The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century

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 ...

by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...

's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and thereby

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

by Scota with Goídel Glas. The chronicle consists of 16 books written in

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 ...

. The book's composition started in 1440. It was completed in 1447. The last event covered in the chronicle is the death of

James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...

in 1437. The chronicle depicts

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

as a historical figure. He is depicted as one of the rebels in the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in Kingdom of England, England between the forces of barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of Henry III of England, King Hen ...

(1264-1267).

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 Robert I may refer to: * Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple * Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop o ...

(1371), he was aided by Fordun's '' Gesta Annalia'', 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 An abridgement (or abridgment) is a condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source. The abridgement can be true to the original work in terms of mood and tone, capturing t ...

" 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 The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an act of Parliament, the National Library of Scotland ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

) 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 work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and ...

, are extant. There are two in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, in The Black Book of Paisley, and in Harley MS 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 Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

Importance

The

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

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

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 Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

, and substituted an association with the

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester ( – 4 August 1265), also known as Simon V de Montfort, was an English nobleman of French origin and a member of the Peerage of England, English peerage, who led the baronial opposi ...

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 John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

. (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'' (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 (MS Ff.5.48). 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 1447 books 1447 in Scotland 15th-century history books History books about Scotland Scottish chronicles National Library of Scotland Robin Hood books Second Barons' War