John of Worcester

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Name John Worcester Role Author		Died 1140

Books The chronicle of John of Worcester

John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.

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Chronicon ex chronicis

The Chronicon ex chronicis is a world wide history which begins with the creation and ends in 1140. The chronological framework of the Chronicon was presented by the chronicle of Marianus Scotus (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 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.

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, 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).

MS 42 (Lambeth Palace Library).

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), 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, whose Gesta regum anglorum includes similar material not found in other works.

Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica (up to 731)

Asser, Vita Ælfredi

Hagiographical works on tenth/eleventh-century saints

Lives of St Dunstan by author 'B', Adelard and Osbern

Byrhtferth, Life of St. Oswald

Osbern of Canterbury, Life of St Ælfheah

Eadmer 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 Press

References

John of Worcester Wikipedia

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