The Chronica Gallica of 452, also called the Gallic Chronicle of 452, is a chronicle of Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...

, presented in the form of annals, which continues that of Jerome

Jerome

Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...

. It was edited by Theodor Mommsen

Theodor Mommsen

Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...

 in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica

Monumenta Germaniae Historica

The Monumenta Germaniae Historica is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published sources for the study of German history from the end of the Roman Empire to 1500.The society sponsoring the series was established by the Prussian reformer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom...

, along with another anonymous Gallic chronicle, the Chronica Gallica of 511

Chronica Gallica of 511

The Chronica or Cronaca Gallica of 511, also called the Gallic Chronicle of 511, is a chronicle of Late Antiquity preserved today in a single manuscript of the thirteenth century now in Madrid...

.

The chronicle begins in 379 with the elevation of Theodosius I

Theodosius I

Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...

 as co-emperor, and ends with the attack of Attila, king of the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

, on Italy in 452. The contents focus on Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, the emperors and the popes, while events in the eastern part of the empire find little mention. It is the oldest preserved historical work from Gaul. The place of origin is controversial, but most likely somewhere in the Rhône

Rhône

Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...

 Valley or, as some suggest, Marseilles.

The Chronica Gallica of 511, edited in the same MGH volume, also begins with Theodosius, but covers the period up to 511.

Sources

• MGH Auctores antiquissimi 9: Chronica minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII. (I). ed. Theodor Mommsen. Berlin 1892, S. 615–666, Digitalised. (Text: p. 646ff. and each second page [648, 650 etc.])
• Richard Burgess: The Gallic Chronicle of 452: A New Critical Edition with a Brief Introduction. In: Ralph W. Mathisen, Danuta Shanzer (Hrsg.): Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul. Revisiting the Sources. Aldershot 2001, S. 52ff.
• Steven Muhlberger: The Fifth-Century Chroniclers: Prosper, Hydatius, and the Gallic Chronicler of 452. Leeds 1990.