100-735: Ceol ( [t͡ʃe͜oːl] chey-ol ; also known as Ceola or Ceolric ) is portrayed by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List as King of Wessex for five to six years around 592 to 597 (the Chronicle ) or 588 to 594 (the List). David Dumville has emphasized how shaky the evidence for Ceol is. Neither the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle nor the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List seems to be
200-418: A Benedictine Abbey was created and endowed in 966, principally by Athelwold , Bishop of Winchester , from what remained of the earlier church, with "a basilica [church] there furbished with suitable structures of halls, and enriched with surrounding lands" and more extensive buildings which saw the aisle built out to the west with a second tower added. The original central tower was, however, retained. It
300-496: A monk , list the Abbey's reliquaries as including two pieces of swaddling clothes which wrapped the baby Jesus , pieces of Jesus' manger, a part of the five loaves which fed the 5,000, a piece of the raiment of Mary the mother of Jesus , a piece of Aaron 's rod, and relics of St Peter , St Paul and St Andrew – to whom the church is dedicated. The supposed arm of Oswald of Northumbria disappeared from its chapel, probably during
400-639: A battle fought by Cenwealh in 652; this battle is mentioned in [A], [B] and [C], but not in [E]. He does mention a battle fought by Cenwealh at Wirtgernesburg , which is not in any of the extant manuscripts, so it is possible he had a copy now lost. One early edition of the Chronicle was Abraham Whelock's 1644 Venerabilis Bedae Historia Ecclesiastica , printed in Cambridge and based on manuscript G. An important edition appeared in 1692, by Edmund Gibson , an English jurist and divine who later (1716) became Bishop of Lincoln . Titled Chronicon Saxonicum , it printed
500-426: A canonical narrative of early English history; but its unreliability was exposed in the 1980s. The earliest non-Bedan material here seems to be based primarily on royal genealogies and lists of bishops that were perhaps first being put into writing around 600, as English kings converted to Christianity, and more certainly by the end of the reign of Ine of Wessex (r. 689–726). Such sources are best represented by
600-576: A contemporary record for the seventh century, and it is possible that Ceol was added through scribal confusion: The monothematic name Ceol, meaning simply "ship", seems extremely implausible; in one genealogy he appears as Ceola, an apparent hypocoristic [...] implying a dithematic Ceol -name; while the Genealogical Regnal List declares Ceolwulf to be his brother, Cynegils is merely the 'son of Ceolwulf's brother', perhaps implying some uncertainty as to identity and family relationships. Ceol
700-424: A copy of the Chronicle , which they adapted for their own purposes. Symeon of Durham also had a copy of the Chronicle . Some later medieval historians also used the Chronicle , and others took their material from those who had used it, and so the Chronicle became "central to the mainstream of English historical tradition". Henry of Huntingdon used a copy of the Chronicle that was very similar to [E]. There
800-418: A different picture, however: "When Egbert had obtained all the southern kingdoms, he led a large army into Northumbria, and laid waste that province with severe pillaging, and made King Eanred pay tribute." Similar divergences are apparent in how different manuscripts copy post-Common Stock continuations of the Chronicle . For example, Ælfgar , earl of East Anglia , and son of Leofric , the earl of Mercia,
900-429: A genealogy, as does [A], but extends it to the late 10th century. [B] was at Abingdon in the mid-11th century, because it was used in the composition of [C]. Shortly after this it went to Canterbury, where interpolations and corrections were made. As with [A], it ends with a list of popes and the archbishops of Canterbury to whom they sent the pallium. C includes additional material from local annals at Abingdon, where it
1000-436: A manuscript that was similar to [E], though it appears that it did not contain the entries focused on Peterborough. The manuscript of the chronicle translated by Geoffrey Gaimar cannot be identified accurately, though according to historian Dorothy Whitelock it was "a rather better text than 'E' or 'F'". Gaimar implies that there was a copy at Winchester in his day (the middle of the 12th century); Whitelock suggests that there
1100-401: A northern recension was to be found at Worcester. By the 16th century, parts of the manuscript were lost; eighteen pages were inserted containing substitute entries from other sources, including [A], [B], [C] and [E]. These pages were written by John Joscelyn , who was secretary to Matthew Parker. The Peterborough Chronicle : In 1116, a fire at the monastery at Peterborough destroyed most of
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#17330926013081200-400: A raiding ship-army from Norway ; it is tedious to tell how it all happened." In this case other sources exist to clarify the picture: a major Norwegian attempt was made on England, but [E] says nothing at all, and [D] scarcely mentions it. It has sometimes been argued that when the Chronicle is silent, other sources that report major events must be mistaken, but this example demonstrates that
1300-482: A secular household outside the court), and Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge commented that we should "resist the temptation to regard it as a form of West Saxon dynastic propaganda ". Yet there is no doubt that the Common Stock systematically promotes Alfred's dynasty and rule, and was consistent with his enthusiasm for learning and the use of English as a written language . It seems partly to have been inspired by
