Theodoric the Monk (; also ''Tjodrik munk''; in Old Norse his name was most likely ''Þórir'') was a 12th-century Norwegian

Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

, perhaps at the

Nidarholm Abbey Nidarholm Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located on the island of Munkholmen in Trondheim Fjord on the sea approach to Trondheim, Norway. History The monastery was founded either in 1028 by King Canute the Great or in about 1100 by Sigurd Ulls ...

. He may be identical with either Bishop Tore of the

Diocese of Hamar The Diocese of Hamar () is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner Municipality in Akershus county. Administratively, the diocese is divided into 1 ...

or Archbishop Tore Gudmundsson, of the

Archdiocese of Nidaros The Archdiocese of Nidaros (or Niðaróss) was the metropolitan see covering Norway in the later Middle Ages. The see was the Nidaros Cathedral, in the city of Nidaros (now Trondheim). The archdiocese existed from the middle of the twelfth cent ...

who both went under the Latin name ''Theodoricus'' in the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris. Theodoric wrote a brief history of the kings of Norway in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, ''Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium'' sometime between 1177 and 1188. The work covers Norwegian history from the reign of the 9th century King Haraldr hárfagri up to the death of King Sigurðr Jórsalafari in 1130. His work, which was dedicated to Archbishop Eystein Erlendsson of Nidaros (1161-1188), remains an important source to the oldest parts of Norway's modern-time history. In his work, Theodoricus left out the most recent period of Norwegian history. Theodoric states that he considered it "utterly unfitting to record for posterity the crimes, killings, perjuries, parricides, desecrations of holy places, the contempt for God, the plundering no less of the clergy than of the whole people, the abductions of women and other abominations which it would take long to enumerate" which followed the death of King Sigurðr.Per G. Norseng: ''Theodoricus monachus'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> Theodoric's work is one of the Norwegian synoptics, the oldest preserved

kings' sagas Kings' sagas (, , ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...

. The others include '' Historia Norwegie'' and . Theodoric relied heavily on Icelandic sources, possibly including the '' Oldest Saga of St. Olaf'' and Oddr Snorrason's ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar''. __NOTOC__

References

Bibliography

* * Bagge, Sverre (2011) ''Theodoricus Monachus: The Kingdom of Norway and the History of Salvation'' (Chapter 4, ''Historical Narratives and Christian Identity on a European Periphery'' Editor: Ildar H. Garipzanov, Publisher: Turnhout Brepols)

External links

Theodoricus Monachus (Universitetet i Bergen)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodoric the Monk Kings' sagas 12th-century Norwegian historians Norwegian Benedictines Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown

See also

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