The ''Chronicles of the Kings of Mann and the Isles'' () or Manx Chronicle is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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 ...

manuscript relating the early history of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Dating

The main part of the manuscript is believed to have been composed and written in 1261 or 1262 at Rushen Abbey on the island, shortly after the time of the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey's dedication in 1257, which is the final event retold by the original scribe. The manuscript is written in ink on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

, with pages roughly by .

The ''Chronicles'' are a look back, year-by-year from 1016, over the significant events in Manx history of that time. Written in Latin, it records the island's role as the centre of the Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, and the influence of its kings and religious leaders, as well as the role of Rushen Abbey itself – which was founded at the invitation of Olaf I Godredsson, one of the Norse kings. The original scribe also wrote a list of popes (ff. 3r-14r) which ends with

Pope Urban IV Pope Urban IV (; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death three years later. He was elected pope without being a cardinal; he was the fi ...

(1261–4). It is probable that the ''Chronicles'' were written for the new abbey on its foundation. Entries for the earlier years are notably shorter than those towards the end of the original section of the manuscript, no doubt due to later events having occurred within living memory of the time of writing, and thus more detail being available. Many of the dates of the earlier annals are put around 15 years earlier than the actual event, and none of these entries before 1047 are directly related to the Isle of Man, having been copied from a source shared with the '' Chronicle of Melrose''. Several further notes were later added by the abbey's Cistercian monks, taking the ''Chronicles'' up to 1316. The manuscript also contains a copy of Bonizo of Sutri's ''Cronica Romanorum pontificum'' (ff. 15r-30r) and a territorial survey (ff. 53r-54v). A record of the bishops of the Western Isles to John Donkan ( Bishop of Man and the Isles from 1374 to 1387) is appended to the ''Chronicles''.

Provenance

After the abbey was dissolved in 1540, the manuscript is thought to have passed through a number of private hands until being presented by Roger Dodsworth (d. 1654) to Sir Robert Cotton (d. 1631) in 1620/1. Cotton's collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts was one of the founding collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and is now cared for by 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 ...

in London.

Repatriation

There have been campaigns to move the ''Chronicles'' permanently to the

Outline

Chronicles of Mann - BL Cotton MS Julius A vii f 35v

* 1016–1030: King Canute's marriage to Emma, the birth of their son

Harthacanute Harthacnut (; "Tough-knot"; – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (wh ...

, and Canute's journeys to Denmark and Norway. * 1031–1066: Foundation of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, and the death of Canute. Death of King

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

. * 1066–1079:

Battle of Stamford Bridge The Battle of Stamford Bridge () took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under Harold Godwinson, King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force l ...

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

's victory at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

. Conquest of the Isle of Man by

Godred Crovan Godred Crovan (died 1095), known in Gaelic as Gofraid Crobán, Gofraid Meránach, and Gofraid Méránach, was a Norse-Gaelic ruler of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin and the Kingdom of the Isles, Isles. Although his precise parentage h ...

. * 1079–1098: Foundation of the Cistercian order at Cîteaux in France. * 1102–1152: Commencement of reign of King

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or differences between General American and Received Pronunciation, British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ances ...

. Foundations of

Savigny Abbey Savigny Abbey (''Abbaye de Savigny'') was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux (Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny, who were Benedi ...

, Furness Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey, Calder Abbey, Melrose Abbey, and Holme Cultram Abbey. Grant of land at Rushen to Furness Abbey by King Olaf. * 1165–1187: Murder of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. Capture of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

. Visit by a

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

to the Isle of Man. Marriage of King Godred, conducted by the Abbot of Rievaulx. * 1228–1237: Death of King Olaf on St Patrick's Isle, and burial at Rushen Abbey. * 1250–1256: Start of reign of King

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

* 1256–1274: Completion of the Abbey Church of St Mary's at Rushen, and dedication by Richard,

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where ...

. * List of Bishops: A list of the Bishops of the Diocese of Sodor and Man until Simon Orcadensis, who had died in 1248. The bishop at the time of the writing of the manuscript, Richard, was not included.

References

Editions and translations

* Broderick, G. (ed. and tr.). ''The Chronicles of the Kings of Mann and the Isles''. 2nd ed. Douglas, 1995. * Munch, P.A. (ed.) and Rev. Alexander Goss (tr.). ''Chronica regnum Manniae et insularum. The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys.'' 2 vols. Manx Society 22–3. Douglas, 1874
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