1400-548: A set of 8th-century Northumbrian annals. It is thought that some of the entries may have been composed by Archbishop Wulfstan . [D] contains more information than other manuscripts on northern and Scottish affairs, and it has been speculated that it was a copy intended for the Anglicised Scottish court. From 972 to 1016, the sees of York and Worcester were both held by the same person— Oswald from 972, Ealdwulf from 992, and Wulfstan from 1003, and this may explain why
1500-438: A single leaf, containing annals for 1113 and 1114. In the entry for 1113 it includes the phrase "he came to Winchester"; hence it is thought likely that the manuscript was written at Winchester. There is not enough of this manuscript for reliable relationships to other manuscripts to be established. Ker notes that the entries may have been written contemporarily. Easter Table Chronicle : A list of Chronicle entries accompanies
1600-594: A single set of Gothic windows, with the turreted cap and pinnacles removed and replaced by battlements. Between 1496 and 1508, the Presbytery roof was replaced and the "New Building", a rectangular building built around the end of the Norman eastern apse, with Perpendicular fan vaulting (probably designed by John Wastell, the architect of King's College Chapel, Cambridge and the Bell Harry Tower at Canterbury Cathedral ),
1700-514: A table of years, found on folios 133–37 in a badly burned manuscript containing miscellaneous notes on charms, the calculation of dates for church services, and annals pertaining to Christ Church, Canterbury. Most of the Chronicle' s entries pertain to Christ Church, Canterbury. Until 1109 (the death of Anselm of Canterbury ) they are in English; all but one of the following entries are in Latin. Part of [I]
1800-405: A transcript of the manuscript. Previous owners include William Camden and William L'Isle ; the latter probably passed the manuscript on to Laud. The Canterbury Bilingual Epitome (London, British Library, Cotton Domitian A.viii, folios 30-70): In about 1100, a copy of the Chronicle was written at Christ Church, Canterbury , probably by one of the scribes who made notes in [A]. This version
1900-847: A translation of the [E] text in The Peterborough Chronicle (New York, 1951). Beginning in the 1980s, a set of scholarly editions of the text in Old English have been printed under the series title "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition". They are published by D. S. Brewer under the general editorship of David Dumville and Simon Keynes . As of 2021, the volumes published are: The Collaborative Edition did not include MS G because an edition by Angelika Lutz, described by Pauline Stafford as "excellent", had recently been published. Other modern scholarly editions of different Chronicle manuscripts are as follows. The [C] manuscript has been edited by H. A. Rositzke as "The C-Text of
2000-524: A version of the manuscript from which [E] descends. The last entry in the vernacular is for 1070. After this comes the Latin Acta Lanfranci , which covers church events from 1070 to 1093. This is followed by a list of popes and the Archbishops of Canterbury to whom they sent the pallium . The manuscript was acquired by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1559–1575) and is in the collection of
2100-497: Is also sometimes known as [W], after Wheelocke. Nowell's transcript copied the genealogical introduction detached from [B] (the page now British Library MS. Cotton Tiberius Aiii, f. 178), rather than that originally part of this document. The original [A ] introduction would later be removed prior to the fire and survives as British Library Add MS 34652, f. 2. The appellations [A], [A ] and [G] derive from Plummer, Smith and Thorpe, respectively. The Cottonian Fragment [H] consists of
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#17330926013082200-474: Is evidence that a manuscript that has not survived to the present day was at Winchester in the mid-tenth century. If it survived to Gaimar's time that would explain why [A] was not kept up to date, and why [A] could be given to the monastery at Canterbury. John of Worcester's Chronicon ex chronicis appears to have had a manuscript that was either [A] or similar to it; he makes use of annals that do not appear in other versions, such as entries concerning Edward
2300-457: Is likely he had either the original from which [E] was copied, or a copy of that original. He mentions that the chronicles do not give any information on the murder of Alfred Aetheling , but since this is covered in both [C] and [D] it is apparent he had no access to those manuscripts. On occasion he appears to show some knowledge of [D], but it is possible that his information was taken from John of Worcester's account. He also omits any reference to
2400-414: Is no evidence in his work of any of the entries in [E] after 1121, so although his manuscript may actually have been [E], it may also have been a copy—either one taken of [E] prior to the entries he makes no use of, or a manuscript from which [E] was copied, with the copying taking place prior to the date of the last annal he uses. Henry also made use of the [C] manuscript. The Waverley Annals made use of
