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__NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
of Durham Priory.


Biography

Symeon was a
Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...
at
Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...
at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 monks moved to Durham from the monastery at
Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...
by Bishop William of St Calais in 1083, but the historian Bernard Meehan thinks that it is more likely that Symeon entered Durham in the 1090s. He eventually became
precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...
of the
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
, and examples of his handwriting appear to survive in several Durham books, including the ''
Liber Vitae A confraternity book (, or ''confraternitatis''), also called a ''liber memorialis'' (memorial book) or ''liber vitae'' (book of life), is a medieval register of the names of people who had entered into a state of spiritual brotherhood (confratern ...
'', the so-called Cantor's Book (whose text he would have had to keep up to date as part of his duties as precentor), and in copies of his own historical works.


Works

Symeon was author of two historical works which are particularly valuable for northern affairs, the '' Libellus de Exordio atque Procursu istius, hoc est Dunelmensis, Ecclesie'' (''The Little Book on the Origins and Progress of this Church, that is of Durham'') and a historical compilation ''Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum''. The '' Libellus de Exordio'', a history of the community of Durham (originally settled at
Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...
) from its inception to the year 1096, is by far his most important work. Composed between 1104 and 1107, Symeon's task (imposed on him by his monastic superiors) was to demonstrate the continuity of Durham's history despite the notable disruptions the community weathered during the Viking invasions and even more recently in the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
. Symeon sought furthermore to justify William of Saint-Calais's expulsion of Durham's clerical community in 1083, in order to replace it with a group of
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monks drawn from Wearmouth and Jarrow. Like earlier Durham writers, Symeon finds historical continuity between the major phases of the community's development in the constant presence of their patron, Saint Cuthbert. The
miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s worked in Cuthbert's name during the late Anglo-Saxon period were particularly flamboyant, and the ''Libellus'' contains engaging accounts of some of these, including the miracle of the three waves (when Cuthbert turned a portion of the Irish Sea into blood in order to prevent his followers from taking his relics out of England, see ''Libellus'' ii.11), the foundation of Durham (when Cuthbert's body, being moved across England on a cart, refused to be moved, signalling his desire to remain at Durham, see ''Libellus'' iii.1), and several picturesque deaths visited upon the enemies of Cuthbert's devotees. Several versions of the ''Libellus'' survive from the Middle Ages. Symeon's own revised copy can be found in Durham, University Library, Cosin V.II.6. It is this text which has been most often published. The Durham manuscript also contains two anonymous continuations of Symeon's work. The first carries the history from 1096 to the death of
Ranulf Flambard Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government official of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flamba ...
(1129); the second extends from 1133 to 1144. A Cambridge manuscript (
Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...
, Ff. i.27) contains a third continuation covering the years 1145-1154. Another
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 ...
(London,
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 ...
, Cotton Faustina A.V) seems to represent the text of the ''Libellus'' before the revisions found in the Durham manuscript.Rollason, Introduction to ''Libellus de Exordio'', lxiii-lxv. A full list of manuscripts can be found on the '' Libellus de Exordio'' page. About 1129 Symeon undertook to write a '' Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum''. This begins at the point where the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of
Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
ends. Up to 957 Simeon merely copies some old Durham annals, not otherwise preserved, which are of value for northern history; from that point to 1119 he copies
John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is now usually held to be the author of the . Works John of Worcester's principal work was the (Latin for "Chronicle from Chronicles") or ...
with certain interpolations. The section dealing with the years 1119-1129 is, however, an independent and practically contemporaneous narrative. Symeon writes, for his time, with ease and perspicuity; but his chief merit is that of a diligent collector and
copyist A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the ...
. Symeon also wrote brief biographies of the archbishops of York and a letter on the errors of
Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...
. Other writings have been attributed to his pen, but on no good authority. They are printed in the ''Historiae Anglicanae Scriptores Decem'' of Roger Twysden (1652). The most complete modern edition is that of
Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widel ...
( Rolls series, 2 vols., 1882–1885). For the ''Libellus'', now see Rollason's 2000 edition. The value of the '' Old Northumbrian Annals'', which Symeon used for the ''Historia regum'', has been discussed by John Hodgson-Hinde in the preface to his ''Symeonis Dunelmensis opera'', vol. i. pp. xiv. ff. (1868); by R. Pauli in ''Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte'', xii. pp. 137 sqq. (Göttingen, 1872); and by
William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...
in the introduction to
Roger of Hoveden Roger of Howden or Hoveden (died 1202) was a 12th-century English chronicler, diplomat and head of the minster of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Roger and Howden minster Roger was born to a clerical family linked to the ancient minst ...
, vol. i. p. x. ("Rolls" series).


Citations


Sources

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Further reading

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External links


Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Simeon of Durham
from '' The Cambridge History of English and American Literature'', Volume I, 1907–21. * * {{Short description, 12th-century monk and chronicler English chroniclers 12th-century English historians English Christian monks 1129 deaths Year of birth unknown History of Durham, England 12th-century writers in Latin