Richard of San Germano

Richard of San Germano, notary (Piedimonte San Germano, c. 1175 - mid. 13th cent.).

Two versions of Chronica (original codex (?) : Archivio Monumentale, 507, Montecassino).

Richard of San Germano, born near Montecassino in 1175, was a notary and, from 1216 onwards, right-hand man of Emperor Frederick II. There are two versions of his work, the Chronica, an account written in a purely annalistic style: the most important is the one described as maior, which covers the period from 1189 (the year of William II de Hauteville’s death) to 1243, while the other goes from 1208 to 1227.

The reasons for the second version are not entirely clear: the editor of the modern publication, C. A. Garufi, maintains that it has a greater emphasis on history, while the first one is more of a chronicle (in fact, it contains many more direct quotations from documents, for example the Assizes of Capua, of 1220). Richard appears to have changed his ideological position with regard to events, and, on seeing a worsening, with an increase in violence, in the conflict between the emperor and the pope - in medieval thought this should have contributed to the formation of the Christian society - he seems to have had a perception of the greater universality of the problems, which were, therefore, to be treated with a different slant.

Richard’s work reflects the extraneousness of Frederick to contemporary chroniclers: although Richard was close to him for a long period, there is no praise for the emperor in the text. A balanced and objective account, it is well-documented and impartial, and, due to the fact that the author was an eye-witness of many of the events described, it is of fundamental importance for the reconstruction of the history of southern Italy in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The style is, however, dry and paratactic - although, every now and again, Richard inserts some verse into the prose - while he often appears to lack a grasp of the underlying dynamics of history.

 

MODERN EDITIONS

- Chronica priora: Ignoti monachi Cisterciensis Sanctae Mariae de Ferraria et Ryccardi de Sancto Germano Chronica Priora, ed. Gaudenzi A., Naples, 1888.
- Chronica maiora: Ryccardi de Sancto Germano notarii Chronica, ed. C.A. Garufi, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, VII (2), Bologna, 1937.