2500-478: Is of especial historical interest. From the first annal, for 60BC, down to 449, the Common Stock mostly presents key events from beyond Britain, a body of material known as the "world history annals". These drew on Jerome 's De Viris Illustribus , the Liber Pontificalis , the translation of Eusebius 's Ecclesiastical History by Rufinus, and Isidore of Seville 's Chronicon. Alongside these, down to
2600-418: Is one of the nation's best preserved pre- Reformation abbeys. Peterborough Cathedral is known for its imposing Early English Gothic West Front (façade) which, with its three enormous arches, is without architectural precedent and with no direct successor. The appearance is slightly asymmetrical, as one of the two towers that rise from behind the façade was never completed (the tower on the right as one faces
2700-516: Is portrayed as the son of Cutha (or Cuthwulf), the son of Cynric of Wessex . According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , he began his reign in 591. The Chronicle states that the following year Ceol's uncle Ceawlin was 'driven out' in a battle at "Woddesbeorg" , thought to be in Wiltshire , and modern scholars have inferred that this battle was between Cealwin and Ceol, with Ceol denying the throne to Ceawlin's son Cuthwine . Upon Ceol's death in 597,
2800-446: Is said to have been fought "at Easter", a precision which implies a contemporary record. Similar but separate sources would explain the dates and genealogies for Northumbrian and Mercian kings. The entry for 755, describing how Cynewulf took the kingship of Wessex from Sigeberht , is far longer than the surrounding entries, and includes direct speech quotations from the participants in those events. It seems likely that this
2900-502: Is written in Old English until 1070, then Latin to 1075. Six of the manuscripts were printed in an 1861 edition for the Rolls Series by Benjamin Thorpe with the text laid out in columns labelled A to F. He also included the few readable remnants of a burned seventh manuscript, which he referred to as [G], partially destroyed in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731. Following this convention,
3000-546: Is written in both Old English and Latin; each entry in Old English was followed by the Latin version. The version the scribe copied (on folios 30–70 ) is similar to the version used by the scribe in Peterborough who wrote [E], though it seems to have been abridged. It includes the same introductory material as [D] and, along with [E], is one of the two chronicles that does not include the "Battle of Brunanburh" poem. The manuscript has many annotations and interlineations, some made by
3100-557: The Anglian King-list and the probably derived West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List . Detailed comparison of these sources with the Common Stock has helped to show the degree of invention in the Common Stock's vision of the fifth and sixth centuries. For example, perhaps due to edits in intermediary annals, the beginning of the reign of Cerdic , supposedly the founder of the West-Saxon dynasty, seems to have been pushed back from 538AD in
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3200-511: The Anglo-Saxon period as a minster it became one of England's most important Benedictine abbeys , becoming a cathedral only in 1542. Its architecture is mainly Norman , following a rebuilding in the 12th century. Alongside the cathedrals of Durham and Ely , it is one of the most important 12th-century buildings in England to have remained largely intact, despite extensions and restoration, and
3300-471: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Almost all of the material in the Chronicle is in the form of annals, by year; the earliest is dated at 60 BC (the annals' date for Caesar's invasions of Britain ). In one case, the Chronicle was still being actively updated in 1154. Nine manuscripts of the Chronicle , none of which is the original, survive in whole or in part. Seven are held in the British Library , one in
3400-553: The Battle of Stamford Bridge . In the 12th century a few lines were added to complete the account. The Worcester Chronicle appears to have been written in the middle of the 11th century. After 1033 it includes some records from Worcester , so it is generally thought to have been composed there. Five different scribes can be identified for the entries up to 1054, after which it appears to have been worked on at intervals. The text includes material from Bede's Ecclesiastical History and from
3500-653: The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome , is in Old English with a translation of each annal into Latin . Another, the Peterborough Chronicle , is in Old English except for the last entry, which is in early Middle English . The oldest (Corp. Chris. MS 173) is known as the Winchester Chronicle or the Parker Chronicle (after Matthew Parker , an Archbishop of Canterbury , who once owned it), and
3600-550: The Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the oldest in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge . The oldest seems to have been started towards the end of Alfred's reign, while the most recent was copied at Peterborough Abbey after a fire at that monastery in 1116. Some later medieval chronicles deriving from lost manuscripts contribute occasional further hints concerning Chronicle material. Both because much of
3700-760: The Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew , and formerly known as Peterborough Abbey or St Peter's Abbey , is a cathedral in Peterborough , Cambridgeshire , in the United Kingdom . The seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough , it is dedicated to the Apostles Saint Peter , Saint Paul , and Saint Andrew , whose statues look down from the three high gables of the West Front. Founded in
