The ''Chronica Gothorum Pseudoisidoriana'', also known as the ''Historia Pseudoisidoriana'' or the ''Chronicle of Pseudo-Isidore'', is an anonymous 12th-century

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 ...

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

from southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It presents the

history of Spain The history of Spain dates to contact between the List of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, pre-Roman peoples of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula with the Greeks and Phoenicians. During Classical A ...

from the time of the

sons of Noah The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or ''Origines Gentium'', is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after Genesis flood narrative ...

and their dispersal down to the

Arab conquest The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabia that expanded rapidly un ...

in 711.Ann Christys
"Chronica Gothorum Pseudoisidoriana"
in Graeme Dunphy and Cristian Bratu (eds.), ''Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle'' (Brill, 2016), consulted online on 6 April 2019. The ''Chronica'' survives in a single

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

, now BNF lat. 6113 in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. In the 16th century, the manuscript was acquired by

Pierre Pithou Pierre Pithou (1 November 1539 – 1 November 1596) was a French lawyer and scholar. He is also known as Petrus Pithoeus. Life He was born at Troyes. From childhood he loved literature, and his father Pierre encouraged this interest. Young P ...

, who brought it to Paris. The ''Chronica'' is found on

folios The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book made ...

27–48 under the title ''Cronica Gothorum a Sancto Isidoro edita''.Ann Christys
"'How Can I Trust You since You are A Christian and I am a Moor?' The Multiple Identities of the ''Chronicle of Pseudo-Isidore''"
in Richard Corradini, Rob Meens, Christina Pössel and Philip Shaw (eds.), ''Texts and Identities in the Early Middle Ages'' (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2006), pp. 359–372.

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

prepared the first

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...

of the ''Chronica'' in 1894 and gave it the name (''pseudoisidoriana'') by which it is now most widely known. While the ''Chronica'' relies heavily on the works of

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

, it was not compiled by him. It is in fact a translation of an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

translation of a collection of Latin works. Its identified sources are the '' Chronicon'' of

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

, the '' Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'' of

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

, the ''

Historia Gothorum The ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum'' ("History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suevi") is a Latin history of the Goths from 265 to 624, written by Isidore of Seville. It is a condensed account and, due to its diver ...

'' of Isidore, the ''Cosmographia'' of

Julius Honorius Julius Honorius, also known as Julius Orator, was a teacher of geography during Late Antiquity. He is known only by a single work, ''Cosmographia'', which is a set of notes he had written down by one of his students while he lectured about a world ...

, the ''Chronicon'' of

John of Biclar John of Biclaro, Biclar, or Biclarum (''c.'' 540 – after 621), also ''Iohannes Biclarensis'', was a Visigoth chronicler. He was born in Lusitania, in the city of ''Scallabis'' (modern Santarém in Portugal). He was also bishop of Girona. Ear ...

and the anonymous '' Mozarabic Chronicle''. All of these have been garbled and interpolated in the stages of transmission before reaching their final Latin form.

Toponyms Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

and personal names, in particular, are frequently based on their Arabic forms. The Arabic translation of Orosius was also used by Aḥmad al-Rāzī (died 955) in his history of Spain, which likewise survives only in translation. The ''Chronica'' is of little use to the historian for the period it covers, although it sheds light on the time and place of its composition. Internal evidence suggests that it was written in the 12th century, since it mentions

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, a name which did not appear before 1090, being derived from the city of

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, founded in 1055. The compiler also included a description of the ports of the western Mediterranean in which he mentions

Saint Nicholas of Bari Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) dur ...

. The relics of the saint did not arrive in Bari until 1087. The Arabic original of the ''Chronica'' was almost certainly compiled in Spain, where the translation was likely also made by a writer working in the

Visigothic script Visigothic script was a type of medieval script that originated in the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Its more limiting alternative designations and associate it with scriptoria specifically in Toledo and with Moz ...

. It was later copied in France, most likely at the monastery of Aniane.Ann Christys
"Expanding/Expounding the ''Chronicle of Pseudo-Isidore'': Paris, BN lat. 6113"
in Richard Corradini, Max Diesenberger and Meta Niederkorn-Bruck (eds.), ''Zwischen Niederschrift und Wiederschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Hagiographie und Historiographie im Spannungsfeld von Kompendienüberlieferung und Editionstechnik'' (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010), pp. 79–92. The ''Chronica'' has a unique perspective among Latin sources on the Arab conquest. It emphasis how Ṭāriḳ ibn Ziyād brought peace to the peninsula after the civil wars that plagued the last years of the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Spain or Kingdom of the Goths () was a Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic people ...

. It is also the earliest source to provide a name to the daughter of

Count Julian Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

who, according to legend, was raped by King

Roderic Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...

. It names her Oliba, although this was subsequently forgotten as later accounts call her La Cava.James Donald Fogelquist
"Pedro de Corral's Reconfiguration of La Cava in the ''Crónica del Rey don Rodrigo''"
''eHumanista: Monographs in Humanities'' 3 (2007): 13–16.

Notes

Editions

, ed
"Historia Pseudoisidoriana"
MGH ''Auctores antiquissimi'' 11 (Berlin, 1894), Additamentum VIII, pp. 377–388. *Fernando González Muñoz, ed
''La chronica gothorum pseudo-isidoriana (ms. Paris BN 6113): Edición crítica, traducción y estudios''
A Coruña: Editorial Toxosoutos, 2000.

References

{{reflist Iberian chronicles 12th-century history books 12th-century books in Latin