The ''Great Chronicle of Limoges'' (french: Grande chronique de Limoges; la, Maius chronicon Lemovicense), also called the ''Chronicle of Saint-Martial of Limoges'' (french: Chronique de Saint-Martial de Limoges, link=no; la, Chronicon sancti Martialis Lemovicensis, link=no), is a collection of 13th- and 14th-century historical notices and chronicles of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

preserved in three related

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 printing, printed or repr ...

s. Beginning in the 18th century, the material in the manuscripts was mistakenly perceived as fragments of a single large chronicle of the

abbey of Saint-Martial The Abbey of Saint Martial (french: Abbaye Saint-Martial, Limoges; Limousin: ''Abadiá de Sent Marçau de Limòtges'') was a monastery in Limoges, France, founded in 848 and dissolved in 1791. The buildings were razed at the beginning of the 19th ...

. They were first critically edited as a unified chronicle in the 19th century. They are today recognized mostly as notes made by the monks of Saint-Martial as continuations of the copious historical notes made by

Bernard Itier Bernard Itier. The surname ''Iterii'' was a family name indicating descent from one named Iterius. (1163–1225) was a French Benedictine monk, Benedictine monk, librarian, copyist and chronicler at the Abbey of Saint Martial, Limoges, abbey of Sai ...

(died 1225). The three manuscripts from which the ''Great Chronicle'' is derived are all now in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

: *MS lat. 11019, historical notes added to the margins from 1310 at Saint-Martial *MS lat. 5452, compiled in the abbey of Saint-Martin in the late 14th or early 15th century *MS lat. 12764, copied by the

Maurist The Congregation of St. Maur, often known as the Maurists, were a congregation of French Benedictines, established in 1621, and known for their high level of scholarship. The congregation and its members were named after Saint Maurus (died 565), a ...

Claude Estiennot de la Serre Claude Estiennot de la Serre (or de la Serrée) (17 February 1639 – 20 June 1699) was a French Benedictine scholar of the Congregation of Saint-Maur. Life He was born at Toutry. He joined the Benedictines at Vendôme and was professed there i ...

in the 17th century All three manuscripts contain many texts in common, including the chronicle of Saint-Martin by its abbot,

Pierre Coral Pierre Coral (died 1286) was a French monk and historian. He was the prior of Saint-Martin de Limoges, then abbot from 1247 until 28 August 1276, when he became the Abbey of Tulle, abbot of Tulle (as Pierre III), a position he held until his death., ...

. The first continuation of Bernard Itier, begun in 1310, covers the period 1207–1320, which overlaps with Itier's own notes for the years 1207–1224. The focus of the text is Limoges and Saint-Martial and it begins with the arrival in the city of

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

and Dominicans. Two other continuations of Itier's notes made by Hélie Autenc are also included. They cover 1235–1277 and 1274–1315. The first of these relies on the universal chronicle of Gerald Frachet, but the focus of both remains local. There is also a rough attempt at a chronicle covering the years 1235–1299, entitled ''Brevissimum chronicon'' in modern editions. There is no single published edition of all the texts in the three manuscripts, but most of the material has been published.See , for editions.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{refend Limoges 13th-century Latin literature