3800-405: The Chronicle does omit important events. The process of manual copying introduced accidental errors in dates; such errors were sometimes compounded in the chain of transmission. The whole of the Common Stock has a chronological dislocation of two years for the period 756–845 due to two years being missed out in the archetype. In the [D] manuscript, the scribe omits the year 1044 from the list on
3900-571: The Chronicle was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex , during the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899). Its content, which incorporated sources now otherwise lost dating from as early as the seventh century, is known as the "Common Stock" of the Chronicle . Multiple copies were made of that one original and then distributed to monasteries across England, where they were updated, partly independently. These manuscripts collectively are known as
4000-400: The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College . The Abingdon Chronicle I was written by a single scribe in the second half of the 10th century. The Chronicle takes up folios 1–34. It begins with an entry for 60 BC and ends with the entry for 977. A manuscript that is now separate (British Library MS. Cotton Tiberius Aiii, f. 178) was originally the introduction to this chronicle; it contains
4100-479: The Reformation , despite a watch-tower having been built for monks to guard its reliquary . Various contact relics of Thomas Becket were brought from Canterbury in a special reliquary by its Prior Benedict (who had witnessed Becket's assassination) when he was "promoted" to Abbot of Peterborough. These items underpinned the importance of what is today Peterborough Cathedral. At the zenith of its wealth just before
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4200-476: The Royal Frankish Annals , and its wide distribution is also consistent with Alfredian policies. Its publication was perhaps prompted by renewed Scandinavian attacks on Wessex. The Common Stock incorporates material from multiple sources, including annals relating to Kentish, South Saxon , Mercian and, particularly, West Saxon history. It is unclear how far this material was first drawn together by
4300-466: The history of the English language ; in particular, in annals from 1131 onwards, the later Peterborough text provides key evidence for the transition from the standard Old English literary language to early Middle English , containing some of the earliest known Middle English text. Historians agree that the Common Stock of the Chronicle (sometimes also known as the Early English Annals )
4400-560: The 16th century, the structure of the building remains essentially as it was on completion almost 800 years ago. The completed building was consecrated in 1238 by Robert Grosseteste , Bishop of Lincoln , within whose diocese it then fell. The trio of arches forming the Great West Front, the defining image of Peterborough Cathedral, is unrivalled in medieval architecture. The line of spires behind it, topping an unprecedented four towers, evolved for more practical reasons. Chief amongst them
4500-443: The 17th and 18th centuries. Extensive restoration work began in 1883, which was initiated after large cracks appeared in the supporting pillars and arches of the main tower. These works included rebuilding of the central tower and its foundations, interior pillars, the choir and re-enforcements of the west front under the supervision of John Loughborough Pearson . New hand-carved choir stalls, cathedra (bishop's throne), choir pulpit and
4600-589: The Ceolian line flourished for at least three centuries after its founder's death, and possibly longer. (See House of Wessex family tree .) This article related to British royalty is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English , chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons . The original manuscript of
4700-636: The Common Stock in the course of copying reflect the agendas of the copyists, providing valuable alternative perspectives. These colour both the description of interactions between Wessex and other kingdoms, and the descriptions of the Vikings' depredations. For example, the Common Stock's annal for 829 describes Egbert 's invasion of Northumbria with the comment that the Northumbrians offered him "submission and peace". The Northumbrian chronicles incorporated into Roger of Wendover 's thirteenth-century history give
4800-509: The Elder 's campaigns and information about Winchester towards the end of the chronicle. His account is often similar to that of [D], though there is less attention paid to Margaret of Scotland , an identifying characteristic of [D]. He had the Mercian register, which appears only in [C] and [D]; and he includes material from annals 979–982 which only appears in [C]. It is possible he had a manuscript that
4900-595: The English People "the two great Anglo-Saxon works of history". The Chronicle 's accounts tend to be highly politicised, with the Common Stock intended primarily to legitimise the dynasty and reign of Alfred the Great. Comparison between Chronicle manuscripts and with other medieval sources demonstrates that the scribes who copied or added to them omitted events or told one-sided versions of them, often providing useful insights into early medieval English politics. The Chronicle manuscripts are also important sources for
