The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century

chronicle 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 ...

by the Scottish historian

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotlan ...

. It is a continuation of historian-priest

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th cen ...

's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and thereby

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Scota In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Scota or Scotia is the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and ancestor of the Gaels. She is said to be the origin of their Latin name ''Scoti''. Scholars believe she could be a fictional character who wa ...

with

Goídel Glas In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Goídel Glas (Latinised as Gaithelus) is the creator of the Goidelic languages and eponymous ancestor of the Gaels. The tradition can be traced to the 11th-century ''Lebor Gabála Érenn''. A Scottish varia ...

The work

Bower began the work in 1440 at the request of a neighbour, Sir David Stewart of Rosyth. The completed work, in its original form, consists of 16 books, of which the first five and a portion of the sixth (to 1163) are Fordun's, or mainly his, for Bower added to them at places. In the later books, down to the reign of

Robert I Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of ...

(1371), he was aided by Fordun's '' Gesta Annalia'', but from that point to the close, the work is original and of contemporary importance, especially for

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, with whose death it ends. The task was finished in 1447.

Abridgments

Bower engaged in a reduction or "

abridgment An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone, capturing the ...

" of the ''Scotichronicon'' in the last two years of his life, which is known as the ''Book of Cupar'', and which is preserved in the

Advocates' library The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament the National Library of Scotland ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(MS. 35. 1. 7). Other abridgments, not by Bower, were made about the same time, one about 1450 (perhaps by Patrick Russell, a

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

) preserved in the Advocates' library (MS. 35. 6. 7) and another in 1461 by an unknown writer, also preserved in the same collection (MS. 35. 5. 2). Copies of the full text of the ''Scotichronicon'', by different

scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

, are extant. There are two 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 ...

, in The Black Book of Paisley, and in

Harley MS The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...

712; one in the Advocates' library, from which

Walter Goodall Walter Goodall (1706? – 1766) was a Scottish historical writer, born in Banffshire, and educated at King's College, University of Aberdeen. Later he became assistant librarian to the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. In 1754 Goodall publi ...

printed his edition (Edinburgh, 1759), and one in the library of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

Importance

The

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

has called it "probably the most important medieval account of early Scottish history", noting that it provides both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of medieval commentators.

Robert Hood entry

In contrast to the 1283 entry for Robin Hood by Andrew of Wyntoun in his ''

Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland The ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'' ("Original Chronicle of Scotland") is a history of Scotland from the beginning of the world until the accession of King James I. Attributed to Andrew of Wyntoun, a learned scholar of the time, it is one of t ...

'', Bower placed Robert (Robin) Hood in 1266. By changing the date of Wyntoun's entry, Bower removed Wyntoun's association of the outlaw with the national heroes, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and substituted an association with the

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

against

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

. (Note the reference to Robert Hood being one of "the disinherited", the term applied to de Montfort's followers.) Bower calls Robert Hood a 'famosus siccarius' (Latin for famous cutthroat), who nevertherless donated his ill-gotten gains to the Church and held the servants of the Church in high regard. Bower's tale is similar to the beginning of ''

Robin Hood and the Monk Robin Hood and the Monk is a Middle English ballad and one of the oldest surviving ballads of Robin Hood. Original work and later publications The work was preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, albeit heavily damaged by wear. ...

'' (Child 119). One of the earliest-known tales of Robin Hood, the manuscript is dated to no earlier than 1450, and is housed at Cambridge University library. This Latin summary and ''Robin Hood and the Monk'' are probably as close to the rhymes of Robin Hood described by Langland in 1377 as scholars can get.

Criticism

Bower has been described as a less competent chronicler than Fordun, with one commenter calling him "garrulous, irrelevant and inaccurate" and noting that he "makes every important occurrence an excuse for a long-winded moral discourse".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/bower-continuation-of-scotichronicon , title=From Walter Bower's Continuation of John Fordun's Scotichronicon (c. 1440) , date=2021 , website=The Robin Hood Project , publisher=University of Rochester , access-date=7 March 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306161605/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/bower-continuation-of-scotichronicon , archive-date=6 March 2022 , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-monk-introduction , title=Robin Hood and the Monk: Introduction , date=2021 , website=The Robin Hood Project , publisher=University of Rochester , access-date=7 March 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210123427/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-monk-introduction , archive-date=10 February 2022 , url-status=dead

External links

{{commons
A History Book for Scots: Selections from the Scotichronicon
Walter Bower, ''Scotichronicon'', ed. D. E. R. Watt and others, 9 volumes (1987–1998).

A revised edition of select chapters in Watt's edition, by C. Nighman.
Robin Hood and the Monk (Text)
Robin Hood Project, University of Rochester {{Scotland topics {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Scotichronicon 15th-century history books History books about Scotland Scottish chronicles 15th century in Scotland National Library of Scotland