(891-1154)
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of manuscripts detailing British history from the beginning of the Christian era to a.d. 1154. Translator M. J. Swanton speculates that “the Chronicle, as we know it, had its origins towards the end of the ninth century: a reflection of both the ‘revival of learning’ and revival of English national awareness during the reign of King Alfred” (alfred the great, 849-899). For information on events beginning with Julius caesar’s first Roman invasion, the clerics in charge of the work drew their material from documents already in circulation, such as Ecclesiastical History of the English People written by The Venerable bede. The Chronicle was maintained and added to by generations of anonymous scribes until the middle of the 12th century. The final entry in 1154 describes the death of Stephen and the coronation of Henry II:
In this year died the King Stephen; and he was buried where his wife and his son were buried, at Faversham … Then when he [Henry] came to England, he was received with great honour and was blessed as king in London on the Sunday before midwinter day, and there held a great court.
Four distinct manuscripts exist, named by the religious houses where they were kept: Winchester, Abingdon, Worcester, and Peterborough. The Winchester manuscript is the oldest, while the Peterborough manuscript was the longest maintained and is considered the most complete. Variations between the individual manuscripts show that they circulated among religious houses, and recorders made note not only of national events but also doings of more local concern.
The Chronicle remains a crucial historical document, not only because it dates from a time when few other records exist, but it is also significant, as Swanton observes, “that so fundamental a cultural document of English history should have been composed in English.” In addition to their historical importance, the Chronicle serves as a literary text. Several passages contain vivid prose, and in the 937 entry, the account of the Battle of Brunan-burh stands as one of the finer examples of Anglo-Saxon poetry, reminiscent of the heroic motifs in the epic poem beowulf.
A Modern Version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Translated and edited by M. J. Swanton. London: J. M. Dent, 1996.
A Work about the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Bredehoft, Thomas A. Textual Histories: Readings in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001.
