Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the term used by historians to describe a set of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons.
The lost first version of the Chronicle was created in the late ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of King Alfred the Great. 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 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 Julius 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 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 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 the English People "the two great Anglo-Saxon works of history". The Chronicles accounts tend to be highly politicised, with the Common Stock intended primarily to legitimise the House of Wessex and the 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 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.
Place and date of composition
The Common Stock of the Chronicle dates to around 893, as it covers the Vikings' return from the Continent in that year, and a version was available to Bishop Asserfor his 893 Life of King Alfred). 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. It was probably produced in the scholarly circle around King Alfred, He may not have been personally involved, and Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge comment 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 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 "world history annals"
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 the early eighth century, the Common Stock makes extensive use of the chronological summary from the end of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. Scholars have read these annals as functioning to present England as part of the Roman and Christian world and its history.Fifth and sixth centuries
From 449, coverage of non-British history largely vanishes and extensive material about 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 a canonical narrative of early English history; but its unreliability was exposed in the 1980s. The historian Ken Dark argues that a ninth-century text is only reliable for the fifth and sixth century if it is based on written sources dating to the period, and as there is no reason to believe that any substantial texts were written at that time, there is no reason to trust entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for this period.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. Such sources are best represented by 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 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 and gave his name to the island. However, the name of the Isle of Wight derives from the Latin Vectis, not from Wihtgar. The actual name of the fortress was probably Wihtwarabyrg, and either the Common Stock editor or an earlier source misinterpreted this as referring to Wihtgar.
Seventh and eighth centuries
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 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 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 was taken by the scribe from existing saga material.
Ninth century
From the late eighth century onwards, a period coinciding in the text with the beginning of Scandinavian raids on England, the Chronicle gathered momentum. As the Chronicle proceeded, it lost its list-like appearance, and annals became longer and more narrative in content. Many later entries contain a great deal of historical narrative in each annal.Development after the Common Stock
After 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 the surviving Chronicle manuscripts.The manuscripts were produced in different places, and at times adaptations made to 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 Chronicle'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 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 of the Chronicle. For example, Ælfgar, earl of East Anglia, and son of Leofric, the earl of Mercia, was exiled briefly in 1055. The , and manuscripts say the following:
- : "Earl Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric, was outlawed without any fault..."
- : "Earl Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric, was outlawed well-nigh without fault..."
- : "Earl Ælfgar was outlawed because it was thrown at him that he was traitor to the king and all the people of the land. And he admitted this before all the men who were gathered there, although the words shot out against his will."
Cardiff University historian Rebecca Thomas states this ideological framing aligns with 's broader "pro-Godwine" perspective . Meanwhile, minimizes details of Gruffudd's involvement in the campaign, offering a more subdued account that excludes his royal title and reduces his role to a supporting figure.
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 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 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 says nothing at all, and 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 the Chronicle does omit important events.