Advertisement
Features

Five Medieval Chronicles that you can read translated online

Page from the Nuremberg Chronicle
Page from the Nuremberg Chronicle

We have come across many translated medieval sources through our online wanderings. Most medievalists will know about the larger databases of texts, such as the Internet Medieval Sourcebook and De Re Militari. However, there are a lot of sources that are not widely known, including these five chronicles from the Middle Ages.

Cassiodorus’ Chronicle 

Cassiodorus, the 6th-century Roman statesman and administrator for the Ostrogothic Kingdom, is also considered to be one of the most important writers of the early Middle Ages. Among his works is Chronica, a year by year world chronicle that goes to 519 AD. Most of the entries are quite short, but as the work enters the sixth century the work offers some more detailed pieces of information. It has been translated by Bouke Procee and is available on Roger Pearse’s blog and on Academia.edu

Advertisement

The Chronicle of Herman of Reichenau, 1039-54

This is one of several texts that Graham Loud at the University of Leeds has translated and made available online. This and other chronicles focus on Germany and Italy between the 10th and 13th centuries, but you can also find texts related to the Crusades and Spain. While some of them have been subsequently published in books by Loud, others are only available at the Medieval history texts in translation website.

The Chronicle of the 24 Ministers General

This work by Arnald of Sarrant presents a history of the Franciscan order from its founding by Saint Francis of Assisi to the year 1378. It has been translated by Noel Muscat and is available on his Franciscan Studies website.

Advertisement

The Nuremberg Chronicle

medieval-mag-38-357x500
Buy this issue for $2.99

Many people are familiar with this illuminated chronicle, which was written by Hartmann Schedel and published in 1493. The text begins with biblical history, but continues to offer a history of the world up to the fifteenth-century, including details about many cities in medieval Europe. An English translation was made by Walter Schmauch in 1941 but was never published – it has been included as part of the Nuremberg Chronicle project from Beloit College.

The Pskov 3rd Chronicle

An important source of Russian and Baltic history, this chronicle was created between the 14th and 17th centuries in Pskov, a city near the current-day border with Estonia. It covers events from the 9th century up to year 1650. Earlier this year David Savignac released his translation of the work on his website – The Pskov 3rd Chronicle.  You can also read this article where he talks about the project.

Advertisement