5000-703: The New Building, an extension of the eastern end, lies an ancient stone carving: the Hedda Stone . This medieval carving of 12 monks, six on each side, commemorates the destruction of the Monastery and the death of the Abbot and Monks when the area was sacked by the Vikings in 864. The Hedda Stone was likely carved sometime after the raid, when the monastery slipped into decline. In the mid-10th century, monastic revival (during which churches at Ely and Ramsey were also refounded)
5100-1001: The Old English Chronicles", in Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie , XXXIV, Bochum-Langendreer, 1940. A scholarly edition of the [D] manuscript is in An Anglo-Saxon Chronicle from British Museum Cotton MS., Tiberius B. iv , edited by E. Classen and F. E. Harmer, Manchester, 1926. The [F] text was printed in F. P. Magoun, Jr., Annales Domitiani Latini: an Edition in "Mediaeval Studies of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies", IX, 1947, pp. 235–295. An earlier facsimile edition of [A], The Parker Chronicle and Laws , appeared in 1941 from Oxford University Press , edited by Robin Flower and Hugh Smith . Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral , properly
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#17330926013085200-512: The Old English text in parallel columns with Gibson's own Latin version and became the standard edition until the 19th century. Gibson used three manuscripts of which the chief was the Peterborough Chronicle . It was superseded in 1861 by Benjamin Thorpe 's Rolls Series edition, which printed six versions in columns, labelled A to F, thus giving the manuscripts the letters which are now used to refer to them. John Earle edited Two of
5300-542: The Reformation it had the sixth-largest monastic income in the country and was one of the most powerful communities in the English Benedictine Congregation . It had a 120 monks, including all the standard roles of a monastic community such as the almoner , the infirmarian, the sacristan and the cellarer , and many more dependant lay brothers and employees. In 1541, following Henry VIII's dissolution of
5400-524: The Saxon Chronicles Parallel (1865). Charles Plummer revised this edition, providing notes, appendices, and glossary in two volumes in 1892 and 1899. This edition of the A and E texts, with material from other versions, was widely used; it was reprinted in 1952. The standard modern English translations are by Dorothy Whitelock , who produced a translation showing all the main manuscript variants, and Michael Swanton . Rositzke published
5500-541: The building), but this is only visible from a distance. The original church, known as " Medeshamstede ", was founded in the reign of the Anglo-Saxon King Peada of the Middle Angles in about 655 AD, as one of the first centres of Christianity in central England. The monastic settlement with which the church was associated lasted at least until 870, when it was supposedly destroyed by Vikings . In an alcove of
5600-463: The buildings. The copy of the Chronicle kept there may have been lost at that time or later, but in either case shortly thereafter a fresh copy was made, apparently copied from a Kentish version—most likely to have been from Canterbury. The manuscript was written at one time and by a single scribe, down to the annal for 1121. The scribe added material relating to Peterborough Abbey which is not in other versions. The Canterbury original which he copied
5700-474: The copy was made by 1013. This manuscript was almost completely destroyed in the 1731 fire at Ashburnham House , where the Cotton Library was housed. Of the original 34 leaves, seven remain, ff. 39–47 in the manuscript. However, a transcript had been made by Laurence Nowell , a 16th-century antiquary, which was used by Abraham Wheelocke in an edition of the Chronicle printed in 1643. Because of this, it
5800-465: The decorated wooden ceiling of the nave. The ceiling, completed between 1230 and 1250, still survives. It is unique in Britain and one of only four such ceilings in the whole of Europe. It has been over-painted twice, once in 1745, then in 1834, but still retains the character and style of the original. (The painted nave ceiling of Ely Cathedral , by contrast, is entirely a Victorian creation.) The church
5900-502: The earliest reconstructable version of the List to 500AD in the Common Stock. At times, invention, usually through folk-etymological origin-myths based on place-names , is even more obvious. For example, between 514 and 544 the Chronicle makes reference to Wihtgar, who was supposedly buried on the Isle of Wight at Wihtgaræsbyrg ("Wihtgar's stronghold") and gave his name to the island. However,
6000-506: The early eighth century, the Common Stock makes extensive use of the chronological summary from the end of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History (and perhaps occasionally the History itself). Scholars have read these annals as functioning to present England as part of the Roman and Christian world and its history. From 449, coverage of non-British history largely vanishes and extensive material about
6100-419: The editor(s) of the Common Stock and how far it had already been combined before the late ninth century: there are no obvious shifts in language features in the Common Stock that could help indicate different sources. Where the Common Stock draws on other known sources its main value to modern historians is as an index of the works and themes that were important to its compilers; where it offers unique material it
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#17330926013086200-408: The end of Alfred's reign. The manuscript begins with a genealogy of Alfred, and the first chronicle entry is for the year 60 BC. The section containing the Chronicle takes up folios 1–32. Unlike the other manuscripts, [A] is of early enough composition to show entries dating back to the late 9th century in the hands of different scribes as the entries were made. The first scribe's hand is dateable to
