Annales Cambriae
Encyclopedia
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's
St David's
St Davids , is a city and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Lying on the River Alun on St David's Peninsula, it is Britain's smallest city in terms of both size and population, the final resting place of Saint David, the country's patron saint, and the de facto ecclesiastical capital of...
in Dyfed
Kingdom of Dyfed
The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, not later than the 10th century. Despite the name, the Annales Cambriae record not only events in Wales, but also events in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and sometimes further afield, though the focus of the events recorded especially in the later two thirds of the text is Wales.
Sources
The principal versions of Annales Cambriae appear in four manuscripts:A: London, British Library, MS. Harley 3859, folios 190r-193r.
B: London (Kew), Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
, MS. E.164/1 (K.R. Misc. Books, Series I) pp. 2–26
C: London, British Library, MS. Cotton Domitian A.i, folios 138r-155r
D: Exeter, Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....
Library, MS. 3514, pp. 523–28, the Cronica ante aduentum Domini.
E: ibid., pp. 507–19, the Cronica de Wallia.
- A is written in a hand of about 1100x1130 AD, and inserted without title into an MS. of the Historia Brittonum where it is immediately followed by a pedigree for Owain ap HywelOwain ap HywelOwain ap Hywel was king of Deheubarth in south Wales and probably also controlled Powys.Owain was the son of Hywel Dda, originally king of Deheubarth but by the end of his life king of most of Wales. On Hywel's death in 950 Deheubarth was shared between Owain and his two brothers, Rhodri and Edwin...
(d. 988). Although no explicit chronology is given in the MS., its annals seem to run from about AD 445 to 977 with the last entry at 954, making it likely that the text belongs to the second half of the tenth century. - B was written, probably at the Cistercian abbey of NeathNeathNeath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
, at the end of the 13th century. It is entitled Annales ab orbe condito adusque A. D. mcclxxxvi [1286]. - C is part of a book written at St David's, and is entitled Annales ab orbe condito adusque A. D. mcclxxviii [1288]; this is also of the late 13th century.
Two of the texts, B and C, begin with a World Chronicle derived from Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
's Origines (Book V, ch. 39), through the medium of Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Chronica minora. B commences its annals with Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain "sixty years before the incarnation of the Lord." After A.D. 457, B agrees nearly with A until A ends. C commences its annals after the empire of Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
(AD 610-41) at a year corresponding to AD 677. C mostly agrees with A until A ends, although it is clear that A was not the common source for B and C (Dumville 2002, p. xi). B and C diverge after 1203, C having fewer and briefer Welsh entries.
D and E are found in a manuscript written at the Cistercian abbey of Whitland
Whitland
Whitland is a small town in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Tâf. Whitland is home to the elusive "Whitland Trout" noted for its eggs and oily scales.- History :...
in south-west Wales in the later 13th century; the Cronica ante aduentum Domini (which takes its title from its opening words) extends from 1132 BC to 1285 AD, while the Cronica de Wallia extends from 1190 to 1266.
A alone has benefited from a complete diplomatic edition (Phillimore 1888).
Source for the Arthurian legend
There are two entries in the Annals on King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, one on Medraut
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
(Mordred) and one on Myrddin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
(Merlin). These entries have been presented in the past as proof of the existence of Arthur and Merlin, although that view is no longer widely held. Some say it is interesting to note that all the other people mentioned in the chronicle are real and this argument is often offered as evidence for the historicity of Arthur, Merlin and Mordred; however, given that the entries, or at least the insertion of the names of Arthur and Merlin, could have been added arbitrarily as late as 970, long after the development of the early Arthurian myth, it cannot be taken as a particularly conclusive argument.
Entries on Arthur, Medrod and Merlin (Myrddin):
- Year 72 (c. AD 516516Year 516 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Petrus without colleague...
) The Battle of BadonBattle of Mons BadonicusThe Battle of Mons Badonicus was a battle between a force of Britons and an Anglo-Saxon army, probably sometime between 490 and 517 AD. Though it is believed to have been a major political and military event, there is no certainty about its date, location or the details of the fighting...
, in which Arthur carried the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights and the Britons were victors. - Year 93 (c. AD 537537Year 537 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Belisarius...
) The Strife of CamlannBattle of CamlannThe Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy Mordred.-Historicity:...
in which Arthur and Medraut fell [and there was death in Britain and in Ireland.] Text in brackets not in MSS. B or C. - Year 129 (c. AD 573573Year 573 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 573 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The Battle of Arfderydd is fought between...
) The Battle of ArfderyddBattle of ArfderyddThe Battle of Arfderydd was fought, according to the Annales Cambriae, in 573. The opposing armies are variously given in a number of Old Welsh sources, perhaps suggesting a number of allied armies were involved...
(Armterid, A; Erderit, B; Arderit, C) [between the sons of Elifer, and Guendoleu son of KeidauGwenddoleu ap CeidioGwenddoleu ap Ceidio or Gwenddolau was a Brythonic king who ruled in Arfderydd . This is in what is now south-west Scotland and north-west England in the area around Hadrian's Wall and Carlisle during the sub-Roman period in Britain...
; in which battle Guendoleu fell; and Merlin (Merlinus) went mad.] Text in brackets found only in MS. B.
External links
- An English translation of the original annals (combining text from MSS. A, B & C for the period from the mid 5th to the late 10th centuries) can be found here.
- A complete transcription of the B-text can be accessed here