Historia Regum

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The Historia Regum ("History of the Kings") is a historical compilation attributed to

Byrhtferth of Ramsey
.

Sources

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
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
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

The full text survives in one manuscript,

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

  1. ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 150; Rollason (ed.), Libellus, p. xlviii.
  2. ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 149; Rollason (ed.), Libellus de Exordio, pp. xlviii–l.
  3. ^ Folio numbers in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 139.
  4. ^ Page numbers in Arnold's edition.
  5. ^ Rollason (ed.), Libellus, p. xlix.
  6. ^ Hunter Blair, "Some Observations", pp. 117–8
  7. ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 150–1.
  8. ^ a b Gransden, Historical Writing, p. Rollason (ed.), Libellus, pp. xlviii–xlix.
  9. ^ Hunter Blair, "Some Observations", p. 63
  10. ^ Gransden, Historical Writing, p. 149 n. 85.
  11. ^ Rollason (ed.), Libellus de Exordio, pp. xlviii–xliv.

Editions

  • 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

Further reading
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