6300-457: The entry for 1048. [B] and [C] are identical between 491 and 652, but differences thereafter make it clear that the second scribe was also using another copy of the Chronicle . This scribe also inserted, after the annal for 915, the Mercian Register , which covers the years 902–924, and which focuses on Æthelflæd . The manuscript continues to 1066 and stops in the middle of the description of
6400-524: The existing site allowing it to grow without being relocated. Then, after completing the Western transept and adding the Great West Front Portico in 1237, the medieval masons switched over to the new Gothic style. Apart from changes to the windows, the insertion of a porch to support the free-standing pillars of the portico and the addition of a "new" building at the east end around the beginning of
6500-560: The foundations of the Anglo-Saxon church remain beneath the south transept but there are several significant artefacts, including Anglo-Saxon carvings such as the Hedda Stone, from the earlier building. In 2008, Anglo-Saxon grave markers were reported to have been found by workmen repairing a wall in the cathedral precincts. The grave markers are said to date to the 11th century, and probably belonged to "townsfolk". Although damaged during
6600-459: The information given in the Chronicle is not recorded elsewhere and because of the relatively clear chronological framework it provides for understanding events, the Chronicle is among the most influential historical sources for England between the collapse of Roman authority and the decades following the Norman Conquest ; Nicholas Howe called it and Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of
6700-459: The instrument, putting it out of action for several years. An extensive programme of repairs to the west front began in July 2006 and has cost in excess of half a million pounds. This work is concentrated around the statues located in niches which have been so badly affected by years of pollution and weathering that, in some cases, they have only stayed intact thanks to iron bars inserted through them from
6800-422: The late 9th or very early 10th century; his entries cease in late 891, and the following entries were made at intervals throughout the 10th century by several scribes. The eighth scribe wrote the annals for the years 925–955, and was clearly at Winchester when he wrote them since he adds some material related to events there; he also uses ceaster , or "city", to mean Winchester. The manuscript becomes independent of
6900-400: The left hand side. The annals copied down are therefore incorrect from 1045 to 1052, which has two entries. A more difficult problem is the question of the date at which a new year began, since the modern custom of starting the year on 1 January was not universal at that time. The entry for 1091 in [E] begins at Christmas and continues throughout the year; it is clear that this entry follows
7000-492: The library of Durham; they are described as cronica duo Anglica . In addition, Parker included a manuscript called Hist. Angliae Saxonica in his gifts but the manuscript that included this, now Cambridge University Library MS. Hh.1.10, has lost 52 of its leaves, including all of this copy of the chronicle. The three main Anglo-Norman historians, John of Worcester , William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon , each had
7100-513: The local community, and other kinds of work with daily time set aside for recreation, an opportunity to socialise with other members of the community and with guests. The duty of welcoming guests and pilgrims is a cornerstone of the Benedictine Rule and at Peterborough this was probably the primary focus of activity. Pilgrimage to Peterborough was common because of the abbey's many relics. The existing mid-12th-century records of Hugh Candidus ,
7200-480: The manuscripts. The following is a summary of the relationships that are known. All the manuscripts described above share a chronological error between the years 756 and 845, but it is apparent that the composer of the Annals of St Neots was using a copy that did not have this error and which must have preceded them. Æthelweard's copy did have the chronological error but it had not lost a whole sentence from annal 885; all
7300-490: The marble pavement and high altar were added. A stepped level of battlements was removed from the central tower, reducing its height slightly. The cathedral was hit by a fire on the early evening of 22 November 2001; it is thought to have been started deliberately amongst plastic chairs stored in the North Choir Aisle. The fire was spotted by one of the vergers allowing a swift response by emergency services. The timing
7400-555: The monasteries , the relics were lost. The church survived by being selected as the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Peterborough . The last Abbot of Peterborough , John Chambers , became the first Bishop of Peterborough . Henry's former wife, Catherine of Aragon , had been buried there in 1536. Her tomb was damaged in 1643 and restored in the 19th century. To this day, her grave is honoured by visitors who decorate it with flowers and pomegranates (her symbol). The gold letters at
