The ''Chronicle of 754'' (also called the ''Mozarabic Chronicle'' or ''Continuatio Hispana'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

-language history in 95 sections, written by an anonymous Mozarab (Christian) chronicler in

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

. The ''Chronicle'' contains the earliest known reference in a Latin text to "Europeans" (''europenses''), whom it describes as having defeated the Saracens at the battle of Tours in 732.

Author

Its compiler was an anonymous Mozarab (Christian) chronicler, living under Arab rule in some part of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. Since the 16th century, it has been attributed to an otherwise unknown bishop, Isidorus Pacensis but this attribution is now widely accepted as being the result of compounded errors. Henry Wace explained the origin and the phantom history of "Isidorus Pacensis", an otherwise unattested bishop of Pax Julia (modern Beja, Portugal). There is also some disagreement about the place where the ''Chronicle'' was written. Tailhan named Córdoba as the city of origin. Mommsen was the first to champion Toledo. A recent study by Lopez Pereira rejects both these in favour of an unidentified smaller city in present-day south-east Spain.

The work

The Chronicle of 754 covers the years 610 to 754, during which it has few contemporary sources against which to check its veracity. It begins with the accession of

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

to the Byzantine throne and is considered an eyewitness account for the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

. Some consider it one of the best sources for post-

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

history and for the story of the Arabian conquest of

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

and

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

; it provided the basis for Roger Collins, ''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 711-797'', the first modern historian to utilise it so thoroughly. It contains the most detailed account of the Battle of Poitiers-Tours. The style of the entries resembles the earlier chronicler John of Biclar, similarly covering the topics of rulers, rebellions, wars, the church and plagues (but in greater detail, with a more eccentric prose style that has made the work difficult for modern scholars to decipher). The work has three main focal points, the first two Byzantium and Visigothic Spain it shares in common with the Chronicle of 741, adding a third which is the Umayyad conquest. The ''Chronicle'' survives in three manuscripts, of which the earliest, of the ninth century, is divided between the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

and the Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid. The other manuscripts are of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The ''Chronicle'' was first published in its entirety in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, 1615; it was printed in Migne’s ''Patr. Lat.'', vol. 96, p. 1253 sqq. and given a modern critical edition and translated into Spanish by José Eduardo Lopez Pereira.Firstly as ''Cronica mozarabe de 754'' (Zaragoza, 1980); followed by a revised Latin edition and translation, with numerous essays, in 2009 (see References below) An English translation by Kenneth Baxter Wolf can be found in his volume ''Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain'' (Liverpool, 1990).

Notes

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References

* Ann Christys, ''Christians in Al-Andalus, 711–1000'' (Routledge, 2002). *

Reinhart Dozy Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy (Leiden, Netherlands, 21 February 1820 – Leiden, 29 April 1883) was a Dutch scholar of French (Huguenot) origin, who was born in Leiden. He was an Orientalist scholar of Arabic language, history and literature. Biogr ...

, ''Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature d'Espagne'', 2nd ed. 1860. * J. Eduardo Lopez Pereira, ''Continuatio Isidoriana Hispana Cronica Mozarabe de 754''. Fuentes y Estudios de Historia Leonesa 127. León, 2009. * T. Mommsen, ''Continuatio Hispana anno DCCLIV.''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The (Latin for "Historical Monuments of Germany"), frequently abbreviated MGH, is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of parts of Northwestern, Central and Souther ...

auctores antiquissimi XI, Chronica minora saec. IV, V, VI, VII, vol. 2,. Berlin, 1894
Online
* William Smith and Henry Wace, ''A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines'' (1880: vol. III, ''s.v.'' "Isidorus Pacensis" pp 313f). * J. Tailhan, ''Anonyme de Cordoue. Chronique rimée des derniers rois d'Espagne.'' Paris, 1885. * English translation of the Chronicle by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamim
Online
754 8th-century history books Mozarabs Italian chronicles 8th century in al-Andalus 8th-century books in Latin Christianity in al-Andalus Christian texts of the medieval Islamic world