The Peterborough Version Of The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

An examination of the linguistic and cultural construction of one of the texts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In the twelfth century, a version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was rewritten at Peterborough Abbey, welding local history into an established framework of national events. This text has usually been regarded as an exception, a vernacular Chronicle written in a period dominated by Latin histories. This study, however, breaks new ground by considering the Peterborough Chronicle as much more than just an example of the accidental longevity of the Chronicle tradition. Close analysis reveals unique interpretations of events, and a very strong sense of communal identity, suggesting that the construction of this text was not a marginal activity, but one essential to the articulation of the abbey's image. This text also participates in a vibrant post-Conquest textual culture, in particular at Canterbury, including the writing of the bilingual F version of the Chronicle; its symbiotic relationship witha wider corpus of Latin historiography thus indicates the presence of shared sources. The incorporation of alternative generic types in the text also suggests the presence of formal hybridity, a further testament to a fluid and adaptable textual culture. Dr Malasree Home teaches at Newcastle University.

A semi-diplomatic edition of BL MS Cotton Tiberius A vi, probably written in 977-8, probably at Abingdon. It is the first complete and separate publication of B Version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, B being the primary witness to a 10th-century recension of the Chronicle, and an authority of greater textual importance than MS A for the period from 924. `One may recommend this book as a happy illustration of how much useful and interesting information a diligent editor may prize from an apparently unpromising source — The general editors have clearly given much thought to the system of textual and editorial conventions, which are in every case clear and readily intelligible'PERITIA.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is among the earliest vernacular chronicles of Western Europe and remains an essential source for scholars of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. With the publication in 2004 of a new edition of the Peterborough text, all six major manuscript versions of the Chronicle are now available in the Collaborative Edition. Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle therefore presents a timely reassessment of current scholarly thinking on this most complex and most foundational of documents. This volume of collected essays examines the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle through four main aspects: the production of the text, its language, the literary character of the work, and the Chronicle as historical writing. The individual studies not only exemplify the different scholarly approaches to the Chronicle but they also cover the full chronological range of the text(s), as well as offering new contributions to well-established debates and exploring fresh avenues of research. The interdisciplinary and wide-ranging nature of the scholarship behind the volume allows Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to convey the immense complexity and variety of the Chronicle, a document that survives in multiple versions and was written in multiple places, times, and political contexts.

Part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Collaborative Series, which now includes editions of the main texts through from A to F. This volume offers a new edition of the E-text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commonly known as the Peterborough Chronicle. The E-text is of enormous importance in Chronicle studies: in its early part it is the best representativeof the Northern Recension of the Chronicle; in continuing up to the second half of the twelfth century, its span is by far the longest of all the versions. Even more than other versions of the Chronicle, it reflects transitions ofvital interest to historians, linguists, and literary scholars. The E-text has not been edited in its entirety, except as a facsimile, for over a century. This semi-diplomatic edition offers a readable text with modern punctuation and capitalization. The interpolated material relating to Peterborough is clearly distinguished from the rest of the text. Indices of personal names, people-names, and place-names follow the text itself. The Introduction includes an account of the manuscript and a linguistic analysis of the E-text. The E-text cannot of course be studied in isolation. This volume is part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Collaborative Series and with its publicationthe Series now includes editions of the main texts through from A to F. A substantial section of the Introduction to the volume is devoted to a detailed discussion of E's complex textual relationships with the other versions of the Chronicle, and also with other relevant documents such as Peterborough Charters and twelfth-century Latin chronicles. Dr SUSAN IRVINE is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, University College, London.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles is a collection of Old English annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxon race. They were originally compiled in Wessex during the reign of Alfred the Great (871-899 AD). It was continuously updated by following generations and in one case was still being updated in 1154 AD. Regardless of certain biases, the Chronicle is the most important historical source of history of the British Isles for the period between the departure of the Roman Empire, and years following the Norman conquest. There are seven original copies of the text that reside in the British Library and two other public libraries in the United Kingdom.Alfred the Great was the king of the West Saxons at the time of heightened invasions from the Scandinavian Vikings. His kingdom of Wessex was the last surviving Saxon kingdom left in resistance to the invaders. At one-point Alfred's kingdom was reduced to his household in exile in the marshlands in Somerset, England. Through military reorganization, diplomatic maneuvers, and Christian missionary work, Alfred was able to push back against the Scandinavians and establish Wessex as the most powerful kingdom on the British Isles. By the end of his reign Wessex was the dominant power on the British Isles, the Vikings had been humbled and partially assimilated into Christian culture. His dream of an united Britain under the control of Wessex was almost complete. Alfred is the only English King to be given the title of 'the Great'.

England may boast of two substantial monuments of its early history; to either of which it would not be easy to find a parallel in any nation, ancient or modern. These are, the Record of Doomsday and the "Saxon Chronicle"

The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain vereint erstmals wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu Multilingualität und Interkulturalität im mittelalterlichen Britannien und bietet mehr als 600 fundierte Einträge zu Schlüsselpersonen, Zusammenhängen und Einflüssen in der Literatur vom fünften bis sechzehnten Jahrhundert. - Einzigartiger multilingualer, interkultureller Ansatz und die neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse. Das gesamte Mittelalter und die Bandbreite literarischer Sprachen werden abgedeckt. - Über 600 fundierte, verständliche Einträge zu Schlüsselpersonen, Texten, kritischen Debatten, Methoden, kulturellen Zusammenhängen sowie verwandte Terminologie. - Repräsentiert die gesamte Literatur der Britischen Inseln, einschließlich Alt- und Mittelenglisch, das frühe Schottland, die Anglonormannen, Nordisch, Latein und Französisch in Britannien, die keltische Literatur in Wales, Irland, Schottland und Cornwall. - Beeindruckende chronologische Darstellung, von der Invasion der Sachsen bis zum 5. Jahrhundert und weiter bis zum Übergang zur frühen Moderne im 16. Jahrhundert. - Beleuchtet die Überbleibsel mittelalterlicher britischer Literatur, darunter auch Manuskripte und frühe Drucke, literarische Stätten und Zusammenhänge in puncto Herstellung, Leistung und Rezeption sowie erzählerische Transformation und intertextuelle Verbindungen in dieser Zeit.