7500-593: The name of the Isle of Wight derives from the Latin Vectis , not from Wihtgar . The actual name of the fortress was probably Wihtwarabyrg ("the stronghold of the inhabitants of Wight"), and either the Common Stock editor(s) or an earlier source misinterpreted this as referring to Wihtgar. In addition to the sources listed above, it is thought that the Common Stock draws on contemporary annals that began to be kept in Wessex during
7600-555: The old custom of starting the year at Christmas. Some other entries appear to begin the year on 25 March, such as the year 1044 in the [C] manuscript, which ends with Edward the Confessor 's marriage on 23 January, while the entry for 22 April is recorded under 1045. There are also years which appear to start in September. Of the nine surviving manuscripts, seven are written entirely in Old English (also known as Anglo-Saxon). One, known as
7700-406: The original Chronicle was compiled, copies were made and distributed to various monasteries. Additional copies were made, for further distribution or to replace lost manuscripts, and some copies were updated independently of each other. It is copies of this sort that constitute our surviving Chronicle manuscripts. The manuscripts were produced in different places, and at times adaptations made to
7800-399: The original scribe and some by later scribes, including Robert Talbot . Copy of the Winchester Chronicle : [A ] was copied from [A] at Winchester in the eleventh century and follows a 10th-century copy of an Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History . The last annal copied was 1001, so the copy was made no earlier than that; an episcopal list appended to [A ] suggests that
7900-492: The other recensions after the entry for 975. The book, which also had a copy of the Laws of Alfred and Ine bound in after the entry for 924, was transferred to Canterbury some time in the early 11th century, as evidenced by a list of books that Archbishop Parker gave to Corpus Christi. While at Canterbury, some interpolations were made; this required some erasures in the manuscript. The additional entries appear to have been taken from
8000-413: The parts of England which by the ninth century were in Wessex, often unique to the Chronicle , appears. The Chronicle offers an ostensibly coherent account of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of southern Britain by seafarers who, through a series of battles, establish the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, and Wessex. This material was once supposed by many historians to be reliable evidence, and formed the backbone of
8100-417: The seventh century, perhaps as annotations of Easter Tables, drawn up to help clergy determine the dates of upcoming Christian feasts, which might be annotated with short notes of memorable events to distinguish one year from another. The annal for 648 may mark the point after which entries that were written as a contemporary record begin to appear, and the annal for 661 records a battle fought by Cenwalh that
8200-461: The site read "Katharine Queen of England", a title she was denied at the time of her death. A festival to commemorate the Queen is held yearly. In 1587, the body of Mary, Queen of Scots was initially buried here after her execution at nearby Fotheringhay Castle , but it was later removed to Westminster Abbey on the orders of her son, King James VI of Scotland and James I of England . The cathedral
8300-550: The struggle between the Norman invaders and local folk-hero, Hereward the Wake , it was repaired and continued to thrive until destroyed by an accidental fire in 1116. This event necessitated the building of a new church in the Norman style, begun by Abbot John de Sais on 8 March 1118 ( Old Style ). By 1193, the building was completed to the western end of the Nave, including the central tower and
8400-403: The surviving manuscripts have lost this sentence. Hence the error and the missing sentence must have been introduced in separate copying steps, implying that none of the surviving manuscripts are closer than two removes from the original version. The Winchester (or Parker ) Chronicle is the oldest manuscript of the Chronicle that survives. It was begun at Old Minster, Winchester , towards
8500-605: The throne passed to his brother Ceolwulf . Because his son Cynegils was presumably too young to inherit the throne, it was given to the brother, as was probably the custom among the Saxons. Ceol is portrayed as the founding member of a sub-house of the House of Wessex which would rule Wessex from 591–645, 648–674 and from 676–685, comprising Ceol, Ceolwulf, Cynegils, Cenwalh , Seaxburh and Centwine . Coenwulf and Ceolwulf I of Mercia are also claimed to be descendants of Ceol, meaning that
8600-417: The two additional manuscripts are often called [H] and [I]. The surviving manuscripts are listed below; though manuscript G was burned in a fire in 1731, and only a few leaves remain. The manuscripts are all thought to derive from a common original, but the connections between the texts are more complex than simple inheritance via copying. The diagram at right gives an overview of the relationships between
8700-593: The years 1132–1154, though his dating is known to be unreliable. This last entry is in Middle English, rather than Old English. [E] was once owned by William Laud , Archbishop of Canterbury 1633–1645, so is also known as the Laud Chronicle . The manuscript contains occasional glosses in Latin, and is referred to (as "the Saxon storye of Peterborowe church") in an antiquarian book from 1566. According to Joscelyn, Nowell had
