Leiden University Student Repository

Kats, J.M.J.G. (David) 2012

Chronicon Moissiacense Maius. A Carolingian world chronicle from Creation until the first years of Louis the Pious. On the basis of the manuscript of the late Ir. J.M.J.G Kats, prepared and revised by D. Claszen

Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)

open access

2013-10-03T00:00:00Z, 2013-10-03T00:00:00Z

The thesis presents an introduction and edition of the Chronicon Moissiacense, a Carolingian world chronicle as contained in BN lat. 4886. The various manuscripts related to this text are explored...Show moreThe thesis presents an introduction and edition of the Chronicon Moissiacense, a Carolingian world chronicle as contained in BN lat. 4886. The various manuscripts related to this text are explored and placed in a stemma, followed by a review of previous editions and a short exploration of Merovingian and Carolingian historiography, with particular focus on world and universal chronicles. The Chronicon Moissiacense is mainly interesting because of its highly composite nature; it expands on an older, 8th century text that records history up to the year 741 and is a composition of ancient as well as early medieval authors. Bede's 66th chapter of De Temporum Ratione forms the spine of the chronicle, but this text is heavily interpolated with fragments from Flavius Josephus, Eusebius, Jerome, Orosius, Fredegar, the Liber Historiae Francorum, and other sources. The Chronicon Moissiacense presents a continuation of this text up to the year 818, drawing on other sources such as the Annales Laureshamenses, multiple minor annals, and a 'southern source' believed to be lost today. The text attempts to connect Roman with Merovingian and Carolingian history in various ways, such as through the inclusion of a shared Trojan heritage, but also through a reworking of the chronology.Show less