| FROM DOT TO DOMESDAY |
ÆTHELWEARD (ealdorman of the Western Shires, and a descendant of the royal house of Wessex) composed his Chronicle in the last quarter of the 10th century. Although he based the work on a now lost version of the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’, Æthelweard wrote in Latin. Unfortunately, however, his grammar and style tends to obscure his narrative. William of Malmesbury comments:
“... of Æthelweard [Elwardus], a noble and illustrious character, who attempted to arrange these chronicles in Latin, and whose intention I could applaud if his language did not disgust me, it were better to be silent.”
‘Gesta Regum Anglorum’ Book I Preface (translation by John Sharpe, revised by Joseph Stevenson)
Nevertheless, his access to otherwise lost material makes Æthelweard important. Sadly, only a few scorched leaves of the only known manuscript (apparently dating from the early-11th century) survived the fire which destroyed the library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton in 1731. Fortuitously, however, in 1596 Henry Savile had produced a printed edition of the text.