8800-706: Was added. As in all Benedictine abbeys, the monks of Peterborough made vows of stability in the abbey until death. The community was governed by the Rule of St Benedict and was focused chiefly on the daily services of the Conventual Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours in the church. Meals and meetings were also important ritual events, with monks eating in silence while listening to readings from spiritual texts. Outside of this schedule they engaged in scholarship, education, pastoral care for
8900-451: Was an ancestor of [D]. He also had sources which have not been identified, and some of his statements have no earlier surviving source. A manuscript similar to [E] was available to William of Malmesbury , though it is unlikely to have been [E] as that manuscript is known to have still been in Peterborough after the time William was working, and he does not make use of any of the entries in [E] that are specifically related to Peterborough. It
9000-404: Was composed. The section containing the Chronicle (folios 115–64) is preceded by King Alfred's Old English translation of Orosius 's world history, followed by a menologium and some gnomic verses of the laws of the natural world and of humanity. Then follows a copy of the chronicle, beginning with 60 BC; the first scribe copied up to the entry for 490, and a second scribe took over up to
9100-399: Was dedicated to St Peter and surrounded by a palisade, called a burgh , hence the town surrounding the abbey was eventually named Peter-burgh. The community was further revived in 972 by Dunstan , Archbishop of Canterbury . This newer church had as its major focal point a substantial western tower with a " Rhenish helm " and was largely constructed of ashlars . Only a small section of
9200-504: Was edited into its present form between 890 and 892 (ahead of Bishop Asser 's use of a version of the Common Stock in his 893 Life of King Alfred ), but there is debate about precisely which year, and when subsequent continuations began to be added. It is not known for certain where the Common Stock was compiled, not least because the archetype is lost, but it is agreed to have been in Wessex. The patron might have been King Alfred himself ( Frank Stenton , for example, argued for
9300-405: Was exiled briefly in 1055. The [C], [D] and [E] manuscripts say the following: Scribes might also omit material, sometimes accidentally, but also for ideological reasons. Ælfgar was Earl of Mercia by 1058, and in that year was exiled again. This time only [D] has anything to say: "Here Earl Ælfgar was expelled, but he soon came back again, with violence, through the help of Gruffydd. And here came
9400-404: Was largely built of Barnack limestone from quarries on its own land, and it was paid annually for access to these quarries by the builders of Ely Cathedral and Ramsey Abbey in thousands of eels (e.g. 4,000 each year by Ramsey). Cathedral historians believe that part of the placing of the church in the location it is in is due to the easy ability to transfer quarried stones by river and then to
9500-410: Was particularly unfortunate, for a complete restoration of the painted wooden ceiling was nearing completion. The oily smoke given off by the plastic chairs was particularly damaging, coating much of the building with a sticky black layer. The seat of the fire was close to the organ and the combination of direct damage from the fire, and the water used to extinguish necessitated a full-scale rebuild of
9600-477: Was similar, but not identical, to [D]: the Mercian Register does not appear, and a poem about the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, which appears in most of the other surviving copies of the Chronicle , is not recorded. The same scribe then continued the annals through to 1131; these entries were made at intervals, and thus are presumably contemporary records. Finally, a second scribe, in 1154, wrote an account of
9700-473: Was taken by the scribe from existing saga material. From the late eighth century onwards, a period coinciding in the text with the beginning of Scandinavian raids on England, the Chronicle gathers momentum. As the Chronicle proceeds, it loses its list-like appearance, and annals become longer and more narrative in content. Many later entries contain a great deal of historical narrative in each annal. After
9800-606: Was the wish to retain the earlier Norman towers, which became obsolete when the Gothic front was added. Instead of being demolished and replaced with new stretches of wall, these old towers were retained and embellished with cornices and other gothic decor, while two new towers were added to create a continuous frontage. The Norman tower was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style in about 1350–1380 (its main beams and roof bosses survive) with two tiers of Romanesque windows combined into
9900-510: Was vandalised during the English Civil War in 1643 by Parliamentarian troops. As was common at the time, almost all the stained glass and the medieval choir stalls were destroyed, and the high altar and reredos were demolished, as were the cloisters and Lady Chapel . All the monuments and memorials of the Cathedral were also damaged or destroyed. Some of the damage was repaired during
10000-570: Was written by a scribe soon after 1073, in the same hand and ink as the rest of the Caligula MS. After 1085, the annals are in various contemporary hands. The original annalist's entry for the Norman conquest is limited to "Her forðferde eadward kyng"; a later hand added the coming of William the Conqueror , "7 her com willelm." At one point this manuscript was at St Augustine's Abbey , Canterbury. Two manuscripts are recorded in an old catalogue of
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