The ''Great Chronicle of Limoges'' (; ), also called the ''Chronicle of Saint-Martial of Limoges'' (; ), is a collection of 13th- and 14th-century historical notices and chronicles of

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

preserved in three related

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 ...

s. Beginning in the 18th century, the material in the manuscripts was mistakenly perceived as fragments of a single large chronicle of the abbey of Saint-Martial. They were first critically edited as a unified chronicle in the 19th century. They are today recognized mostly as notes made by the monks of Saint-Martial as continuations of the copious historical notes made by Bernard Itier (died 1225). The three manuscripts from which the ''Great Chronicle'' is derived are all now 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 ...

: *MS lat. 11019, historical notes added to the margins from 1310 at Saint-Martial *MS lat. 5452, compiled in the abbey of Saint-Martin in the late 14th or early 15th century *MS lat. 12764, copied by the

Maurist The Congregation of St. Maur, often known as the Maurists, were a congregation of French Benedictines, established in 1621, and known for their high level of scholarship. The congregation and its members were named after Saint Maurus (died 565), a ...

Claude Estiennot de la Serre in the 17th century All three manuscripts contain many texts in common, including the chronicle of Saint-Martin by its abbot, Pierre Coral. The first continuation of Bernard Itier, begun in 1310, covers the period 1207–1320, which overlaps with Itier's own notes for the years 1207–1224. The focus of the text is Limoges and Saint-Martial and it begins with the arrival in the city of

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

and

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

. Two other continuations of Itier's notes made by Hélie Autenc are also included. They cover 1235–1277 and 1274–1315. The first of these relies on the universal chronicle of Gerald Frachet, but the focus of both remains local. There is also a rough attempt at a chronicle covering the years 1235–1299, entitled ''Brevissimum chronicon'' in modern editions. There is no single published edition of all the texts in the three manuscripts, but most of the material has been published.See , for editions.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{refend Limoges 13th-century Latin literature