The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and thereby

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

by Scota with Goídel Glas.

The work

Bower began the work in 1440 at the request of a neighbour, Sir David Stewart of Rosyth. The completed work, in its original form, consists of 16 books, of which the first five and a portion of the sixth (to 1163) are Fordun's, or mainly his, for Bower added to them at places. In the later books, down to the reign of Robert I (1371), he was aided by Fordun's ''

Gesta Annalia ''Gesta Annalia'' ("Yearly Deeds") is an important medieval chronicle detailing the history of Scotland The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north a ...

'', but from that point to the close, the work is original and of contemporary importance, especially for James I, with whose death it ends. The task was finished in 1447.

Abridgments

Bower engaged in a reduction or " abridgment" of the ''Scotichronicon'' in the last two years of his life, which is known as the ''Book of Cupar'', and which is preserved in the Advocates' library,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(MS. 35. 1. 7). Other abridgments, not by Bower, were made about the same time, one about 1450 (perhaps by Patrick Russell, a Carthusian of

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

) preserved in the Advocates' library (MS. 35. 6. 7) and another in 1461 by an unknown writer, also preserved in the same collection (MS. 35. 5. 2). Copies of the full text of the ''Scotichronicon'', by different

scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

, are extant. There are two in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, in

The Black Book of Paisley ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

, and in

Harley MS The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...

712; one in the Advocates' library, from which Walter Goodall printed his edition (Edinburgh, 1759), and one in the library of

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...

Importance

The

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in th ...

has called it "probably the most important medieval account of early Scottish history", noting that it provides both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of medieval commentators.

Robert Hood entry

In contrast to the 1283 entry for Robin Hood by Andrew of Wyntoun in his '' Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'', Bower placed Robert (Robin) Hood in 1266. By changing the date of Wyntoun's entry, Bower removed Wyntoun's association of the outlaw with the national heroes, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and substituted an association with the

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led th ...

against

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry as ...

. (Note the reference to Robert Hood being one of "the disinherited", the term applied to de Montfort's followers.) Bower calls Robert Hood a 'famosus siccarius' (Latin for famous cutthroat), who nevertherless donated his ill-gotten gains to the Church and held the servants of the Church in high regard. Bower's tale is similar to the beginning of ''

Robin Hood and the Monk Robin Hood and the Monk is a Middle English ballad and one of the oldest surviving ballads of Robin Hood. Original work and later publications The work was preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, albeit heavily damaged by wea ...

'' (Child 119). One of the earliest-known tales of Robin Hood, the manuscript is dated to no earlier than 1450, and is housed at Cambridge University library. This Latin summary and ''Robin Hood and the Monk'' are probably as close to the rhymes of Robin Hood described by Langland in 1377 as scholars can get.

Criticism

Bower has been described as a less competent chronicler than Fordun, with one commenter calling him "garrulous, irrelevant and inaccurate" and noting that he "makes every important occurrence an excuse for a long-winded moral discourse".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/bower-continuation-of-scotichronicon , title=From Walter Bower's Continuation of John Fordun's Scotichronicon (c. 1440) , date=2021 , website=The Robin Hood Project , publisher=University of Rochester , access-date=7 March 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306161605/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/bower-continuation-of-scotichronicon , archive-date=6 March 2022 , url-status=dead {{cite web , url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-monk-introduction , title=Robin Hood and the Monk: Introduction , date=2021 , website=The Robin Hood Project , publisher=University of Rochester , access-date=7 March 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210123427/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/robin-hood-and-the-monk-introduction , archive-date=10 February 2022 , url-status=dead

External links

{{commons
A History Book for Scots: Selections from the Scotichronicon
Walter Bower, ''Scotichronicon'', ed. D. E. R. Watt and others, 9 volumes (1987–1998).

A revised edition of select chapters in Watt's edition, by C. Nighman.
Robin Hood and the Monk (Text)
Robin Hood Project, University of Rochester {{Scotland topics {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Scotichronicon 15th-century history books History books about Scotland Scottish chronicles 15th century in Scotland National Library of Scotland