Orderic Vitalis
Encyclopedia
Orderic Vitalis (1075 – c.
1142) was an English chronicler
of Norman
ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicle
s of 11th and 12th century Normandy
and Anglo-Norman
England
. The modern biographer of Henry I of England
, C. Warren Hollister
, called him "an honest and trustworthy guide to the history of his times".
, Shropshire
, the eldest son of a French priest, Odeler of Orleans, who had entered the service of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and had received from his patron a chapel there. When Orderic was five, his parents sent him to an English priest, Siward by name, who kept a school in the abbey of SS Peter and Paul at Shrewsbury
. At the age of eleven he was entered as a novice
in the Norman monastery of St Evroul-en-Ouche, which Earl Roger had formerly despoiled but, in his later years, was loading with gifts. The parents paid thirty marks for their son's admission; and he expresses the conviction that they imposed this exile upon him from an earnest desire for his welfare. Odeler's respect for the monastic profession is attested by his own retirement, a few years later, into a religious house which Earl Roger had founded at his persuasion. But the young Orderic felt for some time, as he avers, like Joseph
in a strange land. He did not know a word of French when he reached Normandy; his book, though written many years later, shows that he never lost his English cast of mind or his attachment to the country of his birth.
of Christian martyrs) because they found a difficulty in pronouncing his baptismal name. But, in the title of his great chronicle he prefixes the old to the new name and proudly adds the epithet Angligena, "English-born".
His cloistered life was uneventful. He became a deacon
in 1093, and a priest
in 1107. He left his cloister on several occasions, and speaks of having visited Croyland, Worcester, Cambrai
(1105) and Cluny
(1132). But he turned his attention at an early date to literature, and for many years he appears to have spent his summers in the scriptorium
.
His first literary efforts were as a continuator of William of Jumièges
' Gesta normannorum ducum, a broad history of the Normans and their dukes from the founding of Normandy, which Orderic carried forward into the early twelfth century.
His superiors at some time between 1110 and 1115 ordered him to write the history of St Evroul
. The work, the Historia Ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History), grew under his hands until it became a general history of his own age. St Evroul was a house of wealth and distinction. War-worn knights chose it as a resting-place of their last years. It was constantly entertaining visitors from southern Italy, where it had planted colonies of monks, and from England, where it had extensive possessions. Thus Orderic, though he witnessed no great events, was often well-informed about them. In spite of a cumbrous and affected style, he is a vivid narrator; and his character sketches are admirable as summaries of current estimates. His narrative is badly arranged and full of unexpected digressions, but he relays much invaluable information not provided by the more methodical chroniclers. He throws a flood of light upon the manners and ideas of his own age, and sometimes comments with surprising shrewdness upon the broader aspects and tendencies of history. His narrative breaks off in the middle of 1141, though he added some finishing touches in 1142. He reports that he was then old and infirm; probably he did not long survive the completion of his great work.
1- Books i and ii, which are historically valueless, give the history of Christianity
from the birth of Christ
. After 855 this becomes a bare catalogue of pope
s, ending with the name of Innocent I. These books Orderic added in 1136–1141 as an afterthought to the original scheme.
2- Books iii through vi form a history of St Evroul, the original nucleus of the work. Planned before 1122, they were mainly composed in the years 1123–1131. The fourth and fifth books contain long digressions on the deeds of William the Conqueror in Normandy and England. Before 1067 these are of little value, being chiefly derived from two extant sources: William of Jumieges
' Gesta Normannorum Ducum and William of Poitiers
' Gesta Guillemi. For the years 1067–1071 Orderic follows the last portion of the Gesta Guillemi, and is therefore of the first importance. From 1071 he begins to be an independent authority. But his notices of political events in this part of his work are far less copious than in the later books.
3- Books vii through xiii relegate ecclesiastical affairs to the background. In this section, after sketching the history of France under the Carolingians and early Capets, Orderic takes up the events of his own times, starting from about 1082. He has much to say concerning the empire, the papacy, the Normans in Sicily and Apulia
, the First Crusade
(for which he follows Fulcher of Chartres
and Baudri of Bourgueil). But his chief interest is in the histories of the three brothers Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, William Rufus and Henry I of England
. He continues his work, in the form of annals, up to the defeat and capture of Stephen of England
at Lincoln in 1141.
