The ''Chronica Majora'' is the seminal work of
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
, a member of the English
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
community of St Albans and long-celebrated historian. The work begins with Creation and contains annals down to the year of Paris' death of 1259. The ''Chronica'' has long been considered a contemporary attempt to present a universal history of the world.
Written 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 ...
, the illustrated autograph copy of the ''Chronica Majora'' survives in three volumes. The first two parts, covering Creation up to 1188 as well as the years 1189 to 1253 (MS 26 and MS 16), are contained in the
Parker Library at
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
[Parker Library on the web: MS 26, MS 16I, MS 16II 362 x 244/248 mm. ff 141 + 281] The remainder of the ''Chronica'', from 1254 until Matthew's death in 1259, is in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, bound as Royal MS 14 C VII folios 157–218, following Matthew's ''Historia Anglorum'' (an abridgement of the ''Chronica'' covering the period from 1070 to 1253).
The ''Chronica'' is also renowned for its author's unprecedented use of archival and documentary material. These sources, amounting to over 200 items, include charters dating back to the eighth century,
[''Chronica Majora'', vol. 6, pp. 1–62] the rights of St Albans,
a dossier relating to the canonisation of
St Edmund of Canterbury and even a documented list of precious gems and artefacts in possession of St Albans. This exhaustive list of material required its own appendix which later became a separate volume, the ''Liber Additamentorum.''
The ''Chronica'' is one of the most important surviving documents for the history of Latin Europe.
[Bjorn Weiler, 'Matthew Paris on the Writing of History', ''Journal of Medieval History'' 35:3 (2006), p. 255.] Despite its focus on England, Matthew's work extends to regions as far afield as
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
, and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
as well as the
crusader states.
It continues to be mined for its coverage of the
Mongol invasions
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastatio ...
, its detailed report of the conflict between
Frederick II and successive popes, as well as its commentary on the outbreak of the
Second Barons’ War of 1258–1267.
In addition to Matthew's literary abilities, he was an accomplished draughtsman. The surviving manuscripts are considered to be the foremost examples of English Gothic
Manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
, and they include some of the earliest surviving maps of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and the
Holy Land.
Methodology
During the late twelfth century, historians sought to differentiate between their own work and that of the
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
annal-writers.
Gervase of Canterbury, whose work influenced Matthew Paris's writing, wrote the following in 1188:
"The historian proceeds diffusely and elegantly, whereas the chronicler proceeds simply, gradually and briefly. The Chronicler computes the years ''Anno Domini'' and months kalends, and briefly describes the actions of kings and princes which occurred at those times; he also commemorates events, portents and wonders."
Although Matthew stands alone in the breadth of his research and in his illustrations, his writing is characteristic of thirteenth-century attempts to synthesize and consolidate historical writing, by broadening the annalistic genre into a more universal form of expression.
[Lewis, ''The Art of Matthew Paris'', p.10.] This process of evolution helps to account for the quasi-journalistic structure of the ''Chronica''. Matthew set out to shape the work in a chronological order, but it developed into a multi-layered pastiche because he continued the monastic practices of revising and augmenting entries retrospectively.
Suzanne Lewis claims that
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.
At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell o ...
, Matthew's predecessor, had a resounding influence on Matthew's works.
[Lewis, ''The Art of Matthew Paris'', p. 12.] Matthew's ''Chronica'' was largely a continuation of Roger's annals up to 1235 with the occasional addition of phrases and anecdotes for dramatic effect.
[Lewis, ''The Art of Matthew Paris'', p.13.] However, Matthew went beyond what was customary by his very extensive inclusion of sources and evidences.
Although it had long been usual to include the texts of documents in Christian historical narratives, the ''Chronica'' incorporated a hitherto unparalleled amount of such material.
In addition, the number of changes made to the ''Chronica'' suggests that Matthew adapted and reworked much of his material, and in so molding it he enlarged both his own role as author and the historiographical nature of his writing.
Historiography
Matthew's status as an historian has long been the subject of academic debate. While many maintain that Matthew never intended to be a "humble compiler of dated events" (as Lewis explains), some still regard his work as a cumbersome annalistic production.
[Lewis, ''The Art of Matthew Paris'', p.11.]
Lewis observed that, in the ''Chronica'', "the downfall of a great king must compete for attention with the birth of a two-headed calf."
