Chibnall, Marjorie, ed., The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis Volume I (Oxford: Clarendon)
Text name(s): Historia Ecclesiastica; Ecclesiastical History; Vita Sancti Ebrulfi; Life of St. Ebrulf
Number of pages of primary source text: 46
Author(s):
Dates: 1 - 417
Archival Reference:
Original Language(s):
- Latin
Translation:
- Translated into English.
- Original language included.
Translation Comments: facing page
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
- France
County/Region: Shrewsbury; Normandy; St-Evroul
Record Types:
- Chronicle, Annals
Subject Headings:
- Clergy - Monks, Nuns, Friars
- Clergy - Priests, Bishops, Canons
- Conversion
- Early Germanic Peoples: Goths, Franks, etc.
- Historiography
- Papacy
- Royalty / Monarchs
- Saints
- War - Military History
Apparatus:
- Index
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Introduction
Comments:
Orderic Vitalis was a 12th century English chronicler whose Ecclesiastical History was influential throughout the Middle Ages. Originally intended as a history of his own Abbey of St-Evroul, the work grew into a history of the world in 13 books from the birth of Christ to the mid 12th century. The history of the period outside Orderic’s lifetime is compiled from a variety of sources, including scripture, the Church Fathers, Isidore of Seville, Bede, Paul the Deacon, and the Liber Pontificalis (Book of the Popes). His often discursive yet vivid work forms an invaluable source for not only the great events of his time, but also for more obscure stories, anecdotes, and popular beliefs and practices. This volume, the first of six, includes a general introduction and books 1 and 2 (from the birth of Christ till the accession of Pope Innocent III in 417). Also included are genealogical tables, a map of St-Evroul and the surrounding area, and appendices of manuscripts copied or annotated by Orderic, and the Latin text of the earliest Vita Sancti Ebrulfi (Life of St. Ebrulf).
Introduction Summary:
The editor’s lengthy (127 pp) general introduction provides biographical information on Orderic, his education, his life at St-Evroul, his work, and his character. The editor summarizes the contents of the Ecclesiastical History and describes its structure, noting its literary and documentary sources. She discusses Orderic’s historical materials, style, and language, as well as his somewhat confusing chronological system which was based on Bede’s in De temporum ratione (he begins each year at Christmas and dates the years following 1050 from the Incarnation). She also considers the work’s considerable influence during the Middle Ages, previous printed editions of the work, and the manuscripts in which the work survives, and upon which her edition is based.
Cataloger: MCB