The historian Marjorie Chibnall
states that Orderic used now lost pancartes
(cartularies or collections of charters) of various Norman monastic houses as sources for his historical writings.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1142) was an English chronicler
English historians in the Middle Ages
Historians of England in the Middle Ages helped to lay the groundwork for modern historical historiography, providing vital accounts of the early history of England, Wales and Normandy, its cultures, and revelations about the historians themselves....
of Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicle
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 of 11th and 12th century Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The modern biographer of Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, C. Warren Hollister
C. Warren Hollister
Charles Warren Hollister was an American author and historian, "one of the best medieval generalists in the world" A professor emeritus, he was one of the founding members of the University of California Santa Barbara history department...
, called him "an honest and trustworthy guide to the history of his times".
Background
He was born in AtchamAtcham
Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is situated on the B4380 , 5 miles south east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows around the village...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, the eldest son of a French priest, Odeler of Orleans, who had entered the service of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and had received from his patron a chapel there. When Orderic was five, his parents sent him to an English priest, Siward by name, who kept a school in the abbey of SS Peter and Paul at Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
. At the age of eleven he was entered as a novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
in the Norman monastery of St Evroul-en-Ouche, which Earl Roger had formerly despoiled but, in his later years, was loading with gifts. The parents paid thirty marks for their son's admission; and he expresses the conviction that they imposed this exile upon him from an earnest desire for his welfare. Odeler's respect for the monastic profession is attested by his own retirement, a few years later, into a religious house which Earl Roger had founded at his persuasion. But the young Orderic felt for some time, as he avers, like Joseph
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)
Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
in a strange land. He did not know a word of French when he reached Normandy; his book, though written many years later, shows that he never lost his English cast of mind or his attachment to the country of his birth.
Religious life
His monastic superiors rechristened him Vitalis (after a member of the legendary Theban LegionTheban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
of Christian martyrs) because they found a difficulty in pronouncing his baptismal name. But, in the title of his great chronicle he prefixes the old to the new name and proudly adds the epithet Angligena, "English-born".
His cloistered life was uneventful. He became a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1093, and a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in 1107. He left his cloister on several occasions, and speaks of having visited Croyland, Worcester, Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
(1105) and Cluny
Cluny
Cluny or Clungy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is 20 km northwest of Mâcon.The town grew up around the Benedictine Cluny Abbey, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910...
(1132). But he turned his attention at an early date to literature, and for many years he appears to have spent his summers in the scriptorium
Scriptorium
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
.
His first literary efforts were as a continuator of William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges was a contemporary of the events of 1066, and one of our earliest writers on the subject of the Norman Conquest. He is himself a "shadowy figure", only known by his dedicatory letter to King William as a monk of Jumièges...
' Gesta normannorum ducum, a broad history of the Normans and their dukes from the founding of Normandy, which Orderic carried forward into the early twelfth century.
His superiors at some time between 1110 and 1115 ordered him to write the history of St Evroul
Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche
The Abbey of Saint-Evroul or Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche is a former Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the present commune of Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Orne, Basse-Normandie...
. The work, the Historia Ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History), grew under his hands until it became a general history of his own age. St Evroul was a house of wealth and distinction. War-worn knights chose it as a resting-place of their last years. It was constantly entertaining visitors from southern Italy, where it had planted colonies of monks, and from England, where it had extensive possessions. Thus Orderic, though he witnessed no great events, was often well-informed about them. In spite of a cumbrous and affected style, he is a vivid narrator; and his character sketches are admirable as summaries of current estimates. His narrative is badly arranged and full of unexpected digressions, but he relays much invaluable information not provided by the more methodical chroniclers. He throws a flood of light upon the manners and ideas of his own age, and sometimes comments with surprising shrewdness upon the broader aspects and tendencies of history. His narrative breaks off in the middle of 1141, though he added some finishing touches in 1142. He reports that he was then old and infirm; probably he did not long survive the completion of his great work.
