Polychronicon

Polychronicon



The Polychronicon is a famous medieval book written by Chester monk Ranulf Higden. Higden (c. 1280 - c. 1363), was an English chronicler and a Benedictine of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester, wherein he lived, it is said, for sixty-four years, and died at "a good old age", probably around 1363. He is believed to have been born in the West of England, took the monastic vow, at Chester in 1299, and seems to have travelled over the north of England. The book is commonly styled "Polychronicon", although the original title is "Ranuiphi Castrensis, cognomine Higdon, Polychronicon (sive Historia Polycratica) ab initio mundi usque ad mortem regis Edwardi III in septem libros dispositum".

The work is divided into seven books, in imitation of the seven days of Genesis, and, with exception of the last book, is a summary of general history. Written in Latin, it was translated into English by John of Trevisa (1387), and printed by Caxton (1482), and by others. It is the last major "Chronicle" and follows in the tradition of the "Chester chronicle". During Mediaeval times it was the standard work on general history, and more than a hundred manuscripts of it are known to exist. The Christ Church (Oxford) manuscript states that Higdon wrote it down to the year 1342; the manuscript at Christ's College, Cambridge, states that Higden wrote to the year 1344.

The book is full of fascinating insights as to what was known at the time. For example, Higden mentions that the Earth is round, because it casts a round shadow on the moon during an eclipse. Sometimes his geographical knowledge is good at other times bad:


 * "India is terminated in the east with the rising of the sun, to the south with the ocean, to the west with the Indian Ocean and to the north with the hill called the Caucasus. In India live men of a spotted colour and there are found nightingales, elephants, pepper, precious stones, beryls, chalcedony, carbuncles, adamantine and hills of gold. Nevertheless it is impossible to go to them because of dragons and griffins."

Description of Chester

 * "The cyte of legyons that is Chestre in the marches of Englonde towarde Wales betwegne two armes of the see that bee named Dee and Mersey Thys cyte in tyme of Britons was hede and chyefe cyte of all Venedocia that is North Wales This cyte in brytyshe speche bete Carthleon Chestre in Englyshe and Cyte of Legyons also For there laye a wyn ter the legyons that Julius Cezar sent for to wyne Monde And after Claudius Cezar sent legyons out of the cyte for to wynn the islands that be called Orcades Thys cyte hath plente of lyveland of corn of fleshe and specyally of samon Thys cyte receyveth grate marchandyse and sendeth out also Northubres destroyed this cyte sometyne but Elfreda lady of Mercia bylded it agayn and made it mouch more In thys cyte ben ways under erth with vowtes and stone worke wonderfully iwrought three chamberd werkes grete stones igrave with old mennes names there in Thys is that cyte that Ethelfreda king of Northumberlonde destroyed and sloughe there fast by nygh two thousonde monkes of the myn ster of Bangor Thys is the cyte that Kyng Edgar cam to some tyme with seven kyngs that were subject to hym"


 * There be waies heere under the ground vaulted marvelously with stone worke, chambers having arched roofes over had, huge stones engraven with the names of ancient men. Heere also are sometimes digged up peeces of money coined by Julius Caesar and other famous persons, and stamped with their inscriptions

Hidden Messages
The book contains at least two hidden messages. If the first letters of the chapters which make up book one are selected and arranged in sequence they spell out a phrase in latin:


 * "presentem cronicam compilavit Frater Ranulphus Cestrensis monachus" ("Brother Ranulf, monk of Chester, compiled the present chronicle")

Ranulf actually draws attention to this "acrostic" in book. Another hidden message is found in chapter 34, where the first letters of successive words spell "Ranulphus".


 * "R(efert) A(ffirmatum) N(otat) V(ulgatum) L(ibri) P(ost) H(aec) V(t) S(unt)"

Perhaps there are yet more hidden messages in the book...



Flying Monks
Higden refers to a story of a flying monk named Eilmer from Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, who launched himself from the Abbey's tower with a set of home-made wings. According to the story, he glided "more than a furlong" (a furlong is just over 200 meters), before panic set in and he crashed to the ground. Higden gets the name of the monk wrong, and calls him "Oliver", which means that his supposed landing spot is known as "Oliver's Lane" (and is precisely where modern calculations based on wind currents place his likely landing spot). The gliding flight would have lasted about 15 seconds. Eilmer/Oliver apparently survived the crash with two broken legs, gave up aeronautics and wrote several works on astronomy. These are now sadly lost, as is the pub which once stood nearby - the "Flying Monk".

King Arthur
Higden is quite disparaging about the existence of Arthur, pointing out in no uncertain terms that not only is Geoffrey of Monmouth full of inaccuracy (he is), but that there is no support from other sources. Ranulf writes:


 * "Many men wonder about this Arthur, whom Geoffrey extols so much singly, how the things that are said of him could be true, for, as Geoffrey repeats, he conquered thirty realms. If he subdued the king of France to him, and did slay Lucius the Procurator of Rome, Italy, then it is astonishing that the chronicles of Rome, of France, and of the Saxons should not have spoken of so noble a prince in their stories, which mentioned little things about men of low degree. Geoffrey says that Arthur overcame Frollo, King of France, but there is no record of such a name among men of France. Also, he says that Arthur slew Lucius Hiberius, Procurator of the city of Rome in the time of Leo the Emperor, yet according to all the stories of the Romans Lucius did not govern, in that time nor was Arthur born, nor did he live then, but in the time of Justinian, who was the fifth emperor after Leo. Geoffrey says that he has marveled that Gildas and Bede make no mention of Arthur in their writings; however, I suppose it is rather to be marveled why Geoffrey praises him so much, whom old authors, true and famous writers of stories, leave untouched. But perhaps it is the custom of every nation to extol some of their blood-relations excessively, as the Greeks great Alexander, the Romans Octavian, Englishmen King Richard, Frenchmen Charles; and so the Britons extolled Arthur. Which thing happens, as Josephus says, either for fairness of the story, or for the delectation of the readers, or for exaltation of their own blood."

This section of the book was the subject of considerable comment by the "translator" John Trevisa. Being Cornish, Trevisa disagrees with Higden over Arthur and occasionally, as elsewhere, changes the text to suit his own position.

Harold
In his description of the City of Chester, Ranulf makes passing mention of the supposed "retirement" of Harold to the Hermitage on the banks of the Dee.


 * "Þere is here riȝtene dwellynge. Of kyng Haralde"

Edward II
Given that Ranulph Higden's Polychronicon, was written in c. 1342, Higden was one of the very first chroniclers who believed in the red-hot poker murder of Edward II (1327), which John Trevisa translated into English as:


 * "a hoote broche putte thro the secret place posteriale."

See the Earls of Chester for more on this.

Robin Hood
A recent find places Robin Hood in Edward I's reign, thus supporting the belief that his legend is of 13th Century origin. A translation of the short inscription, which contains only 23 words in Latin, reads:


 * "Around this time, according to popular opinion, a certain outlaw named Robin Hood, with his accomplices, infested Sherwood and other law-abiding areas of England with continuous robberies."

Curiously, the inscription was found as a marginal note in a copy of Higdon's "Polychronicon".

Sources and Links

 * J.G. Edwards, 'Ranulf, monk of Chester', English Historical Review, v. 47 (1932), p. 94;
 * Antonia Gransden, 'Ranulf Higden' in her Historical writing in England, v. 2 (London, 1982), pp 43-57;
 * John Taylor, The Universal Chronicle of Ranulf Higden (Oxford, 1966)]
 * A note on the deaths of Edward II - Ian Mortimer
 * Hi-res page image;