Florence of Worcester
The Chronicon ex Chronicis (Chronicle of Chronicles) was composed, in Latin, at Worcester during the early-12th century. Its author used a universal chronicle compiled at Mainz, by Marianus Scotus, as the platform on which to build his work – expanding it, from the 5th century onwards, with material pertaining to English history, a major source being a now lost version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Traditionally, the author of the Chronicon ex Chronicis is identified as the monk Florence of Worcester. The reason for this view is a notice that appears in the entry for 1118:
On the Nones of July [7th July], the Worcester monk Florence died. His meticulous learning and scholarly labours have made this chronicle of chronicles outstanding among all others.His body is covered by earth, his soul searches the skies.
There in the sight of God may he reign among the saints forever. Amen.
During the entry for 1138 appears the verse:
May every Christian rest in total bliss!
Let the reader here correct John if he errs!
It would seem to be clear – after Florence’s death in 1118, the work was continued by this John of Worcester. That, indeed, is the traditional view, but there is a fly in the ointment. Orderic Vitalis concludes Book III of his Historia Ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History) with the coronation of William the Conqueror on Christmas Day 1066. In the closing passages, Orderic, who had visited Worcester (he doesn’t say when, but it would appear to have been no later than 1124) and seen John’s work, writes:
John, an Englishman by birth who entered the monastery of Worcester as a boy and won great repute for his learning and piety, continued the chronicle of Marianus Scotus and carefully recorded the events of William’s reign and of his sons William Rufus and Henry up to the present.
Orderic proceeds to say that John had been instructed to continue Marianus’ chronicle by Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester, who died in 1095, and makes no mention of Florence. Moreover, the Chronicon ex Chronicis exhibits no change of style after its notice of Florence’s death in 1118, and entries before that year include material taken from Eadmer’s Historia Novorum in Anglia (History of Recent Events in England), which was not finalized until c.1123. The modern tendency, therefore, is to see John as the creative force behind the Chronicon ex Chronicis, and to diminish Florence’s role to little more than a labourer (carrying out the preliminary spadework). The fact remains, however, that Florence’s obituary indicates his contribution to the project was certainly not inconsiderable.
The main manuscript of the Chronicon ex Chronicis (Oxford, Corpus Christi College MS 157) is believed to be the working copy of John of Worcester himself. Up to part way through 1128 it is a fair copy (to mid-1101 it is the work of a single scribe). The entries 1128–1131 have been rewritten, and the chronicle extended to 1140 (during which year the manuscript, as it has survived, ends), by a hand which is thought to be John’s.[*]
Copies were, though, released at earlier stages in the work’s development – Symeon of Durham makes use of a copy to 1118,[*] and most copies end with 1131.
Chronicon ex Chronicis translated by P. McGurk
Orderic Vitalis Historia Ecclesiastica translated by Marjorie Chibnall