Liber Eliensis
Liber Eliensis | |
---|---|
Cotton Vespasian A.xix (A) | |
Genre | Chronicle |
Subject | Account of the history of Ely Abbey and the Bishopric of Ely |
Sources | Æthelwold of Winchester's Libellus Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People Florence of Worcester's Chronicon ex chronicis among others |
The Liber Eliensis
The Liber covers the period from the founding of the abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century, building on earlier historical works. It incorporates documents and stories of
Two complete manuscripts survive, complemented by partial manuscripts. The Latin text was published in 1962, and an English translation followed in 2005. Extracts had appeared in print earlier.
The Liber Eliensis provides an important history of the region and period it covers, and particularly for the abbey and bishopric of Ely.
Background and authorship
The Liber Eliensis was written at Ely Abbey, which became Ely Cathedral upon conversion into a bishopric in 1109.[2][3] The historian Elisabeth van Houts believes that it was written in two stages: first under Bishop Hervey le Breton, in office from 1109 to 1133; and continued under Bishop Geoffrey Ridel, who served from 1173 to 1189. For van Houts, the first stage was the translation of an Old English work into Latin, commissioned by Bishop Hervey. The rest of the work, van Houts argues, was composed in the 1170s.[4] However, E. O. Blake, who edited the first Latin printing of the work, concludes that the Liber was probably composed in three parts, based on its contents; the first book of the Liber was begun after 1131, when one of the sources used in the Liber was completed. The second has a preface apologising for the delay in its completion, and could not have been started before 1154, as it records events from that year. The third and final book was completed between 1169, when Bishop Nigel died and whose death is mentioned in the book, and 1174, when a new bishop was appointed. As there is no mention of Nigel's replacement, Blake states that this suggests that book three was finished before the new bishop took office.[5]
Traditionally the work was ascribed to either Thomas or Richard, two monks of Ely mentioned in the text.
The Liber is one of a number of monastic histories written during the middle and later 12th century, when a number of monasteries in northern and southern England produced works devoted to recording the histories of their religious houses and local areas. In the south, these included the
Sources
To a large extent the work is composite; that is, it is a compilation borrowing from or at least using earlier sources. These include the early medieval writer
Works more directly related to Ely were also used. The primary one of these works was Bishop
Some of these sources may originally have been oral works. A number of the stories in the narrative parts of the Liber resemble Scandinavian sagas, including the story about King
Contents
The work is traditionally divided into three books. Along with the history in Book I the first section also contains a prologue and a preface. It discusses the founding of the Abbey of Ely and the background of the foundress, Æthelthryth. The first book also deals with the history of the abbey and its abbesses until the Danish invasions of the 9th century. A description of the destruction of the abbey by the Danes and of King
The work also depicts the devastation that the Anarchy caused during King Stephen's reign. The chronicler states that failure of the harvest and pillaging caused a famine. The work describes the area around the abbey for 20–30 miles (32–48 kilometres) as being filled with unburied corpses, and that the price of a bushel of grain rose to 200 pence. The long descriptions of Nigel of Ely's disputes with King Stephen lead to a discussion of the Battle of Lincoln and other matters not directly related to Ely. The Liber gives a detailed account of Nigel's career, although in general the chronicle's author favours Stephen over his own bishop. The ascension of King Henry II to the English throne is considered to be an excellent event, and the Liber praises the new king.[21]
An important part of the work was devoted to the miracles and glorification of Ely's patroness, Saint Æthelthryth. The very beginning of the work incorporates an earlier Vita, or Life, of Æthelthryth, which resembles the Vitae of other saints written by Goscelin in the 11th century; Goscelin is known to have visited Ely.[22] The work may have helped to increase the number of pilgrims visiting Ely, as well as enabling the monks to better explain the history of earlier donations to the abbey. Many of the gifts to the abbey church are described, such as the altar cloth donated by Queen Emma (died 1052), wife of both King Æthelred II (died 1016) and King Cnut (died 1035), with a short history of the circumstances of the gift.[23] The miracle stories frequently say that those who wished cures or miracles similar to those in the Liber would need to come to the monastery, where they could make a donation.[24] The historian Jennifer Paxton argues that increasing pilgrimage to the monastery was one of the main goals of the compilers of the Liber.[25]
