John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and
chronicler
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
who worked at
Worcester Priory
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed ...
. He is usually held to be the author of the ''Chronicon ex chronicis''.
''Chronicon ex chronicis''
The ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' is a world wide history which begins with 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 ...
and ends in 1140. The chronological framework of the ''Chronicon'' was presented by the chronicle of
Marianus Scotus
Marianus Scotus (1028–1082 or 1083) was an Irish monk and chronicler. He authored the ''Chronica Clara'', a history of the world.
Name
Marianus Scotus is Latin for " Marian the Scot", although that term at the time was still inclusive of ...
(d. 1082). A great deal of additional material, particularly relating to English history, was grafted onto it.
Authorship
The greater part of the work, up to 1117 or 1118, was formerly attributed to the man
Florence of Worcester Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Fl ...
on the basis of the entry for his death under the annal of 1118, which credits his skill and industry for making the chronicle such a prominent work. In this view, the other Worcester monk, John, merely wrote the final part of the work. However, there are two main objections against the ascription to Florence. First, there is no change of style in the ''Chronicon'' after Florence's death, and second, certain sections before 1118 rely to some extent on the ''Historia novorum'' of
Eadmer of Canterbury, which was completed sometime in 1121 – 1124.
[Gransden, ''Historical Writing'', p. 144.]
The prevalent view today is that John of Worcester was the principal author and compiler. He is explicitly named as the author of two entries for 1128 and 1138, and two manuscripts (CCC MS 157 and the ''chronicula'') were written in his hand. He was seen working on it at the behest of
Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
Wulfstan ( – 20 January 1095) was Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop. Wulfstan is a saint in the Western Christian churches.
Denomination
His denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate tha ...
, when the Anglo-Norman chronicler
Orderic Vitalis visited Worcester:
:
Manuscripts
The ''Chronicon'' survives in five manuscripts (and a fragment on a single leaf):
*MS 157 (Oxford,
Corpus Christi College). The principal manuscript, working copy used by John.
*MS 502 (Dublin,
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
).
*MS 42 (
Lambeth Palace Library
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the oppos ...
).
*MS Bodley 297 (Oxford,
Bodleian Library).
*MS 92 (Cambridge,
Corpus Christi College).
In addition, there is the ''chronicula'', a minor chronicle based on the ''Chronicon'' proper: MS 503 (Dublin,
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
), written by John up to 1123.
Sources for English history
For the body of material dealing with early English history, John is believed to have used a number of sources, some of which are now lost:
*unknown version(s) of the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', possibly in Latin translation. John may have shared a lost source with
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...
, whose ''Gesta regum anglorum'' includes similar material not found in other works.
*
Bede, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' (up to 731)
*
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 ...
, ''Vita Ælfredi''
*Hagiographical works on tenth/eleventh-century saints
**''Lives'' of
St Dunstan by author 'B',
Adelard and
Osbern
**
Byrhtferth
Byrhtferth ( ang, Byrhtferð; ) was a priest and monk who lived at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire) in England. He had a deep impact on the intellectual life of later Anglo-Saxon England and wrote many computistic, h ...
, ''Life'' of
St. Oswald
**
Osbern of Canterbury
Osbern ( 1050 – c. 1095) was a Benedictine monk, hagiographer and musician, precentor of Christ Church, Canterbury. He is sometimes confused with Osbert de Clare, alias Osbern de Westminster. He is known as "the monk Osbern" or just "Monk Osbern ...
, ''Life'' of
St Ælfheah
*
Eadmer
Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum in ...
of Canterbury, ''Historia novorum'' (1066–1122)
*accounts by contemporaries and local knowledge.
''Chronicon ex chronicis'': editions and translations
*Darlington, Reginald R. and P. McGurk (eds.), P. McGurk and Jennifer Bray (trs.). ''The Chronicle of John of Worcester: The Annals from 450–1066''. Vol 2. Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: 1995.
*McGurk, P. (ed. and tr.). ''The Chronicle of John of Worcester: The Annals from 1067 to 1140 with The Gloucester Interpolations and The Continuation to 1141''. Vol 3. OMT. Oxford, 1998.
*Thorpe, Benjamin (ed.). ''Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis''. 2 vols. London, 1848-9
Download available from Google Books*Stevenson, J. (tr.). ''Church Historians of England''. 8 vols: vol. 2.1. London, 1855. 171–372.
*Forester, Thomas (tr.). ''The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester''. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854. Available from Google Books.
*Weaver, J. R. H., ed. (1908) ''The Chronicle of John of Worcester, 1118–1140: being the continuation of the 'Chronicon ex chronicis' of Florence of Worcester''. Oxford: Clarendon Pres
Edition on Archive.org
References
Further reading
*Brett, Martin. "John of Worcester and his contemporaries." In ''The Writing of History in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to R.W. Southern'', ed. by R.H.C. Davis and J.M. Wallace Hadrill. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. 101-26.
*Brett, Martin, "John, monk of Worcester." In ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', ed. Michael Lapidge, et al. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
*Gransden, Antonia. ''Historical writing in England c. 550 to 1307''. Vol 1. London, 1974. 143–8.
*O'Donnell, Thomas. "Identities in Community: Literary Culture and Memory at Worcester." In ''Constructing History Across the Norman Conquest: Worcester, c.1050-c.1150'', ed. by Francesca Tinti and D. A. Woodman. York: York Medieval Press, 2022. 31-60.
*Orderic Vitalis, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', ed. and tr.
Marjorie Chibnall
Marjorie McCallum Chibnall (27 September 1915 – 23 June 2012) was an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator. She edited the ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' by Orderic Vitalis, with whom she shared the same birthplace of Atcham in Shr ...
, ''The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis''. 6 volumes. Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford, 1968–1980. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:John of Worcester
1140s deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
12th-century English historians
English Christian monks
English chroniclers
Writers from Worcester, England
English male non-fiction writers
12th-century Latin writers
12th-century English writers
12th-century astronomers