Matthew placed great importance on reference to portents and marvels, notably in his preface and in the closing pages of the ''Chronica''. The latter contained a list of marvels which he claimed to have occurred over a fifty-year period.
[Weiler, 'Matthew Paris', p. 259.]
Such reporting was undoubtedly rooted in the Latin models, such as
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
, who influenced both Matthew and his contemporaries.
In Classical writings a moral polemic was often achieved by presenting narratives exemplifying good and evil for the edification of the reader.
This convention is woven into the ''Chronica'' with great dexterity by Matthew. He posed rhetorical questions concerning the deeds and actions of people and why such things warranted being written down.
In the eyes of Matthew, who was a conservative Benedictine monk, signs and portents forewarned of famine and other miseries that would befall humanity in retribution for their sins. In essence Matthew believed that history, and the sinful actions that forged it, would prompt sinners to hasten quickly to seek God's forgiveness.
To Matthew, history was a matter of moral instruction and a means to provide guidance to the earthly and celestial well-being of God's people.
Matthew saw the reporting of history as a platform through which the mistakes of men could be presented as a lesson from which to learn. From his treatment of the Jews to his coverage of the Mongol invasion, Matthew wrote from a position of self-interest. He tended to distort history and his source material in order to preserve the integrity of his abbey and kingdom. What has been agreed upon is that the ''Chronica'', at the very least, provides insight into what history meant to contemporaries and how they used it to reconcile their place within their world. It provides an encyclopedic history of the affairs of his community and an unprecedented number of insightful sources and documents which would never otherwise have survived.
The Wandering Jew
Matthew Paris's ''Chronica Majora'' contains one of the first extant descriptions and images of the
Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...
, a legendary figure who struck and scolded
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
on his way to the crucifixion, thereby becoming doomed to walk the earth until the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
.
The drawing of the Wandering Jew, likely done by Matthew Paris himself, embodies the paradoxical theological position of Jews in early and medieval Christianity as espoused by
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
. Standing hunched over with a
mattock
A mattock is a hand tool used for digging, prying, and chopping. Similar to the pickaxe, it has a long handle and a stout head which combines either a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze (cutter mattock), or a pick and an adze (pick mat ...
(a symbol associated with
Cain) behind Jesus as he progresses to
Calvary, the depiction of the Wandering Jew represents the idea of Jewish sinfulness fixed throughout time as a contrast to Christ's upright moral progression. The drawing also visualizes the notion of Christian
supersessionism.
[Lampert-Weissig, Lisa. "The Time of the Wandering Jew in the Chronica Majora and the De Brailes Hours." ''Philological Quarterly'', vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 171-202.]
Editions
*
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
(1571); 1589 Zurich Edition a
(Bayerische StaatsBibliothek digital)(Google) (1606)
*
William Wats
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
(1641); 1644 Paris Edition a
(Google) 1684 edition a
(Hathi Trust)*
Henry Richards Luard
Henry Richards Luard (25 August 1825 – 1 May 1891) was a British medieval historian and antiquary.
Biography
Luard was born on 25 August 1825 in London, the son of Henry Luard. He received his early education at Cheam School, Surrey. He gradua ...
, for the
Rolls series
''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...
(1872–80)
vol 1vol 2vol 3vol 4vol 5vol 6(the ''Additamenta'')
vol 7(Index and Glossary)
*
Felix Liebermann
Felix Liebermann (20 July 1851 – 7 October 1925) was a Jewish German historian, who is celebrated for his scholarly contributions to the study of medieval English history, particularly that of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman law.
Born in 1851, Ber ...
, for the
MGH (1888) (Excerpts
Link
Translations
* English translation by
John Allen Giles (1852–54)
vol 1vol 2vol 3 235 to 1259 only, from Wats, with the continuation to 1273
Further reading
* Richard Vaughan: ''Matthew Paris'', Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, New ser. 6 (Cambridge, 1958),
(Internet Archive)* Richard Vaughan (ed. and tr): ''The Chronicles of Matthew Paris: Monastic Life in the Thirteenth Century'' (Gloucester, 1984).
* Richard Vaughan: ''The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris''. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1993.
* Suzanne Lewis: ''The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora''. University of California Press, 1987 (California Studies in the History of Art)
online excerpt about the elephant)
References
{{Authority control
13th-century history books
13th-century illuminated manuscripts
Illuminated histories
Manuscripts of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
13th-century Latin books
English chronicles
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor