The Chronicle of Florence and John of Worcester

 

Largely composed c. 1130, with later additions, the Worcester Chronicle is a world history from the beginning of mankind to 1140, but is focused particularly on England from the year 450 onwards. In addition to the narrative it contains  genealogies of kings of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and lists of their bishops. The Chronicle is usually attributed to two monks of Worcester Cathedral priory, Florence and John, although Florence died in 1118 and his role in the work is uncertain. The Chronicle was based in the first instance on the work of Marianus Scotus, an Irish monk based in Mainz, which was completed in 1076. It also draws heavily on Bede, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and, for the years 1102-21, Eadmer’s Historia Novorum, but it also includes chronological detail not available elsewhere. In addition the manuscript now in Corpus Christi College Oxford is remarkable for containing the earliest surviving chronicle illustrations in England.

 

Bibliography

- Brett, M., 1981. ‘John of Worcester and his contemporaries’ in R.H.C. Davis and J.M. Wallace – Hadrill (eds), The Writing of History in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to R.W. Southern (Oxford University Press) 101-26
- Darlington, R.R. and McGurk, P. (eds), Bray, J. and McGurk, P. (trans.), 1995. The Chronicle of John of Worcester vol. II (Oxford University Press)
- Forester, T. (trans.), 1854. Florence of Worcester’s Chronicle (London, Bohn)
- Kaufmann, C.M., 1984. ‘Florence and John of Worcester Chronicle’, in G. Zarnecki,  J. Holt, and T. Holland, English Romanesque Art (London, Arts Council), 103
- McGurk, P., 1998. The Chronicle of John of Worcester vol. III (Oxford University Press)
- Thorpe, B. (ed.), 1848-9, Florentii Wigornensis Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis (London, English Historical Society, 2 vols)