Another concern of the chronicle was the acquisition of land by the abbey. The work incorporates three pre-existing inventories of the abbey's possessions, and records each gift to the abbey, giving the grantor and occasionally details of the grantor's life. This detailed record of the various rights and possessions of the abbey was useful if those possessions needed to be defended against outside or inside conflicts. The Liber was used by the monks to defend their claims to be the real heirs of the abbey's rights and property rather than the bishops, after the conversion of the abbey into a bishopric. The chronicle also records the division of property between the monks and the newly appointed bishop. According to the chronicler, the division took place during the episcopate of the first bishop, Hervey le Breton, and was characterised as barely adequate for the needs of the monks. Later the chronicle records documents from the bishops that defined the separation between the monks and the episcopate.[26] The chronicle also records the conflict between the abbey and various Bishops of Lincoln, which had continued until the abbey became a bishopric in 1109.[27]
A third theme of the work is the stress on the importance and number of distinguished burials that took place at Ely. They would have increased the desire of others to be buried there, which would have benefited the community by the donations that would have flowed from those wishing to secure their burial. The Liber stresses the burials of
Influence
The Liber was familiar to the 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris, who used it along with the Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis of Ramsey Abbey in his own historical works. Another 13th-century English writer, Roger of Wendover, was also aware of the Liber.[29]
Some of the information contained in the Liber is important to historians. It is in the Liber that the first statement that Æthelwold translated the
The historian
Manuscripts
The work survives in two complete manuscripts (MS), that of
As well as the two complete manuscripts, a number of other manuscripts contain parts of the whole work. British Library MS Cotton Titus A.i, usually known as the G manuscript, has part of Book II, and dates from the late 12th or early 13th century. British Library MS Cotton Domitian A.xv, known as the B manuscript, dates from the late 13th or early 14th century and includes some other material along with Book I and the same parts of Book II as in manuscript G. Another Cottonian manuscript, British Library MS Cotton Vespasian A.xix, has parts of Book III, and dates to between 1257 and 1286.[41] This manuscript is usually known as the A manuscript.[42]
The relationship between the various extant manuscripts is complex, and a definitive scheme of how the various manuscripts relate to each other cannot be made.[43] Blake, in his edition of the Liber, suggests that Book I once existed as a stand-alone work, which influenced the B manuscript. A separate Book II, with parts of Book III, was then written and combined with the stand-alone Book I, into either manuscript E or an earlier version of that manuscript. Book II was then revised, combined with parts of G, Book I, and parts of E to make manuscript F.[44]
Related manuscripts include
Publication
Liber Eliensis has been published by the Royal Historical Society in its Camden Third Series, edited by E. O. Blake. The edition contains the Latin text along with some Old English texts, but no translation.[46] Janet Fairweather has produced a recent English translation of the Latin, published in 2005 by Boydell & Brewer.[47]
Formerly, only sections of the Liber had appeared in print, without translations. Parts of the Liber were edited by D. J. Stewart and published by the Anglia Christiana Society in 1848.[38] Other extracts were published in various works, including parts of Book I that were included in Volume 2 of Jean Mabillon's nine-volume Acta Sanctorum, printed between 1688 and 1701.[48][49] Another set of extracts, mainly consisting of parts of Book II, was compiled by Roger Gale's father Thomas Gale, as part of his Historicae Britannicae Scriptores XV, published at Oxford in 1691.[48][50]
Editions
- Blake, E. O., ed. (1962). Liber Eliensis. Camden Third Series. London: Royal Historical Society. OCLC 462668616.
- Fairweather, Janet (trans.), ed. (2005). Liber Eliensis. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-015-3.
