An examination of the linguistic and cultural construction of one of the texts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In the twelfth century, a version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was rewritten at Peterborough Abbey, welding local history into an established framework of national events. This text has usually been regarded as an exception, a vernacular Chronicle written in a period dominated by Latin histories. This study, however, breaks new ground by considering the Peterborough Chronicle as much more than just an example of the accidental longevity of the Chronicle tradition. Close analysis reveals unique interpretations of events, and a very strong sense of communal identity, suggesting that the construction of this text was not a marginal activity, but one essential to the articulation of the abbey's image. This text also participates in a vibrant post-Conquest textual culture, in particular at Canterbury, including the writing of the bilingual F version of the Chronicle; its symbiotic relationship witha wider corpus of Latin historiography thus indicates the presence of shared sources. The incorporation of alternative generic types in the text also suggests the presence of formal hybridity, a further testament to a fluid and adaptable textual culture. Dr Malasree Home teaches at Newcastle University.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is among the earliest vernacular chronicles of Western Europe and remains an essential source for scholars of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. With the publication in 2004 of a new edition of the Peterborough text, all six major manuscript versions of the Chronicle are now available in the Collaborative Edition. Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle therefore presents a timely reassessment of current scholarly thinking on this most complex and most foundational of documents. This volume of collected essays examines the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle through four main aspects: the production of the text, its language, the literary character of the work, and the Chronicle as historical writing. The individual studies not only exemplify the different scholarly approaches to the Chronicle but they also cover the full chronological range of the text(s), as well as offering new contributions to well-established debates and exploring fresh avenues of research. The interdisciplinary and wide-ranging nature of the scholarship behind the volume allows Reading the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to convey the immense complexity and variety of the Chronicle, a document that survives in multiple versions and was written in multiple places, times, and political contexts.

A semi-diplomatic edition of BL MS Cotton Tiberius A vi, probably written in 977-8, probably at Abingdon. It is the first complete and separate publication of B Version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, B being the primary witness to a 10th-century recension of the Chronicle, and an authority of greater textual importance than MS A for the period from 924. `One may recommend this book as a happy illustration of how much useful and interesting information a diligent editor may prize from an apparently unpromising source — The general editors have clearly given much thought to the system of textual and editorial conventions, which are in every case clear and readily intelligible'PERITIA.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles is a collection of Old English annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxon race. They were originally compiled in Wessex during the reign of Alfred the Great (871-899 AD). It was continuously updated by following generations and in one case was still being updated in 1154 AD. Regardless of certain biases, the Chronicle is the most important historical source of history of the British Isles for the period between the departure of the Roman Empire, and years following the Norman conquest. There are seven original copies of the text that reside in the British Library and two other public libraries in the United Kingdom.Alfred the Great was the king of the West Saxons at the time of heightened invasions from the Scandinavian Vikings. His kingdom of Wessex was the last surviving Saxon kingdom left in resistance to the invaders. At one-point Alfred's kingdom was reduced to his household in exile in the marshlands in Somerset, England. Through military reorganization, diplomatic maneuvers, and Christian missionary work, Alfred was able to push back against the Scandinavians and establish Wessex as the most powerful kingdom on the British Isles. By the end of his reign Wessex was the dominant power on the British Isles, the Vikings had been humbled and partially assimilated into Christian culture. His dream of an united Britain under the control of Wessex was almost complete. Alfred is the only English King to be given the title of 'the Great'.

The vernacular Anglo-Saxon Chronicles cover the centuries which saw the making of England and its conquest by Scandinavians and Normans. After Alfred traces their development from their genesis at the court of King Alfred to the last surviving chronicle produced at the Fenland monastery of Peterborough. These texts have long been part of the English national story. Pauline Stafford considers the impact of this on their study and editing since the sixteenth century, addressing all surviving manuscript chronicles, identifying key lost ones, and reconsidering these annalistic texts in the light of wider European scholarship on medieval historiography. The study stresses the plural 'chronicles', whilst also identifying a tradition of writing vernacular history which links them. It argues that that tradition was an expression of the ideology of a southern elite engaged in the conquest and assimilation of old kingdoms north of the Thames, Trent, and Humber. Vernacular chronicling is seen, not as propaganda, but as engaged history-writing closely connected to the court, whose networks and personnel were central to the production and continuation of these chronicles. In particular, After Alfred connects many chronicles to bishops and especially to the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. The disappearance of the English-speaking elite after the Norman Conquest had profound impacts on these texts. It repositioned their authors in relation to the court and royal power, and ultimately resulted in the end of this tradition of vernacular chronicling.