Nicholas Trivet (or Trevet, as he himself wrote) (c. 1258 – c. 1328) was an English Anglo-Norman

chronicler 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, ...

Life

Trivet was born in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and was the son of Sir Thomas Trevet (died 1283), a judge who came of a

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

family. Nicholas became a Dominican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and studied first at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and later in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he first took an interest in English and French chronicles. Little is known of the greater part of his life except that at one time he was

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of his order in London, and at another he was teaching at Oxford, also that he was at Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

Works

Trivet was the author of a large number of theological and historical works and commentaries on the classics, more especially the works of Seneca. A large number of these exist in manuscript in various libraries, but only two appear to have been printed, one being the work by which he is chiefly remembered, the chronicle of the Angevin kings of England; the other was the last twelve books of his commentary on St. Augustine's treatise ''

De civitate dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' (), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. Augustine wrote the book to refute allegations that Christian ...

''. The full title of the former work is ''Annales sex regum Angliae qui a comitibus Andegavensibus originem traxerunt'', an important historical source for the period between 1135 and 1307, containing a specially valuable account of the reign of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, who was his contemporary. Trivet also wrote a chronicle in Anglo-Norman, parts of which were printed by

Henry Spelman Sir Henry Spelman (c. 1562 – October 1641) was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils. Life Spelman was born in Congham, Norfolk, the eldest son of Henry Spelman (d. 1 ...

. This contains the tale of Constance, from which the popular tale-type derived its name, and from which

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

is believed to have obtained his Man of Law's Tale. The ''Annales'' were published in Paris in 1668, in Oxford in 1719, and were edited by Thomas Hogg for the English Historical Society in 1845. Manuscripts are at Oxford and in 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 ...

. Trevet's other historical works are ''Catalogus regum anglo-saxonum durante heptarchia'', and ''Les Cronicles qe frere N. Trevet escript a dame Marie'' (Marie was Edward I's daughter

Mary of Woodstock Mary of Woodstock (11 March 1278 – before 8 July 1332) was the seventh named daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. She was a nun at Amesbury Priory, but lived very comfortably thanks to a generous allowance from her parents. ...

). Trivet also wrote a number of works of a theological and philological character. Trivet also wrote many biblical commentaries, treatises and translations. While over a hundred manuscripts exist, in Latin, French and Italian, of his commentary on

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

, which in turn influenced Jean de Meun and Chaucer.

Family

A member of Nicholas' family was Sir Thomas Trivit (died October 1383), a soldier of repute, who saw a good deal of service in France.

References

Attribution * *

Editions

* Lagioia, Alessandro (ed.). ''Nichola Trevet. Commento all'Oedipus di Seneca'' (Bari: Edipuglia, 2008) (Quaderni di Invigilata lucernis, 35). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trivet, Nicholas 1257 births 1334 deaths English chroniclers English Christian monks English Dominicans 14th-century English historians 14th-century writers in Latin