international and interdisciplinary organization founded to facilitate the work of scholars interested in medieval annals and chronicles, or more generally medieval historiography. It was founded in 1999 and in ...

'' (Brill, online 2016), accessed 21 June 2019. The ''Chronicle'' is divided into four sections. The first is a

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 ...

inspired by Hugh of Flavigny and, through him, by

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christia ...

and

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

. This covers the period 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 ...

to the year 1100. The second section is a chronicle of Sens drawn from earlier chronicles, such as that of

Odorannus Odorannus of Sens (c. 985-1046) was a Benedictine monk at the abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in Sens, France. He was, in varying capacities, an artist, architect, goldsmith, musical theorist, biographer, exegete and chronicler. Virtually all that is ...

and the '' Historia Francorum Senonensis''. It covers the years 675–1096, although some of this material is dispersed throughout the universal history. The third section contains an account of the abbacy of Arnaud of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif (1096–1124) in the form of a series of

annals 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 ann ...

. The fourth section contains a continuation of the annals down to 1180 and further continuations that take it down to 1290.Gabrielle M. Spiegel, "Review of Bautier and Gilles", '' Speculum'', 57(1), 114–116. Abbot Arnaud commissioned the writing of the chronicle and the copying of the documents towards 1108. The ''Chronicle'''s most recent editors suggest that the years 1100–1108 in the annals of his abbacy reflect his own account in his own hand. The ''Chronicle'' survives in its original manuscript of 138

folios The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book mad ...

, now MS no. 212 in the municipal library of

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

. Of these, the first 104 contain the ''Chronicle'' while the remainder contain various documents copied from the abbey's archives. These include royal and papal charters, excerpted letters, canons of church councils, liturgy and lists of rents and renders owed the abbey.Robert F. Berkhofer III, ''Day of Reckoning: Power and Accountability in Medieval France'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), pp. 113–14. One purpose of the ''Chronicle'' was to justify the abbey's rights, especially against the priory of Mauriac. Arnaud's extended dispute with the prior of Mauriac gets detailed treatment. To modern historians, the ''Chronicle'' is chiefly interesting for the light it sheds on the composition of a monastic history. It was copied late in the 12th century into the '' Pseudo-Godel Chronicle'' and in that guise was used as a source by the influential

Robert of Auxerre Robert of Auxerre (c. 1156-1212), French chronicler, was an inmate of the monastery of St Marien at Auxerre. At the request of Milo de Trainel (1155–1202), abbot of this house, he wrote a ''Chronicon'', or universal history, which covers the pe ...

Editions

Robert-Henri Bautier Robert-Henri Bautier (19 April 1922, Paris – 19 October 2010, Paris) was a French historian, archivist, and medievalist. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium in 1986.Index biographique des me ...

and Monique Gilles, eds. and transs., with Anne-Marie Bautier. ''Chronique de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif de Sens, dite de Clarius (Chronicon Sancti Petri Vivi Senonensis)''. Sources d'Histoire Medievale. Paris: CNRS, 1979.

Notes

{{Authority control Latin chronicles about France 12th-century history books 12th-century Latin books Latin chronicles containing universal histories