Chronica Gallica

The Chronica Gallica a. 452 ( Gallische Chronic [452]) is an in Annalen form designed late antique chronicle the chronicle of Hieronymus continued. It was edited together with another anonymous Gallic chronicle by Theodor Mommsen under the name Chronica Gallica as part of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH).

The chronicle, written in Latin, begins in 379 with the appointment of Theodosius I as co-emperor and ends with the invasion of Attila's Huns into Italy in 452. The depiction focuses primarily on Gaul, partly Italy, as well as the emperors and the popes ( the author is evidently a Christian and is also interested in church questions); Events in the eastern part of the empire are hardly mentioned, and reports on events in the western empire are not free of errors. Mostly it is assumed that the text 452 or immediately after it originated. It is the oldest surviving historical work from Gaul. The place of composition is controversial, mostly a place in the Rhone Valley or perhaps even Marseille is assumed. The relatively large number of around 40 manuscripts that have survived indicates the great popularity of the work.

Rufinus of Aquileia and consular annals served as sources , the Chronicle also offers information from Gallic sources and is not unimportant in this regard. Furthermore, the brief statement in the chronicle that Britain fell to the Anglo-Saxons in 441 is significant, which is usually considered to be correct due to the temporal proximity to the events and is therefore one of the extremely rare contemporary sources from the end of Roman Britain. Overall, the description is pervaded by a negative assessment of current affairs, primarily due to the incursions of the "barbarians" into the Roman Empire.

The Chronica Gallica a. , Edited in the same MGH volume . 511 also begins with Theodosius, but covers the period up to 511. The author was a Catholic Christian, probably also from southern Gaul and relied on various other chronicles (including the Gallic Chronicle of 452) which he compiled. The intrinsic value of the chronicle is accordingly relatively low; there is only one surviving manuscript of her today.

expenditure

• Theodor Mommsen (Ed.): Auctores antiquissimi 9: Chronica minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII. (I). Berlin 1892, pp. 615–666 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version) (text edition: pp. 646ff., Each second page [648, 650 etc.])
• Richard W. Burgess : The Gallic Chronicle of 452. A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction . In: Ralph W. Mathisen, Danuta Shanzer (Ed.): Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul. Revisiting the Sources . Aldershot 2001, p. 52ff.
• Jan-Markus Kötter, Carlo Scardino (ed.): Gallic Chronicles (= small and fragmentary historians of late antiquity G 7–8). Schöningh, Paderborn 2017, ISBN 978-3-506-78489-6 ( review at H-Soz-Kult ).

literature

• Steven Muhlberger : The Fifth-Century Chroniclers: Prosper, Hydatius, and the Gallic Chronicler of 452 . Francis Cairns, Leeds 1990.
• Otto Seeck : Chronica Gallica . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 2, Stuttgart 1899, Col. 2460.