Notes
- ^ Sometimes Historia Eliensis[1] or Book of Ely
- ^ This manuscript is on vellum also and consists of 190 folios, numbered 1–188 as two folio numbers have been used twice. The text is in two columns with initial letters mainly in green and red with some in blue. The first folio is not part of the Liber and consists of notes on various subjects, including the confessors buried at Ely and the rights of the convent on the Isle of Ely. Folios 2–188v are the Liber proper which is followed by a charter from around 1200 and a note from the 15th century.[38]
- ^ This manuscript is also on vellum in 188 folios in double columned text. The initials alternate in red and blue ink and are elaborately decorated. The actual Liber takes up folios 3–177v in this manuscript.[45]
Citations
- ^ Fairweather "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xiii
- ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 20
- ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest pp. 180–181
- ^ van Houts "Historical Writing" Companion to the Anglo-Norman World p. 110
- ^ a b Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xlvi–xlix
- ^ a b Fairweather "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xvii
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 271
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 272
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing pp. 269–270
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xxviii–xxix
- ^ a b Gransden Historical Writing p. 274
- ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 16
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xxx–xxxi
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xxxviii
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xxxix
- ^ van Houts "Hereward and Flanders" Anglo-Saxon England 28 pp. 202–204
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 275
- ^ Fairweather (ed.) Liber Eliensis pp. 9–11
- ^ Fairweather (ed.) Liber Eliensis pp. 85–95
- ^ Fairweather (ed.) Liber Eliensis pp. 286–296
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing pp. 280–281
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 282
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing pp. 284–285
- ^ Paxton "Textual Communities" Anglo-Norman Studies XXVI p. 124
- ^ Paxton "Textual Communities" Anglo-Norman Studies XXVI p. 128
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing pp. 283–284
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 286
- ^ Paxton "Textual Communities" Anglo-Norman Studies XXVI pp. 132–134
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 374 and footnote 147
- ^ Gneuss "Origin of Standard Old English" Anglo-Saxon England 1 pp. 73–74 and footnote 3
- ^ a b Gransden Historical Writing p. 270
- ^ Gransden Historical Writing p. 276
- ^ Rankin "Chancery, Royal" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
- ^ Quoted in Royal Historical Society Texts and Calendars II p. 90
- ^ a b Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xlix–l
- ^ Warren Governance pp. 46–47
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. liii–liv
- ^ a b c d Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xxiii–xxiv
- ^ Staff "Liber Eliensis" Trinity Library Catalogue
- ^ Owen Library and Muniments of Ely Cathedral p. 4
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xxv
- ^ a b c Fairweather "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xxv
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xlii
- ^ Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xlvi
- ^ a b Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis pp. xxv–xxvi
- ^ Royal Historical Society Texts and Calendars II p. 90
- ^ Fairweather (ed.) Liber Eliensis
- ^ a b Blake "Introduction" Liber Eliensis p. xxvii
- ^ Graves Bibliography of English History p. 149
- ^ Graves Bibliography of English History p. 138
References
- Blake, E. O. (1962). "Introduction". In Blake, E. O. (ed.). Liber Eliensis. Camden Third Series. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. xxiii–lx. OCLC 462668616.
- Fairweather, Janet (2005). "Introduction". Liber Eliensis. Translated by Fairweather, Janet. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. xiii–xliv. ISBN 978-1-84383-015-3.
- S2CID 161798712.
- ISBN 0-8014-0770-2.
- ISBN 0-19-822391-9.
- OCLC 1086117.
- Paxton, Jennifer. "Textual Communities in the English Fenlands: A Lay Audience for Monastic Chronicles?". In S2CID 163416324.
- Rankin, Susan (2001). "Chancery, Royal". In ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1.
- ISBN 0-86193-100-9.
- Staff (2011). "Liber Eliensis". Trinity Library Catalogue. Trinity College Library. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-7131-6532-4.
- van Houts, Elisabeth (1999). "Hereward and Flanders". In S2CID 162725605.
- van Houts, Elizabeth (2002). "Historical Writing". In Harper-Bill, Christopher; van Houts, Elizabeth (eds.). A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 103–121. ISBN 978-1-84383-341-3.
- ISBN 0-7131-6378-X.
Further reading
- Blanton, Virginia (Spring 2004). "King Anna's Daughters: Genealogical Narrative and Cult Formation in the "Liber Eliensis"". Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques. 30 (1): 127–149. S2CID 141405770.
- Hill, Thomas D. (January 1997). "The "Liber Eliensis" "Historical Selections" and the Old English "Battle of Maldon"". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 96 (1): 1–12. JSTOR 27711431.
External links
- James Catalogue listing for the Trinity Library manuscript, E. Includes a digitized copy of the manuscript.
- eSawyer listing for MS Bodleian Laud Misc 647, the O manuscript
- Cotton Titus A.i listing – British Library catalogue listing for the G manuscript
- Domitian A.xv listing – British Library catalogue listing for the B manuscript
- Vespasian A.xix listing – British Library catalogue listing for the A manuscript