The ''Chronicle of 957'' (sometimes called the ''Northern'' or ''Northumbrian Annals'') is an anonymous

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 of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

and the

Kingdom of York Scandinavian York or Viking York () is a term used by historians for what is now Yorkshire during the period of Scandinavian domination from late 9th century until it was annexed and integrated into England after the Norman Conquest; in parti ...

covering the years 888–957. It is preserved in the manuscript Cambridge CCC 139 as a part of the 12th-century '' History of the Kings'' attributed to

Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mo ...

. There it functions as a continuation, after a long gap, of the '' Old Northumbrian Annals'' that cover the years 732–806 and some annals drawn from

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh people, Welsh monk from St David's, Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne (ancient), Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join ...

's ''Life of Alfred'' for 849–887. The two Northumbrian chronicles are, however, entirely independent. The ''Chronicle of 957'' is not contemporary with the events it describes, but was composed much later based on a now lost source (a set of Northumbrian annals or perhaps a unique Northumbrian recension of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

''). It ends with a note about the reign of

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 ...

(1042–1066). The first two

annal Annals (, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between annals and histo ...

s in the ''Chronicle'', for the years 888 and 890, are translations from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

of the original ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. The annals for 893 and part of 894 are taken from the first continuation of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. They are derived from a manuscript which did not contain the errors of dating that crept into the surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts A, B, C and D. There is no further connection between the ''Chronicle of 957'' and the first continuation, but there are several annals common to it and the Peterborough version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. These are those for 899 (death of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

), 906 ( treaty of Yttingaford), 910 (

battle of Tettenhall The Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes called the Battle of Wednesfield or Wōdnesfeld) took place, according to the chronicler Æthelweard (historian), Æthelweard, near Tettenhall on 5 August 910. The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex met an a ...

), 914, 919, 923, 927 and 933, although the dating sometimes differs in the Peterborough version. Before 934, the ''Chronicle of 957'' contains information not found in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' only for the years 892, 899, 900, 901, 902, 912, 920, 925 and 934. Some bits of information appear to be drawn from the ''

Historia de Sancto Cuthberto The ''Historia de Sancto Cuthberto'' ("History of St Cuthbert") is a historical compilation finished some time after 1031. It is an account of the history of the bishopric of St Cuthbert—based successively at Lindisfarne, Norham, Chester-le-S ...

''. After 934, however, the entries are wholly independent of any version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and are also much fuller. The full ''Chronicle of 957'' may thus combine two shorter works, one also incorporated into the Peterborough chronicle and another one for 934–957 and not attested outside of the ''History of the Kings''.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend Early medieval Latin literature Chronicles about England in Latin