Symeon of Durham

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Symeon of Durham ( lat . Simeon Dunelmensis , * around 1060, † 1130 ) was an English chronicler .

Symeon lived in Jarrow Monastery until 1083 , after which the community moved to Durham , where he found his calling. He was the author of two historical works that are of particular importance for historical research on northern England. On the one hand, he wrote the Historia ecclesiae Dunelmensis between 1104 and 1108, which extends to 1096. The manuscript is still in the library of Bishop John Cosin in Durham. It is divided into four books, which in turn are divided into chapters. The entire work is structured chronologically. There are two sequels to this, both of which were written anonymously. The first runs from 1096 until the death of Ranulf Flambard (1129). The second covers the period from 1133 to 1144. There is another sequel in a Cambridge manuscript covering the years 1145-1154.

Around 1129 Symeon began to lay down the Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum . It begins where the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Church history of the English people) by Beda Venerabilis ends. In his explanations up to 957 Symeon copied some old annals from Durham, the originals of which have since disappeared - they are also of importance for the history of northern England. From here until 1119 he copied John of Worcester , with some adjustments . The part that covers the years 1119 to 1129 is more like an ongoing narrative of current events. Other writings have also been assigned to Symeon again and again, but this assignment is questionable. These writings, together with the works mentioned, were printed as Scriptores decem by Roger Twysden (1652). The most complete modern edition is that of Thomas Arnold .

The value of the Historia regum serving Northumbrian Annals , was John Hodgon-Hinde in the preface to his Symeonis Dunelmensis opera (ff Vol. IS XIV. (1868)) (in doubt as Reinhold Pauli in research on German history , XII. Pp. 137ff. (Göttingen, 1872)).

Work editions

• Simeon of Durham. Opera Omnia ed. by Thomas Arnold, 2 volumes, London 1882–1885.
• Libellus de exordio atque procursu istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis, ecclesie = Tract on the origins and progress of this the Church of Durham , ed. by David W. Rollason, Oxford 2000.

literature

• Karl Schnith: From Symeon of Durham to Wilhelm von Newburgh. Paths of English “folk history” in the 12th century. In: Clemens Bauer / Laetitia Boehm / Max Müller (eds.): Speculum historiale. History in the mirror of historiography and the interpretation of history (Festschrift Johannes Spoerl), Freiburg im Breisgau 1965, pp. 242–256.
• Joseph Stevenson (arr.): The Church historians of England, Vol. 3,2: The historical works of Simeon of Durham. London 1855.
• Michael W. Twomey: On Reading "Bede's Death Song". Translation, Typology, and Penance in Symeon of Durham's Text of the "Epistola Cuthberti de Obitu Bedae" . In: Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 84 (1983), pp. 171-181.

Web links

• Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Symeon von Durham from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature , Volume I, 1907-21.
• Symeon von Durham, Translator: J. Stevenson: The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . In: Church Historians of England, volume III, part II . Seeley's. 1855. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
• Edwin Burton:  Simeon of Durham . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913.
• Manuscripts written by Symeon on Durham Priory Library Recreated

Footnotes

1. ↑ Developed dates of birth and death according to the hbz network database cf. to help: PND .