Romuald Guarna

Romuald Guarna, archbishop of Salerno (first quarter of 12th cent. - 1181).

Chronicon.

Romuald Guarna was born into a noble Salernitan family; in 1153, after a successful career as a physician, he became the archbishop of his city, living for long periods at the court of Palermo, where he saved King William I during the conspiracy of 1161. In 1156 he was one of the negotiators of the peace treaty made at Benevento between King William and Pope Adrian IV. He carried out numerous other diplomatic and political missions under the two Williams.

His Chronicon is a universal history (he was the first Italian author to employ this genre): beginning with the creation of the world, it ends in 1179, while human history is divided into six ages. In this respect, his history is both very extensive and ambitious, but obviously, for us, the most interesting part is the last, where the author recounts recent events, from the 9th century to the peace of Venice in 1178. The evident inconsistency between the two parts has given rise to the hypothesis that the surviving text should be regarded as the juxtaposition of two works conceived separately and, perhaps, by different authors.

Romuald’s sources are essentially ecclesiastical, including St Jerome, Orosius and the Venerable Bede. With regard to the narrative structure, it appears to be inferior to those of the other history writers due to a turn of phrase that is ‘less incisive, duller and more uniform, stylistically poor, the main emphasis being given to information of a technical or diplomatic nature, but at bottom monotonous and lacking any contrast’ (Ferruccio Bertini). His perspective on the events in southern Italy is, however, totally devoid of the partisan slant that is typical of the chronicles of Alexander of Telese and Hugo Falcandus, and, barring some reticence, the events are generally recounted with impartiality ¾ except, perhaps, when he himself is directly involved. It is, moreover, a wide-ranging account, comprising events and places of international consequence, and frequently having links with the important politico-administrative world of the papacy.

 

MODERN EDITION

- Romualdi Salernitani Chronicon, ed. C. A. Garufi, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores 2, VII (1), Città di Castello and Bologna, 1935.