The Historia Ecclesiastica
The Historia Ecclesiastica, described as the greatest English social history of the Middle Ages, falls into three sections:1- Books i and ii, which are historically valueless, give the history of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
from the birth of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
. After 855 this becomes a bare catalogue of pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s, ending with the name of Innocent I. These books Orderic added in 1136–1141 as an afterthought to the original scheme.
2- Books iii through vi form a history of St Evroul, the original nucleus of the work. Planned before 1122, they were mainly composed in the years 1123–1131. The fourth and fifth books contain long digressions on the deeds of William the Conqueror in Normandy and England. Before 1067 these are of little value, being chiefly derived from two extant sources: William of Jumieges
William of Jumièges
William of Jumièges was a contemporary of the events of 1066, and one of our earliest writers on the subject of the Norman Conquest. He is himself a "shadowy figure", only known by his dedicatory letter to King William as a monk of Jumièges...
' Gesta Normannorum Ducum and William of Poitiers
William of Poitiers
William of Poitiers was a Norman chronicler most famous for his eulogistic account of Duke William of Normandy , called the Gesta Guillelmi II ducis Normannorum.-Life:...
' Gesta Guillemi. For the years 1067–1071 Orderic follows the last portion of the Gesta Guillemi, and is therefore of the first importance. From 1071 he begins to be an independent authority. But his notices of political events in this part of his work are far less copious than in the later books.
3- Books vii through xiii relegate ecclesiastical affairs to the background. In this section, after sketching the history of France under the Carolingians and early Capets, Orderic takes up the events of his own times, starting from about 1082. He has much to say concerning the empire, the papacy, the Normans in Sicily and Apulia
Norman conquest of southern Italy
The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned the late eleventh and much of the twelfth centuries, involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own...
, the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
(for which he follows Fulcher of Chartres
Fulcher of Chartres
Fulcher of Chartres was a chronicler of the First Crusade. He wrote in Latin.- Life :His appointment as chaplain of Baldwin of Boulogne in 1097 suggests that he had been trained as a priest, most likely at the school in Chartres...
and Baudri of Bourgueil). But his chief interest is in the histories of the three brothers Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, William Rufus and Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
. He continues his work, in the form of annals, up to the defeat and capture of Stephen of England
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
at Lincoln in 1141.
The historian Marjorie Chibnall
Marjorie Chibnall
Marjorie Morgan MacCallum Chibnall is an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator.Born at Atcham in Shropshire in 1915, she is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge , and had previously taught at the University of Southampton and the University of Aberdeen as well...
states that Orderic used now lost pancartes
Pancartes
Pancartes were medieval historical documents, drawn up by a monastery, that recorded a sequence of gifts to the monastery. They were created in order that the whole group of grants or gifts could be confirmed by the ruler. They are known from Normandy and other northern French regions...
(cartularies or collections of charters) of various Norman monastic houses as sources for his historical writings.
Further reading
- Chibnall, MarjorieMarjorie ChibnallMarjorie Morgan MacCallum Chibnall is an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator.Born at Atcham in Shropshire in 1915, she is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge , and had previously taught at the University of Southampton and the University of Aberdeen as well...
(translator), The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, 6 volumes(Oxford, 1968-1980) (Oxford Medieval Texts), ISBN 0-19-820220-2. - Chibnall, MarjorieMarjorie ChibnallMarjorie Morgan MacCallum Chibnall is an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator.Born at Atcham in Shropshire in 1915, she is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge , and had previously taught at the University of Southampton and the University of Aberdeen as well...
, The World of Orderic Vitalis (Oxford, 1987). - Hingst, Amanda Jane, The Written World: Past and place in the work of Orderic Vitalis (Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame Press, 2009).
External links
- Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Orderic Vitalis from The Cambridge History of English and American LiteratureThe Cambridge History of English and American LiteratureThe Cambridge History of English and American Literature was originally published by Cambridge University Press in 1907–1921. The 18 volumes include 303 chapters and more than 11,000 pages edited and written by a worldwide panel of 171 leading scholars and thinkers of the early twentieth century...
, Volume I, 1907–21. - (Orderic) The Battle of Bremule excerpts translated by Majorie Chibnall.
- (Orderic) On Henry I excerpts translated by David Burr.
- (Orderic) The Norman Conquest excerpts translated by Thomas Forester.