Chronica maiora

Illustration of the procession in Cremona with the so-called elephant of Cremona from the Chronica maiora (Parker Library, MS 16, fol. 151v). Right in red letters: Elephas Cremonensis procedens obviam comiti Ricardo iussu domini imperatoris Fretherici .

Portrait of Henry I of England , from the Chronicle of Matthew Paris

Matthaeus Parisiensis

Lying on the sickbed, Louis IX affirmed . of France his crusade vows . Matthew of Paris, Historia Anglorum

A map of the world in the Chronica maiora . Cambridge Manuscript, Corpus Christi College, Parker Library, Ms. 26, page 284 (circa 1250)

The Chronica maiora ( Greater Chronicle , also Chronica maior , Chronica majora , Historia major ) are the main work of Matthaeus Parisiensis , created as a universal chronicle , German: Matthäus von Paris (around 1200–1259).

The history , written in Latin , begins with the creation of the world and goes back to 1259 . Its author was a Benedictine monk in the monastery of St. Albans near London . The Chronica maiora is based on the work of another historian from St. Albans, the Flores Historiarum by Roger von Wendover († 1236). The Chronica maiora is an important source for the end of the Staufer period (cf. Friedrich II. ). The Pope and the conditions in the Curia are often attacked.

The work has come down to us in three illuminated manuscripts . Two of them are in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University , call number CCCC 26 and CCCC 16 . The third is in the British Library under the call number BL Royal 14.C.vii . Another manuscript is in the British Library's Cotton Library, call number BL Cotton Nero Dv . ´

expenditure

• Henry Richards Luard (ed.): Matthaei Parisiensis, monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica majora. 7 volumes. London 1872–1884 ( Rolls Series. ) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (with index and glossary).
• Felix Liebermann (Ed.): Matthaeus Parisiensis, Chronica Maiora. In: Monumenta Germaniae Historica . SS 28, Hanover 1888, pp. 107–389 digital copy (excerpts).

Translations

English

• Matthew Paris's English History, trans. by John Allen Giles . 3 Vols., London 1852-1854 ( Vol. 1 , Vol. 2 , Vol. 3 ).

French

• La grande chronique d'Angleterre (Sources de l'histoire d'Angleterre)

German

• Excerpts from the larger chronicle of Matthew of Paris. After the edition of the Monumenta Germaniae, translated by G. Grandaur and W. Wattenbach (= The historians of the German prehistoric times in German adaptation under the protection of Sr. Maj . Of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Of Prussia, published by GH Pertz, I. Grimm, K . Lachmann, L. Ranke, K. Ritter. Continued by W. Wattenbach. Thirteenth century. Volume 5),

literature

• Richard Vaughan : Matthew Paris, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought , New ser. 6 (Cambridge, 1958), ( digitized from Internet Archive ).
• Richard Vaughan (ed. And tr.): The Chronicles of Matthew Paris: Monastic Life in the Thirteenth Century (Gloucester, 1984).
• Richard Vaughan: The Illustrated Chronicles of Matthew Paris . Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1993. ISBN 978-0-7509-0523-7
• Suzanne Lewis: The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora . University of California Press 1987 (California Studies in the History of Art) ( digitized at the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Historia Major of Matthew Paris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Matthew Paris, Chronica maiora
• St Albans Abbey Bibliography
• Digitized manuscripts from the Parker Library: MS 26 , MS 16I , MS 16II .
• Digitized manuscript of the British Library: Royal MS 14 C VII

Remarks

1. ↑ or in English spelling: Matthew Paris
2. ↑ cf. Karl Hampe : German imperial history in the age of the Salier and Staufer . European History Publishing House 2012, p. 88.