Historia Regum
The Historia Regum ("History of the Kings") is a historical compilation attributed to Symeon of Durham, which presents material going from the death of Bede until 1129. It survives only in one manuscript compiled in Yorkshire in the mid-to-late 12th century, though the material is earlier. It is an often-used source for medieval English and Northumbrian history. The first five sections are now attributed to Byrhtferth of Ramsey.
Sources
[edit]It is a "historical compilation" or a "historical collection" rather than a chronicle or anything else.[1] Antonia Gransden and David Rollason list its sources as follows:[2]
| folios[3] | pages[4] | Description | |
| 1. | 51v–54v | 3–13 | The Kentish Royal Legend, i.e. 7th- and 8th- century Kentish legends, including that of the martyr princes Æthelberht and Æthelred. |
| 2. | 54v–55r | 13–15 | An early list of Northumbrian rulers, from Ida of Bernicia to Ceolwulf of Northumbria (d. 737), stylistically embellished and supplemented by two citations from Boethius. |
| 3. | 55r–58v | 15–30 | Material from Bede, including Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and especially Historia abbatum. |
| 4. | 58v–68v | 28/30–68 | Lost Northumbrian annals covering 732–802. |
| 5. | 68v–75r | 69–91 | Annals covering 849–887, derived mainly from Asser's Life of King Alfred. |
| 6. | 75r–76r | 91–95 | A series of annals written after 1042 covering 888–957. |
| 7. | 76r–76v | 95–98 | Extracts taken from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum |
| 8. | 76v–123v | 98–258 | Material from the Chronicle of John of Worcester. supplemented by a now lost "Northern" recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related to the extant D-recension, by the Libellus de Exordio, by the Historia Novorum of Eadmer, by Dudo of St Quentin and by William of Jumièges. |
| 9. | 123v–129v | 258–283 | A chronicle covering the period 1119–1129. |
Much of the compiled material up until 887, i.e. the first five sections, was itself probably derived from an earlier compilation by Byrhtferth of Ramsey,[5] and probably some of it was compiled before the end of the 10th century.[6] The material covering 1119–1129 does appear to be original, and this part may have been authored by Symeon.[7]
Manuscripts and authorship
[edit]The full text survives in one manuscript, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 139, at folios 51v–129v, written down in the late 12th century.[8] An abbreviated copy is also found in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 692.[9] Even though the Cambridge manuscript names Symeon as the author in an incipit and an explicit, Symeon's authorship of the work is often doubted by modern historians.[8] Besides not being an original historical work, reasons of internal evidence make it highly unlikely that the Historia Regum was written by the same author as the Libellus de exordio,[10] which is generally accepted to have been authored by Symeon.[11]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 150; Rollason (ed.), Libellus, p. xlviii.
- ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 149; Rollason (ed.), Libellus de Exordio, pp. xlviii–l.
- ^ Folio numbers in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 139.
- ^ Page numbers in Arnold's edition.
- ^ Rollason (ed.), Libellus, p. xlix.
- ^ Hunter Blair, "Some Observations", pp. 117–8
- ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 150–1.
- ^ a b Gransden, Historical Writing, p. Rollason (ed.), Libellus, pp. xlviii–xlix.
- ^ Hunter Blair, "Some Observations", p. 63
- ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 149 n. 85.
- ^ Rollason (ed.), Libellus de Exordio, pp. xlviii–xliv.
Editions
[edit]- Hinde, John Hodgson, ed. (1868), Symeonis Dunelmensis Opera et Collectanea, Publications of the Surtees Society; volume 51, Durham: Surtees Society/ Andrews and Co
- Stevenson, Joseph (tr.). Church Historians of England. 8 vols: vol. 3 (part 2: The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham). London, 1853. 425-617. Google Books.
- Arnold, Thomas (ed.). Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia. 2 vols: vol 2. London, 1885. 1-283.
- Hart, Cyril R. (ed. and tr.). Byrhtferth’s Northumbrian Chronicle: An Edition and Translation of the Old English and Latin Annals. The Early Chronicles of England 2. Edwin Mellen Press, 2006. Edition and translation of the first five sections.
References
[edit]- Hunter Blair, Peter (1963), "Some Observations on the "Historia Regum" attributed to Symeon of Durham", in Chadwick, Nora K. (ed.), Celt and Saxon: Studies in the Early British Border, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 63–118, ISBN 0-521-04602-5
- Gransden, Antonia (1997), Historical Writing in England, vol. 1, c. 550–c.1307, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-15124-4
- Rollason, David, ed. (2000), Libellus de exordio atque procursu istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis, ecclesie = Tract on the origins and progress of this the Church of Durham / Symeon of Durham, Oxford Medieval Texts, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-820207-5
Further reading
[edit]- Lapidge, Michael (1982), "Byrhtferth of Ramsey and the Early Sections of the Historia Regum attributed to Symeon of Durham", Anglo-Saxon England, 10: 97–122, doi:10.1017/s0263675100003227 Reprinted in Studies in Medieval History presented to R. H. C. Davis, ed. Henry Mayr-Harting and R. I. Moore. London: Hambledon Press, 1985. 317 ff.
- Story, Joanna (2003), "Chapter 4: Chronicled Connections: Frankish Annals and the Historia regum", Carolingian Connections: Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia, c. 750-870, Studies in early medieval Britain 2, Aldershot: Ashgate